Dr. Gemaine Owen signs copies of her book “Caregiving is No Joke” for guests. (Source photo by Diana Dias)
Family physician Dr. Gemaine Owen, a St. Croix native, has long balanced her passions for science and the humanities. A lifelong poet and a Johns Hopkins University alumna, Owen has recently turned her attention to a deeply personal and universal subject — caregiving.
On Thursday, Owen officially launched her latest book, “Caregiving is No Joke,” at the Cane Roots Art Gallery in Christiansted Town. Owen draws from her own experiences caring for her 92-year-old mother and her professional insights from years of performing home and office visits.
“It was important for me because I do home visits. I get a unique look at what’s happening in the home — a lot of doctors do not,” Owen said. “I can see the frustrations, and I can see the struggles. It’s a very difficult task. I thought a lot of people did it well, but until I had to do it myself, I couldn’t fully flesh out all the aspects.”
Owen emphasizes that caregivers often experience their own silent suffering, sometimes to the detriment of their health.
“We have an aging population who are living longer,” she said. “The caregiver sees somebody different than the person they are taking care of every day. A lot of people are suffering from depression due to caregiving. Some die before the people they are taking care of,” she said.
Guests listen as Dr. Gemaine Owen discusses her book. (Source photo by Diana Dias)
In addition to practical advice, Owen also touched on the power of forgiveness for the person you are providing care to.
“You have to give that person forgiveness whether they ask for it or not,” she explained. “You giving it is a favor to you. Don’t hold out — love them regardless. Do your best.”
Owen has always been passionate about people and uses her experiences to help others navigate the challenges of caregiving.
“It makes you passionate when you can spare somebody something that you went through personally, that someone else went through, or that your mom is going through,” she said. “I want to spare somebody from saying, ‘I wish I had known.’”
Dr. Gemaine Owen answers guests’ questions on her book “Caregiving is No Joke.” (Source photo by Diana Dias)
Owen is also the author of “Doc, What Would You Do in My Shoes? How to Circumnavigate a Cancer Diagnosis,” a guide that similarly blends medical knowledge with empathy and real-world experience.
Through her writing and work, Owen continues to be a compassionate voice for patients and caregivers alike, offering not just clinical support but human understanding.
A wave of package delivery delays across the territory — particularly on St. John — has been traced to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection audit, not new tariffs or customs taxes, Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett’s office said in a statement Friday.
The delays have prompted a flurry of complaints, which led Plaskett’s office to meet with CBP officials this week. According to CBP, the issue stems from an audit that revealed private carriers such as DHL, UPS, and FedEx had not been fully clearing their incoming shipments through customs, according to the statement.
The new requirement now mandates that all shipments be cleared by CBP before delivery, the statement said.
“This is not connected to any recent policies from the Trump administration or changes in customs taxing or procedures,” the statement clarified.
Residents seeking further information are encouraged to contact the congresswoman’s local offices on St. Croix at 340-778-5900 or on St. Thomas at 340-774-4408.
Two armed suspects robbed a local jewelry store on St. Croix at gunpoint Thursday afternoon, assaulting the victim before fleeing the scene, the V.I. Police Department reported.
The incident occurred around 12:34 p.m., when the 911 Emergency Call Center received reports of a robbery in progress at HAA Jewelers on Strand Street in Christiansted. According to police, the male victim told officers that two men dressed in dark clothing entered the store and held him at gunpoint. One of the suspects struck the victim with the firearm before both fled on foot toward the Government Parking Lot.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau is actively investigating the case. “Anyone who was in the area and saw what happened or has any information is urged to contact 911, the CIB Tipline at 340-778-4950, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS,” the department said in a press release.
No arrests had been made as of Friday afternoon, police said.
The Virgin Islands Department of Education wishes to inform students, families, staff, and community stakeholders that the official 2025–2026 Public School Year Calendar has been updated to reflect important changes regarding end-of-year ceremonies.
Graduation Ceremonies will now take place May 18–21, 2026
Promotional Exercises will now be held May 22–29, 2026
We encourage all stakeholders to utilize the official VIDE School Year Calendar to stay up to date on key events, holidays, and academic deadlines throughout the upcoming school year.
Krankie is an art exhibition by collaborative duo strawberriemilk (Emily Braswell) & warmmilkwithsugar (Jenna Rees) opening on June 6th in Los Angeles at T—Gallery.
