District Court Judge Thomas Moore denied all motions made at the pre-trial hearing on Friday for Jason Hull and Irvine Hodge, two of three men charged with armed robbery and murder at the Emerald Lady jewelry store in May of 1998.
Hull and Hodge are accused of entering the Emerald Lady on Back Street around noon on May 8, 1998, holding owner Larry Davis, his wife, a store clerk and several patrons at gunpoint while demanding cash and jewelry.
Davis was shot and killed as the robbers left the store.
Hodge and Hull were also indicted for shooting a Dogs-On-Guard security officer, Gwendolyn Rollins, but are not facing federal charges in connection with that occurrence.
Defense attorneys Bernard van Sluytman and George Hodge made several motions on behalf of Irvine Hodge and Hull in District Court Friday.
They moved to have U.S. Magistrate Judge Geoffrey Barnard recused from the case because he was the judge who sentenced Irvine Hodge in an earlier Emerald Lady robbery case.
But Moore said he found no instance where the judge in the case had displayed either favorable or disparaging conduct toward either defendant.
Moore also rejected defense arguments that the case be dismissed from U.S. District Court because the federal government had no jurisdiction. He said, "This is exactly the kind of case that was intended to be covered" by the Hobbs Act, under which Hull and Irvine Hodge are being charged.
Van Sluytman also tried to have the court prevent the prosecution from presenting a prior conviction for his client Hodge for armed robbery at the same jewelry store several months prior to the killing.
Moore called the motion premature, saying prosecutors had not indicated they would bring up the prior record as part of their case.
The judge also rejected a motion to disallow the identification of Hull, who was chosen by Emerald Lady witnesses from a police photo array. Attorney Hodge claimed he should have been given an opportunity to question the police officers who presented the photo array to the witnesses, because he was not given the names of those who had identified his client.
The two defendants, dressed in green prison garb, sat quietly throughout the daylong proceedings. They have been held at the Golden Grove Correctional Facility since their arrested early this year.
No date has been set for the start of the Emerald Lady murder trial. Attorney Hodge said he expects it may be scheduled to begin in October. U.S. Attorney James Hurd Jr. previously indicated he would announce his intention to seek the death penalty prior to the start of the case; to date, prosecutors have made no such declaration.

Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds told the Senate Finance Committee Friday that her department could sustain only a 5 percent budget cut for Fiscal Year 2000.
Simmonds began her testimony saying she had people praying for her, presumably due to the problems and controversy plaguing her department in recent days.
Thursday night Simmonds faced a five-hour hearing of the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee called to address contaminated water at Sibilly Elementary School and its James Monroe Annex.
Friday morning as Simmonds began her budget testimony, teachers at Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School were staging a walkout due to media reports of substantial salary increases to some government employees, including a promotion and salary increase of $15,440 for June Archibald, director of public relations for Education — as the teachers await retroactive wages and pay increases.
Simmonds testified that some of the projected 5 percent budget cut would come from replacing long-term personnel who are leaving the department with entry-level personnel at lower salaries.
It was reported that 134 teachers have left the department since January. It is hard to replace them, according to Alscess Lewis-Brown, Education director of personnel and labor relations, because salaries in the territory are not competitive.
The starting salary for teachers is $22,751, with a cap of about $54,000 a year for long-term teachers.
Simmonds said Education is personnel intensive, pointing out that about 2,500 employees are responsible for the education of 30,000 students.
According to Simmonds' testimony, 66 percent of Education employees are instructional; 19 percent are support staff such as nurses, guidance counselors, librarians, custodians, groundskeepers and food service workers; another 7 percent are school administrators — principals and assistant principals; and 2 percent are adult education staff.
General Education Department administration personnel account for a "mere" 5 percent — according to Simmonds — or about $5.4 million.
The total budget submitted was $121,243,578, of which $108,747,942 is for personal services and fringe benefits. Of that amount, federal funds cover about $12 million.
A total of $29,427,276 is available in federal funds for the territory; however, it was revealed that only about $7.9 million has been drawn down for fiscal year 1999. Brown assured the committee that the funds would not be lost. She said they would be rolled over into the new fiscal year without any reduction in benefits.
Education Committee chair Norman Jn.-Baptiste questioned Simmonds about travel expenditures in July of about $123,000 to send teachers and Board of Education officials to conferences off-island.
