This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

🌱 COVID Testing For VI Students And Staff + Hurricane Forecast

The quickest way to get caught up on news, events and more in the USVI.

Public school students and staff will be tested for COVID-19 before returning to in-person classes, and we may be in for a heavy-hitting hurricane season. Those stories and more:

  • VI Dept. of Education announced a testing mandate for all public school students and school employees, regardless of vaccination status. The Department of Health will begin testing students and staff on Wednesday, via Virgin Islands Daily News.
  • Early indicators suggest that the 20222 hurricane season will see above-average activity. This early forecast comes from the Colorado State University (CSU) Tropical Meteorology Project, via the VI Consortium.
  • A bankruptcy judge denied the St. Croix Energy group's request to delay the bankruptcy sale of St. Croix’s refinery from Limetree Bay to the Jamaican company West Indies Petroleum Ltd, via the Virgin Islands Daily news.
  • The Coral Bay Community Council is asking the community to share their stories and memories of the East End School and the original schoolhouse at the Guy Benjamin School. CBCC is collecting the stories and documenting the schools' role in St. John culture and education, via The Source.
  • US Virgin Islands Weather Forecast For The Week Ahead, via US Virgin Islands Patch.

Doing a "Dry January" or just looking for a flavorful alternative to regular cocktails? Here's a suggestion: try a non-alcoholic drink from our partners at Betera. Created by an award-winning chef from natural botanicals, Betera’s drinks come in 3 flavors — Ginger-Orange, Elderflower-Lime and Rhubarb-Hibiscus. We tried Ginger-Orange, and it was excellent — lightly effervescent, floral with a hint of bitterness and the sippability of a cocktail.

Find out what's happening in US Virgin Islandsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Betera is offering readers of the Daily a 15% discount on their first order: use PATCH15 at checkout. Highly recommended — you can try Betera here.


Today's weather: Partly sunny. High: 84 Low: 75.

Find out what's happening in US Virgin Islandsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Today's Events:

  • Adult Morning Clay Play with Sara Lee Hayes at CMCarts (10:00 a.m.)
  • Conversations with AARP VI with guest Tregenza Roach, VI Lieutenant Governor (11 a.m.)

Social Highlights:

  • Government House - US Virgin Islands: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr joined St. Croix Centenarian Paul Lewis at his home Sunday to celebrate Lewis' 103rd birthday. Mr. Lewis, who is most popularly known as "Mr. Frank" by members of the St. Croix community and his church congregati..." (Facebook)

Liking these emails? Here are 3 ways you can get more involved:

Ashleigh Baldwin

About me: I'm the Patch Community News Editor for the U.S. Virgin Islands. I'm here to provide news you can use. Do you have a news tip, question or feedback? Please contact me at ashleigh.baldwin@patch.com.

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from US Virgin Islands