TWO RIVERS, Wisc. — Two city line workers and a utility bucket truck departed Wisconsin Dec. 9 bound for St. Croix  along with line workers from municipal utilities in Marshfield, Rice Lake, Arcadia, Fennimore, Clintonville and Reedsburg. Head lineman Brian Dellemann and expert lineman Darrick Wendricks are part of a Wisconsin

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Julio Rhymer is out at WAPA! That’s the startling unconfirmed report the Virgin Islands Free Press got early today. The embattled Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority CEO Rhymer has struggled to connect 50 percent of the territory to electricity more than three months after Hurricane Irma

SUPERIOR TALENT: Jamaican crews have been putting their noses to the grindstone to ensure that citizens of the British Virgin Islands do not spend Christmas in the dark. In the USVI, there was a rumor today that WAPA has fired CEO Julio Rhymer because of his performance after the storms.

CHRISTIANSTED — Some 40 percent of small businesses never reopen after a disaster, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) To help small businesses, loans are available from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA also can lend money to homeowners and renters hurt by disasters such as Hurricanes

  BRIDGETOWN — Caribbean hoteliers should plan now for an increase in insurance premiums anticipated to range from 10 to 40 percent following two Category 5 hurricanes, which struck several destinations in the region in September. Scott Stollmeyer, Managing Director, Barbados and Eastern Caribbean for CGM Gallagher Insurance Brokers, made

TALLAHASSEE — Public power personnel from four Florida municipal electric utilities headed to the territory last week to assist with ongoing power restoration efforts after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) said. “After Hurricane Irma tore through nearly the whole state, Florida utilities were the grateful beneficiaries of

CHRISTIANSTED — Orbitel, a local Internet service provider based on St. Croix, is going out of business for good. The company, which for years had provided high-speed fiber Internet service to commercial concerns, only recently began to offer residential service to customers. The closure of Orbitel had been the source

CHRISTIANSTED — Speaking at a news conference hosted by Acting Governor Osbert Potter this week, Executive Director Julio Rhymer, Sr. thanked WAPA’s employees, along with the on and off-island contractors, and the public who continue to support the ongoing restoration of electrical service across the territory. Rhymer reported that the build-out of

TOXIC RESORT: Sirenusa Resort’s Villa Capri in St. John cost multiple thousands of dollars per day to stay there before the methyl bromide accident — now it is $150 per night. CRUZ BAY — A pest control company will pay more than $9 million in criminal fines tied to the use

SMELL TEST: Experts in the field said Whitefish significantly over-inflated its fees, almost 17 times the average salary of Puerto Rico-based linemen. SAN JUAN — The Montana energy company that was awarded a contract to repair Puerto Rico’s power grid in the wake of Hurricane Maria is facing scrutiny over the amount