Feb. 20, 2002 – As the 50th anniversary celebration of Carnival continues, the V.I. Carnival Committee announces its 4th Annual Symposium, "From Whence We Came," on Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Palms Court Harborview Hotel. Panel discussions will feature many local speakers.
The public is invited, and registration is free. Registration begins at 8:15 a.m., and the morning plenary session at 9 a.m., with the wrap-up at 4 p.m. A continental breakfast will be served.
There will be three morning and two afternoon panel discussions, with time for public reaction, according to a Carnival Committee release.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Robert Nicholls, a professor at the University of the Virgin Islands, who has recently written "Old Time Masquerading in the USVI," which covers more than a century of celebrations and festive events. Nicholls is a researcher, historian and contributing writer.
Some of the topics to be covered in the panels are" "The Role and Future of Floats in Carnival," "How does the Carnival Showcase Virgin Islands Culture," "The Importance of preserving the Tangible Aspects of Carnival," and the need to "Pass it On to the Younger Generations."
Speakers include Gene Emanuel, Allan Richardson, Halvar Rabsatt, Elmo Roebuck, Myron Jackson, Delores Jowers, Dorothy Elskoe, St. Clair Potter, Alrid Lockhart, Bridgette Julius-Williams, Chalkdust, Ruth Moolenaar, John Hodge, Nicholas Friday, and Ron de Lugo.
For more information call the committee office at 776-3112, or Glen "Kwabena" Davis at 690-5556.

Feb. 20, 2002 – Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting death of one man and the wounding of another Monday night at the Harborview housing community, and a second suspect is being sought.
Ishmael "Akiel" McIntosh was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Donald Lewis. Lt. Gregory Bennerson, chief investigator in the case, said McIntosh was taken into custody Tuesday evening as he tried to enter a taxi van near Sion Farm.
According to Bennerson, police had warrants issued by Territorial Court Presiding Judge Maria Cabret for the arrest of McIntosh and Lenroy "Bend Up" Benjamin within hours of the shootings around 10:30 p.m. Monday. "It was a matter of lining up the evidence before executing the warrant," he said.
He said Benjamin remained at large Wednesday afternoon.
McIntosh was charged and Benjamin is being sought in connection with the death of Lewis, 31, who was struck in the head, and the wounding of David Encarnacion, 22. Encarnacion, who was wounded in the neck, was first taken to Juan F. Luis Hospital then airlifted to Puerto Rico. Bennerson said Wednesday that he had undergone surgery at Centro Medico and remained in critical condition.
Police responding to reports of shots fired Monday night in the Harborview area found the victims. According to police officials, it's believed that the two men, both residents of the housing community, were innocent bystanders, not targets of the gunfire. They were sitting outside an apartment building among a group of people playing video games, according to Police Chief Novelle Francis, when the two assailants sprayed the group with a volley of shots.
Francis said on Tuesday that the assailants apparently had gone to the building intending to commit a robbery which had to do with a feud between rival gangs.
Bennerson said the ongoing investigation is expected to lead to more arrests. Information on bail conditions for McIntosh was not immediately available.

Dear Source,
This is somewhat related to the other problems people have mentioned about not having access to deliveries from the mainland. We are subscribers to a daily newspaper, Investor's Business Daily. We should receive a paper every day, even though it may be a day or two behind (we understand this). But the way they are delivered is truly ridiculous. We will get a week-old issue one day, nothing the next, and then three or four issues at one time.
They are mailed from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to the Frederiksted post office. When we had a subscription to this newspaper delivered to our P.O. box at the Kingshill post office, we received one every day. We called to talk to the postmaster. He was on break. We called back. He was at lunch. The man I talked to told me that a "daily" newspaper was not a "daily newspaper." Huh? Did I miss something?
We also subscribed to Money magazine. After we received two issues, our carrier sent word to the magazine company that the magazine was "undeliverable," effectively canceling our subscription. Yet, this same carrier delivered a letter from Money magazine using that same address.. Why wasn't the letter also "undeliverable"? Make sense? It doesn't to me. I can see why people are using e-mail. UPS, faxes and any other means of delivery of mail, rather than the U.S. Postal Service. Why can't they get it right? Help!
Wayne Myers
St. Croix

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dear Source,
As a V.I. resident, I receive letters and packages mailed from all over the United States. Until recently, most were delivered within four to six days if they were Priority Mail except for items from my son in Washington, D.C. He mailed my birthday present on Jan. 3 and it arrived five weeks later — Priority Mail!
In the last three years, the local mail service has improved considerably. Items mailed for local island delivery arrive the following day. And, according to the tracking record on the U.S. Postal Service Internet site, items mailed from here to the states arrive at the designated post office within five days but frequently take considerably longer to reach their destinations. Maybe you need to have a word with the USPS in Washington, D.C. Good luck.
Carol Lotz
St. Thomas

