Journal 4/18/1986
P1 Fishing base now open The new Majuro Fishing Base was officially turned over to RepMar last Friday during a dedication ceremony at the beautiful new facility. Minister of Health Services Tony deBrum spoke on behalf of President Kabua thanking the Japanese government for the $4.7 million freezer storage building and new fishing dock.
P10 Bank services Drive-thru service is now available at the Bank of Guam from 9am to 4:30pm. Plus a 24-hour depository located next to the drive-thru window, so you can deposit your check anytime.
Journal 4/17/1998
P1 Bleak outlook Increased unemployment, more government layoffs and expanded migration to the United States will likely be the future for Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia as Compact funding from America comes to an end in 2001, concludes a recently released report by the Micronesian Seminar in Pohnpei. The report by Jay Dobbin and Fr. Francis Hezel, SJ, looks at sustainable human development in Micronesia and asks whether the islands can break out of the historical mold of dependence on US funding. “Existing development projects, together with those proposals on the board, will not make up for the loss of Compact funding,” the report said. “This will mean not only continued cuts in working hours but eventually wholesale layoffs at both the federal and state levels.”
P6 Niche There are those of us who spend years looking for something that we truly enjoy doing and are good at. Maybe not most, but many of us never find that niche to drop into. V7AB’s announcer Waston “Heavy D” Attari has found his calling as a play-by-play announcer. Like, who else but someone who loved what he was doing could make the arrival of an airplane (yeah, a plane) sound exciting even when the plane was a couple of hours late? Well, he did just that last Saturday. And basketball, well, he’s got no peers locally. In fact, there are quite a few Marshallese who, without prompting, praise him. A friend of ours said the other day after listening to one of the games, “I felt like I was at the game; he described everything that happened!”
P13 RMI outguns Julul Juon Ebeye/Kwaj Julul Juon set the stage for the showdown last Saturday with the RMI national team by defeating first the local government all-stars and then the Majuro community all-stars in two hard-fought games last week. The much anticipated match up drew a standing room only crowd — well over 2,000 people — to the Delap ECC gym. With a relentless pressing defense, the RMI national team gained 29 steals against Julul Juon, eventually winning 101-63. But the Ebeye team never let up, giving the RMI team a strong challenge despite being outmatched by the depth of the national team.
P14 ESPN2 visits RMI This past week the Marshall Islands was putting its best foot forward for a six-member film crew from the small town of Red Lodge, Montana. The rural community of Red Lodge serves as an unlikely base for Tim Brockman Productions, a company which produces travel and adventure films, especially for ESPN2. The Marshall Islands will be the subject for two series, “Salt Water Angler” and “Subaru American Outback,” to be shown worldwide on the cable TV network. They filmed in Majuro, Arno, Mili, Maloelap and Bikini.
Journal 4/17/2009
P1 1756 ball in RMI’s court US Congressional staff members visiting Majuro this week told leaders from nuclear test-affected islands that if they want to see Senate bill 1756 — or similar legislation — from the US Congress, then top RMI leadership needs to request it. Bill 1756, which died at the end of 2008 following US national elections, included $4.5 million annually through 2023 for an expanded 177 Health Program, established eligibility of Marshallese who worked at the nuclear test sites for a Department of Labor nuclear workers compensation program, and required ongoing monitoring of the Runit nuclear waste dome by the Department of Energy.
P14 Fast track to credit level The majority of new students at CMI go into “developmental level one” — the lowest academic section of the college. But while this group has accounted for 60 percent of incoming students, historically fewer than than one out of 10 of these students have made it to graduation. In the past two years, however, CMI has managed to more than double the number of students who are making it from developmental level one to graduation. “We are now getting students out of developmental level one and into credit level in three semesters so they are on a level playing field with other students,” said CMI President Wilson Hess.