Every morning for the last week, Alondra Alvarado and her stepbrother Manuel Mendoza, both 5 years old, got dressed for school.

No matter that the original first day of school, Monday, was closed because of the passing of Hurricane Earl. Tuesday, too, they had to wait.

On Wednesday morning, they actually showed up at Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School with their mother, Sharon Rosado, and grandmother, Maritza Pabon, only to find out school had been canceled — again.

“We thought there was school, so we came yesterday, and there was nobody,” Pabon said, standing Thursday in the parking lot across the street from the school.

On Thursday morning, Alondra and Manuel could hardly contain themselves, wearing anxious smiles and buzzing with nervous excitement as they waited to cross the street and head in for the first day of school — Alondra to start the first grade and Manuel to begin kindergarten, they said.

Both of them speak Spanish — their families come from Puerto Rico — and are learning English at school, they said shyly.

Alondra said she likes writing, and Manuel did not yet know what he liked, each answering mostly with nods and shaking heads.

Unwilling to wait any longer, the two dragged Rosado and Pabon across the street and into school to begin the year.

Across the territory, the V.I. public school system reopened Thursday — either to the absolute delight or moderate chagrin of the students, depending on with whom one spoke.

Tyler Magras, 8, did not mind in the least the three-day postponement of his entrance into third grade at Pearl B. Larsen, an attitude that caused his mother to shake her head.

But Dayshon Rutherford, 9, was thoroughly put out by the storm’s complete disregard for education.

“I was upset,” he said, still seemingly unable to fathom the storm’s tactless passing. “I was very, very mad, because I wanted to go to school, but I couldn’t because of the rain.”

After all, the storm delayed Dayshon’s entrance into the fourth grade — a grade that is key to his academic career, he said. With the trials and tribulations of the third grade behind him — the grade he was certain is the toughest in all of academia — it should be smooth sailing from here on out until he finishes school.

“I didn’t think I’d make it to fourth grade, but I did,” Dayshon said. “I can’t explain it.”

Dayshon’s brother, Darnell Rutherford, 13, was getting ready to start his freshman year at Central High School. He was not registered as of Thursday morning but was planning on going over to register later that day, he said.

“I feel excited,” Darnell said. “It’s going to be easy.”

According to St. Croix Superintendent Gary Molloy, registration is open through Sept. 30, when the official numbers for the year will be available so that students like Darnell are not left out.

On St. Thomas, the opening of the new school year went smoothly, despite some minor glitches, officials said.

“Everything was off to a pretty good start,” St. Thomas-St. John Superintendent Jeanette Smith-Barry said. “Most people are pretty upbeat and ready to get going.”

Despite more significant damage from the storm than the St. Croix district, the St. Thomas-St. John District ran a first day of school that was free of any major mishaps. There were some schools that had power problems — Joseph Sibilly Elementary, E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary, and Addelita Cancryn Junior High — but the issues were fairly insignificant and did not affect classes, said St. Thomas-St. John Deputy Superintendent Joseph Sibilly.

Shaniel Vanterpool, an eighth-grader at Cancryn, said that power went off in the part of the building where he attends classes about 9 a.m. and his classrooms were dark all day.

V.I. Water and Power Authority spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn said that there were isolated problems with two or three buildings at the rear of Cancryn’s campus but that power had been restored to those buildings as of Thursday night.

At Joseph Sibilly Elementary, “the power went out for like 15-20 minutes,” Sibilly said. “A transformer in the area blew, and WAPA men were working in the area and the power was back.”

The work Wednesday night to prepare campuses for the first day was arduous and went late, Sibilly said.

“It was rough trying to get things ready, but I was really happy with how things turned out,” he said.

Still, Cancryn English teacher Linda Smith was hard at work Thursday afternoon, painting her dim, air-conditionless classroom in the oldest part of the campus a vibrant green.

Smith said that the heat Thursday made her students restless.

“We are in dire need of some air conditioning in these classrooms,” she said, adding that some teachers have bought air conditioning units out of their own pockets to keep classes cool.

