Life’s a Beach for Vacationing Clintons

Neither children’s letters in the local newspaper nor the beckoning of a local radio station lured President Clinton and his family from their borrowed private beach on Friday.

The president and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton are vacationing here with their daughter, Chelsea, at the Sand Dollar Villa.

The morning news on WSTA was dedicated to the Clintons and offered a menu of options for enjoying the island’s sunny, 84-degree day: local festivals, golf and a play date for the president’s chocolate Labrador puppy, Buddy, on Honeymoon Beach, “where dogs run free.”

Instead, a bare-chested Clinton frolicked with Buddy on his own beach.

As the first lady looked on in a black one-piece bathing suit, Clinton tried to teach his frisky pup how to fetch, to little avail.

Television cameras watching from boats offshore captured Clinton tossing a toy bone for Buddy to pick up, which he did. But he dropped it without bringing it back.

The presidential entourage could only smile at reports that winter was in full cry back in Washington, where the temperature had dipped to 18 degrees overnight, though it warmed up considerably in the capital Friday.

In the Virgin Islands Daily News, students from the BRIDGES Youth Program published letters encouraging the president to explore.

“We want you to have fun and excitement,” wrote Marsha Samuel, 8.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Clinton also called Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to express condolences on the New Year’s Eve death of his nephew Michael Kennedy in a Colorado ski accident.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman is to represent Clinton at the funeral for Kennedy today in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs Service officials were sorting out details of a boat accident Thursday night, when three agents helping to provide security for Clinton’s arrival were injured.

A Coast Guard helicopter airlifted the agents Friday to the Centro Medico Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. One was in critical condition, another suffered broken limbs and the third had a broken arm, said Frank Figueroa, Customs special agent in charge in San Juan, where the agents are based.

The agents’ identities weren’t released.

Their 37-foot Midnight Express speedboat hit submerged rocks after they finished their patrol off St. Thomas. One agent called for help on a cellular phone, and another Customs vessel arrived on the scene shortly afterward.

The Treasury Department and Customs Service were sending officials from Washington and Florida to help the agents’ families and to investigate the cause of the accident, Figueroa said.