Funeral services for Thomas F. Thomas, who passed away on Friday, Dec. 22, are pending. He is survived by stepsons Noel Boynes and Carl Powell; daughers Adelita, Caroline (Pla), Caroline (STT), Cecile Thomas, Richards, Avilda Thomas Mathias, Elsie Thomas Trotman, Lydia Thomas Brow; brother Randolph Thomas; 25 grandchildren, 19 great gramdcjo;drem. 4 great great grandchildren; and many other friends and relatives too numerous to mention.
Funeral arrangements entrusted to the Creque Funeral Home.

Jean Etsinger
Dec. 23, 2001 – Classical and flamenco guitarist Francisco Burgos will be making his Caribbean debut this week performing in the Virgin Islands — and for the occasion he will be playing something quite rare: a work composed for classical guitar that has a Caribbean theme.
Burgos will appear on Thursday at the St. John School of the Arts in Cruz Bay.
The Caribbean-influenced work is "Suite Antillaise," by Francis Kleynjans, a contemporary Parisian composer.
"When I was invited to perform in the Virgin Islands, I started to look for music to be included in my program that somehow relates to this area," Burgos said in an interview from his home in Miami. "By chance, I ended up buying Kleynjans 'Suite Antillaise,' since the title was very suggestive …
"The more I played this piece, the more I fell in love with it. It is a very evocative work, at least from my point of view. Images of sailing ships coming into the harbor of an island in the French Antilles during the early 1900s … people saying goodbye from the docks to travelers who will sail the oceans came to my mind. I don't know if that was Kleynjans' idea when he composed this piece, but it definitely has made that impression on me. It is a wonderful piece to perform."
This is the fourth year that Tillett Gardens and the St. John School of the Arts have booked a classical/flamenco guitarist for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Spanish artist Virginia Luque appeared in 1998, and U.S. guitarist Dennis Koster was featured in 1999 and 2000.
Burgos, born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, brings a new dimension as a native Latin American. In a repertoire that spans five centuries, he draws as much on his New World roots as on the Old World traditions of classical and flamenco music.
He studied classical guitar at Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music and lived in Spain for 11 years, studying with Andres Segovia, Jose Luis Rodrigo and a specialist in ancient guitar music, Argentina's Jorge Fresno. In New York, where he made his classical guitar debut in 1979 at the Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, he studied 20th century music analysis and conducting at the Juilliard School.
The first portion of Burgos' program on both St. Thomas and St. John consists of classical works — a prelude, fugue and allegro by J.S. Bach; two sonatas by Scarlatti; and works by three Spanish composers — Variations on a Theme of Mozart by Fernando Sor, three pieces including "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" by Francisco Tarrega, and "Asturias" by Isaac Albeniz.
In the second part of the program, Burgos will perform "Cochichando" ("Whispering") by the Brazilian choro popular music composer Pixinguinha, the "Suite Antillaise," a sonatina by Spain's Federico Moreno-Torroba and several pieces by contemporary flamenco composers Paco Pena and Juan Martin.
"From a very young age, Brazilian music has been one of my favorites," Burgos said. "I
first came in contact with it in the early '60s when bossa nova came out with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa, Badem Powell and many other great musicians from Brazil. But later in life, when I was studying classical guitar in Spain, Villalobos' music became the door to enter and discover other types of Brazilian music styles that were more rooted in the popular music of Brazil, specially the choro.
"This is the case of Pixinguinha, who even though he did not write for guitar per se, his music — in this case arranged for guitar by Carlos Barbosa Lima — seems to fit the guitar perfectly, and it is really fun to play. It has an air of samba, very lively."
Federico Moreno-Torroba, Burgos said, "was a great Spanish composer. He wrote many works for classical guitar, first at the request of Andres Segovia and later for many other guitarists. He was the first composer in the 20th century who was not a guitarist to decide to tackle the task of writing a large-scale work for solo guitar. The sonatina that I will be performing was his first composition for guitar … His music has a very Spanish flavor from the Castillian region of Spain. I find his music very romantic and intimate but at the same time, like in his fastest movements, he shows a knack for rhythm that makes you dance."
