Attorney Tom Bolt, Chair of The Salvation Army Advisory Board addressed the Rotary Club of St. Thomas at their meeting on Thursday at Bluebeard’s Castle Hotel.  Bolt announced plans to celebrate The Salvation Army’s 90th Anniversary in May with a series of events culminating in a Gala at Marriott Frenchman’s Reef.  Bolt stated that “The Salvation Army has been ‘Doing the Most Good’ on St. Thomas for nearly a century,”   He pointed out, “feeding those in need and providing support for the less fortunate in our commitment to our community.  When all else fails, we have the Salvation Army.”

Continue Reading Salvation Army Celebrates 90 Years in Territory

Tom Bolt, Managing Attorney of the St. Thomas law fim, Tom Bolt & Associates, has been reappointed as Chair of the Virgin Islands Bar Association’s Legislation and Law Reform Committee.  Bolt who served as Counsel to the Virgin Islands Legislature throughout the 1980’s also serves as Chair of the Virgin Islands Uniform Law Commission.

"There are a number of issues that are of concern to the Virgin Islands public that the Bar Association will be addressing." Bolt said.  "Chief among these is the probate code.  Virgin Islanders are constrained by the current law.  We have homes that are abandoned due to probate.  It is taking as much as 10-12 years to probate very small estates.  This should not be." Bolt noted.

 

Continue Reading St. Thomas Lawyer Reappointed Bar Committee Chair

A senior Pentagon official resigned Friday over controversial remarks in which he criticized lawyers who represent terrorism suspects, the Defense Department said.  Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Charles ”Cully” Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, told him on Friday that he had made his own decision to resign and was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"The Deputy Assistant Secretary did the right thing." said Tom Bolt, President of the American Counsel Association, the oldest association of independent law firms.  "But this does not end here, I am confident that when the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates convenes later this month that we will address the issue of detainees, their right to counsel and other issues relative to the proper administration of justice." Bolt said.

Continue Reading Pentagon Official Resigns Over Detainee Remarks

Soap. Shampoo. Toothpaste. A washrag and a toothbrush. Bare necessities that most people don’t think about much – unless they don’t have them.   Tom Bolt, Chair of the The Salvation Army Advisory Board announced Friday that the organization has launched a Care Bag Program and is requesting donations of personal toiletries to help with the outreach project.

Continue Reading Salvation Army Launches Care Bag Program

A.P. Carlton, a nationally renowned expert on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) briefed civic and business leaders today about the advantages and benefits for the US Virgin Islands in utilizing PPP’s, their impact on the Territory’s economy and workforce, as well as the regulatory environment.

Speaking to the Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise, Mr. Carlton pointed out how the strategic utilization of private partnerships for public needs could assist and accelerate theconstruction of schools, hospitals, prisons and roads.

Continue Reading Leading Expert Briefs Civic Leaders on Advantages of Public Private Partnerships

American Counsel Association President Tom Bolt in a statement released Saturday characterized recent remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Charles “Cully” Stimson as “reprehensible and irresponsible”. 

Stimson said in a radio interview last week that companies might want to consider boycotting law firms that represent detainees at the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by taking their business to other firms that do not represent suspected terrorists.

The Pentagon on Saturday disavowed Stimson’s remarks. A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Brian Maka, said Stimson was not speaking for the Bush Administration. Stimson’s comments “do not represent the views of the Department of Defense or the thinking of its leadership,” Maka told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Continue Reading ACA President Condemns Defense Secretary’s Comments

A partial happy ending may be salvaged for a 24-year-old Haitian immigrant whose 18-month-old daughter drowned on her secret journey to St. Thomas in January, 2006.  Nadine Charles left the territory to travel to Florida, where her quest for asylum will continue. Charles’ case was transferred to the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Rights group, attorney Ravinder S. Nagi, Chair of the International Practice Group of Tom Bolt & Associates, P.C. said Tuesday.

Charles had her first plane ride last weekend after a one-day delay caused by the mass of travel documents that Customs agents at King Airport had to go through – causing her to miss her original travel date, Nagi said.  "Our efforts were to get her the appropriate representation in Florida, where she has family," Nagi said.

Continue Reading Advocacy Group Helping Haitian Mother

Although this year’s Omnibus Authorization Bill and Government Reform and Modernization Bill are massive pieces of legislation – 89 pages in the omnibus bill and 260 pages in the reform bill – about half of the pages are dedicated to adding new uniform laws to the V.I. Code.

Put together, the bills propose that 11 new uniform laws be added to the territory’s laws. Attorney Tom Bolt, who is the chairman of the Virgin Islands Uniform Law Commission, said the U.S. Constitution sets up several laws for every part of the United States but delegates a lot of lawmaking to individual states and territories. Uniform laws are form laws agreed upon by a national commission of attorneys, then offered and passed by state and territorial legislatures.

Bolt said that uniform laws are useful because they protect people – regardless of where in the United States they may move.

"People are mobile, and you can have the same law covering several places," Bolt said.

Continue Reading Changes Would Put VI Law on Par With States

After living in a small apartment in the Garden Street area on St. Thomas, Celecia Hernadez, a single mother with seven children, looks forward to finally owning her own home.
 
      "And I thank Habitat for Humanity Virgin Islands for giving me that opportunity," she said at a groundbreaking ceremony held on Adele Gade early Saturday morning.

     "I can’t wait to put the key in the lock and open the door," she added, both smiling and crying with members of the organization and the large group of community residents in attendance.
 
    

Continue Reading Habitat Bringing A New House Full of Children to Adele Gade Site

Responding to remarks of Central Labor Council President Luis "Tito" Morales, St. Thomas attorney Tom Bolt called them "unfortunate and irresponsible".  Morales appearing on St. Thomas radio station WVWI’s "Morning News" stated that "Kazi Management should lose its EDC benefits due to the closure of the KFC restaurant at Buccaneer Mall on St. Thomas."

"Once again, Tito Morales has spoken before he has the facts," said Tom Bolt, the St. Thomas attorney that represents Kazi Foods of the Virgin Islands.  "Kazi Foods of the Virgin Islands does not have EDC benefits, has not applied for EDC benefits, and would not qualify if they did apply." Bolt noted. 

Continue Reading St. Thomas Attorney Challenges Central Labor Council President