Settlement Fund advisory
(CNMI Settlement Fund) — Due to a bank processing glitch with the transfer of funds to certain non-Bank of Hawaii retiree account members, the Settlement Fund was unable to confirm the transfer of funds on Tuesday morning.
But as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Settlement Fund confirmed the transfer of funds to members holding accounts at the Bank of Saipan and City Trust Bank.
Moreover, as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Settlement Fund confirmed the transfer of funds to members holding accounts at the Bank of Guam.
“We will continue to monitor the transfer of funds to other non-Bank of Hawaii account members and update members as information is provided.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to resolve the issues.”
An update will be provided as soon as the issues are resolved. For more information, call 322-3863, fax 664-8080 or email info@nmisf.com
Scheduled power service interruption on June 18
(Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) — There will be a scheduled power service interruption on Friday, June 18, 2021.
• Outage Time: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (estimated)
• Areas Affected: Papago (Isa Dr., Fresko Pl., Sachet Ln., Dagga Pl., Pengua Pl., Maipe Ln., Palm Tree Pl., Papago Dr., Sosugi Dr., Leel Ln., Tulip Pl., Pina Dr., Chetnot Pl., Ahagaga Dr., and Arnot Ln.)
• Circuit: Feeder 4
• Water Well Affected: None
• Wastewater Facility Affected: None
• Purpose: To continue the replacement of a rotted primary power pole with a concrete pole. Due to the heavy rainfall last Friday, June 11 , 2021, the line crew was unable to access the area of the second pole that needed to be replaced.
CUC continues to work diligently to minimize any inconvenience to its customers. For more information, contact the CUC Hotline at 236-4333 or monitor its Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Commonwealth[UtilitiesCorporation/).
Draft Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan
(OPD) — The Office of Planning and Development under the CNMI Office of the Governor, in coordination with our Planning and Development Advisory Council, has published the Draft Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan or CSDP for public review and comment.
The CSDP is a strategic plan that aims to provide a roadmap to guide sustainable growth and investment priorities in the CNMI for the next ten-year planning horizon.
Public meetings are scheduled as follows:
• June 16-17, Tinian
• June 20-21, Saipan and Northern Islands
• June 28-29, Rota
Please visit opd.gov.mp/ to verify times and locations. Please contact the Office of Planning and Development at planning@opd.gov.mp if you have questions or comments and to register to virtually attend. Please visit opd.gov.mp/ to learn more about the CSDP and ongoing planning efforts.
Please join us and make your voice heard as we work to create a bright and sustainable CNMI!
The public will have the opportunity to ask questions and submit comments that will be incorporated into the future — and soon to be final — version of the CSDP.
Saipan student named to Dean’s List at Lehigh University
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (Lehigh University) — Dean’s List status, which is awarded to students who earned a scholastic average of 3.6 or better while carrying at least 12 hours of regularly graded courses, has been granted to Surui Huang of Saipan in the Spring 2021 semester.
For more than 150 years, Lehigh University (lehigh.edu) has combined outstanding academic and learning opportunities with leadership in fostering innovative research.
The institution is among the nation’s most selective, highly ranked private research universities.
Lehigh’s five colleges — College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Health, and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science — provides opportunities to 7,000+ students to discover and grow in an academically rigorous environment along with a supportive, engaged campus community.
Red flag at 3 Saipan sites
(BECQ) — The Bureau of Environmental Quality analyzes water samples collected from Saipan’s west coast recreational beaches and storm drainages and the Grotto every week.
Samples collected from the following locations contained excessive concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria or enterococci that exceeded CNMI 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.
Still, to adequately address public health concerns, BECQ has given the following locations a red flag and advises the public not to fish or swim within 300 feet of these locations for the next 48 hours or until otherwise notified:
Smiling Cove Marina
AMP Drainage
Garapan Fishing Dock
