The St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce presents its first Business Exposition since Hurricane Marilyn, in the ballroom and on the grounds of the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort. More than 50 local businesses covering a broad spectrum of goods and services will be represented. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. To learn more, check out the story under Business/St. Thomas or call 776-0100.

The Digital Video Institute at the Reichhold Center for the Arts will be showing — on the theater's big cinema-size screen — its recording of last May's STARfest V talent show. If you missed the show, of it you'd like to see it again, here's your chance. Admission's free. To learn more, call 693-1559.

The St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce hosts a "Business After Hours" this evening that is a walk-about for participants to get to know what's going on in the Synagogue Hill neighborhood. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., guests will be welcomed by members of the Synagogue Hill Neighborhood Ad Hoc Committee — Atlantique, The Bornn Handy Law Firm, Caribbean Safari, China Embroidery Arts, Crystal Gade Gallery, Crystal Palace Bed & Breakfast, Cuzzin's, Left Lane Productions, Pita Express, Seslie Securities, Smith's Fancy and Walter's Living Room/Club 3. Start your tour by signing in at the registration desk at the corner of Back Street and Raadets Gade.

Parents and guardians of students at Joseph Sibilly School and its Monroe Annex were told at a Parent-Teacher Association meeting Wednesday evening that they face a fast-approaching deadline if they are considering bringing suit against the government over water contamination at the school campuses.
A potential litigant must file a "claim form," which is preliminary to bringing an actual suit, within 90 days of the occurrence of the action that is the subject of the suit, they were told. Ann Arnold, chair of the Concerned Citizens for Sibilly School, explained to those present that the claim is "reserving your right to sue."
The form "doesn't mean you are going to sue," she said, "but if you don't file it by the deadline, you will not be able to sue."
Another meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, at the Open Classroom pre-school, located just up the road that forks from Sib's Restaurant in the other direction from the road leading to Sibilly School. Claims forms will be available and a notary public will be present to notarize signatures, Arnold told The Source.
Parents and guardians of current students, those of students who attended the school from 1996 through last year, and teachers and staff who are there now or were there during those years are encouraged to attend, she said.
Individuals should not rely on a class-action suit but need to file their individual forms, she told The Source. "According to our lawyer, a group can't sue the government," she said. "We all will serve them at the same time, but each individual must do it."
The claim form states that the government should be held liable for "negligent contamination of drinking water, causing exposure to, and ingestion of, carcinogenic and other toxic substances."
Arnold, a parent of two Sibilly students, has been in the forefront of protesting government handling of the water-contamination problems since they came to light at the start of the school year. She said at Wednesday's meeting that she is in contact with the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta about that agency becoming involved in investigating the matter.
PTA officials reported at the meeting that there are indications that the Sibilly water supply may now be contaminated by different substances than those detected in mainland laboratory analyses conducted three times in the last year.
It was also reported that the most recent testing of water in the Sibilly cistern, last week, was unsuccessful because the samples drawn were contaminated.
"An epoxy-type glue" had been used in the installation of a tap "and they didn't give it enough time to dry before drawing the sample," Arnold said. At a meeting of parents with Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds, Education legal counsel Tregenza Roach and other department officials, she said, they were assured that new testing would be done.
Arnold said ultraviolet water-purification systems are being put into the schools being rebuilt after destruction by Hurricane Marilyn and she would like to see them installed in all other schools as well. The problem, she said, is that "the government is broke."
Education officials indicated they would be in favor of such installation "if other funding sources are found," she said.

