On today's NewsFeed, officials from the Virgin Islands Department of Education met with parents and students of the St. Croix Educational Complex after the school saw a distinct spike in fights yesterday. The fights resulted in school monitors being injured and a student being taken away by ambulance. St. Croix Insular Superintendent Dr. Ericilda Ottley-Herman stated that students are fighting over social media and games, relationship issues, and rumors. The Legislature's Committee of the Whole receives testimony today on the ongoing crisis of WAPA's potable water system. Carlton Dowe responds to the proposed fine from the FAA for various deficiencies at the Cyril King airport on St. Thomas. WTJX-TV premieres Champion, the opera about St. Thomas native and boxer, Emile Griffith, Sunday at 2:30 pm. Listen to these stories and more.
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the WTJX Newsfeed in today's top stories. The Committee of the Whole convened today to receive testimony to the ongoing water crisis related to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority's potable water system. Yesterday, members of the Human Services Department leadership team provided the committee of Health, Hospitals and Human Services with an operational update. Officials from the Department of Education met with parents and students today at the St Croix Educational Complex High School after a series of fights on the campus.
We speak with Saint Croix insular superintendent Dr. Ericilda Ottley-Herman, Port Authority Executive Director, Carlton Dow response to notice of potential fines by the FAA. These stories and more on today's WTJX news feed from the Virgin Islands Public Broadcasting System Studios on Saint Thomas. This is the WTJX News Feed with Marcellina Ventura-Douglas, welcome to the WTJX News Feed, bringing you the latest news and updates throughout our community.
The Committee of the Whole convened today to receive testimony on the ongoing crisis of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority's potable water system to include findings of elevated lead and copper levels in the St. Croix district's water system. Maria Friday, a resident of Kalkan, one of the neighborhoods greatly affected, held up a bottle filled of brown water and two brown filters showcasing what residents are currently going through.
Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to take seriously and let me show you let me show you some of the good mob that I brought for you today. Do you think this is. This is reality. Do you think that this is fair for the people to bear with this, to cook, to wash? The chlorine is terrible. People have to get rid of their clothing constantly because when despot through a washing machine and the clothes come out, it is brown just as you see that water.
I had a resident that told me she have had to buy 15 shirts, are ready for her son who goes to educational complex. And when I talk about filters and despair in the community, those that have gone out already to get filters. Look at what comes out. This filter was in place for three days. It was removed this morning for me to bring before you.
And the one that was replaced in less than an hour is just about the same death as how serious this matter is. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority CEO Andrew Smith began by apologizing to residents for the ongoing water crisis. We apologize for the impact this emergency has caused the community, and we are intently focused on working with our local and federal partners to remedy this emergency as quickly as possible.
Commissioner nominee Avril George and members of the Human Services Department's leadership team provided the Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services with an operational update yesterday. Ms. George, who was nominated to the position last month, told lawmakers she is still assessing the various components of the department, which comprises of 15 divisions overseeing 84 programs. The meeting touched on a vast number of subjects with committee chair Ray Fonseca beginning on the department addressing the problem of borders, which refers to persons who are mostly elderly that have taken permanent residence in hospitals because they cannot afford a nursing home.
The human services is going to be involved in $328 million in renovations. So, Commissioner, I want you to give me some updates on the Queen, Louise and her, but Greig and the crews being multipurpose. When do you expect to start and to complete those constructions and renovations? I'll turn that question of whether AC Baptist, who has been working with the project that I'm a Baptist assistant commissioner.
In terms of Queen Louise, we are getting ready to put the temporary repairs out to bid to get those done. So we're hoping by the end of this calendar year that that bid process will have started. We are in design for board. Queen Louise and Herbert Gregg. So we don't have a definitive timeline at this point, but we have started the design process and hope that it could be a multipurpose facility for Cruz Bay.
I think DC Georges would probably be better suited to enter the on George's Commission operations. Right now, those plans are in DPW right now going through two phases. We have had to mitigation repairs to the facility, but we are trying to secure additional funding to get a total repair and replacement for that facility. Following up on Senator Sam will carry ons inquiry about the cost to expand the Meals on Wheels program.
Senator Donna Frett-Gregory sought further details from the department. The previous speaker asked a question with regards to the Meals on Wheels, and you made reference to some $1.2 million that's that you're in. That would be will is in the Delta with. Correct. You're in a there's a deficit of 1.2. But you further stated that you had 160 applicants in Saint Croix, I believe, and 18 Saint Thomas.