The duo presents an experimental video alongside a series of hybrid realistic paintings which blend both airbrush and hand-painted techniques. The work explores relatable themes of anxiety around money, obsession with fame, and bizarre happenings within seemingly mundane lives.
Braswell and Rees have been collaborating for well over a decade from the South Eastern USA to the Caribbean – a creative partnership that began at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where they were the first to ever present a collaborative senior thesis within the visual arts boarding school program.
Later, it was in Atlanta where they gained recognition for making large scale abstract paintings accompanied by conceptual installations that transformed spaces, such as their breakthrough show Daytona in 2018. Jumping forward to 2024, upon relocating to the U.S. Virgin Islands, they exhibited a successful exhibition, Good Luck Have Fun at 81C in Saint Thomas. Now the duo resides and continues their collaborative studio practice in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they made the body of work for Krankie.
Artist Statement:
KRANKIE
This exhibition showcases a video piece and a collection of paintings that combine airbrush, hand painted realism and expressive mark making. Krankie is both the title of the show and the video piece specifically, being it is the conceptual driver for the body of work.
Our approach for the video piece was to “make a movie” in a very amateur filmmaking sense. Playing on the relatable home video, shaky camera aesthetic while taking turns operating behind the scenes and as the actors. With lighting manipulation and voyeuristic pov, we follow two characters that live in the same small town neighborhood in 1989. A turbulent year in history, yet a mundane existence.
The two characters are unacquainted neighbors, yet they share an unabashed obsession with a hyper famous actor of their time. The compositions for the paintings were derived from the idea of treating them almost as movie posters for the films in which the fictional “actor” celebrity starred in. Whether it was a Disney classic romance, a mysterious sci-fi, a surreal action movie, or an absurdist dark comedy, the clues are layered into this meta world of the movies within the movie.
Upon inception of this concept, we were interested in allowing our subconscious to form nonsensical scenes that once executed, spawned a nonlinear mood driven story. Through the action of semi improvised shooting, we began seeing themes of anxiety and the manifestation of childlike characteristics in adults. Obsession, indulgence and the eerie feeling of something’s wrong also came to the surface.
Jenna Rees and Emily Braswell in San Juan in April. (Submitted photo)
We drew inspiration for the title from a coffee shop we used to frequent called Krankies in Winston Salem, NC. Located next to the train tracks, Krankies was a place where you could sit for hours and observe the counter culture characters that frequented. Smells of beans roasting, sounds of alt music playing and views of crusty southern punk kids gathering around… we sat with our moleskine notebooks out.
Krankie is an exploration of how video art and painting can interact through visual cues. Drawing inspiration from growing up in the south and touching on our fascination with neighborhood “characters”, we landed in the 80s… with bad tattoos, down and out, anxiously awaiting life’s next simple pleasure…
-Jenna Rees & Emily Braswell, May, 2025
About the Venue:
T—Gallery by TRIBE is a new and unique multi use gallery space located in Downtown Los Angeles in the fashion district. Owned and operated by the innovative creators of FRESH.I.AM., a clothing brand established in 2011 in Atlanta. The space functions as both a store and official home of their brand, as well as, a place showcasing art, design and hosting entrepreneurship related events. They provide a platform for creatives and brand owners looking to learn, expand their work and build community.
More info: https://triibeofficial.com
81C Arts statement
The 81C Arts team in the Virgin Islands are proud to recognize and support the creative evolution of artists Emily Braswell and Jenna Rees as they present Krankie—a compelling exhibition opening June 6th at T—Gallery in Los Angeles.
Emily and Jenna’s collaborative energy is something we have witnessed firsthand. In 2024, we had the pleasure of curating Good Luck, Have Fun at our gallery in historic downtown Charlotte Amalie. That exhibition—centered on Braswell’s richly layered airbrushed works created during her time in St. Croix—marked a powerful moment in our programming. It brought together elements of humor, fantasy, and digital aesthetics with remarkable precision, and culminated in the duo’s immersive presence during the show’s final production stages between multiple islands. Show production challenged our expectations in regard to logistics, forcing us to plan unique art handling transport between St Croix and St Thomas. Due to the extremely delicate nature of the artwork, every detail in this process was carefully evaluated before execution. This set the tone for Good Luck, Have Fun, culminating in incredible gallery patron feedback, not just for the artwork itself, but for the quality of presentation we pushed ourselves to achieve. As a gallery with four years of curatorial experience, Good Luck, Have Fun was the first show where we heard a guest say, “this is truly a museum quality immersive experience…”
Working with these artists revealed a rare combination of discipline and irreverence, structure and spontaneity. Their practice not only challenges the boundaries between mediums—painting, video, installation—but also calls attention to the emotional and surreal layers embedded in everyday life. We have witnessed the positive influence this team has had on many artists in the Virgin Islands community, not just through their artworks, but by their generous nature of social engagement rooted in celebrating ideas and artistic purpose with others.
