Aug. 31, 2001 – The U.S. Postal Service has closed the mail collection pans located at 1138 King Street, Christiansted, in front of the Pentheny Building until further notice.
Postal customers in the area can use the collection pans located at 1114 King Street across from Government House, the Christiansted postmaster, Ellen Petersen, said in a release.
Further information may be obtained by calling the postmaster's office at 773-1505.

Services will be Wednesday, Sept. 5, at Creque's Chapel for Rudolph Henley Sr., who died Aug. 28 on St. Thomas. Viewing will begin at 8 a.m., with the funeral at 8:30. Burial will follow in the Western Cemetery.
He is survived by his wife, Cynthia; his son, Rudolph Henley Jr.; his daughter, Beverly Henley; six nieces, Auda, Sala and Gigi Sille, Memorita and Pacifica Williams, and Voricia Simmonds; a nephew, Floyd Williams; and his friend Oralda Williams.

The Government Employees Retirement System will hold a daylong pre-retirement workshop for members over 30 years of age in the third-floor conference room of the GERS Building on St. Thomas. Topics to be covered include Social Security, health insurance, system benefits, financial planning and legal rights. The deadline to pre-register is Friday, Sept. 7. Call 776-7703, ext. 4202 or 4203.

Aug. 31, 2001- The Government Employees Retirement System invites members over 30 years of age to participate in a pre-retirement workshop on Wednesday, Sept. 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the conference room on the third floor of the GERS Building on St. Thomas.
It will be an opportunity for government workers to learn more about their benefits, including Social Security, health insurance coverage and system benefits, as well as financial planning and legal rights.
Seating is limited and the deadline for pre-registation is Friday, Sept. 7. To pre-register or to obtain further information about the workshop, call 776-7703, ext. 4202 or 4203.

It was interesting to observe the machinations of the senators who squashed the animal rights bill Thursday, using the absence of penalties for cockfighting as the excuse.
Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel, in what looked like pure political posturing, said she could not vote for a bill she found "hypocritical" because it didn't outlaw cockfighting.
In other words, no loaf at all was better than three-quarters of a loaf.
We believe a majority of voters strongly supported this bill as written. However, if it is amended to outlaw cockfighting — and we sincerely hope that happens — we are sure the voters will remember the senator’s pledge to vote for it with such a ban.
The problem, of course, is that outlawing cockfighting probably makes the bill less palatable politically. Cockfighting – as cruel and inhumane as it is – is, unfortunately, an institution in this territory.
We can only hope that some sincere anti-cruelty senator will get the bill together again and keep putting it before the Senate until lawmakers vote to take a principled and practical stand against cruelty and violence.
The recent spate of violence in the territory has its roots in an attitude that life has little value.
Maybe if we start with valuing the life of helpless creatures, we can move on to valuing the lives of children and then maybe even adults.
How much more testimony do we need to the fact that abuse of animals is directly tied to abuse of children, women and others before we take a constructive step toward curbing the violence? Sadly, many of our senators are – hypocritically – part of the problem, not part of the solution.

The Good Hope School will hold its Starlight Gala Auction at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27, on the Good Hope School campus. It is a black-tie affair, with an evening of gourmet dining and treasures to bid upon.
Proceeds will benefit the Good Hope School Scholarship Program.

Aug. 31, 2001 – A move by major airlines which could cut off the territory's lifeline to mainland overnight tourists drew travel agents, tourism officials, retailers and hotel representatives to the Caribbean Travel Agency in Havensight Thursday to talk about what they can do about it. One thing they agreed on: They can't just sit back and let it happen.
The meeting was held during a two-hour closing of travel agencies across the nation to protest the drastically reduced cap on travel agent commissions recently announced by most of the major airlines for domestic travel.
The closing, a "Nationwide Day of Awareness," was called by the American Society of Travel Agents to protest what ASTA says is the airlines' intention to put their agencies out of business. Travel agents on St. Croix and St. John also closed their doors for the specified period, from 1 to 3 p.m.