Burgos is a composer, too. His work "The Return" was premiered in 1992 in observance of the Columbus Quincentenary. The piece is the final movement of a trilogy whose first parts are "Mediterranean" and "Tropical Night." According to the notes from his new CD, "Rhapsody," the idea behind each movement "was to create a mood for each stage of Columbus' voyage from Spain to the Caribbean and back to Spain."
He also has taught classical guitar at Spain's Avila Conservatory and at Glassboro State College in New Jersey and markets his own method of study. He encourages students of guitar to "learn as many musical styles as possible," and readily acknowledges that rock, pop, jazz and Latin genres have influenced his development "as a performer and musician."
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for students with I.D. They're available in advance at Connections on St. John. If the performance doesn't sell out in advance, tickets also will be available at the door. Reservations are not taken by telephone. For more information, call 779-4322 or 776-6777.
Burgos also will appear Wednesday night on St. Thomas at Tillett Gardens. For information about that performance, call 775-1929, fax to 775-9482 or e-mail to Arts Alive.

Dec. 23, 2001 – Classical and flamenco guitarist Francisco Burgos will be making his Caribbean debut this week performing in the Virgin Islands — and for the occasion he will be playing something quite rare: a work composed for classical guitar that has a Caribbean theme.
Burgos will appear on Thursday at the St. John School of the Arts in Cruz Bay.
The Caribbean-influenced work is "Suite Antillaise," by Francis Kleynjans, a contemporary Parisian composer.
"When I was invited to perform in the Virgin Islands, I started to look for music to be included in my program that somehow relates to this area," Burgos said in an interview from his home in Miami. "By chance, I ended up buying Kleynjans 'Suite Antillaise,' since the title was very suggestive …
"The more I played this piece, the more I fell in love with it. It is a very evocative work, at least from my point of view. Images of sailing ships coming into the harbor of an island in the French Antilles during the early 1900s … people saying goodbye from the docks to travelers who will sail the oceans came to my mind. I don't know if that was Kleynjans' idea when he composed this piece, but it definitely has made that impression on me. It is a wonderful piece to perform."
This is the fourth year that Tillett Gardens and the St. John School of the Arts have booked a classical/flamenco guitarist for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Spanish artist Virginia Luque appeared in 1998, and U.S. guitarist Dennis Koster was featured in 1999 and 2000.
Burgos, born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, brings a new dimension as a native Latin American. In a repertoire that spans five centuries, he draws as much on his New World roots as on the Old World traditions of classical and flamenco music.
He studied classical guitar at Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music and lived in Spain for 11 years, studying with Andres Segovia, Jose Luis Rodrigo and a specialist in ancient guitar music, Argentina's Jorge Fresno. In New York, where he made his classical guitar debut in 1979 at the Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, he studied 20th century music analysis and conducting at the Juilliard School.
The first portion of Burgos' program on both St. Thomas and St. John consists of classical works — a prelude, fugue and allegro by J.S. Bach; two sonatas by Scarlatti; and works by three Spanish composers — Variations on a Theme of Mozart by Fernando Sor, three pieces including "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" by Francisco Tarrega, and "Asturias" by Isaac Albeniz.
In the second part of the program, Burgos will perform "Cochichando" ("Whispering") by the Brazilian choro popular music composer Pixinguinha, the "Suite Antillaise," a sonatina by Spain's Federico Moreno-Torroba and several pieces by contemporary flamenco composers Paco Pena and Juan Martin.
"From a very young age, Brazilian music has been one of my favorites," Burgos said. "I
first came in contact with it in the early '60s when bossa nova came out with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa, Badem Powell and many other great musicians from Brazil. But later in life, when I was studying classical guitar in Spain, Villalobos' music became the door to enter and discover other types of Brazilian music styles that were more rooted in the popular music of Brazil, specially the choro.
