Dear Editor,
Scientists and pharmaceutical companies around the world are hopeful that before long they may find an effective vaccine against COVID-19.
Figuring out a plan to shore up the Government Employees’ Retirement System (GERS) is going to take bold action by brave politicians. To date, few have stood ground acknowledging the nasty truth. And that truth is, there isn’t enough money to go around.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. has given the green light for Virgin Islanders to once again dine at their favorite restaurants and watering holes. Beginning Tuesday, bars and restaurants will be permitted to open their doors as part of a gradual restarting of the economy before the territory begins w…
Every few years, I write a column about the United States Postal Service. In 2009 I just about wrote it off. That year the Postal Service faced a $7 billion revenue shortfall, and 700 post offices were slated for closure.
There is a scene in the movie “The Color Purple” that is iconic. Sophia has charged across the farm and is confronting Ceile in the cornfield. She is hurt and angry and she feels betrayed by Celie’s actions against her.
Dealing with sudden, dramatic changes in life is anything but easy. Add in good doses of stress and uncertainty, and you have a recipe for a cake no one wants to eat. Right now, everyone, all over the world has been served a slice of that cake.
On March 25, 1718, some 36 years after the Danes established a permanent colony on the island of St. Thomas, they claimed St. John. However, it took five decades with heated political rhetoric, debts and contentious arguments between the British, Spanish and Denmark before the island of St. …
Dear Editor,
Today, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A thick, gooey sandwich. That’s not unusual for a grandmother of four. Truth be told, I have probably made hundreds of these sandwiches over the years. Today, however, it was different. Very much different in that I ate that sandwich down to …
What’s the difference between having someone (a) give you a massage, a haircut or a manicure or (b) give you a menu, put a dish of food and a drink on the table and take it all away when you’ve finished?
Growing up my mother touched me a lot. When we sat next to each other on the couch she would often reach out and pat my leg or put her arm around me and pull me close. It was rare to walk past her without her touching my face or smoothing my hair. From as young as I can remember she would ta…
A day will come when a vaccine is available, the World Health Organization confirms there are no new coronavirus cases, and our lives return to normal. When this will be is uncertain, but as the effects of the pandemic start to ease, governments and businesses everywhere have begun to consid…
Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of a three-part series on Caneel Bay Resort’s impact on St. John — an impact whose future is still unsettled.
Today, I thank God for all mothers.
As we celebrate a Mother’s Day unlike any other, I join the entire Virgin Islands in extending sincere greetings to all mothers in the Territory. We are reminded of the importance of a mother’s love, sacrifice, and strength.
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on Caneel Bay Resort’s impact on St. John — an impact whose future is still unsettled. Part 3 follows Monday.
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series on Caneel Bay Resort’s impact on St. John — an impact whose future is still unsettled. Parts 2 and 3 follow Saturday and Monday.
Completely changing a lifestyle is not easy. And complaining about it, when so many others have lost so much more, is not the way to go. Yet, when feeding your cat becomes the highlight of your day, you can’t help but feel a wee bit sorry for the old days.
Only four major sporting events, if you count the Westminster Kennel Club dog show as sport, have never been interrupted by civil strife, including the Great Depression, the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars. Both the dog show and the Rose Bowl have already been staged this year. That le…
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. has been holding multiple press briefings weekly to talk about how his administration is addressing the many issues in regard to the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of the people of the Virgin Islands. The governor is doing the best he can, and we as a people should sup…
What might the shape of post COVID-19 economic recovery look like? This is a question that almost every government and business is now exploring.
Nowhere on Governor Albert Bryan Jr.’s resume does it say he is an expert juggler.
It has been fascinating to see the change in the environment that has happened in cities and countries where there have been extended quarantines. It is clear as the blue skies over India that we have had a negative effect, and we can change our impact on the world enough for nature to heal …
With a worldwide pandemic throwing stability awry, Virgin Islanders are anxious. There’s no getting around the fact that uncertainty is causing stress. Adding to this fact, is that prior to the pandemic our community fiscal condition was already unsteady. The current situation, escalating ra…
The challenge that is now facing almost every Caribbean nation is how best to recover the tourism economy without which future economic growth and sustainable tax revenues will be all but impossible.
With the future of tourism uncertain, food processing plants closing on the U.S. mainland, and with it, ongoing concerns about supply lines and food security, is it time for the territory to really get serious about the business of agriculture?
Behold, a COVID-19 miracle!
Dear Editor,
It’s been hard for me, y’all. I am a hugger. I greet most people with some version of a hug. It’s just how I roll.
The British Virgin Islands’ leaders have kept a step — no, make that a leap — ahead of many other governments in protecting the people from the COVID-19 virus.
Dear Editor,
Recently, the Diamond Princess cruise ship with 3,700 passengers and crew was quarantined at Yokohama, Japan. Ultimately more than 450 passengers tested positive for the corona virus. This action affected all cruise ships arriving at various ports in Japan but did not adversely affect the Ja…
Editor’s Note: This is an open letter from Tonia Lovejoy, a live-aboard sailor and Development Director of the Friends of Virgin Islands National Park.
One of the intriguing features of the coronavirus pandemic is how sharply it has illuminated the importance of effective political leadership. Wherever we stand on the political spectrum, we’re looking to elected officials to help steer us through this crisis.
As you drive up the mountainside to get to my mother-in-law’s house you pass many craggy rock droppings that have become exposed over the years. One in particular, about halfway up, turns into a raging waterfall any time there is any significant rain. Whenever I see it I try to imagine how f…
In ordinary times our editors and reporters work had to bring readers stories affecting the community. The onset of COVID-19, however, has been anything but ordinary.
Suddenly, a few minutes after 1 p.m. Monday, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. closed all Virgin Islands beaches.
Missing each other, family and friends is one of the hardest things about the coronavirus.
With his selection over the weekend into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Tim Duncan — St. Croix’s favorite son — continues to bring honor not just to Crucians but to all Virgin Islanders. His record speaks for itself:
For Virgin Islanders who crave community, social distancing is difficult. Being affectionate and family oriented, visiting, eating, being on the beach and around others is as normal as taking a breath.
The Caribbean is about to experience a crisis of a kind that no one in the region or anywhere else in the world could have predicted.
Dear Editor,
“Thank you is the best prayer that anyone could say.”