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dear Source,
As a V.I. resident, I receive letters and packages mailed from all over the United States. Until recently, most were delivered within four to six days if they were Priority Mail except for items from my son in Washington, D.C. He mailed my birthday present on Jan. 3 and it arrived five weeks later — Priority Mail!
In the last three years, the local mail service has improved considerably. Items mailed for local island delivery arrive the following day. And, according to the tracking record on the U.S. Postal Service Internet site, items mailed from here to the states arrive at the designated post office within five days but frequently take considerably longer to reach their destinations. Maybe you need to have a word with the USPS in Washington, D.C. Good luck.
Carol Lotz
St. Thomas

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dear Source,
In the last 14 years of living on St. Croix, I have learned so much about the U.S. Postal Service that I could work as a postal consultant. I have used the Postal Service's web site feedback service twice in the last few years. Both times the response was vague and unhelpful. Most of the territory's mail problems are with stateside routing, yet all the feedback offered to me was a suggestion to contact the V.I. postmaster with my concerns or call a regional number in Puerto Rico which no one ever answers.
Here's some interesting postal information: After years of frustration with delays in Priority Mail, last year I decided to keep some statistics:
I received 91 pieces of mail via Priority Mail in 2001, an overwhelming majority of which were sent from the Northeastern United States. Of the 84 items for which I had information on the date they were mailed:
11 arrived within one week.
57 took longer than one week, but less than two weeks to arrive.
16 took longer than two weeks to arrive.
No matter what the U.S. Postal Service wants to claim, based on my results — which by the number of items tracked could clearly be deemed typical — the average length of time that a Priority Mail item takes to be delivered in the U.S. Virgin Islands is approximately 10 days. It is almost never two to three days.
I believe that nothing is going to change anytime soon with mail delivery to the territory until the U.S. Postal Service makes a concentrated effort to track its packages – step by step and tries to uncover the stateside culprits who hold up, misdirect or otherwise foul up delivery of V.I. mail.
Remember also that delivery confirmation is not tracking. It is an especially wise service for those shipping merchandise to verify delivery, but it does not tell you how packages are routed. I think it may just be wise to learn to live with the frustration of mail delivery in the V.I. You simply cannot change an institution like the U.S. Postal Service overnight.
David Capriola
St. Croix

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Feb. 20, 2002 – Sebastien Majorettes and Marching Band are calling all alumni to a meeting at 6 p.m. Friday. Feb. 22, at the Windward Passage Hotel, Caribbean Room.
So, all of you who've ever marched and twirled up the Carnival parade route – ever since 1957, when the Sebastien Majorettes began – please come out to discuss plans for Carnival's 50th anniversary and reunion.
Anyone who's off island, please send a representative.
For more information, call Helen Sebastien at 774-0549 or leave a message at 775-7315.

Dear Source,
In the last 14 years of living on St. Croix, I have learned so much about the U.S. Postal Service that I could work as a postal consultant. I have used the Postal Service's web site feedback service twice in the last few years. Both times the response was vague and unhelpful. Most of the territory's mail problems are with stateside routing, yet all the feedback offered to me was a suggestion to contact the V.I. postmaster with my concerns or call a regional number in Puerto Rico which no one ever answers.
Here's some interesting postal information: After years of frustration with delays in Priority Mail, last year I decided to keep some statistics:
I received 91 pieces of mail via Priority Mail in 2001, an overwhelming majority of which were sent from the Northeastern United States. Of the 84 items for which I had information on the date they were mailed:
11 arrived within one week.
57 took longer than one week, but less than two weeks to arrive.
16 took longer than two weeks to arrive.
No matter what the U.S. Postal Service wants to claim, based on my results — which by the number of items tracked could clearly be deemed typical — the average length of time that a Priority Mail item takes to be delivered in the U.S. Virgin Islands is approximately 10 days. It is almost never two to three days.
I believe that nothing is going to change anytime soon with mail delivery to the territory until the U.S. Postal Service makes a concentrated effort to track its packages – step by step and tries to uncover the stateside culprits who hold up, misdirect or otherwise foul up delivery of V.I. mail.
Remember also that delivery confirmation is not tracking. It is an especially wise service for those shipping merchandise to verify delivery, but it does not tell you how packages are routed. I think it may just be wise to learn to live with the frustration of mail delivery in the V.I. You simply cannot change an institution like the U.S. Postal Service overnight.
David Capriola
St. Croix

