Pursuant to Title 31, Chapter 23, Section 236 of the Virgin Islands Code, the Virgin Islands Department of Property and Procurement on behalf of the Department of Human Services (DHS) requests bids for the following solicitation:
BD-26-720-7201-646- To maintain and operate DHS’s existing Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment system known as the Virgin Islands Benefit Eligibility System (VIBES) and DHS’s Medical Assistance Program (MAP) in the United States Virgin Islands
Bids will be received by the Department of Property and Procurement, Division of Procurement, via the GVIBUY eProcurement system, through the following link: https://gvibuy.buyspeed.com/bso/.
TIMETABLE
Request for Information: Last day for request for written clarification will be Monday, July 6, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.
Due Date: Bid submissions in GVIBUY are due no later than Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.
Prospective respondents must be registered with GVIBUY to gain access to GVI solicitations. For more information, please contact us at (340) 774-0828 or via email at gvibuy@dpp.vi.gov.
Date: Friday, June 5, 2026
Pursuant to Title 31, Chapter 23, Section 236 of the Virgin Islands Code, the Virgin Islands Department of Property and Procurement on behalf of the Bureau of Information Technology (BIT) requests bids for the following solicitation:
BD-26-260-2601-700- Emergency Critical Operations & Mission-Ready Mobile Communications for Bureau of Information Technology in the United States Virgin Islands
Bids will be received by the Department of Property and Procurement, Division of Procurement, via the GVIBUY eProcurement system, through the following link: https://gvibuy.buyspeed.com/bso/. Please note that this is a closed bid and is limited to respondents previously qualified under RFQ BD‑25‑260‑2601‑598.TIMETABLERequest for Information: Last day for request for written clarification will be Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time
Due Date: Bid submissions in GVIBUY are due no later than Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.
Prospective respondents must be registered with GVIBUY to gain access to GVI solicitations. For more information, please contact us at (340) 774-0828 or via email at gvibuy@dpp.vi.gov.
Lisa M. Alejandro
Commissioner
You know the stats on the value of customer retention.
Acquiring a new customer costs between 5 and 25 times the amount to retain an existing one.
The likelihood of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%, compared to only 5-20% when selling to a new customer. (See links at the end of the article for links and more information.)
As Advertising Week put it recently, “For small businesses operating with limited time and resources, nurturing existing customers isn’t just more cost-effective – it’s more sustainable.”
One of the most tried-and-true methods for retaining customers is the loyalty program.
Yet most loyalty programs fail.
They fail because “they reward the transaction,” Advertising Week argues,” not the person.”
Quite simply, “Points, discounts and coupons have become so common that customers treat them as currency, not connection.”
Person-Centered Loyalty Programs
According to InsiderOne, successful loyalty programs recognize the customer as person.
That is, they’re built on “behavior, identity and long-term value” for the customer, with benefits “that feel personal, not templated.”
How do these programs work?
They make the customer feel “seen” and understood.
Benefits can be tailored to customer behavior based on their history with your business.
Every interaction generates information, and a successful loyalty program bases rewards on customer preferences, needs and aspirations.
InsiderOne offers several excellent and vivid examples of a program that might work:
— A customer exploring skincare might be offered a trial-size serum.
— A frequent traveler might get dynamic free shipping perks during trip-planning periods.
–A high-intent shopper may receive early access to curated collections.
Maybe you know that some of your customers are early adopters. Invite them to a launch party, in person or virtual. Or include them in beta-testing.
The common denominator here is the shift from the impersonal to the personal and from the transactional to the behavioral.
More than likely, you and your staff know your customers well. When developing a loyalty program, tap that information and customize – that is, personalize – rewards.
Your customers will love the attention and you’ll benefits from better customer retention.
Articles for further reading:
https://advertisingweek.com/small-business-marketing-predictions-for-2026/https://www.optimove.com/resources/learning-center/customer-acquisition-vs-retention-costs https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/customer-retention-marketing-vs-customer-acquisition-marketing/ https://insiderone.com/best-customer-engagement-strategies/
Sen. Clifford A. Joseph Sr., chair of the Senate Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety Committee, presides over a hearing Thursday where lawmakers advanced a traffic enforcement bill and held a measure concerning liability for damage to government property. (Photo courtesy V.I. Legislature)
The Senate Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety Committee on Thursday advanced legislation to strengthen enforcement of the Virgin Islands’ traffic violation point system, while holding a separate measure on civil liability for damage to government property.
