FLASHBACK – Mar. 16, 2012

Mar. 16, 2000

Court stops deportation of asylum seeker

Superior Court Associate Judge Timothy H. Bellas yesterday temporarily stopped the Department of Labor and Immigration from carrying out deportation order against Bangladesh national Juyel Ahmed. In his order, Judge Bellas scheduled a hearing on March 23, 2000 to finally determine whether Mr. Ahmed should be deported while he has a pending application for asylum. He has directed Maj. Ignacio Celis, supervisor of the Department of Labor and Immigration Detention Center, to release Mr. Ahmed from detention following certain conditions, which include regular appearance in court hearings and reporting to an immigration officer.

SFW grants $160K for Rota marina construction

With a $160,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sports Fish Restoration-Boating Access Program, the Rota Marina will be completed before the end of the year. According to Division of Fish and Wildlife Director Richard Seman, Rota marina will have a minimum of 16 slips which can later on be expanded once the funds are available. An architectural and engineering firm has already been chosen to do the job in Rota marina. Currently, DFW is also working on the repair of Tinian marina which has 16 slips.

Mar. 16, 2001

Phone deprivation proposal OK’d

A proposal that seeks to mete out stringent penalties against individuals who would cut telephone lines to cause discomfort or harass others is now a step ahead. The Deprivation of Communications Act hurdled the House of Representatives yesterday, with congressmen passing on to the Senate the decision to describe the offense as either misdemeanor or a felony. Members of the lower chamber failed to reach a consensus in terms of classifying the act of communication deprivation as a crime or just a misdemeanor. But they said okay to the proposed measure, just the same.

Medical referral patients refused in Hawaii, Guam

The strained relationship between the Commonwealth and Queen’s Medical Center has affected patients who were sent off island for medical services since most Hawaii-based hospitals no longer honor the CNMI health card. Aside from Queen’s, Straub Health Center also stopped accepting health cards from Northern Marianas unless accompanied by a request for an off-island treatment issued by the Medical Referral Office. In addition, Group Health and Life Insurance Program subscribers are also being turned away by hospitals in Guam, making it doubly hard for subscribers to get the necessary medical attention immediately. Legislators aired concern that these problems may prod health and life insurance subscribers to seek legal opinion due to inconvenience caused by unsettled debts incurred by GHLI Branch and the health department.

Mar. 16, 2003

’No to part-time work for guest workers’

Instead of guest workers, the local government should rather allow international students to get part-time jobs in the CNMI, according to Northern Marianas College dean for community programs and services Tony Deleon Guerrero. Guerrero said the NMC is actually petitioning the Legislature to amend the law that prohibits foreign students from getting employed in the CNMI. This, he said, would further boost the NMC’s Pacific gateway plan, which aims to attract more foreign students into the CNMI. “This is what we’re suggesting to the Legislature. If they do that, more international students will be encouraged to come here because they can earn while studying,” he said.

Fitial sues Variety for libel

Former Speaker of the House Benigno R. Fitial has sued Younis Art Studio, Inc., publisher of the Marianas Variety, for allegedly libeling him in a series of politically motivated publicity in 2001. The $2.5 million suit noted that letters and paid political advertisements placed by Rep. Stanley T. Torres falsely accused the plaintiff of accepting a bribe in 1985. On various other dates following the publication of the political advertisements, the Marianas Variety published articles relating to the false allegation. By use and publication of the words, innuendo and language contained in the publications, Fitial says the Variety intended to assert that he had committed a crime.