And then you said you said that that's the wait lists and this is my challenge with your response. My challenge with your response is you're asking for 1.2. But you spoke about a wait list, but you indicated that you haven't vetted them. So how did we come up with 1.2 if we are not even sure as to whether or not this how much it is?
This universe of individuals who have applications actually qualify? Why are we operating in this manner? Sure. The number of resources and commissioner. So we do that our waitlists. So we know that a majority of the folks on the list we do know would be qualified. Many of them come in through referrals, through our adult Protective Services unit, and some are just coming into applications.
So similarly, when we were going through COVID, we added a lot of individuals onto the program and we have not kind of reassessed that need to see, you know, where they fall on the spectrum in terms of needing these services. So again, that that remains of a concern to me. So how and when are you guys going to actually do the reassessment of the program to make those determination shown and to ensure that we are providing the assistance to those that truly and really need it?
So the team has actually started that reassessment. So what does that mean? So I've had them pull the lists there, how we came up with the when I ask you, what does that mean? I mean, when are you going to be finished so you can move to the next level? And I said, I do not have a response for you at this time in terms of how long.
And that remains the challenge rather than an instructional day of classes, students and parents of the Saint Croix educational complex attended a series of grade level parent meetings today as a response to a series of disturbing videos that began circulating yesterday, showing what appear to be multiple separate fights between students on campus. We spoke with Superintendent Dr. Ericilda Ottley-Herman on yesterday's events that triggered the meeting.
It actually spiraled from before yesterday. Last week, Thursday, we had about wanted to fight seven campus. Then last week, Friday, we had a series of fights, about three words on the campus, and we were able to identify those individuals and administer instead of board policy, a level four infraction like parental conferences. What happened yesterday was we had a series of fights also on the campus.
But in addition to that, we had students who were acting as decoys. And so what that looks like is we had students who were actually inciting, running and screaming, and then the other students thinking that they were running to a fight as well. We're running behind those students when our monitors and the VIP school security onsite ran to where they heard the noise and you saw the crowd rushing to it was nothing fear.
The students then use that opportunity as the adults were rushing towards what they thought was a fight to actually attack other students and fight on the other end of the campus. The fight I'm sorry to escalate in the in not just number but strategy, tactics and aggression. We had a student who left in an ambulance, a city student who was bloodied, lacerations above and below his eye.
And so as we were shooting in conjunction with the school leadership, we agreed that it was time to it was at the stage where we needed to stop and help and involve the parents and the community in a discussion around, we need your support and this is what your support looks like. Because a lot of what we are finding and the principal spoke about this today in the meeting was that the causes of our of why these children are fighting are one any conversation or confrontation that cannot happen on social media.
They're taking advantage of meeting us all and fighting. So they're on social media, They're on Tik-tok, Instagram and Facebook. They are arguing, they are on the digital games and they are fighting and throwing words. And when they meet in school, they are fighting in school. We are seeing relationship issues where males, females are upset because of relationship problems.
And for me, they're too young to be experiencing relationship problems, really feel like they have to fight because you are talking to my boyfriend or you are talking to my girlfriend. And the third one is our students really do not understand conflict resolution. And so they get a text message or they hear a rumor that someone said something about them and they are confronting the other individual.
And we're like, So you said this about me and I need to make sure and it escalates into a fight. So today we wanted to really clarify to the parents the support that we needed from them. In our conversation with Superintendent Dr. Ericilda Ottley-Herman,. We inquired on the possibility of consequences going forward. That varies because again, for me, today's educational complex, we have two high schools, but a lot of the behaviors were not just seen at the high schools where we actually had a superintendent seeing a student at the meeting we spoke about as a district teen tracking these behaviors from as early as three can and first grade.
Our high schoolers have the most events, so for them, that's the social life is the relay. So it may require us to look at how we approach a lot of the events and activities in terms of security and who's allowed to attend, but not too much cancel the activities. What we also are going to do at the school sites is create and not just create because we've actually implemented through community partnership should be the fact the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Women's Coalition, the Department of Health Behavioral Services, island Therapy, greater change is beautiful Dreamers.
We've engaged various organizations and agencies in providing our students and workshops and strategies. Our counselors work in intervening day to day. We have a hotline, an anonymous hotline, or a tip line where students can share information not just about things that they feel that teachers are doing well. What they feel are other students are going to do the complex as well.
