If you'd like to go to San Juan for two or three days, and can make plans in a hurry, American Airlines is offering a round-trip fare of $61, less than half the regular rate, as long as you buy your ticket by Friday and can travel the weekend after that and meet several other conditions.
Tickets must be for departure after 7 p.m. Friday, July 14, or any time Saturday, July 15. Return must be on Monday, July 16, or Tuesday, July 17. You have to be a member of American's AAdvantage frequent flyer program and you must purchase your ticket on-line.
The special fare is part of AA's Net SAAver Fares, available exclusively on the Internet at www.aa.com. Each week American posts such short-term special fares for various domestic points, and every so often they include a St. Thomas-St. Croix, St. Thomas-San Juan or St. Croix-San Juan round trip.
The cheapest regular St. Thomas-San Juan round-trip fare on American/American Eagle for July, according to the airline's San Juan office, is $140.
Tickets must be purchased on-line by midnight Friday, and there are certain strings. AA cautions that Friday evening travel may not be available in all markets.

Gov. Charles W. Turnbull removed Claudette Farrington as director of the Internal Revenue Bureau Wednesday and named Louis M. Willis, head of the IRB collections branch, to serve as acting director.
The move came a day before Farrington was to appear under subpoena before the Senate Finance Committee. She and 20 IRB supervisors had been subpoenaed to appear Thursday to answer questions about the functioning of the bureau.
Farrington had asked Finance Committee chair Lorraine Berry to have the meeting postponed, claiming attendance at the meeting by herself and the supervisors would disrupt activity at IRB. Berry refused.
Low productivity and poor morale among employees were reportedly two reasons for the action.
Farrington has been the subject of much dispute in recent months, including a "work-out" by IRB personnel in June.
Farrington has been reassigned to the Office of Management and Budget as special assistant to the director, according to a Government House release.
Berry was meeting late Wednesday with committee members to make a decision on whether to go forward with Thursday's Finance Committee meeting.

So, you’re a young person in the Virgin Islands and want to be a star – or maybe a director, producer or writer? Then this week’s St. Croix Center Stage Performing Arts Festival is the place to start.
The fest, set to run from July 6 through 8 on St. Croix, is aimed at pairing young people who have an interest in show business with a host of entertainment professionals. Through workshops, readings, music and more, John Amos, Virginia Capers, JaNet Dubois, Ted Lange, Matthew St. Patrick, Glynn Turman, Jeffrey Anderson Gunter, Sonia Sanchez, Cameron Mathison, Woodie King Jr., and Anthony Williams will give their insight into the entertainment industry to anyone interested.
St. Patrick, Mathison and Gunter were the first stars to arrive on St. Croix and were feted with a beach party in Frederiksted on Tuesday. The trio made it clear that while their task was to impart as much knowledge on young people as possible, hard work, dedication and studying were also key factors in achieving success in the entertainment industry.
"There is a lot of studying, you really have to read," St. Patrick, a cast member of the TV soap All My Children, told a throng of young fans. "It’s not about money, it’s about dedication."
Gunter, an actor/director who hails from Jamaica and now lives in Los Angeles, said the contingent of visiting entertainment professionals was in the territory to help. Just because some of the visitors are high-profile doesn’t mean they are unapproachable.
"Everyone here, we’re approachable," he said, "so come and talk to us."
Those interested in talking to the pros will have several chances to do just that. Starting on July 5 at the St. Croix Education Complex – where all the events will be held – poet Sonia Sanchez will read her selections and Music in Motion and the Karamu-Afi Dancers will perform.
On Thursday, a workshop including Capers, a Tony award-winning actress and singer; Dubois, an Emmy award-winning actress, singer and songwriter will discuss women in entertainment and performance skills for the stage and television.
That workshop will be followed by "Shades of Harlem," an Off-Broadway musical production that honors Virgin Islander Casper Holstein’s involvement in the Harlem renaissance.
"He was a very generous gentleman and we’re recognizing him for his contributions," said Madeline McCray, the organizer of the St. Croix Center Stage Performing Arts Festival.
The workshop on Friday will focus on creative writing and include a panel featuring King, a director and publisher; Gunter, Mathison and McCray, who is also an actress and writer. That night, the V.I. Rising Stars will perform "Caribbean City Chatters" and "The Southern Jezebel."
The final workshop on Saturday is aimed at channeling negative energy into art for young men from 9 to 19 years old. Panelists include Amos, who starred as the father in the TV sitcom "Good Times;" Turman, a producer; Williams, a producer; John Harris, technical director; King and St. Patrick. That night, the guest celebrities will perform in a production honoring the Virgin Islands’ historic leaders.
Tickets to all four days of the festival are $75. A three-day pass to the workshops are $25 or $10 per session. Individual tickets for the other productions are also available. For more information call 773-7117 or 772-0712.

