By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor
FIFTY years ago, the Northern Marianas was still part of the Trust Territory administered by the U.S. (The other TT districts were Palau, the Marshall Islands, and what is now known as the Federated States of Micronesia.) But unlike them, the NMI was on its way to a new political status through the Covenant, which it had negotiated with the U.S. and approved in a plebiscite. (Voter turnout was 93%, with “yes” receiving 78.8% of the valid ballots cast.)
Around this time in 1975, the resolution approving the Covenant, which had already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, was still pending in the U.S. Senate. According to Variety’s front-page story, the NMI was planning to send only two representatives to the U.S. Senate hearings because “there is not enough money available to send more….”
Besides a cash-strapped government, crime stories also made the news back in the day.
On Oct, 16, 1975, a 21-year-old local resident of Garapan was shot three times by a local restaurant owner. Police said the victim “succumbed to the shotgun wounds received, and was pronounced dead at 10:12 AM on the same day after emergency surgery was performed at Guam Naval Hospital, where he was transported by helicopter from Dr. Torres Hospital [located at what is now NMC] at 7:00 AM.”
The victim was “described by those who knew him as a quiet boy, not a trouble maker.” Variety reported that the “shooting took place following a game of chess or checkers between [the victim] and friends, who were drinking…. [W]itnesses said there was a lot of noise and excitement over the game, and when someone [said] that they should calm down, an argument began, ending in the shooting. Witnesses were quoted as saying they saw the [restaurant owner] shoot the victim, saw the victim fall, and [the alleged shooter] still holding the pistol.”
Yes, I also noticed that it was earlier indicated that the weapon was a “shotgun.” As for why the news source could not say whether the game was chess or checkers, I believe it was because they were probably playing checkers using chess pieces and a chessboard (my friends and I did the same when we were kids).
The Variety report continued:
“A description of the pistol by witnesses matched the description of the pistol surrendered by [the alleged shooter] to the police, and also matched the expended shells. Two of the shots were ‘in-shots,’ in which bullets remained in the body and one shot exited through the back, and that bullet has not been located.”
The suspect “was taken into custody, but would not talk after being read his constitutional rights upon arrest.”
Talk about a detailed police report! Nowadays, initial reports from the police tend to be brief and without specifics.
In other news, a local man was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to eight days in jail and fined $25 (worth about $150 today) after pleading guilty to the charge. The complainant was the father of the defendant’s girlfriend. He said the defendant beat his daughter and pointed a revolver at her. At the time, the defendant was “on probation for a 12-month period as a delinquent.” He was also being questioned as a suspect in the burglary of a government office “and other possible burglaries.”
Also in the news, the Trust Territory Transportation Division announced that applications for marine transportation scholarships were being accepted in the following fields: marine engineering, navigation (nautical science), marine electrical and electronics, marine radio telephone/telegraphy, and marine steward.
Another training course was offered by the Department of Resources and Development, and it was about project development and planning for island countries. In his remarks, the deputy high commissioner of the TT government reminded participants that “ ‘the success of any project or enterprise’ depends on the management, and stressed that emphasis…should be placed on taking steps to solve practical management problems.”
On MV’s editorial page, an unsigned opinion piece quoted a visitor as saying, “Here, there is such a thing as when ‘some greens’ get to some guys’ hands, the important thing for them is to spend them until they are completely used up.” The opinion writer said he was “impressed” that the visitor “understood this system here within a short time and, of course, he is right. In many cases, when I asked a question, I was given the answer ‘We are out of funds,’ or ‘not enough funds,’ or ‘no more money available,’ etc., especially when I asked about the status of this or that project or why this or that program was not being carried out anymore…. They are true answers of course because they had used all the money, but the project for which the money had been appropriated had not been completed.”
The opinion writer also bewailed another “bad habit”: “[W]hen somebody on this Island gets mad at another, they won’t carry on an argument or fight and beat each other, instead they shoot with guns and kill each other! [This is] an indication that there are so many fire arms on this Island, although it’s illegal, but no enforcement is made to collect them.”
Turns out, the good old days were just old — not necessarily good.
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Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists’ Best in Editorial Writing Award and the NMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/.