The commission cap was reduced from $50 to $20 on round-trip domestic tickets. The territory is considered an international destination for travelers from the mainland in all instances except for passenger ticketing. Thus the reduced cap can save the airlines millions of dollars a year in commissions on travel to the territory.
Federal Department of Transportation statistics show that for the year ended June 30, 2000, the number of long-haul passengers arriving or departing St. Thomas on regularly scheduled flights totaled 655,330, the approximate equivalent of 327,665 round-trip travelers. At $50 per round-trip, commissions would amount to nearly $16.4 million. At $20, they would come to a little over $6.5 million.
Last week, four days after American Airlines became the first carrier to announce the commission cuts, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen wrote to the airline president protesting the move and asking him to rescind it because it "would certainly damage this small U.S. tourism market."
Christensen noted that the cutback in commissions for travel to the territory while a $100 cap remained in place for foreign travel would "discourage travel agents from booking flights to the Virgin Islands, because they would be able to get a higher commission by booking their customers to other Caribbean islands under a foreign flag."
A representative of the delegate's St. Thomas office was unable to attend Thursday's meeting because of a gas spill near Frenchtown which cut off traffic to town. However, Shawn-Michael Malone said calls to his office were being answered by a message stating Christensen was in support of the travel agents' protest.
Courtney Gabrielson, secretary-treasurer of Caribbean Travel, told the Source Friday morning, "It's all well and good to write to the airlines; we appreciate it. But we need something stronger. I think the delegate should contact the Departments of Justice and Transportation. The airlines have shut down so many agencies already; I think it's time we stop wringing our hands and take strong federal action. I'm sure there's collusion going on here."
The cap also affects Puerto Rico, where a five-hour closing of travel agencies and a march to local government offices were held Thursday, according to Lyn Shoemaker, owner of Paradise Travel, one of about 20 travel agents who attended the meet Thursday on St. Thomas.
At the meeting, Joseph Aubain, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, suggested forming an alliance with Puerto Rico to fight the new cap.
Gabrielson told the group: "It's not just about travel agents. This is our livelihood — the territory's livelihood, the hotels', the taxis', the retailers', the restaurants', everybody's. We have to have tourists, and if the stateside agents don't sell the Virgin Islands, where will we be?"
The effect is inevitable, she added: "Why would stateside agents sell the V.I. for a $20 commission when they could sell, say, Tortola or St. Martin and make the $100 international commission? It's a very serious matter."
Gabrielson and her sister, Brooks Brown, president of Caribbean Travel, which has been doing business on St. Thomas since the 1960s, spoke at the meeting about the personal aspect of the issue, as well. "The Internet is not personal, and many people don't want to give their credit card number to a website," Brown said. Also, she said, travel agents often can get better fares than those available on the net — and make all the client's arrangements at one time.
Gabrielson said customer service is a concern, too, posing the problems for "the person who doesn't have a computer, or somebody who doesn't speak English well." She said, "I feel terrible for those people. They're at such a disadvantage. What are they going to do without travel agents to check fares for them and help them? Go to the airport and stand in line for hours?"
Brown said many of her company's clients don't like to use credit cards even in person. "They come in with their cash and tell us where they want to go, and we're in business," she said. "We've been doing it for years."
Angela Belfon of World Wide Travel and Shirley Monsanto of Monsanto Travel, who between them have about 60 years of local travel expertise, agreed. "We have to help our people," Belfon said. "They depend on us."
All of the agents agreed the $20 cap could put them out of business, but Belfon said, "That won't happen; we're going to fight this." Among other things, they have employees to protect, she said.
Henry W. DeLagarde, general manager for the Tourism Department's North American offices, said, "My feeling is this didn't happen overnight. It raises the question of an antitrust suit. The major carriers use the destination 'international' when it suits their needs." He said all six of the mainland Tourism offices closed during the ASTA protest period Thursday.
