Journal 10/22/1976
P1 Kusaie celebrations start January 4 The celebrations for the new district of Kusaie will be held from January 4 through 8, according to Jacob Nena, chairman of the Kusaie Transition Committee. A bill creating Kusaie as a separate district passed the Fifth Congress of Micronesia in 1974, and was signed into public law by Acting HiCom Peter Coleman.
P2 A Range Rat view of Majuro by G. Lee I had been working on temporary duty status on Kwajalein when I decided to tour the Marshall Islands by boat to get to know the people. An Ebeye man laughed when I told him my plans. “Getting to know the people,” he said, “means living in shacks, eating bad food, and having cranky babies crying in your ears all night.” “OK by me,” I said and boarded an Air Mike plane to land an hour later at Majuro Atoll. The business district: On the lagoon side of the street are some metal warehouses while the ocean side is lined with dilapidated two-story buildings, their ground floor for small trade, and above, stone walls whose empty window frames wave torn curtains that herniate out to the street. As for the residences, every house spews forth a junk yard and squats in its own in its own excrement. Rusty tin roofs, like ill-fitting hats, too large for their frames, slide downward to pour any of the precious rain water into storage barrels below. And everywhere, at street corners, back alleys, vacant lots, and along the beaches there are the children, noisy schools of them. This is rust city, where the sewer meets the sea, this Majuro, capital of the Marshalls.
Journal 10/25/1991
P4 Plans finalized for northern high school Final plans have been approved for the construction of the new Northern Islands High School, according to Iroij Litokwa Tomeing. Anil Construction will be building the new high school.
P8 Covering his bets The billfish tournament Saturday was another success and not without its quota of tales of hook-ups unhanded, lures lost and the regular run of the mill mishaps. It was funny to see Chief Secretary Oscar deBrum leaving the Lanai check in area with Kirt’s son George. Oscar had just clinched the tournament with a big catch on the MEC boat, and here he was out on the main road like everybody else trying to hail a taxi to get home. Oscar had special reason to be happy since he managed to beat out American Ambassador Bodde in the tournament. So Oscar got the honor. But Bodde didn’t lose out entirely either: he happened to win a side bet on the fishing, even though he didn’t bet on his own boat. He placed his money on the MEC boat.
P21 Chamber readies for X-Mas The Majuro Chamber of Commerce Committee on Christmas Parade 1991 worked out a rather sticky problem at a special meeting held at Tide Table Restaurant. The problem facing the committee was what type of “gifts” would be thrown from the traditional Santa Claus float to the children who gather excitedly not he side of the road. In recent years, there has been an expressed sentiment among some chamber members that the body ought to abandon the traditional candy barrage in favor of a more nutritionally suitable fare, such as apples and oranges. The committee, chaired by Gibson’s Sam Smith, was unanimous in supporting the idea of more nutritional fare for the distribution, but difficulty in doing so surfaced. Can we get donated air freight contribution of up to 100 cases of fruit to be sure we can deliver? The result was the decision to go ahead to distribute candy gifts while exploring the possibility of including fresh fruits.
Journal 10/27/2000
P8 PII goes to top of class on paving After years of delay and frustration, the road in Delap leading to SDA school and Coop has been paved. This stretch of road had undoubtedly the worst reputation on island both because of its poor condition and the fact that it was so heavily traveled with parents, taxis and what not delivering students and supplies to the schools. A fine job of paving was performed by the PII crew, and an even more appreciated job of funding was provided by the Republic of China.