Local News

After being closed for more than six months, the newly renovated pool area over at the Westin is expected to reopen today. Snorkels poolside bar and grill is also expected to reopen.

The closing of the pool area was an inconvenience to many vacationers; however we really have to credit the Westin staff for going above and beyond to accommodate their guests during the renovations. (Click here to read our firsthand account of the renovations.)

Here are a few new pics:

Today’s reopening is just the first step in the Westin’s longterm renovation plan. Here’s a quick update on where the rest of the renovations stand:

Pool and Beachside Rooms: Renovations are currently underway. Some rooms in Building 10 opened earlier this month. All rooms are expected to be completed by January.

Beachside Cafe: Renovations will begin January 6. During renovations, the Beachside Cafe will be located to the old Cruz Bay Prime location. Renovations are expected to be completed by June 5.

Watersports Area: Renovations will begin January 6. During renovations, the Watersports Area will be located near the dock. Renovations are expected to be completed by May 6.

Westin Workout Fitness Studio: Renovations will begin February 15. During renovations, the fitness studio will be located at an alternative spot on the property. Renovations are expected to be completed by May 16.

Westin Spa: Renovations will begin February 15. Renovations are expected to be completed by June 5.

Westin Airport Lounge: Renovations will begin January 6. Renovations are expected to be completed by April 15.

Lower Hillside Room Conversion: This project is currently underway. It is expected to be completed by January 2015. Click here to learn more about this project.

When Snorkels Bar & Grill reopens today, it will do so with a few new menu items. Here’s a couple of pictures from the Westin’s Facebook page:

As we all know, tourism is the lifeblood of St. John. And without the wonderful people who work in the tourism industry, the island would be a much different place. So today we’d like to recognize a man who is truly making a difference – Shamir Joseph.

For those of you who’ve spent time at the Westin, Shamir may be a familiar face. Since February 2012, Shamir has worked in guest relations – first as a guest relations agent and most recently as guest relations manager. Next time you see Shamir, give him a nice handshake or perhaps a pat on the back because he just received a pretty big award.

Shamir recently received the US Virgin Islands Hotel Associate of the Year Award. The award was given at the 12^th Annual Tommy Star Awards & Gala and was presented by the USVI Hotel & Tourism Association. Shamir Joseph was awarded the U.S. Virgin Islands Hotel Associate of the Year Award based on his demonstration of excellent customer service, pride in his work and knowledge of the USVI’s hospitality industry.

“Shamir Joseph embodies our entire team’s commitment to providing the best Caribbean experience for our guests in St. John,” said Mike Ryan, general manager at The Westin St. John Resort & Villas. “He is both an ambassador for our island and a delight for our guests.”

Congrats Shamir. Kudos to you!

Wherever you are in the world, did you happen to catch the nearly full moon last night? We did here at News of St. John and it was quite the sight to see.

Well tonight marks the final full moon of 2013. Tonight’s full moon is the most distant and smallest full moon of the year, but that doesn’t mean it will be anything less than spectacular. Let’s hope the weather cooperates so everyone can enjoy it.

St. John offers a couple of cool ways to celebrate the full moon. First and probably the most popular is Miss Lucy’s Full Moon Party. Miss Lucy’s is a laid-back, waterfront restaurant past Coral Bay. Miss Lucy’s celebrates the full moon each month with a party. The parties have been known to get pretty rowdy in the past, but from what we’ve seen and heard, they’ve certainly calmed down in recent times.

Inner Visions is a pretty cool reggae band and they’ll be over at Miss Lucy’s tonight. They go on at 6 p.m., so if you’re in the area, be sure to check them out. (Edit: We’ve heard conflicting show dates. They may be playing Thursday. We’re working to confirm now. Sorry about that everyone.)

Another cool thing to do tonight is to hike out to Ram Head. This hike can be tricky in the daylight, so be extra careful if you plan to do it at night. You will definitely need to wear sturdy shoes and bring either a headlamp or flashlight. This hike is especially cool because you can watch the sun set to the west and moments later watch the moon rise to the east.

The sun sets tonight at 5:46 p.m. and the moon rises at 6:14 p.m.

Here is a list of next year’s full moon dates:

• January 15
• February 15
• March 15
• April 14
• May 14
• June 12
• July 13
• August 10
• September 8
• October 10
• November 6
• December 6

Here are a few more pictures taken during last month’s full moon:

We haven’t had the opportunity to try out Cruz Bay Landing yet, but from what we’ve heard, it sounds like they’ve hit gold over there. And from what we’ve seen on their Facebook page, it looks pretty delicious too.

