FLASHBACK

APRIL 5, 2005

Cabinet execs subpoenaed

The Superior Court subpoenaed Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Richard Seman and acting Finance Secretary Robert Schrack in connection with the $5.46 million judgment against the government in favor of marina builder Marine Revitalization Corp. The court had awarded MRC over $5.46 million, affirming an out-of-court arbitration order that ended the legal dispute between the non-profit company and the DLNR over the former’s construction of the Outer Cove marina. The Babauta administration earlier disclosed that it has no money to pay the award.

La Mode workers hold rally for back wages

Some 70 former La Mode workers held a rally at the Governor’s Office to push for the immediate payment of their back wages. The workers said they began to congregate outside the building at 8:30am and stayed there until late afternoon. La Mode and two other factories downsized and closed their operations early this year following the global lifting of trade quotas, leaving some 1,000 unemployed workers.

APRIL 5, 2004

Shellfish poisoning under control

Shellfish poisoning is now under control, with no new cases reported on Saipan. In an interview, Department of Public Health medical director Dr. Richard Brostrom said the Commonwealth Health Center reported no new patients other than the six who were admitted to the CHC Emergency Room Saturday evening. Of the six, he said, only one remained at CHC.

Report: 4 Saipan residents accused of ‘illegal recruitment’ in Manila

The Philippine’s Bureau of Immigration has reportedly arrested four persons allegedly recruiting Filipino female entertainers to Saipan, where some of the recruits are allegedly forced into prostitution, according to a report that came out Sunday in the Manila-based Today newspaper. The newspaper quoted Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. as saying that he ordered the four Americans arrested Thursday after learning of the suspects’ modus operandi in recruiting Filipinos for jobs on Saipan without a license from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

APRIL 5, 2003

144 juveniles detained in 2002

Approximately 144 juveniles were detained in fiscal year 2002, the highest number of detained minors in the last five years, the Division of Youth Services disclosed yesterday. Of this number, 20 juveniles were held for theft charges, 19 were with arrest warrants, 35 were court ordered, 10 faced disturbing the peace charges, 10 for illegal possession of a controlled substance, and 11 for minors consuming alcohol. Other charges that were slapped against the detained minors ranged from armed robbery to assault and battery, burglary and theft, among others. Two of the detained minors were charged with first-degree murder/conspiracy to commit murder.

Question raised on US citizenship

House Subcommittee on Labor and Immigration Chairman Rep. Herman T. Palacios has asked for clarification whether it is part of the Covenant’s intent to embrace as U.S. citizens those CNMI-born children of non-U.S. citizen parents. The Saipan congressman has posed the question to Attorney General Ramona V. Manglona, saying the issue is highly relevant to the present situation where there are more children being born in the CNMI to parents who are non-U.S. citizens. This segment, Palacios pointed out, exceeds the number of children who were born to at least one U.S. citizen parent.

APRIL 5, 2002

BOE decides to keep Inos

After an exhaustive five-hour deliberation, the Board of Education yesterday decided to keep Dr. Rita H. Inos as Commissioner of Education for another four years. Majority of the board members, including BOE Chair Herman T. Guerrero, Saipan member Esther Fleming, Rota member Marja Lee Taitano and Tinian member Frances H. Diaz voted to retain Inos, with one abstain vote cast by BOE Vice Chair Roman C. Benavente. BOE members arrived at the decision yesterday afternoon on the heels of what was reportedly an enormous “pressure” coming from certain forces-some of them being members of the Legislature as well as the executive branch.