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dear Source,
In the last 14 years of living on St. Croix, I have learned so much about the U.S. Postal Service that I could work as a postal consultant. I have used the Postal Service's web site feedback service twice in the last few years. Both times the response was vague and unhelpful. Most of the territory's mail problems are with stateside routing, yet all the feedback offered to me was a suggestion to contact the V.I. postmaster with my concerns or call a regional number in Puerto Rico which no one ever answers.
Here's some interesting postal information: After years of frustration with delays in Priority Mail, last year I decided to keep some statistics:
I received 91 pieces of mail via Priority Mail in 2001, an overwhelming majority of which were sent from the Northeastern United States. Of the 84 items for which I had information on the date they were mailed:
11 arrived within one week.
57 took longer than one week, but less than two weeks to arrive.
16 took longer than two weeks to arrive.
No matter what the U.S. Postal Service wants to claim, based on my results — which by the number of items tracked could clearly be deemed typical — the average length of time that a Priority Mail item takes to be delivered in the U.S. Virgin Islands is approximately 10 days. It is almost never two to three days.
I believe that nothing is going to change anytime soon with mail delivery to the territory until the U.S. Postal Service makes a concentrated effort to track its packages – step by step and tries to uncover the stateside culprits who hold up, misdirect or otherwise foul up delivery of V.I. mail.
Remember also that delivery confirmation is not tracking. It is an especially wise service for those shipping merchandise to verify delivery, but it does not tell you how packages are routed. I think it may just be wise to learn to live with the frustration of mail delivery in the V.I. You simply cannot change an institution like the U.S. Postal Service overnight.
David Capriola
St. Croix

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Feb. 20, 2002 – The stomach was rumbling and we were looking for something different for dinner. We had been to what used to be called the Magens Point Hotel back when it was brand new, and now and then thereafter, but not for a long time. Since the island is always in a state of flux, we decided it was time to revisit what's now Magens Point Resort and check out Tropicalia.
Good decision.
For openers, the scenics are superb. You can dine at the side of the swimming pool with Magens Bay in the distance. The hillside has become a nighttime fairyland of lights, and a full moon makes the whole panorama picture perfect.
There were a few locals enjoying the pool table at the bar across from the pool, but their merriment didn't carry to the dining area. We had our choice of poolside, inside or in-between. We also had our choice of a table by candlelight or candlelight supplemented with soft overhead illumination. Finally, this is a real sleeper: The madding crowd is not here, and there are plenty of tables, enabling companions to enjoy their meal and each other with only the gentle attentions of the wait person and owner/chef.
The dinner menu is relatively simple, with good choices among native, continental (in the sense of U.S.) and international cuisine. We tried the conch in butter sauce and a creamed fettuccini with shrimp cooked in lobster bisque. The conch was tender, the onion was succulent and the sauce was meant to be lavished on rice and sopped up with bread. In fact, the rice had such a good character that it stood on its own, leaving plenty of sauce for sopping.
The vegetables were a nice mix of squash and broccoli flashed to perfection, leaving a crunching product that was perfection either alone or lightly coated with conch butter sauce or the most mouthwatering cream of lobster bisque. Just thinking about them makes my taste buds get in gear.
The accompanying house salad was a nice mixture of greens with chunks of bell pepper. The salad dressing was served in a cup, allowing us to gauge how much or how little we wanted to use. This is something I appreciate, as I have grown to despise salads drenched in someone else's idea of an appropriate dressing which, however good it happens to be, becomes the death of the very greens it is supposed to complement.
The bread was tender with just enough crust to let you know the chef passed Advanced Breads 202 with flying colors. Spread with a taste of butter it did an excellent job complementing the salad and an outstanding job soaking up the conch sauce and cleaning my plate of the really mouth-watering lobster bisque cream.
Tropicalia has a good wine list, but we weren't in the mood, with light beers providing the palate cleansing.
The restrooms, which serve both the dining area and the bar, are spacious and clean.
There is ample parking on the property, but on a busy night you may be in for a bit of a stroll. The good news is the property is well landscaped and you will enjoy your stroll.
Tropicalia
Ambience: 4 stars
Food: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Value: 5 stars
Magens Point Resort, junction of Mahogany Run and Magens Bay roads
(340) 777-6678
Dinner 6-10 p.m. daily
Live music Friday until 1 a.m.
Amex, MasterCard, Visa
Editor's note: The Tottering Taster is a senior citizen dedicated to enjoying good food who periodically dines in local establishments to bring Source readers unsolicited assessments biased in favor of an ultimate eating-out experience. The individual uses a pseudonym so restaurant personnel will not be able to identify the reviewer and try to influence the review.