Now is the time for all good residents of St. Thomas to get a head start on the herds of tourists by heading for the Old Stone Farmhouse. Brian Katz and Julia Hinojosa have arranged for you to enjoy the superb ambiance of that venerable 200-year-old estate house with the intimate patio and cool lounge.
Katz has assembled a crew of friends to help him create a menu of elegant, creative cuisine, and a companion menu of sushi. Katz had his beginnings in cooking at his parent's New York establishment when he was 13. He believes his "major training opportunity was in New Orleans working six years with Emil laGasse." Following stints at Randy's and Cafe Wahoo, he has brought his sous chef Lee Keener to one of the islands premier locations for fine dinning in relaxed elegance.
The tree lined court yard is available for pre and post dinner conversation and drinks, while the lounge provides an indoor atmosphere complete with a baby grand when the season ascends.
Katz is most excited with his "working relationship with local farmers and fishermen which yield fresh vegetables, herbs, tuna and swordfish." He is looking forward to building many "nightly specials based on island products."
Hinojosa manages the front of the house so to speak and can be contacted at 777-6277. Book now to enjoy the Stone Farmhouse before it is discovered.

Rotary East meets at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21 in the conference room at Elysian Beach Resort.
The program will be Singapore revisited.

The Landmarks Society will have its 45th Annual House Tours on Wednesday, Feb. 2.
For information call Chris Goodier, Director of Special Events & Fundraising at 772-0598.

The Landmarks Society will hold its second Candlelight Concert on Saturday, Jan. 15. For information contact Chris Goodier, Director of Special Events & Fundraising at 772-0598.

The Landmarks Society will hold a Candlelight Concert on Friday, Jan. 14. For information call Chris goodier, Director of Special Events & Fundraising at 772-0598.

The Landmark Society to hold Ruins Rramble on Sunday, Jan. 9. For information contact Chris Goodier, Director of Special Events & Fundraising at 772-0598.

The Red Cross is seeking volunteers trained in public affairs, communications and/or photography to help during disaster operations.
You may be a working member of the press, an adult or a student with an interest in communications. Red Cross Public Affairs disaster training will be scheduled during August.
If you are not afraid of long, unpredictable hours and can be available on short notice, call Pat Odoms 774-0375, or stop in at the Red Cross office 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Nisky Center Suite 222, Monday through Friday.

The Boy Scouts' Governor's Cup Golf Tournament will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 25, at the Mahogany Run Golf Course.
Golfers of any ability are welcome. Sign up the foursome you want to play with, or as an individual.
Hole-in-one prizes include $250,000 annuity for hole #14, a new Honda or Subaru for hole #8.
Entrance fee of $100 includes: Golfers Package, the Boy Scouts' famous 12th Hole refreshment stop, and Awards Banquet.
Sign-up at Mahogany Run Golf Shop or call the Boy Scouts at 774-2752.

Last week we noticed with great delight while driving up Crown Mountain Road the "raised reflective lane indicators" that had been installed down the center line of the road.
We noticed when we crept over into the opposite lane and heard—and felt—the rapid rat tat tat of the reflectors on our tires.
Thank you Public Works!
We hope the plan is to install these potentially life saving fixtures on all the islands' roads.
Our hope is that "hearing" that one is on the wrong side of the road will provide an unmistakable warning that the driver could be endangering someone's life, sanity and property.
How many times do we round a curve to find a huge truck or taxi van coming directly toward us in the wrong lane and often at a high rate of speed?
Truly a hair-raising, rage-producing experience.
The sense is that sometimes the overgrown bush on the side of the road is the culprit; drivers shy away from it to protect their paint jobs, without considering what a head-on collision would do to those same paint jobs.
The raised reflectors can't be too good for tires, another reason for staying on your side of the centerline.
So, please Public Works, don't stop at Crown Mountain Road but keep going with those "amber angels."
And while we're addressing Public Works, we'd like to take this opportunity to re-run an editorial we wrote, including the doggerel, when we were testing St. Thomas Source before it was launched seven months ago.
Unfortunately it still applies.
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Mirror, mirror on the road,
During Georges down you blow'd.
Public Works, we've cut you slack.
It's time to put our mirrors back!
Lots of St. Thomas residents are screaming about potholes. And with good reason. Our roads are so rutted and pitted they threaten our safety and our vehicles' structural soundness.
But we have another road-safety problem no one has talked much about: the Public Works Department's failure to restore mirrors and road signs after Hurricane Georges.
The area around Mafolie Hotel offers a good—though decidedly not the only—example.
Before Georges, drivers turning south onto Mafolie Road from the road in front of the hotel had the benefit at that treacherous intersection of utilizing a round mirror that reflected hidden traffic coming up the hill.
No more. Hurricane Georges blew it down. That was more than three months ago. Surely it shouldn't take three months to replace roadside mirrors, stop signs and other safety devices that motorists depend on.
Please, Public Works. This is routine stuff — the nuts and bolts of your mission. We hope it won't take a devastating accident to spur you to action.
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And that was seven months ago. The mirror has now been missing for the better part of a year.
(f)

