Denzel Washington's career simply becomes more and more versatile, to say nothing of powerful, as he leaps out of the bed where he was confined in "The Bone Collector," to the boxing ring, and, ultimately, the prison where he finds himself confined in "The Hurricane."
A grueling and complex true story, Washington portrays Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer at the top of his career, when he is suddenly and wrongly accused of murder.
Three people are killed in a New Jersey bar one night by killers who are "black, and escape in a white car." Carter and a young friend happen to have innocently been driving a white car that night, and for some prosecutors, that's enough.
After a series of grand jury appearances where the two are acquitted, they finally are identified by two bribed felons and wind up in prison for three life terms.
After several years in prison, Hurricane channels his anger, and writes his side of the story in a book called "The Sixteenth Round," published in 1974. The book earns publicity for Hurricane, attracting the attention of both Mohamed Ali, and Bob Dylan, (who wrote the song " Hurricane," in tribute). He gets a new trial, however, once again, he is sent back to prison, even though the felons who testified against him admit they were bribed.
Now, flash forward to Canada where a troubled teenager, Lessa Martin, played by Vicellous Reon Shannon, comes across Hurricane's book in a used bookstore. Martin is living with Canadian mentors who are helping him. He becomes fascinated with the story, to the degree that he visits Hurricane in prison, and persuades his mentors to come to New York and help try to free him.
This, then, is the story of that struggle, related in flashbacks to Hurricane's former life. The three young Canadian idealists, played by Deborah Unger, John Hannah and Liev Schreiber, working with Hurricane's attorneys, finally get his conviction overturned in 1985, after he has spent 20 years in prison.
The film is directed by Canadian Norman Jewison who has created a "jewel," according to more than one reviewer. Another says "if you don't like boxing, don't let that throw you off this experience." Hurricane, himself, states the film's theme succinctly, "Hate put me in here, and love got me out."
Washington worked with the real life Hurricane, who says of the film, "I can't believe it isn't me." Also, in real life, Hurricane moved to Canada, where he worked to pay off all the expenses the Canadians incurred in earning his release.
It is rated R for language and violence.
It starts Thursday at Market Square East.

Denzel Washington's career simply becomes more and more versatile, to say nothing of powerful, as he leaps out of the bed where he was confined in "The Bone Collector," to the boxing ring, and, ultimately, the prison where he finds himself confined in "The Hurricane."
A grueling and complex true story, Washington portrays Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer at the top of his career, when he is suddenly and wrongly accused of murder.
Three people are killed in a New Jersey bar one night by killers who are "black, and escape in a white car." Carter and a young friend happen to have innocently been driving a white car that night, and for some prosecutors, that's enough.
After a series of grand jury appearances where the two are acquitted, they finally are identified by two bribed felons and wind up in prison for three life terms.
After several years in prison, Hurricane channels his anger, and writes his side of the story in a book called "The Sixteenth Round," published in 1974. The book earns publicity for Hurricane, attracting the attention of both Mohamed Ali, and Bob Dylan, (who wrote the song " Hurricane," in tribute). He gets a new trial, however, once again, he is sent back to prison, even though the felons who testified against him admit they were bribed.
Now, flash forward to Canada where a troubled teenager, Lessa Martin, played by Vicellous Reon Shannon, comes across Hurricane's book in a used bookstore. Martin is living with Canadian mentors who are helping him. He becomes fascinated with the story, to the degree that he visits Hurricane in prison, and persuades his mentors to come to New York and help try to free him.
This, then, is the story of that struggle, related in flashbacks to Hurricane's former life. The three young Canadian idealists, played by Deborah Unger, John Hannah and Liev Schreiber, working with Hurricane's attorneys, finally get his conviction overturned in 1985, after he has spent 20 years in prison.
The film is directed by Canadian Norman Jewison who has created a "jewel," according to more than one reviewer. Another says "if you don't like boxing, don't let that throw you off this experience." Hurricane, himself, states the film's theme succinctly, "Hate put me in here, and love got me out."
Washington worked with the real life Hurricane, who says of the film, "I can't believe it isn't me." Also, in real life, Hurricane moved to Canada, where he worked to pay off all the expenses the Canadians incurred in earning his release.
It is rated R for language and violence.
It is playing at Sunny Isle Theaters.

