In what is being called the biggest turnout yet by Virgin Islanders, hundreds of children accompanied by their parents took part Tuesday night in the annual Night Out of anti-crime, anti-drug activities.
Local groups, families and individuals reclaimed the streets in Night Out activities across the nation. Traditionally, the V.I. activities have drawn a greater portion of the local population than similar initiatives stateside.
Events on all three islands featured motivational speeches, music, fun and games, food and drinks and merriment as leaders of the community urged young people to stay from drugs and crime.
On St. Thomas, daylong activities climaxed with a formal ceremony at the Emile Griffith Ballpark. Speaker Simon Farrington, a longtime organizer of Night Out activities,
encouraged the audience to "live without crime." Parents, he said, ought to be careful about the activities of their children.
U.S. Attorney James Hurd urged parents to get involved. He mentioned a host of mentoring activities and called on parents to instill discipline in their children.
"We talk about needing a village to raise a child, but there was a time when the community, not the parents alone, raised their kids. We need to go back to those days," Hurd told the audience.
Other speakers included Territorial Court Judge Audrey Thomas-Francis and Celia Carroll, mother of slain UVI student Jason Carroll. Carroll has organized a local chapter of Mothers Against Guns, whose mission is to reduce gun violence.

The newly created Caribbean Film and Video Association, will hold its first meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Hook Line and Sinker restaurant in Frenchtown.
According to spokeswoman Deborah Quade, the association is looking for new members to be part of a viable new industry rapidly growing in the territory. She said association's aim is to create new jobs, promote local talent and educate the public about the film industry.
A production video shot on St. John in July of country and western music star Kenny Chesney will be shown at the meeting, which is open to the public.
Quade said businesses could benefit from linking onto the Caribbean Film and Video Association's website at www.caribbeanfilmlocation.com.
Quade can be contacted at (340) 774-9289.

Carnival Cruise Lines took delivery of its new $440 million cruise ship, the 102,000-ton Carnival Victory, last week at an Italian shipyard.
The Carnival Victory, the 15th vessel in the "Fun Ship" fleet and the third in Carnival's highly successful "Destiny-class," will depart Monfalcone, Italy on Aug. 2 on its transatlantic crossing and is expected to arrive in New York on Aug. 14.
Following voyages from New York to Canada, the Carnival Victory will sail on a series of one- to five-night voyages from Newport News, Va., and Charleston, S.C., before repositioning to Miami to operate a three-day Bahamas voyage and a program of week-long Caribbean cruises beginning Oct. 15.
Carnival currently has six other Fun Ships with an estimated value of $2.6 billion scheduled for delivery over the next four years. Included in the company's order book are three 2,794-passenger vessels under contract – the Carnival Conquest in 2002, the Carnival Glory in 2003 and an as-yet-unnamed vessel in 2004. At 952 feet long and 110,000 gross registered tons, these three ships represent longer, larger versions of the company's popular Destiny-class vessels.
One of the largest cruise ships ever constructed, the 893-foot-long Carnival Victory features a wide variety of on-board amenities and facilities, including a nine-deck-high atrium offering easy and convenient access to the vessel's 18 bars and lounges, which range from an intimate piano bar to a spectacular three-deck-high show lounge housing lavish Las Vegas-style productions.
The ship also features 13 passenger decks and 1,379 staterooms, 62 percent of which offer an ocean view with 60 percent of those including private balconies. Also included are three two-deck-high restaurants – two full-service main dining rooms and a casual poolside eatery offering a 24-hour pizzeria, a New York-style deli, specialty areas serving Asian and American favorites, full breakfast and lunch buffets and a "Seaview Bistro" alternative dinner-time service. A 15,000-square-foot "Nautica Spa" health and fitness facility, a 1,300-square-foot "Children's World" play area, part of the line's top-rated "Camp Carnival" children's program, and an Internet café, are included, as well.

About 300 Crucians gathered in Frederiksted Tuesday for a night out against crime and drugs.
For the 13th year, St. Croix residents marched from the Frederiksted Post Office to the Terrence Martin Ballpark, where the rally was held. Venise Lewis, assistant director of youth projects at the Department of Health and Human Services, estimated the crowd at approximately 300.
Along with guest speakers and musical performances by youth groups, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency passed out complementary water bottles with anti-drug messages, and played videos showing the effects of drug use.
The effort is all part of the DEA’s mandate to educate young people about drug use, said the agency’s resident agent, Paul Toner.
"I think there is a place for drug education in the overall picture," Toner said.
The Night Out Against Crime and Drugs was organized by the St. Croix Demand Reduction Unity Coalition, a collaborative effort of community organizations and individuals to reduce alcohol, tobacco and other drug use on the island.

