Governor John DeJongh says the 911 emergency center on St.
Thomas has reached an agreement with Puerto Rico to manage calls from here that
get routed to Puerto Rico. Mark Walters and the VITEMA folks went to Puerto
Rico to work with their 911 emergency team to craft a plan. It seems a lot of people using cell phones from
remote areas of the Virgin Islands are reaching the Puerto Rico emergency
centers instead of the Virgin Islands 911 center. Now those calls will be
transferred back to the USVI.
Will the USVI and Puerto Rico reach a deal on the Cover-Over
tax? Delegate Dr. Donna Christensen says
that a deal is brewing in Washington DC but she has limits. Nothing that gives our cover-over to Puerto
Rico and
The money is coming.
100 million in federal stimulus funds are flowing into the territory. We
have applied for 375 million and 120 million has been approved 47 million is
ready to use and 4 million has been spent – so far.
UVI got a new grant of
792 thousand dollars from Housing and Urban Development in Washington – the money
is for the CELL to expand their facilities in Frederiksted. UVI Community Engagement and Lifelong
Learning and the Small Business Development Center will both get to expand
their work in Frederiksted.
Senator Louis P. Hill is
in Miami – he is representing the Virgin Islands at the Caribbean and Central
America Action Conference talking right after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
Gas deals – Department of
Licensing and Consumer Affairs did a gas price survey. 7 Days Service Station had the bargain priced
gas on St. Croix, On St. Thomas Domino Smith Bay and Domino at the airport and
Texaco at the airport had the same low price. and on St. John Domino had the
lowest prices.
Getting ready for Oasis
of the Seas. There is a briefing today
at the Crown Bay Center as the Port Authority gears up for the arrival of the Oasis
of the Seas on December 8th. There will be 4 other ships in St.
Thomas that day including the inaugural visit by the Carnival Dream at Havensight
Dock. Along with Norwegian Pearl and Sea Princess. December 8 will see 20,000
people disembarking in St. Thomas. The Police
Department and Public Works are rushing to improve sidewalks and signage in anticipation
of a the 20,000 people.
See the stars at the Reichhold
Center for the Arts – not musicians but heavenly bodies. UVI Astronomy Professor Cynthia Gomez Martin
will take residents on a tour of the star tonight at the Reichhold Center for
the Arts – from 6 to 7 she is taking residents on a tour of the constellations,
from 7 to 8 the program is about plate tectonics. 8 to 9 it is about African Mythology and from
9 to 10 there is a tour of our solar system and galaxy.
CAHS 12th grade PTSA is meeting at Ruth E. Thomas
Auditorium at 5:30 PM.
Senate Rules Committee is meeting on St. Croix with
consideration of nomination of Julius Wilson to be Director of the Bureau of Corrections
9 to noon and in the afternoon they have an act to fund pre-kindergarten in the
Virgin Islands, wrongful discharge, Highway Users tax, minimum wage for
semi-autonomous agencies and the Uniform debt management services act. No more
senate meetings this week.
Innovative Communication Corp. says they are having outages of the cable TV
on St. Thomas and St. John. The expanded
package is on the fritz, they will work on repairs immediately.
Bureau of Internal Revenue reminds all businesses that the
W-2VI forms are available now for reporting the 2009 taxable income to all employees. All businesses must deliver their W-2VI to
all employees by February 1 2010.
Yesterday we began the vaccination days in the public
schools. Today they are vaccinating at Ulla
Muller school. and on St. Croix , Juanita Gardine (Gar-dean) Elementary School
today. Parents are reminded that schools
need the consent forms signed and delivered to make sure your child gets the
protection against the H1N1 Swine flu. The
Health department has an ample supply of swine flu vaccine on hand. The rest of
the school vaccination schedule. On St. Thomas: Wednesday December 2 at Yvonne E. Milliner
Bowsky Elementary School, Thursday at Gladys A Abraham Elementary School,
Friday at E. Benjamin Oliver School. On St. Croix they are vaccinating on Wednesday
at Eulalie (U-la-lee) Riviera School,
Friday at Arthur A. Richards Jr. High School.
Dept. of Agriculture says they are getting ready for the
Aggie Fair this weekend and the abattoir is closed on Wednesday. December 2. They
are NOT accepting animals today.
Department of Education will
help the public school teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff take one
class at UVI in the spring semester with 100% of tuition costs and associated
fees paid. Sign-up start Wednesday, December 2nd through
Friday December 11th from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. There are limited number of available courses, so act
quickly - first come, first served. NO PHONE SIGN-UPS ALLOWED. Visit
our Offices located at Kongens Gade St. Thomas or Vitraco Mall in Orange Grove
St. Croix.
Good News from two
students. Will peil of Country Day
School and Nikki Barnes of Antilles School are going to Singapore as part of
the Olympic Friendship camp. They are
going December 8 to 12 as part of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Youth
Committee as part of the lead upo to the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Which
come up in August 2010. Peil is a tri-athlete and swims on the Country Day
School Dolphin Swim team. Nikki Barnes is a sailor and was #2 in the Optimist
National Championships and places 35 out of 255 competitors in the Optimist
World Championships.
Coast Guard Academy is
looking for a few special men and women.
They are looking for junior High School students who are interested in
the Academy Introductory Mission – a week long experience with life at the Coast
Guard Academy. For more information call to www.CGA.edu