The first hearing focused on funding specifically requested for public projects to be funded under the infrastructure and development project fund which include the state hospital and a new classroom building for the early childhood education program.
The administration has requested the legislature to appropriate funding for renovation and extension of the state hospital.
The amount requested also include the upgrading of the mechanical and electrical wiring of the hospital as well as rearranging the rooms and toilets and other necessary changes that needs to be made on the existing structure.
The U.S. Office of Insular Affairs has approved a total amount of $4.69 million for the project.
However, $4.14 million is still needed to cover the estimated cost for the whole project, which is $8.832 million.
The requested funding for the new classroom building amounts to $1.8 million.
The actual estimated cost for the project is $2.5 million, which means $614,984 is still needed.
Pesticide amnesty this week for Saipan, Rota and Tinian
(DEQ) — The pesticide amnesty for Saipan, Rota and Tinian will take place starting Thursday, July 16 until July 18.
The collection is only one day for each island.
On Saipan, the collection will be at two sites, the Kagman Agricultural Station and Koblerville Fire Station; on Rota the collection will be at the Sunset Villia property on Friday, July 17; and Tinian on Saturday, July 18.
“The purpose of the amnesty is to collect pesticides that require disposal due to age, condition of containers, contamination, no labels, unregistered or cancellation,” said Reina Camacho, amnesty coordinator.
The reason is to allow the community an opportunity — at no cost — to dispose of the unwanted pesticides and pesticide containers.
“If you have a container that has lost its label or has been damaged, this is the type of waste we are hoping to collect at the Amnesty,” said Camacho.
Further, if you are unsure of what chemical a container used to store, we highly recommend that you dispose of the container at the amnesty.
DEQ encourages farmers and businesses who apply pesticides such as golf courses, hotels, and termite and pest control businesses — to participate in this one time opportunity.
This program is free.
In addition, DEQ says that transportation permits will not be required for the purpose of transporting pesticides as part of the amnesty collection.
The amnesty, a project funded by the U.S. EPA Region 9 Pesticide and Superfund programs in DEQ collaborated with the DLNR–Division of Agriculture, NMC-CREES, DPW-Division of Solid Waste and the Mayor Offices of Saipan, Tinian and Rota to organize the local efforts for the disposal program.
Win a trip to the Northern Islands
A MEMBER of the Friends of the Monument has agreed to pay for a local young person to visit the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and several of the Northern Islands later this month, a media release stated.
The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, wants a local person to experience visiting the uninhabited islands to the north.
The donor hopes that the winner will share their experience with their families, friends, and classmates through photos and a daily journal.
The Friends of the Monument are holding an essay contest to select which young person gets to go on the trip scheduled for July 20-30.
The topic for the essay contest is “Why I want to visit the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.”
The deadline for submissions is Monday, July 13 at 5 p.m.
Essays must be in Microsoft Word format and e-mailed to [email protected].
There is a 1,000-word limit for the essay.
Applicants must be between 18-25 years old.
The winning essay writer will earn a seat on a boat leaving for Maug on July 20.
All transportation and food costs will be paid for by the donor.
If for any reason the boat trip is canceled, the winner will have a seat on the next planned expedition.
The winner will be expected to keep a daily journal that will be published on the Friends of the Monument blog found at http://marianamonument.blogspot.com.
(Office of the Mayor) — Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela says students from Japan under the Sanpo En Students Exchange Program will be on island from July 28 to Aug. 3.
Between these dates, the students will stay with local families who would like to sponsor at least two students.
The students will spend two nights with the home-stay sponsors on July 31 and Aug. 1.
The Office of the Mayor would like to ask residents of Saipan, most especially those families whose children have participated in the Sanpo En Students Exchange Program in the past, to open their hearts and welcome the students by bringing them into their home on these two nights.
For more information, call 234-6280 or -6208 during normal business hours, Monday to Friday — ask for Tony A. Benavente or leave a message.
(IT&E) — Because Phishing attempts remain common on the Internet despite the service provider’s efforts to block these attacks, IT&E feels it is important to provide you with tips on how to identify these attempts, safeguard your account information, and where to report suspected phishing e-mail.
How to identify:
These messages will attempt to trick you into providing your account information. Expect subject lines and from fields to vary and change quickly. It is important to know that at some point, you may see a message like this in your inbox. If you see any such messages, you can safely delete them.
Examples of messages to delete:
• FROM: Pticom.com — Communications Support Team. [[email protected]]
SUBJECT: Warnning Alert!! Update Your Pticom.com Webmail
Important reminders:
• Never supply personally identifying information via e-mail especially usernames and passwords. IT&E will never ask for this information via e-mail.
• Never click on any link in an e-mail from an unknown source.
• Never reply to or respond to an unsolicited e-mail.
