Cornelius Evans, the son of the late V.I. Gov. Melvin Evans, is set to become deputy attorney general for the Justice Department’s St. Croix Division.
V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron announced the move earlier this week, saying the 10-year Justice attorney will replace attorney Darryl Donohue, who will be sworn in as an associate judge of the Territorial Court on March 16.
"Cornelius Evans is an experienced civil and criminal litigator and is held in high regard by the legal community and the judiciary," Stridiron said. "He will manage the St. Croix Attorney General’s office and will answer to the chief deputy attorney general and the attorney general."
The top Justice position on St. Croix became vacant when Gov. Charles Turnbull made his controversial decision last year to boot Judge Alphonso Andrews from Territorial Court. Turnbull then picked Donohue to fill Andrews’ spot.
Turnbull was strongly criticized for not reappointing Andrews to another six-year term. Several senators claimed Andrews was ousted for political reasons, in particular a December 1999 decision blocking Beal Aerospace from developing public land on St. Croix to build its world headquarters. Turnbull supported the Texas-based company’s venture.
Beal pulled out of the St. Croix project two weeks after Andrews granted plaintiff Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen’s request for a permanent injunction against the deal.
Andrews served as judge for one six-year term. He has since been rehired by the U.S. Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney in the St. Croix office.
Donohue, meanwhile, was confirmed by the 23rd Legislature late last year on a 13-1 vote, with Sen. Adelbert Bryan voting no and Hansen not voting.
Evans is married and the father of four children. He is the brother of two current assistant attorney generals in the Justice Department, William Evans in the St. Thomas office and Melvin H. Evans Jr. in the St. Croix office.

Make your plans now. The Annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament will be held Sunday, July 15 at Hull Bay, St. Thomas. Fishing begins at 5:30 a.m and ends at noon, when the beach side party begins, with food, music, and fun. An awards ceremony will follow.
The tournament, one of the many activities celebrating French Heritage Week, was first organized by the Northside Sportfishing Club in 1987 and generally attracts hundreds of anglers aboard more than 100 boats from throughout the Virgin Islands. Last year's winner, Gerald Greaux, reeled in a 43.14 pound kingfish.
Many prizes will be awarded including prizes for the best boat, best captain, lady anglers, junior anglers, and other fish species,like bonito, tuna, mackerel, and dolphin.
The Annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament benefits the Joseph Sibilly School, St.Thomas Rescue, The American Red Cross, and The Victim's Advocate Program.

The V.I. government will set up a payment plan this month with the V.I. Water and Power Authority for the more than $16 million it owes in past due electric and water bills, the authority announced Wednesday.
In a statement, WAPA Governing Board Chairwoman Carol Burke said the pending agreement will make WAPA a "priority vendor"; the government will also agree to pay current bills on time. WAPA records show that the executive branch's monthly utility bills come to about $1.5 million per month.
The statement also indicated that auditors KPMG Peat Marwick gave the authority a "qualified" audit — which could hurt WAPA's Triple B investment rating — solely because of the outstanding government accounts.
Independent government agencies with past due amounts have reduced their outstanding accounts to $6.2 million, the statement said. Those agencies are not part of the pending agreement.

2001 Fashion Expo, a spring fashions and accessories show will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 31 at Tutu Park Mall.
A live DJ will be spinning groovy tunes as models show off the latest fashions in modern runway style.

The Discovery Network will visit St.Thomas from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 17 at Tutu Park Mall.
The network will be here to inform parents of new programming this year. An Animal Planet character will be on-hand and there will be Animal Planet giveaways and clown entertainment.

The Annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament will be held Sunday, July 15 at Hull Bay, St. Thomas. Fishing begins at 5:30 a.m and ends at noon, when the beach side party begins, with food, music, and fun. An awards ceremony will follow.
The tournament, one of the many activities celebrating French Heritage Week, was first organized by the Northside Sportfishing Club in 1987 and generally attracts hundreds of anglers aboard more than 100 boats from throughout the Virgin Islands. Last year's winner, Gerald Greaux, reeled in a 43.14 pound kingfish.
Many prizes will be awarded including prizes for the best boat, best captain, lady anglers, junior anglers, and other fish species,like bonito, tuna, mackerel, and dolphin.
The Annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament benefits the Joseph Sibilly School, St.Thomas Rescue, The American Red Cross, and The Victim's Advocate Program.