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, termed the "domestic" designation for ticketing to the territory "the final insult." He said, "The airlines use 'international' to make people go through customs and immigration and take much longer booking flights, but when it comes to money, to caps, it's domestic."
Doumeng said about one-third of the guests who stay at his property, Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, "go to our website" for information, "but only about 2 percent book from it. They still want personal service; they go to their travel agent."
Rina Jacobs McBrowne, Government House spokeswoman, said she was there representing the governor, who was on St .Croix meeting with Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards. McBrowne and Monique Sibilly-Hodge, assistant tourism commissioner, said the governor and Richards were working on a strategy to fight the commission cap, and that the plan would be announced soon.
Aubain said on Friday that he and the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber president, John de Jongh Jr., have written to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and to Christensen suggesting that the territory form an alliance with Puerto Rico to fight the domestic cap.
Gabrielson said Friday she was very encouraged by Thursday's show of support. "We're just not going to just sit back and take this," she said. "We can't."

Aug. 31, 2001 – A move by major airlines which could cut off the territory's lifeline to mainland overnight tourists drew travel agents, tourism officials, retailers and hotel representatives to the Caribbean Travel Agency on St. Thomas Thursday to talk about what they can do about it. One thing they agreed on: They can't just sit back and let it happen.
The meeting was held during a two-hour closing of travel agencies across the nation to protest the drastically reduced cap on travel agent commissions recently announced by most of the major airlines for domestic travel.
The closing, a "Nationwide Day of Awareness," was called by the American Society of Travel Agents to protest what ASTA says is the airlines' intention to put their agencies out of business. Travel agents on St. Croix and St. John also closed their doors for the specified period, from 1 to 3 p.m.
The commission cap was reduced from $50 to $20 on round-trip domestic tickets. The territory is considered an international destination for travelers from the mainland in all instances except for passenger ticketing. Thus the reduced cap can save the airlines millions of dollars a year in commissions on travel to the territory.
Federal Department of Transportation statistics show that for the year ended June 30, 2000, the number of long-haul passengers arriving or departing St. Thomas on regularly scheduled flights totaled 655,330, the approximate equivalent of 327,665 round-trip travelers. At $50 per round-trip, commissions would amount to nearly $16.4 million. At $20, they would come to a little over $6.5 million.
Last week, four days after American Airlines became the first carrier to announce the commission cuts, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen wrote to the airline president protesting the move and asking him to rescind it because it "would certainly damage this small U.S. tourism market."
Christensen noted that the cutback in commissions for travel to the territory while a $100 cap remained in place for foreign travel would "discourage travel agents from booking flights to the Virgin Islands, because they would be able to get a higher commission by booking their customers to other Caribbean islands under a foreign flag."
A representative of the delegate's St. Thomas office was unable to attend Thursday's meeting because of a gas spill near Frenchtown which cut off traffic to town. However, Shawn-Michael Malone said calls to his office were being answered by a message stating Christensen was in support of the travel agents' protest.
Courtney Gabrielson, secretary-treasurer of Caribbean Travel, told the Source Friday morning, "It's all well and good to write to the airlines; we appreciate it. But we need something stronger. I think the delegate should contact the Departments of Justice and Transportation. The airlines have shut down so many agencies already; I think it's time we stop wringing our hands and take strong federal action. I'm sure there's collusion going on here."
The cap also affects Puerto Rico, where a five-hour closing of travel agencies and a march to local government offices were held Thursday, according to Lyn Shoemaker, owner of Paradise Travel, one of about 20 travel agents who attended the meet Thursday on St. Thomas.
At the meeting, Joseph Aubain, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, suggested forming an alliance with Puerto Rico to fight the new cap.
Gabrielson told the group: "It's not just about travel agents. This is our livelihood — the territory's livelihood, the hotels', the taxis', the retailers', the restaurants', everybody's. We have to have tourists, and if the stateside agents don't sell the Virgin Islands, where will we be?"
