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Local News

James I. Rodgers Dies at 80

James I. Rodgers a.k.a. “Jimmy” of Estate Sion Farm transitioned into eternal life on Aug. 3, 2025. He was 80 years old.

He was preceded in death by his Mother, Leonile Rodgers; Father, Leonard Rodgers; Daughter: Renee Rodgers.

He is survived by his Wife, Doreen J. Rodgers; Daughter, Yuri Rodgers Milligan; Son-in-law, Erwin Milligan; Sons, Adopted sons: Sam Carr, Link Edwin, Kenny Elclock, Alvie James, Earl Morris, Ahmad Simone, Gary Scottland, Trevor Straker, Jason Tuitt; Grandchildren, Zaria Renee Rodgers, Taj James Milligan; Sisters, Lenore Rodgers, Sandra Rodgers; Brothers, Roy Rodgers, Leonard Rodgers; Nieces, Keisha Rodgers Barnett, Anita E, Nibbs, Kenisha T. Reefer, Kama Rodgers, Lalerah M. and Leonarda Rodgers, Evelyn Ayala and Joycelyn Fleming; Nephews, Shawn Smith, Rupert Reefer, Asher Ritter, Jimmy Fleming and Russell E. Rodgers; Great Nieces, Ta’Jhanique Cumberbatch, Jasmine R. Rodgers, Tishawna Smith, I-O’Diesha Ritter, Azeara Penn and Amharic Ritter; Great Nephews, La’Ron Rodgers-Moses, Romont Reefer, Brian and Bricen Barnett, Laquan and Cairo Smith, Jeremiah Ventura, Azani Penn, Kamari Rodgers-Henry, Jordan E. Rodgers, Iron-Deh Ritter and Azariel Hamilton; Brothers-in-law, Lawerence Sarauw, Orville “Taddy” Todman, Henry Todman, Arturo Monell; Sisters-in-law, Aquita Sarauw, Lorraine Todman-James, Linda Todman, Mona Monell; Special Friends, Dr. Marc and Lorna Jerome, Edgar and Janet Lake, Rupert and Cheryl Ross, Josephine Hector, Vargrave Richards. Cousins, other relatives, friends, former students and colleagues too numerous to mention.

The Celebration of Life service for James I. Rodgers will be held on Friday, Aug. 29 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Viewing at 9 a.m. and service at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Kingshill Cemetery.

Professional services are entrusted to James Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.

August 23, 2025

Local News

Dinner With A Doctor Thursday To Feature VI Department of Health Team

The VI Department of Health encourages the community to attend the upcoming “Dinner with a Doctor” event hosted by Schneider Regional Medical Center on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 6 p.m. in the hospital’s main lobby.

“We are proud to be featured presenters for this month’s ‘Dinner with a Doctor,’ where we’ll provide the community with facts about vaccine efficacy, address common myths, and highlight the critical role vaccines play in protecting public health,” said Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion. “This event also aligns with National Immunization Awareness Month and the start of the new school year—making it a perfect time for families to get informed.”

“Dinner with a Doctor” is free and open to the public and will feature remarks from Commissioner Encarnacion, along with a presentation by Dr. Tai Hunte-Ceasar, SRMC Medical Staff Member and Chief Medical Officer for the VI Department of Health and Dr. Esther Ellis, the department’s Territorial Epidemiologist.

Following the presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a Live Q&A session, allowing them to ask questions directly and engage in meaningful dialogue with healthcare professionals.

“This is a valuable opportunity for open conversation between doctors and the community,” said Commissioner Encarnacion. “We want to ensure the community feels informed, supported, and empowered to make healthy decisions.”

Participants will receive educational materials, and additional resources will be available to connect residents with local health programs and services. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information about SRMC’s “Dinner with a Doctor,” please visit: https://srmedicalcenter.org/event/

August 23, 2025

Local News

Oops … It’s the First Hampton by Hilton

As many of our readers noted after our story on the grand opening of the new Hampton by Hilton hotel on St. Thomas — at which officials welcomed the island’s “first” Hilton — Rock City boasted a resort by the brand as far back as the 1960s.
The Source reached out to Hilton, to ask about the history, and its record of the hotel here.
“We understand there was a hotel branded as a Hilton in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 1960s. What we can share today is that Hilton is now celebrating the first ever Hampton by Hilton hotel in the U.S. Virgin Islands — and only Hilton property in the destination at this time,” a spokesperson responded Friday via email.
Readers offered fond memories of the former resort, including the famed turtle races.
“It was quite a beautiful property and the site of major events,” recalled Dr. Gwen-Marie Moolenaar. “I recall as a child going with my parents to the Thursday night turtle races, which both tourists and locals loved.”

