A St. Thomas resident is in federal custody in connection with the Feb. 19 armed robbery of the Western Union office in downtown St. Thomas.
In a joint announcement Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, V.I. Police and the U.S. Marshal Service said William Hodge Jr., 23, of Vester Gade had been charged with first-degree robbery after his arrest by agents of the V.I. Safe Streets Task Force on Monday morning.
He and an accomplice are alleged to have held up Western Union and robbed two patrons who were conducting a transaction at the time.
The most recent robbery was reported to police by the same employee who reported the Feb. 7 armed robbery of the same Western Union office on Store Tvaer Gade.
At the time of the latest armed holdup, police said two males stormed the establishment and robbed it of $3,400 in cash. In addition, two customers lost jewelry and other personal effects valued at $1,465. Law enforcement sources remained tight-lipped on whether the suspects in the two Western Union robberies are the same.
Hodge was expected to appear before a District Court magistrate jJudge for an advice-of-rights hearing Monday.
The task force appealed to the community to come forward with additional information that could lead to the arrest of the second suspect wanted in the Feb. 19 armed robbery of Western Union.
It is widely speculated that Hodge is related to a principal suspect in the robbery of the Emerald Lady Jewelry Store on Back Street in 1998, an incident that culminated with the fatal shooting of store owner Larry Davis.
The Safe Streets Task Force may be contacted at 776-9440 or at 777-3363.

Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. used a 30-minute appearance on public television's "Behind the Headlines" program Sunday night to explain how his office has stepped up enforcement of the territory's campaign disclosure laws.
Although the law has been on the books for awhile, a lack of funds and a lack of personnel to monitor it has made it difficult to enforce.
However, Abramson told St. Thomas Source Monday he is not going to let lack of money stand in the way of enforcing campaign disclosure laws.
"I am going to use the fines to finance" the enforcement and monitoring of the law, he said.
The Election System is also on the alert for any attempt by political candidates to protect the identity of their contributors.
"We have put in place the mechanisms to assist the elected officials with all scenarios they may face in terms of cash contributions," Abramson told program host Osbert Potter.
"I will not fool myself into believing that we can track every cash contribution," he admitted. He said the success of the law will depend on elected officials remaining honest.
Abramson said he hopes every elected official will want to comply with the law, if only to avoid the negative publicity that violation could generate. "They should do all possible to remain in compliance."
All elected officials are required to file disclosure statements semi-annually. Abramson said all but four senators were late filing in December 1999.
The four who did comply were Sens. Norman Jno Baptiste, Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David and George Goodwin.
The fines, which were signed into law in December, are $10 per day for every day the statements are not filed.
The next filing will be due June 30.
One area of concentration is anonymous cash contributions. "These contributions cannot and should not be used," Abramson said, noting that candidates cannot say where anonymous donations have come from, "therefore, they shouldn't use the money."
Defining an anonymous contribution Abramson said, "That's when you come to work and meet an envelope under the door and you don't know who put it there."
He said his experience working at the Legislature made him believe that scenario could happen.
The maximum amount that can be contributed by any one person to any one candidate per year cannot exceed $1,000.
In attempting to downplay suggestions that the system is enforcing campaign disclosure laws rather suddenly, Abramson said the law had been around since 1990, but was never funded. The system received limited funds in 1997 and has been enforcing it since. In 1997, Abramson said, he asked the Legislature for $100,000 to monitor and enforce campaign disclosure laws. They gave him $20,000.
Though the Election System of the Virgin Islands has an annual appropriation of about $800,000, Abramson is not allowed to use any of that money for disclosure work. The Election System Board passed a resolution in 1995 saying no money could be used from the general budget that wasn't specifically earmarked for disclosure enforcement and monitoring.
Part of the bill that became law last December will require all public officials to submit an audited financial statement at the end of 2000 showing exactly how campaign contributions were used.
Reports must include non-monetary contributions, too, according to Abramson.
However, Abramson told Potter, "There is not much you can do with enforcement until the funds are there to support it."

Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. used a thirty-minute appearance on public television's Behind the Headlines program Sunday night to explain how and his office has stepped up enforcement of the territory's campaign disclosure laws.
Although the law has been on the books for awhile, a lack of funds and a lack of personnel to monitor it has made compliance difficult to enforce.
However, Abramson told St. Thomas Source Monday he is not going to let lack of money stand in the way of enforcing campaign disclosure laws.
"I am going to use the fines to finance" the enforcement and monitoring of the law.
The Election System also has its eyes open to any attempt by political candidates to protect the identity of their contributors.
"We have put in place the mechanisms to assist the elected officials with all scenarios they may face in terms of cash contributions," Abramson told program host Osbert Potter.
"I will not fool myself into believing that we can track every cash contribution."
he admitted, but said the success of the law will depend on elected officials
remaining honest. Abramson said he is hopeful that every elected official will want to comply with the law to avoid the negative publicity that violation of the law could generate. "They should do all possible to remain in compliance."
All elected officials are required to file disclosure statements semi-annually. Abramson said all but four senators were late filing in December of 1999.
The four who did comply were Sens. Norman Jno Baptiste, Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David and George Goodwin.
The fines, which were signed into law in December, are $10 per day for every day the statements are not filed.
The next filing will be due June 30.
One area of concentration is anonymous cash contributions.
"These contributions cannot and should not be used," Abramson said, noting that candidates cannot say where anonymous donations have come from, "therefore, they shouldn't use the money."
Defining an anonymous contribution Abramson said, "That's when you come to work and meet an envelope under the door and you don't know who put it there."
Abramson said his experience working at the Legislature made him believe that scenario could happen.
The maximum amount that can be contributed by any one person to any one candidate per year cannot exceed $1000, according to existing law.
In attempting to downplay suggestions that the system is suddenly enforcing campaign disclosure laws, Abramson said the law has been around since 1990, but was never funded. The system received limited funds in 1997 and has been enforcing its provisions since. Abramson said at that time he asked the Legislature for $100,000 to monitor and enforce campaign disclosure laws. They gave him $20,000.
Though the Election System of the Virgin Islands has an annual appropriation of about $800,000 Abramson is not allowed to use any of that money for disclosure work. The Election System Board passed a resolution in 1995 saying no money could be used from the general budget that wasn't specifically earmarked for disclosure enforcement and monitoring.
Part of the bill that was signed into law last December will require all public officials to submit an audited financial statement at the end of 2000 showing exactly how campaign contributions were used. Reports must include non-monetary contributions, too, according to Abramson.
However, Abramson told Potter, "There is not much you can do with enforcement until the funds are there to support it."

Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. used a 30-minute appearance on public television's Behind the Headlines program Sunday night to explain how his office has stepped up enforcement of the territory's campaign-disclosure laws.
Although the law has been on the books for years, a lack of funds and a lack of personnel to monitor it have made compliance difficult to enforce.
However, Abramson told St. Thomas Source on Monday that he is not going to let lack of money stand in the way of enforcing campaign-disclosure laws.
"I am going to use the fines to finance" the enforcement and monitoring of the law, he said.
The Election System also has its eyes open to any attempt by political candidates to protect the identity of their contributors.
"We have put in place the mechanisms to assist the elected officials with all scenarios they may face in terms of cash contributions," Abramson told program host Osbert Potter.
"I will not fool myself into believing that we can track every cash contribution,"
he admitted, but he said the success of the law will depend on elected officials
remaining honest.
Abramson said he is hopeful that every elected official will want to comply with the law to avoid the negative publicity that violation of the law could generate. "They should do all possible to remain in compliance."
All elected officials are required to file disclosure statements semi-annually. Abramson said all but four senators were late filing in December 1999.
The four who did comply were Sens. Norman Jn. Baptiste, Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David and George Goodwin.
The fines, which were signed into law in December, are $10 per day for every day the statements are not filed.
The next filing will be due June 30.
One area of concentration is anonymous cash contributions.
"These contributions cannot and should not be used," Abramson said, noting that candidates cannot say where anonymous donations have come from, so "therefore, they shouldn't use the money."
Defining an anonymous contribution, Abramson said, "That's when you come to work and meet an envelope under the door and you don't know who put it there."
Abramson said his experience working at the Legislature made him believe that scenario could happen.
The maximum amount that any one person can contribute to any one candidate per year cannot exceed $1000, according to existing law.
In attempting to downplay suggestions that the system is suddenly enforcing campaign-disclosure laws, Abramson said the law has been around since 1990, but was never funded. The system received limited funds in 1997 and has been enforcing its provisions since. Abramson said at that time he asked the Legislature for $100,000 to monitor and enforce campaign disclosure laws. Lawmakers gave him $20,000.
Though the Election System of the Virgin Islands has an annual appropriation of about $800,000, Abramson is not allowed to use any of that money for disclosure work. The Election System Board passed a resolution in 1995 saying no money could be used from the general budget that wasn't specifically earmarked for disclosure enforcement and monitoring.
Part of the bill that was signed into law last December will require all public officials to submit an audited financial statement at the end of 2000 showing exactly how campaign contributions were used. Reports must include non-monetary contributions, too, according to Abramson.
However, Abramson told Potter, "There is not much you can do with enforcement until the funds are there to support it."

