Flashback July 18, 2000-2002

PDO lobbies for more federal funding[/B]

In a move to improve the quality of criminal defense for the poor, Chief Public Defender Masood Karimipour has asked U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for more federal grants for the CNMI to help indigent clients. Mr. Karimipour met with Ms. Reno during a recent trip to Washington D.C. where he attended a National Symposium on Indigent Defense sponsored by the federal government. The meeting, attended by public defenders, judges and policy makers from all 50 states, was designed to attract leaders in the indigent defense area and other decision makers in the criminal justice systems who are committed to improving the system for the poor.

Faced with dwindling funds for its operation, the Department of Public Safety has started identifying areas where it can further carry out cuts to meet the Superior Court’s deadline for the renovation of the Division of Corrections for mentally-ill inmates and detainees. DPS Commissioner Charles W. Ingram, however, said he could not further reduce the budget for operations just to accommodate the expenses for the improvement of the prison. “We cannot touch the money for operations because we have to make sure that the patrol cars are running 24 hours a day,” he said.

Principals told: Keep students’ grades private[/B]

It came as a surprise to some public school principals that few of the practices they have employed in handling students’ grades or records are actually against federal laws governing students’ privacy rights. After being briefed on the confidentiality of students’ school records during an Administrator’s Summer Institute session this week, principals admitted they would have to revisit the policies and update their staff on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
[B] Swift action on higher PSS budget sought[/B]

Put your money where your mouth is. This, in effect, was Rep. Tom Pangelinan’s message to Commonwealth senators whom he dared anew to act swiftly on the legislative initiative that aims to increase by 10 percent the Public School System’s annual budget allotment. Pangelinan, proponent of House Legislative Initiative 12-001, pointed out in a statement that the upper chamber has a mere 18 days left to pass the measure before the deadline to place initiatives on the ballot lapses on August 5. “All I am asking is for the Senate to take a vote, one way or the other, and then let the people decide this November if our public schools deserve more funds so that we can have kindergarten and open the new high schools in Kagman and Koblerville and the new elementary school in Rota,” he said.
[B] July 18, 2002

DEQ cites CUC for wastewater overflow[/B]

Wastewater overflowing from a Commonwealth Utility Corp. manhole near the old Tanapag Social Hall has flowed into nearby beach waters, prompting the Division of Environmental Quality to cite the utility firm for violating environmental regulations. But in a response sent to DEQ by CUC executive director Bernard P. Villagomez, he said the utility company has taken corrective action and immediately remedied the overflow situation by removing the leaking sewage. “The T-1 pump station overflow occurred as a result of renovation work being performed on the pump station. The contractor miscalculated the time it would take to seal a cut in the discharge piping made to install a bypass fitting, and this resulted in the overflow you described,” Villagomez told DEQ’s acting director Antonio I. DeLeon Guerrero.

The Public School System will be participating in a nationwide conference call tackling the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which President Bush signed into law last January 2002. The teleconference is being slated for State Education Agency public information officers, chief state school officers, deputies, governors’ press secretaries and education advisors. Robert H. Myers, the PSS public information officer, has been designated to take part in this hour-and-a-half activity. “Aside from improving my skills as a PIO, I can also be part of efforts to communicate about the No Child Left Behind Act to the Commonwealth,” said Myers.