Flashback August 27, 1999

[B]August 27, 1999

Senate tightens rules for entry of workers[/B]

Senators yesterday put into motion a measure that will tighten requirements for submission of health certificates and police clearance by alien workers seeking entry into the CNMI. Under a proposed bill they approved ahead of a congressional oversight hearing scheduled for next month, nonresidents who wish to seek employment in the Northern Marianas must secure these requirements from a list of US-approved hospitals, clinics and agencies from their country of origin.

[B]Tiff over CUC’s drug test policy heightens[/B]

Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez has lashed back at Thomas J. Camacho, chief of the Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council, for alleged “inaccuracies and apparent grandstanding” stemming from a recent memorandum. He criticized the memo issued by Camacho which had questioned the drug and alcohol policies of the government-owned utility firm in line with the provisions of the American with Disabilities Act or ADA.

[B]DPS mulls off-island detention for inmates[/B]

The Department of Public Safety is looking into the possibility of sending some inmates to the U.S. mainland in order to ease overcrowding at the corrections and pare down expenditures of the agency. Public Safety Commissioner Charles Ingram said the proposal will cut down the department’s daily expenses in feeding and providing security to inmates by as much as $70. Currently, DPS spends some $130 per day for each prisoner.

[B]August 27, 2001

Government expenditures fall 10%[/B]

Strict compliance with its self-imposed austerity measures allowed the administration of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to cut its spending by more than ten percent in the first three months of the current financial year, representing $6 million total savings. Records from the Department of Finance, contained in a Department of Commerce report prepared by the Central Statistics Division, disclosed the Tenorio Administration spent only about $50.5 million in the October to December 2000 period.

[B]US Postal Service urged to catalog territories in stamps[/B]

A concurrent resolution is now pending before the US House of Representatives that would require the US Postal Service to come up with postage stamps that would commemorate the states and territories that make up the United States, including the CNMI. House Concurrent Resolution 215, which was authored by Guam Rep. Robert A. Underwood, urges Congress to direct the US Postal Service to come up with a series of postage stamps to commemorate each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the CNMI and Puerto Rico.

[B]Matching fund waiver proposed[/B]

Guam delegate Rep. Robert A. Underwood has filed a new bill at the US House of Representatives which, if passed, would no longer require American territories such as the CNMI to match federal grants that amount to less than $500,000. House Resolution 2826, which was also co-sponsored by Reps. Donna M. Christian-Christensen (US Virgin Islands) and Eni F. Faleomavaega (American Samoa), has been referred to the House Committee on Resources.

[B]August 27, 2002

Elected AG for NMI proposed[/B]

In the wake of the abrupt resignation of Attorney General Robert T. Torres, House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider said this could be the perfect time to revisit the issue of having an elected Attorney General. “We’ve raised that in the past and I think it’s time to revisit that idea again. There are jurisdictions in place that we can look at so we could weigh the pros and cons and make a determination appropriately,” said Hofschneider.

[B]Public schools to undergo repairs[/B]

Majority of old public schools in the Commonwealth will undergo renovation and repair following the discovery of worn-out materials and termite-infested facilities. Following the completion of three schools on Saipan, the Public School System now embarks on a major renovation of dilapidated public schools on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.