Journal 3/1/1983
P1 Kwaj agreement signed The Kwajalein people may finally reap the benefits of letting the Kwajalein Missile Range use their land for fiscal years 1983 through 1985. A summer of occupation of the land, numerous suits against the Department of Defense in support of the occupation, a month of negotiations in Washington, and four months of haggling on dividing up payments finally culminated in a 6pm signing in the office of the Clerk of Courts here of the allocation of funds agreement by Ataji Balos, chairman of the board of the Kwajalein Atoll Corporation. The signing was witnessed by Senator Imada Kabua, KAC attorney George Allen and RMI Attorney General Carl Ingram.
P1 Water almost gone There are about 300,000 gallons of water left in the government reservoirs and Public Works is working around the clock digging wells, according to Noel Bigler, secretary of Public Works. Water will be on March 2 for one hour and possibly one more time three days later. After that, it depends on rain. Unusual weather has been caused by an El Nino.
Journal 3/3/1995
P1 Rations get tight Water rationing tightened in Majuro with the announcement this week that fresh water will be turned on every fourth day instead of every third day. Reservoir levels have dipped below five million gallons, with just 4.37 inches of rain in February — low, but no where near the all-time low of .20 inches set in the drought of 1992.
P10 15 scholarships to USP Fifteen high school and CMI graduates started classes at the University of the South Pacific Center in Majuro last week, thanks to scholarship awarded by the RMI National Scholarship Office. The one-year foundation program is designed to get students up to speed so that they are better prepared to enter college. The scholarship winners are: Elia Sablan, Deborah Barker, Rosania Samuel, Jennifer deBrum, Julie Riklon, Jennifer Levy-Strauss, Kino Kabua, Lydia Riklon, Terry Keju, Wagner Watak, Yellowrose Benjamin, Jerry Butuna, Kinso Nimoto, Matt Alberttar, and Chomi Elanzo.
P20 Minimum wage goes up Minimum wages in the Marshall Islands were boosted from $1.50 to $2 by the Nitijela before it recessed late last month.
Journal 3/3/2006
P3 Remembering Wednesday’s Nuclear Victims and Survivors Remembrance Day was a low-key event. As a lead up to the day, Assumption High School held a special assembly with guest speaker Jack Niedenthal sharing the story of the Bikinians on Tuesday. The students organized displays, poems and letters to commemorate the day On Wednesday, the ERUB group organized a motorcade from the airport to the Rongelap Atoll Local Government office where speeches were made followed by workshops and “reflection time.” ERUB President Rokko Langinbelik presented welcoming remarks.
P19 Love and emotion unfold at MIHS For all fans of romantic love stories and dramatic emotions, next week will be a pleasure: under the director of Dartmouth College Professor Andrew Garrod, Marshall Islands High School students will perform Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. The two title characters are presented by Samantha Leon and Cutty Wase.
P23 Talijen sees a bleak future Born and raised in Laura, Talijen Menasse has fond memories of growing up in Laura. “Life was much better back then,” said Talijen. “We had no worries, we would go to school, come home, clean, play and do whatever our parents would tell us to do. Grandma would teach us how to make handicrafts. We always listened to our elders.” But the idyllic life Talijen remembers is now a distance memory. “The young men get drunk, they cause problems for their families, they also steal our chickens and cut down our bananas,” she said. “It’s like I’m calling the police almost every weekend to take the drunks away.” She added: “There are so many children in our community that are not in school. It’s a cycle. They don’t finish school and later they won’t be able to get jobs because they didn’t go to school.”
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