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Loeak inauguration scheduled for Jan. 17

By Giff Johnson MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Marianas Variety, Jan. 10, 2012) - Newly elected Marshall Islands President Christopher J. Loeak announced his cabinet Monday, naming 10 senators including three who are in their first week in elective office.

Veteran politicians Tony deBrum and Phillip Muller were named minister in assistance to the president and foreign minister, respectively. DeBrum has been a foreign, finance, and health minister in earlier governments, while most recently Muller was the country’s United Nations ambassador where he dramatically raised the country’s climate change profile by co-hosting an international climate change conference that broke ground on the legal rights of countries that could disappear from rising sea levels, and by joining other countries in attempting to simplify climate change donor aid for small nations.

DeBrum and Muller served in the parliament from 1984 to 2000. DeBrum was...

Lawmaker worries implementation may not be realistic

By Meryl Dillman HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 10, 2012) - Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz said lawmakers might need to consider sitting down with members of the Guam Department of Education to figure out if it's realistic to implement the upcoming additional requirements in school year 2013-2014 for Chamorro language and culture at the middle and high school level.

Cruz said he's always been in support of the preservation and promotion of the Chamorro language and culture, but he wants to be sure the timeline of the implementation of Public Law 31-45 is realistic now that a multi-million dollar price tag has been attached to it. Learning of the possible US$11 million that DOE might need to fully implement the program wasn't information Cruz remembered from the discussion about the bill.

"So far as we were informed, the fiscal impact was zero," Cruz said.

According to a Bureau of Budget and...

Funds to cover more unpaid tax refunds

By Erin Thompson HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 10, 2012) - After a US$200 million bond flooded the island's economy with more than 50,000 tax refund checks last month, Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo said yesterday he would work to borrow another US$100 million.

In his weekly address, the governor said the administration would pursue the second part of the US$343.7 million in total borrowing authorized under the law to pay for most tax refunds.

In November, the governor sold a US$235 million bond that covered US$198 million in past-due tax refunds, and about US$16.8 million in cost-of-living-allowance payments owed to GovGuam retirees. The government of Guam owes about US$20 million in cost-of-living-allowance payments.

The funds did not cover tax refunds due for tax years 2011 or 2012, and those bills will soon be coming due.

Calvo called the second bond series critical to the administration's fiscal...

‘King Larry’ reviews billionaire’s life that ended in CNMI

By Ferdie de la Torre SAIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, Jan. 11, 2012) - Award-winning filmmaker James D. Scurlock has written a book about the life of the late billionaire, Larry Lee Hillblom.

Scurlock told Saipan Tribune yesterday that his book, King Larry: The Life and Ruins of a Billionaire Genius, will be launched nationwide today, Wednesday.

"It will be available on Amazon.com and all other online retailers," Scurlock said in an email.

Marlon Regaton, sales manager of Bestseller Bookstore in Susupe, said that they are not included in the nationwide launch but that they can order the books in two weeks' time for interested buyers.

Hillblom, the "H" in DHL, was one of the most influential businessmen of the 20th century. He died in a plane crash off Anatahan on May 21, 1995. His body was never recovered, but the court declared him dead. He left an estimated $550 million to $700 million in...