Giff Johnson

High-wattage opening for Micro Games

High-wattage opening for Micro Games

GIFF JOHNSON The Micronesian Games kicked off in Majuro Saturday June 15 with a gala celebration that featured sports delegations from the 10 islands in the sub-region parading in uniform with flags and banners along a newly opened track field, a rarely performed traditional stick dance of the Marshall Islands, a Marshall Islands flag dance, and […]

It’s show time!

It’s show time!

GIFF JOHNSON There are no more “tomorrows” — the Micronesian Games are here! Athletes, coaches and officials are now living at the MIHS Micro Games Village, the Games food crew is turning out thousands of meals daily at the Village, and the RMI opening ceremony team is gearing for the big kickoff event this Saturday […]

CMI sting operation

CMI sting operation

HILARY HOSIA, GIFF JOHNSON Investigators from the office of the Auditor General confiscated office equipment and reviewed documents during a court-approved search of an executive office at the College of Marshall Islands Tuesday. The team had police escort from Marshall Islands Police Department while they conducted their investigation at the administration wing of the college. […]

Athletes join Games teams

Athletes join Games teams

Many Marshall Islands Micronesian Games teams will receive a boost from talented Marshallese athletes living in America. Multiple sports are expected to see incoming athletes join their teams.The Micronesian Games Organizing Committee “will cover most of expenses for these athletes (i.e. travel and transit accommodation, including stipend),” said MGOC Co-Chair and Minister Tony Muller. “Once […]

Fishermen rescued by Majuro vessel

Fishermen rescued by Majuro vessel

GIFF JOHNSON Twenty-two fishermen and one fisheries observer were rescued Sunday morning April 14 as their vessel was sinking in the South Pacific. The FV Marielle, a purse seine fishing vessel owned by the Caroline Fisheries Corporation in Micronesia, put out a distress signal Saturday night after one of its engines caught fire and the […]

Voice of forgotten fishermen

Voice of forgotten fishermen

GIFF JOHNSON Setsuko Shimomoto is an unusual advocate for a little known nuclear exposure problem. She didn’t discover that her father had been exposed to Bravo hydrogen bomb test fallout while fishing in the waters of the Marshall Islands until over 30 years after the 1954 Bravo test, and then only because a high school […]

APIC visits, hosts reunion

APIC visits, hosts reunion

The President of Japan’s Association for Promotion of International Cooperation led a delegation to Majuro in late February, hosting Marshall Islands participants of APIC programs to a reunion dinner. Japan Ambassador Toshinori Shigeie, APIC’s president, presided over a dinner at Won Hai Shien for a mixed group of local people who had attended various APIC-sponsored […]

Nuclear art impresses

Nuclear art impresses

An impressive array of works of art were on display at Marshall Islands Resort last week as part of the week of activities leading up to Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day last Friday. The Nuclear Arts show was organized by the youth organization Jo-Jikum. It featured multiple paintings and poems by young people, as well as […]

Fixing the cell network

Fixing the cell network

GIFF JOHNSON Dropped calls and calls that don’t go through. That’s been a way of life for cell phone users in the Marshall Islands. The upcoming Micronesian Games is not only improving and expanding sports facilities that people here will enjoy long after the games, but it is leading to what is hoped to be […]

Storm surge forces Roi-Namur evacuation

Storm surge forces Roi-Namur evacuation

GIFF JOHNSON  Offshore storm surges supercharged waves Saturday night, causing flooding and some damage at Roi-Namur Island in Kwajalein Atoll, resulting in evacuation of 80 people from the island. Flooding caused by the waves also hit an airport at Ailinglaplap Atoll, leaving rocks, coral and debris in their wake that will keep the runway closed […]