US Virgin Islands News

Christmas in April

Villa rental rates drop after April 15 and bring a swarm of bargain hunters to the island, according to one management company owner.  The crush of people is similar to that at Christmas time.  While the impact on St. John's beaches and restaurants is one thing, the effects at the St. Thomas airport are quite another.

Returning Saturday on a 12:25 p.m. US Airways flight, it took 90 minutes to get out of the cab, checked in at the airline counter, to begin winding through an un-guided, hydra-headed, conga line of people - with baggage – into the Customs area, through another line to get to an inspector, drop bags at one of several x-ray machines, then to another ID and boarding pass check, before getting into line to take off our shoes, put carry on bags on the belt, and walk through the metal detectors. 

The process took so long that our plane was 30-40 minutes late departing because ticketed passengers were still not through security at take off time.

Coincidentally, a reader, Carol, posted a relevant comment over the weekend.  She had a similar experience: "We've just returned from our 15th visit to STJ and never before have we experience the check in chaos that we encountered at the airport-lines snaking the entire length of the terminal and doubled back causing flight delays, children exhausted, people cranky."

Moral of the story ... when the attendant welcomes you to St. Thomas and tells you to be at the airport two hours before your return flight, it may pay to follow that advice.

New island export ... pets!

The Animal Care Center of St. John suggests that besides hot sauce from St. John Spice or duty free liquor, you take home a dog or a cat.  The ACC says off-island adoption is easy.  The ACC's kennel is on the south shore road, near the Sprauve museum, just a bit past O'Connor's gas station.

Island vets can provide rabies shots and a healthy certificate, and an ACC volunteer has put together information about the process.  An one-way airline fee for a pet ticket is $50 on delta, and $80 on American and US Airways.  Pet carrier bags can be bought at Canines, Cats and Critters, the pet store in Palm Plaza, near the Westin.

Also, The ACC just received its first shipment of t-shorts for Wagapalooza - as soon as they can be ordered online, we'll let you know.  Look for our ad on the shirt.  The Center is one of our favorite organizations.

The Animal Care Center's Web site: www.stjohnanimalcarecenter.com.

St. John Sun Times sold

There's a new editor-in-chief and publisher in town. 

Eloise Ham, a journalist and new media producer, has taken the reins from Tom Paine and Shirley Reid at the island's "alternative" newspaper.  Her first issue is scheduled for next week, May 2.

"The opportunity came together very quickly," Ham said in an interview in her office, behind Morgan's Mango in Cruz Bay.  A newcomer to St. John who left her home in Los Angeles to seek new adventures  on island, with her fiancé, Ham laid out a number of plans in an e-mail to the Sun Times writers and advertisers. 

She plans to renovate the Sun Times web site, offer special editions of the paper featuring "Best Of" themes, and add basic island information to the paper such as ferry schedules and restaurant/bar reviews. Another change she plans, but which might be common in other places, is to have "initiate written contracts for advertising." (What an island, eh?)

In a farewell, Tom Paine wrote, "It is time to return to my fiction writing and finish a third book, and Shirley looks forward to getting back to her life as an individual artist. Amelia, our daughter, wants to climb trees and weave things."

Ham said, "I want to assure you that the Sun Times will continue in much the same way as you are used to: features and events that are St. John-centric. Tom and Shirley have created a paper that everyone loves and I’d be insane to tinker too much with the formula."

Governor weighing fate of condo project

The new Governor is facing a tough political decision only a few months into his term

While campaigning last fall, John deJongh was on island and said he supported hiring a community planner to help manage St. John's growth.  That would include studying how, when, and the scope of real estate development.

Looming over deJongh in Cruz Bay was the huge Sirenusa condo development. In a unexpected move, the VI Senate voted to approve the project's request for additional units.  The developer told a public hearing on St. John that if he didn't get approval, his financing might be withdrawn and the project could be halted.

The Senators, including St. John's Carmen Wesselhoft, voted their approval despite the Dept. of Natural Resources opposition.  The Senate's legislative counsel also opined against the change.

Now, it's on the Governor's desk. Opponents urging the Governor to veto the Sirenusa zoning bill include the island's former Administrator, dozens of residents who have written letters (St. John Source ) and community leaders.