Senators voted to forward Bill No. 36-0224 to the Rules and Judiciary Committee and to hold Bill No. 36-0139 in committee “until the call of the chair.”
Bill 36-0224 would shift authority to suspend driver’s licenses based on accumulated points from the Superior Court to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, while keeping traffic violations and point assignments under judicial review. Courts would still determine violations and assign points, while the BMV would carry out suspensions once motorists reach established thresholds.
Sponsor Sen. Avery L. Lewis said the bill updates an existing system.
“The Virgin Islands already has a moving violation point system. Drivers already accumulate points for violations. This is not a new program, not a new penalty system, and not a new burden on drivers,” he said. “This legislation promotes accountability, encourages driver education, rewards safe driving habits, reduces unnecessary burdens on the courts and provides the Bureau of Motor Vehicles the tools necessary to act efficiently while preserving the rights of every motorist.”
Under the proposal, the point system would shift to a rolling 12-month period instead of a calendar-year structure. Drivers could also reduce points by completing approved driver-improvement courses in some cases, and a $25 fine would increase to $200.
BMV Director Barbara Jackson-McIntosh said the current process slows enforcement because suspensions must go through the Attorney General and the courts even after violations are established.
“When a driver repeatedly violates the traffic laws and accumulates excessive points, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles cannot efficiently suspend that license,” she said. “That process creates delays, burdens the court system, consumes government resources, and allows dangerous drivers to remain on the road longer than they should.”
She said the courts would still determine violations and assign points.
“The adjudication comes from the court … We are only enforcing what is sent to us from the court,” she said.
Jackson-McIntosh said the bureau would implement a three-step warning system at six, nine and 12 points, with suspension at the final threshold.
Sen. Ray Fonseca raised due process concerns, while Sen. Franklin Johnson said enforcement remains the key issue in traffic safety.
“We could put all the laws that we want and make them and pass them … but if there’s no enforcement to them, then it’s for null,” Johnson said.
After advancing the traffic bill, the committee turned to Bill 36-0139, which would establish civil liability for people who willfully or negligently damage government property, including vehicles, fencing, lighting and other public assets. The measure would require those responsible to pay for repairs or replacement rather than leaving costs to taxpayers.
Sponsor Sen. Avery L. Lewis said it is a question of accountability.
“If you damage public property through negligence and willful misconduct, you should be held accountable,” he said, noting that government property belongs to the public.
Property and Procurement Commissioner Lisa Alejandro said the bill is unnecessary, citing existing law that already allows recovery of damages through wage withholding, civil claims and other enforcement tools.
“From our review of the bill, DPP recognizes its intent,” she said. “Existing statutes and established processes already address these objectives. The department does not believe the additional statutory authority is warranted, given its duplicative nature.”
Patricia Lynn Pryor, of the Department of Justice, agreed, saying existing law already provides remedies for damage to government property and warning that overlapping statutes could create confusion.
“The Virgin Islands Code already allows for causes of action and remedies for both negligent and intentional destruction of government property,” she said. “Duplicative laws should be avoided as they are an inefficient use of resources that can lead to significant problems, including inconsistency in the law, and as a result, arbitrary enforcement.”
David Whitaker, the convicted felon and former owner of cybersecurity contractor Mon Ethos Pro Support, will be sentenced on June 10 at the federal courthouse on St. Thomas. (Screenshot from YouTube)
The government is recommending a 22-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release for David Whitaker, the convicted felon turned cybersecurity contractor who became a cooperating witness against three former high-ranking government officials and a local business owner.
Whitaker pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery in September 2024, three months after former V.I. Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal resigned amid a federal investigation into government contracts awarded to Whitaker’s company, Mon Ethos Pro Support. Martinez and O’Neal were indicted in January 2025, accused of approving inflated invoices in exchange for expensive gifts, tuition payments, luxury travel and a down payment on O’Neal’s coffee shop.
Separately, former Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White and business owner Benjamin Hendricks were indicted at the same time for their own dealings with Whitaker, which included selling a $2.1 million surveillance camera contract in exchange for a $16,000 kickback.
Whitaker testified during both trials. In both, defense attorneys set out to paint Whitaker as an unreliable witness with his own extensive history of fraud and white-collar crime. Attorneys for Martinez and O’Neal repeated those arguments in requests for new trials following their convictions in December. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kearney denied the requests last week and noted that jurors in the case also reviewed recorded phone conversations, text messages, bank statements and other evidence before deciding to convict the former cabinet members.
