Dec. 20, 2001 – The work of St. Thomas artist Madeleine I.E. Meehan and the wines of Chateau Ste. Michelle will be featured at the final Da Da Wine Down of 2001, Friday, Dec. 28, at Cafe Amici in Riise's Alley.
Meehan has become known for her "Mostly Music Art" drawings and paintings, which capture musicians and other artists in live performance. She often can be found seated near the front of the stage at concerts, drawing pad and pens in hand.
The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is free; there will be finger food compliments of Cafe Amici and door prizes of dining certificates and artwork. There is a $10 fee for the wine tasting and seminar. A cash bar also will be in service.
A representative of Bellows International, distributor of Chateau Ste. Michelle wines, will conduct the seminar and tasting, which will be ongoing throughout the evening.
Meehan's themes incorporate performance art from classical to carnival. A life member of the Art Students League in New York, she is a graduate of New York's High School of Music and Art, Cornell University and L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Fountainebleau, France. Her images convey the kinetic energy of the performers — soaring, swirling and reverberating, "striking chords, stroking innuendoes, moving lyrically and unceasingly forward," she says.
She got her musical immersion experience at rehearsals and recording sessions with the London Symphony and London Philharmonic Orchestras, Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Field, several U.S. orchestras, and artists performing at the Edinburgh and Spoleto U.S.A. Festivals. In the Caribbean, she has "jammed" with calypsonians and carnival troupes, Caribbean Dance Company and Carifesta artists.
Meehan works in the mediums of pen and ink, oil and aquarelle. Her work can be seen locally at the MAPes MONDes gallery in Grand Galleria, Tillett Art Gallery, Nisky Art & Craft and The Color of Joy.

Dec. 20, 2001 – There will be no food handler clinics at Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center in St. John on Dec. 24, Dec. 26, Dec. 31, Jan 4, and Jan. 7 due to the holiday season.
Food handler clinics will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 2.
They will resume the normal schedule on Jan. 9. The clinics are held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Dec. 20, 2001 – The Public Service Commission will have a largely new look when it convenes Friday with a full slate of members for the first time in years. PSC officials anticipate a quorum, something that has not always been a given in recent times, and that the commission will begin to tackle the matters before it with renewed energy.
"This new commission is fired up to do the people's business," Keithley Joseph, PSC executive director, said.
Newly appointed and confirmed to the commission are Jerris Browne, deputy Police commmissioner; Verne David, business consultant; Valencio Jackson, assistant Finance commissioner; Desmond Maynard, attorney; and Alric Simmonds, Gov. Charles Turnbull's deputy chief of staff, who replaces Walter Challenger as PSC chair.
Browne, David, Jackson and Simmonds are new to the body; Maynard was reappointed to a second three-year term. Also continuing to sit as members, although their terms have expired, are Alecia Wells of St. John and Luther Renee of St. Croix.
PSC members whose terms have expired continue to sit until a successor is confirmed. The terms of immediate past members Challenger and Dora S. Hill, both of St. Thomas, had expired in June 1999. That of Patrick N. Williams of St. Croix expired in March 2000. Wells' term expired last April and Renee's, last July; Maynard's had expired in July 1998. In addition, there had been a St. Croix vacancy on the commission.
In addition to the seven voting members, the PSC has two non-voting members who are named by the Senate president. Sens. Donald "Ducks" Cole and Emmett Hansen currently hold the non-voting positions.
The job of the PSC is to watch over public utilities — local telephone service, water and power, cable television and inter-island ferries.
The first item on the agenda of Friday's meeting is the election of a chair and vice chair, although Simmonds' appointment designated him as chair to succeed Challenger.
Business items range across the spectrum of the commission's areas of responsibility: action on hearing examiner's reports and interconnection agreements involving Innovative Telephone and Blue Sky, Centennial, Sprint and Telecorp; an emergency application from the St. Thomas-St. John ferry operators; cable television and Water and Power Authority rate investigations; and a WAPA/Caribe Waste Technology matter.
The commission has come under fire in recent years for a lack of effective oversight and for allegations of wrongdoing. In nomination hearings earlier this year, Maynard said that the tarnished reputation is deserved and that the new commission must work to regain the public's trust.
Maynard noted at the time that the commission was taking far fewer actions as part of its oversight responsibilities than it had in the past, and he questioned the ethics of some decisions it had taken in rate investigations of Innovative Telephone. He told senators he had missed PSC meetings not for lack of interest, but because he felt he could not ethically take part in some of the proceedings.
Friday's meeting begins at 10 a.m. in the PSC offices in Barbel Plaza on St. Thomas.

