The V.I. Water and Power Authority has scheduled water interruptions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday in the Bovoni Housing Project.
WAPA will be detecting leaks during that period, with a resultant series of brief water cutoffs. Also affected will be WAPA customers near the main entrance to the housing project area.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, February 13 – The United Way of St. Thomas-St. John will hold its sixth annual Bazaar and Flea Market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, in Emancipation Garden. The United Way's board members have been collecting and will be selling thousands of items of new and previously-owned clothing, jewelry, furniture, household items, books and toys from the "Clean Sweep Boutique." Representatives of the United Way's 16 member agencies will be selling local foods and drinks, craft items and plants. Face painting will be available for the children, while raffle drawings will appeal to adults. All proceeds from the event will benefit the United Way's agencies on St. Thomas and St. John.
For details go to theCommunity/Organizations section of the Source.

The United Way of St. Thomas-St. John will hold its sixth annual Bazaar and Flea Market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, in Emancipation Garden. The United Way's board members have been collecting and will be selling thousands of items of new and previously-owned clothing, jewelry, furniture, household items, books and toys from the "Clean Sweep Boutique." Representatives of the United Way's 16 member agencies will be selling local foods and drinks, craft items and plants. Face painting will be available for the children, while raffle drawings will appeal to adults. All proceeds from the event will benefit the United Way's agencies on St. Thomas and St. John.
The United Way is currently accepting items for the "Clean Sweep Boutique." Through the generosity of the Lockhart Caribbean Corporation, space on the east side of the Grand Hotel Building (on the street directly in front of the Frederick Lutheran Church) has been made available as a drop-off location. The room will be open to accept items from 5 to 6 p.m. on Feb. 15, 16, 22 and 23, as well as from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 19. Alternate drop-off sites and times can be arranged by contacting Keya Chongasing, co-chairperson of the event, at 776-2150, or United Way Executive Director Thyra Hammond at 774-3185, during normal business hours.
Some of the businesses that are supporting the United Way Bazaar and Flea
Market, through the donation of goods and services, are Soft Touch Boutique, Private Collection, Janine's Boutique, Phil's Paradise, L. Henry Inc., Bailey & Sons Trucking, Herbie Lockhart's Big Tow, and Knight Quality Stations.
Andrea L. Martin, co-chairperson of the Bazaar and Flea Market, urged full community support for the fund-raising event. She explained that "the United Way's Flea Market appeals to everyone who loves a great bargain. There are wonderful clothes and household items for sale at exceptional prices. And this year many of the boutiques are donating new clothing for the sale. It's an event that you can't afford to miss."
The United Way supports the following human service agencies and programs:
American Red Cross, V. I. Council of Boy Scouts of America, Catholic Charities of the Virgin Islands, Civil Air Patrol, Downstreet People's Youth In Action, Dial-A-Ride St. John, Dial-A-Ride St. Thomas, Ebenezer Gardens, Fair Haven Camp, Friends of Volunteers in Public Schools, Girl Scout Council, Legal Services of the Virgin Islands, Lutheran Reformation Summer Program, St. Thomas Reformed Summer Program, Shaky Acres, Victim Advocate Program and United Way Venture Grants.

The seventh (and final) day of the week-long St. John Arts Festival opens at 11:30 a.m. in Cruz Bay Park with a closing ceremony, music by the Love City Pan Dragons, local food and a crafts fair. Other activities include afternoon native dress and children's sand castle competitions, the V.I. National Park's annual Folk Life Festival at Annaberg, an evening fish fry at Mongoose Junction with music by Ah We and a concert at The Marketplace by Al Rapone and Zydeco Express, plus art gallery and island nightlife attractions.
For the full schedule of festival events, click on the "Things to do" section listing at the left.

