Flashback September 11, 2000-2002

[B][U]September 11, 2000[/U][/B] [B]Saipan braces for cleanup[/B]

Tropical storm Saomai left Saipan Friday, causing major ruins to vegetation and roads due to heavy downpour of rain that gripped the entire island. While declaring the islands safe from the recent storm, Emergency Management Office Director Greg A. Deleon Guerrero said the cleanup of washed-out roads should now be a priority in order to restore road safety for motorists.

[B]CPA owes signatory airlines $400K[/B]

The Commonwealth Ports Authority owes CNMI signatory airlines close to $400,000 in total credits for the payments they have made between March and June 2000, when airport departure fee was raised to $8.00 per passenger which the agency has retroactively rolled back to $5.79. A financial analysis report prepared by consultant Rex I. Palacios disclosed that as of June 30, 2000, rollback credits owed by CPA to international airlines amount to $385,676, and about $10,500 to commuter carriers.

[B]Trade associations oppose bill vs. NMI[/B]

The National Retail Association as well as three other trade associations in the United States have backed efforts by the CNMI government to oppose legislation seeking to strip the islands of its trade privileges, according to House Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta. These business groups have lobbied the U.S. Congress against enacting S. 922 and HR 1621 which would subject products made in the Commonwealth to import duties and quotas.

[U][B]September 11, 2001[/B][/U] [B]Japan recession chokes NMI tourism[/B]

A three-pronged external force stalled the Commonwealth’s once thriving travel industry, which recently underwent a major transition —from rapid growth to rapid decline. A comprehensive economic report prepared by Wali Osman of the Bank of Hawaii detailed the downfall of the CNMI’s tourism sector, from the largest revenue-generating business activity to a heavily knocked-out industry.

[B]Suicide prevention is everybody’s business[/B]

Teenagers show their pain and anger superficially. They tend to run away, violate the law and do practically everything to capture attention—even if it means trying to take their own lives. Reports prepared by the Department of Public Safety disclosed an alarming trend in suicide cases among the Commonwealth’s young populace.

[B]Marijuana plantation discovered on Tinian[/B]

Operatives have scored one of the biggest drug bust in the CNMI when it discovered a marijuana plantation at the northern part of Tinian. The discovery was made by the Department of Public Safety on Tinian, said chief government prosecutor Kevin Lynch.

[B][U]September 11, 2002[/U][/B] [B]Sept. 11, 2001: A year after[/B]

The Northern Marianas was just starting to crawl out of the devastating impacts of the Asian currency crisis when it was hit by a much larger catastrophe that forever changed the landscape of the world’s air transportation industry: the simultaneous-almost synchronized-crash attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC. The Commonwealth’s economic agony appeared infinitesimal side by side with the world’s gargantuan financial affliction caused by the dramatic slowdown in air travel, considering that the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks sowed terror by crashing four commercial aircraft onto some of America’s structural pride.

[B]NMI reminisces events of 9/11[/B]

Exactly one year ago, CNMI residents were glued to their television screens watching what used to be unimaginable of America’s might: The twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York–symbol of the nation’s economic activity–collapsing after being struck by terrorist-hijacked planes; and the Pentagon, symbol of the United States’ military might, razing in fire. Thousands of people were killed-some jumped to death from high floors of the towers.

[B]Governor signs $217M budget[/B]

At exactly 3:15pm yesterday, Gov. Juan N. Babauta signed into law the $217-million budget appropriations for Fiscal Year 2003, effectively breaking the jinx that has been hounding the budget since 1998. As expected, though, the enacted measure contained 12 line-item vetoes, with three major vetoes concerning the supposedly mandatory 25 percent quarterly allotments, the provision on the salary caps, and the Beautification Tax that was supposed to fund the Solid Waste Management Program of the government. The rest of the line-item vetoes were largely technical in nature.