Depoliticizing the judicial system
By Enrique Vázquez Quintana, MD The justices of the Supreme Courts of both Puerto Rico and the United States are entrusted with interpreting the constitutions of their respective jurisdictions. In both jurisdictions, judges are nominated by the president or governor,...
Territory leaders bring colonial realities to Washington ocean conservation conference
Over 400 ocean policy and environmental justice advocates gathered in Washington, DC, for Upwell 2026: A Wave of Ocean Justice, a two-day conference that placed the experiences of US territory communities at the center of ocean conservation discussions. Leaders from...
Sandra King Young is running for delegate because “American Samoa cannot afford to be passive”
On March 2, 2026, Sandra King Young announced her candidacy for delegate from American Samoa to the US Congress in the upcoming November 2026 elections. King Young is a member of the American Samoa Democratic Party. “I am running because American Samoa cannot afford...
Thirteen years providing the missing context of islands
In most buildings, the elevator skips the 13th floor. The number is omitted, passed over quietly, as if it does not exist. For the United States territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, that skip of the...
#TBT: June 4, 2026
A "Satan", an M3 Stuart tank with a Ronson flamethrower, incinerates a Japanese pillbox during the Battle of Saipan in June 1944.
AARP highlights 27,491 non-participating registered voters in US Virgin Islands ahead of elections
An estimated 27,491 registered voters in the US Virgin Islands did not participate in recent elections, according to AARP, which has launched a voter engagement campaign urging residents—particularly those 50 and older—to confirm their registration status and make a...
NOAA advances seabed mapping near American Samoa
On January 22, 2026, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it would survey more than 30,000 square nautical miles of federal waters off American Samoa to map and characterize critical mineral deposits. NOAA said the project was part of...
#TBT: May 28, 2026
On May 28, 2022, the ACLU filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the 10th Circuit's ruling in Fitisemanu v. United States, which denied birthright citizenship to American Samoans, and to overrule the Insular Cases once and for all. The court...
US Virgin Islands executes contract to replace power generation on St. Croix and St. Thomas
The United States Virgin Islands Office of Disaster Recovery, on behalf of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, has executed a contract to replace power generation infrastructure in both the St. Croix and St. Thomas/St. John districts, marking a significant...
American Samoa facing Leptospirosis outbreak
American Samoa health officials have declared an outbreak of leptospirosis after a recent increase in confirmed cases across the territory. The announcement was released after local health authorities reported six confirmed cases since January 2026, with five of those...