The Finance Committee finished up midday Wednesday with review of the FY2000 budget and passed it off like a hot potato to the Rules Committee where Sen. V. Anne Golden moved it swiftly through. The budget, which is over a month late in being finalized, will go to the full Senate on Thursday.
Golden lumped the budget bills in groups of four, except for the last eight, which she considered important enough to be considered separately.
With the exception of Sen. Adelbert M. "Bert" Bryan, there was little opposition as Golden moved from one set of bills to the next, passing them with a bang of her gavel.
At the end of the day the Rules Committee had approved a $445 million budget for fiscal year 2000.
Concerns earlier in the month about a projected revenue shortfall of $135 million seemed to melt away.
According to media reports, the Legislature's projections now would end with a surplus in revenues of $13 million.
The projected excess revenues will depend, in part, on capital projects that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has promised to initiate.
Other revenue increases are expected from legislative initiatives, which include $5 million from the Insurance Guarantee Fund, $800,000 from the Government Employees Retirement System, $3 million from the solid-waste fund and $65 million from privatization of the collection of accounts receivable, according to the V.I. Independent.
Early in the day, John deJongh Jr., chair of the governor's Fiscal Recovery Task Force, appealed to the Finance Committee to remove from the bill certain fee increases and a provision in the Omnibus Act of 1999 that sought to force private businesses to submit profit and loss statements to the Lieutenant Governor's Office annually.
With two motions by Sen. David Jones, those items were removed from the bill with the caveat that the issues will be revisited in three months, after the five-year recovery plan is completed.
Other provisions of the Omnibus Act, which passed 5-1 in Finance, include:
– Elimination of four paid government holidays — Transfer Day, Organic Act Day, Supplication Day and Local Thanksgiving Day.
– Making the Inspector General's Office an independent agency.
– Authorizing the governor to submit plans to privatize government services.
– Selling tax liens to private collections agency.
– Requiring government agencies to accept partial payments.
– Eliminating the requirement for casino employees to have six months' training.
– Mandating that accrued annual leave in excess of 60 hours must be applied to retirement credit.
– Transferring the Narcotics Strike Force to the Police Department, the Office of Collective Bargaining to the Personnel Divisions and the Taxicab Commission to Licensing and Consumer Affairs, all for budgetary purposes.
In attendance at the Finance Committee meeting were committee chair Berry and Sens Jones, Roosevelt David, George Goodwin, Golden and Gregory Bennerson.
Attending the Rules Committee hearing were Golden, the committee chair, plus Sens. Vargrave Richards, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Almando "Rocky"Liburd and Judy Gomez. Sen. Adelbert M. "Bert" Bryan, frustrated in his attempts to slow down the process, left the Senate floor and was not there for the votes on the omnibus act, the Legislature's $14.3 million budget or the $390.2 million executive budget.
Sources in the Legislature say they expect majority senators to attempt to lump all bills together Thursday, except the omnibus bill and the executive budget, in order to speed up the process of finalizing the budget.

A second postponement has been granted in the start of the trial of Innovative Communication Corp. vice president John Tutein on bribery and other charges relating to alleged efforts to influence a senator's vote on the so-called "Prosser deal."
The trial, initially to have begun in August, had been postponed to Monday, Nov. 8. Now, in response to a motion filed by defense attorney Treston Moore requesting that four of the five charges against Tutein be dismissed, District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore (who is unrelated to the attorney) has delayed the start again.
A new trial date cannot be set until the motions are ruled on. According to Josh Millard, law clerk to Judge Moore, the judge will consider the motions as soon as the required procedures are completed.
"The motions are in briefing," he told The Source, and defense counsel "has the option to respond to the government opposition" to the requests to dismiss charges.
"Until we receive a definite reply and have all pleadings, we won't be in a position to move," Millard said, adding, "We are trying to get it done as soon as we can."
The defense was directed to file its reply to the prosecution's opposition by Monday.
Tutein, a former V.I. senator, is charged with offering Sen. Allie-Allison Petrus and associates involved in the "Graffiti Street" television program begun by Petrus cash and/or a mobile TV van equipment. Prosecutors contend the offers constituted bribes intended to influence Petrus's vote on a proposal put forth by business executive Jeffrey Prosser to give the government land on St. Croix and fund various capital projects throughout the territory in return for long-term tax exemptions for 10 enterprises Prosser owns, including ICC.
The Senate approved a modified version of the Prosser deal on a vote of 8-7, but Gov. Charles Turnbull subsequently vetoed it.
Petrus accused Tutein on the Senate floor last May of having offered him an envelope full of hundred dollar bills in exchange for his support of the proposed legislation to authorize the swap of land and capital projects for tax exemptions. Tutein at the time termed the accusation "lies."
Treston Moore in his motion asked to have four of the charges 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," the V.I. Independent reported.
Curtis Gomez, assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, argued in opposition that those arguments "stray wide of their target" and "lack any support in law," the newspaper said.