I mean, Central High School had grade level meetings with students, lasts about a week or two ago. Complex is going to have grade level meetings moving forward. We plan to engage with probably the Department of Justice and different areas to start to have the real world conversations with our high schoolers, because one of the things they need to realize is this record follows them.
The superintendent implored parents to get involved in parent teacher association meetings that occur every month in schools and participate in the varying programs and workshops the department holds. I do taxpayer info access right now to please make sure you at least your email address is up to date in the parent portal because that is how we are going to blast information directly to you.
Your your cell phone numbers are up to date because we can again text information through our parent portal. And so we will definitely be sharing when those workshops are coming forward. How do you sign up and what are all the great opportunities that we're going to have as a department, as a district for parents as we move through the news feed in September
The Virgin Islands Port Authority executive director Carlton Dowe responded to a notice of potential fines to be imposed against the authority by the U.S. Department of Transportation via the Federal Aviation Administration. Director Dao said that the Port Authority received a letter from the FAA dated August 23rd, 2023, stating that the FAA proposed to impose a fine of $477,000.
The penalties are reported to be related to various deficiencies discovered during routine inspections in calendar years 2021 and 2022 at the Sierra E King Airport and Saint Thomas. Speaking with Lesley Cummings, young host of the WTJX TV series, comes with the territory director. Dow shared further details on the matter. We know that there have been some FAA fines that have taken place actually over the last 5 to 6 years.
Even more than that, actually going back a few years now. Why are we finding ourselves in a situation where we're being fined for airport runway maintenance, those kinds of things? What's what's making that? I glad you mentioned that. But let me just say that this week we had a informal meeting with the attorneys and the legal people from FAA, just to for the record, just this week, Monday, we did that.
We continue to talk to them. We continue we have to provide some information for them. One of the major problems we have in the territory, unlike most states and even go to Puerto Rico when they have to maintain their runway, they control the entire section of that runway and just closed it down for months and work. The we are unique in of ourselves because we could only close on a very small piece of it to try to keep the traffic open.
And as we speaking to you tonight, all into the morning, we have people at the airport working when people are sleeping. So that poses challenges for us. Some of the things like in our discussions with them, we still we have after the meeting Monday, we had to present them with certain documentation. For example, if you go to the airport now, you'll see a whole big project taking place, a whole new area that we don't.
We are pouring concrete toes in the yards of concrete. Well, that's normally the area that the planes would line up to depart. One of the things they will find in those flight, hey, it has to be striped. It have to be marked. But then you reflect, how could it be striped and marked when, in fact, this can't be being put out there right now?
And earmarking that is used in the airport is not what you see in the street. Yes. So I want to make that clear. So there's a company called Highlight. We were able to present to FAA the contract, showing them we already engage highlight, but it cannot come into marked until that concrete portion is done. So a lot of, you know, small thing, but over time, they accumulate.
But, you know, they hate the irony of this for me, I always look at the brighter side. Are things that we have to own. And I would be the first to say that the challenges. That's the way we get to deal with the challenges. But hey, the thing, while all of that is going on, the FAA make available to the Port Authority $28 million to do runway work that we're doing currently.
So while they give us $28 million to do all sort of work and other issues that we run into from time to time with with the FAA, is that this inspector that came recently, he was just on the job in this district like two years. For the full conversation, tune in to WTJX TV Channel 12 this Sunday at 1 p.m. or catch the repeat at 7 p.m..
You can also stream it on wtjx.org, the WTJX Facebook page, the WTJX App, or by localizing the free PBS video app to WTJX. This Sunday, WTJX TV will bring the opera champion into your living rooms. Champion is based on the true story of Boxer and Saint Thomas native Emile Griffith. Duane Henry, who hosted on Analyze This with Neville James, spoke to six time Grammy Award winning composer Terence Blanchard, who brought his opera champion to the Met earlier this year.
The story of the Emile itself really help drive this story. Drive the music and create the music. You know, he was an incredible figure to me. And, you know, I really wanted to do the opera because, you know, I remember the first time I won an award, a major award, and turned to my wife and I grabbed it and I gave her a kiss.
And I went up on the stage and I said and accepted my award and I started to think about Emile. I became welterweight champion of the world, but couldn't celebrate that over somebody that he loved. Right. Oh, how do you how did you why did how did you decide to write opera about Griffith? Well, that was that was the movie thing.
