Flashback September 23,1999-2003

[B]September 23,1999

Candidates gear up for elections[/B]

Political hopefuls have started gearing up. Campaign banners hang everywhere. Debates are around the corner. A total of 70 candidates -18 of them are reelectionists – will race for different positions at stake in the Nov. 6 mid-term elections, according to records from the Board of Elections. Yesterday was the last day for filing of nominating petitions, which will be certified today, according to BOE Executive Director Gregorio Sablan.

[B]Continental’s decision worries tour operators[/B]

The Northern Marianas would have difficulty recovering from the tourism slump with the decision of Continental Micronesia to remove all its direct flights from various cities in Japan to Saipan, according to Japan Saipan Travel Association. In fact, more Japanese now would prefer to go to Guam than Saipan as they have always shunned waiting for more than 30 minutes to take a 30-minute connecting flight to Saipan, said Iwao Sakai, general manager of R&C Tours.

[B]US gives back Tinian land to CNMI[/B]

The U.S. Navy turns over today to the CNMI government more than 5.2-million square meters of land on Tinian which will be used for the expansion of its airport. A brief turnover ceremony will be held on Tinian in the presence of Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan and Commonwealth Ports Authority officials. The Division of Public Lands earlier approved a conditional conveyance of certain U.S. military lands to the ports authority for the expansion of West Tinian Airport.

[B]September 23, 2002

NMIRF sued for denying benefits[/B]

Officials of the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund were slapped with a lawsuit for denying disability retirement benefits and for failure to decide promptly on an appeal by a former Public School System psychologist allegedly suffering from brain injury. Named defendants to the lawsuit were Fund administrator and chief executive officer Karl T. Reyes, the Fund’s Board of Trustees, and the Fund itself. They were sued in their official capacities.

[B]Is child sexual abuse becoming rampant in NMI?[/B]

That question is prompted by a report Friday by the Department of Public Safety that another man has been arrested for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl sometime last week. Police spokesman Lt. Pete Muna refused to say if cases of sexual abuse of children are becoming rampant, but he added that such cases have already Òhappened many times.Ó

[B]Receiver seeks support for CDA-BoS deal[/B]

Bank of Saipan receiver Randall T. Fennell is aggressively pushing for the ratification of the proposed agreement with the Commonwealth Development Authority, as he intends to persuade all government agency depositors to support the proposal after a meeting with Gov. Juan N. Babauta. Under the scheme, government agencies that have deposits at the BoS may withdraw the equivalent amount of their money from the Commonwealth Development Authority, which, in turn, would acquire some $16 million in collectibles from secured loans at the bank. The CDA stands to collect the loans, which are earning interests, while the obligation of the bank to government agencies would be extinguished.

[B]September 23, 2003

CNMI gets $10M from Bush[/B]

The CNMI government received a $10-million allotment for two fiscal years beginning this year from the Bush administration under the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. The government, through the Governor’s Office, received the initial $5 million grant last June. It expects to get the remaining amount of another $5 million on Oct. 1, 2003.

[B]Disaster preparedness program urged[/B]

All schools in the Commonwealth are urged to participate in a disaster preparedness program that would raise the level of alertness among students and teachers in time of man-made and natural calamities. This is in light of the weeklong observance of the CNMI Disaster Preparedness Week, which was endorsed yesterday by Gov. Juan N. Babauta during a simple ceremony at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.