Community Briefs – Feb. 3, 2015

Chamber membership meeting on Wednesday
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce will hold its February general membership meeting this Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Hyatt Sandcastle. Luncheon begins at 11:30am, with the meeting starting promptly at noon. Luncheon cost for SCC members is $20. Non-member cost is $30.
Also, the Chamber will hold an organizational meeting for the Saipan Chamber Young Professionals on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 10am in the Chamber conference room. Please mark your calendar to attend, or send one of your managers who may be interested in participating in our new program, which targets mid-level managers and up and coming professionals ages 18-35. (SCC)

Joeten-Kiyu library closed this week
This is to inform the public that the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library will be closed from Feb. 3 to Feb. 7, 2015, due to its annual inventory. Thank you for your understanding. For more information, call 235-7322/23. (JKPL)

Private schools sets membership meeting on Wed.
The Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools is inviting all private schools in the CNMI to attend an open membership meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 3:30pm at Mount Carmel School’s faculty lounge. The purpose of the meeting will be to allow current and prospective members of the coalition to submit required items for membership, as well as to move forward with several initiatives.  Since its founding, the CCOPS has represented private schools on the CNMI BOE by electing a non-public school representative to the BOE who is then appointed by the CNMI governor to the BOE.  Private schools on Rota and Tinian may also participate in the CCOPS meeting via Google Hangouts.  For more information about the CCOPS, contact the CCOPS president, Galvin Deleon Guerrero, at galvin.deleonguerrero@gmail.com. (CCOPS)

Free training on effective parenting
Brilliant Star School will be offering a “Parent Effectiveness Training” at no charge. The training will be held on Feb. 4 from 6:30pm to 8pm at the Brilliant Star School located on Navy Hill. The talk is appropriate for parents of all age children. The presenter, Ganasini Iris, holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from State University of New York and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Oregon. For more information contact Brilliant Star School at (670) 323-STAR (7827). (PR)

BECQ brigade sets Tank Beach cleanup on Sat.
The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality’s Cleanup Brigade will be picking up trash at Tank Beach on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, at 8am. If you would like to volunteer, meet the BECQ representatives on Saturday at the Tank Beach entrance at 8am. Volunteers will split into groups and clean until 10am and break for drinks and then continue, if needed.
This month, outstanding brigade volunteers who participated in at least 10 monthly cleanups will receive a brigade cap and those who participated in at least three cleanups will receive a brigade T-shirt.
For more information about volunteering, contact the BECQ office at 664-8500/1. (BECQ)

Air Force, Navy training on FDM, at Warning Area 517
The U.S. Air Force will conduct training at the island of Farallon de Mendinilla during the following times:
• Feb. 3, from 9am to 4pm
• Feb. 4, from 9am to 8pm
• Feb. 5, from 10am to 1:30pm and 3-9:30pm
• Feb. 6, from 6am to 6pm
The U.S. Navy will conduct training at Warning Area 517 on Feb. 3-4 from noon to 8pm
The general public especially fishermen, commercial pilots and marine tour operators are advised to stay clear from the area during the dates and times indicated.
The general location of the training on the island of Farallon de Medinilla will be on a 10-nautical mile radius on all quadrants. W-517 is an irregular shaped polygon comprising of 14,000 nautical square miles of airspace that begins south of Guam and extends south-southwest in international waters. (PR)

Family grief support meeting on Feb. 5
The Compassionate Friends of Saipan will be holding its monthly grief support meeting on Thursday Feb. 5, from 6pm to 7:30pm, in the NMPASI conference room on Middle Road, in Gualo Rai. The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others to be supportive. For more information, e-mail tcfSaipan@gmail.com or call Jill Derickson (989-9821) or Donna Krum (783-0755). To learn more about The Compassionate Friends, visit their website at www.compassionatefriends.org. (PR)