TINIAN VISITORS-Personnel assigned to the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing offload a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 517th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, at Tinian International Airport, Northern Mariana Islands, for Exercise Agile Reaper 23-1, Feb. 26, 2023. AR 23-1 presents an opportunity for Airmen from the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing to practice and execute their ability to rapidly move personnel, materiel, equipment, and aircraft to, from, and within a theater. (U.S. AIR FORCE/TECH. SGT. HAILEY STAKER)
TINIAN VISITORS-Personnel assigned to the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing offload a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 517th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, at Tinian International Airport, Northern Mariana Islands, for Exercise Agile Reaper 23-1, Feb. 26, 2023. AR 23-1 presents an opportunity for Airmen from the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing to practice and execute their ability to rapidly move personnel, materiel, equipment, and aircraft to, from, and within a theater. (U.S. AIR FORCE/TECH. SGT. HAILEY STAKER)
SWIM RELAY WINNERS-Taiyo Akimaru, right and Jakey Deleon Guerrero, left, were the first-place winners of the two-man Swim Relay of the Pacific Islands Club Saipan’s Duck Race for Cancer last Friday night. They both won a PIC Explorer’s Membership worth around $1,000. (LEIGH GASES)
DUCK RACE FOR CANCER-Participants and supporters of the Pacific Islands Club Saipan’s Duck Race for Cancer wait at the finish line of the Lazy River for the Top 4 winners of the race last Friday night. Rocelle Tenorio won $2,023 as her rubber duck raced to first place, followed by Jasmin Ngirmekur’s duck for second place and $500; third place for $200 was Ha’ani Diaz’s duck; and fourth place was Alex Domingo’s duck for $50. (LEIGH GASES)
LOBBYING FOR SEA GRANT STATUS-At the 2023 Spring Sea Grant Association meeting in Washington DC, Northern Marianas College president Galvin Deleon Guerrero, Ed.D., right, helped move the college’s bid to become a Sea Grant institution closer to fruition by networking with other Sea Grant institutions, developing partnerships for research and environmental stewardship, and officially submitting the college’s formal letter of intent to become a Sea Grant institution to Dr. Jonathan Pennock, center, director for the National Sea Grant Office, and Dr. Darren Learner, left, Sea Grant Association president. (NMC)
CNMI WOMEN’S MONTH-Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang proclaimed last March 2, 2023, the month of March 2023 as CNMI Women’s Month and March 8, 2023 as International Women’s Day in the CNMI. They were joined by first lady Wella S. Palacios, special adviser for Women’s Affairs Shirley Camacho-Ogumoro, Commonwealth Women’s Association president Cecilia Taitano Fitial, the CNMI Women’s Affairs Office, CWA, NMI Girl Scouts, local dignitaries, and members of the community. (OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR)
GOLD WINNER-Mount Carmel School student Chealzka Navarro, under the guidance of Jihye Yun from Yonsei Academy, won gold at the 2023 Tumon Bay Music Festival last March 4, 2023. For her performance, Navarro performed “Rock Prelude No.3” by Christopher Norton in the Solo & Small Ensemble division, competing against 18 other piano finalists. (MCS)
FOCUS ON EDUCATION-Northern Marianas College president Galvin Deleon Guerrero, Ed.D., and the college leadership team hosted the House Committee on Education last March 7, 2023, to discuss ways to enhance NMC’s programs and services for students and the community through legislative solutions. Led by committee chair Rep. Manny Gregory T. Castro (Ind-Saipan), alongside committee members Rep. Blas Jonathan “BJ” T. Attao (Ind-Saipan), Rep. John Paul P. Sablan (Ind-Saipan), and Rep. Edwin K. Propst (D-Saipan), the committee gained insight into the college’s existing programs, its financial picture, and plans to rebuild and upgrade its main campus through its facilities master plan. NMC will continue to work closely with the Legislature on public policies that will strengthen the college’s ability to build the CNMI’s intellectual capital, grow and develop the islands’ workforce, and help students land meaningful careers in the future. (NMC)
SURVIVAL SKILLS-Tech. Sgt. Dustin Goard, left, a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape specialist assigned to the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing; Master Sgt. Mitchell Jacobs, center, the first sergeant for the 3rd Operations Support Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Tech. Sgt. Jared Biller, right, a SERE specialist assigned to the 3rd AEW, cook sea cucumbers over a fire during Exercise Agile Reaper at Chulu Beach, Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands last March 3. Inset, Biller drinks fresh coconut water from a coconut, while fish and sea cucumbers roast over a fire during Exercise Agile Reaper at Chulu Beach, Tinian. SERE specialists test and validate various survival equipment for Agile Combat Employment to be able to be self-sustaining in an austere environment. Some challenges members can face in these environments include weather and cloud cover, which can affect equipment like solar-charging panels. (U.S. AIR FORCE/TECH. SGT. HAILEY STAKER)
