Local News

THE House of Representatives on Monday unanimously rejected the Senate version of House Bill 24-74, which would appropriate $1 million in public land income to the Public School System and the mayor’s offices of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio has disqualified Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja — and the entire CNMI Superior Court bench — from hearing the long-running class-action lawsuit accusing Mobil Oil Mariana Islands, Inc. and Shell Marianas of gasoline price-fixing.

TWO police officers are under investigation and have been placed on administrative leave for allegedly assaulting a man with a mental disability or autism in Marpi on Dec. 19, according to the Department of Public Safety.

FOLLOWING a press conference on Friday, Department of Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres issued a formal statement on Saturday defending the agency’s restructuring of its Medical Unit and urging lawmakers to approve pending salary authorization needed to complete the transition.

SHELDON Ungilbesul Remoket was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, simple assault, and disturbing the peace for hitting his uncle with a 2×2 piece of wood on Dec. 26.

SENATOR Celina Roberto Babauta submitted a letter of intent to the Democratic Party of the NMI seeking endorsement for her reelection bid in 2026.

REPRESENTATIVE Denita K. Yangetai has introduced House Local Bill 24-37 to rename Isa Drive in honor of Carlos Sablan Camacho, the first governor of the CNMI.

A 38-year-old theft suspect who claimed he served in the “Desert War” in 1996 under the “Salvation Army” was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation after the court questioned the credibility of his statement, noting he would have been only nine years old at the time.

KEVIN Imaikita Esteves, 35, has been charged with assault and battery, disturbing the peace, and contempt of court following a fight with his brother over a t-shirt on Dec. 22, 2025.

ON Dec. 23, 2025, the CNMI Supreme Court denied the Office of the Attorney General’s petition for a writ of mandamus in the case of Willie Carnell Frink, 42, a steward supervisor of a maritime prepositioning ship accused of sexually assaulting a female crewmember in November 2022.