"This is the case of Pixinguinha, who even though he did not write for guitar per se, his music — in this case arranged for guitar by Carlos Barbosa Lima — seems to fit the guitar perfectly, and it is really fun to play. It has an air of samba, very lively."
Federico Moreno-Torroba, Burgos said, "was a great Spanish composer. He wrote many works for classical guitar, first at the request of Andres Segovia and later for many other guitarists. He was the first composer in the 20th century who was not a guitarist to decide to tackle the task of writing a large-scale work for solo guitar. The sonatina that I will be performing was his first composition for guitar … His music has a very Spanish flavor from the Castillian region of Spain. I find his music very romantic and intimate but at the same time, like in his fastest movements, he shows a knack for rhythm that makes you dance."
Burgos is a composer, too. His work "The Return" was premiered in 1992 in observance of the Columbus Quincentenary. The piece is the final movement of a trilogy whose first parts are "Mediterranean" and "Tropical Night." According to the notes from his new CD, "Rhapsody," the idea behind each movement "was to create a mood for each stage of Columbus' voyage from Spain to the Caribbean and back to Spain."
He also has taught classical guitar at Spain's Avila Conservatory and at Glassboro State College in New Jersey and markets his own method of study. He encourages students of guitar to "learn as many musical styles as possible," and readily acknowledges that rock, pop, jazz and Latin genres have influenced his development "as a performer and musician."
He will be using just one guitar in his Virgin Islands concerts. With tropical weather and the out-of-doors venue on St. Thomas, he said, "I might have to tune it often."
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for students with I.D. They're available in advance at Connections. If the performance doesn't sell out in advance, tickets also will be available at the door. Reservations are not taken by phone. For more information, call 779-4322 or 776-6777.
Burgos also will appear Wednesday at Tillett Gardens on St. Thomas. For information about that performance, call 775-1929, fax to 775-9482 or e-mail to Arts Alive.

Dec. 23, 2001 – Classical and flamenco guitarist Francisco Burgos will be making his Caribbean debut this week performing in the Virgin Islands — and for the occasion he will be playing something quite rare: a work composed for classical guitar that has a Caribbean theme.
Burgos will appear Wednesday at Tillett Gardens in the Classics in the Garden series opener for the Arts Alive concert season.
The Caribbean-influenced work is "Suite Antillaise," by Francis Kleynjans, a contemporary Parisian composer.
"When I was invited to perform in the Virgin Islands, I started to look for music to be included in my program that somehow relates to this area," Burgos said in an interview from his home in Miami. "By chance, I ended up buying Kleynjans 'Suite Antillaise,' since the title was very suggestive …
"The more I played this piece, the more I fell in love with it. It is a very evocative work, at least from my point of view. Images of sailing ships coming into the harbor of an island in the French Antilles during the early 1900s … people saying goodbye from the docks to travelers who will sail the oceans came to my mind. I don't know if that was Kleynjans' idea when he composed this piece, but it definitely has made that impression on me. It is a wonderful piece to perform."
This is the fourth year that Tillett Gardens and the St. John School of the Arts have booked a classical/flamenco guitarist for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Spanish artist Virginia Luque appeared in 1998, and U.S. guitarist Dennis Koster was featured in 1999 and 2000.
Burgos, born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, brings a new dimension as a native Latin American. In a repertoire that spans five centuries, he draws as much on his New World roots as on the Old World traditions of classical and flamenco music.
He studied classical guitar at Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music and lived in Spain for 11 years, studying with Andres Segovia, Jose Luis Rodrigo and a specialist in ancient guitar music, Argentina's Jorge Fresno. In New York, where he made his classical guitar debut in 1979 at the Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, he studied 20th century music analysis and conducting at the Juilliard School.
The first portion of Burgos' program on both St. Thomas and St. John consists of classical works — a prelude, fugue and allegro by J.S. Bach; two sonatas by Scarlatti; and works by three Spanish composers — Variations on a Theme of Mozart by Fernando Sor, three pieces including "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" by Francisco Tarrega, and "Asturias" by Isaac Albeniz.
