St. Thomas' newest tourism partner – United Airlines – was welcomed to the territory in grand style Thursday by Knight Quality Stations.
A luncheon meeting attended by senators and business leaders hosted by station owner Randy Knight was held at Virgilio's Restaurant to celebrate the arrival next month of two flights per weekend from two hubs – Washington's Dulles Airport and Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
Stephen M. Beatus, vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean said, "It made a lot of sense for us to come here. We're the free world's largest airline and we're always looking for new destinations. St. Thomas looked right."
Beatus said he expects United to expand its service to St. Thomas.
"If things go as good as they appear to be expanded service is in the cards."
Edward Thomas, president of West Indian Company Ltd., said he was encouraged, especially with the other airlines that are also expected to start serving the territory this year. The United presence will increase the potential for overnight visitors – which spend more than the cruise ship passengers, according to Thomas.
Travel consultant Juliana Barzey said, "We really need them. We're already fully booked for the month of December. There are not enough flights. This will help."
Janise M. Robinson, United operations manager for St. Thomas said 14 people have been hired locally. They will go through training and then be hired permenantly, she said.
Beatus said United has partnered with Gulfstream which will be a benefit to St. Croix.
Gustavo Rubio, general manager for Puerto Rico and the USVI, said the Gulfstream flights will be scheduled to allow for connections to St. Croix within an hour of the United arrivals on St. Thomas.
He also said the Gulfstream partnership allows for United connections to many destinations through San Juan daily.
Thomas added that for an airline to make this commitment they must have confidence in the destination.
"We're an American territory. We appeal to the American Tourist. Now we have to do our best to continue to improve the infrastructure and change the perception of crime in St. Thomas."
St. Thomas Source was the first to break the news in March that United Airlines had decided to schedule flights to St. Thomas.
Beatus echoed what United spokesperson Matt Triaca said in March, "This is great for our frequent flyers and our leisure travelers."
United will occupy four desks at the airport at the north end of the terminal, according to Robinson.
The first flight will be Oct. 31.

For the second time in two months the V.I. government’s casino training school has missed an opening date.
The school was to open on Wednesday, Sept. 15, in the Frederiksted Mall. That date was set after the school missed its first opening on Aug. 2.
Now, according to acting Tourism Commissioner Michael Bornn, training for the 130 registered students will begin later this month.
"We’re looking at Sept. 27," Bornn said, clearly exasperated.
The casino training school is part of the V.I. Hospitality Training Institute and will be run by the Department of Tourism. Organization of the training began prior to Bornn’s appointment as commissioner in August.
Tourism officials said the Aug. 2 date was missed because of construction conflicts at the mall. Bornn’s assessment of the latest postponement reflected his frustration with the government. "It’s a lack of credibility," he said.
The opening of the school is crucial because the territory’s first casino is slated to open in December at the renovated Divi Carina Bay Resort on St. Croix’s southeast shore.
The V.I. Casino Control Act mandates that six months prior to the time the Casino Control Commission issues its first casino license, training must be provided to workers. Gaming is not supposed to be allowed until that occurs. The law also states that 65 percent of a casino’s employees must be Virgin Islands residents by the end of the first year of operation. The number increases to 75 percent after the second year and 80 percent after the third.
Because of the six-month time element and the December opening, CCC Chairwoman Eileen Petersen said she has asked the Senate to revise the language in the act.
"I can only recommend that they strike that six-month provision," she said. "I would definitely object to touching the percentages."
In interpreting the section on the amount of required training for casino workers, Petersen noted that in addition to a gaming license, all licensees must also be issued a certificate of operation by the CCC. The certificate is a final check that insures all management controls are in place and that personnel are properly trained before dice are rolled and the slots turn.
By having the six-month provision removed from the casino act and using the certificate of operation to ensure proper training, Petersen said the intent of the law will be kept intact.
"I think the legislation should be liberally construed to make each provision practical," Petersen said. "I don’t wish the six months be a barrier to opening the casino."
"Whether it takes them two weeks, six weeks or eight weeks; if I find they are trained I interpret that to mean a certificate can be issued…"
Petersen also noted the mandate that 65 percent of the casino staff be local residents comes at the end of the first year of operation.
"So they have a whole year to get that 65 percent. It helps facilitate training," she said.