The effect is inevitable, she added: "Why would stateside agents sell the V.I. for a $20 commission when they could sell, say, Tortola or St. Martin and make the $100 international commission? It's a very serious matter."
Gabrielson and her sister, Brooks Brown, president of Caribbean Travel, which has been doing business on St. Thomas since the 1960s, spoke at the meeting about the personal aspect of the issue, as well. "The Internet is not personal, and many people don't want to give their credit card number to a website," Brown said. Also, she said, travel agents often can get better fares than those available on the net — and make all the client's arrangements at one time.
Gabrielson said customer service is a concern, too, posing the problems for "the person who doesn't have a computer, or somebody who doesn't speak English well." She said, "I feel terrible for those people. They're at such a disadvantage. What are they going to do without travel agents to check fares for them and help them? Go to the airport and stand in line for hours?"
Brown said many of her company's clients don't like to use credit cards even in person. "They come in with their cash and tell us where they want to go, and we're in business," she said. "We've been doing it for years."
Angela Belfon of World Wide Travel and Shirley Monsanto of Monsanto Travel, who between them have about 60 years of local travel expertise, agreed. "We have to help our people," Belfon said. "They depend on us."
All of the agents agreed the $20 cap could put them out of business, but Belfon said, "That won't happen; we're going to fight this." Among other things, they have employees to protect, she said.
Henry W. DeLagarde, general manager for the Tourism Department's North American offices, said, "My feeling is this didn't happen overnight. It raises the question of an antitrust suit. The major carriers use the destination 'international' when it suits their needs." He said all six of the mainland Tourism offices closed during the ASTA protest period Thursday.
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, termed the "domestic" designation for ticketing to the territory "the final insult." He said, "The airlines use 'international' to make people go through customs and immigration and take much longer booking flights, but when it comes to money, to caps, it's domestic."
Doumeng said about one-third of the guests who stay at his property, Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, "go to our website" for information, "but only about 2 percent book from it. They still want personal service; they go to their travel agent."
Rina Jacobs McBrowne, Government House spokeswoman, said she was there representing the governor, who was on St .Croix meeting with Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards. McBrowne and Monique Sibilly-Hodge, assistant tourism commissioner, said the governor and Richards were working on a strategy to fight the commission cap, and that the plan would be announced soon.
Aubain said on Friday that he and the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber president, John de Jongh Jr., have written to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and to Christensen suggesting that the territory form an alliance with Puerto Rico to fight the domestic cap.
Gabrielson said Friday she was very encouraged by Thursday's show of support. "We're just not going to just sit back and take this," she said. "We can't."

Aug. 31, 2001 – A move by major airlines which could cut off the territory's lifeline to mainland overnight tourists drew travel agents, tourism officials, retailers and hotel representatives to the Caribbean Travel Agency on St. Thomas Thursday to talk about what they can do about it. One thing they agreed on: They can't just sit back and let it happen.
The meeting was held during a two-hour closing of travel agencies across the nation to protest the drastically reduced cap on travel agent commissions recently announced by most of the major airlines for domestic travel.
The closing, a "Nationwide Day of Awareness," was called by the American Society of Travel Agents to protest what ASTA says is the airlines' intention to put their agencies out of business. Travel agents on St. Croix and St. John also closed their doors for the specified period, from 1 to 3 p.m.
The commission cap was reduced from $50 to $20 on round-trip domestic tickets. The territory is considered an international destination for travelers from the mainland in all instances except for passenger ticketing. Thus the reduced cap can save the airlines millions of dollars a year in commissions on travel to the territory.
Federal Department of Transportation statistics show that for the year ended June 30, 2000, the number of long-haul passengers arriving or departing St. Thomas on regularly scheduled flights totaled 655,330, the approximate equivalent of 327,665 round-trip travelers. At $50 per round-trip, commissions would amount to nearly $16.4 million. At $20, they would come to a little over $6.5 million.