Stephen A. Monsanto, a former special assistant to the director of the Internal Revenue Bureau, has been trying to strike a plea bargain agreement with the government to avoid a jury trial.
Monsanto is accused of intercepting $215,000 in government funds and depositing the money into a bank account for his own use. The alleged illegal activity occurred between January 1997 and April 1998.
Monsanto was charged in December 1998 after an investigation by the V.I. Justice Department's White Collar Crime Division.
Monsanto and his attorney, Treston Moore, appeared in Territorial Court on Tuesday afternoon to plead guilty to one count of obtaining money under false pretense in connection with the check diversion. However, legal wrangling between Moore and government prosecutors put off the change of plea hearing until later this month.
Territorial Court Judge Brenda Hollar refused to accept the plea agreement, which combined into a single count the 26 instances where Monsanto deposited or fraudulently used checks not intended for him. Discussion focused on whether the proposed plea bargain would minimize the impact of the crime.
Assistant Attorney General Douglas Sprotte told the judge, "I don't want to see a situation where because restitution has been made to several of the injured parties, Mr. Monsanto pleads guilty to a single count of obtaining money under false pretense and we only consider as fraud the money that remains outstanding, the money that has not been paid back. The government will not accept that."
Throughout the hearing, Moore said his client has wanted to make full restitution since he was implicated in the scheme in 1998. Moore said time and again that much of the monies listed on a government exhibit has already been paid back.
"My office will perform a detailed accounting to prove to this court and to the government, the parties that have received restitution from Mr. Monsanto," Moore said.
After much discussion about why the plea bargain, as proposed, could not be accepted by the court, Sprotte made another offer: "Mr. Monsanto can plead guilty to all of the original 33 counts and we will recommend to the court at the time of sentencing that the sentences run concurrent." In effect, Monsanto would be sentenced for only one count, though he would have pleaded guilty to all counts against him, Sprotte explained later.
Hollar appeared poised to accept the second plea bargain proposal, but Moore said he needed more time to consider it with his client. Obtaining money under false pretense is a felony crime that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
Monsanto was in a job paying $53,000 a year when prosecutors allege that he used that position to intercept vendor payments from the government. Court documents filed in December 1998 accused Monsanto of depositing the diverted funds into an account at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. In other instances, prosecutors alleged that Monsanto created fictitious invoices from businesses, then channeled the checks representing payment for the bogus invoices to his own account.
"In some cases the various vendors were the victims because legitimate payments were diverted," Sprotte said at the hour-long hearing Tuesday. "In other cases the government was the victim because government funds were committed for false invoices."
The case will reconvene at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 21 with both sides attempting to reach a plea bargain acceptable to the court.

St. John's "Night Out Against Crime" observance Tuesday evening got off to a telling start. The event, scheduled to begin with a parade from the Pine Peace basketball court to Cruz Bay Park, attracted just a smattering of adults — all government officials and community activists. Waiting for the parade to begin, they clustered in small groups taking note of the distinct scent of marijuana smoke wafting their way from youths hanging out around the ball court bleachers.
Several of the adults noted that these were precisely the type of young people they were trying, in vain, to reach with their "Night Out Against Crime" messages.
Given the small size of the group, it was decided to cancel the parade, and organizers, including Harry Daniel from Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen's office, drove to Cruz Bay, where a a crowd awaited. The gathering at its high point reached about a hundred people, mostly young people participating in the presentations and their parents.
After Pastor Carlyle Sampson of Nazareth Lutheran Church offered an invocation, Daniel spoke on the importance of "taking back our community." St. John administrator Julien Harley concurred, saying, "We must combat drugs and violence within the community – not only our community, but nationwide. We need to let young kids know it's not acceptable. Give kids the right meaning of ‘Say no to drugs.'"
Ultimately, Harley warned, those who get involved with drugs "are deserting your family, your friends and your community."
Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd recollected that "a long time ago in Cruz Bay we all were family. There was a lot of love in our hearts." Today, he said, "that love is not there. It is not always easy to do the right thing – studying hard, staying in school."
Entertainment was provided by about 20 members of the Love City Pan Dragons steelband, youngsters ages 4 to 12 who spent six weeks this summer learning to play pan under Samuel Lawrence, the band director and music arranger. Playing "Breezing" for many of them was their first-ever public performance.
Another highlight of the program was a skit performed by the participants in a summer program at the Elaine Ione Sprauve Library. The skit, "Say No to Drugs," was written by Brittany Fredericks, 14, a student at Antilles School. Her message was: "There are so many opportunities in life. It is not necessary to turn to drugs at all."