In the second part of the program, Burgos will perform "Cochichando" ("Whispering") by the Brazilian choro popular music composer Pixinguinha, the "Suite Antillaise," a sonatina by Spain's Federico Moreno-Torroba and several pieces by contemporary flamenco composers Paco Pena and Juan Martin.
"From a very young age, Brazilian music has been one of my favorites," Burgos said. "I
first came in contact with it in the early '60s when bossa nova came out with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa, Badem Powell and many other great musicians from Brazil. But later in life, when I was studying classical guitar in Spain, Villalobos' music became the door to enter and discover other types of Brazilian music styles that were more rooted in the popular music of Brazil, specially the choro.
"This is the case of Pixinguinha, who even though he did not write for guitar per se, his music — in this case arranged for guitar by Carlos Barbosa Lima — seems to fit the guitar perfectly, and it is really fun to play. It has an air of samba, very lively."
Federico Moreno-Torroba, Burgos said, "was a great Spanish composer. He wrote many works for classical guitar, first at the request of Andres Segovia and later for many other guitarists. He was the first composer in the 20th century who was not a guitarist to decide to tackle the task of writing a large-scale work for solo guitar. The sonatina that I will be performing was his first composition for guitar … His music has a very Spanish flavor from the Castillian region of Spain. I find his music very romantic and intimate but at the same time, like in his fastest movements, he shows a knack for rhythm that makes you dance."
Burgos is a composer, too. His work "The Return" was premiered in 1992 in observance of the Columbus Quincentenary. The piece is the final movement of a trilogy whose first parts are "Mediterranean" and "Tropical Night." According to the notes from his new CD, "Rhapsody," the idea behind each movement "was to create a mood for each stage of Columbus' voyage from Spain to the Caribbean and back to Spain."
He also has taught classical guitar at Spain's Avila Conservatory and at Glassboro State College in New Jersey and markets his own method of study. He encourages students of guitar to "learn as many musical styles as possible," and readily acknowledges that rock, pop, jazz and Latin genres have influenced his development "as a performer and musician."
He will be using just one guitar in his Virgin Islands concerts. With tropical weather and the out-of-doors venue on St. Thomas, he said, "I might have to tune it often."
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets are $30 and $25. Still available in addition to individual concert tickets are season packages of any four performances which offer a 10 percent discount.
Café Amici will cater a pre-performance dinner in Tillett Gardens that will have the caterer's "signature tiramisu as the finale," Classics in the Garden producer Rhoda Tillett said. Dinner patrons remain at their tables for the concert afterward. The prix fixe for the three-course mean is $30 excluding bar service and gratuity.
Reservations are urged for the concert and are required for the dinner. They be made by calling 775-1929, faxing to 775-9482 or e-mailing to Arts Alive.
Burgos also will perform Thursday at the St. John School of the Arts. For information about that program, call 776-6777.

Dec. 23, 2001 – Indulging in holiday food favorites doesn't have to mean putting on extra pounds for the New Year. A "slimmed-down" sweetbread offers a way to savor the flavor of the season and maintain your waistline, too.
Traditionally served for Christmas morning breakfast along with a slice of ham and a cup of guavaberry, sweetbread is a cross between a rich bread and a dessert. Its richness comes from being chock full of dried fruits that have been soaked in rum or guavaberry liqueur, along with staples such as flour, butter, sugar and eggs.
In the recipe below, developed by St. Thomas culture-bearer Dorothy Elskoe and registered dietitian Ermin Olive for "Shape-Up Virgin Islands" on WTJX TV, pureed prunes, egg whites in place of whole eggs and fat-free evaporated milk replace much of the fat in traditional recipes. In place of sugar, Splenda — a calorie-free sugar substitute — is used. All the spices stay the same to give the bread its characteristic taste. Dried fruits add flavor, too. While this sweetbread is virtually fat-free, it isn't calorie free, so portion control is still advisable for those concerned about adding holiday pounds.
