An Online Blog About the Daily Happenings of St. John, USVI
John DeJongh missed winning the race for Governor earlier this month by two votes. To avoid a runoff, the law required that he get 50% plus 1 vote. After absentee ballots were counted, he missed the mark.
There will be a runoff Tuesday, Nov. 21. The St. John Source reported the process will cost the islands approximately $200,000. DeJong and Gregory Francis will run against the ticket headed by Lt. Gov. Kenneth Mapp.
Check back here for results Tuesday night.
In Coral Bay, Josephine Roller harvests her organic garden to provide quality veggies to some of the island’s finest restaurants. But while "Josephine’s Greens" are proudly credited on menus, she tells the St. John Sun-Times, "We’re still trying."
In other words, hard work like farming doesn’t lead to easy riches. Working on a farm beginning at 12 years old, in her native Philippines, Roller began understanding that chemicals on lettuce and beans were maybe not such a good idea. And, she says, organic produce is more tasty. "There are a lot of obstacles in the Virgin Islands," she explained to the newspaper. "The soil is against you. The weather is against you. Land is expensive. It just doesn’t earn money."
Josephine also operates the Coral Bay Garden Center, from which she also manages her landscaping business. "I like to be working," she said. "It’s my hobby." Full story.
After almost 20 years, the Fish Trap restaurant is making some big changes. "We needed a little kick in the pants, and we gave it to ourselves," said Lonnie Willis, the owner,
In an interview with NewsofStJohn.com, Willis said the expanded menu at the landmark downtown-Cruz Bay restaurant includes more West Indian soups, lobster and shellfish entrees, chicken and meat dishes as well as a taste of Thai.
The Asian influence has been introduced by Christopher Gagnon, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef whose background includes experience at both Caneel Bay and Little Dix. He has been the Fish Trap’s general manager for the past four years. Before settling on St. John, Gagnon opened a restaurant in at the historic Montauk Manor resort in New York. His experience running his own show there, and at other places, is energizing him to create a new dining option on St. John.
Gagnon’s first priority was the tiny kitchen. Anybody who’d ever eaten at the Fish Trap had to marvel at its productivity. The restaurant closed for two months while a new one was built. A higher ceiling will make it cooler. New grills were added along with a Wok station for the Thai dishes.
Listen to a conversation with Lonnie Willis of the Fish Trap restaurant.
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A two-day holiday-themed festival of gospel music will begin Saturday Dec. 2 at the Winston Wells ball field, the St. John Source reported. The second annual Christmas music festival will be produced by Steve Simon, organizer of many of the island’s outstanding music events. "It’s an opportunity for the community to celebrate the holiday season with our children and to put the love back in Love City," he told the Source.
Among the artists scheduled for the free Saturday evening concert are St. John’s own pan-man, Victor Provost, and Michael Dunstan, who Simon described as "the male version of Aretha Franklin."
On Sunday night, Santa Claus will be grand marshal of a candlelit parade from Mongoose Junction to the ball field. He’ll be distributing presents. The free concert that evening will feature Maryel Epps and the Eco People.
A message on the official Kenny Chesney Web site says the Chesney/Anderson Cooper interview has been postponed. Tonight’s "60 Minutes" is devoted to Ed Bradley, and includes a reprise of some of the correspondent’s best work for the CBS News show.
Update: Absentee ballots are being counted this weekend. It is possible DeJongh will pick up enough votes to reach the +50% threshold and avoid a runoff.
John DeJongh will contest with Kenneth E. Mapp in a runoff election for Governor Nov. 21. The match up is required because DeJongh did not get a mrjority of the votes cast. His tally was 49.33%. Mapp’s was 27%. Absentee ballots are, however, waiting to be tallied. There are 1,689 of them, according to the St. John Source.
Carmen Wesselhoft pulled an upset in Tuesday’s voting to win the At Large seat in the VI Senate. The Board of Elections reported Wesslehoft garnered 55% of the vote to incumbent Craig Barshinger’s 45%. "I plan to treat each island equally, honestly and fairly,"Wesselhoft told the St. John Source. She said she wants to help the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center on St. John get a dialysis unit and would like to see a police academy on St. Croix. Wesselhoft was born on St. John.
The government of the Virgin Islands has agreed to consider strategies to better protect its surrounding coral
reefs. “It puts us on the hook for
taking a serious look, and it puts them on the hook for helping us achieve it,”
said Bill Rohring, associate director of Coastal Zone Management, the Virgin
Islands Daily News reported. During a conference
on St. Thomas scientists described the reefs as “in crisis" due to high water temperatures,
pollution, erosion and disease. Runoff
and sedimentation around the islands is part of the problem, the experts said,
according to the Daily News. A reef
researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey lamented that on St. John, “Every couple of days there’s
a new driveway cut, a new unpaved road."
Caroline Rogers said, "There’s a lot we don’t know, but
we know what happens when we pout a bunch of dirt on top of a reef,” the News reported.
The week-long poll on this site about whether Patrick’s food truck should be thrown off the downtown Cruz Bay parking lot has come down squarely in favor of the small businessman. There were almost 200 votes cast, 85% of which said he should not be moved.
This week’s poll question centers on concern about the coral reefs around St. John. A researcher points to development on the island for creating threats to the reefs due to the runoff of land into the water from new roads and driveways.
Do you think there should be a moratorium on new building permits while the VI government studies steps it can take to protect the coral. The poll is at left.
Polls close at 6pm, eastern, Tuesday as Virgin Islanders select a new Governor and VI Senate. The territory’s news and talk station, WVWI, will provide live coverage over the air, which will also be available on the Net. Political analysts James O’Bryan Jr. and Simon Caines, along with Jean Greaux, WVWI’s news director, will begin their coverage at 5pm, eastern, according to the St. John Source. It will be Webcast at WIUJ.com, the Web Site of a non-commercial radio station operated by a general manager and four student and professional volunteers.
WVWI’s audio streaming facilities have been unreliable for quite some time, so the partnership with the educational FM broadcaster is welcome.
Speaking of the Source, the online newspaper has endorsed John DeJongh for Governor. The Source’s publisher, Shaun Pennington, wrote a commentary in which she said, DeJongh and his running mate have records suggesting they can "bring dignity, intelligence and trust to Government House