Check out some of these pictures and descriptions recently posted on Cruz Bay Landing’s Facebook page:

Want to know more about Cruz Bay Landing? Click here to read how this all got started.

Today’s Sights and Sounds video brings us to the posh Upper Peter Bay section of the island known for its famed North Shore views. See for yourself. Here is Amorosa:

Click here to learn more about Amorosa including additional photos, rental rates and more, and for more information on Villa Vacations’ other rental properties.

With Christmas being less than two weeks away, I thought I’d share with you a few organizations that could benefit from your holiday cheer. These organizations are non-profits and rely on the generosity of all of us to continue their important work.

First, the organization that is the most near and dear to my heart is the Animal Care Center (ACC). Shelter Manager Ryan Moore works tirelessly alongside a group of volunteers who generously donate their time and energy to find homes for a variety of cats and dogs while also ensuring that they have a good quality of life during their time at the shelter.

For those of you unfamiliar with the ACC, it is located in Cruz Bay right near the library. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit, you should do your best to get over there. Take a few minutes and play with the animals. This place will touch your heart. I promise.

Ways you can help the ACC:

• You can send a monetary gift. This will allow the ACC to use the money as they see fit.
• You can send items. Currently the ACC would really appreciate large dog bones and rawhides. (Please do not send small dog bones.) This gives the dogs something to do while they are in their kennels.
• You can volunteer. This can be as easy as signing up to take a dog for a walk. They go out twice a day – once at 8:30 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. They also do a Sunday hike on the Lindt Point Trail. You can also spend some time with the cats and kittens.
• You can adopt an animal. They have big dogs, small dogs, cats and kittens. You can see a list of adoptable pets here.

You can donate online by clicking here. If you plan to send a check or items, you can mail them to:
Animal Care Center
PMB 571
5000 Estate Enighed
St. John, VI 00830
(340) 774-1625

The ACC is a 501c(3) organization so all gifts are tax-deductible. To learn more about the ACC, visit its website at www.StJohnAnimalCareCenter.com

My second favorite island organization is Friends of Virgin Islands National Park (Friends). This organization is dedicated to protecting and preserving the National Park, which is the island’s biggest treasure. There’s something wonderful going on with this organization right now and I hope many of you take advantage of it.

A generous donor has pledged to match all donations made by the end of the year, up to $40,000. This means that a gift of $25 would automatically double to $50; a $50 donation would become $100 and so on. Please, you are able to, take advantage of this great opportunity even if you can only donate $5. Every little bit counts.

Donations can be made online by clicking here. You can also send them to:

Friends of Virgin Island National Park
PO Box 811
St. John, VI 00831

Friends is a 501c(3) organization so all gifts are tax-deductible. To learn more, visit their website at www.friendsvinp.org

Kenny Chesney just released a video for “Spread the Love,” a collaboration with The Wailers. It’s a great song and a great video. Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say about it:

“Spread the Love” finds country super-star Kenny Chesney coming together with the legendary Wailers for a noble purpose. Chesney’s proceeds from the sale of the song go directly to the Spread the Love Fund, dedicated to providing prosthetic limbs and post-prosthetic care to those injured in the Boston Marathon bombing this past spring.

“I was having a day off in Florida when the Boston Marathon bombing happened and I just remember feeling so angry for all those people and wanting to do something to help,” Chesney tells Rolling Stone. “But how do you undo that? It dawned on me – what had been this incredible experience, writing with the Wailers, was something more – an opportunity to heal spirits.”

We’d love the play the video for you here, but we do not have the rights to broadcast it. Please click here to watch it on Rolling Stone’s website. (You can also watch it on YouTube.)

“Spread the Love” was featured on Kenny’s most recent album Life on a Rock. He donated a portion of the album’s proceeds to the Friends of Virgin Islands National Park. You can read more about that here.

One of the island’s biggest events is happening tomorrow night and if you’re lucky enough to be on island, you should definitely be there.

The 18th annual All Island Holiday Party will take place tomorrow, Saturday, December 14 in Mongoose Junction. It is being sponsored by Sun Dog Cafe and the newly opened (and extremely delicious) Virgin Fire Bar and Grill.

(Complete side note: If you haven’t heard about Virgin Fire yet, you’ll want to read a few of our previous posts. Click here and here to do so.)

The All Island Holiday Party originally started back in 1995 as a post-Hurricane Marilyn morale booster, as well as an all island celebration. The tradition has continued and the event, dubbed “the prom” by many, is now one of the biggest celebrations of the year.