CHARLOTTE AMALIE HIGH SCHOOL PIANO LAB RECITAL LEAVES AUDIENCE WOWED
Betty Story
The Charlotte Amalie High School Piano Lab Recital was held Monday at the Renaissance Grand Beach Hotel.
Thirty eight students from the music appreciation class and the beginning and advanced piano labs gave performances to a very appreciative full house.
The pieces that the students performed included works by Brahms, Dvorak, Handy, and Stevie Wonder.
Soprano and C.A.H.S. music teacher Jacqueline Bergland sang a vivid rendition of "Summertime" accompanied by John Cahill, piano teacher and director of the event. Crew Smith, the winner of the Vitelco advanced piano competition also participated. Pianist Freddy Rabuse and saxophonist Arthur Williams played a brilliant piece for the finale.
Mr Cahill, who trained at Juilliard School of Music, urged parents to
encourage their students to keep practicing and that 14 is not too late to start playing music.. He explained that the beginning piano class of only one semester had made great improvements. He was very enthusiastic about the music program at C.A.H.S. He said that although most teachers are saying that things are getting worse he feels the music program is improving and the students’ performance shows it.
PIANO CONCERT
Alford Forbes
This night was very inspiring and it was an experience for many people to feel the different types of music.from the 1600’s to the 1700’s when Mozart and Beethoven had history in the making. This music still lives on to this very day. Classical music has touched the many souls that not just wrote the music but the people that listen to it.
To me every piece of music that was played by the young and talented students of C.A.H.S Piano Lab and Music Appreciation class had a special meaning. The love in the music was an inspiration to the young and old.
I would like the parents to encourage their children to use the musical talent that God gave to them, even if they are starting as
teenagers.
I was in the speaking chorus for his fascinating program. A speaking chorus is like a forerunner to rap. The piece was about the many different scenes and sights in the world such as Trinidad, Mississippi, Honolulu Mexico and Nagasaki. The piece was very confusing at first but every one understood the piece in a three to four month period.
I am a soloist or singer and play percussion in the C.A.H.S. marching band and my major is music. I believe that if everyone can use their voices it can touch others’ hearts.
IN THIS MILLENNIUM THE BEST WAY TO BE IS DRUG FREE
Nathifa Smith
Naththifa Smith was the winner of the Being Drug free essay contest
conducted during Red Ribbon Week.
Drugs have changed the way people deal with life, love, money, and relationships for several decades. As we stand at the door of a new millennium we want to be optimistic. However, we ignore present problems such as crime and drugs and naively hope that they will vanish when the year 2000 rings in.
Are we gullible people who have concocted this notion with our vivid imaginations? Never the less drug abuse problems will never go away if we don’t come together as a society. Perhaps if we show the uglier side of drugs and their effects and stop associating drug habits as being the one of the newest trends maybe drugs problems will cease to exist.
Drugs slogans have always told us to "say no" without really telling us what we are saying no to. They have never told us to say no to rehabilitation and to say no to becoming a liar, a thief and a strung out vagrant. Then politicians wonder why drug habits continue to increase even though so much money is spent on drug prevention campaigns. If we sugar coat the raw truth we will never reach our intended audience.
Another problem concerning drugs is that it has become a trend to do soft core drugs, such as marijuana.
Marijuana is most used by teenagers as a "party drug". Teens often appease their conscience by saying everyone did drugs at one point or another in their life. If we continue to pass off drug use, especially soft core drug use, with passive excuses the problem that we faced in the 20th century may be passed right on to the 21st century.
Drug free is the way everyone should be in the millennium. However, only if we all come together and try our best to end this plague will it end.

