Drug busts
The RFA Wave Knight has had a busy year intercepting vessels carrying illegal drugs. The United Kingdom ship, which typically stops in the Virgin Islands as part of a summertime patrol of the Caribbean, participated along with the United States Coast Guard in a Dec. 26 raid of the vessel Miss Kameney. The location of the raid wasn’t disclosed, but officials reportedly seized a quarter tonne of marijuana worth more than $1.6 million, according to news reports. Five of the raided vessel’s crewmembers were turned over to US officials in the Dominican Republic, according to the UK government. The raid comes four months after the Wave Knight and other vessels seized $10.6 million worth of marijuana from the fishing vessel Miss Tiffany, which was reportedly trafficking drugs in Dominican Republic waters. A Beaconite can’t wondering if trafficking will decrease in the future given several American states recent moves to legalise marijuana.
Preventive measures
Now that three cases of chikungunya virus have been confirmed in the Virgin Islands, Beaconites hopes residents will take measures to minimise their risk of being infected. In large part, this means eliminating breeding areas for mosquitoes, which transmit the virus. A Beaconite is pleased to see that government seems to be doing its part: In recent days, she has noticed that several overgrown bushes have been trimmed.
Good morning
In recent weeks, a Beaconite was pleased to be greeted by random teenagers on the street. One neighbour never passes by without a pleasantry. The reporter is glad to see that many young people still maintain the territory’s tradition of greeting their elders. She hopes to see more of that this year.
Staycation
A Beaconite loves living in a place where he can convince himself he’s on vacation, even just for an hour or two. The Beaconite has been to Virgin Gorda about a dozen times, but had never driven around the island until last weekend. After a nice hike, a swim, some delicious ribs and a cocktail, the Beaconite was ready to return back home to Tortola. He feels bad for tourists who had a similar day on VG, but then had to travel north the following day, away from the sandy beaches and palm trees and into sub-zero temperatures.
One long address
Money is the root of many political disagreements, but one Beaconite feels it doesn’t compromise her journalistic fairness to comment on one very specific aspect of this week’s budget address: its length. The speech is about 35 printed pages long and took Premier Dr. Orlando Smith nearly an hour to read. The reporter was impressed at the premier’s speaking stamina, and was glad to see that he was supplied with water to occasionally replenish his hard-working vocal cords. Given the importance of the year’s spending, the Beaconite doesn’t feel the address’s length was inappropriate.
Tiny roomie
Since the beginning of the year, a Beaconite has been dealing each morning with a lizard in her living room, but she can’t decide if she wants to treat the reptile like a pet or a pest. Each morning, usually while she is cleaning up her breakfast dishes, the small green lizard slides under her front door. So far the reporter’s response has been to get out the broom and use it to steer the lizard back outside. Given that lizards eat insects, and that the reporter would much rather cohabit with one of the former than several of the latter, however, she thinks she might try leaving the lizard to its devices. She hopes the lizard can be a tidy and respectful roommate.
A good call
Since Beaconites often call government offices, they were happy to learn about the Telephone Services Management Unit’s plans to upgrade the government’s landline system. This step, they believe, is much needed. Some major changes are expected, officials said. “The prefixes ‘494’ and ‘495’ will be dissolved,” said TSMU Manager Reynell Turnbull. “Instead, all government extensions will automatically become direct lines and start with the prefix ‘468.’” Thus, instead of having to dial 468-3701 and then enter an extension, a caller will be able to dial the extension directly after the 468 prefix. Mr. Turnbull also said that other changes will reduce the communications bills of several government agencies. Beaconites applaud the plans.