* Late Night Breakfast!: New in the Carina Café. Our menu includes bagels with cream cheese, muffins, breakfast burritos, hash browns, croissants and eggs with your choice of meat. Friday nights we'll feature salt fish. Late Night Breakfast is available nightly from midnight to closing. Great food at great prices!
* Join Divi on Christmas for a special Christmas Dinner — only $9 per person. From 6 p.m. to midnight on December 25 we'll serve fresh turkey with all the trimmings, fresh baked glazed ham, homemade stuffing and gravy, sweet potato stuffing, seasoned rice, baked macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, and dessert. After this dinner, you're bound to feel as jolly as ol' Saint Nick!
* This months local bands include Latin Sounds, Liquid Sounds, Mo-Tempo, Oreo, Tuff Enuff, X-Citements and Xpress Band.
* Back by popular demand, from the states, for New Year's is Rhoney G, a talented singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and performer. Catch him December 28-31 from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

Thomas J. Cornwall, 70, of Mon Bijou passed away Tuesday, Dec. 18, at the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. Funeral services will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 29, at Faith Moravian Church. Viewing will begin at 10 a.m., entombment will be at Kingshill Cemetery.
He is survived by his sons Orville, Darwin, Freeston and Melbourne Cornwall; stepdaughters Emerita Roberts, Elisa Hayes and Sonia Knight; stepsons Alexander Phillips, Anselmo Cruse, Raymond Galloway and Warren Spencer; sister Rose Martijn; brothers Joseph Charls, David Charles and Casper Cornwall; 13 grandchildren and other relatives friends too numerous to mention
Professional arrangements are entrusted to James Memorial Funeral Home Inc.

Dec. 20, 2001 — St. Croix took a step toward its third casino Wednesday when the V.I. Casino Control Commission voted to reserve a casino license for Robin Bay Associates’ 300-room, $500 million south-shore project.
Casino Commission members granted Curtis Robinson, majority partner in Robin Bay Associates, a 24-month provisional license in which the developers must report to the commission every six months on the venture’s ongoing financial viability, permitting status, or any major changes to the business plan. The approval was granted after the Division of Gaming Enforcement conducted a background investigation into Robinson and his partners.
Robinson, a Connecticut-based real estate developer with a background in casinos such as the Foxwood Resort and Casino, said he was confident in the massive plans Robin Bay Associates has for the 300-room, 20,000 square-foot Seven Hills Casino and Resort, which will be located just east of Great Pond Bay. He said he has already sunk $3 million of his own money into the project.
"I saw this as a first-class opportunity," Robinson told the commission on Wednesday. "I’m willing to take a chance. I can invest $500 million anyplace in the world. But I want to do it here."
Robinson said the financing for the project should be closed sometime in the first quarter of 2002.
The first phase of the project could begin in about a year if a zoning change for 615 acres near Great Pond Bay is approved by the V.I. Legislature. Phase one includes the 300-room hotel, the casino and 100 time-share units. Also planned is a convention center and an 18-hole golf course. Later phases include nearly 400 more rooms in an eco-lodge spa facility and a beachfront hotel. Robinson said 300 construction jobs would be generated in during the initial phase.
If the project is completed, it would be the largest resort-casino in the West Indies.
"I hope to be in the ground ground in the next 12 months," Robinson said. "That depends on the zoning.
"My thing is to develop all that land at some point," he said.
In October, the Casino Commission reserved one of the two allowed "Casino II" casino licenses for Golden Gaming Inc. of New Jersey. Robin Bay Associates is the other Casino II applicant. The Casino Control Act allows for six casinos to be built on St. Croix. The two Casino II facilities must have 300 to 1,400 rooms and a 10,000-square-foot casino.
Paul Golden has purchased some 265 acres, also near Great Pond Bay for his 400-room hotel-casino project, which also includes an18-hole golf course.
The Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino, which opened in March 2000, currently employs about 325 people.
As for Robinson’s proposal, Casino Commission member Lloyd McAlpin said it was the kind that could lift St. Croix from the "bottom of the barrel."
"We can’t turn our backs on investors like these," he said