Best yet for weight control, head out caroling this Christmas season and enjoy a walk around your neighborhood or down at Emancipation Garden. Then when the singing begins: "Good morning, good morning, I come for me Guavaberry …" just slice into a slimmed-down sweetbread and get ready to start a healthful New Year!
Slimmed-Down Sweetbread
1 1/2 cups pureed prunes
1 1/2 to 2 cups Splenda
6 egg whites
3 tablespoons vanilla essence
2 tablespoons almond essence
1/2 cup guavaberry liqueur
1 teaspoon lemon essence
6 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon lecithin granules
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-teaspoon anise seeds
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 (13-ounce) can fat-free evaporated milk mixed with 2 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 pounds raisins (floured)
1 pound mixed dried fruits (floured)
1/2 pound currants (floured)
Garnish: red and green candied cherries, pecans or walnuts, seedless prunes
Sugar syrup
Place prune puree in a large mixing bowl. Add Splenda and egg whites. Stir in vanilla and almond essence, guavaberry liqueur, and lemon essence. In a second mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, lecithin granules, nutmeg, cinnamon, anise and lemon peel. Add flour mixture to flavored sugar mixture, alternating with milk-and-water solution. Stir in floured raisins, mixed dried fruits and currants. Spray three fluted or Bundt pans with nonstick coating spray. Spoon dough evenly into the pans. Decorate top of each bread with red and green candied cherries, pecans or walnuts and seedless prunes. Bake at 325 F for 30 to 45 minutes.
When done, remove breads from the oven. Brush with sugar syrup made by dissolving 1 tablespoon brown sugar in 1/2 cup water. The sugar syrup gives the bread a shiny appearance.
Makes three sweetbreads, each with 24 servings. Per slice: 315 calories, 0.5 gms fat (1 percent fat calories), 0.5 mg cholesterol, 157 mg sodium.

Dec. 23, 2001 – Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II has ratcheted up the running squabble between his insurance division and the territory's insurance industry by slapping an unannounced moratorium on companies to stop them from canceling customers' property policies.
James, who also acts as the territory's Insurance commissioner, announced his order in a release late Thursday. He said it was prompted by "threats" from unidentified insurance companies informing him that they would not renew or would stop altogether writing property insurance policies unless the Banking and Insurance Division allows rate increases.
"The cancellation or non-renewal of property of [sic] insurance policies as announced by certain insurers will pose a significant danger to insurance consumers and will destabilize the insurance market," James said. "Insurance companies while doing business in the territory, have an obligation to preserve the integrity of insurance and the insurance markets, and to contribute to an orderly market for property insurance."
James's move caps a year of clashes between Banking and Insurance officials and the V.I. Insurance Association. At issue are the opinion held by James and others that the cost of insurance in the territory is too high; the mutually agreed-upon fact that there is a dearth of new insurers in the territory and a lack of insurance capacity; and the Insurance Association's view that the failure of James's office to grant legitimate rate increases has kept new companies from doing business here.
In a statement issued Friday, the Insurance Association said it didn't know about the moratorium order until after James's press release was circulated to the media. The statement called James's move "political."
"The Virgin Islands Insurance Association has yet to see the actual order," the organization's statement said. "Our members were disappointed to learn of this order through a call from a reporter as opposed to receipt of the actual order or notice of it from the lieutenant governor.
"The association and its members are concerned about adverse effects this order will likely have on the availability of insurance to all property owners in the territory," it said. "We trust the political nature of this action is as obvious to the public as it is to our members."
James said the order will not apply if a company can prove that a cancellation or non-renewal is necessary for it or its reinsurer — a company such as Lloyd's of London that insures or underwrites insurance companies — to avoid "unreasonable risk or insolvency."
A company seeking an exception to the order must apply for and obtain a separate written order before it can cancel a policy, James said. The order will be in effect until June 30, 2002, unless it is terminated earlier or extended.
