If you were a volunteer at Sinbad's Soul Music Festival, the Tourism Department and the U.S. Postal Service have a thank-you gift for you: a commemorative cancellation stamp with the soul fest as its theme.
The Postal Service created the cancellation stamp in honor of the territory's hosting of the festival last May, Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn said, and his department is presenting one to each of the volunteers "in appreciation of their participation."
A number of the special stamps have already been sent out, but Tourism doesn't have a mailing address for some volunteers.
Those who have not received their cancellation stamps by mail or courier can stop by the Tourism Visitors Bureau alongside Emancipation Garden to pick them up any weekday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. They should be prepared to show identification, a Tourism release said.

Ambiance: ****
Food: ****
Service: ****
Value: *****
Latitude 18 / Vessup Bay / $ / 779-2495
To get to Latitude 18, one must trust one's instincts and persevere. Turn off the Red Hook Road by the National Park Service dock entrance and go up the road leading to Cowpet Bay, Elysian and the Ritz Carlton. Turn down the first road on your left, Vessup Lane, by the Montessori School. Follow it to the condominiums (where the estate road makes a right turn) and pass the condo parking lot, bearing right on the rocky dirt road, and head all the way down to the water.
Got that? Well, it is at the southeast corner of Red Hook. Wing it!
This is one of those spots so dear to the locals' collective heart that we really do not want to talk about them for fear of losing the precious something that makes them so special.
The look of Latitude 18 is leftover furniture from Marilyn with some oilcloth on the good tables. There's seating for about 30 between the bar/ kitchen and the water, with good air and all the charm of the working Vessup Bay harbor. The bar has some 10 stools and an assortment of congenial boaties in one stage or another of quiet inebriation. Everyone is grooving on his/her own thing, with the water and sympathetic conviviality providing the common thread.
Given the ambiance, one has every right to be a bit startled at the range of the menu. This is not the boaters' answer to the truck stop or greasy spoon. While you may, indeed, order mashed potatoes smothered in gravy, the potatoes are most flavorful and the gravy is something special.
I dug into the lamb shanks. Two meaty shanks well lubricated with a succulent gravy. Yum! One could taste the butter in the potatoes, and the chunks indicated these were the real thing, not some flakes from a box. The seasoning in the mixed vegetables set off their flavor and complemented the lamb.
The drinks are served in the bottle or in plastic, but the price is right and the servings are most adequate. Looking for a gourmet experience, you won't find it here. But for an interesting location with the view we come here for, complemented with generous drinks and top-quality food at a most affordable price, this is the place.
P.S. — Latitude 18 is a participant in the Rotary East Dining Out program. If you don't already have the 1999 coupon book, you can get one from any club member or at the Color of Joy in American Yacht Harbor. The more than two dozen coupons allow for a free second entrée, drink, dessert or other special savings at good and better restaurants on St. Thomas and St. John through Dec. 15. One entrée alone can save you the $15 purchase price, which goes into the club's scholarship fund for Eudora Kean High School graduates. (See St. Thomas Source/ Community/ Organizations)
The Tottering Taster is a senior citizen who is dedicated to enjoying good food and dines in one St. Thomas restaurant each week to bring you a totally unsolicited assessment biased in favor of an ultimate experience. We’re using a pseudonym so restaurant personnel won't recognize the reviewer and perhaps try to influence the review.

If your company is interested in workplace CPR or first-aid training on site, classes may be scheduled there.
September classes are held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the community every Saturday at the offices in Nisky Center.
For more information or to register call 774-0375.