Simmonds said the training was necessary and that it was also refreshing and inspirational. She said board members went along so they could see what was required of teachers.
Simmonds said one proposal for saving money was to require high school students to pay for their own transportation to school. She said the department spends $5 million a year on school buses and in the case of the high schools the buses are not fully utilized — they often run half empty. A pass system for Vitran buses could save money, she said.
Another concern in light of the Sibilly School problems was maintenance. Simmonds said there are two plumbers for the entire St. Thomas/St. John district.
Sens. Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Roosevelt David asked Simmonds how the Turnbull administration's reorganization plan might affect her department. Simmonds refused to discuss the plan, saying that question would be answered on Sept. 15 — the date slated for the presentation of the plan.

Gov. Charles Turnbull on Friday blasted a recent news report that showed dozens of government workers were given pay raises between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31.
The V.I. Daily News on Thursday reported that 37 government workers received a total of $227,656 a year in raises from the time Turnbull took office in January to the end of last month. The Division of Personnel listing of those who received raises was ordered as evidence by a federal magistrate judge as part of a lawsuit against the Turnbull administration for allegedly denying a supporter of former Gov. Roy Schneider a job.
The raises were fodder for call-in radio shows because they come amidst the governor’s call that all government agencies reduce their budgets by 15 percent in order to help save money.
On Friday, teachers at Bertha C. Boschulte Jr. High School on St. Thomas didn’t show up to work because of news of the raises, said Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds at a Senate budget hearing. She said the principal of the school had to go on the radio to inform parents to pick up their children.
Teachers, among other government workers, are owed more than $200 million in retroactive raises.
During a radio interview on Friday Turnbull called the story "irresponsible reporting" and then defended the raises by saying they were given because individuals had been promoted. He said the list was published "just to alarm people."
"Hundreds and hundreds of names could have appeared in the paper," Turnbull said.
He said Department of Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson received a raise when he moved from an engineering position in the department to commissioner, yet he wasn’t on the list.
"He received an increase because he was moved from a lower position to commissioner," Turnbull said.
The governor used an anonymous Department of Education employee who holds a doctorate as another example. The person was promoted from a $26,000-year teaching position to a $45,000-plus job as a school principal.
"When the entire story is told," said Turnbull, "the people will understand."
Government House spokeswoman Rina Jacobs McBrowne didn’t immediately return calls on Friday.
Of the 37 people who received raises, 25 were for between $1,000 and $5,000 a year; seven were between $5,000 and $10,000 a year; two were for $11,000 a year and three people received raises of more than $15,000 a year.
At the Senate budget hearing where Education officials testified that the department was having troubles paying its utility bills, Sen. Gregory Bennerson said he saw no justification for raises while the government is in a financial crunch.
"This whole crisis is dividing the Virgin Islands," he said. "There seems to be a conflict on where we’re going, from where we can’t pay our bills to raises.
"My concern is, how logically . . . are we approaching these cuts?"
Just before a government hiring freeze went into effect at the end of June, Turnbull signed two notices of personnel action for his sister in-law and the wife of Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II to work in the Department of Tourism.
Turnbull’s sister-in-law will make $45,000 a year as an assistant to the assistant commissioner of tourism on St. Thomas while James’ wife will make $40,000 a year to attract conventions and meetings to the territory.
The aim of Turnbull’s government hiring freeze is to get a handle on the billion-dollar debt that the territory faces. The edict states that no full-time employment will be made unless it carries a statement of critical need.

Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School students were dismissed Friday morning after a large number of the teachers failed to appear for classes.
According to Glen Smith, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the teachers' action was "not a union-sponsored activity."
Smith told Radio One that the teachers, while they are union members, "are doing this on their own. They are taking the leadership on issues."
Repeated telephone calls to the school Friday morning went unanswered when the line was not busy.
Smith said he received a telephone call around 9 a.m. Friday saying the teachers were "not in school today."
According to Smith, the BCB teachers, along with others throughout the territory, were incensed to learn in media reports Thursday that Gov. Charles Turnbull had once again granted pay increases to a number of government employees in administrative positions.
Turnbull himself and other government spokespersons have subsequently stated that at least some of the actions taken were not pay increases per se but promotions to higher salaried positions.