James said he will hold a "hearing" at 10 a.m. Jan. 29 in his office on St. Thomas at which insurance companies can show cause why the order should not remain in effect.

Dec. 21, 2001 – Most people look at newspaper photographs of Afghanistan — in print or online — to keep up with the events taking place there.
Jayne Winter of St. Thomas looks at them to keep up with her son.
Damon Winter, who grew up on the island from age 6 until he graduated from All Saints Cathedral School in 1993, is a photojournalist with the Dallas Morning News. For the last month he has been on assignment in Afghanistan.
"His photos have been running almost daily on the cover of the newspaper," Jayne Winter, advertising director for A.H. Riise Stores, said Friday. "And for many days they also were featured in slide shows" posted on the newspaper's web site.
A "slide show" is a set of photos that examine a theme; clicking on an arrow in the corner of a frame allows the viewer to see the pictures in succession with explanatory captions. Damon's Afghanistan slide shows have covered such topics as lack of health care in Kabul, the villages and expanses of the Shimali Plains, Taliban prisoners and the Al-Qaeda caves in the Tora Bora region of the Black Mountains.
"I am very proud of him and of his sensitive and poignant portrayals of a part of Afghanistan to which few of us are privy by way of the popular media," his mother said.
"Although the war is effectively over, he will remain in Afghanistan covering the transitional government's inauguration and the peacekeeping forces' arrival and activities on and after Dec. 22," she added.
For a young man who didn't have a clue that he would embark on a career in photojournalism until his mother gave him a camera for Christmas his junior year in college, Damon Winter has come far and fast in the field.
He was majoring in environmental science at Columbia University in New York City. After he got the camera, "he just went with it," his mother recalls, taking photography classes at Columbia even though he didn't change his major.
After graduating in 1997, he took seven months off to travel — first to such staple stops as London and Greece, but then on to Turkey, the Middle East, Nepal and India, where he spent several months.
He joined the staff of the Dallas Morning News two and a half years ago — his first and only full-time job as a photojournalist — after having interned there and earlier at newspapers in Oxnard, Calif., and Indianapolis.
This year, at the age of 26, he was one of the top prize-winners in the annual Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar photography competition, taking first place in the pictorial category for a shot of great egrets, second place in portrait/personality for a female study he titled "Sarah Islam," honorable mention in sports-picture story for his black-and-white scenes from the Angola Prison Rodeo at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and third place for best portfolio. "Sarah Islam" also was published in the August issue of Communication Arts magazine.
Soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, Damon told his mother his newspaper was considering sending him to Pakistan. "That was when the war was just starting, and I was really worried, really scared," she recalled. But then someone else went instead. "By the time his real assignment came up, I had accepted the idea," she said. "It's a great opportunity for him career wise and life-experience wise. I didn't want him to go, but I didn't want him to miss out on it."
Technology being what it is these days, they have been able to stay in touch on a fairly regular basis. "He shoots all of his work with a digital camera and uploads the images using a satellite phone," she said. "He also carries a laptop computer and sends e-mail using a group link. He works 18-hour days, so his messages are short, but they're all I need to know he's OK."
She spoke to him Friday, "and he said it's not going well for many of the journalists in getting access to the inauguration events, because the security is so high."
Following are links to Damon's recent photography in Afghanistan of Al-Qaeda prisoners, Kabul after the fall, and in the caves of Al-Qaeda.
These links are to his Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar photo contest winning works: "Great Egrets", "Sarah Islam" and "Angola Prison Rodeo".
This one is to pictures in a multimedia presentation on a firehouse ladder company in New York's Chinatown section that he photographed for the Dallas Morning News following the attack on the World Trade Center. It's titled "Attack on America: We're a Different Breed".
"I must drive all my friends and co-workers crazy with all my talk about Damon, but I am so proud of him," Jayne Winter said of her son, whose 27th birthday is Christmas Eve. "As afraid as I have often felt at the thought of him being so far away, and in a place that could be very dangerous, I have come to trust that he has been given a mission — to bring images to the world that it won't see in the headline news, a glimpse of what life is like for the 'other' Afghanis.