St. Croix native Wayne James has won the International Humanitarian Medal for his work on the Middle Passage Monument Project.
The project honors the millions of African people killed during the transatlantic slave trade. The first aspect of the project saw a monument lowered onto the floor of the Atlantic Ocean 427 kilometers from New York Harbor on July 3.
The sculpture faces Africa and between 2000 and 2005 will be accompanied by replicas to be placed on land in the six regions of the world where the slave trade occurred, namely Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, North America and South America.
The International Humanitarian Medal, awarded only 12 times in its 36-year history, is administered by the Institut International de Promotion et de Prestige, based in Switzerland. The award recognizes individuals and organizations who have made international contributions.
According to the IIPP, the Middle Passage Project was considered because it is "ambitious, educational, universal, humanitarian, courageous and relevant to a large field of people."
James, president of the Homeward Bound Foundation, is the youngest person to have won the award. He will get to choose where the award ceremony, set for spring 2000, will be held.
"We are considering the United Nations Building in New York; El Mina Castle in Ghana, the 1482-built Portuguese castle from which estimated millions of African people were shipped to the Americas during the 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade; Government House in the United States Virgin Islands . . . and the newly opened Kurahulanda Museum of African History, located on the island of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. All of the sites posses special significance," James said.
The International Humanitarian Medal is the Homeward Bound Foundation’s second major award in its two-year history. In October of 1998, James and actress Debbie Allen received the Beacon of Freedom Award for their work in preserving African history, culture and heritage.
Other IIPP winners include NASA, the Jacques Cousteau Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, and the Albert Einstein Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University.
Meanwhile, the Homeward Bound Foundation is releasing a CD to raise funds for the Middle Passage Project. The CD, "If the Ocean Had a Voice" features a variety of hip-hop, rap, reggae, gospel, Latin and Afro-Cuban artists.
Proceeds from the CD sales will be used to construct the six monuments in the areas of the world touched by the transatlantic slave trade.
For more information on the Middle Passage Project,click here.

Teachers at Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School didn’t show up for work on Thursday in an apparent protest over proposed cuts in the government.
After 46 teachers failed to report, school officials went on local radio to tell parents to pick up their children. The action followed a union protest on St. Thomas Wednesday, where some 90 percent of teachers in the St. Thomas-St. John district didn’t report to work.
Many of the teachers joined other unionized government workers to protest outside the Legislature, where the Turnbull administration unveiled its government reorganization plan.
While the sickout at Pearl B. Larsen wasn’t officially sanctioned by the St. Croix chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, Acting President Chi Chi Heywood didn’t denounce the no-shows. "I don’t know if it’s a job action," she said.
"I understand there was a mass call-in. The people are saying they’re sick. They’re sick of it all," Heywood said, in reference to more than $250,000 worth of raises given to executive branch employees in the last nine months.
Unionized government workers are owed million of dollars in retroactive raises.
"The membership is frustrated," Heywood said. "There is a sense of abandonment by not only this administration but the previous administration."
She said Department of Education funding has caused a deterioration of conditions in the territory’s schools, including Pearl B. Larsen. Heywood said at least one teacher at the school has a grievance pending.
The larger issue, though, is the back pay.
"The bills aren’t stopping and the salaries are stagnant," said Heywood. "Members can only wait so long."
AFT leaders from both districts and four senators met on Tuesday to discuss alternative ways to increase government revenues to fund negotiated contracts. There was also consensus that the Department of Education’s budget should only be cut by 5 percent.
The AFT’s revenue enhancement ideas include:

• Imposing a $5 head tax on cruise ship passengers.
• Taxing cigarettes, imported spirits and imported bottled water.
• Pursuing a return of gasoline excise taxes.
• Making sure Industrial Development Commission beneficiaries are adhering to their obligations.
• Requiring all semiautonomous agencies to contribute to the general fund.
• Eliminating exempt positions.
• Enforcing tax and fee collections.
• Funding the Government Development Bank.
• Implementing early retirement and hiring freeze, specifically for the executive branch.