In a call-in to the Topp Talk show, Smith quoted from what he said was a letter to him from Turnbull some time ago. In it, he quoted the governor as saying he could not approve pay raises for teachers only and not for all other government workers who are similarly owed negotiated increases.
"You can see why our members are angry," the AFT leader said. "The governor is telling lies to our people . . . While he's saying one thing to the people, in public he's doing something else."
Also in a call to radio personality Sam Topp, longtime BCB teacher and union activist Brian McLernan explained "why I'm sick today," saying that Friday he was taking his "first sick day in four years."
McLernan, a teacher in the V.I. public schools for 24 years, said the last time his paycheck reflected what he was contractually supposed to be paid was "in the first week of September 1991."
Smith said he had "no idea" whether the teachers' action at BCB was a one-day action or would continue, or whether similar action might occur at other schools.
"Based on the situation, more outbursts will occur," he predicted. "A lot's going to happen."
On Thursday, the AFT announced plans to hold a protest rally at the Legislature Building next Wednesday, Sept. 15. Those planning to participate have been asked to gather at Emancipation Garden at 8 a.m. on the school day. According to Smith, the protest is of administration proposals to cut salaries across the board and reduce government holidays and teacher concerns.

After five hours of testimony Thursday night, parents and others concerned about the water contamination problems at Joseph Sibilly School and its James Monroe Annex knew little more than they had known before.
Evelyn Ledee has one son who is a Sibilly graduate and three others who are current students there. One of the last persons to testify before the session adjourned just before midnight, she reflected the frustrations and fears of many who sat through the hearing when she demanded to see the water testing reports herself, saying, "At this point, I don't believe anything I am being told."
Similarly, Ann Arnold, a parent of two students and vice president of the Sibilly PTA, told members of the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee, "I have been to three different meetings. At every meeting we've gotten different dates [regarding water testing] and different information."
The hearing, conducted by Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, the committee chair, determined, eventually, that the testing done since 1996 took place last December and on April 19, June 1 and June 29 of this year.
Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett ran down the list of volatile organic chemicals found in excess of maximum allowable levels in water taken from two cisterns at Sibilly and one at the annex. All, a number of authorities have said, are substances derived from petroleum products.
Donastorg repeatedly questioned witnesses about possible links between the Sibilly water situation and the Tutu well contamination of a decade ago. An investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that the Tutu water table had been contaminated by toxins from a dry cleaning operation and two gas stations in the area and ordered the wells sealed, an order which remains in effect today.
The contract for hauling water to the school is held by S&S Services in Smith Bay. Plaskett said PNR conducted tests on Aug. 30 of the S&S delivery trucks and the company's wells, and analysis of the water samples "indicate that the contamination could not have come from this company."
The closest thing to a bombshell that jarred the capacity crowd at the legislative chambers was testimony from Jerome Ringo, who identified himself as a Louisiana petrochemicals expert and environmental consultant who has provided expert testimony in several multimillion-dollar civil cases on the mainland involving toxic contamination.
After the list of VOCs found in excessive amounts in the Sibilly water was read into the record, he said: "All of these chemicals are dry cleaning fluids — everything on this list is related to dry cleaning."
Hollis Griffin, head of PNR's Envionmental Protection Division, has said gasoline is being considered as one possible source of the contamination. The PNR investigation is continuing.
Ringo also contradicted earlier testimony from Christine Lottes, water supervisor for PNR's Environmental Protection Division, and James Casey of the EPA to the effect that since the students' exposure to the contaminants was "short-term," it was unlikely that there would be any long-term effects. Casey later said the EPA considered long-term exposure to be "about a year or more."
"You should be very careful in writing off people and saying that short-term exposure does not mean long-term problems," Ringo said.
His further comment that such conclusions are based on testing done "on laboratory rats, not on humans," prompted the loudest applause of the evening from Sibilly parents in the audience.
Casey noted that the evaluative scales used in assessing contamination effects assume that one pupil typically consumes one liter of water per day at school. Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds said since the start of school the department has provided purified drinking water as well as portable tanks of water for hygiene purposes. Further, she said, many pupils bring their own drinking water to school.
