Senate Honors Tim Duncan And Julio Felix

ST. THOMAS — Members of the 31st Legislature crafted resolutions to honor two Virgin Islands stars, one who continues to be a leader in basketball and the other who’s trailblazed the horse racing world was a professional jockey.

Tim Duncan was honored by the Senate at the Earl B. Ottley Legislative Hall on Wednesday. He was previously recognized for his outstanding performance as a basketball player at the college level in 1997.

Duncan, born on April 25, 1976, has played his entire career for the San Antonio Spurs. He is a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year. He is also a 15-time NBA All-Star and the only player to be selected to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams in every one of his first 13 seasons.

Julio Felix, a St. Croix native who was born in New York but grew up on the island while his father was stationed there during his time in the U.S. Army, was also honored through resolution on Wednesday for his outstanding career as a professional jokey.

According to an interview Felix conducted with JockeysGuild in 2012, for him, riding horses was love at first sight.

“I always loved it, from the beginning,” he said.  “The first horse I got on started walking and I fell on my head.  But I got back up and got back on.”

Felix rode a few races in the Virgin Islands over the course of a year and then went back to high school to earn his diploma.  He moved to Miami in 1989 and secured his first win in the United States at Calder Race Course that year. A successful run in Florida was interrupted by a fractured leg, and the time away affected his business there.  A trainer friend suggested he start anew at Thistledown, and many of his successes came during the 14 years he was based in Cleveland.  He holds six meet titles from Thistledown beginning in 1992 and twice, in 1992 and 1994, was the track’s leading rider for the full year. According to Equibase, the industry database, 78 of his 91 stakes wins came on the Ohio circuit, according to the site.

Felix’s career statistics include 21,545 starts, 2,754 firsts, 2,833 seconds and 2,801 thirds. He has earned $32,387,133 through his career, $1.3 million of which came this year alone, according to Equibase, a jockey profiling site.

A measure that made November “David Hamilton Jackson Month” also won Senate approval. At the time of Jackson’s birth, the territory was under the rule of Danish West Indies. Jackson was an important figure in the struggle for increased civil liberties and workers’ rights on the islands. He petitioned for freedom of the press as a journalist and owner of The Herald newspaper.

Jackson was also involved in the territory’s labor movement and, when the Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917, he lobbied for citizenship for the islanders. These are just some of the many accomplishments of Jackson, who’s become synonymous with Virgin Islands culture.

And a measure to rename the St. John Legislative Conference Room after former At-Large Senator of the 12th Legislature, Henrietta Creque, was also adopted. Creque enjoyed a career where she saved at various branches of government, mostly in high-ranking positions.

In other action, the Senate moved to rezone Parcel No. 240 of Plot 6, Estate Peter’s Rest, St. Croix from R-2 (Residential) to B-3 (Business-Scattered), so that the owner of the property could start his own business or rent it to four tenants for retail use.

The Senate also rezoned Plot No. 60, Estate Prosperity on St. Croix, from A-1 (Agricultural) to R-1 (Residential, Low Density), making it possible for the applicant to subdivide the property into three lots to sell.

It rezoned Parcel No. 10-5b Estate Glucksberg, No. 22 Cruz Bay Quarter, St. John, from R-2 (Residential-Low Density-One and Two-Family) to B-3 (Business-Scattered). And it approved a Coastal Zone Permit for Black Magic Flightops LLC to continue using its 50-by-5-foot dock in Estate Nazareth for 20 additional years.