Police presence

A Beaconite was walking along Norman Fowler Drive last week when she noticed about six armed police officers — many of whom were also wearing bulletproof vests — stopping and searching various cars, scooters and people. One man, who was dressed all in black and wearing a hat with an image of a marijuana leaf, was asked to exit his car and was searched — even having to take off his shoes. This procedure, an officer told the reporter, was “just police business.” She learned from people who worked at nearby businesses that this was not the first time police have conducted the activity in the area. Last week, she was told, officers tackled a man who was attempting to flee. Not all vehicles, however, were asked to pull over for a search. The reporter wonders how officers decide which vehicles to search and which ones to wave through. She also wonders what would occur if someone refused to comply with a search. She would be interested in learning where else officers set up traffic stops in the territory and how often they conduct such procedures.

 

Velvet elegance

There has been so much shade thrown and tea spilled in the territory’s legislature lately that a Beaconite suspects certain members might be grandstanding to get a pilot season of The Real Housewives of the House of Assembly up and running on a pay-per-view network near you sometime soon. Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley is increasingly in opposition faces, grimacing across the chamber and insisting, “I’m ready for them!” as ravenous rivals try to bring him down with a vote of no confidence. Why, Mr. (Presently) Premier even dramatically axed At-large Representative Lorna Smith from his A-List government cast roster to keep the spotlight firmly on himself in a shocking plot twist. And as Ms. Smith sauntered away to the opposition benches with her trademark velvet elegance, she momentarily glanced back to remark that it had taken a “hurricane” to remove her — all with the unspoken second season spike that she expected to return in triumph. It has proved all too much for opposition firebrand Myron Walwyn, who accused the premier of “packing” the parliamentary order paper to run any vote to oust him out of time. “Liar!” declared Mr. Wheatley in an outraged, and most unparliamentary, response. And to prove his point, the premier did not pack the order paper the next time the no-confidence vote came up. Well, maybe he did, just a little, but more importantly he and his buddies just slipped out of the assembly’s chambers to ensure there were not enough members present for a show of hands. Ah, democracy! The drama continues. And the territory despairs.

 

Flooded tourists

Residents weren’t the only ones affected by the flooding on Monday morning. A cruise ship was in port, and crowds of tourists in Road Town were struggling to navigate the mud and lingering floodwaters as residents worked to clean up. A Beaconite sympathised. Road Town, after all, is difficult and dangerous to navigate on foot at the best of times given its crumbling sidewalks and poorly marked road crossings. The effects of the flooding made the situation much worse. He hopes the visitors made it back to their ship unscathed. He also wonders if there might be a better way to handle such situations in the future. Perhaps, for instance, the visitors could be advised to stay in the area of the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park. Or maybe the ship could simply go elsewhere for the day. The Beaconite can’t imagine the tourists left with a good impression of the Virgin Islands.