Promptly at 9 PM, a dazzling fireworks show lit up Cruz Bay Harbor, officially bringing St. John Festival 2011 to a close.

But wait...the fireworks may have been over, but the night had more action to come!

ST. JOHN, USVI (TRADEWINDS-7/5/11)- The last night of St. John Festival was halted for a few moments, when a ferry was reported hard aground on rocks just off Great St. James Island. The Royal Miss Belmar was carrying 98 passengers- ranging in age from 5 months to 80 years old- and 4 crew members when it disembarked from Cruz Bay Dock after the Festival fireworks ended. The 89-ft. ferry was en route to St. Croix and had only traveled a few minutes out of the harbor before slamming onto rocks on the north-eastern shore of Great St. James Island.

Officials stopped the thumping music at Wadesville Festival Village in order to make the announcement asking for emergency responders to help with the rescue effort. With that, the music came back and the dance floor filled again with revelers while a team of St. John Rescue (SJR) officials sprung into action.

A crew of SJR responders spent the rest of the night ferrying the 104 people- some on stretchers- over the ferry's aft gunwale and down approximately 8 ft. to a life raft tied to the stern of the vessel. The rescue effort would have been tricky enough in the daylight, but this emergency came in the dark of night in rough seas and high winds, according to the responders.

First responders conducted triage at the Red Hook Marine Terminal in St. Thomas and helped ferry passengers to waiting vessels throughout the night. The final passengers were evacuated from the ferry around 5:30 AM. Although 5 of the passengers- including one infant- sustained injuries in the crash, none were reported to be serious.

The vessel was not taking on water, but was high up on the rocks, prompting several responders to determine the vessel was traveling at a high rate of speed when it ran aground. U.S. Coast Gaurd response and prevention personnel, including marine and pollution investigators, were expected to continue working with the vessel owner and local authorities to coordinate the removal and salvage of the vessel and determine signs of pollution. As of press time, the Royal Miss Belmar is still aground (or arock, if you will)

FYI: St. John Rescue is a non-profit run entirely by volunteers and relying on donations. You too can help the cause by donating to:
ST. JOHN RESCUE, INC.
PO Box 1225
St. John, USVI 00830

ST. THOMAS, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS- 7/19/11)- The International Maritime Organization has designated waters off the coasts of the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as an Emission Control Area, where large ships will be subject to tougher air pollution limits as early as January 2014. At a meeting in London, the organisation's Marine Environmental Protection Committee adopted a treaty amendment that will include the 2 territories in a stringent emissions control program aimed at reducing air pollution from large ships. The U.S. EPA says the measure will help protect public health and sensitive ecosystems in the islands.

The U.S. proposed designating an emission control area when the maritime organisation's committee met last fall. The treaty amendment will create an area where big ships plying the waters off the coast of Puerto Rico and the USVI will have to meet certain control standards for discharges of nitrogen oxides, Sulfur oxides and particulate matter.

In its cost-benefit analysis, the EPA states that the cost of implementing and complying with the regulations is expected to be "reasonable". Improving current ship emission levels "is one of the most cost-effective measures available to obtain clean air benefits for these islands", the EPA states.

The agency estimates the impact on the price of a cruise on a medium-sizes cruise ship operating between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico would be about 60 cents per day for a 5-day cruise. They also estimated that container ships could expect to see a cost increase of approximately $.33 to $1.35 per 20-ft. container.

The Emission Control Area designation is expected to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by 11,000 tons, particulate matter by 3,300 tons and sulfur oxides by 31,000 tons per year.

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (AP-7/19/11)-Nelson Lopez Aponte, a Roman Catholic priest who was among the leaders of a campaign that forced the U.S. Navy to close its bombing range on Vieques, was found dead in his home. He was 50. The cause of death is under investigation, but it appears he died of natural causes.

Lopez was the longtime pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Vieques, which the U.S. had used as a training area and bombing range since the Viet Nam War era.. The priest became a spokesman and prominent leader of the movement demanding that the Navy stop using the range because of fears about safety and environmental risk to the island's 10,000 inhabitants. He was among many- including a handful of celebrities- arrested by the military for trespassing during the protests of 2001-02.

The U.S. closed the range in 2003, and Vieques is now a popular tourist destination.

HAVANA, CUBA (AP- 7/19/11)- Cuba is lowering bulk prices for goods ranging from marmalade and mayonnaise to tools and CDs to support newly independent workers and small businesses that lack a wholesale market. The measure addresses a central complaint by many operators of private restaurants, cafeterias and other operations authorized under a wide-ranging economic overhaul launched last year by President Raul Castro.