Following the success of local labor to have the memorandum of understanding amended through lobbying by the United Steelworkers of America, the territory’s teachers union is now tapping its national organization to help solve the V.I.’s economic woes.
Cecil Benjamin, president of the St. Croix chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said that the national AFT, an affiliate of the 13 million-member AFL-CIO, has formed a task force to lobby federal help for the territory. Benjamin said the the focus will be on increasing federal aid, a return of excise taxes on petroleum products produced at HOVENSA and the forgiveness of Federal Emergency Management Agency loans.
"The AFT at the national level has been involved with the problems confronting the Virgin Islands . . . for quite a while now," Benjamin said.
He added that the national AFT is moving to connect with the AFL-CIO to discuss lobbying efforts. "They do have the clout and the power," he said.
Along with the V.I. government’s $1 billion debt it owes government workers, including 2,000-plus public school teachers, approximately $200 million in back pay since 1993.
The AFT’s efforts to lobby the White House on issues concerning the territory does have some precedent. Last month, at the behest of the V.I. Central Labor Council, United Steelworkers of America President George Becker met with White House officials to discuss the territory’s problems and the memorandum of understanding.
The document was signed by Gov. Charles Turnbull and Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt in early October and contained provisions designed to help the territory regain financial soundness. The memorandum, however, raised the fury of local labor unions because it contained language that suggested the governor restructure the territory’s public labor relations laws by June 30, 2000.
The memorandum stated that the territory’s general fund deficits of recent years have been aggravated significantly by "collective bargaining agreements, where by (government of the Virgin Islands) employees enjoy greater bargaining rights than those enjoyed by federal employees."
But after Becker’s visit at the White House, the wording in the memorandum was softened and encouraged "collective bargaining reform initiatives" between the unions and the government as a way to help with the financial problems.
During Becker and the CLC’s meeting with White House officials, financial issues aimed at increasing revenue to the territory were raised. Those included the need for the federal government to continue the current level of the rum excise tax past December’s expiration date and the return of gasoline excise taxes from HOVENSA.
Benjamin said the AFT’s effort will touch on those and additional points, including more federal aid and the relief of FEMA loans. If the V.I.’s $200 million FEMA Community Disaster Loan isn’t forgiven, the territory will have to start making annual payments of $25 million beginning in 2001.
"And, of course, we’d like to see an outright grant coming from the federal government," Benjamin said.

Well, what do we have here? Roger Ebert calls "Fight Club" the "most frankly and cheerfully fascist movie since 'Death Wish,' a celebration of violence." Another reviewer calls it "a rare film that challenges the viewer to come up with his own interpretations.
And, there you have it. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton star in this satire? no, drama? I guess, comedy? — I'd have to say emphatically, no. Anyhow, over the course of two hours and twenty minutes Edward Norton, the narrator, takes Brad Pitt, into his confidence (or is it the other way around?) and finds more than, perhaps, he bargained for.
Norton meets Pitt, Tyler Durden, on a flight where both wind up being buddies after first testing each other's mettle. Both men are disgusted with and alienated by society's values. We've all heard that one, but they have a novel way of combating their feelings.
Until meeting Durden, Norton had been amusing himself attending all sorts of 12-step meetings, at one point going so far as to attend an all-black support group for sickle-cell anemia. He encounters the movie's third star at one of these meetings, Marla Singer, played by the winsome Helena Bonham Carter, who also is a less than sincere attendee.
The narrator's apartment burns down about this time, and he moves in with Durden where he discovers Durden's secret society, the Fight Club. One never mentions it; one just does it. And what they do is just that – fight. Members meet in dark basements and beat the living daylight out of one another as this is the only way men can find any meaning in life.
Tyler says self-improvement is. . . .well, he says something not very nice. He says self-destruction is more likely the answer.
Carter's Marla Singer, described by Ebert as a "feisty, chain-smoking hellcat," takes a very dim view of Tyler's attitude. She doesn't like being passed over for a broken nose,
Whether the movie is violence for its own sake, or for a deeper meaning is a quandary posed by this difficult film, one of many.
The movie is adapted from Chuck Palahniuk's "acerbic satire," and direct by David Fincher, who also directed Michael Douglas in "The Game."
It is rated R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social beharior, sexuality and language.
It starts Thursday at Diamond Cinema.

Well, what do we have here? Roger Ebert calls "Fight Club" the "most frankly and cheerfully fascist movie since 'Death Wish,' a celebration of violence." Another reviewer calls it "a rare film that challenges the viewer to come up with his own interpretations.
And, there you have it. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton star in this satire? no, drama? I guess, comedy? — I'd have to say emphatically, no. Anyhow, over the course of two hours and twenty minutes Edward Norton, the narrator, takes Brad Pitt, into his confidence (or is it the other way around?) and finds more than, perhaps, he bargained for.
Norton meets Pitt, Tyler Durden, on a flight where both wind up being buddies after first testing each other's mettle. Both men are disgusted with and alienated by society's values. We've all heard that one, but they have a novel way of combating their feelings.
Until meeting Durden, Norton had been amusing himself attending all sorts of 12-step meetings, at one point going so far as to attend an all-black support group for sickle-cell anemia. He encounters the movie's third star at one of these meetings, Marla Singer, played by the winsome Helena Bonham Carter, who also is a less than sincere attendee.
The narrator's apartment burns down about this time, and he moves in with Durden where he discovers Durden's secret society, the Fight Club. One never mentions it; one just does it. And what they do is just that – fight. Members meet in dark basements and beat the living daylight out of one another as this is the only way men can find any meaning in life.
Tyler says self-improvement is. . . .well, he says something not very nice. He says self-destruction is more likely the answer.
Carter's Marla Singer, described by Ebert as a "feisty, chain-smoking hellcat," takes a very dim view of Tyler's attitude. She doesn't like being passed over for a broken nose,
Whether the movie is violence for its own sake, or for a deeper meaning is a quandary posed by this difficult film, one of many.
The movie is adapted from Chuck Palahniuk's "acerbic satire," and direct by David Fincher, who also directed Michael Douglas in "The Game."
It is rated R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social beharior, sexuality and language.
It starts Thursday at Cinema One.

