COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corporation Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna on Wednesday clarified that the previously reported “booster shots” are in fact “third shots” for those who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

(CPA) — The Commonwealth Ports Authority has been allocated $2,200,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds through the CNMI central government strictly for lifting austerity measures, restoring employee hours, and bringing CPA to full operational capacity. 

“YES, I took it and I also informed the owner,” said theft defendant Jin Keun Kim when asked by the prosecutor whether he agrees that he took $19,825 in rental collection payments from RJ Apartments from July 2019 to November 2019.

GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres expressed support for Marianas Pacific Airlines’ plan to connect the CNMI with Australia.

MODERNIZING the business process will help the CNMI economy recover, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said.

(NMCADSV) — The Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence in collaboration with the CNMI Sexual Assault Response Team will be hosting a free two-part webinar called “Improving Services & Response: Supporting People with Disabilities who Experience Sexual Violence…

(MVA) — The Marianas Visitors Authority Saipan office will be temporarily closed from 12 to 1 p.m. until Sept. 30, 2021. The office will remain open weekdays  (except  official  holidays)  from  8  a.m. to 12  p.m.  and  from  1 to 5  p.m.  For  more information, call 664-3200 or email info@…

“THAT’S what the [American Rescue Plan Act] funds are for: to spend the money the right way and make sure that projects, infrastructure, and priorities are also met,” Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said on Friday in response to criticism from U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan about the CNMI’s A…

“WE will certainly be going ahead with our pending appeal to the Civil Service Commission, which the court held was the proper forum for our case at this time,” attorney Joseph Horey said.

COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna on Tuesday said Covid-19 booster shots are available to eligible individuals with chronic issues.

THE Commonwealth Casino Commission will shut down by the end of April 2022 if it does not receive funding from the CNMI government, according to its chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero and executive director Andrew Yeom.

DUE to a lack of quorum, the Commonwealth Election Commission board meeting did not take place as scheduled on Friday.

GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres on Thursday nominated former Society for Human Resource Management-NMI president Proserpina T. Magofna to serve as member of the Commonwealth Election Commission.

A DEPARTMENT of Public Safety detective, Sgt. Kevin Maratita, said Jin Keun Kim admitted that he took rental payments he collected from RJ Apartments.

(MVA) —  The Marianas will join the global travel and tourism  community in  celebrating the  United  Nations  World  Tourism Organization’s  World Tourism Day on Sept. 27, 2021.

(Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.) — Four additional individuals have been confirmed positive for Covid-19. This brings the CNMI total to 256 cases since March 28, 2020.

(BECQ) — Each week, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality analyzes water samples collected from Saipan's west coast recreational beaches and storm drainages and the Grotto as well as samples collected from Tinian’s recreational beaches and storm water drainages.

DURING the monthly meeting of the Marianas Visitors Authority board  on Friday, board member Ivan Quichocho reported that MVA anticipates over 600 South Korean tourists will visit the Commonwealth this month as part of the travel bubble program.

SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Monday denied the request of nine terminated firefighters to be reinstated.

THE Commonwealth Casino Commission is "pleading for help" and is asking Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation Chairman Vinnie F. Sablan to approve an appropriation of $1 million "to keep the commission afloat."

THE bicameral conference committee that will craft the final version of the fiscal year 2022 budget bill will meet on Friday, Sept. 17, at 1:30 p.m. in the House chamber.

THE Commonwealth is now looking at the possibility of establishing travel bubble programs with other tourism markets, including Japan.

BRANDON Lizama Benavente and Vincent DLG Pua are accused of robbing two women in central Garapan on Sept. 8, 2021.

THE Office of the Attorney General’s criminal division will appeal the trial court’s ruling regarding suppressed DNA evidence in the case against 17-year-old Kenneth Thomas Blas Kaipat who is accused of raping a 24-year-old woman on June 2, 2019.

THE U.S. House Education and Labor Committee on Friday completed its portion of the fiscal year 2022 reconciliation plan with an estimated $77 million allocated to CNMI schools that need repairs, U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said.

(Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.) — One additional individual has been confirmed positive for Covid-19. This brings the CNMI total to 252 cases since March 28, 2020.

THE House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee on Friday subpoenaed Lt. Gov. Arnold Palacios to appear before the panel on Wednesday at 10: 30 a.m.

BECAUSE a motion for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction has been filed in Superior Court over the enactment of Saipan Local Law 22-6, which doubles the fees imposed on electronic gaming machines, Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan said lawmakers can revisit the …

HOPWOOD Middle School seventh grader Divine Baxter on Friday received her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine which means that at least 80% of the CNMI’s eligible population are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease.

(MV) — Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is “strongly” encouraging the Public School System and private schools to ensure that all teachers, staff, and eligible students get the Covid-19 vaccine. 

TO commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios proclaimed September as “We Will Never Forget: Field of Heroes” Month.

EDUARDO Fabia and Art Man Environment Corp. told the Superior Court that the Department of Public Safety has refused to provide investigation information on the fatal collision that occurred on Feb. 1, 2021.

(Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.) — One additional individual has been confirmed positive for Covid-19. This brings the CNMI total to 251 cases since March 28, 2020.

(MVA) —   With  last month’s  decision  of the Marianas Visitors Authority’s to extend the Tourism Resumption Investment Plan or TRIP program with South Korea  through  December,  travel  agencies  and  airlines  are  seeing  a  gradual  uptick  in bookings in coming months.

THE jury trial of 60-year-old Jin Keun Kim will begin Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, before Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio

THE 36 students who, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, had to stop attending adult vocational high school classes at the former Northern Marianas Trade Institute, will now have the opportunity to complete the program, thanks to the partnership between Northern Marianas College and the Northern M…

THE Marianas Visitors Authority board of directors on Thursday listened to a presentation from Marianas Pacific Airlines, a start-up company backed by Pacific Rim Land Development.

BESIDES the Alpha and Delta variants, new mutations of the coronavirus are also being tracked, including the Mu variant, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna said.

THE Office of the Attorney General criminal division will ask the court to dismiss the charge of child abuse against Lynn Fitial, acting chief prosecutor Chester Hinds said.

THE U.S. Department of Justice-Aviation, Space & Admiralty Litigation has requested the federal court to issue an entry of default against Imperial Pacific International LLC and its parent company, IPI Holdings Ltd., regarding the removal costs of IPI’s yacht, Grand Mariana.

SAIPAN Mayor David M. Apatang on Thursday delivered a "message of peace" in commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the U.S.

DESCRIBING himself as "the unexpected, expected endorser,” Joseph (Taisacan) Santos Rios Jr.  said his wife, Corina L. Magofna, “has always been a person of the people” who will serve the people well.

(DFEMS) — On Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021 at approximately 11:46 am, an individual called 911 reporting a fire in Garapan at the former Casa De Felipe Apartment Building (now known as Sea Passion Apartments).

COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna on Wednesday confirmed that a specimen of the Alpha variant and a second specimen of the Delta variant have been identified in the CNMI.

FIRE broke out in a storage room of Sea Passion Apartments on Chichrica Street in Garapan Wednesday noon. No one was hurt but most of the items stored in the room were either destroyed or damaged by the blaze, Variety learned.

GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres said he is willing to form a working group that will come up with a more reasonable increase in the annual license fee of e-gaming machines.

"I'M really working hard right now as we, the Commonwealth, have a lot of needs."