New year, new features

Starting this week, the Beacon’s website will offer new features for online readers. The interactive additions include a poll question, a photo of the week and the cruise ship schedule. Online forums are also planned in the near future. Beaconites encourage readers to submit photos of the week and ideas for poll questions or forum topics. E-mail submissions or feedback to bvibeacn@surfbvi.com.

Shrinking report

At 330 pages, the 2013 report of the House of Assembly’s Standing Finance Committee does not make for light reading. But this year’s report is the smallest in years and about a third the size of 2012’s, which ran to 950 pages. The 2011 report was 488 pages, in contrast to the 693-page report produced in 2010. The committee, which includes all legislators, reviews funding requests from each government department and statutory board. The committee’s deliberations aren’t public, but a paraphrased version of the discussions is transcribed into the annual report. The reason the report shrank isn’t entirely clear, although the document does not include detailed discussions about most subheads in each department’s budget as it has in prior years. Additionally, SFC members met only seven times, compared to the 19 meetings held at the start of 2012. Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering offered his own explanation for the report’s size, praising Speaker of the House Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe for her “concise and professional” oversight of the committee. “That speaks volumes to the work that your staff did to ensure that things were kept on target and that members were there and ready to get their work done,” he said.

Celebrities

The Virgin Islands has been a holiday destination for several celebrities recently. The arrival of wealthy visitors was evident at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, which has been chockfull of jets. And on the water, a slew of megayachts motored around the islands. But the proof was in the print, when pictures of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles were published in tabloids and blogs in the United Kingdom and the United States. The pictures showed the two singers on Virgin Gorda posing with fans. Shots of the pair eating at a Spanish Town restaurant were also published — followed by reports that they broke up here, causing Ms. Swift to leave alone. Pictures of other celebrities in the territory, like Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear, also surfaced on the Internet recently.

Shooting hoops

While the editorial side of the Beacon office is a shining example of professionalism and dedication to hard work, there is a miniature basketball hoop just inside the door. And it gets a lot of use. Beaconites have found that playing a spirited game of h-o-r-s-e — or, more often, p-i-g, to save time — can do wonders for office morale. Competing against co-workers to see who is more skilled at launching a small ball through a plastic hoop offers a great chance to get up from the hunched-over-a-computer position and into an imaginary sports arena filled with screaming fans. Beaconites recommend a miniature basketball hoop for every office in the territory.

 

Warm welcome

A Beaconite returning to the territory on Jan. 2 was happy to be greeted warmly by a BVI Tourist Board employee, who was waiting just inside the arrival area in the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport. The employee smiled at all the arriving passengers and helped them fill out their immigration and customs forms. The officers at the immigration and customs counters were similarly friendly. The Beaconite, who has occasionally had negative experiences during the re-entry process, felt very welcome. And so, he suspects, did the tourists who arrived with him.

Ray or nay?

One Beaconite is normally a fearless swimmer, but her bravery was put to the test on a recent night swim. She was enjoying watching the bioluminescent plankton around her when she noticed a large shadow swimming nearby. In the light of day, the reporter would have been able to confirm that it was some kind of ray, and she would have continued her swim. In the dark, however, she decided not to take any chances: She made a speedy exit from the sea.

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