New face

A new Beaconite (who very much appreciates the term Beaconite and plans to use it often) is fresh off the boat from the United States. Although she has only been on island for roughly two weeks, she is already getting used to hitching rides, getting thoroughly drenched in unexpected rainstorms, and saying things like “on island.” Most days of the week you can find her reporting in court for the Beacon. She is excited to have moved from the concrete jungle that is New York, and she is looking forward to exploring all that the territory has to offer (and in doing so, hopefully replacing her current headshot with one involving a lot more sand and sun).

 

Business beat

With the departure of Ken Silva to the Cayman Islands last week, Conor King Devitt — who formerly served as the Beacon’s government reporter — has assumed the role of business editor. The role contains a host of different responsibilities, including scouring the island for new and interesting businesses and the people who operate them. The Beaconite would like to encourage anyone who has launched a new business or helped roll out a new feature at an existing operation to reach out to the newspaper. While much of the Beacon’s coverage inevitably focuses on the territory’s twin economic pillars of tourism and financial services, the Beaconite would also like to give quality coverage to niche businesses offering unique products or services. So whether you’re hawking charm trinkets, crafting organic remedies, or opening a themed booze shack, please give the Beacon a call at 494-3434, or e-mail conor.king.devitt@gmail.com.  

Conch soup

While a Beaconite was photographing and speaking with some of the booth owners setting up for this year’s August Emancipation Festival, a few of them took the opportunity to brag about their offers this year. One touted his wife’s conch soup as the best on Tortola. Another was quick to speak about her dove pork and steamed fish, while a third spoke highly of the friendly vibe around her booth. The Beaconite, who has covered festival celebrations for 10 years, is excited about the many options of local treats during the festivities. She plans on sampling the conch soups from the booths and drawing her own conclusion. She is open to suggestions for criteria she should use while making her judgement.

In the water

Over the past year, a Beaconite has really enjoyed trying out different snorkel spots throughout the territory. While he’s seen a variety of cool sites — like Brewers Bay and Little Bay on Tortola — his favourite spots have been the Indians, Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda, and the north shore of Anegada.  If readers would like to share their favourite snorkel sites, especially if they’re off the beaten track, please send a message to the Beacon’s Facebook account or give the office a call at 494-3434. This Beaconite would love to write a feature story about it! Or not, and just swim it himself, if the sharer prefers the site stay under the radar.   

Flow blow

Beaconites were working on Tuesday evening when their internet service dropped off. It was pre-deadline night and they had to work late, so after about an hour a Beaconite called Flow’s customer service line. He was told that Flow’s internet service was down across much of the territory, but that technicians were working hard to resolve the issue. Service didn’t return before the Beaconites left the office after midnight, but by the time they returned early the next morning the problem had been solved. Judging from other residents’ Facebook posts, Beaconites weren’t the only ones affected. Beaconites thank the technicians for fixing the problem and the customer service representative for providing a candid explanation. They hope, however, that such an outage never happens again — particularly not the night before their deadline day.

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