While our public servants move into re-election-at-any-cost mode, not-for-profit agencies who serve victims of very real violence face closing their doors because their public funding has been cut below the bare-bones level.
It is time for the people's money to go where it is needed and where it can do some good.
A 32-year-old man was arrested this week for murdering a 2-year-old child by repeatedly punching and kicking him in the stomach. Can we as a community really afford to let these agencies close their doors? How many more deaths and suffering would there be if the victims — and the perpetrators — had nowhere to go for help?
Sweetheart deals are being cut every day with government agencies hiring "consultants" at $150 and $200 an hour. In the meantime, Virgin Islanders suffer hideous abuse in their homes, and somehow these same politicians have trouble finding find the money to help the agencies that work not only to assist these victims but to prevent the continuation of such horrifying violence.
After Michal Rhymer, executive director of the Family Resource Center, took to the news media to plead her case, the benevolent, campaigning governor had Ira Mills call a radio station to say they were going to speed up the payments due the agency, which were at the time three months late. This is not doing the agency or the community a favor; it is playing catch-up on meeting an obligation, and it should be the cause for shame, not self-congratulations.
All too often we have these spurts of social concern, but we never find out what happens later. And why were the payments late in the first place? Did anyone say?
The not-for-profit crisis intervention agencies are routinely forced to plan and produce fund-raising events to survive. The executive directors, who are trained professionals with years of education and experience in their field, sometimes sacrifice some of their own pay to keep the agencies afloat.
Why should this happen in a place where almost every mid- to high-level government official drives a high-priced, gas-guzzling SUV at public expense?
Politicians, it is time to straighten out your priorities.
We don't think the average Virgin Islander wants to see deals cut for high-paid government "consultants" while agencies that have life-and-death missions and perform what in other circumstances would be government services sink into oblivion because the government has cut back or cut off their funding.
They should not have to go begging. We should not have to put up with public officials who put them in that position.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

While our public servants move into re-election-at-any-cost mode, not-for-profit agencies who serve victims of very real violence face closing their doors because their public funding has been cut below the bare-bones level.
It is time for the people's money to go where it is needed and where it can do some good.
A 32-year-old man was arrested this week for murdering a 2-year-old child by repeatedly punching and kicking him in the stomach. Can we as a community really afford to let these agencies close their doors? How many more deaths and suffering would there be if the victims — and the perpetrators — had nowhere to go for help?
Sweetheart deals are being cut every day with government agencies hiring "consultants" at $150 and $200 an hour. In the meantime, Virgin Islanders suffer hideous abuse in their homes, and somehow these same politicians have trouble finding find the money to help the agencies that work not only to assist these victims but to prevent the continuation of such horrifying violence.
After Michal Rhymer, executive director of the Family Resource Center, took to the news media to plead her case, the benevolent, campaigning governor had Ira Mills call a radio station to say they were going to speed up the payments due the agency, which were at the time three months late. This is not doing the agency or the community a favor; it is playing catch-up on meeting an obligation, and it should be the cause for shame, not self-congratulations.
All too often we have these spurts of social concern, but we never find out what happens later. And why were the payments late in the first place? Did anyone say?
The not-for-profit crisis intervention agencies are routinely forced to plan and produce fund-raising events to survive. The executive directors, who are trained professionals with years of education and experience in their field, sometimes sacrifice some of their own pay to keep the agencies afloat.
Why should this happen in a place where almost every mid- to high-level government official drives a high-priced, gas-guzzling SUV at public expense?
Politicians, it is time to straighten out your priorities.
We don't think the average Virgin Islander wants to see deals cut for high-paid government "consultants" while agencies that have life-and-death missions and perform what in other circumstances would be government services sink into oblivion because the government has cut back or cut off their funding.
They should not have to go begging. We should not have to put up with public officials who put them in that position.

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

March 28, 2002 – If a safe and healthy home is on your list of priorities, mark your calendar for one of the free "Safe and Healthy Home Workshops" offered by the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service.
They will be held:
– On St. Croix from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at UVI's Research and Extension Building, Room 133.
– On St. John from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cooperative Extension office located upstairs from Fashion Palace.
– On St. Thomas from 5:30 to 7 p.m. April 4 in the Cooperative Extension Service building conference room up the hill on the UVI campus.
The workshops will provide information about chemicals found in common household products and their potential health effects and pollution problems; alternative products or recipes that can be used for household cleaning; how to get rid of household hazardous wastes and toxic products; and methods for evaluating your home for pollution potential.
Extension agent Dale Morton, who is running the workshops, said most people would be surprised to know where they'll find things that can make them sick. For example, new no-iron sheets are treated with formaldehyde to make them resist wrinkles. If you don't wash them before you put them on your bed, you're not only breathing in the formaldehyde but absorbing it through your skin. "Your body heat makes it volatile," he said.
He said problems of that sort are one reason the number of people suffering from allergies is on the increase.
For more information, call Julie Wright at 693-1082 or Morton at 693-1086.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.

