CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Croix teenager got a welcome home celebration worthy of any hero. But Lowell Thomas, 13, isn’t just any young person on the Big Island. He struggles with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and survived a heart transplant in 2017. Thomas recently returned from a week-long Disney cruise to

WASHINGTON — A former Virgin Islands National Guard member was appointed a new civilian aide to the secretary of the U.S. Army this week. During a ceremony at the Pentagon on November 13, Beresford Edwards was given that distinction by Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy to represent the territory.

In Cadwell Turnbull’s sci-fi novel The Lesson, powerful aliens occupy the U.S. Virgin Islands. Turnbull, who grew up on St. Thomas, says he meets many people who have no idea that the territory even exists. “When I first went to Pittsburgh for my undergrad, I would talk to people about the

LONDON — Adrienne Williams-Octalien, Director of the USVI Office of Disaster Recovery, recently joined ambassadors from the United Kingdom, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Atlanta on a five-day collaborative experience focused on reinforcing economic and cultural ties between the two countries. The British Consulate-General

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Off The Rocks Rescue is hosting their inaugural fundraiser at host location Caribbean Fish Market, St. Thomas, on Saturday, November 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. A $30.00 donation includes two glasses of wine, compliments of Bellows International, two raffle tickets for a chance to win fabulous

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority (WAPA) has provided copies of the leases requested by Senator Kenneth Gittens, but he said that “they do little to alleviate concerns about the utility’s spending and management practices.”  “I do appreciate that WAPA’s CEO eventually provided additional information on

ATLANTA — The CDC says it’s making progress in the investigation into vaping lung injuries and deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this weekend that vitamin E acetate, in combination with THC may be to blame for the national outbreak of e-cigarette lung injuries. THC is the

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The U.S. Virgin Islands took another in a series of strategic moves designed to encourage economic development under the aegis of Governor Albert Bryan, Jr.  The expanded Hotel Development Bill, No 33-0104, signed into law on October 7 allows hotel developers to channel a percentage of room revenue to finance renovating existing

WASHINGTON — Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Doug Domenech and Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) Director Nik Pula will be in the U.S. Virgin Islands next week from November 12 – 14, the U.S. Interior Department said. Domenech and Pula will be on St. Croix and St.

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A man from the Philippines has been charged with threatening injury in order to induce sex from a woman, authorities said. United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert for the District of the Virgin Islands said today that a federal indictment has been handed down charging a Filipino