CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Five months after Hurricane Irma shredded the roof of his house, Charles Caines feels like he’s “living in a tent in the jungle.” Sleeping under a FEMA blue tarp draped on the roof’s steel beams, he and his wife are fending off lizards, frogs, rats and mosquitoes

SAN JUAN — Four months after Hurricane María blasted Puerto Rico with 155-mph winds, the island remains in crisis—a humanitarian disaster that a new paper published in open-access journal Frontiers in Communications argues is as much to blame on U.S. energy colonialism as it is on the hurricane itself. Four months after

APT ATTENTION: Rep. Richard Neal (right) and Rep. Jim McGovern hear what needs to happen in Puerto Rico. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts congressman has asked Trump administration officials to provide an update on the federal government’s efforts to restore electricity and other basic services in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto

By ACTING ASSISTANT U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION JASON BOTEL SPECIAL TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS FREE PRESS Two trips to the U.S. Virgin Islands opened my eyes to the enormity of the challenges students, educators and families there face, and what lies ahead to reverse the impact of

CHRISTIANSTED — In an effort to assist individuals in the territory to take charge of their health, the USVI Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with the New York State Nursing Association and the Virgin Islands State Nurses Association (VISNA), will be providing a mobile medical clinic in various communities

BOSTON — The state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation is pressing federal officials on efforts to address mental health challenges in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. In a letter Friday to Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Elinore McCance-Katz, the 11-member delegation, led by

GIVING BACK: Oakland A’s starting pitcher Jharel Cotton of St. Thomas helps out the less fortunate at My Brother’s Table in Charlotte Amalie after Hurricane Irma. OAKLAND — Several weeks before his wedding, Oakland Athletic’s starter Jharel Cotton and his fiancee went on a trip to the Virgin Islands, but

SAN JUAN — Maintenance operations conducted as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers temporary emergency power mission in Puerto Rico are keeping nearly 1,000 federal emergency power generators running at critical public facilities across the island. The generators help power lifesaving facilities such as fire stations and medical centers,

WELLINGTON — A fundraiser last week in Florida brought in some big money for hurricane relief in the British Virgin Islands. The Thursday event was co-hosted by Palm Beach Travel, the British Virgin Islands Tourism Board, Lamborghini and The Moorings. At least 50 guests packed the International Polo Club Palm Beach

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands — Elderly homes on Tortola and Virgin Gorda will soon undergo needed emergency repairs to their structures which sustained extensive damage following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The repair works are being funded by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Health Emergency Department and