Krankie continues that trajectory. It expands the cinematic tone and collaborative spirit we saw forming during Good Luck, Have Fun, and channels it into a new visual language that feels equally nostalgic, uncanny, and hyper-aware.
Now based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Emily and Jenna represent a growing movement of Caribbean-based artists whose practices transcend geography. As a St. Thomas-based art and education organization, 81C Arts are committed to supporting and amplifying this energy—ensuring that voices from this region are seen, heard, and celebrated on international stages.
We encourage our audiences and partners to follow Krankie, engage with this new body of work, and continue supporting the unique vision of these artists. Their dedication, inventiveness, and collaborative chemistry are vital contributions to contemporary art today.
-Zack Zook, Executive Director, 81C Arts
More Info:
strawberriemilk and warmmilkwithsugar can be followed on instagram:
Healing Hands Worldwide, Inc. (HHW) is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated All White Sunset Sail Affair, taking place on Saturday, June 14, from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.aboard the luxurious Lady Lynsey. This exclusive evening will feature an unforgettable sunset cruise, gourmet cuisine, premium cocktails, live entertainment, amidst a breathtaking Caribbean backdrop — all in support of HHW’s life-changing global initiatives.
Althea Hewitt (Submitted photo)
In a major highlight of the evening, along with St. Thomas’ very own popular Top Notch Band, internationally acclaimed recording artist Althea Hewitt will perform live, bringing her signature blend of reggae, pop, R&B, and jazz from Kingston, Jamaica, to the Virgin Islands for this special occasion. With a career spanning performances across Europe, North and South America, and the Pacific Islands, Althea has captivated audiences worldwide with her dynamic voice and heartfelt lyrics. Known for hits like “Boom Boom Boom,” “Unconditional Love,” and “My Black Is Strong,” her powerful presence will elevate the night to an unforgettable experience.
“This event is more than just a celebration; it is a movement of generosity and compassion,” said Dr. Erole McLean Hobdy, Founder of Healing Hands Worldwide, Inc. “Every ticket purchased helps us provide medical care and educational support to those who need it most. We are thrilled to bring our community together for a night of purpose and elegance.”
A Night of Giving & Glamour
Departing from the WICO Guest Dock (adjacent to Yacht Haven Grande) in St. Thomas, this exclusive fundraiser directly benefits Healing Hands Worldwide, Inc., a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing no cost chemotherapy treatment to uninsured women fighting breast cancer in the U.S.V.I., Jamaica and Ghana with no means to finance their care, as well high achieving students in under-served areas with academic scholarships, mentorship and enrichment.
Guests are encouraged to dress in elegant, all-white, nautically inspired attire and enjoy a night of mingling with fellow supporters, dancing under the stars, and contributing to a cause that transforms lives.
Tickets Are Now Officially Live! Limited Availability – Don’t Wait!
Tickets are available now via the Healing Hands Worldwide website: www.hhworldwide.org. With limited quantities available, guests are encouraged to secure their spots early.
Ticket Pricing:
Individual Ticket: $250
Couples Tickets: $450
“Our Sunset Sail Affair is an opportunity for attendees to enjoy an exquisite evening while making a tangible impact on global health initiatives and the lives of our promising young people,” said Karen Nelson-Hughes, Executive Director of Healing Hands Worldwide, Inc. “We are deeply grateful to our performers, sponsors and guests for their unwavering commitment to our mission.”
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:
Healing Hands Worldwide extends heartfelt appreciation to our Signature Sponsor: RED Hospitality & Leisure (Cruz Bay Watersports) for their generous sponsorship and ongoing support of our life-saving work, as well as Bronze Sponsor: Southland Gaming of the Virgin Islands, and Community Partner Sponsor: Aperatureimages.
Don’t miss your chance to sail for a cause and experience an evening of elegance, entertainment, and philanthropy. Secure your tickets today, support a global mission, and prepare for a night to remember.
