Columnists

RECENTLY, I became a part of an ever-growing local statistic. Not just any statistic, but that statistic that we all hope not to be a part of these days. After being confirmed positive for Covid-19 with two antigen test results, and the full nine yards of symptoms, I was ordered to quarantine and i…

TRANSGENDER Remembrance Day was established on Nov. 20, 1999, in honor of Rita Heister, whose murder launched a platform for transgender communities to raise awareness of the threats and violence targeted toward them. However, this day’s value lies further than its origins; it’s a testa…

WHAT is LGBTQ+? As a child, I never really understood what it meant to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. I didn’t even know such a community existed. I never understood the strict borders between pink and blue, between dolls and race cars, between pretty dresses and sports-related  t-shirts.  …

HAFA Adai honorable leaders, advocates, supporters, allies, brothers and sisters and champions! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to present to you the winners of our essay contest in partnership with Joeten-Kiyu Public Library! The first place winners are Ian Song, 14 years old of Saipan In…

HUMAN trafficking is the greatest crime of the modern world, and China is on the front lines, but not in a good way.  China is one of the largest suppliers of slaves while also one of the largest consumers of them.  A shocking case has brought China’s trafficking problem into the spotlight, just as…

PICTURE this. Garbage strewn in a public area — a tourist site. Empty beer bottles, cigarette butts and discarded food wrappers. Volunteers will clean up the godawful mess, knowing that the place will be trashed again within days. No, not Saipan — or Guam. We’re talking about a more famous tourist …

SINCE the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers’ Public Private Partnership program began in 2020, the Department of Public Lands has supported its restoration, maintenance, and transformation projects for tourist and village sites on Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. When I joined DPL, I learned about G…

I JUST LOVE commenters, especially when they “miss-the-point” as they provide a platform for me to expound on the issue.  First and foremost, I didn’t write the op-ed for Black History Month for “praise” but to highlight my experiences as a Black U.S. Citizen in the CNMI which was just a partial re…

ONE of the most enigmatic places in the southern Pacific is Million Dollar Point in Vanuatu.  At depths shallow enough for snorkelers, one can see dozens of trucks, jeeps, tanks and other equipment piled up and decaying in the sea.  From time to time, a typhoon will even wash an engine up onto the …

I DIDN’T offer a calendar for Black History Monty because Blacks don’t really have anything to celebrate in the CNMI” — for TRUE but I haven’t given up yet even though this Government has never got involved in MLK Day nor Black History Month but they do it for other holidays — biased and even bigot…