"He says Afghanistan is beautiful and the people are gracious and hospitable — they insist that he sit and take tea and cookies before he gets down to work."
When he calls, she says, "although he is often tired from the long day's work, he recounts his experiences with sensitivity to the conditions of life around him, and his appreciation for the kindness and generosity of those he has come into contact with along his journey. I'm really thankful for his having this experience, and for the stories and insights he has shared with me along the way."

Dec. 21, 2001 – The Public Services Commission on Friday unanimously elected attorney Desmond Maynard to be its chair in its first action with a majority of new members.
Maynard, who is beginning his second term on the commission, was a vocal critic in his previous term of actions taken by the board under the chairmanship of Walter Challenger.
Earlier this year, Maynard told a Senate committee that he believed the PSC had lost the public's trust and had gained the reputation of letting slide its duties of overseeing the territory's public utilities — local telephone service, inter-island ferries, cable television, water and electricity.
Friday's PSC meeting on St. Thomas started with the newly confirmed commissioners taking their oath of office, and then they quickly got down to work. All seven voting commissioners — Maynard, Luther Renee, Verne David, Alecia Wells, Valencio Jackson, Jerris Browne and Alric Simmonds — attended the meeting. The two non-voting members, Sens. Donald "Ducks" Cole and Emmett Hansen II, were absent.
David, Jackson, Browne and Simmonds are all new to the commission. David asked that the record show he lives on St. Thomas, not on St. Croix, as was reported in a Source article earlier this week.
After electing Maynard its chair, the board voted 4-3 to elect Renee vice chair. Wells also was nominated for the position. Both are previous commission members whose terms have expired but who by law can continue to serve until successors are named.
Maynard thanked his colleagues for their support and then outlined some of his objectives for the commission. "It's our intention to try to enhance the stature of this commission," he said.
Renee also noted some of the problems the commission has seen. "I suspect the consuming public has lost confidence in us," he said. "The utility companies may have lost some confidence in us. The senators think we have not been forthcoming. We get hit from all areas."
The commission then got down to business, quickly approving non-controversial interconnectivity contracts between Innovative Telephone and several wireless, cellular and long- distance phone companies doing business in the territory.
The commission also voted to hire an investigator to gather information about a proposed contract between the Water and Power Authority and Caribe Waste Technologies, which was selected by the administration to build and operate a plant to process the territory's solid waste. The contract called for WAPA to buy electricity from CWT that would be produced in the waste processing. At its November meeting, the WAPA board turned down the deal.
CWT has petitioned the PSC to review the matter, challenging allegations made by WAPA's executive director, Joseph Thomas, that the technologies the plant would use are unproven commercially. If the commission decides in favor of CWT after its investigation, it could direct WAPA to buy power from the company.
In other business, the PSC voted to accept the recommendation of its legal counsel, Frederick Watts, and not proceed with a rate investigation of the territory's cable television providers. Watts said the commission does not have the statutory authority to conduct such an investigation and would have to get the approval of the Federal Communications Commission if it wanted that oversight.
The PSC voted to apply to the FCC for that approval.
A rate investigation into WAPA practices also has stalled, as WAPA has filed papers in Territorial Court asking that the appointed hearing investigator, Ronald Russell, be taken off the case. WAPA has not turned over requested documents to the investigator for about six months.
WAPA attorney Samuel Hall Jr. said Russell is suing WAPA in an unrelated case, and that the utility company believes it has the right to work with an investigator who does not have an outside interest in its records. Both Hall and Thomas stressed that they had no reason to question Russell's integrity personally, but that they would oppose any investigator who was involved in other litigation against the company.
The PSC voted to hold a hearing at which WAPA must show why it has not turned over the documents.
The rate investigation itself is not expected to move forward until Territorial Court Judge Ive Swan rules on WAPA's request to have Russell removed as investigator.