• Be a skeptical consumer. Don’t be immediately fooled by graphics or personalization of a message. Images and Web pages are easily faked.
• When forwarding messages, always include the entire original email with full-header information intact.
What to do if you have fallen prey to a phishing scam:
If you suspect that you may have revealed sensitive account information, we strongly urge you to call IT&E Tech Support at 682-1060/1062 and immediately change your username and password.
Water outage in Kagman, Papago
(CUC) — The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. announces a water outage scheduled in Kagman and Papago areas, affecting customers residing along Isa Drive down Kagman Road and the intersection of Chacha Road on Saturday, July 11, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The CUC water division distribution maintenance crew is scheduled to work on the upper Kagman Reservoir to seal all holes and openings, inspect, clean and disinfect the storage tank.
This required work is necessary to protect treated stored water and provide improved overall water quality for public consumption.
This work enables water division to comply with the stipulated order concerning drinking water operations and maintenance in correcting major sanitary deficiencies cited during storage tanks inspections.
Water service will be restored to affected customers as soon as the work is completed.
Residents are encouraged to practice strict water conservation and to teach children and household workers to save water, especially during this period.
Rainwater catchment systems/water tanks should be cleaned and float valves installed or replaced to ensure that water does not overflow from any tanks.
For more information, you may contact Bruce Megarr, deputy director for water and wastewater operations, at 235-7025 thru 235-7032 ext. 172 or Alan Lebria, acting water and wastewater operations manager, at ext 152.
Yap says it has no H1N1 cases
COLONIA, Yap (Yap State Government) — The Department of Health Services would like to dispel rumors that there are several confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus here on Yap.
There have been no confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus to date.
Since the arrival of the MS Hapilmohol and the MS Voyager from as far away as Pohnpei, there were several cases of the common flu virus in Yap, but none are confirmed cases of H1N1.
Any individual admitted to the Yap Memorial Hospital who exhibits flu-like symptoms are given a rapid flu test to determine the presence of the influenza virus.
However, to determine whether or not the influenza virus is the H1N1 strain, the specimen must be sent to Melbourne, Australia for confirmation.
As of yesterday, there were no confirmed cases of the H1N1, but some specimens were still awaiting results from Australia.
Power outage tomorrow
(CUC) — The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation would like to inform the general public that in its efforts to reinforce the power distribution system, the power division will continue to perform systems maintenance on laterals in the Kagman 3 Feeder 4/7 circuit.
As announced on July 3, the maintenance project will continue on Saturday, July 11, from 8:30 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. and will be scheduled again on Saturday, July 18.
The next stage of the project will be announced at a later date.
This maintenance project incorporates the replacement of approximately 300 deteriorated pole top pins (pole hardware) throughout the Kagman 3 area.
The deteriorated pins are of steel composite and were installed 12 years ago and have now exceeded their life span.
Because of their age and extensive exposure to the elements they require replacement to reinforce the circuit.
Nevertheless, because of the consistent ocean salt spray in that area, the new replacement pins have fiberglass shafts and are expected to be more dependable under the conditions.
All work to be performed on both dates will be isolated to laterals only.
The line crew will be working in many areas throughout the day and will only interrupt power to a certain street within the feeder to perform the necessary repairs and re-energize the street lateral when the area is complete.
CUC apologizes for any inconvenience the power interruption may impose on the community and will continue to work diligently to minimize future interruptions.
(DEQ) — The Division of Environmental Quality has raised the red flag at nine sites on Saipan and Managaha, and advises the public not to fish or swim within 300 feet of these locations for the next 48 hours or until otherwise notified.
Samples collected from Tanapag Meeting Hall, Central repair Shop, DPW Channel Bridge, S. Puerto Rico Dump, Am. Memorial Park, Garapan Fishing Dock, Sugar Dock, CK Dist #2 Drainage, and PIC beach on Saipan and Managaha site #04 contained excessive concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria — enterococci — that exceeded the CNMI’s marine water quality standards.
These bacteria can indicate the presence of human and animal waste in the water.
However, studies have shown that storm water runoff in tropical environments may also contain these bacteria from the natural environment, which may not be directly associated with public health concerns.
Samples from Tinian did not exceed the CNMI’s marine water quality standards.
DEQ assigns all of the island’s sampled beach sites a green flag.
The public is encouraged to contact DEQ at 664-8500 with any questions concerning this matter.
3 cleanups this weekend
THERE are three cleanups scheduled for Saturday morning:
• DEQ has its monthly cleanup brigade. Volunteers are meeting behind the McDonald’s in Garapan at 8 a.m.
• The Kagman High Biology Club is cleaning up Marine Beach at 8 a.m.
• Ladera International School of Saipan is cleaning Coral Ocean Point Beach at 8 a.m.