The U.S. Treasury Department has pledged that the territory won’t lose any monetary ground when Congress retools the Foreign Sales Corporation program, according to Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen.
While Christensen didn’t go into detail during an interview on WSTX radio Tuesday, she said the Treasury will make the territory "whole" following the closure of the FSC program and the ensuing loss of $7 million to $10 million a year in licensing fees and ancillary revenue.
"The Virgin Islands will be compensated for the loss," Christensen said.
Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to end the FSC program at the behest of the World Trade Organization. Earlier this year, the WTO appellate body upheld a decision that the FSC program represented a tax subsidy forbidden under WTO rules. Congress must create new FSC legislation by Oct. 1.
Christensen said at one point Congress was considering, but rejected, an approach that wouldn’t have met WTO guidelines. Ensuing litigation would have bought some time for the U.S. to consider other alternatives.
Instead, the option chosen by Ways and Means – a "single entity" approach – is similar to the existing FSC program but would not require U.S. companies to establish a separate, special structure to handle foreign source income.
The Virgin Islands has about 3,500 FSCs registered here.
Although the millions of dollars collected in FSC revenue would dry up under the single entity scheme, "There will remain a window of opportunity for the Virgin Islands to participate with these companies under the new agreement," Christiansted said.
"It will still provide a few jobs and revenue," Christensen said. "We think this is the best that could be done under the WTO rules."
A key component of the FSC program is the ability of U.S. companies to lower their U.S. income-tax liability by channeling their export income through foreign sales corporations. Congress established the FSC system as an alternative to a previous program to which U.S. trade partners, particularly the European Union, had objected.
Exporters began using FSCs – offshore subsidiaries – in 1985. A portion of the export sales run through the FSC is exempt from federal taxes.
Along with the revenues from franchise fees, FSCs generate income in the territory from banks that hold FSC funds and hotels and other businesses that benefit from local annual meetings of FSC directors and shareholders.

SAN GERMAN, Puerto Rico – The Virgin Islands women's basketball team, playing the final six minutes with only five players, lost for the second straight time in the Central America and Caribbean University Sports Games.
This time, the young, banged-up Virgin Islands team dropped an 80-40 decision to Colombia and was knocked out of championship contention at the Inter American University gym. The top two teams in the regional tournament will play for the championship Saturday. The third- and fourth-place teams in the preliminary round will compete for the bronze medal.
The Virgin Islands, which is battling for a fourth seed, was trying to rebound from a 114-48 loss to Mexico on Monday. The Virgin Islands' only win in the five-team field came by forfeit to the Dominican Republic on Sunday.
The Virgin Islands played the final six minutes without injured D'Mour King (ankle), Tessa Reid (knee) and Leshell Liebert (shoulder). In addition, Felicia James fouled out with six minutes remaining after scoring 18 points. King did not dress and left Puerto Rico for St. Croix on Tuesday. Reid and Liebert were hurt during Tuesday game and did not re-enter.
"We gave more effort today than the day before," said V.I. head coach Albert Hazard. "Still, it wasn't enough. Our players are not in shape."
The Virgin Islands fell behind 14-4 but cut the deficit to 21-18 with six minutes remaining in the first half. Colombia went on a 19-8 run to take a 40-26 lead into halftime.
Trailing by 18 points with 12 minutes remaining, the Virgin Islands came within 59-50 with 6 minutes, 30 seconds remaining, but could not overcome fatigue and the clutch shooting by Colombia, 1-1.
Jhudy Gonzalez, who plays at Oklahoma City University, paced Colombia with 20 points. Colombia's other U.S.-based college player, Levys Torres, plays at Florida State.
Three recent high school graduates – Liebert, Reid and Deslyn Haywood – are starters for the Virgin Islands. James, the 1999 Black College All-Star Game Most Valuable Player and Natasha Lettsome, the Appalachian State forward, are the two veterans on the squad. Lettsome led the Virgin Islands with 23 points and Nicole Bergan added 15 points.
The women's team will conclude the round-robin preliminary round against host Puerto Rico.
In other V.I. basketball action, the men's team took a major step toward a championship berth Tuesday with a 85-73 victory over Mexico at the Inter American University gym.
Alphonso Niles scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half and four Virgin Islanders scored in double figures as the team improved to 2-1.
"They played with an urgency," said V.I. head coach Jose Paris. "They knew this was do or die as far as making the final."
The Virgin Islands can assure itself a spot in the championship with victories over the Dominican Republic and Colombia. The V.I. plays the Dominican Republic on Wednesday and Colombia on Thursday.
"The players came together and gave themselves for the team and the Virgin Islands," Paris said. "A whole is greater than any part."
Niles, a Sts. Peter & Paul School graduate, and Cuthbert Victor, a St. Joseph's graduate, had 16 points apiece for the Virgin Islands. Victor, a Murray State signee, had 14 points in the first half. Johnson Isidore pumped in 11 of his 14 points in the second half and Tyrone Allick finished the game with 11 points.
The top two teams in the six-team preliminary round will reach the men's final on Saturday.
The Virgin Islands took care of business from the start. Victor hit a 3-pointer seconds after the tip and the Virgin Islands held the lead until Mexico tied the game at 21 with 12 minutes remaining. The contest was delayed for more than an hour after heavy rains caused a leak in the gym. The Virgin Islands took a 40-35 lead into halftime and enjoyed double-digit advantages for most of the second half.