On June 28, seven members of a UVI scientific party left St. Thomas by
air to rendezvous with the Research Vessel Seward Johnson in Barbados for
the start of the first leg of the oceanographic expedition called ACTS-II.
This is the eleventh such shipboard study conducted under the Anegada
Climate Tracers Study (ACTS), intended to study the flow and the exchange of climatically significant substances between the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and is conducted as a joint exercise with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). The expedition will leave Barbados to take measurements in each of the major passages between the islands. The UVI study (ACTS) focuses on the last of these, the Anegada Passage. NOAA's chief scientist, Douglas Wilson, conducts his own Windward Islands Passages Monitoring Project as he heads
the collaborative expedition.
The team for the first leg includes UVI students Linda Bailey, Jack DeVan, Brandon Eyre, Michael Holt, Leukemia Mounce and Barry Volson, as well as recent graduate Adam Quandt. This portion of the trip ends in Antigua, where UVI grad Ronald Olivacce will join the ship for the second leg's
survey of the Anegada Passage and return to St. Thomas.
Many first-leg participants will remain for the second leg but disembark once the vessel reaches St. Thomas. The third leg consists of hydrographic and current sampling in the Virgin Islands Basin and the Mona Passage, which is located west of Puerto Rico. Senior technician Kevin Brown, UVI Marine Advisor Mayra Suarez and principal investigator Roy Watlington will join the expedition for this two-day study.
This is the first ACTS expedition for Bailey, Mounce and Suarez but possibly the last for Olivacce, who became the first ACTS student intern in 1996.
Persons interested in the scientific aspects of this study can get more information by checking the web address www.uvi.edu/ECC/ACTS.htm or
by calling (340) 693-1391.

On June 28, seven members of a UVI scientific party left St. Thomas by air to rendezvous with the Research Vessel Seward Johnson in Barbados for the start of the first leg of the oceanographic expedition called ACTS-II.
The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and is conducted as a joint exercise with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). The expedition will leave Barbados to take measurements in each of the major passages between the islands. The UVI study (ACTS) focuses on the last of these, the Anegada Passage. NOAA's chief scientist, Douglas Wilson, conducts his own Windward Islands Passages Monitoring Project as he heads
the collaborative expedition.
The team for the first leg includes UVI students Linda Bailey, Jack DeVan, Brandon Eyre, Michael Holt, Leukemia Mounce and Barry Volson, as well as recent graduate Adam Quandt. This portion of the trip ends in Antigua, where UVI grad Ronald Olivacce will join the ship for the second leg's
survey of the Anegada Passage and return to St. Thomas.
Many first-leg participants will remain for the second leg but disembark once the vessel reaches St. Thomas. The third leg consists of hydrographic and current sampling in the Virgin Islands Basin and the Mona Passage, which is located west of Puerto Rico. Senior technician Kevin Brown, UVI Marine Advisor Mayra Suarez and principal investigator Roy Watlington will join the expedition for this two-day study.
This is the first ACTS expedition for Bailey, Mounce and Suarez but possibly the last for Olivacce, who became the first ACTS student intern in 1996.
Persons interested in the scientific aspects of this study can get more information by checking the web address www.uvi.edu/ECC/ACTS.htm or
by calling (340) 693-1391.

St. Thomas police are investigating a mid-morning armed robbery Wednesday of the Blue Carib Gems and Rocks store at Bakery Square. Territorial Police Chief Jose Garcia said two black males, dressed in black and toting black framed handguns, stormed the jewelry store on Back Street at around 10 a.m. and demanded diamonds from a store clerk.
The clerk complied and the two unmasked robbers made off with several diamond pieces. The two made their getaway on foot towards Nye Gade and Long Path.
No injuries were reported. Garcia confirmed that several customers were in the store at the time of the incident.
In other police news, police confirmed an incident where up to seven shots were discharged Wednesday morning near Ulke Gade, the area known commonly as Simmonds Alley, leaving a vehicle bullet-riddled.
Eyewitness accounts said that an unknown man was standing near the Vitelco building firing into the alley. A Suzuki Sidekick driving by at the time was struck and damaged. Reportedly, the vehicle's rear window was shattered and two children riding in the rear of the vehicle were struck by the broken glass.
Police Chief Garcia said an investigation is under way to determine who the shooter was. As of late Wednesday, there were no reports of anyone being struck by the gunfire.
Garcia encouraged anyone with information on the holdup or the shooting to contact investigators at 774-4050 or emergency 911.

Police are attempting to determine who opened fire on Simmonds Alley early Wednesday morning, damaging a vehicle that was driving by the scene.
No serious injuries have been reported, but two young children riding in the back of the Suzuki Sidekick were sprayed with flying glass when the gunfire shattered the vehicle's window.
The shooting reportedly came from persons who were standing on the south side of the street, on lower Kronprindsens Gade, and pointing a weapon into the alley on the north side.
Witnesses said they heard seven gunshots fired.