St. John residents will soon have an opportunity to view "Speaking in Strings," the Academy Award-nominated documentary feature film produced by independent filmmaker Lilibet Foster, a native St. Thomian.
And if plans work out, the whole Virgin Islands will get to hear the sound track album and watch the video before anybody else.
The documentary about a flamboyant violinist was shown on St. Thomas on Feb. 11 as part of the premiere Virgin Islands International Film and Video Festival at the Reichhold Center for the Arts.
To capitalize on the Oscar nomination, a first-ever distinction for a Virgin Islander, festival coordinator Karrl Foster began looking into ways to promote the St. Thomian's work locally. He has arranged for a public showing of the film at the Westin Resort in mid-March and is also seeking to have it shown on St. Croix and brought back to St. Thomas.
And he's working on arrangements to make the Virgin Islands the first place in the United States where the sound track CD and the video version of "Strings" will go on sale.
Although classical musicians, like classical music, often do not appeal to a mass American audience, "There a market for what Foster has done," Karrl, who is unrelated to Lilibet, said. He termed the work "the most passionate documentary I have ever seen."
Violinist Najda Salerno-Sonnenberg is the subject of "Speaking in Strings," produced by Lilibet Foster and directed by Paola di Florio, who grew up with the violinist, early last year. "Nadja is an unusual character, Lilibet says. "She's a classical violinist in a very unusual way." Sonnenberg is controversial because of the dramatic style she employs in performance, a demeanor Lilibet Foster says is not always well received by a conservative classical music culture. The film depicts a year in the musician's life in which a number of significant events take place.
Lilibet Foster, who is co-owner of an independent film company in New York, returned to St. Thomas to present the film and another documentary, "Soul in the Hole," at the festival. She knew then that "Speaking in Strings" had made the so-called "short list" of potential Oscar nominees. Four days later, on Feb. 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees — and she had made the cut.
Foster, the daughter of John and Claire Foster of St. Thomas, says she got the news that day as she was on the telephone making an inquiry about a teaching job at a college in New York. It was "the biggest surprise ever," she recalls.

"I plan my vacation around this run every year. Then half-way through it I wonder why," my running partner in the 8 Tuff Miles Race in St John on Saturday, a woman from Michigan, confessed to me as we both labored up Lizard Hill en route to Coral Bay.
This fourth annual road race, which begins at Cruz Bay and ends at Coral Bay, attracted 187 runners and walkers this year. The proceeds from the event go to Kids and the Sea program that teaches sailing to young people.
The course, though quite hilly and challenging, was mostly shady and pleasant. There were few cars, plenty of water stops, ample spectator encouragement, and lovely views from the hilltops.
Some hardy runners powered right up the hills and got across the finish line at the Coral Bay ballpark in under an hour. The last few miles were downhill, the reward for five miles of steep incline. My friendly rival from Michigan, who had run a few days before in 5-degree below zero weather, got a burst of speed at the six mile mark and I followed her down the winding road to Coral Bay.
When I chatted with her after finishing she said, "Sure, I'll do it again. I'll forget how hard it is by tomorrow."
The first three male finishers were, Ian Dan-Wauche 56:09, David Kozicki 56:25 and David Pritchett 56.26.
The first three female finishers were Debbie Koertz 1:05:24, Andrea Clarke Heffner 1:10:03 and Grace Tuma 1:10:44.