Dear Source,
Studying in the States, I tap into The Source as frequently as I can. First of all, I would like to commend the staff on the exceptionally fine work you do at presenting all types of news. That said, as a born Virgin Islander I am ashamed and delighted at the same time by what I read.
I'm ashamed that some of our government officials could not, would not and purposely did not operate as a logical entity. They chose, rather, to engage in some despicable acts. They governed a willing group of people who turned out with great support and great pride to elect them to office; yet they chose to steal, it is clearly evident in every single audit report published in The Source.
The years and years of such underhanded behavior have finally undermined the people's confidence. All you commissioners demanding an absurd income for a population of 105,000, get real. You want expenses and every benefit in life. As a community, we need you to guide us. We trust you not to steal from us, not to mismanage us, not to destroy us, but to guide us. That is all we ask!
So, understand that our community will not put up with this ever again. This is where I take my pride: We have seen the problem and are demanding change. We will never put up with bad mismanagement again. I do not know of many communities where, when enlightened to the thievery by their public, officials would fail to take actions to understand what went wrong or be afraid to address the problem.
I can't wait to get home.
Julian Andy Gumbs, student
Georgia State University

The E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary School will host the first PTA meeting of the school year at 5:30 p.m. on Sep. 15.
The "Back to School Night" will feature a Direct Instruction demonstration and teachers will explain their individual plans to parents.
Principal Dr. Emily Carter advises that the EBO School gym uniforms are available at the school. Contact the school office at 775-2000.

The E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary School will host the first PTA meeting of this school year at 5:30 p.m. on Sep. 15.
The "Back to School Night" will feature a Direct Instruction demonstration and teachers will explain their individual plans to parents.
Principal Dr. Emily Carter advises that the EBO school gym uniforms are available at the school. Contact the school office at 775-2000.

Chapter 9 bankruptcy stares us in our faces. Despite six task forces, adept advisors, competent professionals and widespread support for just solutions and lasting formulas for our rehabilitation, we are living a crazy life in the Virgin Islands.
The austerity measures to be adopted are well known, and they should have been implemented en el primero dia — the first day of the Turnbull-James Administration.
The problems are well known, the conditions that led to these problems are even better understood, and the solutions have been reiterated ad nauseam.
What else will it take for our political leadership to act on the well-known formula of sacrificing now and reaping later — three wise men and a bright star from the east? Please, not another hurricane!
My brother Kankan tells me we need some divine stuff to wake us up, but we've had six hurricanes in 10 years and we still cannot make tough choices, stick by those decisions and implement them. I do not mean to sound blasphemous to the devout crowd, but after a while, even spiritual guidance cannot rescue such hardheaded people.
Around us everything is changing but our foolish mentality and us. Cuba will be re-integrated in the world capitalist system within five years, and the United States will normalize relations with that island state within two years — if not sooner.
The cruise ship industry will increase calls within the region, but passengers will spend less than half of what they used to in our local stores. Our petrochemical and aluminum refinery plants on St. Croix will be subjected to the volatile conditions of global production more than ever before. Hence, we cannot expect consistent flows of production or profit.
North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization regulations will limit the preferred market status of our local Cruzan Rum on the U.S. mainland, and within five years we will be engaged in Rum Wars just as our sister Caribbean neighbors are now fighting Banana Wars.
But here in the Virgin Islands, our political leaders are silent on these issues. Most appear overwhelmed by the fiscal crisis that confronts the territory and unable to tie the larger economic trends that will create economic disasters to the small issues of balancing the budget and growing the economy.
I do not want to be mistaken as an esoteric academic more concerned with coffee beans in Colombia than the price of rice in Pueblo, but for too long our leaders have been unaware of the real world of global economics.
As an exception, Tourism Commissioner designate Michael Bornn honestly said that the Virgin Islands needs an advertising budget of about $20 million instead of $1 million. (I read it is less, but I do not believe that our government could be so unwise). Many past and present legislators have used tourism advertising funds as a "partner hand" or "slush fund." Whatever hot event was on for the year, they spent tourism advertising dollars on it.
What is disgusting during these annual raids on tourism funds is the illogical logic politicians use to win Mr. or Ms. Popularity: that investing in anything that promotes the Virgin Islands promotes the tourism product.
That logic was used for the Sinbad's Soul Music Festival. Give Sinbad just about everything, and we will automatically benefit because Sinbad will promote us because he was here.
"Nuthin t'all go so."
We need to hire economists who understand economic development. We need to elect political leaders who understand business management, accounting, economics, political science and public administration. The present approach of collective denial and procrastination will compound our problems. The solution is simple: (1) balance the budget; (2) get all of our excise taxes gasoline and rum).
Concerning the gasoline excise taxes, we need to be brutally honest. Let those political leaders who are unwilling and unable to fight for what is due to our people, step aside; we shall deal with you in the 2000 election. For those who talk the talk, you must walk the walk, and get busy researching how to get our money.
The 20th Century will end with the Virgin Islands people in the most insane predicament:

• We shall be the most conspicuous consumers in the Caribbean but the least productive.
• We shall have the best possible political conditions to make this territory a beacon of democracy but do nothing except engage in stupid, petty personality conflicts while the political system rots.
• We shall have all the material conditions to resolve every socio-economic problem but due to our ideological and moral bankruptcy we will cannibalize our children's future while we get our grooves on.
• We shall impose tremendous difficulties on future generations of Virgin Islanders by failing to make the difficult choices, the severe sacrifices, today, in order for our children to benefit tomorrow.
• We will live la vida loca until our society collapses and we learn to place our priorities in the right order. Our children will never forgive us despite our mental condition(s).

Personnel costs have eaten up so much of the Department of Labor’s budget, little is left over for supplies and utilities.
Such problems, however, aren’t new to the department, Commissioner Sonia Jacobs Dow testified at the Senate Finance Committee’s budget hearing in Frederiksted on Tuesday.
Dow said the department receives more than $12 million from 27 different federal grants, but step increases to unionized employees in 1994 and 1998 have pushed payroll costs to the point that there is no money to pay rent, utilities, supplies, equipment purchases and maintenance.
An example of high personnel costs cutting into other areas are programs supported by the Government Insurance Fund, Dow said.
"The Division of Workers’ Compensation, in particular, operates without a copier, fax machine, and until recently, without computers," Dow said.
Because the division has no copier, she said, department employees have spent hours and days in the offices of law firms copying workers compensation documents.
"While the attorney’s staff actually duplicates the documents for which clients are billed, the DOL employee must remain with the file at all times," Dow explained. "You can imagine the cost to the department in lost productivity."
Also, Dow said, the government is required to expend an amount equal to 10 percent of personnel costs funded by federal grants. She said the money technically budgeted by Labor for payroll is instead transferred to other agencies, notably the Office of Management and Budget, to cover the administrative costs of processing grant applications and implementation.
Even though Labor writes, monitors and manages all of its federal grants, Dow said, it is not allowed to use federal funds to cover the costs within the department itself.
"We do not believe OMB and other agencies provide the department of Labor with services that demand such a big bite of the funds we raise through federal grants," Dow said. "If the Department of Labor cannot sustain its own operations with federal grants awarded for department initiatives, it is preposterous to expect that we can sustain the operations of the federal government."
The department is seeking $643,257 from the general fund for fiscal year 2000, which is less than 15 percent of its total budget, Dow said. Federal and Government Insurance Funds make up the balance of the total $2.4 million budget. After some reorganization, the Dow said the department was able to save $156,000
Adding to the department’s problems is that the Government Insurance Fund has a negative balance of $154,000, Dow said. Based on an unaudited Department of Finance report, Dow said that outstanding bills from 1983 to 1999 amount to more than $6.5 million.
On Aug. 25, Finance officials said they would not approve payments for workers’ compensation claims because the fund is negative, Dow said.
"The ill health of this fund is directly attributed to the failure of government agencies to pay into the fund," she said. "So the saga of the Workers’ Compensation program continues. The prognosis is not good."
Also testifying at the hearing were representatives from the Public Employees Relations Board. PERB Chairman Aubrey Lee said the board’s goals for FY 2000 are to reduce the use of costly off-island arbitrators and instead use ones familiar with local workplace issues.