Dec. 20, 2001 – Crucian businessman Chuck Ulrich put out a call for help in his ongoing efforts to bring New York City firefighters to the Virgin Islands for a relaxing vacation, and St. Thomas senator Carlton Dowe has answered it.
A career fireman and graduate of the National Fire Academy who became the youngest person ever to serve as fire chief of the St. Thomas-St. John district, Dowe brightened at the prospect of lending a hand. "I'll be happy to do anything I can," he said. "Just let me know what."
And Ulrich is more than happy to comply with that request.
Ulrich, who owns Blue Water Travel on St. Croix, is the driving force behind a project in progress to bring New York firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center to the territory for some rest and relaxation. Thanksgiving week, he and a host of other St. Croix business people, including Carl Gotts of Gotts Insurance and his wife, Marti, entertained five firefighters and their families — 22 people altogether.
So far, Ulrich has another 85 people, firefighters and their families, booked for visits into November of next year. While the November visitors stayed on St. Croix, others will be taking a look at St. Thomas and St. John, too.
Dowe has signed on to get some St. Thomas firefighters to join him as a welcoming committee for Kimberly and Keith Murphy on Jan. 19 when they reach St. Thomas via the V.I. Fast Ferry from St. Croix. The Murphys will spend the night on St. Thomas, where they already have hotel and dining accommodations, then leave the next day for a two-day stay on St. John, after which they'll return to St. Croix.
Dowe told Ulrich he will see to the couple's ground transport on St. Thomas and St. John and ferry transportation to and from St. John. And he will pick up from then on with the ensuing visits of the firefighters throughout the year.
He may get to welcome the first St. Thomas firefighter to take part in the program in April or May. Vivian Lomacang, a native St. Thomian, is an EMT — emergency medical technician– with the New York Fire Department. Lomacang, who was on the scene at the WTC from day one, responded to Ulrich's invitation, which he sent to the NYFD's Family Crisis Center. She told Ulrich that she is "really in need of a rest."
The invitation to New York's firefighters also is being extended on the Internet at a web site that includes acknowledgment of the sponsorships, contributions and volunteer efforts that are making the project possible. The site, www.st-croix.net/firemen.html, also includes a gallery of photographs taken while the first wave of firefighters was visiting St. Croix in November. The photo at the top of this story is from that collection.

Dec. 22, 2001 – Two-and-a-half-year-old Rasheem Todman of Tutu died late Wednesday from injuries sustained in a beating.
Deputy Police Chief Theodore Carty said Friday that staff from the Human Services Department had taken the child to Roy L. Schneider Hospital after observing he had been abused.
"He died from internal injuries," Schneider Hospital spokesman Amos Carty said Friday.
He had entered the hospital earlier Wednesday and after surgery was placed in intensive care.
Carty said the boy had been previously abused but police were called into the case only after he died.
However, a report Saturday in the Daily News said police had been called in four months ago when the child turned up at the hospital with a broken wrist and burns. According to the report, the police investigation concluded Rasheem's injuries were accidental.
Carty said the case is still under investigation, but the police won't take action until the autopsy is completed.
Dilsa Capdeville, director of Kidscope Inc., a child advocacy organization, said that at least 35 children have died as a result of child abuse or neglect across the territory since the late 1970s. One of the best known cases was that of Shaquanna Arnette, a 2-year-old who died in 1992 after she was badly beaten, molested and burned on a stove.
Capdeville said her murderer was let out of jail after serving only nine months because at that time, child abuse was not a felony. Shaquanna's death spurred the Legislature to change the law.
"But calluses have grown over the heart of the community," Capdeville said.
She called on the community to again take up the cause of abused children. However, she cautioned that parents also need help so they can avoid situations that lead to child abuse. Often abusers have themselves been abused, she said.
People in the helping professions such as teachers need to watch for signs of abuse and alert the authorities, she added.
She called on parents to show understanding when their children misbehave.
Human Services Commissioner Sedonie Halbert could not be reached for comment.