Early in the hearing, Plaskett offered a surprise acknowledgement that PNR bore some responsibility in the evolution of the water problems. The testing of cistern water conducted at the Sibilly School and annex last December was the first such testing since 1996, he and Simmonds and members of their staffs testified. This was in compliance with federal Clean Water Act regulations requiring such testing at least once every three years in cases where no contaminants above allowable levels are detected, they said.
The samples collected in December were sent to Michigan for analysis, but the laboratory there reported back that the submitted vials containing the water had been "compromised" and their contents could not be used for testing.
Who in the territory knew this when is a matter of speculation at this point, but Plaskett said PNR should have taken action in February simply because Education had not submitted the findings of the December testing within 40 days of the date the samples were collected, as required by law.
"We were negligent in not issuing a notice of violation for four months," he said. "If we had done so, this thing would have come to a head a lot sooner." Later in the evening, he amended the reference to "a notice of non-compliance for failure to report."
Plaskett said PNR has issued nine to 10 orders to Education during his tenure since February regarding enforcement of the Clean Water Act, not just at Sibilly School. These, he said, have included directives to empty, clean, treat and refill cisterns, cut trees and bush and screen downspouts at schools.
He said at one point of PNR: "We are the regulators. It is not our obligation or our responsibility to tell any agency, public or private, how to comply with the law."
Sen. Norman Jn.-Baptiste pressed concerns he raised last weekend after visiting the Monroe Annex on Sept. 1. He said he had been told that water taps had been taped, but when he turned the knob on a drinking fountain, "the water gushed out."
Plaskett said annex septic tank and pump room conditions include extreme corrosion, and the holding tank cover needs to be repaired or replaced.
No one at the hearing brought up the fact that different combinations of volatile organic chemicals were found at the two sites.
Sen. Lorraine Berry, noting that contradictory information has been bombarding the public, said the investigation must go beyond how the contaminants got into the water to "those who didn't do their jobs," what the potential health effects are, and what is going to be done about the situation "to ensure that it will never happen again."
The technical and political exchanges concluded around 10:30 p.m. Then, as several schoolchildren as well as adults were nodding at their seats, Sibilly parents and others in the audience got their chance to testify.
Alli Paul, who once occupied a Senate seat himself as the youngest person ever elected to the Legislature, spoke for more than 15 minutes about his daughter Morgan, who has advanced leukemia and is a patient at St. Jude's Children's Hospital on the mainland. Brandishing a photograph of the girl, he attributed her medical condition to her exposure to "petrochemical contamination" as a student at Sibilly School.
"Every one of these chemicals is cancer causing," he charged, referring to the volatile organic chemicals detected in the cistern water. No government official present responded to his charges.
Dolores Clendinen, a parent of one son, said officials cannot claim that the students' exposure to the toxic substances has been short term based on the April test results, "because the last previous test was in 1996." She called on Education to close the school and the annex at once and send the pupils "to other schools on double sessions until we get the source of the contamination."
A Mr. Huggins said it
was his belief that the source at Sibilly "may be right in that building," on the roof. He said that T-111 wood was used beneath the galvanized panels in the construction of the school roof, and the wood "is treated with arsenic and bichronate of potassium," which are both toxic.
Dr. Audria Thomas, Health Department acting health director, who is overseeing the physical examination and blood testing of Sibilly students and employees, said 45 more youngsters were tested at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital on Thursday, the second day of testing.
Sibilly Principal Dora Hill said the testing is scheduled to be completed by next Tuesday, and that Wednesday former students from as far back as 1996 will be tested. Hill said she had been contacted by the parents or guardians of 18 former pupils wanting to have their children tested. In 1996-99 four classes have graduated from the school; with about 40 students each, they would comprise some 160 former Sibilly students.

Blanche Mary Joseph Sasso, my maternal great-aunt, will be 100 years old on Sept. 15. I spoke with her earlier this week and after she again told me how proud she was of me, and how much she loved me (she is a great person to call when you are feeling down), she then lamented that she was feeling so sad and worried.
With a worry in the back of my head I asked why. Aunt Blanche said she was sad because she hated the thought of leaving this world the way it was for us "children." She said the high rise in crime was what made her feel this way. She reminded me of a simpler life, not too far back, that we all enjoyed in the Virgin Islands and many other places.