Suzette Bloodman and Raymond Ross Jr., assistant principals at Elena Christian Junior High School, stood at the entrance to the school Thursday, greeting new students and parents and directing them where to go to pick up their schedules. Some were trickling in late, but Bloodman said she figured those students just got word late that schools were open.

“We have some students coming in late, but we figured they just didn’t know right away,” she said. Almost 90 percent of the students had shown up by 8:30 a.m., she estimated.

First-grade teacher Xiomarn Aquino stood in her sweltering classroom in Claude O. Markoe Elementary School on Thursday afternoon without air conditioning or ceiling fans. But she worked hard to keep the kids excited while issuing an assessment test and giving out rounds of high-fives to kids who answered her questions.

“Are you going to work hard for me?” she asked 5-year-old Desmond Crispin, who nodded in response, gleaming.

In other schools, teachers worked through partial power outages and the dead heat left behind from a lack of air conditioning.

“They did the best they can,” Smith-Barry said.

But Verne Vanterpool, Shaniel’s father, said he wished the local government would devote more resources to its schools — especially Cancryn, which he said has seen few upgrades since he was a student there in the 1960s.

“It’s the same old school,” he said.

— Staff writer Constance Cooper contributed to this report.

The Virgin Islands continued to clean up and recover from Hurricane Earl on Thursday.

Lights came on — then off, then on again — on St. Thomas; Innovative Communications finished repairs to its telephone and Internet services; the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources finished a count of stranded boats; the Public Works Department started picking up yard waste on St. Thomas; and the V.I. Waste Management Authority repaired St. Croix sewers.

WAPA

As of Thursday night, 80 percent of St. Thomas had power, V.I. Water and Power spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn said. On St. Croix, 87 percent of customers had lights, she said.

Dunn said Wednesday night that WAPA hoped to have all of the territory’s power restored by the following Tuesday. On Thursday, she pushed that estimate forward two days.

Dunn said that work has been hampered by crank callers, who have been calling in to report bogus pole fires and line fires, presumably so that they can get line crews to come to their area and repair power.

The calls have slowed down power restoration, according to Dunn.

“When you’re working on an area, you’re building infrastructure,” she said. “When you get out there and there’s nothing going on, they can’t stay there and fix it. They’re already working in another area.”

The authority had planned to send crews to Water Island on Thursday, Dunn said, but crank calls delayed repairs. Linemen will start work on Water Island today, she said, and should be finished by Saturday.

WAPA also had planned to finish work on St. John on Thursday, Dunn said, but its timeline has been pushed back to Saturday. About 5 percent of St. John still does not have power, she said.

Traffic lights went down along the western portion of St. Thomas’ waterfront Thursday afternoon, as crews attempted to restore power to the V.I. Labor Department and the Windward Passage Hotel.

Dunn said that power to those buildings was cut when one of the tall metal light poles that illuminates Emile Griffith Ballpark fell in the storm, and crews had to turn off the lights while they made the repairs.

Charles Acevedl, a contractor remodeling Windward Passage Hotel, said the hotel had been on generator power since the storm. On Thursday morning, its generators failed.

The Labor Department also has not had power since the storm. The department offered limited services from tents outside its offices Thursday.

Power was restored to those buildings Thursday afternoon, Dunn said. But electricity had to be cut to Feeder #8B — which serves several areas including Anna’s Retreat, Hospital Ground, Peterborg and Skyline Drive  — for several minutes. That feeder had been tied in to the one that serves Windward Passage and the Labor Department during the repairs, and the two had to be unhooked, Dunn said.

WAPA was ready for the storm, Dunn said, and had all of the power lines, transformers and other equipment needed for repairs in the territory when Hurricane Earl hit.

The authority is storing less fuel than it used to during hurricane season, according to Dunn, but it maintains enough to protect its fuel tanks and continue providing power for 14 days.

In 2009, HOVENSA reversed a policy allowing WAPA to order extra fuel at the beginning of hurricane season and pay for it in January, Dunn said, and the authority has been ordering less fuel during the past two hurricane seasons.