August 22, 2025

Local News

PFA Approves First Phase of St. Croix Elementary Schools Rebuild, Changes Tack on Infrastructure Bundle

The Public Finance Authority board voted Friday to award a massive design and construction contract to rebuild four St. Croix public schools and an administrative center before voting to change course on a previously awarded overhaul of the island’s infrastructure.
The schools contract went to Suffolk-CBNA, whose total bid to design and rebuild the Alexander Henderson, Alfredo Andrews and Claudo O. Markoe elementary schools, as well as the Pearl B. Larsen PreK-8 School and the administrative center, came in at close to $790 million. Suffolk was also contracted earlier this year to design and build an administrative center on St. Thomas, as well as the Lockhart K-8 School, the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, and the Yvonne Milliner Bowsky, Jane E. Tuitt, and Emanuel Benjamin Oliver elementary schools.
Adrienne Williams-Octalien, director of the V.I. Disaster Recovery Office, said ODR received three responses to a solicitation issued in March. The highest bid came in at more than $1 billion.
The board then voted to re-award an infrastructure bundle including power, water, wastewater and roadwork on north-central St. Croix after the previous awardee, Persons Services Corp., rescinded their proposal. The $682.8 million contract went to Kiewit, the runner-up from the earlier solicitation, which filed a bid protest over the PFA’s initial award to Persons.
According to a letter the construction firm wrote in April, their bid was $143 million below Persons’s, and the firm wrote that it had become “increasingly concerned” with the territory’s selection.
“These concerns include, but are not limited to, the bonding capacity of other proposers, VIODR not following or adhering to the RFP scoring and selection criteria, and awarding a contract that is not compliant with the requirements of the RFP,” the company wrote.
On Friday, Williams-Octalien said Persons pulled out because “they had to provide some documentation for bonding … once we entered a phase of contracting, they needed to provide all of those documentation.”
“We suspect that there may have been some difficulty in them getting what they needed to get, which resulted in their correspondence to us,” she said.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., who chairs the PFA board, said he assumed Kiewit had withdrawn their bid protest in light of ODR’s updated selection. Williams-Octalien said Kiewit had already agreed to let the solicitation process continue.
“And they said that they would continue without seeking further…,” she began.
“Redress,” Bryan finished.
“I think I like ‘redress,’” Williams-Octalien agreed. “But also — just, I want to note — with Persons, Persons also has a number of other projects in the territory, and their correspondence also said that they did not want to adversely affect any timelines and the pace of the recovery, and therefore they withdrew their proposal, so we respected their decision.”
Despite Kiewit’s initial protest — and a lawsuit one rejected bidder filed in September — Bryan declared Friday that the bid process works.
“You know, these are big contracts, so when people don’t win, they’re upset. But I think we have a good track record going now in terms of being able to establish that when we select a bidder, it’s through due diligence,” he said. “Sometimes, you know, you are selected, but the contracting process doesn’t work out. So we go to the next bidder.”
The board also approved an $80,000 allocation from the authority’s project fund to provide matching costs for two turf soccer fields in partnership with FIFA — with an additional $160,000 for lighting — and $100,000 from the fund to the Yvonne Ashley Galiber Breast Cancer Foundation, which will hold the 2026 Breast and Prostate Cancer Conference on St. Croix next year. During the latter half Friday’s meeting, the board received operational updates from the V.I. Next Generation Network and the West Indian Company. After a report from the latter, board members spoke favorably of attracting foreign cruise ships to boost tourism in the territory.
“And that means using our political clout — as little as it may be — to get, you know, customs agents and whoever else … to work on that,” said board member Dorothy Isaacs. “But with all the technology these days, it should not be that big of a problem.”
Bryan noted that the U.S. Homeland Security Department “is going through a massive expansion right now.”
“None of it good, I might say,” Isaacs interjected.
Bryan took a more glass-half-full view and predicted that the department’s hiring spree will curb the flow of drugs from the eastern Caribbean and South America.
“As a matter of fact, the president is making moves right now in the military to move warships into the Caribbean” to deter activity from drug cartels, he said. “And as part of that, there’re also going to be soldiers deployed throughout the Caribbean — American soldiers — which is good for the economy. The drugs come through, they get lost, they get confiscated, people start speaking — that’s how the death starts. So this is going to stop some of that violence in our area, hopefully.”
Prior to Friday’s board meeting, the PFA subsidiary responsible for managing $150 million in Grant Anticipation Revenue bonds convened to approve a slate of organizational moves.
The VITIC board approved contracts with the Walker Legal Group for legal services, Behnam and Hodge for accounting services and BDO USA for auditing services. The board also approved the corporation’s operating budget for the current and upcoming fiscal years and voted to adopt the Public Finance Authority’s financial and procurement policies.

