The V.I. Legislature approved the official annual observance of “Fireburn Day” and voted to bolster existing laws against child pornography in a full session on St. Thomas Monday.
Starting this year, ceremonies and other events will be held in public schools each Oct. 1 to commemorate the 1878 labor revolt on St. Croix to demand that all plantations pay the same or better than the St. Croix Central Factory and to repeal the labor laws that kept workers in serf-like conditions.
“Appropriate ceremonies shall be held in all public schools in the Virgin Islands to reflect upon this most important day in the history of the Virgin Islands,” the new law says, according to new language amended by the bill’s sponsor Sen. Terrence “Positive” Nelson and voted for unanimously in the Senate Monday.
The law makes the Commissioner of Education responsible for producing and disseminating information about Fireburn Day to “all public, private and parochial schools.”
Senators also voted unanimously to enact Bill No. 28-0008, which complements federal laws and strengthens local statutes and penalties against child pornography.
“The Internet and technology and the media today are serious things,” said Sen. Louis Patrick Hill. “It’s easy for our children to be caught in all kind of traps.”
There are many “computer geniuses” these days, said Sen. Neville James. “And some of them have a warped mind when it comes to applying their genius.”
After voting to postpone voting on a bill allowing a “sliver” of historic property to be sold to a private party for the next Committee of the Whole, senators voted unanimously to enact and enter into the Interstate Compact for Juveniles, which provides a uniform mechanism for law enforcement and social welfare services to track and supervise juveniles who move across state borders.
In addition, the Senate approved the following resolutions and approved the following nominations:
• Named the Labor and Delivery area of the Eugeine T. Ford OB Unit at Schneider Regional Medical Center after registered nurse Cynthia V. Browne Stapleton
• Honored and commended international track-and-field star Allison Pauline Tanicia Peter as a “goodwill ambassador” for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Nominated Luz Suarez de Highfield and Carol Nicholson Flup for service on the UVI Board of Trustees.
• Nominated the following persons to serve on the V.I. Historic Preservation Commission: Matthias Eckstein, Gerville Larsen, Rupert Pelle and Rebecca Merwin.