Al Nearle Alibocas of #593 Sunny Acres, Christiansted, died Sunday, March 4 at Juan F. Luis Hospital. He was 26.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 13 at St. Ann's Catholic Church, Barren Spot. A viewing will precede the service beginning at 1 p.m.
Cremation services will follow at the family's request.
He is survived by his mother, Shirley Alibocas; father, Nearle Alibocas; fiancé, Miriam Ramos; daughter, Aaliyah Alibocas; sister, Denise Kainth; brother, Dion Alibocas; sister-in-law, Sherrife Alibocas; brother-in-law, Roger Kainth; nieces, Victoria Kainth, Denyell Kainth, and Dionara Alibocas; nephew, Dantaé Kainth; special friends, the Abed family, Hill family, Singh family, Jose Ramos family, Nieves family, Dr. and Mrs. Angleo Galiber, the Kainth family, and Ahmed family; along with many aunts, uncles, and cousins in Trinidad; his many friends who worked and rode motorcycles with him; and the many neighbors in Humbug who have the family's sincerest appreciation.
In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to a trust fund for Aaliyah M. Alibocas, daughter of the deceased, and made out in her name, to PO Box 6447, Sunny Isle, St. Croix, VI 0823.
Funeral arrangements are in the care of James Memorial Funeral Home.

James Hogan Anderson, known to his friends as "James Daley," of #5 A La Grande Princesse, died Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Juan F. Luis Hospital. He was 71.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 11 at the Christiansted Seventh Day Adventist Temple, with a viewing beginning at 10 a.m.
Interment will follow in the Kingshill Cemetery.
He is survived by his wife, Charmaine Anderson; children, Elizabeth and Hannah Anderson; step- children, Conrad Maynes, Lincoln Maynes, and Abigail Maynes; grandson, Marcus Timothy Maynes; mother-in-law, Maudeline Andrews; daughters-in-law, Janelle Maynes and Deborah Moticeaux Maynes; brothers, David Hogan, George Daley, and John Daley; sisters, Sarah Hogan, Jane Ritter, Mary Glavaseul, and Margaret Lindsey; nieces, Cindy Hogan, Valerie Hogan, Joyce Bell, and Elyn Trumell; nephews, Maurice Williams and Bryan; special relative, Catherine Tyson; special friends, Calva Henry, the Rev. Jimm Athill, the Rev. Samuel Joseph, James Payne, the Lewis family, Arnold Allen, James and Ethel Fenton, Charles Stancliffe, and Clayton Registe; along with many other relatives and friends.
Funeral arrangements are in the care of James Memorial Funeral Home.

The V.I. government overpaid five employees a total of $184,936, and apparently none of them bothered to correct the error. The information is contained in a V.I. Inspector General's audit released Tuesday.
One of the five, Lucien Moolenaar II, already is facing charges in connection with the overpayments. He had been acting Health commissioner but took a leave of absence when he was charged; he is now back on the job as deputy commissioner for Public Health.
"The others are still under investigation," said Inspector General Steven Van Beverhoudt. The audit does not identify the employees and their names are not expected to be released unless and until charges are filed.
The investigations are under the auspices of the Government Fraud and Corruption Task Force.
IG auditors examined Finance Department payroll records from 1995 to 2000. (Finance also conducted an internal review.) They found that two Health Department employees (one of them Moolenaar) "received erroneous payments consistently from 1995 to 2000." In each case, the employee had presented Finance with one or more 1992 payroll checks that they said had been misplaced and never cashed and so were "stale dated" and in need of replacement.
What was supposed to happen was that Finance would make an adjustment in the employees' next paycheck to include an amount equal to that of the stale-dated checks, in addition to the employees' regular paycheck amount. That required placing a numeral "1" in a box in a computer field. Instead, someone placed an "x" in the box and that resulted in the computer kicking out the adjusted paycheck every second pay period for the next five years.
"There's no way to tell" if the error was intentional without further investigation, Van Beverhoudt said. The Finance employee responsible "isn't here anymore."
But regardless of how it happened, he said the employees receiving the money "should have at least recognized that they were getting too much money." For one thing, "since the adjustments were after tax amounts, they were not included on the employees' annual Wage and Tax Statement (W-2)." In other words, tax payments were not deducted from the overpayments.
Moolenaar received $102,497.85 in extra pay; the other employee, $28,082.25.
The case of two other government employees receiving overpayments is similar. Both worked for Education, and both filed for replacement of lost checks, one in 1995 and the other in 1997. They received fewer overpayments, however. Each was overpaid five times.
A fifth employee received overpayments because of errors in processing his new salaries after promotions. When he was promoted from teacher to assistant principal, his salary increase was at first delayed. "An attempt was made to do a 'Special' payroll run adjusting his salary and paying him his retroactive increase," the audit states.
"For some unexplained reason, the process was stopped without the transaction being closed, resulting in it remaining in the automated system. When his second promotion (to acting principal) was then processed in November 1999, the system also picked up the information for the first promotion and combined them. This resulted in the employee being paid for the two positions at the same time."
About a year later, he had collected an extra $45,977.13. "When informed of the error" the employee surrendered two of his regular pay checks, was not paid for two more pay periods and made an informal agreement to make regular reimbursements. He stepped up the reimbursements after the matter was referred to the Task Force, paying $20,000 in early January and another $20,000 at the end of January.
In response to the findings, Finance has tightened controls over payroll payments. Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull said procedures and policies have been implemented to guard against duplicate payments and to detect any duplications quickly. Additionally, she concurred with the audit recommendation to have the computer software modified so that a pay adjustment cannot be repeated unless it is activated a second time.
Van Beverhoudt said he believes Finance and his office have found all the overpayments involving "stale date" check reimbursements in the past five years.
However, he said, "we're looking into other irregularities."

