“Solar” Jeff Smith took advantage of the opportunity to spruce up Patrick’s West Indian Delight food van in the U.S. Custom’s parking lot to share an important message.

Ranger in Training campers measure simulated turtle tracks on Salomon Beach to decipher what type of sea turtle would have made the markings.

Amid the tourists lounging on Salomon Beach last week, 13 students were spotted with measuring tape and field journals digging near what appeared to be sea turtle nests.

The St. John and St. Thomas teens were getting a hands-on look at what life as a V.I. National Park ranger would be like as part of the first ever Ranger In Training Camp, which ran from July 6 through 9.

The camp was the brainchild of VINP guide Jessica Hornbeck, who received a grant from the National Park Foundation and also partnered with the V.I. Environmental Resource Station and Friends of VINP.

Kicking off the first day of camp on Tuesday, July 6, the students heard from VINP’s Chief of Resource Management Rafe Boulon, about the vast resources within the park’s boundaries.

Residents across the Virgin Islands got a shake up last week as a magnitude 4.6 earthquake rattled the territory on Wednesday morning, July 7, just after 11 a.m.

The epicenter was located about 50 miles north, northeast of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and 40 miles north, northwest of Road Town, British Virgin Islands, at 19.04 degrees north and 64.75 degrees west, according to the Puerto Rico Seismic Network.

Since the earthquake was at a depth of about 2.9 miles below the ocean’s surface, however, its full force wasn’t felt on land.

While no damage was reported in the USVI or British Virgin Islands, residents reported feeling the earthquake from Tortola to St. Thomas, according to the Puerto Rico Seismic Network.

Ava Haywood

V.I. Police Department officers on St. John responding to a call of a burglary in progress observed a male exiting an apartment and arrested him for First Degree Burglary.

The thief was in possession of stolen merchandise worth more than $1,700, which was recovered.

The St. John ambulance boat Star of Life, which has been on its last legs for several years, may finally get the replacement it so desperately needs.

Governor John deJongh announced last week that St. Croix company Gold Coast Yachts has been contracted to build a new ambulance boat.

The construction of the boat, whose cost is expected to be around $700,000, will be funded with money appropriated by deJongh in August 2008. The new ambulance boat could be in service as soon as four to six months after the contract is executed, according to V.I. Department of Health spokesperson Eunice Bedminster.