For more information, sponsorship opportunities, or to purchase tickets, visit www.hhworldwide.org.
About Healing Hands Worldwide
Healing Hands Worldwide, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing medical assistance and educational support to underserved communities in the Caribbean and Africa. Through its initiatives, HHW ensures that uninsured cancer patients receive life-saving chemotherapy and that promising young students from disadvantaged backgrounds have the opportunity to complete their education.
The V.I. Water and Power Authority Governing Board convened a regular meeting on Thursday in Sunny Isle to vote on contracts related to its overhaul of the territory’s advanced metering infrastructure and water system. (Screenshot from Teams Meeting)
The V.I. Water and Power Authority Governing Board decided Thursday that a project management contract overseeing the utility’s advanced metering infrastructure replacement needed more consideration.
“This contract basically is to augment our team to be able to make sure that what we have contracted with Itron – and the way it has been designed and laid out — is the way it’s installed and implemented, and that it works in the manner that we expect it to work,” WAPA Chief Executive Officer Karl Knight explained Thursday. The project is 98 percent federally funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mechanical engineer Star Matthew said the utility’s selection committee landed on Witt O’Brien’s and also considered bids from 4Liberty, Utilities One and Solved Engineering, which was disqualified for submitting an incomplete proposal.
WAPA evaluated the cost of its AMI replacement at $7,510,000, and 4Liberty quoted $3.42 million — less than half of WAPA’s estimate. Matthew said their proposal was strong with respect to the terms of the utility’s request for proposals but that the cost discrepancy “raised concerns that they may have overlooked key elements, resulting in unanticipated costs once the project commences.”
Utility One’s bid was dramatically lower at $200,000, but Matthew said their proposal did not cover the full timeline of the project and noted that the company’s past experience was in water, not electric, meter deployment.
Witt O’Brien’s bid was closer to $9 million, including nearly $1.34 million in travel costs.
“Overall, they had the most combined experience in project management and AMI subject matter,” she said. The company received a final evaluation score of 450, 11 points more than 4Liberty.
Board Secretary Juanita Young pressed Matthew on whether Witt O’Brien’s past experience with AMI deployment belonged to them or to their partnering firm, Z2Solutions. Matthew said both have project management experience and that Z2Solutions had worked in advanced metering infrastructure.
Witt O’Brien’s “didn’t specify any AMI projects that they have done — just project management in general,” Matthew said.
Young asked if the utility could find out from Witt O’Brien’s directly.
“My concern here is that they’ve chosen a partner that really is the one that has the skillset and has the history and has the street cred, and they’re just kind of tagging along for the ride,” she said.
At that point, Knight jumped in to note that Witt O’Brien’s had a long history of partnering with subject matter experts to tackle disaster recovery and emergency management projects in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“So a lot of the subject matter expertise does rely on their partners, but of course, they do bring to the table some of the general experience of navigating federal funding — and just the overall management — and navigating the landscape in the U.S. Virgin Islands,” he said. “They’ve had a presence here going back to Irma and Maria, and they’ve — when you look at their team, a lot of this portion of their team is actually based out of the U.S. Virgin Islands, so they have quite a bit of knowledge of the landscape.”
At least one former government official has intimated that Witt O’Brien’s might be a little too familiar with the landscape of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Darin Richardson, former chief operating officer for the V.I. Housing Finance Authority, was convicted in March in part for his role in awarding a lumber management contract to Island Services Group. Among the evidence the government presented at trial was a memo written by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development special agent following an interview with Richardson.
Asked during the interview about ISG’s inflated billings, Richardson said it’s “the same thing that Witt O’Brien [sic] does,” according to the memo. At one point during the interview, Richardson reportedly said that the only time he felt pressured to do something he was uncomfortable with during his tenure at VIHFA was when he was asked to sign off on a Witt O’Brien’s work plan. According to the HUD special agent’s notes, the request was made by V.I. Disaster Recovery Office Director Adrienne Williams-Octalien, who allegedly told Richardson that Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. would be upset if he refused to sign. Richardson went on to describe Witt O’Brien’s as “controlling” everything and said they were benefiting from the territory’s federal disaster recovery funding.
“WOB is being overpaid for its services or work that could easily be done by USVI departmental employees,” the special agent wrote, adding that Richardson “thinks this is incompetence on the part of USVI executive leadership.”
