GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres on Friday said a new government office has been created to focus on procurement, permitting and construction management/engineering for infrastructure and recovery projects.

LONG-TIME local educator Galvin S. Deleon Guerrero has accepted the presidency of Northern Marianas College.

TWO newly arrived travelers tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday and Sunday which brings the CNMI's number of total cases to 170 since March 28, 2020.

MOBIL Oil Marianas and Shell Marianas have raised their fuel prices by 10 cents.

SPEAKER Edmund S. Villagomez and Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider have asked Gov. Ralph DLG Torres not to reduce the American Rescue Plan Act funds he originally allocated for the Legislature.

GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres is encouraging every qualified applicant to avail themselves of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund provided through the Small Business Administration.

CRIME rates are down, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert A. Guerrero said during a media briefing on KKMP radio station Friday.

ATTORNEY Mark Scoggins has asked the federal court to rule in favor of Winzy Corp. in its lawsuit against Imperial Pacific International LLC for breach of contract.

FOLLOWERS of Falun Dafa on Saipan will gather at the AK/San Jose intersection on May 13 to celebrate the 22nd World Falun Dafa Day and the 29th anniversary of the group’s founding.

DEPARTMENT of Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig, the guest speaker at the Saipan Chamber of Commerce general membership meeting on Wednesday, discussed the American Rescue Plan Act funds that the CNMI will receive as well as the administration’s funding priorities.

SENATE President Jude U. Hofschneider last week brought to the attention of the Office of Grants Management & State Clearinghouse Administrator Epiphanio E. Cabrera Jr. some "discrepancies" in the federal funding report that the agency submitted to the Senate on March 29, 2021.

AS part of their commitment to the public-private partnership program of the Governor's Council of Economic Advisers, the House minority bloc members cleaned up Paupau Beach Park and painted its sidewalk.

AT the Tourism Month proclamation signing ceremony earlier this week, Marianas Visitors Authority board vice chair Gloria C. Cavanagh asked CNMI community members to familiarize themselves with the history of frequented sites around the island.

THE Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs is relaying to the public the Department of Defense's reminder that “it is unsafe to enter the Tinian Mortar Range, including the Chiget Beach area at any time, due to the potential unexploded ordnance or UXO hazard that exists.”

FLORENCIO Quitugua Richards, 42, was arrested by the Department of Public Safety after he was found in possession of methamphetamine or ice in the vehicle he was driving on Tuesday.

FOLLOWING the dismissal of his lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Denis Uvarov, a 33-year-old Russian national, told the federal court that he should have been directed to the specific court that could hear a foreigner's claims based on the Universal Human Rights Declaration.

IMPERIAL Pacific International LLC has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the federal court's entry of judgment awarding Ping Shun Corp.’s $443,900.50 in a breach of contract lawsuit.

TANG'S Corporation has filed a complaint against Yuvaraj Balakrishnan in federal court,  accusing the defendant of fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment.

(BECQ) — The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality analyzes water samples collected from Saipan's east and south recreational beaches this week.

“ADDITIONAL hiring of law enforcement personnel has reduced the amount of overtime compared to prior year as there are more employees working regular hours and sharing responsibility for the CNMI safety.”

“THE most important thing right now is keeping our community safe in the resumption of our tourism,” said Marianas Visitors Authority new board chairwoman, Viola Alepuyo.

SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Tuesday appointed a mental health expert, Dr. Andrea M.S. Leitheiser, to conduct an examination on Lucas Taitano Manglona and Queena Ogumoro Fitial, and to report on their mental health condition in the next 30 days.

DURING the Saipan Chamber of Commerce general membership meeting on Wednesday, chamber board president Joseph Guerrero announced that Lee Tenorio is the new chamber executive director.

SAIPAN Mayor David M. Apatang on Monday informed the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation about the need to "clearly and accurately identify the boundaries separating one village from another."

IMPERIAL Pacific International LLC, Pacific Rim Land Development LLC, and the CNMI Department of Finance-Division of Tax and Revenue, through their respective attorneys, have asked the federal court for an order approving the release of $2.47 in escrow funds.

CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has dismissed Tang's Corp.’s mechanic's lien claim against Imperial Pacific International LLC without prejudice.

GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres and Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, together with the Marianas Visitors Authority and other tourism stakeholders, proclaimed May as Tourism Month.

REPRESENTATIVE Edwin K. Propst, who chairs the House Gaming Committee, said the first thing Gov. Ralph DLG Torres should do to immediately generate revenue is to collect the $8 million overtime that, according to the lawmaker, was “illegally paid” to the cabinet members and other government …

DUE to lack of revenue from Saipan’s casino, which has shut down since March 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the CNMI government is tapping the $13.6 million community disaster loan from Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay the 25% of the retirees pension this year, Finance Secretary …

REPRESENTATIVE Vicente Camacho on Tuesday said Imperial Pacific International's casino license, which was suspended last month by the Commonwealth Casino Commission, should be revoked.

OVER 100 Imperial Pacific International casino workers on Friday received a 30-day separation notice from IPI Chief Executive Officer Ray N. Yumul who also informed them that IPI does not expect U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to take action on the extension request that the compan…

THE CNMI Department of Labor is not “holding onto” federal funds, DOL Secretary Vicky I. Benavente said on Friday.

LIEUTENANT Gov. Arnold I. Palacios on Tuesday said after nearly a year of planning, the long-awaited repaving of Beach Road and Airport Road will begin this month.

COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corporation Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna on Monday said until a multi-jurisdictional shared information system is established to validate vaccination cards, the CNMI will not be entertaining vaccination cards from other jurisdictions.

THE Office of the Attorney General has petitioned the CNMI Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus directing Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho to appoint a mental health expert to evaluate two defendants.

JONATHAN Natura is facing a misdemeanor charge in federal court after he allegedly destroyed the cable and internet connection of the Homeland Security Investigations’ office on Saipan.

WHILE some of the world’s major cities anticipate to reopen to tourism this summer, the CNMI wants to first ensure that the threshold for herd immunity has been reached before it reopens to tourists, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said on Friday.

IMPERIAL Pacific International LLC remitted the second monthly settlement payment on April 30, attorney Michael Dotts told the federal court on Monday.

THE Commonwealth Casino Commission is not a high funding priority for the $515 million the CNMI stands to receive from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, Secretary of Finance David Atalig said on Friday.

JOHN Daniel Delos Santos, 22, has been arrested for stealing $10 from a vehicle and taking three bags of ice from a store in Koblerville without paying for them.

NICANOR F. Norita, the administrator of the Estate of Visitacion Rangamar Flores, is accusing the different attorneys involved in the Mangabao Estate of “stealing” its money.

AMERICAN Sinopan LLC has asked the federal court to dismiss the lawsuit of an engineering firm, Henry K. Pangelinan & Associates, which is alleging breach of contract.

THE Department of Public Lands has drafted a 40-year land lease agreement with Mariana E-Land Corp. pertaining to the former Mariana Resort & Spa property in Marpi.

SECRETARY of Finance David DLG Atalig said his department will not be processing any additional stimulus batches until after the May 17 extended tax filing deadline has passed.

SENATOR Edith Deleon Guerrero on Friday introduced Senate Legislative Initiative 22-8, which aims to ensure that interest from the investment proceeds of public lands is reserved for the benefit of persons of Northern Marianas Descent.

LOCAL banks and other private companies as well as government agencies support the electronic recordation rules that the NMI Supreme Court proposes, according to Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro.

THE Governor's Covid-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. opened more vaccination sites even as four additional Covid-19 cases were reported on Thursday and Friday, raising the CNMI’s total to 168 since March 28, 2020.

A DAY after their meeting, the Department of Public Lands informed Saipan Portopia Hotel Corp., doing business as Hyatt Regency Saipan, that DPL is proposing a new 40-year land lease agreement with the hotel whose current 40-year lease of 4,432 hectares of public land in Garapan ends in Dec. 2021.