Crucians In Focus

The Committee to Elect Michael Springer to the Senate has launched their first radio spot starring, believe it or not, a couple sitting senators. This one you have to hear for yourself. 

Memorial Hospital boss quits as troubled past is revealed
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com

Rodney E. Miller, administrator and chief operating officer of Memorial Regional Hospital, has resigned from his $370,000 job after being the subject of a blistering government report in the Virgin Islands concerning accusations of ”fraud and mismanagement” when he headed a hospital group in St. Thomas. Click here to read the full article at MiamiHerald.com

After reading the investigative report in The Virgin Islands Daily News concerning the improper behavior of the executives and the governing board of the Schneider Regional Medical Center in the district of St. Thomas/St. John I was dismayed but not surprised. Additionally the report and recommendation of the joint audit by the federal and local Inspectors General revealed serious deficiencies. We the people should now demand a full accounting from the governing board, both the members of the board in 2002 through 2008, notwithstanding the Governor’s stated intentions to implement the recommendations of the joint audit of the Inspectors General. From the report it is clear that the governing board failed in fulfilling its fiduciary duties to the people of the St. Thomas/St. John district. Read the rest of this entry »

Hot off the press! Here’s the joint US & VI Inspector General audit of the Roy Lester Schneider Regional Medical Center.

 Schneider Regional Medical Center Audit

Guest Opinion by J. J. Estemac 

Are we really slaves to the past? Not necessarily our past, but the generic past? I am an individual over fifty years of age, I respect tradition and customs but I do not allow the past to control my present nor my future, do you? Why is that we are allowing a few individuals to dictate our present and our future? They assume that posture in the name of preserving history. Can we not preserve history in our history books, in our libraries, in our museums, with our oral narrative(traditional)? What allowance are we making for our current generation, our contemporary professionals and artisans? Each generation should be allowed to leave their mark in our community for posterity. Would you agree? Read the rest of this entry »

I was in the States this week and everywhere I looked I saw the way technology has been woven into the basic activities of daily life.

There’s virtually nothing you can’t do online. You travel on an e-ticket, reserve the rental car ahead of time to avoid the lines, all on your pc or, more likely, a cell phone that accesses the internet. You find your destination using the GPS in the car and check into the hotel on a kiosk in the lobby. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Opinion by J. J. Estemac 

It is our belief that had the police response to the killing of retired police sergeant Liston T. Gumbs, Sr. was more immediate and coordinated, the possibility of arresting the perpetrator would have been greater. It is possible that whoever was in charge of police operations had taken an aggressive posture and sought the killer in the immediate area of the incident and expand the search into all areas where they know delinquents hang out, they could have flushed out the killer. But that did not happen and has not happen. Why the police have not been more aggressive in pursuing this case as well as the other unsolved murders on the books? The Major Crime Unit in the VIPD is small and overworked. That diminishes their productivity. When is the Governor going to demand better action from the police leadership, he appointed them, he is responsible for their productivity or lack thereof. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Opinion by J. J. Estemac 

I received the sad news this Monday of the assassination of a brother in arms, a fellow Virginislander, the retired Police Sergeant Liston T. Gumbs, Sr. As I understand the circumstances of his killing, he was shot during a robbery at a grocery store in the Lindberg area on St. Thomas. It is said his killer was a male on a bike from the Kirwan Terrace residential area. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a most revealing comment; a comment that highlighted a fatal flaw in the direction some of our “leaders” believe will be beneficial to the Virgin Islands.

Just before the conclusion of two days of hearings on the now approved Diageo deal – hearings that contained impassioned testimony for and against – Senator Hill took the opportunity to verbalize a view that reminds us of the central issue blocking Territorial unity. Read the rest of this entry »

The sudden public emergence of the Captain Morgan distillery plan and the urgency with which the Governor is attempting to push this initiative through the Legislature should raise red flags across the territory, particularly among the residents of St. Croix.

Let me be clear – I am a strong proponent of economic development in the Virgin Islands and will encourage and support any initiative that will genuinely benefit the residents and the community. Read the rest of this entry »