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Welcome to the 17th edition of the Monday Digest, where we provide you with excerpts of the weekend's stories to help you start your Monday informed. Let's got to it.
St. Croix Leads Covid-19 cases with 87 Active Infections
The V.I. Department of Health reported Saturday 179 active cases of Covid-19, with St. Croix leading the confirmed infections with 87. St. Thomas followed with 56 and St. John with 36.
D.O.H. has blamed the spike in confirmed cases on Thanksgiving gatherings the department said were held in contravention to its and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations.
Limpricht Park Tree-Lighting Event Keeps Christmas Tradition Alive in Covid-19 Era
This year's Limpricht Park tree-lighting affair, titled "Ah Crucian Chandelier of Lights" presented by the Christiansted Community Alliance, served as, if anything, a reminder that though the world is currently dominated by Covid-19 and its many impacts on everyday life, life and the many traditions observed — including the biggest of them all: Christmas — must go on. The event was held virtually and carried on a number of platforms, including ours. Watch it below.
V.I. Department of Tourism Launches Successful Online Shopping Party
The online experience was designed for local businesses in the territory to promote their products and services to both on- and off-island shoppers. The first of three events took place Saturday evening and was carried live on VI Consortium and the USVI Division of Festivals Facebook pages, and featured DJ Slick and the Xpress Band. Watch it here.
VIGL Abandons Horse Racing Deal After Years of Roadblocks
VIGL, in an opinion submitted to the Consortium Friday, detailed why it was abandoning an agreement it signed in 2016 under the Mapp administration to build two new horse racing facilities in the USVI, one on St. Croix and the other in St. Thomas.
Here's an excerpt from the opinion: "Years of interference and delays caused by government and private obstruction, specifically on St. Thomas, has prohibited VIGL from commencing the desperately needed reconstruction of the tracks. As an example, the CZM review and approval process on St. Thomas took 327 days from the time that we received our letter of completeness to the day that the Chairman of the CZM committee signed the permit which was itself 4 months after the CZM permit was approved in a public hearing."
In other news, the World Ocean School announced Friday the launch of its 14th St. Croix season. The school will offer sunset sails aboard Roseway out of Christiansted Harbor starting on Tuesday, December 15; the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel & Tourism Association and St. Croix Hotel & Tourism Association, along with the Puerto Rico branch of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and Silver Airways/Seaborne distributed 3,500 toys to children in ten housing communities on St. Croix Dec. 5 and six housing communities on St. Thomas Dec. 6; the V.I.P.D. advised the general public of a Social Security-related telephone scam being perpetuated on residents in the territory; and UVI held its virtual 2020 commencement ceremony on Friday, where more than 370 degrees were distributed.
The 16th edition of the Monday Digest is here.