Under an order from the Ministry of Finance and Pricing, a 5-liter container of cooking oil that was selling for $11.50 can now be purchased for $9.80. A 7-lb. container of tomato puree formerly worth $8.70 now goes for $7.00. The measure also includes tools and pneumatic and electrical equipment, all with the goal of enhancing sales to independent workers. Although the initiative targets private businesses, the same prices will apply for anyone making bulk purchases.

Cuba began allowing increased private enterprise at the end of last year, issuing licenses for people to launch small businesses and hire employees independent of the state. Many entrepreneurs have complained about a lack of access to a wholesale market or to credit, as well as high tax rates.

The government fixes prices, and while some products are heavily subsidized and discounted, many other imported goods go for more than double their value elsewhere.

ST. THOMAS, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS-8/1/11)- Certain beaches on St. Thomas and St. John have become full of brown seaweed called Sargassum, an unusual occurrence no one can explain. The tangled clumps- with air-filled bladders that resemble berries- float along in mats on the open Atlantic Ocean. The seaweed originates in the Sargasso Sea, a region in the middle of the North Atlantic.

The Sargasso Sea is surrounded by ocean currents, with the Gulf Stream to the west; the North Atlantic Current to the north; the Canary Current to the east; and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current to the south.

Based on informal inquiries Renata Platenberg, wildlife biologist at the VI Division of Fish and Wildlife, made to colleagues across the region, people in the Gulf of Mexico are used to it, but people in the Caribbean are surprised by the huge amounts coming to shore. "We don't know why this year it's come in.," Platenberg said.

Sargassum is crucial to the ocean ecosystem- out on the sea and on shore. Not only does it supply habitat for fish and sea turtles, it is also rich in nutrients- specifically nitrogen and potash- and makes great compost. It also reduces beach erosion. The mats wash up on beach and physically hold the sand down.

On St. Thomas the seaweed has been clogging marinas on the East End, and some people are moving it from the water.

WASHINGTON D.C. (AP- 6/29/11)- The world's climate is not only continuing to warm, it is also adding heat-trapping gases even faster than in the past, according to researchers. Indeed, the global temperature has been warmer than the 20th century average every month for more than 25 years, the National Climatic Data Center says.

"The indicators show unequivocally that the world continues to warm," Thomas R. Karl- their director- said in releasing the annual State of the Climate report for 2010. "There is a clear and unmistakable signal from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans," added Peter Thorne of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites at North Carolina State University.

Carbon dioxide increased by 2.6 parts per million in the atmosphere in 2010, which is more than the annual increase seen from 1980-2010. Carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas accumulating in the atmosphere that scientists blame for warming the climate.

SPORTS:

ST. JOHN, USVI (VI DAILY NEWS- 7/19/11)- In the serendipitous- and sometimes expensive- world of international sailing, it really is all about who you know. it's a lesson Mimi Roller is well aware of, and one the St. John native had to rely on minutes after she arrived in Germany earlier this summer. The 20-year-old sailor traveled to Europe in late June for a month-long trip, during which she planned to compete in 2 international regattas. She had made plans to rent a laser radial boat from a friend in Holland so she could compete. But when Roller touched down at the airport in Germany, she learned her friend unexpectedly could not make the trip and their would be no sailboat waiting for her.

"It was kind of a disaster at first," said Roller. "Here I was, in another country and without a sailboat. I only had 2 days to find one and I barely made it."

Luckily, Mimi ran into an old sailing friend from India and explained her situation. Three other sailors from India had also planned to compete, but because of traveling visa issues, none were able to make the trip. But their sailboats made the trip, and Roller was back in business.

With her boat ready to go and her sanity intact, Roller competed among thousands of international sailors in the Kiel Week Regatta and the Warnemuender Woche Regatta. At the Kiel Week Regatta, she finished 28th out of 55 female sailors from around the world

"I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but it was great just to be back into laser radial sailing," said Roller, who competed in the same class in the last 2 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and the 2006 Pan American Games in Brazil. "I had been so caught up in college sailing, I forgot how much more demanding the laser was."(Mimi is on the women's sailing team at St. Mary's College in Maryland.)

