Letters to the Editor

AS most of us know by now, under the Individuals with Disabilities Act or IDEA, students with disabilities have the right to a free appropriate public education or FAPE.  The question is:  do students with disabilities have the same rights if they are enrolled in private schools? Some children are …

THE Friends of the Mariana Trench invite the community to learn about the proposed national marine sanctuary and to participate in the five-year review process.  The comment period was recently extended an additional 45 days at our request, and our community has until April 25 to learn about the pr…

“IT is the policy of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System (hereafter referred to as PSS) to make available a free appropriate public education or FAPE to all students with disabilities ages 3 to 21….”  NMIAC § 60-50-101. There are some limitations and exceptio…

IT seems the CNMI Bar & the Feds may be OUR last hope for Justice and I truly hope the majority of voters have caught-on to the modus operandi of the Governor and his former counterpart Trump. Both of these politicians have been fighting AGAINST Justice with every Poli-trick they know but most …

MY deepest sympathy for the los​s of our last Spanish Mercedarian missionary on Saipan, Sister Immaculada ​Ochoa de Retana. Today, coincidentally I was reading the book of Saipan on WWII and looking at the pictures of the nuns with their soil​ed white ​habits: Sister Maria Angelica Salaberia, Sr. M…

I AM having this letter written by other published in my name on-behalf of some “Concerned Citizens” who asked me and respectfully do not want their names exposed as  Variety does not print “anonymous” letters. Please respect this letter as coming from a group of concerned c…

MARCH 21, 2022 is World Down Syndrome Day! In our lifetime, we may have seen one of them.   A child with a flattened face and nose, almond shape eyes that slant upwards, small ears, and a short neck. They may even speak slower than other children. This is a child with Down Syndrome. According to th…

THE manual wheelchairs are one of the most common types of assistive technology medically used today. The manual wheelchairs have come a long way since the first creation. There is doubt about who invented the first wheelchair. As a wheelchair user (As a person that uses a wheelchair) I’ve seen the…

THE war in Ukraine that was invaded by Russia and its ruthless leader Vladimir Putin without any compelling reason whatsoever reminds me of how fragile our world today. It also reminded me of how lucky we are in the tiny Pacific islands whose relationship with the United States guarantees us protec…

AS a federal official, the last thing I ever want to do is to intrude on local self-government. But I am also a citizen of the Commonwealth and deeply troubled by the impeachment rules our Senate adopted. I understand Senators may have already decided for political reasons how they will vote on the…