Innovative

Repairs to Innovative’s telephone and Internet service on St. Thomas and St. John were complete as of Thursday afternoon, according to a statement sent out by the company.

Service on St. Croix was not interrupted by the hurricane, according to Innovative officials.

A major Innovative cable TV satellite dish was blown off its foundation during the storm, knocking out several cable channels on St. Thomas and St. John. As of Thursday night, MTV, VH1, The Weather Channel, Bravo, Animal Planet, The Home Shopping Network, Horse racing TV and some channels in the company’s Spanish language package still were not operating, according to Innovative CEO E. Clarke Garnett.

DPNR

The V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources has completed a survey of boats that were stranded during Hurricane Earl, DPNR Enforcement Division Director Austin Callwood said.

The department has found 17 boats on St. John, Callwood said, 12 on St. Thomas, four on Water Island and three on St. Croix. Most of the boats washed up in mangroves, on the beach or on rocks.

Callwood said that enforcement officers found more boats than expected.

“This storm did a lot of rollers, especially coming from the south,” he said.

The department is finalizing contracts to remove the vessels, Callwood said, and they should be cleared out in three to four weeks.

DPNR will publish a list of the boats collected during the storm so that their owners can claim them. Boat owners will be required to pay DPNR for the cost of retrieving the vessels. Those that are not claimed will be sold or crushed, Callwood said

Public Works

Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said that his department’s clean-up efforts after Hurricane Earl should be finished by the end of next week.

Crews began hauling of yard waste piled alongside the road by homeowners and business owners on St. Thomas Thursday, Smalls said. They hauled off debris from three stretches: the University of the Virgin Islands to Mandela Circle; Havensight to Bolongo Bay; and Sub Base to Crown Mountain, Smalls said. Workers also picked up waste from downtown.

Crews continued picking up yard waste on St. Croix Thursday, Smalls said.

Waste Management

The V.I. Waste Management Authority is “back to business as normal,” said spokeswoman Stella Saunders.

On Thursday, the authority was completing repairs to St. Croix sewer infrastructure. Saunders said the work would have eventually been necessary but had to be made sooner than expected because of a large amount of stormwater that washed into the sewers during the storm.

The authority repaired the Barren Spot Force Main, which broke during the hurricane, Thursday, and also replaced about 70 feet of sewer line and a manhole in downtown Christiansted that collapsed in the storm, Saunders said.

The Department of Planning and Natural Resources has issued an advisory to residents about disinfecting cisterns in the wake of the territory’s brush with Hurricane Earl.

After hurricanes, cistern water needs to be disinfected before drinking, said Jamal Nielsen, DPNR spokesman.

“We encourage people to do it year-round, but during these times of storms, that’s when we want to remind them to do it again,” he said, noting that cistern systems should be treated monthly. “It’s even more important during the time of the hurricane.”

A prepared statement from the department said the reason for an emergency disinfection of your drinking water supply after a natural disaster is to kill potentially harmful, disease-causing microorganisms.

The statement offers two methods of ridding water of possibly harmful microorganisms:

•    Vigorously boiling water for three to five minutes and letting it cool before transferring it to a clean container with a lid.

•    If boiling is not practical, the statement advised using chemical disinfection. Common household bleach can be used to disinfect your cistern water supply by adding 6 ounces of liquid bleach for every thousand gallons of water, according to DPNR.

Common household iodine from the medicine chest or first aid kit also can be used to disinfect water, although iodine is not recommended for long-term use as a water disinfectant because of its effect on the thyroid gland, the release states. For iodine, add two drops of 2 percent tincture of iodine to each quart of clear water — and for cloudy water, add four to five drops and let the solution stand for at least 30 minutes, according to DPNR.

V.I. Water and Power Authority spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn said the WAPA water system’s integrity was not breached by the storm.

“The water directors say the water is checked every day, several times a day,” she said. “They test it at all the different testing stations and they say they see no breach of integrity of the water.”

— Contact Joy Blackburn at 774-8772 ext. 455 or e-mail jblackburn@dailynews.vi.