Kitchen for sale

Polli's Mexican restaurant at the Lumberyard is closed. They left a lot of stuff behind.  The landlord is offering to sell what looks like all the kitchen equipment.

The list includes items every home needs: a cheese melter and a keg cooler.  The Artists Association of St. John plans to move into the space soon.

Doing business on island is tough

Windward Painters, doing work at Blue Tang, has payroll to meet Friday.  Because it's Carnival time on St. Thomas - where some government workers have time off !!! ... some banks are closed, others are open. That makes preparing payroll a bit of a juggling and scheduling challenge.

FirstBank closed at Noon Wednesday to celebrate "Food Day."  Thursday is J'Ouvert, a wee-hours special parade and street party, but the bank is open all day.  The Water and Power Authority office is not. On Friday, for "Children's Parade", all bank branches are closed, WAPA too.  Windward also does business with another bank, which is open only three hours today, Thursday.

Travel consultant faults VI tourism

The VI tourist economy is not managed to deliver a good vacation experience, according to Berkeley Young of Randall Travel Management. 

The consultant who advises resort areas and resorts how to improve conducted a workshop for local business people in which he urged them to make it easier for travelers to find out what's going on and how to take advantage of it. Young said the tourist economy is organized for the convenience of its employees, like cab drivers, not visiors.

"People are willing to give you their money, but no one wants to take it," Young said as he encouraged resorts and even villa owners to deliver more services, even if at higher prices.

In the second part of an audio interview which you can hear on your PC, Young explains why St. John's eco-friendly image makes it a high-demand tourist destination.

Would you be willing to pay more for your villa rental if you were a concierge met you at the airport, helped you get to St. John, had the villa stock with foods you'd ordered, and had arranged your first three days of activities, per your request? Higher price, greater comfort?  Good deal/bad deal? Comment here.

Listen to the second part of our conversation with travel consultant Berkeley Young.

You can also download or hear the program by clicking here.

Listen to the first part of  Young's interview here.

Subscribe to News of St. John's weekly podcast at the Apple iTunes Music Store and search for "news of st. john," or copy "http://fbarnako.libsyn.com/rss" and paste it into the "Subscribe" field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use that link to subscribe with other podcatching software.  If you’re having a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

Of Course!

Moments after I posted about the rain ... it began to clear. 

By 9 a.m., the sun was peeking through.

Maybe the wedding's got a chance, after all.

All your cisterns are full

Lots of rain Sunday and all Monday night.  Torrents.

How bad? 

This photo shows exactly what many folks on island are worried about - tremendous runoff from the land and construction cites, filing in the bays, and choking the coral.  The run-off extends here at Great Cruz Bay as much as 50 feet into the bay. (Click on it for a larger version.)

Schools are closed on all three islands, today, Tuesday.

No one was in the street at Woody's last night, the rain was so hard.

People were going up Jacob's ladder in 4WD.

Eating a burger at the Beach Bar, guy next to me says he's on island for a wedding on the beach. It's scheduled for Tuesday.  60 people.  Hope it works out.  odds are it won't.  Forecast is for this to last thru the day and kind of continue off and on to Thursday.

Batters up for annual Ruby tournament

The signs of Spring are unmistakable on St. John, according to Janet Cook Rutnik, long-time resident and award winning artist.  "The sun clears the horizon well before 7 a.m.  Water trucks start lining up at the Cruz Bay standpipe. Agave plants send up shoots like giant asparagus, and girls who play softball are on the field practicing for the Ruby Rutnik Memorial Tournament."

This is the 11th year Rutnik and her husband, Andy, have sponsored the event, in memory of their daughter, Ruby, who died in an auto accident while a student at American University in Washington, DC.  The tournament raises money through sales of sponsorships of innings and T-shirts. Proceeds are used to support a scholarship fund.  So far, the fund has awarded $64,000 to 19 students.

This year's tournament will be held at the Winston Wells Ballpark in Cruz Bay Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5.  Teams of schoolgirls from St.. Thomas and St. Croix will compete to win a $2,500 scholarship for one of the college-bound seniors from the winning school.