March 28, 2002 – If a safe and healthy home is on your list of priorities, mark your calendar for one of the "Safe and Healthy Home Workshops" being presented by the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service.
They will be held:
– On St. Croix from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at UVI's Research and Extension Building, Room 133.
– On St. John from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cooperative Extension office located upstairs from Fashion Palace.
– On St. Thomas from 5:30 to 7 p.m. April 4 in the Cooperative Extension Service building conference room up the hill on the UVI campus.
The workshops will provide information about chemicals found in common household products and their potential health effects and pollution problems; alternative products or recipes that can be used for household cleaning; how to get rid of household hazardous wastes and toxic products; and methods for evaluating your home for pollution potential.
Extension agent Dale Morton, who is running the workshops, said most people would be surprised to know where they'll find things that can make them sick. For example, new no-iron sheets are treated with formaldehyde to make them resist wrinkles. If you don't wash them before you put them on your bed, you're not only breathing in the formaldehyde but absorbing it through your skin. "Your body heat makes it volatile," he said.
He said problems of that sort are one reason the number of people suffering from allergies is on the increase.
For more information, call Julie Wright at 693-1082 or Morton at 693-1086.

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice.. click here.

While our public servants move into re-election-at-any-cost mode, not-for-profit agencies who serve victims of very real violence face closing their doors because their public funding has been cut below the bare-bones level.
It is time for the people's money to go where it is needed and where it can do some good.
A 32-year-old man was arrested this week for murdering a 2-year-old child by repeatedly punching and kicking him in the stomach. Can we as a community really afford to let these agencies close their doors? How many more deaths and suffering would there be if the victims — and the perpetrators — had nowhere to go for help?
Sweetheart deals are being cut every day with government agencies hiring "consultants" at $150 and $200 an hour. In the meantime, Virgin Islanders suffer hideous abuse in their homes, and somehow these same politicians have trouble finding the money to help the agencies that work not only to assist these victims but to prevent the continuation of such horrifying violence.
After Michal Rhymer, executive director of the Family Resource Center, took to the news media to plead her case, the benevolent, campaigning governor had Ira Mills call a radio station to say they were going to speed up the payments due the agency, which were at the time three months late. This is not doing the agency or the community a favor; it is playing catch-up on meeting an obligation, and it should be the cause for shame, not self-congratulations.
All too often we have these spurts of social concern, but we never find out what happens later. And why were the payments late in the first place? Did anyone say?
The not-for-profit crisis intervention agencies are routinely forced to plan and produce fund-raising events to survive. The executive directors, who are trained professionals with years of education and experience in their field, sometimes sacrifice some of their own pay to keep the agencies afloat.
Why should this happen in a place where almost every mid- to high-level government official drives a high-priced, gas-guzzling SUV at public expense?
Politicians, it is time to straighten out your priorities.
We don't think the average Virgin Islander wants to see deals cut for high-paid government "consultants" while agencies that have life-and-death missions and perform what in other circumstances would be government services sink into oblivion because the government has cut back or cut off their funding.
They should not have to go begging. We should not have to put up with public officials who put them in that position.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

March 28, 2002 – The reviews of "Showtime" aren't going to be of much help in deciding whether to go see it, because they're across the board.
The Los Angeles Times says the film "displays an ingenuity, cleverness and briskness that never flags." The New York Post calls it "a wretchedly dumb, lazy and incoherent movie that's magically rendered watchable by Eddie Murphy's charm and Robert De Niro's presence." The New York Times accuses it of playing "every convention twice, once as parody and once by the book, but the movie, trying to be two things at once, fails at both."
What we've got here is a cop story and a comedy and a takeoff on the phenom of "reality-based TV." De Niro is a veteran detective who just wants to catch the crooks, push the paperwork and head home to watch TV and relax. Murphy is a patrolman who wants to be an actor but took the job after his waitron gig got canceled.
They make the news when Murphy muffs De Niro's undercover case and ends up handcuffed — with his own cuffs — to a fence. Network TV shoots it all, and a furious De Niro shoots up the TV camera. Hyper producer Rene Russo sees some real ratings potential and offers an ultimatum: De Niro agrees to star in a reality-based TV cop show, or the network sues the police for $10 million in damages. Not much choice here. And guess who the network picks to play his partner?
In a cameo scene, William Shatner plays himself giving De Niro and Murphy acting lessons, then it's off to bag the bad guys for the world to watch. As Hollywood.com puts it, "Cameras rolling, they bicker, bond and eventually solve the crime." It's a "real" crime, naturally, having to do with a drug-dealer villain who's stockpiling super-powerful guns for some purpose that's never quite made clear..
The Chief Report panned the film's multiple personalities: "Every so often there would be a joke about the camera, or the satellite truck would be following them during a car chase, but otherwise there was nothing about the reality show concept that made any difference." The reviewer also faulted a script and direction that kept the lead characters one-dimensional: Murphy was "reined in too much" and De Niro, "who we know can be funny as the straight man to a comedic partner ('Analyze This,' 'Meet the Parents') seemed more like a caricature of his serious self."
It's rated PG-13 and is playing at Sunny Isle Theaters.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

