P1 Spy ship off Kwajalein A Russian spy ship is cruising just offshore of a secret US missile testing range in Micronesia. The ship is attempting to monitor US top-secret defenses against atomic attack, according to United Press International. A new missile system, called Safeguard, is now being tested at Kwajalein. One Kwajalein official said the Russians “always seem to know when a test is being conducted.”
P6 Kili Islanders out of food again The exiled people of Bikini Atoll, living on the isolated island of Kili since the late 1940s, are out of food according to Nathan Note, scribe of the Kili Council. A recent field trip visit to the island by the MV Micronesia Princess was unsuccessful because of high seas which prevented the off-loading of Kili cargo.
Journal 12/31/1993
P1 Chinese catch too many fish for AMI Chinese longliners last week helped the Marshalls to haul in the second biggest tuna catch ever in one week. The catch accounted for close to two-thirds of the 55,530 pounds of yellowfin tuna exported on Air Marshall Islands.
P1 Newly wed One of the nation’s best known couples, Jerry and Mercy Kramer, reconfirmed their wedding vows this past week. They were surrounded by their children and grandchildren just after the ceremony performed by Monsignor James Gould, SJ, at Assumption Church.
P7 Parents face stiff fines in court Eleven parents were charged late last week in Majuro for crimes allegedly committed by their juvenile children. They are the first to be charged under a new law that came into effect in October that is placing responsibility for the lawlessness of youth on their parents.
Journal 1/3/2003
P3 Bail out or bust? What if some of the major loal retail companies in Majuro — such biggies as RRE, Gibson’s, Momotaros, Bilimons and DAR — went out of business or were brought by other, non-Marshallese companies? Unlikely, you say? Think again. Local business people say the pressure of recently opened businesses, a slow economy, the money drain out of the country, and unsupportive government policies are combining to put even the biggest Marshallese retail stores in jeopardy.
P4 Remembered The sixth anniversary of the death of President Amata Kabua was marked recently by RMI Ambassador Yong Y. Ji at the family grave site where a flag has flown continuously since his death in December 1996.
P24 Local ditty A local choral society’s version of the well known Christmas song: “12 bowels a bursting, 11 rats a running, 10 diapers drifting, 9 goats in graveyards, 8 Mormons melting, 7 roaches roaming, 6 mongrels mating, 5 broken thongs, 4 tuna boats, 3 hermit crabs, 2 flying fish and a gecko up a palm tree.”