After hearing from officials, residents offered their own ideas during the three-hour town hall meeting, above.

More than 100 residents packed a ballroom at the Westin Resort and Villas on Monday night, July 19, to hear a litany of ideas from officials and share a few of their own about how to transform the Cruz Bay waterfront.

Hosted by Senator at Large Craig Barshinger, St. John Administrator Leona Smith and the St. John Chapter of the St. Thomas/St. John Chamber of Commerce, the meeting centered around various ideas for the improvement and development of the Cruz Bay waterfront from the Loredon Boynes Sr. Ferry Dock to the Cruz Bay Creek area.

“Our waterfront has grown a great deal, but we’re still doing things the way we did 30 years ago,” said Barshinger. “Tonight we will launch the process of figuring out how we want to use the precious resource of our waterfront.”
Panel guests included V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove, Department of Planning and Natural Resources planner Stuart

Snorkeling the pristine waters off Lameshur Bay, roasting marshmallows over a roaring campfire and hiking along a remote rocky shoreline are just a few of the exciting activities more than 80 Virgin Islands children between the ages of 7 and 12 will enjoy this summer.

Twenty children taking part in the first of four free Eco-Camps scheduled for this summer met at the V.I. Environmental Resource Station on Monday, July 12, and got the fun started right away.

“I love roasting marshmallows,” said six-year-old Phoenix Rose. “You use two marshmallows to make one S’more. They’re really good.”

Eleven-year-old Tyreqe Morton got an eyeful while snorkeling, he explained.

“My favorite thing so far was snorkeling,” said Morton. “I saw a big stingray.”

“I like all the pretty fish I saw when we went snorkeling,” said seven-year-old Arianna Poston.

Sponsored by Friends of V.I. National Park, the VIERS Eco-Camps have become popular and much-anticipated three-day, two-night trips for children from across St. John and St. Thomas.

Arianna Poston gets an up-close look at an urchin during the first of four scheduled Eco Camps at VIERS.

The Cinnamon Bay Gut waterfall

With heavy rains lashing St. John all week, the Cinnamon Bay waterfall was forcefully flowing on Wednesday, July 20. While a tropical wave moved over the island on Tuesday, a large area of disturbed weather meant more of the same weather. Skies aren’t expected to clear for several days and the next wave could pass through the territory over the weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.

St. John residents Karin and Bob Schlesinger.

While most Love City residents know St. John is one of the best islands to live on, Islands Magazine has made it official and spent a day with two relocated New Englanders to prove it to the world.

Karin and Bob Schlesinger have called St. John home since moving to the island from Massachusetts 13 years ago. While the two have accomplished quite a bit, including running their own successful photography business Tropical Focus, the Islands Magazine story is their first glossy magazine spread.

Islands Magazine profiled the Schlesingers as part of its  “Best Islands to Live On” spread  in the July/August 2010 issue which features transplanted residents living on each of the three main U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Your Caribbean dream life has never been easier than in the USVI. What are you waiting for?” is the tantalizing headline of the 11-page feature which introduces Corby Parfitt and his family, originally from San Francisco, who moved to St. Thomas to enjoy a “more adventurous life.”

The Friday/Saturday/Sunday, July 16-18, 2010 edition of USA Today reported on the Monday, July12th Coki Beach murder of a 14-year-old cruise ship passenger who arrived on St. Thomas with her family aboard Carnival Victory.

"This week's gang-related shooting of a 14-year-old cruise passenger on tour in St. Thomas — an act the U.S. Virgin Islands' congressional delegate called part of a"plague of violence"  — is the latest in a string of bad news for the tourism-dependent Caribbean," states the article. "Passenger Lizmarie Perez Chapparro was killed on Monday near popular Coki Point Beach as she rode with her family on a "safari bus" that ferries tourists across the island. The girl and her family had arrived in St. Thomas earlier in the day aboard Carnival Victory, which sails out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Another cruise ship passenger sustained a minor injury during the shootout, and a local man also was killed."