Journal 1/3/1986
P1 Youth crime attacked Nearly 800 crimes were committed in Majuro in 1984 by young people. Although no hard statistics are yet available, by all accounts the crime rate among youth appeared to rise in 1985. The largest number of crimes in 1984 were “disturbing the peace,” but nearly 300 involved burglary or violence — and virtually 100 percent of all youth crimes were alcohol-related. These are among the problems confronting the Cabinet-appointed Task Force on Youth, which concluded three months of work in mid-December with a report filled with action recommendations for Cabinet and Nitijela consideration.
P2 Still counting at 40 Forty years ago this month, a decision reached in Washington, DC shattered the future of the fiercely independent and isolated Bikini people, forcing them into a series of equally disastrous resettlements that earned them the name “nuclear nomads.” Today, the word “Bikini” is synonymous with the human suffering unique to the nuclear age.
P4 Jepta Christmas The huge Robert Reimers Enterprises jepta filled Uliga Protestant Church with an organ and electric guitar playing a catchy tune for the dancers to pick up the beat. Many of RRE’s employees joined relatives and friends making it a family affair.
P18 Girl Scouts entertain prisoners The Uliga Protestant Church School Girl Scout Troops 56 and 21, wearing Merry Christmas faces, brought some sunshine and holiday cheer to the sick and perhaps sad in the hospital, and to the lonely and confined in the crowded Majuro “kalbuj” on a cloudy December 24.
P19 On the receiving end of Pacific “development” Traditionally, most people associate “development” with money. The terms are not necessarily synonymous. There are too many nations in the world, both developed and developing, in which money has not helped the quality of the lives of the people and in many instances has created situations that contribute to making life more difficult. Development is not money. Development relates to the quality of life. If, after “development” has occurred, the people whom development is meant to serve are less happy with their situation, then it would be hard to call that process “development.”
Journal 1/2/1998
P9 Spirit of Christmas December 25 is the most exciting day for Marshallese people, and the popular word during Christmas celebrations is “break the floor” (rube bloor ne), so that’s what Tiete youth jepta was trying to do, break the floor.
P20 Are you aware THAT Air Marshall Islands Dornier aircraft broke down on Utrik last week the day before Christmas, so pilots and passengers got to spend Christmas on the atoll until a charter boat with parts and mechanics arrived for repairs?
Journal l1/2/2009
P1 Christmas kids The day before Christmas, the ECC belonged to 148 children of Delap, for “Bonny and Ken’s Second Annual Delap Children’s Holiday Party.” When a friend asked Bonny Taggart how they picked Delap for their party, she answered: “We didn’t. Delap picked us.” Taking photos of kids in late 2007 in Delap resulted in a lively Christmas party. “As we walked the main road during the past year, we invariably encountered one of our ‘boys’ always wanted to know if we ‘remembered them.’ How could we forget them? As the end of the year approached, they would ask us if we were going to do a party again. How could we say no?”
P3 Cabinet backs $1m for nuclear payment The RMI Cabinet has approved in principle a plan to provide $1 million to resume partial payments to nuclear claimants after a three-year hiatus. The development is a result of President Litokwa Tomeing pushing the Cabinet to find an interim way to address the lack of US funding for nuclear compensation to Marshallese with personal injury awards.
P11 Swim win RMI Olympic swimmer and Micro Games gold medalist Jared Heine was in the news this past week in Hawaii. In a state-wide swim camp, his Kamehameha Swim Club won the most events. Heine is one of three coaches for the swim club.