I attended the first day of a two-day compumaster seminar at the Marriott's Frenchman's Reef.It is fascinating but quite costly at $1,000 per person for the two-day course.
What I thought might raise the ire of the community is that in this seminar that should hold at least eight people, a coworker and I are the only ones there, because four Department of Finance people who were to attend never showed up.
I hope beyond hope that our wasteful governement has not prepaid $4,000 for its employees to play hookie. I keep wondering who is in charge.

Thomas B. Brunt IV
St. Thomas

I was recently informed by way of an e-mail from a friend in St. Thomas that Team Caribbean decided to abort their attempt to participate in the Amercia's Cup due to financial constraints.
This news did not surprise me, as a blind man could see that it would have been even more of a complete waste of time and money than it already was.
Time and time again I heard Peter Holmberg and his supporters ballyhoo about how greatly the U.S. Virgin Islands would benefit from him participating in this event. Pete, please,you and your cohorts may be able to fool some of the Virgin Islands people but not me.
The only people that stood to gain anything were you and maybe a few of your local sponsors, not the territory.
If the economy of the territory is in such bad shape, and "business is bad" as we have heard on a regular basis from the Chamber of Commerce and other business entities, how could it be possible to raise millions of dollars for a boat race that Pete had no chance of winning?
The Virgin Islands 16-18 basketball team scored back-to-back gold medals at the World Youth Basketball Championship; I don't see the Chamber of Commerce rushing out to sponsor their trip to Milwaukee this year. These same youths are the future Tim Duncans, Reynaldo Turnbulls and Andre Wadsworths of the sports world; these are the people that bring recognition to the Virgin Islands, not Mr. Holmberg.
America's Cup? All this was was Peter Holmberg trying to realize his own personal
dream and nothing else.
You want the Virgin Islands to benefit from a sporting event, how about sponsoring the America's Youth Basketball Championship to be held in St. Thomas at the proposed new University of the Virgin Islands Gymnasium?
Teams from North America, South America and the Caribbean could be invited to participate; this would fill your hotel rooms and bring patrons to your businesses.
Arthur J. Bonelli

The 1999 President is Dale E. Hamilton, broker/owner of Leeward Cay Realty since 1979. Hamilton, a graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio and a former U.S. Marine, has been an active member of the Virgin Islands community since 1967. He has been associated with Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio and held the position of Assistant Manager of Bank of America N.T.& S.A. in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He was president of the St. Thomas Board of Realtors in 1996. He is a member of NAR’s Graduate Realtors Institute (GRI), a candidate for Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), has served in many capacities for STBOR and VITAR and he looks forward to extending that service to the entire Virgin Islands community during the coming year.
President-Elect for 1999 is Jenyne Nelson, Manager & Sales & Marketing Director of TK Properties / Carden Beach Condominiums on St. Croix. A St. Croix resident since 1990, she holds a GRI designation and is a candidate for Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS). A past president of the St. Croix Board of Realtors in 1996, she is currently serving as a National Director of the National Association of Realtors. An active member of the St. Croix community, she is Race Committee Chairman of the St. Croix Yacht Club.
Treasurer is Lorine Williams, Principal Broker of Pivar Real Estate on St. Croix. A resident of the Virgin Islands since 1984, she holds the designations of GRI and CRS and has been a real estate broker for over 20 years.
Secretary is Fiona M. Stuart, who is affiliated with John Foster Real Estate on St. Thomas. She came to the Virgin Islands from London, England in 1988.
Immediate Past-President is B.J. Harris, broker/owner of St. John Properties and a resident of St. John since 1979. A graduate (Valedictorian) of the University of San Francisco, she also holds a 200 ton Master Mariner’s license.
Other Directors are Rob Bidelspacher, Jackie Marin, Greg Hamilton, Christie O’Neill, Marsha Maynes & Frank McLaughlin.
“Our priority, as we move toward the millennium, is to work with our members, the public and with the new administration to enhance the private property rights of all Virgin Islands citizens”, says Hamilton. “There is a remarkable amount of activity and optimism…on all three islands.”
“VITAR is going to be very responsive to all members of the Virgin Islands community in 1999”, Hamilton continued. “We are going to concentrate on improving our basic member services in order to better assist all Virgin Islanders to move toward the goal of home-ownership.”
“We want everyone to know what a REALTOR is…what REALTORS do…and how the public is protected by the REALTORS’ Code of Ethics and The Grievance & Professional Standards Committees. We plan to direct a lot of energy toward continuing education for all our members through the Graduate Realtor’s Institute (GRI) and the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) programs.”
“This will definitely be an interesting and challenging year!”

T-shirts and caps from BeachJam'99 are available for $10 each at the C.E.A.P.(Cause Effective Arts Program) office at 16C Crystal Gade.
Come and get them as soon as possible. There are limited supplies available.

V.I. employers are reminded it is required that they file W-2VI forms by Jan. 31 to avoid penalties.
W-2 forms used to report wages in the continental United States cannot be used for Virgin Islands employment.
Each and every failure to provide a W-2 by Jan. 31 will result in a penalty of $50 and could result in criminal penalties in some instances.
Form W-3SS (transmittal of wage and tax statements) must also be filed in lieu of form W-3 which is used in Continental United States.

Sen. Judy M. Gomez said Monday, though she was pleased with the response from the Dept. of Education to have school buses go into neighborhoods to pick up students, parents should car pool or make sure children travel in groups to assure safety.
In a response to recent attacks and attempted abductions in the Tutu area, Mario Golden, acting superintendent of schools directed buses to go into neighborhoods to pick up students instead of having them congregate at Four Winds Plaza. Gomez commends him for this action, but says there is still safety in numbers.

Free discussion groups will begin the first week in February.
Sponsored by the Beacon Schools of the Virgin Islands,they are intended to provide parenting skills.
The workshops will be at the E. Benjamin Oliver,775-200, on Tuesday evenings, Claude O Markoe, 772-2217, on Thursday evenings, and Julius Sprauve,776-6336 on Monday evenings.Parents may sign up for the series by telephoning the Beacon School of their choice after 4 p.m. or by contacting 777-8300.

St. John Times publisher June Bell Barlas is announcing that the St. John Times is going online as an edition of OnePaper.
You will find it at www.onepaper.com/stjohnvi/. The site is established and local content will be provided soon. The site will include local art, photos and articles.
The print edition of the Times is published monthly and is a news and feature publication by and for St. John residents.

Tuesday – Rotary Charlotte Amalie meets at
6 p.m.,L'Escargot, Subbase
Wednesday – Rotary ll meets at noon,
Marriott's Frenchman's Reef
Rotary East meets at 6:30
p.m., Pilot House above
tickles Restaurant,
American Yacht Harbor
Thursday – Rotary Club of St. Thomas
meets at noon, Mariott's
Frenchman's Reef

Rotary Charlotte Amalie meets 6 p.m. at L'Escagot on Tuesdays.
Rotary ll meets at noon, Marriott's Frenchman's Reef on Wednesdays.
Rotary East meets Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. at the Pilot House above Tickles Restaurant, American Yacht Harbor, Red Hook.
Rotary Club of St. Thomas meets at noon at Mariott's Frenchman's Reef on Thursdays.