This latest is the summer sort of scary series follows in the footsteps of Stigmata and Deep Blue Sea.
It doesn't have the depth of emotion or even plot to compete with Sixth Sense or the Blair Witch. However, this is what summer flicks are all about isn't it?
It certainly doesn't lack star quality. Johnny Depp leads the cast as the astronaut who went to space and returned a changed man, and Charlize Theron plays his befuddled wife. It seems that while in space, contact is lost with astronaut Spencer Armacost and NASA officials rush to Mrs. Armacost to inform her of the situation — there was some sort of explosion. But he returns home safely after all. Well, not quite. He is different.
He quits the space program and becomes a New York executive and everything should be just peachy, except there is that something about him. . . . My goodness, just what did happen in space?
The movie is written and directed by Rand Ravich, his first. It is rated R for violence, language and sexuality — (in space?).
It is now playing at Sunny Isle Theaters.

At last!!! A happy, funny summer movie — and a space adventure at that. Yes, the Muppets try their hand at the extra-terrestial with some delightful results.
The Great Gonzo needs to find his real parents and, along with pal Rizzo the Rat, sets out on a quest where he discovers that he is from a distant planet. He is an alien. Armed with this knowledge, he announces to the whole world on Miss Piggy's talk show, "UFOMania," that "we are not alone," and goes on to describe his interplanetary ancestry.
No sooner does he do this, than he is captured by a paranoid government operative, K. Edgar Singer, a really bad piece of work. So he has to not only escape the Singer compound, but has to decided whether to board the mother ship to his true family out there somewhere, or remain with his good friends here on earth. Kermit the Frog is on board along with several other colleagues and the Electric Mayhem Band. Cameos pop up with everyone from F. Murray Abraham to Andie MacDowell.
The Columbia Pictures release is directed by Tim Hill, in his feature-length film debut.
It is now playing at Sunny Isle Theaters.

The long-awaited Governor's Reorganization Plan was presented Wednesday to the Legislature –- late, fragmented and without any questioning by senators.
Chief-of-Staff Juel Molloy, who is co-chairman of the Governor's Reorganization Task Force, said layoffs were not integral to the governor's plan.
Instead, she said, elimination of already vacant positions in many departments was the key to saving money.
"Reorganization has nothing to do with cutting benefits — making people pay more for health insurance and retirement," she said.
However, two agencies were hit with layoffs, the Labor Department and the housing arm of Housing, Parks and Recreation.
Saying Labor was one of the "most troubled departments in the whole government," Molloy confirmed that notices had gone out to Labor employees and they would be laid off by the end of September. Molloy said the Labor Department had staff "for whom not one dime" had been budgeted. She said most of the employees to be laid off were per-diem workers.
Part of the Labor Department's problem is the $6 million in back unemployment insurance fund payments that have been owing for more than 10 years -– most of which is owed by the government.
Molloy later told the Source the worst offender was the Education Department.
As was expected, housing was one of the areas of consolidation. Three of the existing agencies — the housing section of Housing, Parks and Recreation, the Housing Finance Authority and the V.I. Housing Authority — will be combined under one semi-autonomous agency called the V.I. Housing and Community Renewal Authority.
The consolidation will create layoffs, but task force co-chairman Ohanio Harris said a number of the employees will need to be supported for up to a year and are not scheduled to begin until January 2000.
It was revealed during Wednesday's hearing that the Housing Finance Authority had spent $2.8 million that had not been appropriated.
Harris said the HFA hasn't been funded for two years, but has 21 employees.
When asked how that could happen, Molloy told St. Thomas Source that the Finance Department said "they just overrode the system."
"They just do what they want," she said. "That's why I say we've got a runaway government. When I was head of Human Services, I thought you weren't supposed to use money that wasn't there."
Campbell Malone, the Legislature's post-auditor, later said, "Most funds are overdrawn."
The other agencies slated for consolidation are the Government Development Bank, the Industrial Development Commission and the Small Business Administration. They will merge under the heading of the Economic Development Authority.
Senators had a hard time following the summary Molloy presented, in part because there weren't enough copies to go around and in part because sections were missing from some of the packages.
No copies of the plan were available for the press. Government House said they would be available "tomorrow."
The hearing was delayed from a scheduled 9:30 a.m. start until 1 p.m. because Attorney General Iver Stridiron — who said he was "jostled" by a crowd of union demonstrators in front of the Legislature on his way in — told Molloy not to come to the hearing until she could be assured that she would be safe.
Teachers union members staged a protest demonstration before the session started, and had taken out newspaper ads beforehand opposing the reorganization plan.
Because of the late and only partial report, senators agreed to recess the meeting without questioning until they could review the plan.
Molloy said the total $15 million that would be saved by the government reorganization was the same money that had already been saved in the revised budgets submitted by the individual departments.
Malone confirmed, "There's nothing new here." But the post auditor did say some of the departments would be cut further by the reorganization plan.

