Roane "Boozie" Christian

V.I. Police Department officials on St. John arrested Roane “Boozie” Christian, 57, and charged him with Second Degree Burglary, Trespassing, Aggravated Assault and Battery and Disturbance of the Peace Domestic Violence.

According to the report Christian was arrested around 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, August 18, for assaulting a female victim. Christian and the victim were involved in a relationship.

VIPD officials said while the victim was at her home, Christian broke into her residence by crawling through her window. When he was inside the residence the two began to fight. During the fight Christian assaulted the woman by hitting her on her arm with a frying pan.

After the fire.

Before the fire. Photo by Eliza Magro

For the first time in 25 years, Arthur Hercules will not be serving up those delectable pates at his popular Cruz Bay eatery.

A fire engulfed Hercules Pate Delight early Wednesday morning, August 25, destroying the building Hercules had occupied since 1985. The buildings on either side of Hercules Pate Delight were also damaged by the early morning fire, according to V.I. Fire Department’s St. John Chief Winnifred Powell.

“We got a call from 911 around 2:35 am. this morning that there was a fire in the area of Hercules Pate Delight,” said Powell on Wednesday afternoon, August 25. “We responded and Hercules Pate was fully engulfed. There was also damage done to the buildings to the left and the right of Hercules.”

Chara Johanna Larsen and Leopold Chinnery Jr.

V.I. Police Department officers on St. John arrested Chara Johanna Larsen, 19, and Leopold Chinnery Jr. 30, and charged them with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.

Larsen was arrested at 6:45 p.m. and Chinnery was arrested at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 14. VIPD officials said Chinnery and Larsen are related to the victim.

According to the reports, police patrolling the Hawksnest Beach area were approached by a concerned citizen who observed an intoxicated 16-year-old male minor on the beach.

While being questioned, the minor told police he had been drinking alcohol. After further investigation, police discovered that Chinnery brought alcohol to a beach party and Larsen served it to the minor.

Starting next month, veterans on St. John will no longer be forced to travel to St. Thomas for medical tests and lab work.

After years of effort, Love City’s American Legion Post 131 members, working with V.I. Veterans Affairs and their federal VA partners, were able to pave the way for veterans to see doctors and get lab work done at Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center.

American Legion Post 131 members, V.I. VA officials and federal VA representatives will host a grand opening ceremony for the new services on Wednesday, September 1, at MKSCHC.

Before this, the estimated 200 veterans on St. John had to travel to the St. Thomas VA clinic just to see a doctor. While the services available to veterans at MKSCHC will be limited, they will be about the same available to veterans through the St. Thomas clinic.

“The VA on the federal side is opening the veterans clinic inside the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center,” said Keishell Daniel, the V.I. VA coordinator for St. Thomas and St. John. “The same services that are available on St. Thomas will now be available on St. John for our veterans. We’ve been working on this for a while now, so it’s great to see it happening.”

While Puerto Rico remains the closest VA hospital for veterans in the Virgin Islands who need more in-depth medical attention or procedures, having the ability to just go to MKSCHC for a doctor’s appointment is expected to make life much easier for St. John veterans.

Several dogs and cats are available for adoption.

Despite countless hours of work and tireless fundraising efforts, the Animal Care Center of St. John is in dire financial straits and needs emergency help from the community in order to keep the doors to its no-kill animal shelter open.

In addition to staffing and running the no-kill shelter, the organization spays and neuters homeless animals and supplies food to the many unowned cats living in the bush through feeding stations placed across the island.

The seeds for the current association were originally sown in the late 1980s and while the ACC has suffered its share of reorganizations and changing staff and board members, the group has remained a steadfast advocate for animal rights and humane animal care.

The ACC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with every dime donated going directly to cover shelter expenses. The ACC Board of Directors is all volunteer.

The group’s no-kill shelter is currently at capacity with officials caring for 13 dogs, five puppies, 14 cats and 27 kittens.

While the ACC receives a small government grant and hosts three major fundraisers a year, those fundraisers have been trending down and with operating expenses topping $13,000 a month, the organization is plainly broke, according to board member Jennifer Dale.