March 28, 2002 – The reviews of "Showtime" aren't going to be of much help in deciding whether to go see it, because they're across the board.
The Los Angeles Times says the film "displays an ingenuity, cleverness and briskness that never flags." The New York Post calls it "a wretchedly dumb, lazy and incoherent movie that's magically rendered watchable by Eddie Murphy's charm and Robert De Niro's presence." The New York Times accuses it of playing "every convention twice, once as parody and once by the book, but the movie, trying to be two things at once, fails at both."
What we've got here is a cop story and a comedy and a takeoff on the phenom of "reality-based TV." De Niro is a veteran detective who just wants to catch the crooks, push the paperwork and head home to watch TV and relax. Murphy is a patrolman who wants to be an actor but took the job after his waitron gig got canceled.
They make the news when Murphy muffs De Niro's undercover case and ends up handcuffed — with his own cuffs — to a fence. Network TV shoots it all, and a furious De Niro shoots up the TV camera. Hyper producer Rene Russo sees some real ratings potential and offers an ultimatum: De Niro agrees to star in a reality-based TV cop show, or the network sues the police for $10 million in damages. Not much choice here. And guess who the network picks to play his partner?
In a cameo scene, William Shatner plays himself giving De Niro and Murphy acting lessons, then it's off to bag the bad guys for the world to watch. As Hollywood.com puts it, "Cameras rolling, they bicker, bond and eventually solve the crime." It's a "real" crime, naturally, having to do with a drug-dealer villain who's stockpiling super-powerful guns for some purpose that's never quite made clear..
The Chief Report panned the film's multiple personalities: "Every so often there would be a joke about the camera, or the satellite truck would be following them during a car chase, but otherwise there was nothing about the reality show concept that made any difference." The reviewer also faulted a script and direction that kept the lead characters one-dimensional: Murphy was "reined in too much" and De Niro, "who we know can be funny as the straight man to a comedic partner ('Analyze This,' 'Meet the Parents') seemed more like a caricature of his serious self."
It's rated PG-13 and is playing at Market Square East on St. Thomas.

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

March 28, 2002 – The reviews of "Showtime" aren't going to be of much help in deciding whether to go see it, because they're across the board.
The Los Angeles Times says the film "displays an ingenuity, cleverness and briskness that never flags." The New York Post calls it "a wretchedly dumb, lazy and incoherent movie that's magically rendered watchable by Eddie Murphy's charm and Robert De Niro's presence." The New York Times accuses it of playing "every convention twice, once as parody and once by the book, but the movie, trying to be two things at once, fails at both."
What we've got here is a cop story and a comedy and a takeoff on the phenom of "reality-based TV." De Niro is a veteran detective who just wants to catch the crooks, push the paperwork and head home to watch TV and relax. Murphy is a patrolman who wants to be an actor but took the job after his waitron gig got canceled.
They make the news when Murphy muffs De Niro's undercover case and ends up handcuffed — with his own cuffs — to a fence. Network TV shoots it all, and a furious De Niro shoots up the TV camera. Hyper producer Rene Russo sees some real ratings potential and offers an ultimatum: De Niro agrees to star in a reality-based TV cop show, or the network sues the police for $10 million in damages. Not much choice here. And guess who the network picks to play his partner?
In a cameo scene, William Shatner plays himself giving De Niro and Murphy acting lessons, then it's off to bag the bad guys for the world to watch. As Hollywood.com puts it, "Cameras rolling, they bicker, bond and eventually solve the crime." It's a "real" crime, naturally, having to do with a drug-dealer villain who's stockpiling super-powerful guns for some purpose that's never quite made clear..
The Chief Report panned the film's multiple personalities: "Every so often there would be a joke about the camera, or the satellite truck would be following them during a car chase, but otherwise there was nothing about the reality show concept that made any difference." The reviewer also faulted a script and direction that kept the lead characters one-dimensional: Murphy was "reined in too much" and De Niro, "who we know can be funny as the straight man to a comedic partner ('Analyze This,' 'Meet the Parents') seemed more like a caricature of his serious self."
It's rated PG-13 and is playing at Market Square East.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

March 28, 2002 – All Innovative business offices will be closed Friday through Monday to observe the Easter holiday.
Customers are advised that the 912 repair service will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during those days. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.

March 28, 2002 – All Innovative business offices will be closed Friday through Monday to observe the Easter holiday.
Customers are advised that the 912 repair service will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during those days. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.