HEADLINES HIGHLIGHTS

M.A. Dworkin St. Croix's Pure Speight Wins Governor's Cup on STT Track Hundreds looked on at Clinton E. Phipps Sr. Racetrack on Carnival Race Day on St. Thomas as Pure Speight, the 7-year-old gelding out of St. Croix' Knight Racing Stables, won the 2026 Governor's Cup over the weekend, topping off another successful and exciting Carnival weekend on St. Thomas. Ridden by veteran jockey Kerwin John, Pure Speight, which ran post-to-post in the six-horse race, to

M.A. Dworkin St. Croix - After previous contractors withdrew from the process, the Virgin Islands Office of Disaster Recovery (ODR) has executed a contract for the demolition and reconstruction of the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center (JFL) on St. Croix. The contract was awarded to Suffolk Construction and signals the start of the initial phase - including preconstruction services and early work packages - which are capped at just over $142 million (spe

M.A. Dworkin Caribbean Sea - As the Department of Planning and Natural Resources celebrates Coral Week in the USVI, by hosting a number of engaging events, the worldwide consensus of opinion seems to be we are killing off the planet one species at a time, with coral reefs in the early gunsights of the effects of climate change. Think of Coral Reefs as the caged canary being led into the coal mine to act as an early warning system to detect poisonous gases like carbon mo

Neil Weare and Edoardo Ortiz Public debate about U.S. territories is often shaped by unsupported assumptions or even outright falsehoods—especially on the issue of taxes. Addressing these myths is important to de-normalize the undemocratic colonial rule of more than 3.6 million people in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Tax Day gives us a timely opportunity to address some common misconceptions, which we

M.A. Dworkin St. Croix - The VI Breast Cancer Project was founded in 2016 and is dedicated to supporting cancer survivors through creative expression, community connection, and the healing power of the arts. It is easy to underestimate art as a healing force. We often think of medicines, nature and time as the great healers that have the ability to turn a sick being back into a healthy one. It’s hard to imagine a work of art performing that wizardry task. But the heali

A.J. Pike USVI - The automatic Military Draft registration will be instituted in December 2026. Those young men, ages 18 to 25, who are eligible in the USVI will be automatically registered for the military draft pool in the event a draft is required. The last time a draft was in effect was February 1973, during the Vietnam War. Currently, in states that haven’t enacted automatic registration, men must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday. The agency accepts

DPNR ANNOUNCES THIRD ANNUAL VIRGIN ISLANDS CORAL REEF WEEK Commissioner Jean-Pierre L. Oriol of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) is pleased to announce that the Division of Coastal Zone Management will host the Third Annual Virgin Islands Coral Reef Week from April 12–19, 2026. This weeklong celebration invites the St. Croix community to enjoy a variety of free, family-friendly events designed to highlight the importance of the Territory’s vibrant

M.A. Dworkin Washington, D.C. - The battle over birthright citizenship has finally wound up before the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. In what could be one of the most significant cases of the 21st century, affecting life in the 50 States and the U.S. Territories, the highest Court in the Land will hear the argument whether President Donald Trump, by Executive Order (EO), has the right to end birthright citizenship as it is now implemented, and if that EO complies wi

A.J. Pike USVI - Puerto Rico has declared a State of Emergency due to an influenza epidemic that has produced more than 42,000 confirmed influenza cases, over 3,000 hospitalizations, and 128 influenza-associated deaths as of the end of January 2026. Almost 46 percent of the reported cases have involved children. In response, the V.I. Department of Health (VIDOH) is urging USVI residents to get vaccinated and to take all precautions due to frequent inter-island travel be