"I plan my vacation around this run every year. Then half-way through it, I wonder why," my running partner in the 8 Tuff Miles Race on St. John on Saturday, a woman from Michigan, confessed to me as we both labored up Lizard Hill en route to Coral Bay.
This fourth annual road race, which begins at Cruz Bay and ends at Coral Bay, attracted 187 runners and walkers this year. The proceeds from the event go to Kids And The Sea program that teaches sailing to young people.
The course, although quite hilly and challenging, was mostly shady and pleasant. There were few cars, plenty of water stops, ample spectator encouragement and lovely views from the hilltops.
Some hardy runners powered right up the hills and got across the finish line at the Coral Bay ballpark in under an hour. The last few miles were downhill, the reward for five miles of steep incline. My friendly rival from Michigan, who had run a few days before in 5-degrees-below-zero weather, got a burst of speed at the six-mile mark and I followed her down the winding road to Coral Bay.
When I chatted with her after finishing, she said, "Sure, I'll do it again. I'll forget how hard it is by tomorrow."
The first three male finishers were Ian Dan-Wauche, in 56:09; David Kozicki, in 56:25; and David Pritchett, in 56.26.
The first three female finishers were Debbie Koertz, in 1:05:24; Andrea Clarke Heffner, in 1:10:03; and Grace Tuma, in 1:10:44.

V.I. Republicans on Saturday guaranteed George W. Bush four delegates at the party’s July convention in Philadelphia.
Bush emerged the winner in the closed primary where only Republican could cast their vote for party candidates. While residents of the territory’s can’t vote for president, they can vote in primaries.
A coalition of other territories, including Guam and American Samoa, will deliver Bush 26 delegates. To win the GOP nomination for the presidency, the leading candidate needs 134 delegates.
"Considering how close things are, 26 delegates can mean a lot," said Republican V.I. Sen. Gregory Bennerson, referring to the race between Bush and U.S. Sen. John McCain.
According to Holland Redfield, Republican V.I committeman, the elected delegates are Samuel J. Baptiste, Humberto O’Neal from St. Croix and April Newland and Lawrence Boschulte from the St. Thomas/St. John district.
Alternates include Ruben Fenton and Herbert Schoenbohm from St. Croix and Elissa Runyon and Molly Mills Fuchalt from St. Thomas/St. John.
"Virgin Islanders are 100 percent behind George W. Bush. At the very beginning the governor of Texas reached out to the people of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico," Redfield said, adding that Bush’s sensitivity to minorities makes him a strong candidate. "That’s why there is a feeling of comfort."

V.I. Republicans on Saturday guaranteed George W. Bush four delegates at the party’s July convention in Philadelphia.
Bush emerged the winner in the closed primary where only Republicans could cast their vote for party candidates. While residents of the territories can’t vote for president, they do send delegates to the party conventions.
A coalition of other territories, including Guam and American Samoa, will deliver 26 delegates to Bush. To win the GOP nomination for the presidency, the leading candidate needs 134 delegates.
"Considering how close things are, 26 delegates can mean a lot," said Republican V.I. Sen. Gregory Bennerson, referring to the race between Bush and U.S. Sen. John McCain.
According to Holland Redfield, the territory's Republican national committeeman, the elected delegates are Samuel J. Baptiste and Humberto O’Neal from St. Croix and April Newland and Lawrence Boschulte from the St. Thomas/St. John district.
Alternates include Ruben Fenton and Herbert Schoenbohm from St. Croix and Elissa Runyon and Molly Mills Fuchalt from St. Thomas/St. John.
"Virgin Islanders are 100 percent behind George W. Bush," Redfield said. "At the very beginning the governor of Texas reached out to the people of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico." He added that Bush’s sensitivity to minorities makes him a strong candidate. "That’s why there is a feeling of comfort."