The 28th annual United States Virgin Islands Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament from August 11 to 16 will be featured on two half-hour ESPN cable channel shows.
Dennis P. Kissman, president of Marina Management Services Inc. has confirmed that St.Thomas-based American Yacht Harbor has teamed with the World Billfish Series to provide ESPN cable television and Total Sports Internet coverage of the tournament. The tournament is known as the 'Boy Scout Tournament' because of the long-standing association with the Virgin Islands Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The tournament is one of the major annual fund raisers for the Boy Scouts, according to the tournament information web-site.
In 1999 the Boy Scout Tournament hosted 69 international anglers fishing aboard 26 boats. A total of 134 Blue Marlin was released. Last year's event also yielded the first 'side-by-side double header' (two boats, with two anglers apiece simultaneously fighting Blue Marlin) in the history of Virgin Islands sportfishing.
Tournament director Jimmy Loveland said he hopes for 40 boats in this year's tournament.
"You have no idea the amount of money these fishing tournaments bring to the islands," Loveland said, "Each boat spends more than $ 2,000, just on fuel."
"Accommodation, dinners, shopping, there is an incredible boost to the economy from this event, if you go down to the airport and check out the private jets, it looks like high season," Loveland continued.
The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism with American Yacht Harbor and the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club will sponsor the two half-hour episodes for the ESPN's highly rated 'Inside Big Game Fishing' show, hosted by Captain Norm Isaacs. ESPN reaches an estimated 150 million cable television subscribers worldwide. The shows are scheduled to air at 8:30-9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23 and 30.
Live world wide web coverage of the Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament will be at www.fishWBS.com and www.WorldBillfishSeries.com and is expected to provide global exposure for the Virgin Islands tourism and marine industries, according to a release from Marina Management Services' spokesperson Arlene Martel.
Detailed information on all facets of the tournament is available on-line at www.usvi.net/bsa

St. Croix will see a 22 percent increase in cruise ship calls in the coming season — a projected total of 142, up from the 116 last season, according to information released by the West Indian Co. Tuesday afternoon.
According to the release, a preview of the 2000-2001 winter season, the first ship to call at Frederiksted's Ann E. Abramson Port Facility in the fall will be the Galaxy, on Oct. 22. The Carnival Victory will replace the line's Destiny, starting Oct. 25, "creating the atmosphere for Harbor Night celebrations once again," the WICO release stated.
On St.Thomas and St. John, the coming season will be the last for the venerable SS Norway, which will switch to a Western Caribbean itinerary next April.. But for St. Thomas, it will be the first for the Disney Magic, set to pay its inaugural visit on Aug. 16, and for five other cruise ships, and a banner year overall. Between Oct. 1 and April 30 of next year, 849 ship calls are projected for St. Thomas and St. John, up from 703 for the comparable period last season.
WICO president Edward E. Thomas and operations manager Alfred Lloyd finalized the plans for the coming season in a series of meetings on the U.S. mainland recently with representatives of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association member lines operating ships that call at V.I. ports.
Thomas expressed satisfaction that Holland America Lines will operate nine of its 10 ships in the Caribbean, with seven calling regularly at St. Thomas and St. John. And, he said, Princess Cruises will return four of its "grand class" vessels to St. Thomas — the Ocean Princess, Sun Princess, Dawn Princess and Grand Princess — while all three of the Carnival Cruise Lines supermega-ships — Destiny, Victory and Triumph — will be regular Virgin Islands visitors.
As far as what's to come in the following year, "A cursory glance into the fall of 2001 reveals that there will be at least four new ships again, thus making the issue of creative scheduling a major topic for discussion and planning with the member lines of the FCCA at the upcoming conference in Panama Oct. 3-7," the WICO statement said.