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Welcome to the fifth edition of "The Monday Digest", a new series on VI Consortium that helps our readers start the week with excerpts of stories that occurred over the weekend.
Over 5,000 Virgin Islanders are already receiving their news directly from our app, and we're inviting you to join the march to 10,000 downloads!
Here are the top weekend headlines:
Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sets Up Epic Battle
If you thought 2020 couldn't pack anymore surprises into a year already overflowing with them, you placed your bet wrong. With the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Americans have gotten their October surprise early. President Trump has vowed to move swiftly in nominating a justice to replace Ginsburg as early as this week, and Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, has said he would move forward with a confirmation vote before the election. Expect fireworks.
'This Too Shall Pass' Tops 100,000 Views in Day and a Half on VI Consortium
With the coronavirus taking a heavy toll on Virgin Islanders, the song "This Too Shall Pass", published on the Consortium's Facebook platform on Friday night, has garnered well over 100,000 views, strengthening a belief that people are craving good news and feel-good content after being whiplashed by a pandemic that is still ongoing.
More data: as of Monday morning, the video had reached more than 184,000 people, had over 3,000 shares and over 400 comments. The video is a well-produced piece of work by a wide array of Virgin Islands talent.
Moment of Pride for Territory as UVI is Ranked #7 Among Southern Regional Colleges
The news resulted in graduates of their alma mater rejoicing online, stating that the placement by U.S. News & World Report was further confirmation of their belief that the institution of higher learning is an excellent place to learn.
VI Legislature Employees Start Work Today at New, Fancy Building
No more paying rent, says VI Legislature Asst. Exec. Dir. James McNamara, who guided the construction process of the new Legislature building on St. Croix. The facility near Five Corners was purchased for $975,000, and it cost taxpayers $3.7 million to rebuild. Beginning Monday, all Legislature employees on the island will move to their new offices, including senators. The work was performed by VIVOT/Eleven Construction. Have a look inside here, and see the well, where hearings will be held, here.
Police Arrest One of Two Suspects in Weekend Heist
The incident occurred at the St. Thomas Waterfront jewelry store, Gold Corner, on Saturday morning, with employees stating that the suspects stormed the facility with firearms. At least one employee was assaulted while the others were threatened. Police managed to arrest one of the two suspects Saturday afternoon, after setting up what the police force described as a dragnet. Full story is here.
Senators Say Yes to Bryan's Risky, Controversial Debt Refinancing Deal
Lawmakers Thursday night voted Yes to give Governor Bryan the authority to refinance the territory's bonds, in a risky move that some say will cost the territory dearly in the years to come. In essence, as part of the deal, during Governor Bryan's remaining first term in office, the territory pays no debt service while receiving $85 million every year for the next three years for a total of $255 million, according to a chart provided by the administration. Thereafter, beginning in 2034 until 2039, the structure sees the escalation of dissavings from $14 million to $63 million for a total of roughly $297 million in dissavings. All this even as the government makes annual debt service payments from 2024 to 2039 amounting to roughly $1 billion.
Voting Yes: Allison DeGazon, Donna Frett-Gregory, Alicia Barnes, Myron Jackson, Stedmann Hodge, Athneil Thomas, Steven Payne, and Marvin Blyden.
Voting No: Kurt Vialet, Janelle Sarauw, Javan James, Kenneth Gittens, Dwayne DeGraff and Okland Benta.
In other news, the V.I. Department of Health reported 37 cases of the coronavirus in total last week ending Friday (12 additional cases were reported Saturday), though the low number can be attributed to a drop in testing; the CDC dropped its controversial guideline that said people didn’t need to get tested for Covid-19 if they didn’t feel sick. The CDC reverted to a guideline that calls on anyone who has been in close contact with an infected person to get tested. Lastly, a kidnapping and bank robbery attempt led police on high-speed chase on St. Croix, but the suspect managed to escape.
