FORT-DE-FRANCE – The media in Martinique is reporting the “very rare” phenomenon of hailstones falling there. According to news outlet France-Antilles, the event took place on Monday afternoon mainly in the areas of François and Lamentin, much to the surprise of residents. “The Franciscans have received a shower of hailstones on

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Government House said that Governor Kenneth Mapp left to go Puerto Rico today. Sandra Goomansingh, the official spokeswoman for Mapp, said today that the reason for the visit was “a personal trip.” In Mapp’s absence, Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter will serve as Acting Governor through Thursday, April

FREDERIKSTED — Kendra Kent won the coveted title of Miss University of the Virgin Islands on Saturday April 14, at the St. Croix Educational Complex Gymnasium on St. Croix. Kent won the ambassadorial competition after competing against two other contestants. In addition to the crown, Kent, a 21-year-old junior criminal

SAN DIEGO — Two California-based Coast Guard petty officers were honored as the 2017 active-duty and reserve enlisted person of the year for the service’s Pacific Southwest region during a ceremony Thursday in Alameda. Petty Officer 2nd Class David Holland, an active-duty maritime enforcement specialist assigned to the Coast Guard Pacific

MIAMI — The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has released new footage aimed at disrupting drug trafficking operations in the Caribbean Sea. CBP said its Air and Marine Operations (AMO) and task force partners have intercepted “a succession of drug-laden vessels packed with thousands of pounds of cocaine

SAN JUAN — National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham and several U.S. hurricane specialists are making a tour to local airports in Mexico and the Caribbean to visit with residents of vulnerable communities and discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience, and how they can become “weather-ready.” They’ll conduct tours of the Air Force Reserve

SAN JUAN — The oversight board for Puerto Rico, created by Congress, will hold public hearings on Thursday and Friday to certify revised fiscal plans for the commonwealth, the board said today. The board is expected to approve plans for the commonwealth, as well as the island’s utility, Puerto Rico

CRUZ BAY — A Terminix employee has been charged in relation to 2015 pesticide use at a St. John resort that left a Delaware family gravely ill. Jose Rivera, 59, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for allegedly violating the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The indictment says

SAN JUAN — The federal government significantly underestimated the potential damage to Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria and relied too heavily on local officials and private-sector entities to handle the cleanup, according to a POLITICO review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s plan for the disaster. The plan, which was

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A Facebook clone of Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty is asking people in the Virgin Islands to apply for National Endowment for the Humanities grants, the Virgin Islands Free Press has learned. The scammer uses the same profile picture that Nicholson-Doty uses on Facebook, so it is nearly