Last week, four days after American Airlines became the first carrier to announce the commission cuts, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen wrote to the airline president protesting the move and asking him to rescind it because it "would certainly damage this small U.S. tourism market."
Christensen noted that the cutback in commissions for travel to the territory while a $100 cap remained in place for foreign travel would "discourage travel agents from booking flights to the Virgin Islands, because they would be able to get a higher commission by booking their customers to other Caribbean islands under a foreign flag."
A representative of the delegate's St. Thomas office was unable to attend Thursday's meeting because of a gas spill near Frenchtown which cut off traffic to town. However, Shawn-Michael Malone said calls to his office were being answered by a message stating Christensen was in support of the travel agents' protest.
Courtney Gabrielson, secretary-treasurer of Caribbean Travel, told the Source Friday morning, "It's all well and good to write to the airlines; we appreciate it. But we need something stronger. I think the delegate should contact the Departments of Justice and Transportation. The airlines have shut down so many agencies already; I think it's time we stop wringing our hands and take strong federal action. I'm sure there's collusion going on here."
The cap also affects Puerto Rico, where a five-hour closing of travel agencies and a march to local government offices were held Thursday, according to Lyn Shoemaker, owner of Paradise Travel, one of about 20 travel agents who attended the meet Thursday on St. Thomas.
At the meeting, Joseph Aubain, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, suggested forming an alliance with Puerto Rico to fight the new cap.
Gabrielson told the group: "It's not just about travel agents. This is our livelihood — the territory's livelihood, the hotels', the taxis', the retailers', the restaurants', everybody's. We have to have tourists, and if the stateside agents don't sell the Virgin Islands, where will we be?"
The effect is inevitable, she added: "Why would stateside agents sell the V.I. for a $20 commission when they could sell, say, Tortola or St. Martin and make the $100 international commission? It's a very serious matter."
Gabrielson and her sister, Brooks Brown, president of Caribbean Travel, which has been doing business on St. Thomas since the 1960s, spoke at the meeting about the personal aspect of the issue, as well. "The Internet is not personal, and many people don't want to give their credit card number to a website," Brown said. Also, she said, travel agents often can get better fares than those available on the net — and make all the client's arrangements at one time.
Gabrielson said customer service is a concern, too, posing the problems for "the person who doesn't have a computer, or somebody who doesn't speak English well." She said, "I feel terrible for those people. They're at such a disadvantage. What are they going to do without travel agents to check fares for them and help them? Go to the airport and stand in line for hours?"
Brown said many of her company's clients don't like to use credit cards even in person. "They come in with their cash and tell us where they want to go, and we're in business," she said. "We've been doing it for years."
Angela Belfon of World Wide Travel and Shirley Monsanto of Monsanto Travel, who between them have about 60 years of local travel expertise, agreed. "We have to help our people," Belfon said. "They depend on us."
All of the agents agreed the $20 cap could put them out of business, but Belfon said, "That won't happen; we're going to fight this." Among other things, they have employees to protect, she said.
Henry W. DeLagarde, general manager for the Tourism Department's North American offices, said, "My feeling is this didn't happen overnight. It raises the question of an antitrust suit. The major carriers use the destination 'international' when it suits their needs." He said all six of the mainland Tourism offices closed during the ASTA protest period Thursday.
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association, termed the "domestic" designation for ticketing to the territory "the final insult." He said, "The airlines use 'international' to make people go through customs and immigration and take much longer booking flights, but when it comes to money, to caps, it's domestic."
Doumeng said about one-third of the guests who stay at his property, Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, "go to our website" for information, "but only about 2 percent book from it. They still want personal service; they go to their travel agent."
Rina Jacobs McBrowne, Government House spokeswoman, said she was there representing the governor, who was on St .Croix meeting with Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards. McBrowne and Monique Sibilly-Hodge, assistant tourism commissioner, said the governor and Richards were working on a strategy to fight the commission cap, and that the plan would be announced soon.