“The United States presented ample evidence of the senior public officials violating federal law. But it went further,” Kearney wrote, adding that Martinez and O’Neal knew what they were doing when they sold out the public trust to fund their dreams of restaurant and cafe entrepreneurship while continuing to draw government salaries. “The former public officials presented every argument. The jury, informed by unchallenged jury instructions presented after extensive discussions with counsel, found their arguments unpersuasive.”
U.S. Justice Department trial attorney Alexandre Dempsey noted Whitaker’s criminal past in a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday. Whitaker was convicted of bank fraud in 1997 and, while on supervised release, his supervision was revoked twice. He was convicted of forging checks in 2000 and again in 2008 for selling millions in electronic equipment that he never delivered to customers.
Whitaker then worked with the FBI in a sting operation that led to a $500 million fine for the search giant Google for its facilitation of online illegal drug sales.
“The public deserves to have federal funds used for the benefit of the citizenry,” Dempsey wrote. “The defendant’s selfishness and greed hurt the very community that was supposed to receive the federal benefit dollars implicated in this case. Whitaker must be held accountable, particularly given his willingness to once again choose the path of crime rather than follow the law.”
Whitaker’s sentencing is scheduled for June 10, the day after Martinez’s sentencing hearing and the day before O’Neal’s. Prosecutors have asked that Martinez be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and that O’Neal be sentenced to seven.
A VIFEMS ambulance at the Cruz Bay bulkhead after transferring accident victims Jan. 31. (Source photo by Judi Shimel)
The driver of a water truck that overturned in January, killing his 6-year-old daughter, was charged with vehicular homicide and child abuse Thursday, according to court records.
On Jan. 31 at roughly 2 p.m., Levi Calvin was allegedly speeding down Centerline Road in an area where trucks were limited to 10 miles per hour, according to court records. Police said their investigation revealed the 19,500-pound truck with a full water load rounded a corner on two wheels and skidded more than 149 feet before flipping on its side and tumbling 300 feet down an embankment. The truck finally came to a halt after crashing into a tree.
Emergency crews extracted Calvin from the heavily damaged truck with the jaws of life.
Less than four feet tall and weighing just 45 pounds, Alevia Calvin was unrestrained in the passenger seat, police said. She was pronounced dead two hours later from her injuries.
While St. John mourned with a candlelight vigil and raised money for the Calvin family, police investigated the crash as a potential homicide.
Calvin operated the water truck occasionally and had been warned by both police and the trucking company owner against transporting his daughter in the vehicle, police said. Unauthorized passengers were not covered by the trucking company’s insurance and she was not in a car seat or wearing a seatbelt, according to court records.
Police said the truck’s tires and brakes had been in good condition that dry, sunny day.
“Based upon my training and experience, I understand that skid mark measurements of this length are consistent with a speed in excess !0 mph, as well as inconsistent with traveling at a rate of speed that was reasonable or prudent given the actual and potential hazards as the water truck passed around the curve, and inconsistent with what was necessary to maintain control and avoid collision,” police told the Superior Court.
Calvin was charged with vehicular homicide, child abuse, aggravated child abuse leading to a child’s death, child neglect, negligent driving, operating a vehicle without a lap and shoulder restraint, and transporting a child under 13 without an appropriate child restraint system.
Calvin’s arraignment is scheduled for June 25.
The cover of “I Am” written by Zenzi Hodge and illustrated by J’Aaron Merchant brings Lawrence Sewer’s beloved poem “The Virgin Island Child” to life for a new generation of readers. (Photo courtesy The Gobi Marketing Group)
The revered poem and anthem of youth empowerment, “The Virgin Island Child,” written by local educator and poet Lawrence Sewer in 1978, is being given new life through a book inspired by the beloved work. Sewer’s daughter, author, poet and storyteller Zenzi Hodge, has transformed her late father’s celebrated poem into a picture book that expands on and celebrates its themes of identity, culture and self-worth.
Written for children ages three to nine, “I Am” follows five children as they journey across St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island, discovering the beauty, culture and hidden treasures that connect them to their home and to themselves. Along the way, according to the project’s press release, they discover an important truth: “that they are valuable, loved, and enough — just as they are.”