St. John Fire Services has just added a new pumper truck to its fleet of emergency vehicles.
Deputy Chief Brian Chapman said the 1,800-gallon pumper, which arrived on island Wednesday, is equipped with four-wheel drive, which will allow his firefighters to respond to emergencies along the island's often-steep dirt roads and narrow streets.
Although the new truck gives St. John firefighters a better response capability, Chapman said, Fire Services is still plagued by shortages of supplies such as fire hoses, two-way radios and the suppressing foam that is used for chemical spills. "We're all right, but we don't have enough extras if there's a big fire," he said.
A similar pumper was also scheduled for delivery to Fire Services on St. Croix. St. Thomas is supposed to get one, too, eventually, but there have been delays in its delivery. For that reason, Chapman said, he plans to send a tanker truck currently housed at the Cruz Bay station to assist with firefighting on St. Thomas. The tanker does not have four-wheel drive, he noted.

An Interior Department audit report of cashier operations at 12 government agencies revealed that collections were being made by unauthorized employees and were not properly documented or recorded, reports were not submitted to the Finance Department on time and cash was handled in a manner that left room for theft or misappropriation.
The audit covered $88 million collected during May and June of 1999.It was the first time the Interior Department had conducted an audit on cashier management, though 10 prior audits by the V.I. Bureau of Audit and Control had similar findings.
The audit released Tuesday identified 90 instances over the two-month period where the amount of daily deposits did not equal the amount of collections, resulting in a difference of $42,231 between collections and deposits.
The audit report said though the specific errors were small the total of $42,231 indicated a problem with internal controls relative to reconciliation that could result in theft or misappropriation.
The report also cited several agencies for lack of physical safety for cashiers and improper supervision of collectors.
DOI made nine recommendations, none of which has received a response from either the commissioner of Finance or the governor.
"On September 15 we provided a preliminary draft of this report to the commissioner of Finance requesting an exit conference to discuss the report. However, despite several followup inquiries, we were unable to schedule an exit conference with the commissioner."
The governor did not respond to the audit either and therefore the recommendations were considered unresolved.
The agencies audited were:
Bureau of Internal Revenue
Roy L. Schneider Hospital
Virgin Islands Lottery
Finance Department
Health Department
Labor Department
Police Department
Planning and Natural Resources
Licensing and Consumer Affairs
Agriculture
Public Works
Human Services

An Interior Department audit report of cashier operations at 12 government agencies found that collections were being made by unauthorized employees and were not properly documented or recorded, reports were not submitted to the Finance Department on time, and cash was handled in a manner that left room for theft or misappropriation.
The audit covered $88 million collected during May and June of 1999. It was the first time the Interior Department had conducted on audit of cashier management, but 10 prior audits by the V.I. Bureau of Audit and Control had similar findings.
Released Tuesday, the audit report identified 90 instances over the two months where the amount of daily deposits did not equal the amount of collections, resulting in a total difference of $42,231 between collections and deposits.
Although the specific errors were small, the report said, the total of $42,231 indicated a problem with internal controls relative to reconciliation that could result in theft or misappropriation.
The report also cited several agencies for lack of physical safety for cashiers and improper supervision of collectors.
The Interior Department made nine recommendations, none of which received a response from either the commissioner of Finance or the governor.
"On Sept. 15 we provided a preliminary draft of this report to the commissioner of Finance requesting an exit conference to discuss the report," the Interior report noted. "However, despite several followup inquiries, we were unable to schedule an exit conference with the commissioner."
The governor also did not respond to the report of the audit findings, it said, and therefore the recommendations were considered unresolved.
The agencies audited were:
Bureau of Internal Revenue
Roy L. Schneider Hospital
Virgin Islands Lottery
Finance Department
Health Department
Labor Department
Police Department
Planning and Natural Resources Department
Licensing and Consumer Affairs Department
Agriculture Department
Public Works Department
Human Services Department