DRAMA PRODUCTION AT C.A.H.S.
by Joya Pogson
On Thursday, February 15, 2001 at 7:00 p.m., the C.A.H.S. drama class under the direction of Drama teacher, Ms.Valerie Horsford, performed "The French Cabinet Maker" a one act farce taken from the 17th century play by Noel De Breton entitled "Crispin Medecin." In keeping with the love theme of the play, students recited love poems and sang love songs. It was a post Valentine celebration. The technological aspects of the play were done by former drama teacher, Ms. Denise Humphrey and the drama students. The drama class expresses its gratitude to the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands for funding the production.
The show was a great success for all the participants and a treat for the audience. If you missed this special event you missed a wonderful performance. The cast consisted of : Shani Pinney, Andrew Gottlieb, Adrienne Miller, Makisha Stapleton, Cohlene Heskey, Jolanda Donadelle, Danielle Harrigan, Shontelle Warner.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH ACTIVITIES
by Shadia Renee and Onicka Jacque
Special Black History celebrations were held during the month of February at Charlotte Amalie High School. Students were exposed to various learning experiences which encouraged a better understanding and appreciation for their African heritage and culture. Among the events was a drumming demonstration by "Pure African Harmony." The drumming which the students thoroughly enjoyed was done by Attorney Tony Jenkins, African Southwell, Eddie Bruce, the Echo people, and assisted by some of our very own C.A.H.S. drummers.
One of the major learning experiences was the lecture given by Dr. Yagen Habytes, professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. He spoke on the topic, "Problems and Prospects in Africa: Things Our Ancestors Knew." Additionally educational, was the lecture presentation by Professor Gene Emanuel also of U.V.I. Our native son and Pan-African support group founder spoke on "The Lost Soldiers in the Caribbean." Students were enlightened about persons like Walter Rodney, Dr.Eric Williams, Dr. Wilmoth Blyden, Queen Mary, and Rothchild Francis.
Then there came African Dress Up Day. This is an event that students,faculty and staff look forward to. On February 28, students got a chance to don African wear instead of their school uniform. In an after school fashion show students modeled their outfits to the delight of their peers. Before the show, however, Assistant Principal, Dr. Jubilani Rees educated students about the designs on the prints that they were wearing. This event was a learning experience for all the students.
Also, as part of the show, Principal Jeanette Smith threw out questions to the students and the first three students with the correct answers received tickets donated by reggae artist Berris Hammon for his show at Reichhold Center on March 3. Two other donated tickets were given to two music students. February 28 ended on a high note for us at C.A.H.S.
UP-COMING EVENTS AT C.A.H.S.
by Taryn Chung
Tuesday, March 6 at 12:25 p.m. Assistant Principal, Dr. T. Jubilani Rees who has visited several African countries, will give a lecture/presentation on "A West African Visit."
Wednesday, March 7 at 12:05 p.m. Attorney Azekah Jennings will speak on "Black Self-Esteem," "Black Survival," and "Blacks in Prison."
Thursday, March 8 at 12:05 p.m faculty and staff will challenge members of the school’s Quiz Bowl Team during a Black History Quiz Bowl competition.
March 5-9 – Foreign Language Week Celebrations.
March 10- Sophomore Show beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the C.A.H.S. auditorium.