Tommy Kijiner

Fixing the cell network

Fixing the cell network

GIFF JOHNSON Dropped calls and calls that don’t go through. That’s been a way of life for cell phone users in the Marshall Islands. The upcoming Micronesian Games is not only improving and expanding sports facilities that people here will enjoy long after the games, but it is leading to what is hoped to be […]

Vote 2023: 4 women in Nitijela

Vote 2023: 4 women in Nitijela

GIFF JOHNSON The final unofficial election results were issued by the Electoral Administration Tuesday December 12 this week, confirming that 13 Nitijela seats will change hands. Most postal absentee votes either didn’t arrive in time or were rejected for technical reasons, muting their impact. It appeared that only one Nitijela race — Likiep — was […]

Resurrection week in Majuro

Resurrection week in Majuro

GIFF JOHNSON We don’t use the word “resurrection” lightly. But in the non-religious sphere of the Marshall Islands, we believe it is fitting to use that term for two events that took place largely out of the view of most local residents in Majuro. Twelve-and-a-half-years after the roof collapse halted use of the ECC national […]

Hilda’s team takes a hit

Hilda’s team takes a hit

GIFF JOHNSON With all Majuro wards tabulated, unofficial results show two incumbent Nitijela senators will lose their re-election bid, while a third is hanging onto fifth place by fewer than 30 votes — with absentee votes still to be included. At Kwajalein, a strong showing by newcomer Kitlang Kabua bumped seven-term incumbent Alvin Jacklick into […]

Talks to extend Compact $$ start

Talks to extend Compact $$ start

GIFF JOHNSON The big news coming from several hours of meetings on Pohnpei Monday between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Hilda Heine and leaders of the FSM and Palau is Pompeo’s announcement that negotiations to extend Compact funding agreements have begun. The post-2023 period, when US grant funding for RMI and FSM […]

Tower falls, sends two to hospital

Tower falls, sends two to hospital

HILARY HOSIA What happened in Majuro early Wednesday morning by the airport water reservoir is the kind of unexpected accident that would show in one of Ripley’s Believe it or Not episodes. Here’s what happened: A National Telecommunication Authority cellular phone tower fell onto a moving flatbed vehicle around 1am Wednesday morning across from the […]