U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kearney told representatives from the V.I. Water and Power Authority and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Monday that he will issue an order putting the utility’s fraught relationship with generator manufacturer Wartsila “at issue.”

Lawmakers reviewed the Property and Procurement Department's $24.36 million budget request, with discussions focused on a new e-procurement system, lease revenues, fleet oversight and government property use.

West Indian Company President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boschulte, who served as the territory's former tourism commissioner, told the public corporation's board of directors Friday that they welcomed 302 cruise ship calls and just under 950,000 passengers so far in this fiscal year, which he called a “significant increase” over the prior year. WICO expects approximately three calls per week this summer before cruise traffic begins to slow in August. 

The Department of Planning and Natural Resources has acquired a 4.77-acre shoreline property along Altona Lagoon on St. Croix, preserving public access to the area and expanding the territory's growing system of protected parkland.