The book is illustrated by award-winning St. Croix native J’Aaron Merchant, whose artwork brings the colors, landscapes and spirit of the Virgin Islands to life. Her illustrations reflect the richness of Caribbean culture and the wonder of childhood. Merchant’s work has also appeared in projects for Disney, Sesame Street and PBS Kids.
Zenzi Hodge, author, poet and storyteller, has transformed her father Lawrence Sewer’s beloved poem, “The Virgin Island Child,” into a new picture book celebrating identity, culture and self-worth. (Photo courtesy The Gobi Marketing Group)
Hodge wrote the book while recognizing that her father’s story was nearing its end.
“Knowing that he was able to enjoy and experience this work before he passed is something I will always hold dear,” she said.
She views the “I Am” project as a way to carry forward her father’s legacy and share it with a new generation of children.
“He believed,” she said, “that there is no future without our youth, and each child is a jewel that needs to be polished.”
The book extends the poem’s central metaphor, which likens the youth of the Virgin Islands to a jewel that must be polished through care, love and encouragement in order to sparkle. The story encourages children to build confidence, self-worth and a strong sense of identity. As the characters explore the islands, they discover five jewels that reveal powerful truths every child should know. In I Am, as in her other storytelling projects, Hodge creates a narrative designed to help children see themselves, value their voices and recognize their potential.
In addition to writing children’s books, Hodge is a poet, creative storyteller and executive leader whose work, the I Am press release states, “centers on a powerful belief: words shape identity, and identity shapes destiny. Inspired by her Virgin Islands roots and a passion for helping children see their worth, she creates stories that celebrate culture, confidence, belonging and self-discovery.”
To celebrate the book’s release, Hodge has introduced a limited-edition “I Am Collection” featuring a signed edition of the book, affirmation keepsakes and an exclusive collectible presentation of the “Virgin Island Child” poem. The collection was created to help families extend the book’s message beyond its pages and create meaningful moments of connection, confidence and belonging.
The keepsake presentation of “The Virgin Island Child” marks the first time the original poem has been made available to the community in many years.
Hodge will visit the territory later this month for a series of in-person appearances to share the project, promote its message and help polish the jewel of Virgin Islands youth.
“I Am” and the limited-edition I Am Collection are available for preorder at spbookshop.com.
The Virgin Island Child
By Larry Sewer (1979)
I am a Virgin Island Child!
I am a jewel! However,
I cannot sparkle unless I
Am polished!
God, the maker of all
Solvents,
Created the greatest solvent
Of all…Care.
Care…can move
mountains.
Care…motivates my
Willingness to learn…
Care…expresses Love!
As we continued to hike, we came across a group of young men building trails along Mount Eagle. From left are JP Donohue, Zeb Langeweg and Nils Hempel. The Virgin Islands Trail Alliance board has contracted with a stateside company called Rock Solid Trail Contracting to establish mountain bike and hiking trails in certain parts of the park. (Photo by Olasee Davis)
The Virgin Islands Trail Alliance has completed and opened the first new trail segment within the Maroon Sanctuary Territorial Park on St. Croix, creating a new one-mile pathway that connects Mount Eagle to Scenic Road and forms part of a three-mile loop utilizing existing dirt roads and traditional trails, a press release announced.
The new segment begins at Mount Eagle, the island’s highest peak, and descends to Scenic Road east of the top of the Beast. The trail is designed for hikers and mountain bikers and is intended for human-powered recreation, according to the press release.
The project was completed through a partnership between the Virgin Islands Trail Alliance and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources’ Division of Territorial Parks and Protected Areas. Ongoing efforts within the park include the development of additional trails and scenic overlooks, improvements to picnic areas, invasive species removal and the planting of native and fruit trees, the press release stated.
Rock Solid Trail Contracting assisted with trail design and construction, while the CHANT Conservation Corps provided construction support. Parking areas near trailheads on Scenic Road are also being improved, including locations east of the Beast and west of Blue Mountain Tower Road. Roadside cleanup and signage installation remain underway, the release stated.
“We greatly appreciate the local experts, naturalists, culture bearers, contemporary trail planners, partner organizations, and residents who shared their knowledge and thoughtful insights during planning meetings and mapping sessions,” the alliance stated in the release. “Their input helped design low impact routes throughout the Park to create public access that showcases the Park’s grand vistas, natural and cultural heritage and enables new opportunities for enjoying St. Croix’s rich beauty.”
