OPA staff to visit, Tinian, Rota

(OPA) — The staff of the Office of the Public Auditor will be on Tinian on Wednesday, May 9, and on Rota on Friday, May 11, to accept last-minute filings of financial disclosure statements from government officials.
Filers may visit the mayor’s office during the OPA staff’s visit.
For more information, call 322-6481.

‘New Moon Rock’ concert

ON May 13, Sunday, a group of concerned artists, musicians, singer-performers, and individuals will hold a free benefit rock concert at the Minatchom Atdao Pavilion, starting lunch time.
This whole day celebration dubbed as the “New Moon Rock Concert” will highlight the value of friendship, unity and cooperation of various people of this wonderful community.
It will feature the music of Big Beats, Retro Jam, Symbiote, S.G. Acoustics, Roy Gonzales, Jeremy Navarro, Glen Messina and other bands and performers.
This free concert will also benefit the Gualo Rai children’s park and youth center.
For more information call Glen Messina or Jerry Manglonzo at 286-1859 or Darlene Castro at 235-1299.

Special flag presentation

(MHS) — Marianas High School’s JROTC will have a change of command ceremony on May 3.
The flag on the staff will be the same kind that came ashore with the American forces who landed on the beaches of Saipan and Tinian in June 1944.
The flag was returned to Margaret Grant Hodson, the young wife and widow of a U.S. Army aviator who took off from Saipan with the B-29 bomber forces one night in Nov. 1944 on a battle flight to Japan.
That American flyer did not return to his base on Saipan. He and his crewmates perished when their B-29 crashed.
By displaying this flag, MHS-JROTC pays tribute to the memory of that lost airman, Lt. Kenneth Frank Hodson, the father of Kenneth Hodson O’Harnett who is on the school faculty.
MHS is also flying this flag in recognition of those who are now serving in the military, and to honor those who have fallen or have given their lives in the cause of freedom.

Rota celebrates Earth Day

(DEQ) — The Rota community commemorated Earth Day during two events held last week. Luta Marine Education Center, an NGO, partnered with Northern Marianas College, Rota High School and the Division of Environmental Quality to conduct the environmental careers symposium and beach cleanup.
On Thursday April 19, in collaboration with NMC and the Rota Environmental Action and Leadership Group, or REAL,of Luta Marine Education Center, Rota High School Science students and community members participated in the Earth Day Environmental Careers Symposium. While promoting the various careers in the environmental sector, the theme for the event was “Global Problems, Local Solutions.”
Lihla Noori, REAL project coordinator and symposium moderator liaised with local environmental leaders to arrange for career oriented presentations.
The presenter’s included James Manglona from DLNR- Forestry Division, Pedro Manglona from DLNR-Division of Fish and Wildlife, Gary Toves from DEQ, Pedro Duenas from Historic Preservation Office-Rota, Lorenzo Ayuyu from the Bureau of Environmental Health, and Alejandro Badilles from NMC-CREES.
Prior to the event, the presenters provided the students with their career descriptions which the students used to prepare cross cutting questions to guide the panel discussion. Some panel question revolved around the rectification of Rota’s unsanitary dump, sewage outfalls in Songsong, abundant flies adjacent to the college, food handling, the IOTA project and bird flu disease. Students were welcomed by the agencies to contact them directly with regards to “shadowing for a day” or interning in their offices to further explore their interest in pursuing an environmental career.
Over 50 students and community members met at Pinatang Beach Park On Saturday, April 21, to launch the Earth Day beach cleanup. In partnership with the Coral Reef Alliance, students collected trash around the park and along the shoreline, while others snorkeled. The group moved along the shore stopping at Sirena dive shop for drinks and refreshments and continued on to the West Harbor. Over thirty bags of trash were collected and consisted mostly of bottles and cans. Sirena dive shop offered a kayak that the snorkellers used to remove reef flat trash including a large fishing net, fishing line and glass bottles. All the data was forwarded to Coral Reef Alliance, PADI Aware and World Wildlife Fund for entry into the worldwide Earth Day 2007 records.
For more information about the Rota Environmental Action and Leadership Group or Luta Marine Education Center, contact Lihla Noori at lihla.noori@gmail.com or 532-3102.