According to Act No. 6220, dated March 3, 1998, the 22nd it was the consensus of the Legislature that the U.S. Virgin Islands should "…file a lawsuit to recoup funds spent on smoking-related health care costs." Section 1 (b) states further, "The Governor of the Virgin Islands, acting through the Attorney General, on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands, is authorized and directed to sue the tobacco industry for reimbursement of smoking-related health care costs." The bill notes that other such actions had already been filed. Those filings and the statistics that are available from the Department of Health relating to tobacco smoking-related health care costs became part of the basis for the suit filed by the U. S. Virgin Islands against the tobacco industry.
Through the National Association of Attorneys General, a settlement was reached and the Virgin Islands were included in the package. Based on information which is available at the National Association of Attorneys General website at www.naag.org the total sum scheduled to be received by the Virgin Islands is $34,010,102.11. The Virgin Islands will receive these funds in annual payments over a period of twenty-five years. The average annual receipts will be $1,280,000.00.
In advance of a tobacco settlement, Act No. 6220 further states in SECTION 2, "Fifty percent (50%) of all monies collected in connection with any lawsuit or settlement…shall be deposited in to the Union Award and Government Employees Increment Fund, …. The other fifty percent (50%) shall be deposited into the Health Revolving Fund…" This section further stipulates that " …fifty percent (50%) of the sum deposited tothe Health Revolving Fund shall be designated for use by the Governor Juan Luis Hospital on St. Croix with the remaining fifty percent (50%) being designated for use by the Governor Roy Lester Schneider Hospital on St. Thomas and the Myrah Keating Smith Clinic on St. John."
The League of Women Voters has not yet received a full breakdown of the terms and conditions of the tobacco settlement. On Monday, July 19th at Noon at L'Escargot Restaurant, the League will host a luncheon meeting. Deputy District Attorney General Alva A. Swan, the guest speaker, will advise those present on the terms and conditions of the settlement. The League of Women Voters is also interested in learning what the Attorney General's suggestions may be regarding the possible uses of these funds. The League also needs to know whether there are any "strings" or special strictures in the settlement regarding the use of these funds.
Various groups have raised concerns that all of any tobacco settlement awards should be used for smoking-related health-care, anti-smoking education, health care for the indigent, or for senior citizens who may have to travel off island to receive medical care. Another suggestion is that a portion of the fund be used as part of the match for the annual Medicaid grant.
Once all of these ideas, suggestions and facts have been collected, the League will then be able to review them and develop a position statement. A statement from the League of Women Voters including recommendations regarding the use of the Tobacco Settlement funds will be forthcoming shortly after the luncheon meeting of July 19, 1999. For information and reservations for the luncheon meeting on July 19th, please contact Ms. Eleanor Cerge at 776-9357, or Ms. Elizabeth Delagarde at 779-0287.
Editors' note: Erva Denham is the President of the V.I. League of Women Voters.