Plans are well under way for the crowning of the 2000 Ms. V.I. Senior America in a pageant July 2 at the Reichhold Center for the Arts.

Anyone who picked up a Saturday print newspaper this past weekend and didn't choose to flip past the comics page(s) found an extraordinary phenomenon: Strip after strip -- virtually all of them in some publications -- carried the particular artist's imagery of "Peanuts" characters in a touching tribute to the late Charles Schulz. It was no coincidence, of course.

For years, intrepid traveler Kirk Grybowski has complained about being treated as an extraterrestrial when it comes to "domestic" versus "international" charges. Finally, he writes, our quirk of geography works to our advantage: Amtrak, the U.S. rail passenger service, has special rail passes that have long been available to anyone but U.S. and Canadian passport holders. Now, they're also being sold to permanent residents of U.S. territories.

Budapest is a conglomeration including the hills of Buda and the plains of Pest that are divided by the Danube River within which sits Margaret Island. The city’s public transit system -- buses, trolleys, trains and subways (including one of the oldest subways in the world) -- is so good that almost everyone uses it.

In 1990, the remains of an earlier community were uncovered as work began on Tutu Park Mall. A year later, in New York City, an 18th Century burial ground was similarly found as work began on a new federal building. What followed in New York couldn't happen on St. Thomas: Federal funds flowed in response to community calls for a public commemoration of the lives of those so long forgotten.

Virgin Islander B. Bradshaw asks who is leading the technology race. And she makes some suggestions as to who that could be.

Continuing a series on touring China

Call it the romance of the rails, a desire to see where one is going, appreciation for the distance one travels, or just masochism, Kirk Grybowski enjoys traveling by train and did so extensively during his recent visit to China.

Michele Shulterbrandt Agurkis explains in luscious detail her experience sailing on the cruise ship Zenith – and through the Panama Canal over the millennium no less.

Part 3 in a series about recent travels through China and Asia.