The bill slashing funding to many health care and infrastructure programs passed by the U.S. House of Representatives will not gut $62.5 million for a key Virgin Islands renewable energy project, officials said Friday.

Funds for the Virgin Islands Solar for All Ah We program were awarded to the Virgin Islands Energy Office by the Environmental Protection Agency under the national Solar for All program, and allocated in December 2024, said Energy Office Director Kyle Fleming.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ domestic policy bill, passed Thursday — dubbed the One, Big, Beautiful Bill by President Donald Trump — made deep cuts to food assistance and other social services, including energy assistance and renewable power, Congressional Delegate Stacey Plaskett warned.

The federal government froze some of the money shortly after it arrived in February, Flemming said, but most or all was eventually released.

Flemming said his office is in constant contact with the EPA, with staff from both agencies corresponding on at least a weekly basis, in addition to regularly scheduled meetings.

“VIEO has outlined extensively to the EPA its plans for the funds, including their use to cover the wages of several positions that must be created to staff SAW. Those staffing plans are currently being carried out, with onboarding expected to commence shortly for several critical positions,” Flemming said in a media release.

The Solar for All Ah We program could transform the territory’s residential energy landscape, addressing residents’ high electricity costs while creating new opportunities for energy resilience and reliable, affordable, clean power for communities most in need, Flemming said.

“With SAW funding, VIEO is looking not only to build upon the success of its Solar Plus Financing pilot program, but also to further expand the accessibility of solar by providing residential‐serving community solar for its most underserved residents so they too can receive the benefits of affordable and reliable electricity,” Flemming said in the written statement.

The office plans to offer eligible applicants access to low-interest loans for the installation of residential rooftop and community solar projects with associated battery storage.

The EPA has made funds immediately available for expenditure to support the early administrative aspects of the program’s one‐year planning period. This includes hiring essential staff, such as the program director, coordinating program design consulting engagements, and developing the technical designs that will leverage the program funding during the five‐year grant period of performance.

“A moderate to strong Saharan Air Layer with suspended Saharan dust will move across the region on Monday and Tuesday,” according to an update on Sunday from the NWS in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Expect moderate to locally high concentrations of dust that will bring hazy skies, lower visibility, and deteriorate air quality, affecting people sensitive to these particles,” the NWS said.

The desert sand travels thousands of miles from Northern Africa via winds in the upper atmosphere and can affect weather conditions in the Caribbean.

“Saharan dust is what it sounds like: dust and sand from the Sahara Desert, which is lofted up and transported over the Atlantic Ocean by the trade winds,” according to a previous Source interview with Jake Carstens, a meteorologist and an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of North Dakota. “These dust events can occur year-round, usually several times per year. Dust most often reaches the Caribbean and North/Central America in the spring and summer,” Carstens said.

Saharan Dust Health Impacts

“Perhaps the most obvious consequence of Saharan dust is its impact on visibility and air quality,” Carstens stated in the interview. “It can make breathing difficult, especially for people with existing lung conditions, and it’s recommended that people limit outdoor activity as much as possible on dusty days,” Carstens advised.

Another previous Source article outlines the potential health threats associated with the dust, according to information obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Saharan dust can be harmful to your health,” the CDC said. “The particles can be breathed in and enter your lungs and bloodstream, potentially triggering asthma attacks in people who have asthma and aggravating other respiratory conditions. Saharan dust worsens air quality and increases the levels of particulate matter pollution in the air,” the CDC continued.

The CDC recommends remaining indoors as much as possible when high concentrations of sand particles are in the air.

“Saharan dust can affect anyone,” the CDC cautioned. “But like all particulate pollution, it bothers some people more than others. People most likely to experience health problems caused by exposure to Saharan dust include children and babies, older adults, people with underlying lung conditions, and people with chronic cardiopulmonary diseases,” the CDC explained.

 Excessive Heat is Possible This Week

In addition to the incoming Saharan dust, the NWS explained that a tropical wave will move through the Caribbean this week, but it is forecast to stay south of the local region. However, an increase in moisture due to the passing tropical wave is possible, and along with the higher concentrations of Saharan dust, the NWS expects temperatures to rise across the area.