August 22, 2025

Local News

Laughing Gulls Try To Steal Fish From Brown Pelicans

I have seen laughing gulls drop down onto the backs of pelicans and try to grab fish as they fall from the edges of the pelicans’ pouches.

A pelican will fly high over the beach scanning for movement and then dive quickly down into the water, scooping up small fish in its pouch. Then it will lift its head to drain the seawater out of the sides of its pouch before swallowing its catch. That’s the moment when the laughing gull will try to snatch a fish.

I learned a catchy name for this behavior – kleptoparasitism.
The laughing gulls can be quite intrusive but pelicans are large birds, and an angry pelican can deliver a sharp bite with the hook at the end of its beak – though not when its mouth is full.

And when a laughing gull approaches from behind, it is hard for the pelican to get the gull off its back.

One passive pelican defensive strategy is to just keep its mouth closed until the laughing gull gets bored and goes away.

Another pelican strategy is to make itself look a big crazy turtle.

I find it hard to understand why the laughing gulls don’t just go catch their own fish. Are they just being lazy?
Maybe, but this behavior actually seems to be an evolved strategy. A pelican can dive deeper and get more fish than a laughing gull. So a laughing gull that is able to get some of the pelican’s fish without too much trouble can be more successful – eating better, conserving its energy, and having more time for mating, nesting, or defending its territory.

It is actually not just laughing gulls that try to steal fish. I once saw a huge frigatebird at Maho Bay attack a small tern sitting on a buoy until it gave up the fish in its mouth. That was a violent form of theft. Also, up north, bald eagles will grab fish from ospreys in a mid-air display of their superior strength.
The laughing gulls can’t take a fish from the pelican by force so, while annoying, they are probably not really scary. And, to an observer, they do look pretty funny riding on the pelicans.

Gail Karlsson is the author of a photo book Looking for Birds on St. John, as well as two other books about nature in the Virgin Islands – The Wild Life in an Island House, and Learning About Trees and Plants – A Project of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. John. Follow her on Instagram @gailkarlsson and at gvkarlsson.blogspot.com. Website gailkarlsson.com

August 22, 2025

Local News

Judge Sets Deadline for Proposed Trial Dates in Jane Does’ Suit Against Plaskett

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett and six Jeffrey Epstein victims who are suing her in Manhattan federal court have until Aug. 28 to submit three proposed weeks for trial this year — unless they resolve the civil complaint before that deadline, the presiding judge ordered Friday.
Plaskett is the sole remaining defendant in the class action suit that was first filed in November 2023 by Jane Does 1-5, amended that December to add a sixth plaintiff, and amended again last May.
The complaint alleged negligence and violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, or TVPA, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, claiming territory officials actively conspired with Epstein to perpetuate his sex-trafficking scheme for their own gain.
It named the V.I. government, former governors John de Jongh and Kenneth Mapp, former senators Celestino White and Carlton Dowe, former Attorney General Vincent Frazer, and former first lady Cecile de Jongh, who was Epstein’s longtime office manager.
However, Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed the charges against all but Plaskett in March, noting she “is the only defendant that the [second amended complaint] alleges ever traveled to New York and the only defendant alleged to have actively solicited funds from Epstein in New York.”
While he dismissed the RICO claims against Plaskett in her official capacity as “an alleged USVI employee,” he denied her motion to dismiss the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and negligence charges.
The plaintiffs subsequently filed a motion for a partial judgment as to the dismissed parties so they could appeal the decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, rather than wait for the case against Plaskett to conclude, but Subramanian denied that request last month.
Among the reasons the Jane Does cited in their motion for a partial judgment was that Plaskett is now the lone defendant in a case against six plaintiffs “and a potential class,” meaning more victims could join the suit.
“The likelihood this case will be able to resolve by settlement prior to trial is highly unlikely as she is unlikely to be able to cover near to what the case is worth. However, if the dismissed Defendants in this matter, were [to] reappear in this matter, the likelihood of settlement would increase significantly, presenting an opportunity to expedite resolution of this matter on all claims,” the plaintiffs stated.
However, on Thursday Plaskett’s attorney, Eric R. Breslin of Duane Morris LLP, stated in a letter to the judge that both sides have met and conferred, as ordered by the court on July 30, “and the parties believe that this case may be resolved shortly.”
Should a resolution be out of reach, he said the parties would submit dates for trial by Aug. 28.
Plaskett has strenuously denied the allegations in the suit and last July filed notice with the court that she would seek sanctions against Jordan K. Merson, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, saying the claims against her amount to “outright untruth, fiction, and misrepresentation.”
A registered sex offender who pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008, Epstein died by apparent suicide in August 2019 at age 66 while in detention in New York on federal trafficking charges. His primary residence was Little St. James, his private island off St. Thomas, where for years he ran a complex web of shell companies registered in the USVI — and was afforded some $300 million in tax breaks through the territory’s Economic Development Commission — that enabled his crimes.