As the Anguilla Landfill on St. Croix smoulders and the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas sits atop a powder keg of methane gas, the Department of Public Works is preparing to put out requests for the design of a new, state-of-the-art solid-waste facility.
Depending on the winning bid, there could be either one or two new facilities to handle the approximately 150,000 tons of garbage – or more, depending on who is doing the estimating – produced each year in the territory.
How much is 150,000 tons? Carnival Cruise Lines’ megaship Destiny tips the scales at 100,000 tons. A 1993 study done by Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. estimated the per capita solid-waste generation rates for St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John at 8.6, 11.1, and 12.4 pounds per person per day, respectively. That amount is twice that of people on the mainland.
To handle the constant flow of waste at what are in effect dumps and not federally approved landfills, Public Works’ RFP, set to be advertised this week, seeks to identify a private contractor to build and operate a solid-waste management facility on either St. Thomas or St. Croix, or one on each island. Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. did not return several calls regarding this story, but past estimates for a single waste-management facility place it in the neighborhood of $100 million.
"In general, it is envisioned that the solid waste management facility (SWMF) may consist of a material recycling facility (MRF), followed by a process to destroy solid waste, followed by landfilling of unusable/unprocessable materials and byproducts of the destruction process," states the draft RFP. "It is also envisioned that the waste destruction process could also produce marketable products such as energy and perhaps potable water."
According to the draft RFP, bidders may opt to build one facility on St. Thomas and one on St. Croix, on 10 acres adjacent to each island’s existing landfill, or to build a single facility at either existing landfill.
If a single facility is chosen, 20 acres will be made available for it on the designated island. On the other island, 10 acres will be made available for siting a transfer station.
Ownership of the land will remain with the government and a $1 per year lease will be provided the contractor to allow use of the land during the life of the contract providing all contractual conditions are met.
In return, the V.I. government would grant the winning bidder a long-term contract and the right to charge a tipping fee for disposal of solid waste brought to the new facility, a guarantee of a minimum quantity of solid waste to process and the right to market certain byproducts. In addition, the draft RFP states that the winning company will be eligible for Industrial Development Commission benefits.

TO BURN OR NOT TO BURN
Exactly what technology will be used to dispose of the islands’ garbage is not clear at this point. Public Works’ Thompson has previously stated that the dearth of available land on each island makes a new landfill highly unlikely. He has also said – although not directly — that incineration is not an option.
"Because of our present water collection methodology, via the utilization of cisterns, contaminating the roofs in our communities create other potential hazards," Thompson said at a recent Senate committee hearing on the territory’s landfills.
The draft RFP, however, also states that neither local law nor Public Works intends to stop a bidder from proposing other types of "thermochemical processes." That means other waste-destruction methods that use heat to cause chemical reactions, including gasification, could be put into place.
Last year Thompson visited places that use gasification to destroy their waste, including Germany. He has hinted that gasification is the government’s preferred method for curing the territory’s solid-waste woes, although he has not campaigned publicly for one process or another.
Like incineration, gasification uses heat to destroy garbage. Incineration burns the organic material in solid waste by introducing air during the process, producing high-temperature gases that must be cooled and cleaned before being released through a smokestack. The byproduct of the process, ash, which consists of metals and silica, must be disposed of in a landfill.
Gasification operates at temperatures almost twice as high as incineration. Because of the high temperatures, all organic compounds are destroyed. Gases produced in the process are then quickly cooled to prevent compounds such as dioxins from re-forming.
The high temperatures are also above the melting point of metal and mineral products found in solid waste. The metal byproduct is processed into pellets that can be used in a smelter.

