Balanced coverage
A Beaconite was taken aback when a store owner at Tortola Pier Park accused him of “only wanting to write negative things about the pier park” while he was working on last week’s story about how business owners there have fared so far through the slow season. Admittedly, the Beaconite has reported some negative news about the project, including the facts that it was built over budget and tendered outside of proper procurement guidelines; that government lost out on head tax revenue because of the missed construction target dates; and that government officials did not disclose the true cost of the development until nearly two years after it was known. However, all those stories were about how the project was mishandled by government officials, which doesn’t suggest that a shopping plaza and extended pier aren’t valuable additions to the territory. On the contrary, the pier park is one of the Beaconite’s favourite hangout spots now, and he hopes businesses there continue to thrive. He also notes that he has written several positive articles about the pier park, including last week’s story — which found that many businesses there are surviving the slow season without much problem — and this week’s profile on Sports Town BVI (see page 12).
Power outages
About a year ago, when a Beaconite was still very new to the Virgin Islands, the water and power in her apartment shut off for days. She was unaware of any public showering facilities, and she didn’t have a car yet anyway, so she ended up “bathing” in the ocean one morning. Rather than being irritated, she actually wrote in her journal that it was a really cool experience. The morning was misty and the water was beautiful, and she remembered thinking that maybe showering indoors was kind of overrated. Yet a few days ago, the same Beaconite found herself furious when she woke up to a waterless, powerless apartment. However, she thought back to her first experiences with power outages, and realised that she’s become a bit jaded. Next time the power goes off, she will try to remember that there was a point when she was so enamoured with the island’s beauty that she didn’t care that much. Beauty always comes with a price, right?
Too talkative
A Beaconite has attended several Elmore Stoutt High School general assemblies, and for the most part she finds that students pay attention to speakers — especially the current principal. This year, however, she was disappointed to see pockets of students having side conversations while the principal outlined plans for the new school year. Even more disappointing was seeing a teacher engage in conversations with a group of seniors. The Beaconite thought the teacher should have been setting a positive example — or even shushing noisy students. Not all teachers were so distracted, however: Many were doing their best to keep order.
On TV
A Beaconite who enjoys inhaling whole seasons of television shows in a day or two must extend a compliment to Netflix. The streaming service’s most recent release — the second year of the drug war drama Narcos ¬— was probably the most engaging season of original content they’ve produced to date, which is quite the accomplishment given that their portfolio also includes House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Bloodline, among other shows. There was not a stale minute in any of the ten episodes, and the writers and actors crafted characters (based on real people) that were multilayered and interesting, without glamorising either side of a violence-drenched period in Colombian history. This Beaconite looks forward to season three, which, unfortunately, because of Netflix’s all-at-once episode release format, is probably about 360 days away.
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