It may sound really peculiar to many readers that Aunt Blanche, at 99, less than a week or so before her 100th birthday, could be worried about the future of those younger than she. This is one of her many character traits that has endeared her to her family and the scores of children, now adults, who enjoyed, and sometimes suffered, strong disciplinary measures under her tutelage of more than 50 years' experience as a school teacher, both in her own private school and the public schools on St. Croix and St. Thomas, and lastly, but more recently, at the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School.
No, Aunt Blanche did not attend college, though she did earn a teacher's license many years ago, but I bet that she could hold her own today against many of our better educated elementary education teachers.
During her tenure of teaching kindergarten, first and second grades, she was named Teacher of the Year more than once.
She has been honored over the years by organizations too numerous to mention. Some that come to mind are: the Catholic Daughters of America- VI, the Legislature (Resolution 1375) on her 90th birthday, Gov. Alexander Farrelly, the Catholic Diocese, sororities and civic and community organizations.
Aunt Blanche has lived history as we know it in the Virgin Islands. She was 17 years old and can vividly remember Transfer Day in 1917, when Denmark officially turned "us" over to the United States.
One of her more treasured memories is that she hand-embroidered, along with her sister, my grandmother, Grace Joseph Sparks, the first flag ever of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was designed by her late brother-in-law, P.W. Sparks, a Naval officer. His superior, Rear Adm. Kitelle, commissioned the design for the flag, they tell me. This piece of history was entered into the Congressional Record in Washington, D.C., on April 30th, 1986, vol.132, No.56, by the congressional delegate, Ron de Lugo.
On a more personal note, family oral history recounts how when my grandmother could not support her five daughters with employment in St. Thomas, she had to leave for New York where she eventually found work and, in the tradition of many mothers before and after her, sent home money to make sure her children had their needs addressed.
I am told that those were hard times, but my mother frequently tells me she did not realize they were so poor because everyone else was poor at the time.
Remember, she assumed this additional responsibility during the days of: the coal pot for cooking, the "goose" for ironing, ice from the ice plant to chill your ice box, no telephones, cruise ships, etc.. There were no food stamps or social programs to ease the hard times. Perhaps this helped to strengthen Aunt Blanche to live 'til 100.
Aunt Blanche figured prominently in their lives, my mother said. She, along with my great-grandparents, lived in one house and shared the responsibility for the care, love, nurturing and guidance all children need. Up to this day my mother and her sisters regard her as their second mother.
I imagine that assuming such great responsibility could not have been easy for a young single woman and it must have taken great personal sacrifice; but Aunt Blanche never complained or begrudged them anything.
As a matter of fact, as a young child she never begrudged me anything either. She was always there when I disagreed with my parents or the world in general, as we so often do in our earlier years. She always made me feel whole again and certainly was adept at putting things in perspective; she would have been a great psychiatrist.
I must add that you might not always have liked her advice, for she had, and continues to have, an uncanny knack for cutting through the fluff and bringing you sharply back into the world of reality. As a footnote, Aunt Blanche is still mentally alert, still full of laughter and still quite able to throw in an acerbic word or two at just the right moment, when the situation warrants it.
I now look at the generations coming after her; I look at the busy lives that we lead, and I wonder who in succeeding generations will take the place of Chief Oral Family Historian? Who among us will be the one to say with that shining love and twinkle in those eyes of hers, that you are wrong (could be said very forcefully, but without intent to hurt) or you are right, and who will say who should do what and when should they do it to remedy a situation?
Are people made like her anymore? Are we, who were brought up in softer times, capable of her inherent wisdom and unwavering love? Would I be capable of "taking in" five children of a sibling and changing my lifestyle drastically?
I don't know, but I do hope that more potential Aunt Blanches are born into our family and others in years to come. More like her would assuredly make this world a more gracious, kinder and loving one.
Aunt Blanche, happy 100th birthday with love from all of us. We hope you enjoy all the activities, parties, mass and visitors coming to share this special occasion with you.
Editor's note: Catherine Lockhart-Mills, a former Human Services commissioner, has a master's degree in social work and writes periodic commentaries for the Source.

Hurricane Floyd, upgraded overnight from tropical storm status, was located about 210 miles east-northeast of Barbuda as of 8 a.m. Friday. It was moving on a west-northwesterly track that, if sustained as expected, will take it north of the upper Eastern Caribbean, including the Virgin Islands.
