Journal 5/25/1982
P1 Zeder and deBrum reported ‘eyeball to eyeball’ — Zeder’s briefed US Congress US Ambassador Fred Zeder said Thursday he’s “eyeball to eyeball” with Marshall Islands Foreign Secretary Anton deBrum in negotiations on the political status of the islands, according to Pacific Daily News. Zeder, suffering from the flu and a 103-degree temperature, quickly left the United Nations Tuesday after deBrum insisted the United States come to terms on a compact of free association with his country this week or face the possibility it will declare its independence by October 1. DeBrum’s declaration was greeted with acclaim by some Micronesians and alarm by others. DeBrum cited frustration at US negotiating tactics. Whatever happens, he declared, the Marshalls intend to terminate the trusteeship by October 1.
Journal 5/27/1994
P1 Marshallese own 75% of Bank of Marshalls In a simple ceremony in the Cabinet conference room this afternoon, the Marshall Islands government purchased 40 percent of the shares of Bank of Marshall Islands, which has resulted in 75 percent of the total shares being owned by Marshall Islands. BOMI Manager Patrick Chen said he believed this was the first time in history that Marshallese owned a bank.
P1 Fishing fleet for Ebeye The first of five longline fishing vessels being built by Nalder & Biddle, Ltd. of New Zealand is due to arrive in Ebeye in early 1995, with the remaining to follow, one every three months, according to the Ebje Ruktok/Rukjenlein Fishing Company, which ordered the longliners.
P12 Ask Big Daddy When is the government going to make sure everybody has work and enough to eat, and there’s plenty of money and food and beer, and stop any trouble so no more police, and clean everything up, and keep our traditional ways about everything but keep the money rolling in? Signed, Not Too Smart. Dear Not Too Smart: Didn’t you write to me before? You’re the guy that ran into a coconut tree in a pickup truck, right? Okay. The answer to your question is: “Tuesday, June 4th.”
Journal 5/27/2005
P3 Sinking of the old Ion Meto The colorful life of the former US Coast Guard vessel Ion Meto took a new turn on Wednesday, when salvage expert Matt Holly sank the boat off Uliga. The Ports Authority contacted Holly about three days before the visit of ROC President Chen Shui-bian and asked him to remove it from its site inside Uliga dock and sink it. The ship becomes the third member in Holly’s underwater theme park, joining the freighter Kabilok and the yacht Saimoi.
P10 Worst = $ The Marshall Islands Journal’s motto — We’re the “World’s Worst Newspaper” — is actually helping the economy of the RMI. Don’t believe it? Check this out. Carey Ramm, an Australia guy working for Ching Fu who was in town last week for the public hearing on the planned dry-dock, told us he was on a Singapore Airlines flight recently. A t-shirt a neighbor was wearing caught his eye. It has the masthead of the Journal and under it our favorite motto. Where can I get one? he asked. We directed him over to the Tourist Trap, where World’s Worst t-shirts are still in supply, and he headed off to make a modest contribution to the local economy.
P14 Tree-mendous effort! Thousands of tourists watched the Waan Aelon in Majel team carve out a canoe at the Maui Festival this week. Alson Kelen said the canoe was expected to be finished Wednesday, at which point the team was going to help the Palau and Cook Islands with their canoes. He also reported that the canoe the team built last year is the only one of four on show at the Maui Art and Culture Center.
P19 Marshallese students ignorant of the facts People working on HIV/AIDS issues in Kiribati and Fiji say that the questions they received in Majuro show that Marshallese are not very aware of the HIV threat. “From the questions and comments, we received from the students, it shows there is little information about the HIV virus,” said Batiri Bataua, who chairs Kiribati’s HIV/AIDS Task Force. “The questions were very basic.”