COMMUNITY BRIEFS

DPS OPENS FIRING RANGE TO CIVILIANS THIS WEEKEND

This is to inform all Saipan registered firearm’s owner that the Department of Public Safety Firearm Training Facility will be open on Aug. 6, Saturday, and Aug. 7, Sunday, from 9am to 4pm. Between the hour of 9am to 4pm gun owners will be given the opportunity to do function check, services ability, zeroing, and recreational firing. The set fee for the Training Facility is $5 for each hour of use, which will be paid at the DPS Training Facility in San Juan Marpi. The range will provide cardboard backing and target.

ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST ON AUG. 8

The Northern Marianas College will be administering an English placement test on Aug. 8, 2005, from 5pm to 8pm at Room D-1 of the campus’ Fina Sisu facility.

Test-takers are required to bring a valid photo ID and pencils.

There is a $25 fee for the English Placement Test that must be paid in advance at NMC’s Finance Office (Mondays to Friday, 9am – 4pm).

Students will not be admitted to the testing room without proof of payment—a receipt for either the placement test fee or the NMC application fee. This $25 fee is applicable to the NMC application for all students.

For more information, call the Languages & Humanities Department at Ext.2000/2603.

BARWARS AT GIG

Its all systems go for the most talked about showdown of bartenders in the CNMI next month at the premier discotheque on the island, GIG.

The competition, dubbed “BarWars” and slated on Aug. 10, would gather top “mixologists” from different bars, clubs and hotels to shake things up as they vie for supremacy by showing off their agility, speed and panache in mixing cocktails.

GIG will be giving away $200 for the first place, $150 for the second place and $100 for the third place winner. A special prize will go to the Best in Taste winner.

For more details, contact GIG Discotheque office at 234-5050 during office hours or 234-3131 during nighttime. The deadline for registration is on Aug. 6.

TINIAN SHRIMP WORKSHOP ON AUG. 10

Do you love eating shrimp? Are you interested in supplementing your income? If so, make time to attend this informative workshop about growing and marketing shrimp at the Northern Marianas College campus on Tinian this coming Wednesday, Aug. 10.

The workshop is for free and starts at 9:30am and is until 2pm at Room D of the Tinian college.

Learn how to culture marine shrimp using the latest technology from lecturer, Michael Ogo, Aquaculture Team Leader. Seating is limited, so hurry and sign up!

For information about the shrimp workshop on Tinian, contact Lawrence Duponcheel at 433-2576 or 287-0553.

RENEW WELL OPERATION PERMITS BY AUG. 31

The Division of Environmental Quality would like to remind all Well Operators that applications for Well Operation Permit renewal is due on Aug. 31, 2005. Please refer to section 12.2(c) of the Well Drilling and Well Operators Regulations for clarification.

DEQ would also like to remind well operators to perform routine water quality analysis. Well permit numbers 0051-0100 are due by July; permit numbers 0101-0150 are due by August; and permit numbers 0151-0200 are due by September.

Routine analysis should also include the following parameters: Chloride, Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Hardness, Nitrate, ph, and Total Coliform.

Contact Joe Kaipat, Safe Drinking Water program manager, at 664-8500 for questions or concerns.

OWWA WORKSHOP ON FOOD PROCESSING

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office has scheduled a workshop on food processing this Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, 9 and 16, 2005 at the Filipino Workers Resource Center, Nauru Building, Susupe. The workshop is in collaboration with Edgar Cocker, interim director of the USDA Federal Program (Cooperative Research, Education and Extension Service, Northern Marianas College). Interested overseas Filipino workers who plan to become entrepreneurs must register with OWWA no later than Sept. 10, 2005. The number of participants will be limited to 40 hence, registration is on a first come, first serve basis.

TOLL FREE PHONE SERVICE FOR VETERANS

The regional office of the Honolulu Veterans Administration announced Saturday that veterans throughout the U.S. territories in the Pacific—the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa—and the island of Oahu in Hawaii will be able to dial the national benefits toll-free number, 1-800-827-1000, to obtain general benefits information and the status of benefit payments.

The number will also enable veterans residing on Oahu, Guam, American Samoa, and the CNMI, to access the wide range of benefits information that is available on the national menu. Neighbor island veterans in Hawaii have had access to this national toll-free number for years.

The new number is expected to be operational on July 1, 2005. Medical appointments at the Honolulu VA Medical Center can still be arranged toll-free from most areas by dialing 1-800-214-1306.

Other frequently called toll-free numbers that are available to veterans are:
• VA Education Program 888-442-4551
• Home Loan Eligibility 888-487-1970
• VA Life Insurance 800-669-8477
• VA Health Enrollment 877-222-8387
• CHAMPVA 800-733-8387
• Gulf War or Agent Orange 800-749-8387
• Telecom Device for the Deaf 800-829-4833