ST. THOMAS — The St. Thomas-St. John District Board of Elections met Thursday to go over preparations for the Sept. 11 Democratic primary election.

“I think we’re pretty much on track,” board chairwoman Lorna Thomas said.

Absentee ballots were mailed out Thursday, she said, and the Elections office already is accepting walk-in absentee ballots from people who will not be here for Election Day.

The board decided months ago that all polling sites would be open for the primary, and a full complement of poll workers has been hired, Thomas said.

The board went over the training schedule for the workers at Thursday’s meeting.

Board member Lawrence Boschulte asked Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. — who was on speakerphone for part of the meeting — about possible weather disruptions for the election. Abramson said the V.I. Code gives the supervisor of Elections and the district boards the flexibility to reschedule the election in the event of a disaster.

Abramson also verified that the electronic voting machines have battery back-ups that last for 14 hours in case the power goes down on Election Day. He said all the batteries have been charging for the past week.

Thomas asked about the security of the machines and equipment in the event of a storm. Abramson said the machines are secure in both districts.

Deputy Supervisor of Elections Mabel Maduro said she will contact the V.I. Police Department to ensure that they have their voting day plan in place. She said she also would contact the V.I. Property and Procurement Department to request several government vehicles and drivers to assist during Elections Day. The board directed her to request four vehicles and drivers — three for St. Thomas and one for St. John.

Abramson reported that the provisional ballots will be sent to the printer today.

“I think we’re pretty OK,” Abramson said about election preparations.

Electronic voting machines will be tested and certified by the St. Thomas-St. John District Board today at 10 a.m.

— Contact reporter Aldeth Lewin at 774-8772 ext. 311 or e-mail alewin@dailynews.vi.

Tropical Storm Gaston, which formed rapidly Wednesday in the Eastern Atlantic, dissipated just as quickly Thursday.

But he may be back.

“I think there is a possibility. Gaston is not likely to come back for the next two to three days, but more likely in the future — maybe four or five days,” Luis Rosa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said Thursday evening.

The National Hurricane Center announced the formation of Tropical Depression 9 with its 11 a.m. update Wednesday. Six hours later, it had a name: Tropical Storm Gaston.

But Thursday morning, Gaston’s winds died down to 35 mph, and the Hurricane Center downgraded the storm to a depression. By the 5 p.m. update, Gaston was no more — dissipated into a remnant low stalled over the east-central tropical Atlantic, drifting west at 5 mph.

In its forecast discussion, the National Hurricane Center said that although it is not explicitly indicated, “there is a possibility that Gaston could regenerate into a tropical cyclone during the forecast period. This is the scenario that is being suggested by some of the global models.”

Rosa said that over the course of several days, the remnant low will be moving over warmer waters and into a more moist environment; Thursday evening it was in an area of dry air and Saharan dust — and may reorganize itself into a hurricane.

Another scenario, he said, is that a tropical wave that just moved off the coast of Africa may catch up with the slow moving remnants of Gaston and then develop.

The Hurricane Center described the tropical wave just off of Africa as “vigorous,” but Thursday evening, the center predicted only a 10 percent chance of it developing during the next two days.

“The forecast is uncertain. We’re just really going to have to wait to see what happens,“ Rosa said, advising that a check of the weather might be in order by Monday.

“Enjoy the long holiday weekend. Tune back in on Monday to see what’s going on,” he said, noting that the choppy seas from Tropical Storm Fiona, which passed by to the north of the territory, are subsiding. “It should be a good beach weekend.”

ST. CROIX — Buck Island Reef National Monument has been reopened to the public — with certain restrictions — following the territory’s brush with Hurricane Earl.

“We’re open for business,” said National Parks Service Superintendent Joel Tutein.

The park closed access to the national monument in the wake of Earl to assess damages and address safety concerns.

The Park Service released an announcement giving the all-clear to visitors starting today — except for two sections of Buck Island that will remain closed until further notice:

•    The West Beach Picnic area, which is marked with yellow caution tape and closed for use. The sand from that area was eroded and then redeposited, burying some of the picnic tables and causing damages, officials said.