According to the release, much of the project funding came through an Inflation Reduction Act grant awarded to the Virgin Islands Trail Alliance. Additional funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
The alliance also thanked DPNR’s Division of Territorial Parks and Protected Areas, Rock Solid Trail Contracting, CHANT Conservation Corps, the VI State Historic Preservation Office and the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority for their support of the project.
The night before the news broke about Jimmy Kimmel being fired in September 2025, I was in a ballroom in New York City at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization.
As a small town journalist, it was a thrill beyond my imaginings to be in the same room with the greatest reporters and editors (and Emmy and Oscar- winning actor Michael Keaton) who “plays them on TV” of the last five decades.
During his keynote address in a moment of prescience, Keaton said, “Look to the funny people” as he lamented the monopolization and crumbling wreckage of what was once an honorable and trustworthy media. Little did he know that night what was about to happen and what the body-strewn media landscape would look like a very short nine months later.
Nor did I when, in a chance moment before the official opening of the gala, I spotted Scott Pelley striding past the table I had been assigned, headed toward makeshift backstage where he would shortly deliver his opening remarks.
60 Minutes Correspondent Scott Pelley offers opening remarks at 50th Anniversary of Investigative Reporters and Editors Gala September 15, 2025 (Shaun A. Pennington photo)
The list of heroes I grew up watching every night from the flickering black and white world of the newfangled square box that appeared in our livingroom when I was about five years old starts with Edward R. Murrow in the 50s Walter Cronkite – known as ‘the most trusted man in America’ in the 60s and leads to the living color of “60 Minutes” the year after I graduated from high school.
A good acquaintance of mine from New York was an editor for the first and hands-down most-viewed television news magazine of the last nearly 60 years.
So, when I recognized Pelley, I unabashedly ran after him, not quite yelling, “Scott,” and sticking out my hand as he turned with a broad smile to willingly greet me. I introduced myself as a friend of Elizabeth Sweetnam, whose eulogy Pelley offered at her funeral and asked without any explanation needed, “What are you going to do?”
He grabbed my outstretched hand and met my eyes.
“We are going to launch our season,” he said, as a grim look of determination erased the bright smile he had greeted me with, “and see what happens.”
I will spare the readers the back-and-forth lies and obfuscating offered a mere nine months since I shook hands with Scott Pelley and spewing forth from the money monsters for Pelley’s alleged “firing.” Suffice it to say, the world of unimpeachable truth telling is collapsing before our eyes under the weight of evil and unquenchable greed.
Scott Pelley takes a moment for a photo with Shaun A. Pennington (Blair Pelley photo)
We are left in this moment with the dying embers of a time when we could turn on and to mainstream media and expect trustworthy men and women to keep us informed.
In pretending she had tried to find a workable solution after Pelley raised hell about her firing days earlier of two other outstanding correspondents, Bari Weiss, whose title is editor-in-chief, said Pelley had chosen “a different path.” There is no doubt he took the Integrity Path, where he will no doubt gather around the embers with all of the television notables of the last nine months who either chose or were left to find their own ways on that path, where they will no doubt rekindle the flames with the fuel of the First Amendment and their undying loyalty to the America we once believed might just be possible.
The FIRST ideal of our failed experiment in democracy:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
—Shaun A. Pennington is the founder and publisher emerita of the V.I. Source newspapers of general circulation launched in 1999.
U.S. Marshals arrested the owner of the St. John Ink tattoo parlor for allegedly fleeing assaulting-an-officer charges in Florida, officials said Thursday.
Robert Gary, 50, licensed the Cruz Bay tattoo parlor under an alias, Eric Gary, U.S. Marshals said.
Marshals, with assistance from the Virgin Islands Police Department, spotted Gary near the Cruz Bay post office and took him into custody without incident, according to a press release from the Marshal Service.
Gary was allegedly driving recklessly, spinning the tires of a dark blue Dodge Charger in Jacksonville, Florida, during a 2,500-person block party on July 3, 2022. He allegedly disregarded several orders from police to stop, nearly hit at least one officer, and smashed into a parked car, according to local reports.
He was charged with four counts of aggravated assault on police, two counts of hit and run, and reckless driving before he allegedly fled to the territory.
St. John Ink opened in 2024.
Acquiring a new customer costs between 5 and 25 times the amount to retain an existing one.
They make the customer feel “seen” and understood.
