Flashback

MAY 25, 2005

CUC, MOBIL EXCHANGE PROPOSALS

The Governor’s Office vowed yesterday to negotiate everyday with Mobil Oil Marianas Inc. until a long-term supply of fuel for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is ensured. Yesterday, Lt. Gov. Diego Benavente and CUC officials met for several hours with Mobil to hammer out details of a long-term contract for future fuel deliveries. According to the Governor’s Office, the lieutenant governor and CUC executive director Lorraine Babauta exchanged proposals with Mobil’s executives and began the bargaining process to ensure a steady supply of fuel for power generators.

OTHER AIRLINES URGED TO FILL IN GAP FOR JAL

Other airlines serving the Northern Marianas were urged yesterday to consider operating flights from the markets that would be left unserved if Japan Airlines suspends its flights to Saipan. Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Vicky I. Benavente said that MVA had started informal talks with airlines to encourage them to fill the gap that would be created by JAL’s planned pullout. “Not to put JAL in a bad light, but we don’t want to just sit back and wait. We need to take proactive steps to prepare for the possible pullout,” said Benavente.

MAY 25, 2004

REPORT: BANK SETTLES CASE FOR $194M

Shinsei Bank Ltd., Japan’s first foreign-owned lender, has agreed to pay ¥21.8 billion (about $194 million) to settle a lawsuit involving a resort developer that owned the Hyatt Regency Saipan, according to international news reports. Bloomberg, quoting lawyer Ed Calvo, reported yesterday that his client, EIE International Corp, agreed to the settlement over the weekend. EIE International had been seeking compensation at the CNMI Superior Court for losses on its properties.

NEW TRIAL ORDERED IN RED RUM MURDER

Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman has ordered a retrial for the man convicted in the 1998 murder of a 13-year old male student on Saipan. Wiseman, in a May 20, 2004 decision, granted the defendant, Jesse James Camacho, a writ of habeas corpus, and ordered that his judgment of conviction be vacated and that he receive a new trial. Camacho is serving a 45-year imprisonment term after being convicted of first degree murder of his friend, Antonio Sablan Jr., in 1998.

MAY 25, 2003

VOLCANIC SMOG, SULFUR ENGULF NMI, GUAM

Rose Soledad woke up early Saturday morning and was shocked to find her car, parked just outside their Chalan Kiya apartment, covered in dust. She immediately had it washed in time for a late morning appointment. In the afternoon, however, as Soledad was to leave for her weekly church choir commitment, her Honda Civic was again peppered with grayish powder-actually volcanic emissions from Anatahan’s continuously erupting volcano. Elsewhere around Saipan yesterday, the sight of people cleaning their vehicles was everywhere: Danny Magisa washed his company-assigned pickup truck twice-first in the morning before he went to work and second was in the late afternoon before he had it retired for the day under a roofed garage.

REMITTANCES SLIGHTLY DOWN IN YEAR’S START

Remittances, which have consistently taken an upward trend since 1997, took a second quarterly dive in the first three months of 2003 shrinking moderately by 0.18 percent from the end-December 2002 tally. According to a report from the CNMI Department of Commerce, remittances in the first quarter of the 2003 amounted to $20.451 million, lower from the year 2002’s last quarter figure of $20.488 million. While the difference-$37,074-may be considered insignificant in terms of dollar value, the drop tells more about the Commonwealth’s economy, the islands’ consumer confidence, and the local labor market.

MAY 25, 2001

HOTEL INDUSTRY BRACES FOR WORST YEAR

The Northern Marianas hotel industry is bracing for what could be its worst year ever, unless the Commonwealth succeeds in luring Japan’s family market during the summer months. Notwithstanding a close to four percent rise in hotel occupancy rates and a 1.6 percent increase in room rates for the first quarter of 2001, Hotel Association President Ronald D. Sablan said the destination needs to bring in the family segment.