•    The east side of the pier is closed because of damage and may not be used.

The west side of the pier can be used, officials said.

Although water quality initially had been a concern, Tutein said the water is clearing up, and the island’s distance from St. Croix — approximately one-and-a-quarter miles — protects it somewhat from St. Croix’s stormwater runoff.

“The water in the anchorage area has cleared up dramatically,” he said Thursday afternoon. “The groundswell is very minimal right now. I expect by tomorrow it will be fine.”

Buck Island Reef National Monument is open daily from sunrise to sunset. The island, underwater trail and lagoon are closed from sunset to sunrise throughout the year.

Buck Island can draw from 50 to 70 boats on a holiday weekend, Tutein said, and officials had wanted to reopen the island to visitors in time for the Labor Day holiday.

The Christiansted National Historic Site also is open after Earl with no restrictions, from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on weekends.

At Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, the visitor contact station, which closed earlier this year for renovations and repairs, is expected to remain closed until mid-November.

Parents check their children for the first day of school at Guy H. Benjamin School in Coral Bay.

Public and private schools across St. John and the territory finally opened on Thursday, September 2, three days later than planned.

Hurricane Earl forced the Department of Education and private school administrations to delay the planned opening of schools on Monday, August 30. Instead, teachers and faculty reported to their respective schools that day, but not for class. They helped prepare the buildings for the storm.

All students and faculty got the year underway on three days later, on September 2.

The St. John Landsharks regrets to announce the postponement of the Love City Triathlon and Aquathon which was scheduled for Sunday, September 5.

Both events are being rescheduled for Sunday September 26. While conditions on the island of St. John are improving after the passing of Hurricane Earl, the road and water upon which the races are conducted are still being cleaned, cleared and repaired.

A celebration of Sandie?s life is scheduled at Caneel Bay's Turtle Point on Sunday, September 5, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.

Sandra Lynne Brown graced this world with her invisible angel wings on August 11, 1963, born to Jimmy Hal and Bobbye Darlene (Harden) Brown in Clovis, NM.

She left her home on earth on August 20, 2010 after a short illness.

A fallen tree at the Westin Resort.

As the territory?s recovery from Hurricane Earl continued Tuesday with a focus on electrical power restoration, clearing roadways in the territory and reopening public schools, Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. and Lt. Governor Gregory heard initial assessment reports from the leaders of the Water and Power Authority, Public Works and the Department of Education as well as information about the status of the territory?s seaports and airports, which both reopened today. De Jongh said that the Virgin Islands government will resume operations on Wednesday. All government employees are to report at their regularly scheduled times.

Boats washed ashore in Chocolate Hole.

More photos. Click "Read More"

EARL CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS....

AREAS AFFECTED...
THIS LOCAL STATEMENT PROVIDES IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDED ACTIONS 
FOR PEOPLE AND MARINE INTERESTS IN SELECT LOCATIONS AND COASTAL WATERS OF 
PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.

WATCHES/WARNINGS...
A HURRICANE WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...ST. THOMAS/ST. JOHN/
ADJACENT ISLANDS...ST CROIX.

FOR MARINE INTERESTS...A HURRICANE WARNING CONTINUES FOR SECTIONS OF PUERTO 
RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS COASTAL WATERS.

Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Louis Petersen, Lt. Gov. Greg Francis, DPW Commissioner Darryl Small, Senator at Large Craig Barshinger and Property and Procurement Assistant Commissioner Steven Jones help Coral Bay farmers with the official groundbreaking of an organic garden on Dept. of Agriculture property.

After three years of work, officials from several government agencies officially broke ground on the Coral Bay Organic Garden Community Project on Thursday morning, August 26.

Lieutenant Governor Greg Francis was on hand to celebrate the historic day with Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Louis Petersen, Department of Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls and Department of Property and Procurement assistant commissioner Steven Jones. Senator at Large Craig Barshinger and Barbara Dalmida Thompson, representing St. John Administrator Leona Smith, also joined in the festivities.