Lloyd Morris

After being without a chief ranger for several years, V.I. National Park officials welcomed career ranger Lloyd Morris aboard in June.

Originally hailing from the small Louisiana town of Cloutierville, Morris, 51, first learned about the National Park Service as an undergraduate at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

After accepting an internship at Voyageurs National Park in International Falls, Minnesota, Morris grew intrigued with the government agency.

“One thing is that the NPS is all about preservation and I love that aspect of it,” said the VINP’s new chief ranger. “We like to preserve things for people to see not only from previous generations, but from future generations too. We are the leaders who try to preserve areas like the VINP and Coral Reef National Monument.”

“Often when I talk to my friends, they like the pay they receive for their jobs, but they despise their jobs,” said Morris. “They don’t enjoy what they do. Most of us who work for the NPS, tend to enjoy what we do because we’re preserving and protecting something that is considered a treasure.”

More than three years after 21-year-old Jamie Cockayne was stabbed to death on a Cruz Bay street, V.I. Superior Court Judge Brenda Hollar ordered a new trial for the man who has already been convicted of the murder by two separate juries.

In an order handed down on July 23, Hollar granted Jahlil Ward, 22, of Estate Gifft Hill a new trial due to a prosecutorial error.

This is the second time Hollar has granted Ward a new trial. He was convicted of first degree murder in October 2008, a ruling which Hollar threw out in April 2009. Then the jury in Ward’s second trial, in December 2009, handed down a second-degree murder verdict.

Ward filed another motion for a new trial in January 2010 claiming he did not get a fair trial due to errors on behalf of the prosecution in admitting unredacted statements and excluding a different statement from evidence.

“A serious miscarriage of justice will occur if Ward’s conviction stands since the verdict is hinged on uncorroborated confessions allegedly made by Ward to a series of individuals, whose testimony was impeached and who each had a bias against Ward,” according to Hollar’s July 23 opinion agreeing with Ward’s motion.

Hollar has not set a date for Ward’s third trial, but she did schedule sentencing for two men who were convicted of assaulting Cockayne hours before he was stabbed to death.

It’s time to dust off those running shoes, clean off the swim goggles and get those bicycle gears checked.

The St. John Land Sharks is hosting the 12th annual Love City Triathlon on Sunday, September 5, at 7 a.m. Participants can compete solo or in teams of three or two — with one person both running and swimming.

For participants who just want to run and swim, race officials are offering an Aquathon this year as well. No teams will be allowed to compete in the Aquathon.

For those in the triathlon, the morning will kick off with a half-mile swim consisting of two triangle loops in Maho Bay. After athletes get out of the ocean, they’ll pick up their bikes and pedal to Cruz Bay on North Shore Road.

Bicyclers will then race up Centerline Road and turn back onto North Shore Road at the Colombo Yogurt stand. The 14-mile bike race wraps up at Annaberg Sugar Plantation where triathlete racers will ditch their bikes and start the event’s running portion by hightailing it up the stairs.

St. John Treasure Map owners Denise Barbier, far left, and Jenn Knowles, far right, pose with Catered To staff.

One lucky family will be living large in a luxury villa next summer thanks to St. John Treasure Map and Catered To...Vacation Homes.

Launched by Jennifer Knowles and Denise Barbier last year, the St. John Treasure Map has proven to be a popular activity for numerous visitors. Both a guide to the island and an actual activity which takes people across the island to find answers to several riddles and questions, the map has also been popular with local businesses.

Each family which completed all five of the treasure hunts and solved the riddle was eligible for a chance to win a free trip back to St. John, complete with a free villa, rental car, gift certificates to local eateries and more.

Out of the six villa management companies which advertised on the map last year, Catered To was drawn at random to supply a week-long villa stay valued at $3,500.

Drainage backup at the Cruz Bay waste water treatment facility creates a mess near the entrance to The Marketplace.

In the wake of recent heavy rainfalls which drenched St. John, one high-traffic area of South Shore Road has yet to completely drain.

The drainage channel in front of the entrance to The Marketplace has been flooded for more than two weeks with brown, muddy water, deep potholes and high traffic making the area a mess for drivers and pedestrians alike.

While the water comes from the gut above The Marketplace, it is the backup at V.I. Waste Management Authority’s Cruz Bay waste water treatment plant that is causing the flooding on the road, according to a former Federal Highway Administration engineer.

“The drainage backup through the waste water plant site is causing the flooding in front of The Marketplace,” said Jerry Runyon. “I was under the impression that this gut outlet improvement was supposed to be done with the construction of the sewage treatment plant, but I guess was never included in their work.”