The Coconut Telegraph

Nothing flies quicker than the STX Coconut Telegraph. Moments after you hear prominent voices whispering, the rumor mill strikes hot. It hits the texts and mobile air waves with the buzz of authenticity. Everyone wants to know the big scoop. And it all sounds so real: Did you hear what so and so said? Can it actually be true about what they’re up to now? But we all know talk is cheap. Or is it? It’s human nature to want to know who’s got the low-down on the inside dope? Who knows what the real skinny is? And yet, as rumor has it…

• Is it true AG Rhea is ready to announce that his office expects to file more criminal corruption charges against public officials and/or government contractors leading up to the November elections? Sources indicate there are as many as 10 active public corruption matters under investigation.

• One mystery is over: The Family Wellness & Health Center is moving to a new professional building going up next to AutoZone and across from Home Depot on STX's Melvin Evans Highway. The facility is designed to be sustainable, equipped with solar power and a cistern. It will house a 24/7 gym, and spa services like massage therapy, facials, and chiropractic, PT and Mental Health. One or two other retail shops may be available for rent.

• The second mystery: What is going into the huge plot of land next to the Family Wellness & Health Center? Land directly west is being cleared. Some entity appears ready to rise. Stay tuned.

• What extremely popular mid-island Restaurant that is known for its Puerto Rican, Dominican & Crucian cuisines is moving across the road to spiffy new digs in the near future? Could its name have something to do with the golden orb that rises over the east side of the island everyday?

• CAN IT BE that one dominant hotel player on the West End of STX, while planning on expanding their fabulous facilities, is strongly entertaining the notion of rolling the dice and adding casino style slot machines to the old hospital building not far from their swanky property?

• HOW IS IT POSSIBLE that a newly-built, cool-looking West Side Mega Mall, across from shuttered Kmart,  scheduled to open a year ago, is growing weeds taller than its yellow brick buildings and may very well be turning into a White Elephant, struggling to stay afloat, even before the doors of a bank, a hardware store and a number of shops and businesses have opened?    

• CAN IT RISE AGAIN as the Big Island has long been awash in rumors, is it possible the long shuttered STX Refinery is gaining a great deal of momentum on a restart now that Trump has taken office? Will the iron fist of “The Donald” soften the EPA’s hard line game they have been playing over the past four Biden “fossil fuels be damned” years, and direct a new EPA governing team to ease up on the restrictive regs that have kept the Refinery from opening? If so, is a new economic boom on St. Croix just around the corner?