The board’s decision to table the matter came after it approved two other contracts related to the utility’s AMI replacement. The first was a $427,350 purchase of 140 composite poles from Trideo and the second was a $242,500 cost increase with Barkley Technologies.
The board also approved two federally funded waterline replacement contracts.
One was a more than $2.72 million contract with Island Road Corp. to rehabilitate the waterline in Mahogany Estate on St. Thomas. Mechanical engineer La’ron Henry said the project entails replacing 2,705 feet of 60-year-old iron pipe with PVC. The rehabilitation is funded through a Drinking Water Capital Improvement Grant administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources. The utility is also hiring a grant-funded archaeologist to ensure that a historic grave site just outside the project’s boundary limit remains undisturbed.
A $3,177,800 waterline rehabilitation project in Blackbeard Hill — also with Island Roads Corp. — was also approved. That project will involve replacing 3,240 feet of ductile iron pipe with PVC.
“That pipeline was installed in 1950,” Knight noted. “It’s 75 years old — older than any employee currently employed by the Water and Power Authority. So when people ask about water and ask about water loss in the system, it’s because I still have pipes that go back to the 1950s that we’re now changing out. So it’s not rocket science, it’s not Seven Seas, it’s not anything that we’re doing. It’s the age of the system, and the only solution is to replace these aging pipes.”
Each waterline services approximately one hundred WAPA customers and both projects are expected to take half a year.
The board also approved a no-cost time extension to its contract with Arcadis for consultant work related to an EPA consent decree mandating WAPA’s compliance with federal air pollution and control requirements at the St. Thomas power plant. The contract was set to expire on May 30 but was extended to Nov. 30.
Project Management Director Maxwell George said WAPA still has around $150,000 left to spend on the contract and that Arcadis’s services will be needed during upcoming negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department and the EPA.
“If things go well, which I’m confident that things are going to go well with the EPA and DOJ in the coming weeks, then we would come in below that one-fifty [thousand],” he said. “If, for whatever reason, EPA and DOJ feel that we need to extend that and show, demonstrate … more compliance with anything — currently I don’t see anything outstanding but … I can’t speak for the agencies — then I may be back here again in a couple of months asking you for more money. I just have to be straightforward.”
An aerial photo of Caneel Bay Resort shows the destruction following the 2017 hurricanes. (Photo courtesy NPS)
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a V.I. District Court ruling that Caneel Bay on St. John belongs to the U.S. government and not EHI Acquisitions, the company that managed the property and its once-tony resort under an agreement with the National Park Service.
In a remarkably brief opinion — one paragraph total — the appellate court’s three-judge panel said Wednesday it could add little to the analysis of Judge Cheryl Ann Krause whose summary judgment last April prompted EHI’s appeal.
Krause, a circuit judge, was assigned to the case in December 2023 after V.I. District Court Chief Judge Robert Molloy was removed without explanation.
At issue in the lawsuit brought by EHI Acquisitions in June 2022 was whether the resort on 150 acres of prime St. John beachfront real estate belonged to EHI, which managed the property under an agreement known as a Retained Use Estate, or to the federal government after the RUE expired on Sept. 30, 2023.
The RUE was created in 1983 by Laurance Rockefeller, who donated some 5,000 acres of land to the National Park Service but reserved the Caneel Bay property for the Jackson Hole Preserve, the family’s land trust. Under the agreement, the preserved land was transferred to the NPS with the understanding the RUE — also known as the 1983 Indenture — would remain in place for 40 years. The resort has been managed by different entities since then, the latest being EHI Acquisitions, an affiliate of CBI Acquisitions.
The question in the District Court case, and that the appeals court pondered when it heard oral arguments May 2 on St. Croix, is whether language in the RUE obligated the federal government to pay EHI for its improvements to the property since 2004; whether it reverted to EHI because the Interior Department rejected its 2019 offer to relinquish the RUE for $70 million after the resort was destroyed by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017; or whether it belongs to the NPS free and clear.
Krause was unequivocal in her 20-page Memorandum Opinion and Order granting the United States’ motion for a summary judgment that the language of the 1983 Indenture makes clear that the property and its improvements were to be given back to the government at the expiration of the RUE for a nominal consideration of $1.
Noting that the dispute between EHI and the United States hinged on the meaning of the word “offer” as it is used in the Indenture, she wrote that “Examining the plain language of Paragraph 8 in the context of the whole Indenture, we are convinced that this meaning was entirely philanthropic.”
