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By Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Nov. 1) – Within hours of the slot-machine proponents' request for a Guam Supreme Court order that would place their initiative on the December 15 ballot, the high court yesterday declined to step in – for now.

Proponents of Proposal A, which would legalize slot machines at the Guam Greyhound racetrack, had asked for the Supreme Court's intervention, in part by stating in court papers that the Guam Election Commission was "folding to political pressure by anti-gambling forces."

The issue is "not yet ripe for adjudication" because the Guam Election Commission hasn't decided whether to put the initiative on the Dec. 15 ballot, according to Supreme Court Chief Justice F. Philip Carbullido, Associate Justice Robert J. Torres and interim Justice Richard H. Benson.

But even if the issue were "ripe," the high court stated, it does not normally intervene – "except in highly unusual cases" of public...

By Trina A. San Agustin

HAGATNA, Guam (Marianas Variety, Nov. 1) – The two teenage boys reported missing from the Federated States of Micronesia on Sunday returned to their home in Satawal Island, Yap State.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson in Hawaii stated that the two boys, aged 13 and 16, rowed themselves back to shore safely.

"The sailors (teens) were able to keep land in sight, and, after sea conditions subsided, were able to row back to shore safely," Henderson stated in a release.

The two boys were reported missing after they left Sunday for a fishing trip on a 16-foot outrigger canoe. The boys stated to friends that they planned to return home that same day.

The boys were reported to have told friends about their intended voyage. This allowed search parities to narrow down the search area, however, but poor visibility hampered searchers.

A C-130 search crew from Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii assisted...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (The Independent, Oct. 31) – Vanuatu Commissioner of Labor Department Lionel Kaluat is urging people to be optimistic about the Recognized Seasonal Employee Schemes (RSE) between the Vanuatu and New Zealand governments.

Commissioner Kaluat made the statement following the departure from Vanuatu of about 126 workers from Vanuatu to Otago, New Zealand, two weeks ago.

They were traveling on the same aircraft that flew Prime Minister Ham Lini and his delegation for the South Pacific Forum meeting in Tonga.

"I am optimistic about the scheme because it will bring major changes in the livelihoods and standards of living for ni-Vanuatu people, especially workers, once they return and go back to their islands and provinces," Kaluat stressed.

He said that the labor department is planning to hold awareness talks in provincial councils and with relevant authorities including health, immigration and police, in order to strengthen the services...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, Oct. 31) - The PNG Post-Courier newspaper’s editorial direction and content is decided by an all-Papua New Guinean team of journalists, according to the publication’s Australian owner.

It is not directed by any executive of the newspaper’s parent company, News Limited, in Australia, Post Courier board chairman Peter Chegwyn said yesterday.

Speaking to shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting at Sela Haus, the newspaper’s headquarters in Port Moresby yesterday morning, Mr. Chegwyn said the board had full confidence in the newspaper’s all-Papua New Guinean editorial team and commended it for its fearless reporting of corruption and social problems in the country.

"To those who enjoy, when it suits them, making suggestions that our editorial direction is biased towards Australian wishes, may I just say that never has any executive of our parent companies interfered in the editorial policies of this...