News

A man was found fatally shot Thursday afternoon at Croixville Apartments on St. Croix.

Warm temperatures, Saharan dust, and breezy conditions are expected across the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, as residents and visitors head into the Emancipation Day and Independence Day holiday weekend, according to the National Weather Service in San Juan.

After tabling a final decision last week due to a lack of a quorum, the St. Thomas Coastal Zone Management Committee convened Wednesday evening again to approve next steps for the Yvonne E. Milliner Bowsky Elementary and Emanuel Benjamin Oliver PreK-8 schools.

A man was shot in the shoulder Sunday night in Hospital Ground and has declined to tell investigators what happened,.

A verbally abusive Jahnigh Gonsalves had been staying with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend for months, refusing to leave their Lorraine Village apartment. When the woman called police Monday morning for help getting Gonsalves out, he allegedly fired eight shots into the couple.

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said Thursday in a press release that an additional mechanical problem discovered during post-repair testing of Unit 27 is delaying the unit's return to service, extending rotational outages for customers in the St. Thomas-St. John district. 

A Romanian man was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison after admitting to illegally re-entering the United States following two previous deportations.

Residents traveling to St. John for the upcoming Celebration and Emancipation Day festivities will need to present a current government ID before boarding the ferry, according to an advisory from the V.I. Police Department. Additionally, the V.I. Port Authority said car ferry service to the island will be reduced from four barges to three on Thursday and Friday, with full service resuming Saturday morning.

A driver died Tuesday night after losing control of a vehicle and crashing into a utility pole on Kingshill Road near Kingshill Cemetery on St. Croix.

The University of the Virgin Islands remains fully accredited but has been placed on "show cause" status by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, requiring the institution to demonstrate by Sept. 1 why its accreditation should not be withdrawn because of ongoing concerns related to its finances, governance, and delayed audits.

The Humane Society of St. Thomas suspended animal intake and other government-contracted services Wednesday, saying delayed government payments have left it unable to continue providing those services while caring for 163 cats and 27 dogs already at its shelter.

The Virgin Islands Board of Elections met Wednesday for a lengthy special meeting in which it upheld prior decisions that disqualified Brett “Mac” McClafferty and Ida Smith from the 2026 delegate to Congress ballot.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Area Labor Federation announced Wednesday that Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett received the most support in a preliminary gubernatorial straw poll conducted following the organization's Democratic gubernatorial debate last week.

Attorney General Gordon Rhea announced a new “uncompromising approach” to gun-crime prosecution Wednesday, saying the emphasis was needed as the Virgin Islands “confronts an alarming rise in gun violence.”

Sargassum remained at very high levels across the Atlantic basin during June, with the seaweed continuing to affect coastlines across the region. The latest outlook from the University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab suggests more shoreline impacts are possible in the weeks ahead.

The Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts is continuing its series “Dialogs on Freedom” with “Our Soil, Beyond Materiality,” a groundbreaking collective exhibition exploring the vital connection between soil, art, and the Caribbean community. 

A St. Croix jury found Cecile Douglas guilty Tuesday of first-degree aggravated rape, two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual contact and child abuse involving a child younger than 13.

Community leaders, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, educators, businesses and residents are invited to gather Friday for an Emancipation Day commemoration and community action meeting focused on strengthening collaboration across the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The tournament, which will be hosted in Azerbaijan from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31, represents an exciting new chapter in FIFA's global talent development strategy and provides young footballers from FIFA Member Associations around the world with the opportunity to compete in a unique international festival environment designed to foster player development, learning, and cultural exchange.

On Tuesday, the Senate Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning Committee reviewed territorial emergency preparedness, including emergency operations planning, agency coordination and hurricane readiness.