US Virgin Islands News

Off for a week

Entertaining in-laws and my Dad. 

See ya next week :)

Storm tracker in VI's

Jim Cantore, storm tracker for the Weather Channel, has been on St. Thomas but not because there is a hurricane on its way.  He was there to sign autographs and help open a friend's new business franchise.  EZ Ice, owned by Jim Larson, installed a 200-squiare foot automatic "ice house" in Lindbergh Bay, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News. 

Cantore told the News that after a major natural, disaster," a bag of ice quickly turns to gold." The self-service machine operates 24/7, Larson said, and can dispense 1,000 pounds of ice a day.

Texan likes restaurant lottery

Sherry Wash of Ft. Worth said it was a wonderful coincidence.  She's been looking for a way to open a cafe on St. John then she read on the Internet about the proposed lottery/sale of the island's best known Italian restaurant. "To say that this would be a dream come true for a single 42 year old mother with two sons is an understatement. Upon showing the site and listening to the theme music at Cafe Roma's website, my 15 & 19 year old sons as well as myself were covered with goose bumps!," she wrote in a letter to the St. John Source. "I definitely will be an entrant in this contest and look forward to the possibility of living a dream in paradise," Wash said.

Hiking trails get attention

The Student Conservation Association and the Friends of the VI National Park teamed to work with 10 young people who spent a month on island paying attention to some overgrown trails in the Park.  Brush was cleared, water bars installed, trails rebuilt in parts of Cinnamon Bay, Reef Bay, Ram Head and Caneel Hill.  Jeffrey Glenn, a co-leader of the crew, told the St. John Source there was a lot of needed work.  "We did everything from re-vegetation to repair eroded areas to construction of stone stairs," he said.  A St. Thomas resident was part of the group.  She was Henrietta Alexander. The 17-year-old high school student explained to the Source, "I just like helping the environment because I want to study environmental science."

Real estate update 7/20/06

The Sirenusa upscale condo development appears to be moving along, despite an earlier stop work order from the government.  The Multiple Listing Service has three condos at the project, each priced above $2 million.

• Houses:  113 (up 2 from 7/04)
• Commercial:  23 (down 2 from 7/04)
• Condos:  40 (up 1  from 7/04)
• Land lots:  248 (down 1 from 7/04)

Help wanted: Four classifieds in a recent issue of the Tradewinds ... all were placed by island real estate firms.  Three were seeking sales people. The fourth wanted a broker assistant.

Guardrail to limit ferry parking

The Port Authority plans to install a 1,300-foot long guardrail to prevent on-street parking along the edge of Smith Bay Road by passengers using the Red Hook ferry. Work on the barrier was expected to begin this month as construction continues on a new $9.3 million transit terminal. Darlan Brin, the executive director of the Authority, said the terminal is 78% complete and on track to be finished by Christmas, the Virgin Islands Daily News reported.

WESTIN names new executive chef

(I got it wrong.  It's the Westin, not Caneel.  here's a Daily News story link, too.)

Roland Czekelius, who was a cook at Caneel Bay in the '80s, has returned to the island as the new executive chef at the Westin St. John Resort & Villas. He's been on the mainland for the past 25 years, including positions as top chef at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel, according to a report of his hiring in the Virgin Islands Daily News.  "A lot of the ladies who worked in the pantry and kitchen now work at the Westin," Czekelius said.  "I had to tell then, 'Remember the little Austrian, 25 years ago?'  Then they were giving me hugs."  Czekelius said he wanted to return to the Caribbean and interviewed for slots on Peter Island and Turks and Caicos before taking the  CaneeloWestin position.  He expects to rework the resort's menus, adding more gourmet and Mediterranean-inspired items, the Daily News said.

Three hour wait for car barge

It's been tough go get from here to there recently. 

One of Boyson's barges has been in dry dock for almost three months.  A Global Marine boats is out of service.  And the new Boyson ship, Mr. B., hasn't gotten Coast Guard approval yet.  One of the operating barges was diverted to fireworks duty for the St. John festival. 

The result: St. Thomas' Carol Lotz-Felix said on July 5th she waited three hours to get a barge to Red Hook.  "The line went down the street and out into the street," she told the St. John Source.

Another complicating factor is the two barge companies don't accept each other's tickets. So, if you miss one line's barge, you have to wait for its next one, rather than get on the next boat.  Sen. Craig Barshinger indicated he thought reciprocity would be a good idea.

July 4th parade winners

Caneel Bay Resort's marchers dressed as golden Aztecs powered the team to a first place finish in the Floupe category of the St. John festival.  Second place went to the Westin's performers, outfitted in madras dresses, sewn by St. John seamstress Yolanda Morton, the St. John Source reported.  The island's Love City Pan Dragons won the Traditional category competition, followed by second-place Rising Stars Steel Orchestra of St. Thomas.  The three winners in the Majorettes category were all from St. Thomas.

St. John school repairs stalled

A reluctance on the part of local contractors to bid on summer repair and maintenance work at the island's public schools is delaying the work.  A spokeswoman for the V.I. Education commissioner said the system has advertised for bids for the past three weeks, but none of the bid packages have been returned.  Most of the work at the Sprauve and Benjamin schools involves roofing and leaks, the Virgin Islands Daily News said. "We encourage all contractors interested in working on those (schools) to work on a bid package," a deputy superintendent said. 

(Do you think contractors are unenthusiastic because they are concerned they won't get paid promptly?)