FLASHBACK – August 27, 2011

OIA grants $500K to DPH[/B]

The Office of Insular Affairs has recently approved some $500,000 in financial and technical assistance to the Department of Public Health that will also include a structural analysis of the Commonwealth Health Center. According to Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, the grant will allow the department to hire a plant engineer who will train the staff in the maintenance of the whole facility and equipment. At the same time, a manual on preventive maintenance will be produced. Half of the cost of this project will be shouldered by the department.

A bill granting spending powers to Public School System’s Commissioner Rita H. Inos over some $30 million in capital improvement projects in the education sector hurdled the Senate yesterday. But the legislation will still need approval by the House of Representatives as senators reinstated provisions altered from the original version to suit conditions over use of the funding. “I hope the amendment does not jeopardize funding,” said Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez in voting in favor of the measure. “We need to get this bill rolling.” House Bill 11-455 will amend a new law that set aside a total of $29.96 million for various PSS projects on Saipan, Rota and Tinian to grant the expenditure authority to Inos.

AGO’s chief solicitor vacates post[/B]

The senior legal counsel at the CNMI Office of the Attorney General vacated his post Friday to begin work next week at the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission. Assistant Attorney General Elliott A. Sattler Sr., the chief solicitor of civil section, moves to Tinian to concentrate on gaming law and assisting the community and public officials who work to attract development and mutually beneficial controlled gaming. Colleagues at the Office of the Attorney General gathered Friday afternoon to present Sattler with a commemorative plaque. Sattler is former United States Magistrate for the Federal District Court of Nevada and Juvenile Master of Las Vegas, who served the CNMI for the last 11 years as the Chief Solicitor of the Civil Division in the Office of Attorney General.

One of the US Congress’ most outspoken advocate of human rights and democracy is throwing his full support to House Speaker Benigno Fitial’s quest to be the next governor of the Northern Marianas. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, a senior member of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations, threw his support behind Fitial, whom he described, as a visionary and a leader. The California lawmaker said the future of the Northern Marianas and its people will be secured if Fitial gets the mandate of the people.

Airport renaming bill hurdles first step[/B]

The Saipan International Airport could soon be sporting a spanking new name-the Francisco C. Ada International Airport. This comes soon after the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation passed House Local Bill 13-24 during yesterday’s session. The measure now heads to the desk of Gov. Juan N. Babauta in a final step before enactment. During deliberations on the measure, House Floor Leader Jesus T. Attao inserted amendments that would require Babauta to prepare a dedication plan marking the naming of the facility after the bill is passed.

In a bid to resolve the salary cap issue between the Legislature and the Babauta administration, House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider said he is willing to take the first step by meeting with the Senate to iron out the sanctioning requirement. Because, if not, all it would take is a Temporary Restraining Order and lawsuit on the Legislature and the Executive Branch and “we’re done,” Hofschneider said. This comes even as he related that, when he heard Friday that Attorney General Robert T. Torres had resigned, he felt as if he had stepped into a cesspool—the putrid stench of which wouldn’t dissipate in the air. “And no matter how hard you try to wash it off, it still smelt of ___…the whole environment just seemed stagnant, to say the least” he said.