Flashback October 30, 2000-2002

Wendy’s closes shop today[/B]

Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas and his line of popular food products are waving Saipan goodbye.

In what appears to be a strong indication that the island’s economy has been persistently rallying weakly, international food chain Wendy’s Restaurant is closing its doors to Saipan customers beginning today.

Restaurant insiders said the local company which holds the Saipan franchise for Wendy’s is scheduled to file bankruptcy at the United States federal court within the week.

Wendy’s International has acknowledged that there is no assurance that such growth will occur or that international operations will be profitable although it has developed the support structure required for international growth.

House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial on Saturday expressed relief over reports that the U.S. Congress is deferring action on legislation that would raise minimum wage in the CNMI at par with the federal level.

But he said the island government would not relax its efforts to block any federal takeover attempt, noting any legislative action in Washington D.C. favorable to the Commonwealth is a result of its lobbying campaign.

Reports from the nation’s capital have indicated that measures hiking minimum wage across the country, including the CNMI, are not expected to be passed in the next few weeks because of next month’s U.S. elections.

This means that an attempt by key Democrat members of Congress to include the islands in the proposal would have to be deferred as well until the next session.

“That’s the best part of it that it does not include or impact the CNMI,” Mr. Fitial told reporters in an interview after the inaugural session of the 3rd Youth Congress Saturday at the House chamber.

Strong waves drag man to sea[/B]

Authorities have been scouring the King Fisher cliff line and its surrounding areas since Sunday night in search of a man who was reportedly swept into the water by strong waves.

A witness, Felix Palacios, told police that he and his friend, Herberto Guillermo Hipolito, were standing by the King Fisher cliff line when fierce waves pushed them into the water.

Though Palacios made it back to the cliff line, Hipolito has unfortunately not surfaced since the October 28 incident.

Police officers Anthony Diaz, Stanley Patris and Patrick Togawa, in a preliminary report, said they responded to the distress call and combed the As Teo cliff line waters on board the Department of Public Safety vessel Zodiac II.

Right after the United States and its allies launched air attacks on Afghanistan’s Taliban early this month, the US military has intensified bombing exercises at the Farallon de Mendinilla (FDM), an uninhabited island north of Saipan.

But Emergency Management Office director Gregorio A. DeLeon Guerrero said the Commonwealth is not being used as a launching pad for the attacks in Afghanistan.

“As far as using our islands as a launching pad for any strikes [against] any terrorist country or known terrorist locations… I don’t think they are doing that,” Guerrero said.

But he added, “I think the CNMI is showing patriotism to the cause of the United States.”

Bird Island accident victim said critical[/B]

The woman who nearly drowned at the waters off the Bird Island Sanctuary Saturday was seriously injured that she had to be admitted at the Commonwealth Health Center’s intensive care unit, police said yesterday.

The woman, identified as Emerenciana D. Chinen, reportedly had water in her lungs and was suffering from lack of oxygen flow to the brain as a result of the drowning incident.