FLASHBACK November 05, 1999-2003

Go out and vote[/B]

All is set for tomorrow’s political exercise as the CNMI’s 14,325 voters gear up to pick new senators, congressmen, municipal councilors and Board of Education members, and to decide whether or not they want to amend the CNMI Constitution. The voters will also decide if they want Timothy Bellas to continue serving as a Superior Court judge after the expiration of his term.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio called on voters to go out and exercise their political rights as he expressed disappointment over lack of public education on crucial constitutional amendments up for ratification at tomorrow’s midterm elections. More than 14,000 voters are expected to troop to polling places this Saturday to pick their representatives to the House, the Senate, Board of Education and the municipal council as well as cast their ballots on four legislative initiatives and on a judge retention.

GOP in landslide victory[/B]

GOP gubernatorial tandem Juan N. Babauta and Diego T. Benavente led the Republican Party to a landslide victory in Saturday’s general election. The BB tandem grabbed 42.8 percent of the total votes cast, followed by Covenant Party’s Benigno R. Fitial and Rita H. Inos with 2,963 votes or 24.4 percent of the overall votes.

A sudden drizzle at 7:30am couldn’t dampen the exuberant spirits at the Republican Party headquarters yesterday morning, as supporters whooped it up at the apparent victory of the Babauta-Benavente tandem in the Saturday polls. The cheers and the catcalls floated across the early morning air on Middle Road, with expansive applause punctuating the speeches made by the winning tandem, minutes after the Board of Elections finished counting the unofficial tally of votes, with Washington Rep. Juan N. Babauta and Rep. Diego Benavente leading the Fitial-Inos team by 2,231 votes.

Comfy airport checks sought [/B]

The Rota and Tinian Legislative Delegations are seeking to streamline intra-CNMI airport inspections, with a proposal that passengers entering the Commonwealth be subjected to general inspection only at their final island destination. Sen. Joaquin Adriano, chairman of the Tinian Legislative Delegation, has requested Gov. Juan N. Babauta to review the current policy requiring all passengers arriving at the Rota airport-transiting from Guam-to deplane and pass through Immigration, Customs and Quarantine prior to their final destination: either Tinian or Saipan.

The House Committee on Commerce has invited on- and off-island gasoline experts to discuss with the House of Representatives the CNMI’s fuel situation, according to committee chair Rep. Andrew S. Salas. The commerce committee has tapped the expertise of Pacific Petroleum CEO Richard Reddy, who is reportedly bringing to Saipan in mid-November an executive of a major oil supplier.

Team formed to recruit nurses[/B]

The Department of Public Health has formed a core group to intensify its recruitment of nurses to meet its direct hiring deadline of Jan. 1, 2004. “We’ll recruit from everywhere,” said DPH Secretary James U. Hofschneider, without specifying what countries to focus on. Normally, the CNMI gets its nursing staff from the Philippines.

Reacting to a recent report by the National Drug Intelligence Center on the CNMI’s current illegal drug situation, Gov. Juan N. Babauta stressed the need to beef up law enforcement, particularly customs. Babauta also said local enforcement agencies would continue to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to curtail illegal drug operations in the CNMI.