“With the Saharan dust event coming in, temperatures should increase to above normal,” the NWS stated. “With the increase in moisture content, it is very likely to observe heat indexes above excessive heat criteria. Hence, limited to elevated risk of heat is anticipated for most urban and coastal areas of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the NWS warned.

Individuals and residents are encouraged to stay hydrated and remain as cool as possible during periods of extreme heat. More information about excessive heat safety is available from the NWS.

In addition to the possibility of warm weather this week, the NWS also noted that breezy conditions, isolated thunderstorms, and a moderate risk of rip currents are expected across the local islands.

Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins June 1

The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially begins on June 1, and as of Sunday, the National Hurricane Center does not anticipate any cyclonic development over the next seven days in the Atlantic Basin.

However, a system in the Eastern Pacific Basin, located near the southern coast of Mexico, may become the first cyclone to develop in the basin this year. If it strengthens into a tropical storm with winds of at least 39 mph, it would be named “Alvin.”

Weather Updates

While the presence of dry Saharan dust can potentially help thwart the development of tropical systems, it is vital to be prepared throughout the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which is forecast to be a potentially active hurricane season.

USVI residents and visitors can find weather information, including marine weather details, from the NHC, the NWS, and NOAA. Additionally, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency offers residents and visitors the opportunity to sign up for emergency alerts.

Finally, the local weather forecast for the U.S. Virgin Islands is regularly updated on the Source Weather Page and VI Source YouTube Channel. Individuals can also find helpful weather information and alerts from the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency.

Check out our weekly weather forecast with Jesse Daley, covering Sunday, May 25, through Saturday, May 31. Our YouTube playlist is updated every week, AND check out Jesse’s daily weather updates here.

When the 2017 hurricanes were done blowing the Virgin Islands apart, contractors Elizabeth Nurse and Tyler Rice made a pact to put it back together again, keeping their efforts as locally beneficial as possible. While much of their work focused on repairing buildings, the duo also hoped to calm frazzled nerves and lift trampled spirits through their meditation and yoga studio.

Earlier this month, the Small Business Administration’s Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands District Office honored Nurse and Rice’s company, TLC Unlimited, as Prime Contractor of the Year.

The administration also honored Merchants Commercial Bank as USVI Lender of the Year, and COFECC as USVI Certified Development Company of the Year.

The contracting award “recognizes outstanding performance and impact in federal contracting, celebrating TLC Unlimited LLC’s leadership and contributions to the contracting community in the Virgin Islands and beyond,” according to an SBA statement.

Rice, who was born and raised in the Virgin Islands, said it was far from a solo effort: “This recognition belongs to the mentors, government agencies and especially our hardworking team who made it all possible.”

At a time when federal contracts to rebuild after the storms were, out of necessity, going to mainland companies unharmed by the hurricanes, Rice and Nurse set up TLC to build back the local base of construction expertise and execution. Many of the mainland contractors are unfamiliar with the Virgin Islands’ unique attributes. They import labor where there is already local talent available who know the market better.

“We got into federal contracting work in 2017 after hurricanes Irma and Maria. Particularly, we got involved so we could give back to the island, and it turned into a business,” Rice said. “Our ethos has always been to support the local community, work as much as we can with locals. All of our subcontractors are always local. It’s both islands at the same time — in St. Thomas and St. Croix.”

While getting people to work on reconstructing physical damage to the islands, Nurse and Rice launched a nonprofit called Breathe St. Thomas. While both Nurse and Rice are yogis, their Havensight yoga studio and meditation center is there for anyone interested in taking time out, reconnecting with their breath, and finding a sense of peace. They do a lot of work with children, many of whom were traumatized by the storms.

“We do kids’ trainings there and are also in the public schools bringing mindfulness and breathing techniques to the youth,” Rice said. “That’s always our energy, to put more toward the nonprofit, but now that we have more and more federal work coming on the horizon, we’re pretty busy.”

With fewer private buildings in need of repair, TLC has moved on to government buildings. Their construction projects ongoing in May include courthouses on both St. Croix and St. Thomas, Nurse said.

“It’s obviously different than disaster relief but thankfully we don’t need to work in disaster relief right now,” she said. “A lot of the work we were doing before is already completed and people are back to their homes and back to some normalcy in their lives.”