The last lap of St. John Festival 2000 had lots of everything people enjoy in a holiday celebration — crowds, colorful sights, musical merriment, lots of local food, and peace.
And when the judges' rendered their verdict on the best of the parade participants, the winners were:
Floupes (troupes with floats):
1. Elskoe and Associates, "Tout Mon Cadance"
2. Caneel Bay Resort, "Dawn in a Tropical Garden"
3. Human Services Department Drug-Free and Delinquency Prevention Program, "Prevention Winners"
Troupes:
1. Gypsies, "Fireworks"
2. Infernos, "Fire and Ice"
3. Tropical Masqueraders, "Pokemon"
Moko Jumbies:
1. Moko Jumbie Jamboree
2. John McCleverty's Traditional Moko Jumbies
3. Morton's Moko Jumbies
Majorettes:
1. St. Croix Majorettes
2. Sebastian Majorettes
3. Charming Twirlers Majorettes
Honorable mention, Stunts and Twirlers Majorettes
Bands:
1. (tie) Love City Pan Dragons, Pan Around the Neck
Wednesday morning, Police Chief Jose Garcia, who led a combined force of local and federal law enforcers keeping watch over the festival activities, expressed satisfaction with the security operations.
Garcia thanked ADT Security Systems for donating surveillance cameras, as the company had also done for V.I. Carnival on St. Thomas this year. And he expressed appreciation for the respectful behavior of the hundreds of youthful music fans who packed Daniel's Court at night to hear their favorite bands. "I like to see the young people come out and enjoy themselves without getting into a fiasco," he said.
Sporadic rains the last two days forced activities in the festival village, Daniel's Court, and at the Cruz Bay bandstand to shift direction. Quadrille dancers taking part in Monday's Culture Day program to mark Emancipation Day stepped under the shelter of the bandstand roof to complete their performance. A small but appreciative crowd joined them.
Pools of water collected on stage in the village but St. John's Cool Sessions Brass kept the lively rhythms going, pausing only for a baton twirling demonstration by the St. Croix Majorettes. Monday night, village-goers and booth operators launched the festival finale marathon, with crowds packing a barge dance and local nightclubs until dawn and St. John J'Ouvert.
Two bands took turns swinging the music for the last night of the last lap in Daniel's Court. Honoree Harry Daniel watched with twinkling eyes from a discrete corner of the village on Emancipation Night. He said he was pleased to see everyone having a good time and showing friendliness toward one another.
As the sun rose Fourth of July morning, inside her booth, Deborah Charles surrendered the rolling pin she had kept in motion for hours producing pates and lowered her shutter to fix more food. Over at another booth selling roti, a small jubilant crowd from St. Lucia and Dominica lifted their cups to the morning light.
By the time the parade began shortly after noon, more than an hour late a swelling crowd of spectators lined the Cruz Bay streets.
A woman standing in front of Cap's Place lifted her infant son into the arms of a passing mocko jumbie (and got him safely back). St. John's two major hotels, Caneel Bay Resort and the St. John Westin, sent their revelers into the streets to join the entries from St. Thomas, which were smaller in number than for their own V.I. Carnival, but just as festive.
Rob Crane announced the winning entries shortly after the end of the parade. He said the judges ruled a tie for Best Band between the Love City Pan Dragons and the Pan Around the Neck marching steelband because "They were each good in their own way, but they were so different."
A little after 9 p.m. on Independence Day, the throng in festival village surged onto the streets by the Cruz Bay taxi stand to ooh and ahh at the fireworks display put on by Zambelli Internationale. After the show, they returned to the village to find Nick Friday and the Jam Band set up and stepping up the the mics.
At midnight the bandleader bid the crowd goodnight and an exodus of contented festival-goers from St. Thomas headed for the ferry dock.
As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, the Zone D Police Command had recorded only two festival-related arrests:
An unidentified man was taken into custody shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday and charged with disorderly conduct, delaying and obstructing a police officer, and resisting arrest.
Anthony Turbe was arrested around 5 p.m. Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault and battery, possession of a controlled substance, and disobeying a lawful order.

Dear Source,
Heads up territory, Georgetown Consulting reminded us that the rate we
pay includes a fee to audit. If it is not spent, the flow through of
those funds goes right into Vitelco's profit margin. Throw out any
senator who allows Vitelco to get away with it.
Really!
Judith Slosky

Dear Source,
Heads up territory, Georgetown Consulting reminded us that the rate we pay includes a fee to audit. If it is not spent, the flow through of those funds goes right into Vitelco's profit margin. Throw out any senator who allows Vitelco to get away with it.
Really!
Judith Slosky