William-Jose Velez Gonzalez

On June 25, 2019, the US Virgin Islands passed a law targeting oxybenzone, octocrylene, and octinoxate, three UV-blocking chemicals found in most mainstream commercial sunscreen products in the United States, because studies have shown they harm coral and other marine ecosystems.

This is our monthly series examining the top Google Trends in the US Territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that President Donald Trump's executive order redefining the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to exclude children born to parents who are temporary or unauthorized immigrants is unconstitutional—a decision that territory advocates and elected officials say has direct implications for the 3.6 million Americans living in US territories who have long been denied equal citizenship rights.

Super Typhoon Bavi made landfall over the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam on July 6, 2026, delivering a direct strike to the small island of Rota with sustained winds around 180 miles per hour— the strongest storm to ever hit the island —and leaving tens of thousands without power, water, or fuel across the region. No fatalities or injuries were reported anywhere in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after the Category 5 storm's passage.

Born April 16, 1866, José de Diego y Martínez was a Puerto Rican statesman, journalist, poet, lawyer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's political autonomy in union with Spain and later for independence from the United States. He passed away on July 16, 1918.

A new study conducted off the coast of Vieques, Puerto Rico has shown that the invisible microbial communities that make coral reefs function can be transplanted from one reef to another and onto an artificial structure—where they reorganize into a new, functioning community. The findings, published June 25, 2026, in the Cell Press journal One […]

Lawrence W. Cramer, newly appointed governor of the Virgin Islands, appeared before the Senate Territories Committee for questioning on his fitness for office in Washington, DC, on July 30, 1935.

Former Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory (D) and St. Croix educator Rodney Moorehead announced their joint candidacy for governor and lieutenant governor of the United States Virgin Islands at a campaign launch on the St. Thomas waterfront in June 2026. Frett-Gregory, who picked up nomination papers in April 2026, brings more than 30 years of public […]

Puerto Rico recovery taxes draw scrutiny from oversight board, taxpayer advocates

On August 8, 1844, missionary Archibald Wright Murray wrote that Tutuilans planned to cede Pago Pago Harbor, in what is now American Samoa, to the French in exchange for a pledge protecting Tutuila’s independence—recognizing the harbor as their greatest lure for European powers.