Aubain said on Friday that he and the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber president, John de Jongh Jr., have written to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and to Christensen suggesting that the territory form an alliance with Puerto Rico to fight the domestic cap.
Gabrielson said Friday she was very encouraged by Thursday's show of support. "We're just not going to just sit back and take this," she said. "We can't."

Aug. 31, 2001 – Three out of four of Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's new picks for the Public Services Commission made the cut Thursday at a Senate Rules Committee hearing.
All of the current PSC members' terms have expired, and the commission often has not been able to muster a quorum. In February 2000, Turnbull had sent five nominations to the Senate for approval. Eventually, and for varying reasons, all five withdrew their names from consideration.
Approved as new PSC chair, replacing Walter Challenger, whose term expired in 1999, was Alric Simmonds, Turnbull's deputy chief of staff. The others approved Thursday were Valencio Jackson, Finance Department assistant commissioner, to fill a vacancy; and Desmond Maynard, a PSC member since 1995, who was reappointed to another term.
The governor had nominated Jerris T. Browne, Police deputy commissioner, for the seat last occupied by Patrick Williams of St. Croix. Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole rose in support of Browne's nomination but received no second to his motion as the committee remained silent. Earlier, Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel had questioned Browne's knowledge of the PSC and expressed surprise to find that he was unaware of current legislation mandating rate investigations.
Rules Committee members said the commission, which regulates public utilities in the territory — specifically, telephone, water and power, cable television and inter-island ferry services — has come in for a lot of criticism in recent years for a seeming lack of effectiveness and allegations of possible wrongdoing.
Maynard, who has publicly disagreed with some of Challenger's actions, told the senators that the commission's reputation was deserved. "The PSC has been plagued with political discord," he said. "It is essential that we regain the public's trust … The number of cases we have processed is down drastically." He suggested better staffing and utilization of up-to-date technology as steps in the right direction.
Questioned by Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg and Roosevelt David, Maynard provided information about a consulting firm the PSC recently hired. Maynard called the hiring of AUS Consultants to conduct a rate investigation of Innovative Telephone, formerly Vitelco, a suspect move.
Maynard walked out of a PSC meeting in May after disagreeing with Challenger when the hiring of AUS was on the table. After his departure, the commission voted, 3-0, to make AUS its consultant. Four members constitute a quorum. Challenger said at the time that since a quorum was present when the meeting started, the motion and vote to hire AUS was legal.
Maynard said — and an associate of Edward H. Salmon, AUS president, also told the Source — that AUS had worked for Vitelco, now called Innovative Telephone, in the past on a depreciation matter. "That information should have been presented to the commission," Maynard said Thursday. "I think it represents a conflict of interest."
He admitted to having deliberately skipped some PSC meetings, "not because I didn't want to participate. I just didn't want to be part of what I consider a charade."
Maynard also said he has evidence that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities terminated a consulting contract with AUS because of ethical breaches on the Salmon's part.
Donastorg charged earlier this month that Salmon was forced to leave that board in 1996 and that his ouster was related to dinners he allegedly accepted from lawyers representing companies the board regulated.
Simmonds and Jackson breezed through the three-hour hearing, essentially stating how they would protect the consumers' interest, which, senators noted, should be the PSC's mission. Rules chair Carlton Dowe asked them how the fact that they are government employees and Turnbull is their boss would affect their conduct on the commission. Both said they had the ability to be independent thinkers, apparently satisfying the committee.
A fourth nominee, Verne C. David, was unable to attend the hearing and will be considered at a Sept. 13 meeting.
The committee also approved a resolution honoring Henry A. Millen for his contributions to the V.I. Housing Authority and a lease agreement between the government and the John's Folly Learning Institute on St. John.
Rules Committee members attending the meeting were Cole, Dowe, Pickard-Samuel and Adelbert Bryan. Sens. Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, also members, were excused. Liburd is out of the territory and Hansen was on St. Croix as chair of the Finance Committee. Donastorg and David, also present, are not members of the committee.