Katarina Bogus Bennet

V.I. Police Department officers on St. John arrested 19-year-old Katarina Bogus Bennet after she was identified by U.S Customs and Border Patrol officers as the subject of an arrest warrant originating from Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Bennet arrived on St. John on Monday, January 30, on a boat from the BVI. A routine Customs and Border Patrol inspection revealed that Bennet was wanted on drug charges in Ohio and she was detained. VIPD arrested Bennet at about 7:30 p.m. the same day.

According to the Ohio arrest warrant, if located, Bennet is to be arrested and returned to face charges in that state.

Courtney Matthias

Juana Reynoso

V.I. Police Department officers on St. John made two arrests  on Friday, January 27.

VIPD officers arrested 45-year-old Juana Reynoso, also known as Shabella, and 41-year-old Courtney Matthias at about 1 a.m. on Friday, January 27, after they were involved in a domestic dispute.

VIPD officers said Reynoso caused a disturbance and threw rocks at the home of Matthias, who is her ex-boyfriend. Police also said Matthias assaulted Reynoso with a machete, cutting her left and right forearm.

Both suspects were arrested and held without bail due to the domestic violence law pending their court appearance.

Since closing the parcel pickup trailer at the U.S. Post Office in Cruz Bay, residents have complained about standing in lines for more than 45 minutes at a time.

The move, however, is just one step in an on going process of “improvements” planned for the Cruz Bay Post Office, according to USPS District Manager Steven Hernandez.

“I will be glad to share an abbreviated list of improvements that are planned for the Cruz Bay Post Office,” Hernandez wrote, in an email to St. John Tradewinds. “As you know, we have already made some changes with our processes to improve the efficiency. We have moved the package pick up service from the trailer on the side of the building to the pick up door inside the building.”

“This allows us to use employees once assigned to work at the trailer to perform other tasks, such as distributing mail for post office boxes, when they are not assisting customers with package pick ups,” Hernandez wrote.

While painting the trailer closure in a positive light, Hernandez explained that a “misunderstanding” led to the long lines seen last week.

“Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding during our first few days of operation under this new process,” wrote the USPS District Manager. “Our intention was to keep the package pick up separate from the retail window queue. A ‘package pick up-only' line helps us to quickly serve customers without impacting those who are at the retail window to purchase stamps and other postal services.”

“During the first few days of the new process, the two queues were combined, but that has been corrected,” Hernandez wrote. “By placing the package pick up within the building instead of outside in the trailer, we will insure the security of our packages while providing our customers shelter from the heat and rain. We still have to work out a few glitches, but we will get them resolved quickly.”

Being able to use additional USPS manpower inside the Post Office, will allow the office to fill P.O. Boxes quicker, Hernandez added.

“Also, by increasing the efficiency of the package pick up process, we can also redirect our resources to another timely customer requirement of the office:  the completion of post office box mail by 11 a.m. everyday,” he wrote. “It is important that we attain that target daily to meet our customer expectations for reliable, regular delivery of mail through this premium service.”

While offering remarks, Senator Louis Hill, below standing, confronted controversy which arose during the Legislature's construction which he oversaw as Senate President of the 28th Legislature as current Senate President Ronald Russell, seated next to Hill, looks on.

About 100 residents, six sitting senators and two former senators celebrated the grand opening of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands’ St. John annex on Friday evening, February 3.

The pale yellow building had been a point of controversy during the more than 12 months of construction, as Senator Louis Hill pointed out in candid terms during the official opening ceremony.

“I was lambasted by a senator sitting here tonight who misguided the population about what we were doing in this building,” said Hill, who launched the project to construct a new St. John Legislature building when he was President of the 28th Legislature.

“I’m not being politically correct here,” said Hill. “I have waited to say this in public. There are people here who misguided this community without recourse.”

“I still have the emails from people who reacted to that misguided information telling me all sorts of nonsense,” said the senator.

Hill seemed to be pointing a finger at Senator at Large Craig Barshinger, who had circulated several photographs of the building during construction, which showed a lack of adequate public meeting space.

Despite the public elbow rubbing, the meeting site issue seemed to have been hammered out by last Friday, as the first floor of the new legislature building is slated for conversion into a public meeting space, explained Pamela Samuel, executive director of the V.I. Legislature.

“The lower level of this building is intended to be developed into a meeting site,” said Samuel. “The next level contains offices for the at Large Senator and visiting senators and the top floor here is the Legislative meeting hall,” said Samuel.

The Legislative hall is equipped with cameras capable of streaming hearings live on the local government TV channel, just like on St. Thomas and St. Croix, Samuel added.

Shawn Auguste singing the National Anthem and the Virgin Islands March.

Three St. John men were arrested last week in connection with robbing Merchants Commercial Bank, above, of more than $47,000.

The presence of Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the V.I. National Park dock in Cruz Bay early Thursday morning, February 2, sent rumors flying across the island.

The droning of a black helicopter which landed in the Sirenusa area of Cruz Bay around 11 a.m. that morning added to the island-wide speculation.
When the dust settled, federal agents had nabbed three St. John men charged in connection with robbing Merchants Commercial Bank in Estate Chocolate Hole just over a year ago.

Kevin Fessale, 22, Shevaun Browne, 24, and Kadeem Thomas, 22, were nabbed by federal officials at various locations on St. John on February 2 and charged in connection with the January 11, 2011 armed robbery of Merchants Commercial Bank, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The three men were advised of their rights in federal court on February 2, and charged with robbing the bank of $47,529.38, according to the release.

The robbery occurred around 2 p.m. on January 11, 2011, when two masked men walked into the bank with three firearms and ordered everyone to the ground, according to a V.I. Police Department prepared statement issued at the time.

After sifting through drawers and collecting cash from several desks at the bank, the two fled in a blue GMC Jimmy and had remained at large until last week.

A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging the men with Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery, Bank Robbery and firearm violations. The indictment was returned on Thursday, January 19, and unsealed on February 2, when the three St. John men were arrested, according to the U.S. DOJ release.

The indictment charges Fessale and Thomas with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, aiding and abetting bank robbery and carrying and using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Browne was charged with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting bank robbery.

Surveillance video cameras recorded the men arriving at the bank, recorded the actual robbery as it was taking place and recorded the robbers leaving  Merchants Commercial Bank in a blue Chevy Jimmy, which belonged to Browne, according to the DOJ press release.