Flashback- February 25, 1999-2002

[B][U]February 25, 1999[/U][/B] [B]Rasa welcomes Senate probe[/B]

Embattled casino gaming commission consultant Oscar C. Rasa said yesterday he welcomed a Senate committee plan to reopen an oversight investigation into his controversial employment contract, but dared Sen. David M. Cing to relinquish the chairmanship to ensure impartiality of the probe. If the oversight hearing pushes through, this will be the second time that Cing, chairman of the Executive Appointments and Government Investigations, would undertake such Senate inquiry involving the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission. Rasa’s $100,000 professional service contract has been drawn anew into a controversy after Tinian Mayor Francisco C. Borja pressed for his ouster on grounds that his employment was improper.

[B]Governor nixes personnel reclassification[/B]

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has disapproved a plan that would convert excepted service positions to civil service classified positions under a proposed bill seeking a reorganization of the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Coastal Resources Management. A Senate proposal intends to repeal an executive order issued by former governor Froilan C. Tenorio which placed CPA and CRM under the Departments of Public Works and Lands and Natural Resources, respectively. These entities used to be autonomous prior to the implementation of the executive order. But a provision that calls for the immediate reinstatement of civil service employees who were converted to excepted service pursuant to the executive order to classified position was opposed by Tenorio because of its impact on civil service regulations.

[B][U]February 25, 2000[/U][/B] [B]OPA claims evidence vs CUC’s Villagomez[/B]

The Office of Public Auditor yesterday told a Senate Committee that it has strong evidence to warrant further investigation into bribery allegations against Commonwealth Utilities Corporation executive director Timothy Villagomez. Appearing before the Senate Executive Appointments and Governmental Investigations, Public Auditor Leo LaMotte said OPA unearthed sufficient evidence that would justify future inquiry into the bribery accusations leveled against Villagomez regarding the controversial 80 megawatt power plant. “We have clear and sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation of Mr. Villagomez’s involvement in the alleged bribery,” he told members of the powerful Senate committee.

[B]Oil prices up again[/B]

In what appears to be another burden in the driving public’s fuel budget, Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc. yesterday implemented another round of increase in prices of petroleum products amid public clamor to roll back the figure to January 2000 levels. The new round of increase in petroleum products is the second in the CNMI in a period of less than 30 days. The company, citing increasing mark-up prices in world market, raised fuel prices by four cents per gallon last Feb. 1, 2000. Mobil gas stations in the Northern Marianas yesterday started selling three major petroleum products at higher prices averaging five cents per gallon.

[B][U]February 25, 2002[/U][/B] [B]Tinian Dynasty seals charter flight deal[/B]

Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino Chair Michael Kwan and China Southern Air signed a contract for a direct charter flight from China to Saipan starting April 19, 2002. In an interview, Kwan disclosed that executives of China Southern Air agreed to start its direct service flights from Guangzhou, China to Saipan when they signed the contract on February 20, 2002. He said China Southern Air will fly to Saipan twice a week using Boeing 757 aircraft, which can seat 198 passengers. China Southern Air is currently applying for a license before the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Department of Transportation.

[B]Warning raised vs butane gas abuse among NMI kids[/B]

Sniffing gas, particularly butane, among school-aged children is feared to be compounding the community’s string of substance abuse problems, disclosed a group of educators and mental health experts. Authorities have sounded the alarm on what appears to be a growing epidemic of butane gas abuse among school students-a vice believed to be more lethal than tobacco and alcohol consumption. Hop-wood Junior High School Principal David Borja confirmed Friday that the public school first discovered butane gas canisters inside the backpacks of some HJHS students right before the 2001 Christmas break.