The All Island Holiday party is an adults-only event, so please leave the children at home (with a sitter of course). Hors d’ eauvers will be served and a cash bar will be available. The dress is island fancy, so by all means, fancy it up!

The popular band The ISH will be on hand to entertain the crowd. For those of you not familiar with The ISH, they’re an original groove band dedicated to diverse taste, solid funk and soul-based grooves under tell tale lyrics and powerful vocals. They’re pretty fun – take our word for it.

The party starts at 9 p.m. and continues until… Well, I guess you’re going to have to attend to see! Everyone is welcomed, but you must be 18 to attend.

Looking for a way to stay in touch with the island when you’re off the rock? Well, we have just the thing for you. It’s called Love City Radio and it went live late Thursday afternoon. And the best part is that it streams live over the internet, so you can catch it anywhere in the world.

Here’s what Love City Radio had to say about itself:

It’s undeniable that once you experience St. John, the island stays with you forever. For residents and visitors alike, no matter where you’re from, no matter what you’re background, the island finds a place in your heart and stays with you from the first moment you set foot on St. John. Love City Radio was created with this in mind.

With Love City Radio, you can be connected to St. John no matter where you are. Our purpose is to provide a medium that embodies the island’s spirit reflecting the music, the culture, the people, and the lifestyle of St. John. And just like St. John has become a melting pot of people, our music will be a melting pot of all genres. From Reggae to Rock and from Country to Pop, we will play all genres hoping you will hear that one song that brings back your island memories.

You can check out the station by visiting its website at www.LoveCityRadio.com. You can request your favorite song through the website or by tweeting a request to @LoveCityRadio. Be sure to use the hashtag #LCRsongrequest should you choose to go the Twitter route.

So all of this begs the question: What is your all-time favorite song that makes you think of St. John? Leave your answer in the comments or over on our Facebook page.

So as many of you know, there is a section of Centerline Road out near Coral Bay that is in desperate need of repairs. This particular stretch of roadway was damaged during a hurricane a few years back and has yet to be fixed.

Back in June, Darryl Smalls, the commissioner of Public Works, announced that the roadway would be fixed by February 2014. Smalls indicated at the time that bids would go out immediately and that repairs would start in September.

People were outraged. Many said, back then, that eight months was simply not acceptable and that repairs needed to begin quicker. Many people voiced concerns about the potential for future damage, which could possibly knock out the main road between Coral Bay and Cruz Bay. (Yes, Bordeaux Mountain Road could be used as an alternative, but I can’t imagine that it’s passable to all types of vehicles.)

As a result, curbs were installed around the area of roadway that was weakened and damaged, and speed bumps were installed nearby. It was a nice, temporary fix until work began in September.

Well September came and went with no work occurring. October passed too, as did November. We’re now two weeks into December and no work has begun. So what’s the deal? We’ve contacted Darryl Smalls and the Public Works department on numerous occasions but have yet to receive a response.

Well it seems like the folks over at the St. John Tradewinds shared in our frustration as they wrote a pretty good story about the situation the other day. Their concern, like ours, is that the massive amount of rain that has fallen lately could potentially wash out a larger portion of the road. As it stands now, only one lane is passable in the area. The Tradewinds also put together a timeline that shows just how long this project has been taking despite the fact that the money to repair it seems to be there. Here’s what they had to say:

• “(The first) two years of delays were blamed on the lengthy FHA applications process, according to DPW Commissioner Darryl Smalls.”
• “DPW’s plans, specifications and estimates for the road repair project were finally approved by FHA on May 23. Bid packages for the estimated $1 million project were issued in mid-June and initially due by July 16. That deadline was extended an extra 60 days and DPW finally chose Island Roads as the contractor in August.”
• “DPW Commissioner Smalls pledged that work on the crumbling section of Centerline Road would begin no later than the end of October, a date which passed with no sign of road repair activity.”
• “In early November, Smalls blamed the delay on unspecified legal issues with the government contract. At that time, the DPW Commissioner said the contract would be executed ‘any day.’ ‘I anticipate the contract to be executed and signed any day,’ Smalls said the first week of November.”

(Click here to read the full article.)

I don’t know about you, but this is all pretty frustrating. I was thinking about Steve Kosiba the other day and how his passionate email about the location of a newly installed “NO” sign (which was seen on the St. John Spice Cam) prompted the sign’s removal. I think in this situation we all need to take a cue from Mr. Kosiba and contact Darryl Smalls. Maybe a bunch of emails and calls will get things moving faster.

For those of you interested, here is his contact information:

Darryl A. Smalls, Commissioner
[email protected]
(340) 776-4844