RECYCLE, REUSE, REWHAT?
Last year, the St. Croix Environmental Association completed its Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan. SEA’s plan places a high priority on recycling, reuse, waste reduction and composting. SEA's researchers found that more than 50 percent of what is going into the territory’s landfills is compostable material.
A gasification method has the ability to handle unsorted municipal solid waste, industrial waste, tires, medical waste, appliances and construction debris – basically, anything and everything. However, while that may sound like a panacea to some, it poses a problem for others.
Yvonne Petersen, director of SEA, said that while methods like gasification have become more environmentally sound over the years, the message sent to the community is that it doesn’t need to reduce the amount of waste it produces.
"Source reduction is an important part of an integrated waste-management plan," Petersen said, adding that the draft RFP only gives cursory attention to recycling. "The language is not really very strong. There’s no discussion about educating the community on recycling.
"We have a long way to go to educate. We’re talking about gasification, but there is no educational component to it."
To the extent feasible, the draft RFP states, Public Works’ preference is to promote recycling and/or reuse of solid waste.
"Thus, although not an absolute requirement, it is strongly preferred by the government that the contractor include a Materials Recycling facility (MRF) in the contractor’s SWMF and marketing of the materials recovered."
To promote recycling in the territory, Public Works states that it wants to establish recycling bins at its solid-waste transfer stations "for those materials the contractor deems recyclable or reusable."
"Recycling or reuse by composting does not appear to be feasible at the sites provided by the government on either island because of the proximity of residential neighborhoods, limited land area, or the potential to attract birds which could jeopardize airport operations (St. Croix)," the draft RFP states. "However, it may be possible to work with (local) groups . . . to implement smaller, dispersed composting operations."
But SEA’s Petersen said Public Works needs to make the recycling provisions in the RFP an absolute requirement, not just an aside.
"Based on past history with the government, we feel that if recycling is not part of the initial program, it’s not going to happen," Petersen said. "We need to get the dump fire under control, but we need to do it outside the crisis mode with long-range thinking."
STOKING THE FIRE
Paying for a system that could cost approximately $100 million means the territory would have to start doing what every other jurisdiction in the United States does: charging individuals and companies tipping fees to dispose of garbage. Various studies commissioned by the government have placed the cost at $40 to $50 a ton.
The company building and operating a new facility would keep the revenue to cover
costs associated with debt repayment or for operating, managing and maintaining the facilities.
"Tipping fees have never been charged for landfilling solid waste in the territory nor have residential customers been charged directly for government pickup and disposal of their solid waste," the draft RFP states. "It is thus difficult to predict what effect the advent of solid waste disposal fees would have on the amount of solid waste requiring future disposal."
And that could be key in the long-term operation of a facility. To make a gasification unit economically feasible, a large amount of garbage must be run through. Because of that, Public Works has guaranteed a future contractor a certain tonnage of trash per year. That opens the door for trash to be imported not only from within the territory, but from outside as well.
Public Works is only interested in proposals for technologies and facilities that can not only process, at minimum, 75,000 tons of solid waste per year, but also up to 150,000 tons, according to the draft RFP.
"There is one exception to this 75,000 tons per year lower end requirement. Since 75,000 tons per year of solid waste may be beneath the economic threshold of some technologies, the government may allow the contractor to bring into the territory additional solid waste providing it is not violating any regulation in doing so, it is demonstrated to be beneficial to the territory to do so, and it is approved in writing at least six months in advance of any actual physical transfer."

SAME OLD SONG?
Meanwhile, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, chairman of the Committee on Environmental Protection, on Friday petitioned Gov. Charles Turnbull to declare a state of emergency concerning the solid-waste situation in the territory. Donastorg noted that such a declaration may have been put in place by the previous administration following Hurricane Marilyn in 1995 and never rescinded.
Whatever the case, the situation at the government’s landfills is not new. Dozens of methane-fueled fires have ignited at the Bovoni Landfill over the last 20 years. And there have been almost the same amount of studies done concerning landfill and solid waste management – all for naught.
"I think the situation . . . has become dangerous," Donastorg said, regarding the latest fires at the St. Croix landfill and the subsequent backup of trash around the island. "I don’t see any significant effort to solve this problem."
Commissioner Thompson, however, told Donastorg’s committee that Public Works’ efforts were for real this time.
"We can’t afford to mess up this time because the landfills of the Virgin Islands have a lifespan alarm clock ticking, which will sound off in a little over four years," Thompson said. The Federal Aviation Administration, he noted, has ordered that the St. Croix landfill be closed by the end of 2002.
A completed RFP is scheduled to go out to bid next week, with a notice to proceed at the end of August. Construction permitting and startup of the St. Croix facility is estimated to take two and a half years, with St. Thomas following six months later, according to Thompson.
"Based on need, the St. Croix plant will be built first and I don’t think that there would be much dispute on that subject," he said. "Overall, we are moving in the areas of disposal in a timely manner from a financial and practical point of view."