An Interior Department audit report of cashier operations at 12 government agencies revealed that collections were being made by unauthorized employees and were not properly documented or recorded, reports were not submitted to the Finance Department on time and cash was handled in a manner that left room for theft or misappropriation.
The audit covered $88 million collected during May and June of 1999.It was the first time the Interior Department had conducted on audit on cashier management, but 10 prior audits by the V.I. Bureau of Audit and Control had similar findings.
The audit released Tuesday identified 90 instances over the two-month period where the amount of daily deposits did not equal the amount of collections, resulting in a difference of $42,231 between collections and deposits.
The audit report said though the specific errors were small, the total of $42,231 indicated a problem with internal controls relative to reconciliation that could result in theft or misappropriation.
The report also cited several agencies for lack of physical safety for cashiers and improper supervision of collectors.
Interior officials made nine recommendations, none of which received a response from either the commissioner of Finance or the governor.
"On Sept. 15 we provided a preliminary draft of this report to the commissioner of Finance requesting an exit conference to discuss the report," the report said. "However, despite several follow-up inquiries, we were unable to schedule an exit conference with the commissioner."
The governor also did not respond to the audit and therefore the recommendations were considered unresolved.
The agencies audited were:
— Bureau of Internal Revenue
— Roy L. Schneider Hospital
— Virgin Islands Lottery
— Finance Department
— Health Department
— Labor Department
— Police Department
— Planning and Natural Resources
— Licensing and Consumer Affairs
— Agriculture
— Public Works
— Human Services

Dear Source:
I, as many other people, were shocked about the possibility of an employee of the Government of the VI being able to put in for such benefits as past sick leave pay, etc. How can the Government, in the state that it's in, justify a law that allows for this?
And based upon what the Governor has stated about there being no funds to pay retroactive wages, Judge Hodge should be at the end of the line for his money. There can be no justification to pay Judge Hodge and not pay retroactive wages which are just as legal.
Dr. Susan G.S. Anderson

A frequent visitor to St. Thomas was shot Wednesday morning outside the Kmart store in Lockhart Garden Shopping Center after he reportedly refused to buy marijuana from two unidentified men.
Deputy Police Chief Theodore Carty said Garfield Perry was shot in the buttocks after a scuffle with his two attackers. Carty said police investigators were told that Perry was attacked and shot after he turned down their offer to buy drugs and after he declined to tell the two whether he was a cruise ship passenger.
The two suspects fled towards the Oswald Harris Court housing community after Perry was shot.
Carty said the victim was to be released from the Roy L. Schneider Hospital after treatment for his injuries. The deputy chief said the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone with information to contact detectives at 774-4050 or 911.

Yet another date has been set for the bribery trial of Innovative Communication Corp. Vice President John Tutein.
The former V.I. senator's trial is scheduled to start on Feb. 14 in U.S. District Court on St. Thomas. It was to have begun in August but has been postponed several times following motions filed by his St. Thomas attorney Treston Moore.
Tutein is accused of offering Sen. Allie-Allison Petrus and his associates cash, a mobile TV van and equipment worth $177,000 for a youth program begun by the senator.
Prosecutors contend the offers constituted bribes intended to influence Petrus's vote in May on ICC owner Jeffrey Prosser's proposal to give the government land on St. Croix and fund various capital projects throughout the territory, in return for 30-year tax exemptions for 10 businesses owned by Prosser, including ICC.
Depending on the source, the value of the exemptions to the Prosser-owned businesses was somewhere between $180 million and $3.5 billion.
The Senate approved a modified version of the so-called "Prosser deal" on a vote of 8-7, but Gov. Charles Turnbull subsequently vetoed it.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Azekah Jennings said that because of motions made by Moore to dismiss the case and subsequent replies by the prosecution, the trial has taken some time to start. He said such procedures weren’t unusual.
In several motions Moore has asked to have four of the charges against his client dismissed on grounds of "vagueness and over-breadth." He also said Tutein had the right under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution "to financially support candidates," "to financially support projects that elected officials may support" and "to try to persuade elected officials to. . . support legislation."
Curtis Gomez, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, argued in opposition that Moore’s arguments "stray wide of their target" and "lack any support in law." Jennings said the government is in the process of responding to all the defense’s motions.