negotiations to determine a new agreement between them.

The Hotel Employers of Bermuda (HEB) and the Hotel, Night Club and Restaurant Division of the Bermuda Industrial Union are in the process of hammering out a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the current one which expires today.

Neither HEB chief executive officer John Harvey nor BIU president Derrick Burgess were willing to disclose how talks were proceeding. A round of talks were scheduled yesterday.

Both parties have agreed to make no further public statements unless they mutually agree to do otherwise.

However, Mr. Burgess did stress that it was not unusual for an agreement to expire before a new one was signed and in place.

STAMP DESIGNS SOUGHT UPS CPN Stamp designs sought What does Christmas mean to you? Last December the Post Office Department invited students from all four school levels -- primary, middle, high, and college -- to submit designs for a Christmas stamp issue.

Students have been asked to "submit artwork based on their own ideas of the celebration of the Christmas Season in Bermuda'' by March 13.

Co-Ordinator of the Philatelic Bureau Yvonne Smith said she believed it was important to interest young people in the hobby of stamp collecting -- "philately'' -- to "preserve our heritage''.

REPORTER WINS AWARD AWD NJ Reporter wins award A former supplements writer for The Royal Gazette has been awarded a top award for investigative reporting.

Diana Stuart Jones, formerly Sinclair, is a staff writer for the weekly Litchfield County Times in New Milford, Connecticut.

She won a first place award in the six state New England Press Association's annual competition.

The winning article was written last year about the purchase by Gov. John G.

Rowland and his wife of a seasonal cottage on Bantam Lake, in Litchfield County.

It disclosed that the owner of the property had not publicly listed the property for sale.

The White Memorial Foundation had also given the Rowland's an interest rate on a $105,000 loan last spring that appeared to be significantly below prevailing interest rates.

The Connecticut State Ethics Commission had decided last month not to mount a full investigation of the Litchfield cottage.

Ms Jones was a Supplements editor in 1983 and 1984 and was instrumental in starting the annual drugs supplement.

NEW HOME FOR DOG ALS New home for dog Noisy dog Redeem has a new home after a Christmas vacation with the Bermuda Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Last year complaints about the barking of Dhal and Redeem led to a controversial court order to put the dogs to sleep.

The death sentence was a last resort after earlier legal attempts to force the owners to surrender the animals failed.

But the intervention of lawyer Mark Pettingill led to a Supreme Court reversal to order the dogs be handed over to the SPCA instead.

According to the president of the SPCA, Joanne MacPhee, only one of the pair has found a new home.

The name of the new owners is being kept secret to avoid publicity, she explained.

But Dhal has been less fortunate as "he is a lot more timid and needs special tender loving care''.

MAINTENANCE CHECK TRA Maintenance check The Ministry of Works and Engineering will be conducting inspections on the St. George's Swing Bridge this week.

The routine maintenance check will require frequent bridge openings, but is not expected to greatly disrupt marine or street traffic.

With good weather the inspection will be finished by the weekend, a spokesperson said yesterday.