August 22, 2025

Local News

Judge Denies Dangleben Motion to Dismiss Charges

Chief District Judge Robert Molloy has denied a motion to dismiss or sever first-degree murder and other counts against Richardson Dangleben Jr., writing in an order this week that even though the charges are territorial offenses, the federal court has jurisdiction to hear them.
A grand jury indicted Dangleben in October 2023, charging him with multiple violations of federal and territorial laws in connection with the shooting death of V.I. Police Detective Delberth Phipps Jr. on July 4 that year, and the assault of another officer who also responded to the 911 call concerning a man with a gun in Hospital Ground on St. Thomas.
The charges include the federal offenses of use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death (Count 1); discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence (Counts 2 and 3); possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime (Count 4); possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number (Count 5); and receipt of a firearm while under indictment for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison (Count 6).
The territorial offenses charged included first-degree murder (Count 7), first-degree assault (Counts 8 and 11), third-degree assault (Counts 9 and 12), attempted first-degree murder (Count 10), and wearing body armor during the commission of a violent crime (Count 13).
Dangleben has pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial Oct. 6.
Public Defender Matthew Campbell filed a motion to dismiss the territorial counts in October, which the Justice Department opposed in a response in January. The DOJ subsequently filed a superseding indictment in April amending Count One — use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death — to include a federal predicate offense, namely possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
On Wednesday, Molloy wrote in his order denying Dangleben’s motion to dismiss that United States Code allows the court to exercise “supplemental jurisdiction concurrently [with the courts of the Virgin Islands] over territorial offenses that grow out of conduct that also offends federal criminal law,” citing Title 48, Section 1612[c].
“Thus, if the territorial offenses alleged in the Indictment in this case are ‘of the same or similar character . . . or based on the same act or transaction’ as any of the federal offenses, then this Court would have jurisdiction over those territorial offenses,” Molloy wrote.
Additionally, “events that have transpired since Dangleben filed his motion have largely mooted his requested relief,” said Molloy, including the new predicate offense charged in April, making severance of Count 1 “no longer viable,” and stipulations entered between the parties in which he withdrew his motion to sever Count Six — receipt of a firearm while under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment.
(The latter concerns a separate case in V.I. Superior Court in which Dangleben is charged with the February 2023 shooting death of Keith Jennings.)
“In light of the procedural posture of this case and based on a review of the Superseding Indictment, the Court finds that it clearly has jurisdiction over the territorial offenses,” Molloy wrote, noting that because, “at a minimum, the territorial offenses as alleged in Counts Seven-Thirteen ‘are of the same or similar character’ or are based on ‘the same act or transaction’ as alleged in Count One and/or Count Six, the Court has concurrent jurisdiction over all of the territorial offenses.”
Moreover, he said, “even if the federal offenses were dismissed or severed, that would not affect the Court having concurrent jurisdiction over the territorial offenses under Section 1612(c),” before quoting a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in United States v. Gillette, which says that “all that is required is that there be a sufficient nexus between the local charges and ‘an offense or offenses against one or more of the statutes over which the District Court of the Virgin Islands has jurisdiction.’”
Thus, “consistent with the teachings of Gillette, the United States was not required to include the federal offenses to charge and prosecute Dangleben with the local charges in the District Court of the Virgin Islands. … Because the Court concludes that there is a sufficient nexus between the local charges and the federal charges in this case, the Court has jurisdiction over the local charges. Accordingly, the dismissal or severance of the federal charges would be of no legal consequence,” Molloy wrote in denying the motion.