As executive branch officials defended the Turnbull administration's actions to promote the marine industry, Andrew Rutnik, commissioner of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, on Tuesday acknowledged the elephant in the living room — the racial divide in the V.I. marine industry.
"In contrast to the British Virgin Islands, the marine industry on St. Thomas is a white industry," Rutnik said at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee. "The black people of Tortola are intimately involved in the industry, but we have not nurtured it as a native industry."
As a consequence, he observed, "there is often a fear among local people about going to sea, and that has contributed to the disconnect, and to what was a real antagonistic attitude to the industry among black Virgin Islanders."
Rutnik, who is white and has lived in the territory for more than 30 years, echoed the comments of other testifiers by promoting marine education for children in the territory to bridge that racial divide.
"And I am glad," he said, "to see the Senate taking up this issue."
Rutnik was among a half-dozen people testifying before the committee, which initiated hearings last month on rejuvenating the marine industry. Acting Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards told Finance Committee Chairwoman Alicia "Chucky" Hansen that the department is doing what it can with limited funds to promote, in particular, the charter yacht industry. She detailed press releases, slides and brochures sent out by the department over the past two years and insisted that the executive branch "has not neglected the charter yacht industry."
Nadine Marchena, acting director of the Industrial Development Commission, said the commission offers comparable, if not better, benefits than the BVI, while Edward Thomas, president of the West Indian Co. Ltd., said the industry has "recovered" but with changes.
"There's a new paradigm: Back in the '80s you didn't have near as many dive boats, eco-tours, the Atlantis submarines and the like," he said.
Hansen took exception to the generally sunny pronouncements of Richards, Marchena and Thomas after her earlier hearings brought forth impassioned testimony about the decline of the territory's marine industry.
"I believe what those people in the industry told this committee," Hansen said. "Are we to assume that everything they said was simply not true?"
Richards admitted there was room for improvement, while Marchena noted that her agency's primary focus is on employment and there is little the IDC can do when it comes to offering benefits to operations that employ, for example, a captain and one crew member.
Hansen noted that in sufficient numbers, such businesses create a domino effect, particularly on shore-based businesses in marine manufacturing, provisioning and fueling.
Thomas also noted that WICO has signed an exclusive option to negotiate with the new owners of the former Yacht Haven property in Long Bay on the creation of new facilities geared toward mega-yachts and will likely begin applying for permits next month.
In his comments, Rutnik also pointed out other obstacles to marine activity here, such as liability insurance for charter yachts.
"When was the last time we built a marina?" he asked. "Benner Bay has been sitting there for 20 years, but the BVI doesn't waste any time building marinas — it seems like every time I go over there there's a new one."
He cautioned that environmental regulations in the BVI are not as stringent as those here, but "we should be able to do better."
Hansen said she appreciated Rutnik's "blunt" comments, but Sen. Norma Samuel later seemed to take umbrage at his assessment of the racial split in the marine industry and launched a rambling attack on Rutnik.
After blaming "people like the commissioner" for a lack of water-related activities for the territory's youth, she said, "Now today he's back telling us why the industry has failed, because black people are no longer involved. But I beg to differ: There are a lot of black people involved in the industry."
Committee member Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg reminded the attendees of the idea of a maritime academy, which he said was first promoted in the 16th Legislature. But he worried aloud about whether the committee was considering the marine industry a zero-sum game, in which business gained by the British Virgin Islands means business lost for the USVI and vice versa.
Donastorg also took pains to ask Senate legal counsel Yvonne Tharpe whether he would be considered absent from the meeting of the Health Committee, which was taking place at the same time Wednesday off the legislative grounds.
Tharpe responded that it is up to committee chairmen to submit all Senate meetings to the body's calendar for approval in order to avoid such scheduling mix-ups. She said the Health Committee meeting was not on the calendar, and Donastorg could not be considered absent from a meeting not on the calendar.
Also in attendance were Finance Committee members Donald "Ducks" Cole and Carlton Dowe.

The sixth day of the week-long St. John Arts Festival opens at noon in Cruz Bay Park with reggae music, local food and a crafts fair. Other activities include afternoon children's mask and puppet shows in the park, the V.I. National Park's annual Folk Life Festival at Annaberg and an evening classical music concert by John Cahill and friends at the St. John School of the Arts, plus art gallery and island nightlife attractions.
For the full schedule of festival events, click on the "Things to do" section listing at the left.

The fifth day of the week-long St. John Arts Festival opens at noon in Cruz Bay Park with drumming, local food and a crafts fair. Other activities include a children's "dance happening" at the Cruz Bay Ball Field and an evening concert by Corky Siegal and Frank Donaldson at the St. John School of the Arts, plus art gallery and island nightlife attractions.
For the full schedule of festival events, click on the "Things to do" section listing at the left.

The fourth day of the week-long St. John Arts Festival opens at noon in Cruz Bay Park with scratch band music, local food and a crafts fair. Other activities include children's music workshops at the St. John School of the Arts, an evening dance performance in The Marketplace, traditional dance at night in the park, plus art gallery and island nightlife attractions.
For the full schedule of festival events, click on the "Things to do" section listing at the left.

The third day of the week-long St. John Arts Festival opens at noon in Cruz Bay Park with brass band music, local food and a crafts fair. Other activities include children's music workshops at the St. John School of the Arts and folkloric dance in the park, plus art gallery and island nightlife attractions, a play reading, and strolling mariachi musicians.
For schedule details, click on the St. John Source "Things to do" section.

The second day of the week-long St. John Arts Festival opens at noon in Cruz Bay Park with performances by local church choir groups. Other activities include local food in the park and a play presentation and film showing at the St. John School of the Arts, plus art gallery and island nightlife attractions and an open golf event in Coral Bay.
For schedule details, click on the St. John Source "Things to do" section.