Dec. 20, 2001 – St. Croix took a step toward its third casino Wednesday when the Casino Control Commission voted to reserve a license for Robin Bay Associates’ 300-room, $500 million South Shore project.
Commission members granted Curtis Robinson, majority partner in Robin Bay Associates, a 24-month provisional license in which the developers must report to the commission every six months on the venture’s ongoing financial viability, permitting status and any major changes to the business plan. The approval was granted after the Division of Gaming Enforcement conducted a background investigation into Robinson and his partners.
Robinson, a Connecticut-based real estate developer with a casino background that includes the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., said he has confidence in the massive plans Robin Bay Associates has for Seven Hills Casino and Resort, a 20,000 square foot facility to be located just east of Great Pond Bay. He said he has already sunk $3 million of his own money into the project.
"I saw this as a first-class opportunity," Robinson told the commission on Wednesday. "I’m willing to take a chance. I can invest $500 million anyplace in the world. But I want to do it here." He said the financing for the project should be closed sometime in the first quarter of 2002.
The first phase of the project could begin in about a year if the Legislature approves a zoning change for 615 acres near Great Pond Bay. That phase includes the 300-room hotel, the casino and 100 time-share units. Also planned are a convention center and an 18-hole golf course. Later phases are to include nearly 400 more rooms in an eco-lodge/spa facility and a beachfront hotel. Robinson said the initial phase would generate 300 construction jobs.
The overall plan is for what would be the largest resort-casino in the West Indies.
"I hope to be in the ground in the next 12 months," Robinson said. "That depends on the zoning." He added, "My thing is to develop all that land at some point."
Commission member Lloyd McAlpin said Robinson's proposal is the kind that could lift St. Croix from the "bottom of the barrel." He added, "We can’t turn our backs on investors like these."
In October, the Casino Control Commission reserved the first of the two allowed "Casino II" casino licenses for Golden Gaming Inc. of New Jersey. The other one is now reserved for Robin Bay Associates. The Casino Control Act allows for six casinos of varying sizes to be built on St. Croix. A Casino II facility must have a hotel of 300 to1,400 rooms and a casino of at least 10,000 square feet.
Paul Golden has purchased some 265 acres, also near Great Pond Bay, for his Golden Gaming 400-room hotel-casino project, which also includes an18-hole golf course.
The Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino, the territory's first and only casino property to open, has been in operation since March 2000 and currently employs about 325 people.

Dec. 20, 2001 – Seemingly in hopes that the spirit of giving will carry over two days after Christmas, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull announced Wednesday that he is calling the Legislature into special session on Dec. 27 to consider three proposals:
– To authorize the issuance of revenue bonds and/or notes for various public and private capital projects.
– To approve a lump-sum budget for the operations of the executive branch for Fiscal Year 2002.
– To empower the chief executive to declare a state of economic emergency in the event of man-made catastrophes.
In his letter to Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd calling the special session, Turnbull cited "the importance of these recommended bills to the economy of the territory and to the fiscal operation of the departments and agencies of the government."
The bonds bill was originally sent to the Senate on Nov. 27. Turnbull said the measure represents not only money "for large projects and public housing but also tens of millions of dollars to be circulated in the economy of the territory as a whole and St. Croix in particular." A Government House release said the measure must be passed by Dec. 31 "in order not to lose much-needed tax benefits or money for major projects such as the Louis E. Brown development on St. Croix."
The lump-sum budget bill also is being resubmitted. The governor said it is needed to give departments and agencies "the flexibility to manage resources so they can more effectively and efficiently serve the needs of our people in tight financial times."
He warned that in the latter part of the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, departments and agencies "will find it difficult to respond to requests for services from residents due to the limitation of the government's financial resources."
The emergency declaration bill would expand the governor's emergency powers by authorizing the chief executive to declare a "state of economic emergency to counter any man-made catastrophes having a devastating [effect] on the economy."

St. Croix Landmarks Society will present a Listen and Learn Workshop at Good Hope School on Jan. 11, 2002, at 10 a.m.
Listen and Learn Workshops are open to school children and senior citizens free of charge. Please call 772-0598 to reserve a space.
Soprano Taina Kataja and tenor Frederick Urrey will be accompanied at the piano by Barbara Gonzales-Palmer. All three performers will be on St. Croix as part of the Music at Whim concert series, according to a release from the society. For more information about the musicians, visit the St. Croix Landmarks home page section on Concerts at Whim.

Dec. 19, 2001 – St. Croix Landmarks Society will present a Listen and Learn Workshop at Good Hope School on Jan. 11, 2002, at 10 a.m.
Listen and Learn Workshops are open to school children and senior citizens free of charge. Please call 772-0598 to reserve a space.
Soprano Taina Kataja and tenor Frederick Urrey will be accompanied at the piano by Barbara Gonzales-Palmer. All three performers, accomplished artists with international credits, will be on St. Croix as part of the Music at Whim concert series, according to a release from the society.
For more information about the musicians, visit the St. Croix Landmarks home page section on Concerts at Whim