On Wednesday, the appeals court agreed.
“In her well-reasoned and thorough opinion, Judge Krause explained why EHI is not entitled to relief and why the Defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” Judge Theodore A. McKee wrote for the panel that included Judges L. Felipe Restrepo and Arianna J. Freeman.
“As Judge Krause detailed, even if the relevant indenture is ambiguous, extrinsic evidence makes the result clear. We can add little to Judge Krause’s analysis and discussion, and we will therefore affirm the District Court’s order substantially for the reasons set forth in that opinion,” McKee concluded.
The Source reached out to Patrick Kidd, Caneel Bay’s marketing director under EHI, the National Park Service on St. John, and the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park and was still awaiting comment at press time.
NOAA is forecasting an above-normal 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season. (Photo courtesy NOAA)
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is shaping up to be potentially busy, with forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting above-average tropical activity during the organization’s official outlook released Thursday.
“NOAA’s outlook for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which goes from June 1 to November 30, predicts a 30 percent chance of a near-normal season, a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season, and a 10 percent chance of a below-normal season,” according to information posted to NOAA’s official website.
“The agency is forecasting a range of 13 to 19 total named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, six to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher, including three to five major hurricanes of category 3, 4, or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher. NOAA has a 70 percent confidence in these ranges,” NOAA continued.
Why Does NOAA Expect a Busy 2025 Hurricane Season?
NOAA explained the following reasons for increased tropical development this year, such as anomalously warm water temperatures across the Atlantic Ocean and the potential for reduced wind shear due to the current cycle of the “El Niño-Southern Oscillation.”
A graphic from the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, shows the number of predicted cyclones this year and hurricane names for the 2025 season. (Photo courtesy NWS)
“The season is expected to be above normal due to a confluence of factors, including continued ENSO-neutral conditions, warmer than average ocean temperatures, forecasts for weak wind shear, and the potential for higher activity from the West African Monsoon, a primary starting point for Atlantic hurricanes. All of these elements tend to favor tropical storm formation,” NOAA said.
“The high activity era continues in the Atlantic Basin, featuring high heat content in the ocean and reduced trade winds. The higher-heat content provides more energy to fuel storm development, while weaker winds allow the storms to develop without disruption.
“This hurricane season also features the potential for a northward shift of the West African monsoon, producing tropical waves that seed some of the strongest and most long-lived Atlantic storms,” NOAA explained.
A previous Source article explained that, during a La Niña cycle, the ocean waters across the equatorial Pacific Ocean cool significantly, affecting global weather. During La Niña, wind shear – a change in wind direction and velocity with height in the atmosphere – also typically decreases in the Atlantic Ocean. A reduction in wind shear can favor cyclone development. This pattern is the opposite of El Niño, a warming of the equatorial Pacific, which usually increases wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean, helping to rip apart storms and prevent hurricane formation and intensification.
“Scientists call [the two opposing climate patterns of El Niño and La Niña] the ‘El Niño-Southern Oscillation’ cycle. El Niño and La Niña can both have global impacts on weather, wildfires, ecosystems, and economies,” according to NOAA.
A neutral phase of ENSO occurs when neither El Niño nor La Niña is happening, and this phase may occur during at least part of this year’s hurricane season, helping to reduce wind shear and prime the atmosphere for cyclones to develop.
“ENSO-neutral refers to periods when neither El Niño nor La Niña is present,” according to information from the NWS. “These periods often coincide with the transition between El Niño and La Niña events. During ENSO-neutral periods, the ocean temperatures, tropical rainfall patterns, and atmospheric winds over the equatorial Pacific Ocean are near the long-term average,” the NWS explained.
DaSilva explained the phases of ENSO, including how an ENSO-neutral phase could still result in favorable conditions for cyclonic development.
“La Niña conditions may still linger in the early part of the tropical season; however, a transition to ENSO-neutral by summer is expected,” DaSilva explained. “The neutral phase ENSO is then forecast to continue through most of the hurricane season,” he continued.
“While La Niña typically yields a more active hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean due to less frequent vertical wind shear, the neutral phase of ENSO can also contribute to an active season but to a lesser extent,” DaSilva cautioned.
“Research has found that La Niña and neutral years are usually very close in the number of storms that each phase can produce, with La Niña years typically producing the most cyclones,” DaSilva stated.