The weather system was moving at nearly 12 mph on a track "expected to continue today," the National Hurricane Center reported. However, it noted, "a deviation to the left could bring tropical storm conditions to the northernmost islands of the northeastern Caribbean."
Floyd had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph as of 8 a.m. Friday, and further strengthening was forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours. The storm-force winds continue to extend outward up to 175 miles from the hurricane's center.
Tropical storm watches issued at 5 and 6 p.m. Thursday afternoon remained in effect for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Martin and St. Barth's. The National Hurricane Center reported an outer rain band over much of the Leeward Islands early Friday.
At 8 a.m. Floyd's center was located near 19.1 degrees north latitude and 58.9 degrees west longitude.
Local coordinates are 18.3 degrees north and 65.0 degrees west for St. Thomas, and 17.7 degrees north and 64.8 degrees west for St. Croix. A degree equals 60 nautical miles, or a little over 52 land miles.
Weather analysts said Thursday that a low-level trough approaching the U.S. mainland East Coast could impact on Floyd's course but might not be sufficient to redirect the storm.
Gene Walker, executive director of the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said local residents should be "tightening the screws" in terms of finalizing routine hurricane season preparations for the passage of Floyd over the weekend.
This, he said, should include making sure the household emergency kit contains a three-day supply of drinking water, food and medications and a radio with extra batteries.
As for VITEMA itself, "We are ready," Walker said. The telephone numbers to call the agency for further information are 774-2244 on St. Thomas, 773-2244 on St. Croix and 693-5050 on St. John (not 776-6444, the number given in telephone books).

Hurricane Floyd, upgraded overnight from tropical storm status, was located about 210 miles east-northeast of Barbuda as of 8 a.m. Friday. It was moving on a west-northwesterly track that, if sustained as expected, will take it north of the upper Eastern Caribbean, including the Virgin Islands.
The weather system was moving at nearly 12 mph on a track "expected to continue today," the National Hurricane Center reported. However, it noted, "a deviation to the left could bring tropical storm conditions to the northernmost islands of the northeastern Caribbean."
Floyd had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph as of 8 a.m. Friday, and further strengthening was forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours. The storm-force winds continue to extend outward up to 175 miles from the hurricane's center.
Tropical storm watches issued at 5 and 6 p.m. Thursday afternoon remained in effect for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Martin and St. Barth's. The National Hurricane Center reported an outer rain band over much of the Leeward Islands early Friday.
At 8 a.m. Floyd's center was located near 19.1 degrees north latitude and 58.9 degrees west longitude.
Local coordinates are 18.3 degrees north and 65.0 degrees west for St. Thomas, and 17.7 degrees north and 64.8 degrees west for St. Croix. A degree equals 60 nautical miles, or a about 69 land miles.
Weather analysts said Thursday that a low-level trough approaching the U.S. mainland East Coast could impact on Floyd's course but might not be sufficient to redirect the storm.
Gene Walker, executive director of the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said local residents should be "tightening the screws" in terms of finalizing routine hurricane season preparations for the passage of Floyd over the weekend.
This, he said, should include making sure the household emergency kit contains a three-day supply of drinking water, food and medications and a radio with extra batteries.
As for VITEMA itself, "We are ready," Walker said. The telephone numbers to call the agency for further information are 774-2244 on St. Thomas, 773-2244 on St. Croix and 693-5050 on St. John (not 776-6444, the number given in telephone books).

The St. Thomas-St. John chapter of the American Federation of Teachers has scheduled a school-day morning rally at the Legislature Building on Wednesday, Sept. 15, to protest budget issues.
The rally is "to protest against the proposals to balance the budget on the backs of government workers," an AFT flyer states.
The teachers union is calling for those taking part in the protest to meet at Emancipation Garden at 8 a.m.
According to the flyer, the decision to hold the protest was made at a meeting of AFT representatives on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

There will be mandatory meetings of Kirwan Terrace School parents and guardians on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 15 and 16, in the school.
The Wednesday session, in the cafeteria at 5:30 p.m., will be for those with children in kindergarten through third grade.
The Thursday meeting, also in the cafeteria at 5:30 p.m., is for those with youngsters in grades 4 through 6.