You know, I was going to big fights and. Okay, that's not my best friend was a heavyweight champion. His name is Michael Bennett, and he was the one he beat Tommy Morrison for the title. Oh, okay. Okay. He was the one who had told me about Emile. And and he kept telling me, he said, Man, Emile was a sweet deal.
Really sweet deal. And I never got a chance to meet Emile. You know, he was. He was living in the home, right while we were working on the opera. But I got a chance to meet his son, Louise, you know, And then I got a chance to meet Benny Paret, Jr. And. And it was a very it was a very powerful story to me, the one that had to be told because you know that you never met anybody any harm.
You know, he was an accomplished fighter, a guy who didn't want to box initially, you know? Yeah, he he saw it as a means of survival and became welterweight champion. That's the miraculous thing. Champion premieres Sunday, November 5th at 2:30 p.m. on WTJX TV Channel 12. For viewers residing in the territory, WTJX TV Channel 12 is available on the Free WTJX App, available on Apple and Android phones, on tablets and by localizing WTJX on the free PBS video app.
The Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority's board meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, November 7th has been postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, November 30th. For more information, email info at usvi. EDA dot org. The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands is hosting its annual Virtual Giving Tree project. Sonia Barnes Moorehead, Vice President of Development and Capacity Building for CVI, gives us the details.
The virtual Giving Tree really is an opportunity for us to help nonprofits in the community, help the clients that they serve, and youth, elderly, just those who are in need and need something extra during the holiday season. And it's an opportunity for us to reach out to our donors to help support the community during the holiday season. The deadline for submittals are Monday, November six at 5 p.m..
For more details, visit CFEI.NET. We turn now to our regional report. During yesterday's United Nations General Assembly vote, support for Cuba tied a record high with 187 nations voting in favor of ending U.S. embargo sanctions on the island. While the United States and Israel opposed Ukraine abstained from voting. The Cuban foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez Pareja, strongly criticized the U.S. embargo, labeling it as a crime of genocide and economic warfare during times of peace.
The embargo imposed in 1960 has been a contentious issue, which shifts in approach under different U.S. administrations. U.S. Representative Paul Formsby defended the sanctions, citing them as part of a broader efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba. Despite Cuba's membership in the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Cuban government has delayed responding to requests to send independent experts to Cuba who would help advance respect for human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, and the freedom to assemble peacefully.
Some of these requests have remained pending for ten years. Sanctions are one set of tools in our broader effort toward Cuba to advance democracy and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba. We therefore oppose this resolution. We recognize the challenges the Cuban people face. That is why U.S. sanctions include exemptions and authorizations relating to the exports of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to Cuba.
As we make our way down the newsfeed, we turn now to the territory's weather forecasts. Here's the latest look at your short term forecast for the Virgin Islands. Meteorologist Eric Weglarz. Clouds begin to increase this afternoon at St Croix. Scattered showers are also expected as well. Temperatures will hold in the upper eighties to near 90 and then gradually fall towards sunset once rain from the east are 15 to 20, with gusts as high as 25 at St Thomas and Saint John will find clouds increasing as well, with scattered showers arriving mainly towards sunset.
Temperatures will initially hold in the upper eighties to near 90 and then fall into the upper eighties towards sunset. Winds are a bit stronger from the east at 20 to 25 miles per hour, gusts as high as 30, mainly towards sunset tonight. Scattered showers will continue at St Croix. Temperatures will fall back into the upper seventies. Otherwise, it's mostly cloudy, especially after midnight at St Thomas and St John will find scattered showers early as well.
And then a mostly cloudy sky overnight into Saturday. Lows will also fall back into the upper seventies to near 80 winds remain stronger there from the east at 20 to 25 miles per hour, gusts as high as 30. Especially the first half of the evening. Saturday features sunshine with afternoon clouds and scattered showers at St Croix. Temperatures will hold in the middle to upper eighties at St Thomas and St John will find mostly sunny skies giving way to more clouds in the chance for a shower or two.
Highs will climb into the upper eighties to near 90. That's the latest look at your short term forecast. I'm meteorologist Eric Weglarz. We are at the end of today's tjx news feed. I'm Marcellina Ventura-Douglas join me every weekday at 5 p.m.. Be sure to download the WTJX app and if you miss a part of our news, listen to it on demand wherever you get your podcasts.