After two days of fishing, Sea Witch alone landed a tuna, a dolphin, a wahoo, and a kingfish to win the Grand Slam of the Inshore Four Fishing Tournament.
The Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club ran the Inshore Four tourney as part of their Small Boat Series. Marielle Brandon and Sea Witch added their $3,500 worth of airline tickets and cash to the winnings from first place at this year's Northside Kingfish Tournament.
Two days of fishing showed how fickle the sea can be. Both Saturday and Sunday provided similar weather conditions, but Saturday provided fishermen with twice the number of fish. Three boats needed only one more fish to have all four species for the Grand Slam after Saturday. Patty's Permission searched in vain for a single dolphin, and Rampage was hunting for wahoo. Not scoring a Grand Slam did not leave these boats empty handed however, as Rampage scored most weight of fish with 117.2 pounds, and Patty's Permission won the best three species weight with 62.6 pounds.
Offshore Marine hosted the event and their big deck in Subbase was the scene of the weigh in and BBQ party assisted by Coca Cola and Coors Light. American Airlines and U.S. Air provided tickets for the first and second place winners. First and second place winners of individual largest fish awards were awarded Shimano Reels and Shimano Rods.
In the individual scoring, the Turbe family turned up at the awards table regularly, with Scott Turbe's 32.2 pound fish winning first in kingfish, and Adam Turbe second place in both dolphin and tuna. First place in dolphin, at only 9.2 pounds, was awarded to Albert Sibilly, Tom Anderson's sixteen pound tuna was first, and Marielle Brandon's 35.2 pound wahoo added first in that category to her winnings for the day.

Personnel costs have eaten up so much of the Department of Labor’s budget, little is left over for supplies and utilities.
Such problems, however, aren’t new to the department, testified Commissioner Sonia Jacobs Dow at the Senate Finance Committee’s budget hearing in Frederiksted on Tuesday.
Dow said the department receives more than $12 million from 27 different federal grants, but step increases to unionized employees in 1994 and 1998 have pushed payroll costs to the point that there is no money to pay rent, utilities, supplies, equipment purchases and maintenance.
An example of high personnel costs cutting into other areas are programs supported by the Government Insurance Fund, Dow said.
"The Division of Workers Compensation, in particular, operates without a copier, fax machine, and until recently, without computers," Dow said.
Because the division has no copier, she said department employees have spent hours and days in the offices of law firms copying workers compensation documents because the files must always be accompanied.
"While the attorney’s staff actually duplicates the documents for which clients are billed, the DOL employee must remain with the file at all times," Dow explained. "You can imagine the cost to the department in lost productivity."
Also, Dow said, the government is required to expend an amount equal to 10 percent of personnel costs funded by federal grants. She said the money technically budgeted by Labor for payroll is instead transferred to other agencies, notably the Office of Management and Budget, to cover the administrative costs of processing grant applications and implementation.
Even though Labor writes, monitors and manages all of its federal grants, Dow said, it is not allowed to use federal funds to cover the costs within the department itself.
"We do not believe OMB and other agencies provide the Department of Labor with services that demand such a big bite of the funds we raise through federal grants," Dow said. "If the Department of Labor cannot sustain its own operations with federal grants awarded for department initiatives, it is preposterous to expect that we can sustain the operations of the federal government."
The department is seeking $643,257 from the general fund for fiscal year 2000, which is less than 15 percent of its total budget, Dow said. Federal and Government Insurance Funds make up the balance of the total $2.4 million budget. After some reorganization, the Dow said the department was able to save $156,000
Adding to the department’s problems is that the Government Insurance Fund has a negative balance of $154,000, Dow said. Based on an unaudited Department of Finance report, Dow said that outstanding bills from 1983 to 1999 amount to more than $6.5 million.
On Aug. 25, Finance officials said they would not approve payments for workers’ compensation claims because the fund is negative, Dow said.
"The ill health of this fund is directly attributed to the failure of government agencies to pay into the fund," she said. "So the saga of the Workers’ Compensation program continues. The prognosis is not good."
Also testifying at the hearing were representatives from the Public Employees Relations Board. PERB Chairman Aubrey Lee said the board’s goals for FY 2000 are to reduce the use of costly off-island arbitrators and instead use ones familiar with local workplace issues.