News Briefs – August 29, 2019

Quakes hit Northern Islands

A 4.9-magnitude earthquake occurred 101 kilometers east of Farallon de Pajaros in the Northern Islands yesterday at 2:15am. There were no reports of casualties or damage. No tsunami warnings or advisories were issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Last Sunday, Aug. 25, a 4.8-magnitude earthquake occurred 11km southwest of Agrihan, also in the Northern Islands. There were also no reports of casualties or damage. nor tsunami warnings or advisories.

For more information, contact the CNMI EOC State Warning Point at 237-8000. (PR)

USCIS rejecting Form I-129 petitions that lack required name and address

Starting last Aug. 5, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began rejecting Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker petitions that do not include the petitioner’s or applicant’s name and primary U.S. office address in Part 1 of the form.

USCIS will subject all requests for nonimmigrant classifications filed on Form I-129 to this rejection criteria, including the time-sensitive H-2A visa classification for temporary agricultural workers. Those completing Form I-129, including agents and preparers who are not eligible to submit or are not otherwise recognized on a valid Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative, must ensure Part 1 contains the petitioner’s or applicant’s name and primary U.S. office address. USCIS recognizes that in certain circumstances, the person signing Part 8 of Form I-129 may be an employee of the petitioning entity and have the same address as that of the petitioner named in Part 1 of the form. In such a case, USCIS would not reject the Form I-129 because of the duplicate addresses.

Because of the time-sensitive nature of the H-2A visa classification in particular, we remind H-2A petitioners that failure to follow this guidance may result in rejections of their petitions, adding time to the H-2A process. (PR)

Cultural heritage month observance

To kick off Chamorro and Carolinian Cultural Heritage Month, the Office of the Governor will be holding a proclamation signing ceremony today, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, at 10am, in the Office of the Governor’s conference room.

Chamorro and Carolinian Cultural Heritage Month is intended to provide more opportunities to showcase the CNMI’s unique cultures and traditions. As Chamorros and Carolinians, we need to continue to educate and inspire our younger generation on the importance of our ways of living.  The sustainable protection, safeguarding, preservation, conservation, promotion of, as well as the dissemination of knowledge and practices of our indigenous cultures is beneficial for the social, economic, intellectual, artistic and cultural development of the current and succeeding generations. (PR)

Scheduled water service interruption

The areas of As Matuis, San Roque, Achugao, Tanapag, and portions of As Mahetog will experience water service interruptions until Friday, Aug. 30, from 8:30am to 3:30pm as leak detection personnel from both AIC Marianas, Inc. and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. conduct leak detections for damaged water lines and repairs throughout the affected areas as part of an ongoing project. This will enhance CUC’s capability to isolate problematic areas in the future to perform repairs and maintenance and reduce inconvenience to our consumers. (CUC)