Shortly after the Kiel Week Regatta, Roller set her sights on the Warnemueller Woche Regatta in the Baltic Sea, which attracted more than 500,000 spectators. Considered to be one of the most-participated regattas in the world, it was a 9-day event that included 1,400 sailors.

Despite tough conditions (mainly due to fog), Roller finished second out of 120 sailors in her laser radial fleet.

Roller is back on St. John during this month, but will be going to England for an Olympic Test Event in August at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. She qualified for the 2011 Pan-American Games last January and is hoping to make it back to London for the 2012 Olympics next summer.

"I'm very hopeful for the Olympics," she said. "I need to train alot more and that's why I've set up such an aggressive sailing schedule."

The Pan American Games take place in Guadalajara, Mexico in October.

A MOMENT IN HISTORY:

The following article appeared in the Associated Press Nov. 6, 2000:

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA- Bells tolled and thousands of Ethiopians wailed and applauded as Haile Selassie, their last emperor, was finally laid to rest 25 years after his mysterious death. As leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church stood by, resplendent in their colorful robes, elderly veterans of Ethiopia's 1936-41 struggle against Italian occupation carried the coffin- draped in the nation's red, gold and green flag- up the steps of Trinity Cathedral. The emperor's family, friends and associates embraced at their first public gathering since 1974, when he was overthrown by Marxist military officers.

A crypt had been waiting at the cathedral since Haile Selassie's remains were discovered under a concrete slab on the grounds of his former palace in 1992- 17 years after he died under house arrest.

Officially, his death at age 83 was due to complications from a prostate codition. The Haile Selassie I Foundation- which had worked for 8 years to give the emperor a suitable burial- claims he was assassinated. Two of the emperor's personal servants have testified that he was killed on a night they were ordered out of his room.

Haile Selassie, who assumed the throne in 1930, was the last in a line of emperor's who forged the modern Ethiopian state out of an ancient land of feuding chieftains. To his supporters, his rule was a time of peace and stability during which modern education was introduced in the oldest independent state in Africa. Critics say he was too slow in reforming a feudal society.

In this AP photo dated 11/5/2000, a veteran of Ethiopia's fight against the 1936-41 Italian occupation grieves in front of the casket bearing the remains of Ethiopia's last emperor, Haile I Selassie I.

Sisay Taddese, a 19-year-old student who saw the funeral cortege pass, said he believed the emperor was "a responsible leader who ran a benevolent government."

Since the 1974 revolution that ousted him dissolved into terror, Ethiopians have suffered a series of wrenching events. A cataclysmic 1984-85 famine devastated the nation, and the 1991 ouster of the Mengistu regime by another group of rebels sent the nation of 62 million reeling once again.

While the funeral could be seen as the end of an era, the nation remains one of the world's 10 poorest countries. The government of Prime Minister Meles Zanawi, which grew out of the rebel movement that ousted Mengistu, made no formal statement about Haile Selassie until last week, when it called him "a tyrant and oppressor of the masses."

Although the foundation issued an open invitation to the government to attend the funeral, not one official showed up, and state-run broadcast media did not mention the event.

Randi Ronning Balsvik, a history professor at Norway's Tromso University and an Ethiopian specialist, said Meles Government had "played it all very safely" by allowing the funeral to take place, yet making it clear its position on Haile Selassie's legacy. In town for an international conference on Ethiopian studies, she said she felt she had "really observed a moment in history."

Although many people too young to have lived through them express nostalgia for the days of the last emperor, there is little sense here of a serious movement to restore the monarchy. "We want to rehabilitate his name, but not only his name, that of Ethiopia as well, and our own history," said Wolde-Semait Gebre-Wold, who was a senior official under the emperor. He said the foundation was seeking funds to set up scholorships in honor of the emperor, who introduced formal education to the country.

A RECIPE FOR A GREAT TROPICAL TREAT:

Coconut Tapioca and Mango Parfaits

3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
14 oz. coconut milk
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
2 small mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch dice.

1.Whisk together tapioca, sugar, salt, eggs, coconut milk and milk in a medium-sized saucepan. Let stand 10 minutes without stirring.
2.Bring tapioca mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium-lo and simmer, whisking constantly, for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and coconut extracts. Transfer to a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (at least 2 hours and up to 2 days).
3.Layer chilled tapioca and diced mango in parfait glasses and serve immediately. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Other tropical fruits- diced pineapple, kiwi, etc.- may be combined with or substituted for mangoes.

Enjoy the remainder of your summer!Keep saying your prayers for a mild hurricane season.