FLASHBACK

JUNE 4, 2005
3 BOYS ARRESTED IN KHS FIRE

Police have arrested and detained three teenage boys who are suspected of setting fire to a Kagman High School classroom Saturday night last week. Department of Public Safety spokesman Eric F. David said yesterday that the arrests came following the issuance of an arrest warrant by Superior Court judge David A. Wiseman Thursday. David did not disclose the identities of the suspects, who are all juveniles. But he described the ages of two suspects as 15 and another as 16.

‘NOT ALL HOPE IS LOST ON JAL’

Gov. Juan N. Babauta remains hopeful that after the “massive restructuring” going on within Japan Airlines, the new company would continue to provide services to the CNMI. “Not all hope is lost with respect to JAL service to Saipan. Not all hopes are lost,” said Babauta in an interview upon returning from Japan yesterday afternoon. He did not elaborate, though, noting that “everything right now is uncertain with JAL.”

JUNE 4, 2004
PUTC GIVES CUC ULTIMATUM

Expressing dissatisfaction over the current power situation, the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communication is giving the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. until today to submit documents that show what is actually going on with Saipan’s power system. Failure to do so would force the panel “to take any and all actions it may deem necessary,” according to committee chair Timothy Villagomez, himself a former CUC executive director. Villagomez, in a June 2 letter to CUC board chair Herman P. Sablan and executive director Lorraine A. Babauta, said it is unfortunate that, while they gave assurances at a recent public hearing about CUC having sufficient power capacity, the utility firm actually began power shedding across the island.

$10K WORTH OF MARIJUANA PLANTS SEIZED

The Department of Public Safety seized last Wednesday several fully-grown marijuana plants with a total estimated street value between $8,000 to $10,000. According to Crime Stoppers coordinator and DPS public information officer Sgt. Thomas A. Blas Jr., a total of 93 plants ranging in height from six to 12 feet were uprooted from a location in Capitol Hill. Most of the plants reportedly had stems of about three inches in diameter.

JUNE 4, 2003
DELINQUENT OPA RECOMMENDATIONS UP

Recommendations made by the Office of the Public Auditor that have not been acted on increased by 19 percent in 2002, according to an audit tracking report released by the OPA yesterday. At the same time, the report pointed out that at least $1,128,024 in government funds that were improperly spent can be recovered if the Attorney General’s Office act on the OPA’s recommendations. The report on delinquent recommendations, which covered the period from 1994 to 2001, says that delinquent recommendations increased from 47 in 2001 to 56 in 2002-an increase of 9.

TROUGH, CONVERGENT WINDS DRENCH CNMI

Intermittent showers flooded portions of Saipan yesterday, including a residential area in Chalan Kanoa, where residents’ evacuation could become necessary should the rains continue. But Emergency Management Office director Rudolfo Pua assured that his men are monitoring the situation. “We’re expecting that [evacuation] if the rain continues. We’re ready to evacuate people if necessary, in coordination with the Red Cross,” Pua said.

JUNE 4, 2002
JAPANESE FIRM BUYS LA FIESTA MALL

A Japanese company bought the La Fiesta Mall in San Roque from Japan Airlines last month, amid a weak business scenario that forced several boutiques in the shopping center to close down. JAL, which also owns and operates Hotel Nikko-Saipan, signed the purchase contract with Coco’s Lagoon Development Corporation last May 20, 2002, transferring the ownership of the 32,000-square-meter property in San Roque to the Japan-based firm. La Fiesta Mall General Manager Toshiro Arai explained that, although the structure had been sold to Coco’s Lagoon Development, the management and administration of the shopping mall remains with JAL.