August 22, 2025

Local News

Marie LaPlace Dies at 87

Marie “Nancy” LaPlace, 87, of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, passed away peacefully at her home in The Villages, Florida, on Thursday, August 14, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.

Born March 25, 1938, in St. Thomas, USVI to the late Theodore J. Danet and Ann H. Quetel, Nancy devoted her life to service, faith, and family.

She married Louis G. LaPlace on June 26, 1962, and together they raised five daughters. Nancy served as Executive Assistant to the President of the University of the Virgin Islands for 14 years and dedicated 19 years as a CCD director and teacher in the USVI.

An avid churchgoer, beach lover, boater, and world traveler, Nancy embraced life with warmth and curiosity. After relocating to The Villages, she became treasurer of the Women’s Auxiliary Club of Briar Meadows, joined St. Mark’s Women’s Guild, and delighted in learning and playing bocci. Above all, she cherished every moment spent with her family.

Survived by

Husband: Louis G. LaPlace
Children: Vivian, Yvonne, Jennifer, Kathleen, and Sonia
Son-In Laws: Mike, Bobby, Jim, Bill, And Tommy
Grandchildren: Natasha, April, Jonathan, Kristina, William, Jeanine, Matt, Joseph, Jo’elle, Robert, Thomas, Jacq’lene, and Nick
Great-grandchildren: Austin, Kevin, Faith, Adaelynn, Mikey, Aubrey, Maddison, Brayden, Kaidyn, Everett, Lucas, Grace, Jacob, and Emilia

August 22, 2025

Local News

‘Navigating Home’ Fellowships Give VI Graduates a Launchpad in STEM

This summer, two young Virgin Islanders returned home to put their degrees to work — and, in the process, showed how the University of the Virgin Islands’ Navigating Home program is shaping careers while investing in the territory’s future.
The initiative, designed to support early-career professionals from the Virgin Islands, places fellows in short-and-long-term positions that pair hands-on experience with mentorship from UVI faculty, nonprofits, and local agencies. For participants, it is both a training ground and a pathway into jobs that strengthen the territory’s workforce.
“These fellowships create career pathways in STEM for Virgin Islanders,” said Dr. Kristin Wilson Grimes of UVI’s Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, who helps lead the program. “We’ve built strong partnerships over the years, and placements through DPNR and other local organizations often lead to full-time jobs — our long-term goal.”

One of this summer’s fellows, Gidal Williams, grew up on St. Croix, graduated from St. Croix Educational Complex and UVI, and is now working at the crossroads of technology and ocean science. Under the mentorship of Dr. Lauren Olinger and Doug Wilson, Williams is studying how rafts of sargassum seaweed travel to the Virgin Islands. His fellowship includes writing computer code to simulate the algae’s drift based on currents and winds, while also repairing UVI’s remotely operated vehicles used in marine research.
“This experience has been both challenging and rewarding,” Williams said. “It’s given me significant learning opportunities while contributing to UVI’s marine research capacity.”

On St. Thomas, Marissa Bornn brought her background from Princeton University and her early education at VI Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy to a fellowship with Coral World Ocean and Reef Initiative. Her days were spent underwater and in the lab, tending corals in land-based and in-water nurseries, assessing their health, and preparing them for eventual outplanting on reefs around St. Thomas and St. John. She also assisted with monitoring, restoration planning, and the care of key reef invertebrates.
“Every day in this fellowship was a dream come true,” Bornn said. “I got to dive in my home waters of the Virgin Islands, work hands-on with corals, and learn from brilliant and inspiring people.”
For the Navigating Home team, stories like Williams’ and Bornn’s demonstrate the impact of connecting Virgin Islanders with real-world projects that both advance their careers and contribute to the resilience of their home islands. The program’s focus is on bringing graduates back to the territory and giving them the tools — and the professional networks — to stay.
A limited number of fellowship positions remain available this year. Details can be found at www.navigatinghomeproject.com. The program is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

August 22, 2025

Local News

Annas Fancy Sewer Line Collapse

The Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority informs the community of a collapsed sewer line near Annas Fancy 1 Crown Prince Quarter. This situation is causing sewer system issues in the downtown area, which may lead to manhole overflows.

VIWMA advises residents to avoid standing water in the affected areas.

We understand the inconvenience this may cause and rely on your cooperation as we work diligently to resolve the issue.

For updates or further assistance, please contact the Division of Wastewater at (340) 715-9151 or Communications Management at communications@viwma.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

August 22, 2025