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT-
Seated from left, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan general manager Robert Coates, Northern Marianas Technical Institute CEO Jodina Attao, Island Training Solution’s Jim Arenovski, and Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan’s executive sous chef Zenn Tomokane are joined by the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan executive and leadership team Tuesday morning after Coates and Attao signed a memorandum of agreement at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan’s Azucena Room. The agreement starts the partnership with Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, NMTech, and ITS to build local capacity and training in the hospitality and tourism industry. (LEIGH GASES)
ORDNANCE DETONATION-Members of Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Department of Public Safety, and residents look on as World War II-era ordnance was detonated in Marpi last Friday. (WALT F.J. GOODRIDGE)
PILGRIMAGE TOUR-
Alex Dunn, left, a former United Airlines pilot of 32 years and one-time pilot of the lone, operational B-29 used by the Commemorative Air Force for traveling air shows, recently visited Saipan for DiscoverSaipan.com’s World War II Pilgrimage tour. Dunn is seen here with John S. Castro-Mames, center, project coordinator of the Seafaring Traditions Program in Susupe, along with author/guide Walt F.J. Goodridge. (TYLER WARWICK)
CJMT MEETING-Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, center, Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan, left, and other administration representatives met last week with Maj. General Mark A. Hashimoto of the U.S. Marine Forces Pacific and other senior military officials to obtain an initial update on where the Marines’ are in the planning process for adjustments to the CNMI Joint Military Training proposal. The briefing covered what has been accomplished through technical working group meetings and proposed next steps in environmental planning. (OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR)
THANK YOU!-
Mobil Oil Marianas Inc. recently donated $3,000 in cash and gift cards to the Northern Marianas College Foundation in support of its Golf Open this past weekend. In photo are Mobil Oil Marianas Inc. representatives Edward Flores, Jovita Castro Flores, Malaina Kileleman, and Sergio Alves with NMC program coordinator Casey Huliganga. (NMC)
CONGRATULATIONS!-Congratulations to Joshua Calixterio Mostales for matching into General Surgery! We look forward to your graduation from the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in May. Love always, from Dad, Ms. Kate, JC, Chloe, Naomi, Erielle, family and friends. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
’BYE FOR NOW!-An F-22 Raptor assigned to the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, launches from the Tinian International Airport in the Northern Mariana Islands, at the conclusion of Exercise Agile Reaper 23-1 last March 7, 2023. Throughout the weeklong exercise, F-22 Raptors flew sorties from locations within the CNMI in a first for the aircraft. (U.S. AIR FORCE/TECH. SGT. HAILEY STAKER)
PUTC HEARING-Tinian and Aguiguan Mayor Edwin P. Aldan testifies before the Senate Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications during a public hearing Wednesday. Also in the photo are Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog, next to Aldan, PUTC members, Marianas Visitors Authority and Commonwealth Ports Authority officials, and Marianas Southern Airways vice president William Giles.
TINIAN PORT REPAIR-TINIAN, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands—Equipment Operator 2nd Class Connor Koltes from Underwater Construction Team 2 works on zinc anode installation in the Port of Tinian in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (U.S. NAVY/LT.J.G. DANIEL NICK, UCT 2)
CNMI ZERO WASTE WEEK-Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, fifth from left, and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, fifth from right, are joined by Cabinet officials, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency executives, Saipan Mayor Ramon B. Camacho, and Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan for a commemorative photo after Palacios proclaimed the week of March 27, 2023, to April 2, 2023, as CNMI Zero Waste Week yesterday morning. (OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR)
