Local News

A NEWLY formed group of street performers has begun busking in Saipan, bringing live music and interactive shows to the island’s main tourist district.

(BECQ) — The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality analyzes water samples collected from Saipan’s west coast recreational beaches and storm drainages every week.

FUTURE protests over the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s long-delayed solar power project could arise once CUC issues a notice of intent to award, the agency’s legal counsel told regulators last week.

PACIFIC Islands Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Commissioner Frankie Eliptico asked Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee Chair Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider and House Floor Leader Marissa Flores to help secure funding to maintain the CNMI’s membership in the interstate compact.

GOVERNOR David M. Apatang, in Executive Order 2026-3 on March 10, 2026, transferred the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation from the Office of the Governor to the Department of Labor to “better serve the interests of the Commonwealth and its people.”

GOVERNOR David M. Apatang last week signed into law House Bill 24-35, which provides limited immunity from civil liability for those who administer reversal medication to opioid overdose victims.

GOVERNOR David M. Apatang last week approved House Bill 24-11, which strengthens the Commonwealth Transit Authority to implement safety measures on transit buses.

(Democratic Party of the NMI) — On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, members of the Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands, along with their supporters and friends from across the CNMI, will gather for the Blue Wave Banquet at the Kensington Hotel Kensington Hall.

A TENSE exchange occurred between CPUC Vice Chair Jack Angello and CUC board legal counsel Mike Ernest after Angelo said Commonwealth Utilities Corporation personnel handled recent power outages reactively instead of preventively.

UNLIKE in two previous price hikes, residents in the CNMI were caught unprepared on Friday, March 13, 2026, by a historic 40-cent increase in gasoline and a 70-cent increase in diesel prices as the war in the Middle East continues to escalate.