Flashback October 20, 1999 -2002

[B]October 20, 1999

CRM to decide on complaints against MGM-Diorva[/B]

A three-man appeals committee of the Coastal Resources Management will convene today to decide on the complaint filed by a resident questioning the operation of MGM/Diorva in the Dandan area because of its alleged negative impact on the environment. More than a year ago, Joseph T. Torres filed a complaint against MGM/Diorva claiming that the garment factory failed to notify nearby residents that it will be operating in the Dandan area.

[B]Bring the jury outside the court[/B]

Can’t fit in the elevator? Can’t be driven up to the second-floor courtroom? Then, put up a makeshift court outside the judicial building so that the jury can view the truck, which the prosecutor insists is a valuable evidence in a multiple crime case. Just when Superior Court Judge Timothy Bellas thought he had put an end to the tug-of-war over the truck, the prosecutor and the defense simply won’t give in to each other’s arguments.

[B]Teno welcomes interim financing for CIP[/B]

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio welcomed yesterday a plan by the Commonwealth Development Authority to borrow up to $30 million from Bank of Guam to finance capital improvement projects in light of his administration’s efforts to spur the local economy. He said the loan is part of the island’s commitment to tap federal construction grants under the Covenant 702 funding that have been unused for the past few years due to CNMI’s inability to meet the matching requirement.

[B]October 20, 2000

CNMI bans deported aliens from reentry[/B]

Nonresident workers deported by the government for violation of its immigration laws are now barred forever from returning into the CNMI. Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio signed yesterday Public Law 12-25 amending existing laws to permanently ban a deported alien from reentry. Lawmakers believed the ban is in the best interest of law-abiding citizens of the islands.

[B]Gov’t reports all-time low in hotel occupancy tax collection[/B]

A strong manifestation that the islands’ tourism industry is at its lowest point, the CNMI government has reported a record-low in the amount of revenues collected from hotel occupancy taxes since 1996. Government records disclosed hotel occupancy taxes averaged $2.8 million in the first half of the financial year 2000, which translates into about six percent fall from the year ago’s semestral average of $3 million.

[B]NMHC gets $3.8-M for housing loan program[/B]

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday approved infusion of additional $3.8 million into a loan program administered by the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation to help low and middle-income families secure financing to build their homes. The funds came from the $10 million loan package extended by the Marianas Public Land Trust in 1995 to the government housing agency for its various programs.

[B]October 20, 2002

USPS: Port lockout trapped some mail[/B]

Letters and packages that were trapped at the West Coast port during the lockout week are expected to be delivered to CNMI recipients in the next two months, according to the United States Postal Service on Saipan. However, mail backlogs only include letters and packages that were sent through the standard or ground delivery system. USPS-CNMI Postmaster John William San Nicolas, in an interview Friday, explained that the traffic of letters and other items that were sent through the special delivery system, which is offered on premium rates, was not disrupted by the weeklong work stoppage at West Coast ports.

[B]5th Youth Congress senators: All set to serve[/B]

All set and eager to get down to business, elected members of the 5th Youth Congress set off into their first organizational session yesterday during an inauguration ceremony bedecked with pomp and style. In the presence of no less than the Commonwealth’s top leaders, led by Gov. Juan N. Babauta, 23 new youth senators vowed to serve their youth constituents by addressing the most pressing issues besetting their generation today.