“At this point, we are leaning toward either ENSO remaining neutral for a majority of the season or a weak La Niña to form in the late summer or fall,” DaSilva said. “A transition into an El Niño this hurricane season seems unlikely,” he continued.
Preparing for Hurricane Season
NOAA’s press briefing emphasized the importance of hurricane preparedness. Ken Graham, director of the NWS, urged the public not to focus solely on a hurricane’s category but on the potential impacts. He noted that every Category 5 hurricane that struck the United States in recorded history was classified as a tropical storm or even less intense just three days before landfall as a major hurricane.
Hurricane season officially begins on June 1. Residents and visitors across the region are encouraged to act now to be prepared well ahead of any storms. (Photo courtesy NOAA)
“Every Category 5 storm to ever hit this country was a tropical storm or less three days prior,” Graham stressed. “The big ones that hit this country are fast,” he warned.
During Thursday’s press conference, NOAA provided information regarding updates to forecasting tools, including details about tropical outlooks that will now be issued up to three weeks into the future.
“NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center’s Global Tropical Hazards Outlook, which provides advance notice of potential tropical cyclone risks, has been extended from two weeks to three weeks to provide additional time for preparation and response,” NOAA stated.
Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis provides an update on measles during the first in a series of bimonthly news briefings centered on health and human services. (Source file photo)
Thursday marked the launch of a new, twice-monthly news briefing, which Government House Communications Director Richard Motta Jr. said the briefings will include updates from the departments of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Tai Hunte-Ceaser, chief medical officer for the Health Department, said DOH has two major initiatives planned “that speak to the mission of improving access to health care, not just for individuals and families, but for the broader community.”
“That includes the animals we care for and cherish,” she said.
First, the territory’s annual Health and Wellness Fair will return to offer Virgin Islanders free services, including:
Health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, A1C, STIs and HIV
Pap smears, HPV screening and breast exams for women
Digital rectal exams for men
Vaccinations for children and adults
Back-to-school physicals for students
Behavioral health services like screening for anxiety and depression
The fair will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on the following dates.
June 2-6 at the St. Croix Educational Complex
June 9-12 at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School
June 13 at the Morris F. deCastro Clinic
Last summer’s fair was supported by the U.S. Defense Department’s Innovative Readiness Training Program, which brought more than 300 health care professionals and support staff to the territory. Hunte-Ceasar said Thursday that while the full IRT contingent will not be returning this year, they are sending a veterinary unit to provide services at no cost to pet owners at the Humane Society of St. Thomas from June 17-28. Appointments are required. The veterinary team is also expected to work with the St. Thomas Horse Racing Association and Coral World Ocean Park.
“This is truly a unique deployment that promotes health, compassion and collaboration across species, and we are deeply grateful to IRT and our local partners for making it possible,” she said. “We look forward to welcoming the IRT program to St. Croix in 2026 to continue this important work.”
Hunte-Ceasar said the Health Department is also planning to conclude Mental Health Awareness Month with a wellness walk at 2 p.m. on May 31, beginning at Claude O. Markoe Elementary School and ending at Buddhoe Park.
Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis then took the podium to update the territory on efforts to safeguard the territory from the resurgence of measles in the continental United States.
To date, Ellis said there have been 1,024 confirmed cases reported across 31 states and 14 outbreaks in 2025. Three people have died, including two children. In nearly all cases — 96 percent — people who have contracted measles are either unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown, she said. Children under five account for 30 percent of reported cases.
“In the U.S. Virgin Islands, our greatest concern is the fact that more than 50 percent of the children under age six are unvaccinated for measles,” she said. “That leaves a large portion of our youngest population at high risk.”
That statistic, Ellis said, is what prompted the Health Department last week to mail 500 letters to parents who previously requested vaccine exemptions for their children, strongly urging them to reconsider.
“Why does this matter? Well first, measles is extremely contagious,” Ellis said Thursday. “One infected person can spread the virus to 10-12 others. Additionally, an infected person — once they leave a room, that room can be contagious to others that walk into it for two hours. It’s incredibly contagious.”
Ellis said measles is also potentially fatal, and complications include pneumonia, encephalitis, or brain swelling, hearing loss, and death. Measles is also preventable, Ellis said, and the MRR is 97 percent effective after two doses.
Ellis stressed that the territory has not had a confirmed measles case to date, “and with your help, we can keep it that way.”