A recent editorial in the St. Thomas Source criticizing waste in government commented that public relations people in government were "superfluous."
On the contrary, I believe one of the reasons this government’s image is falling apart is because it does not have an adequate public relations program, due in part to a misunderstanding of what "public relations" is.
Despite what some critics say, public relations is not a means of "spinning" information — playing fast and loose with the truth to make bad actors look good and make bad policies look good. Although there is no one accepted definition, one good one, adopted by the Institute of Public Relations, defines PR as "the planned and sustained effort to maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its public." In other words, public relations encompasses all the ways an organization interacts with its various constituencies.
In government, you use public relations to highlight accomplishments, explain public policy initiatives, and to build support for policies and decisions. This is done not just through telling your agency’s story, but also through gauging the attitudes and concerns of various groups. Because everything that government does is subject to public scrutiny, public relations should be a vital part of its operation. That operation should be more than just writing cursory press releases and holding impromptu press conferences…it should be part of an overall communications strategy. That strategy should include providing media training seminars to all department heads and other staff members who have occasional contact with reporters. Like any other government initiative, a solid public relations program must be well organized, well managed, and, above all, driven by goals that are clearly defined.
Without any goals or objectives, a public relations program will fail, or at least will not achieve the results desired. Another element that almost guarantees failure is when the PR coordinator is not directly involved in the decision-making or policy-making process. While that structure works, it misses an important contribution a skilled PR professional can make to the government’s overall strategic planning efforts. If a politician incorporates the ideas of a public relations perspective up front, it may help them to avoid decisions that will create PR problems for them later.
Many people think a government press secretary is identical to an agency public relations person. Yet there is one distinctive difference: a press secretary keeps constituents aware of their elected representative’s accomplishments; a public information officer or specialist is concerned more with keeping the public informed about the activities of the agency or department. Too often, governments mix the two and communications suffer as a result.
In Congress and many state governments, the higher-ranked elected officials have press secretaries, who are more concerned with cultivating an image for their bosses than are public information officers. Since a press secretary deals more directly with the media than does a P.I.O., they are usually former reporters themselves. They know the rules and requirements of the media, and can write more effective press releases because they know what journalists are looking for. Their bosses seek out their opinion on how the media will react to their initiatives and public statements.
Commonly, press secretaries serve as policy advisories as well, and have the ear of their employer. The best press secretaries are up to speed on issues their bosses are dealing with, and have the authority to respond quickly to the media and guide reporters to the right source.
A politician and his press secretary who work under a mutual understanding of trust is the obviously the best situation. But when the politician holds a grudge against a particular reporter or publication, that puts the press secretary in an impossible situation.
For example, Lynnette Moten, an experienced press secretary who once worked for Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill) recalled the time she had to leave Sen. Braun. Braun had gotten very unhappy with an NBC affiliate in Chicago that had done negative stories about her trip to Africa. Evidently, her anger was such that, when NBC News wanted to talk to her about welfare following a presidential speech, she refused to do the interview.
Said Moten: "It got to be that we lost a lot of ground on good stuff because she just, and my phrase was, she’d get hives if I said ‘NBC.’ And you know, you lose, you absolutely lose if you’ve got somebody with that kind of mindset. At that point, I just said, ‘I have got to go.’
A politician who does not have a designated media spokesperson must be accessible on a daily basis to respond to reporters’ inquiries; or else negative publicity will inevitably result. Not returning a reporter’s phone calls or saying "no comment" will ensure that the article will be one-sided and probably put you in an unfavorable light. Reporters can’t explain the government’s position unless someone tells them what it is, and the public will think that your silence implies guilt or secretiveness.
Although reporters are loath to admit it, the relationship between a government and the press is actually a symbiotic one. Reporters need the access and the information their sources provide; the government needs reporters to convey their ideas and information to the public. The most effective media spokespersons in government or any other organization are able to strike a balance between meeting the reporter’s need for information and protecting and promoting the interests of their employer.
Building positive relationships with the public through the media, community forums, special events, and other functions is what public relations is all about. Experienced public relations professionals can help an organization improve its reputation, profitability, and even its continued existence. Their work keeps management aware of public attitudes and concerns of the many groups and organizations with which it must deal.
Editor's note: Michael C. Burton was the public information officer and press secretary for Lt. Gov. Gerard "Luz" James II. Burton resigned his post effective Nov. 4. Before working for the V.I. government, Burton was a reporter for the V.I. Independent.