Flashback August 28, 2000-2002

[B]August 28, 2000

House approves $222M budget[/B]

The House of Representatives approved the FY 2001 budget package on Friday amounting to $221.66 million, augmenting spending limit by the legislative and judicial branches as well as key government agencies. For the first time, lawmakers also agreed to transfer responsibility of paying government utilities to each department or agency in an effort to encourage power and water conservation in public offices.

[B]Feds scrap funding for Tinian breakwater repair[/B]

Repair of the dilapidated Tinian breakwater suffered yet another halt after funding for a feasibility study that was supposed to be carried out by the United States Army Corps of Engineers has been reportedly scrapped from its Fiscal Year 2001 budget. Ports Authority Executive Director Carlos H. Salas said the sudden change in the program was reported to him during his visit to Hawaii last week, where he was also informed that the $100,000 budget for the study will not be available until the succeeding fiscal year.

[B]Study: NMC’s major marketing setback points to high tuition[/B]

High tuition and fees have been blamed on the Northern Marianas College’s failure to attract more students, a study conducted by a group of NMC students disclosed. According to the marketing study, the rate of tuition and fees offered for international students is the main factor that affects the college’s chances of increasing its foreign student enrollment.

[B]August 28, 2001

Bird population in Farallon declining[/B]

The United States Navy yesterday admitted that there has been a decrease in the number of birds in the CNMI, particularly on the island of Farallon de Medinilla, which is being used for military bombing exercises. This developed as the Navy reiterated plans to extend bombing exercises by the military to Tinian. At present, there are at least eight types of ordnance being used by the military in the Farallon de Medinilla exercises.

[B]NMC Fall enrollment soars 21%[/B]

Massive marketing efforts by the Northern Marianas College paid off as the institution recorded a hefty 21 percent increase in enrollment figures for the Fall 2001 semester. The college’s full-time equivalency reached 960 for the current term as opposed to the 796 FTEs during Fall of last year, according to enrollment records compiled as of August 20, 2001.

[B]Teno rejects creation of legislative finance office[/B]

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has vetoed the Senate bill that would provide comprehensive legislation for the Legislative Bureau, saying that a provision in the proposed measure creating an Office of Legislative Finance is violative of the CNMI Constitution. Tenorio said the Commonwealth Constitution specifically says that only the finance department can control and regulate the expenditure of public funds and that language is specifically provided preventing the legislature or any other agency from setting up its own finance office.

[B]August 28, 2002

Classroom shortage in public schools [/B]

The Public School System is anticipating an acute shortage of classrooms in several government educational institutions, as student population grows by an annual rate of 5 percent. The PSS said Kagman and the northern portion of Saipan are among the areas with the fastest growing student population, considering the large new homesteads in these villages. Based on the PSS-Capital Improvement Project Report, Saipan is the only island throughout the Northern Marianas expecting a classroom shortage over the next five to seven years.

[B]No shortlist yet on new AG[/B]

The Babauta administration has given itself a deadline of two weeks to come up with its choice of the person who will slide into the vacant seat of the Attorney General. Just before leaving for Tokyo on Monday, Gov. Juan N. Babauta said it will take his administration a week or two to shorten its long list of possible nominees to the post to just one name.