This latest is the summer sort of scary series follows in the footsteps
of Stigmata and Deep Blue Sea.
It doesn't have the depth of emotion or even plot to compete with Sixth Sense or the Blair Witch. However, this is what summer flicks are all about isn't it?
It certainly doesn't lack star quality. Johnny Depp leads the cast as the astronaut who went to space and returned a changed man, and Charlize Theron plays his befuddled wife. It seems that while in space, contact is lost with astronaut Spencer Armacost and NASA officials rush to Mrs. Armacost to inform her of the situation — there was some sort of explosion. But he returns home safely after all. Well, not quite. He is different.
He quits the space program and becomes a New York executive and everything should be just peachy, except there is that something about him. . . . My goodness, just what did happen in space?
The movie is written and directed by Rand Ravich, his first. It is rated R for violence, language and sexuality — (in space?).
It is playing at Caribbean Cinema's Market Square East.

At the behest of the Turnbull administration, Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen has introduced legislation that will help the government operate for the remainder of the year.
According to Christensen, the legislation would make it possible for the territory to save millions in costs associated with the administration’s effort to borrow funds to meet due obligations, such a payroll. The move would also provide cash reserves to operate the for the rest of the year while deficit reduction and budget initiatives take effect.
"In order to avoid unnecessary costs associated with the local government’s efforts to borrow additional operating funds by the end of this month, Gov. Charles Turnbull and his financial advisors asked me and the Congress to provide the Virgin Islands with the same authority to borrow funds that is commonly enjoyed by other mainland jurisdictions and other territorial governments," Christensen said.
The contains a proviso that would cause the proposed borrowing authority to expire on Dec. 31, 1999 if the government and the secretary of the Department of Interior do not reach an agreement on various financial accountability standards for reducing the territory’s deficit, said the delegate.
"Because of the urgency of getting this legislation passed before the V.I. government closes on its loan on Sept. 30, the House Resources Committee has agreed to forgo holding a hearing on the bill and to schedule it for a vote next Wednesday, Sept. 22," Christensen said.

An amnesty on overdue library books has been put in place until the end of September.
Department of Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett has announced that books checked out from the Florence Williams Library in Christiansted and the Athalie Petersen Library in Frederiksted, the St. Croix Bookmobile and the Sunny Isle Public Library that are now overdue will carry no penalties until Sept. 30.
The library in Frederiksted and the library in Christiansted are now open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. beginning Sept. 11.
Regular library hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, the Williams Library phone number is 773-5715 and the Petersen Library is 771-0315.