A big part of TLC’s and Breathe’s existence comes from goal-oriented open-mindedness, said Nurse, who moved to the Virgin Islands two years before the storms.

“We just kept putting it out to the universe that if there was a way to help we would,” she said. “It was just immediately clear when our call had been answered and it gave us a lot of strength and purpose being in the community literally putting roofs back on homes, giving people that sense of safety again.”

She described the whole process as enriching — the construction element, the meditation studio, and personal growth and depth of engagement with a community in need.

“We just feel really full in that way,” Nurse said.

While the meditation studio was always an idea, the hurricanes put a fine point on its need, Rice said.

“We wanted to get a place open where people could have a safe place to land and breathe and gain some tools to make them feel a little bit more grounded and less anxious,” he said.

He hoped that both projects would help inspire young people to get involved in skilled trades like those used in the construction business, and do so with the sort of calm mindfulness found through meditative breathing techniques.

“There’s definitely a shortage, it seems like, of younger people getting into the trade. So that would be the hope, that there’s more opportunity and that we can continuously pick up more subcontractors — and provide even more opportunities for local people in the construction field,” he said. “There’s always construction happening.”

In a historic first, 20 Chabad Rabbis from across the region convened this week on the island of St. Thomas for a landmark two-day conference.

Hosted by Rabbi Asher Federman, director of Chabad Lubavitch of the Virgin Islands, spiritual leaders from island nations gathered together under one roof to share ideas, unique challenges and triumphs, strengthen ties, and chart a unified vision for Jewish life in the Caribbean.

“Each rabbi here brings a unique perspective, but we all share the same mission: to nurture and strengthen Jewish life, one community at a time, one soul at a time,” said Federman.

“The Caribbean, especially St. Thomas, is a place rich with Jewish history. It has gone through periods of life and vibrancy as well as times of unfortunate decline. We are of course filled with gratitude to our forebears who maintained Jewish life through thick and thin, natural disasters, population decline and weak economic conditions. Our historical synagogue is a gem and a beautiful historical landmark.”

The islands represented at the conference included Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Saint Lucia, Saint Barths, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The rabbis and their rebbetzins (their wives) are inspired by the teachings of the rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson OBM, who was one of the most dynamic and influential spiritual leaders of modern times.

After the Holocaust, he embarked on a mission of Jewish revival through sending emissaries to every corner of the globe. He sought to embrace every single Jew regardless of background and affiliation, and to empower all of humanity to tap into the unlimited resources of their divine spark.

Beginning in the 1950s, the rebbe took great interest in the Caribbean islands and sent students to engage various communities.

Federman shared how the island communities, in particular, have special significance in the Bible. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah talk of a time when remote islands will contribute to a global awareness of humanity’s purpose in making this world a kinder, better and more Godly place.

“This conference is a celebration of Jewish continuity, unity and the next frontier in global Jewish outreach. There is no such thing as a small person on a small island. Every human being is an integral part in the tapestry of creation, and our actions have the “butterfly effect” to tip the scale for a better future,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky of the Central Chabad offices.

The conference, which took place May 20–21, included collaborative workshops, Torah study, community-building discussions, and shared meals celebrating Jewish heritage and Caribbean culture. Sessions focused on strengthening education, outreach, holiday programming, and strategies for engaging the ever-growing number of snowbirds and visitors across the Caribbean.

“This gathering is a lifeline,” said Rabbi Mendel Zarchi of Chabad Puerto Rico. “We often work in isolation, separated by ocean and distance. Coming together like this brings new energy, perspective, and a sense of brotherhood that will uplift each of our local efforts.”

In Chabad tradition, the “rebbetzins” work hand in hand with their husbands and view their work as a lifelong partnership and privilege. The conference was a tribute to Federman’s wife, Henya, who was the driving force behind the growth and expansion of Jewish life on the island and a mentor to other representatives.

During the conference, Mendel Federman shared how, although his mother tragically passed away two and a half years ago, her life and legacy continue through her children and the community she lovingly built. “She left twelve Henyas in this world to continue and expand her life’s mission, and each of us are more committed than ever before.”

The historic meeting concluded with a warm community dinner and a joint resolution to enhance cross-island collaboration. The events mark a new chapter of unity, inspiration, and shared purpose.