Saipan Chamber of Commerce Gala recap

Saipan Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year and Board Installation. Thomas Mangloña II and Mark Rabago report.

Hafa Adai and Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases with this week’s Sports Leigh-Out brought to you by Joeten Motors! Let’s take a closer look at what our athletes have been up to in off-island competitions and on their home turf—whether it’s on the pitch, mat, courts, fields, track, pools, or the beautiful ocean. THIS WEEK: -NMIBF brings Next Play Basketball Program to Rota -Back-to-back volleyball titles for Lady Knights -Anne Lee sweeps U18, women's divisions in SIS tourney -Team Brick Layers win 3x3 Precinct 4 tourney -SUPHub hosts 1st Double Trouble Mini-Tourney -NMI Basketball Fed’s search for 3x3 nat’l team coaches is on -Tan Siu Lin Foundation Donates $10K to NMC Foundation Be sure to watch until the end to see what’s coming up in our local sports scene, and don’t forget to get out there and cheer on our athletes! Read the full story on our website and stay tuned for the latest news and headlines in the region. #cnmi #marianas #sports #leighout #recap #highlights #sportsleighout

On behalf of the Inetnun Kutturan Natibun Marianas/Kkoor Aramasal Marianas (IKNM/KAM), the association President, Alejandro Agulto, is happy to announce the launching of the association’s latest book, Kantan Chamorrita giya Marianas (KantanChamorrita in the Mariana Islands), co authored by Carmen S. Taimanao (Nan Ammi’) and Manny F. Borja (Uncle Manny). The launching will take place at the Joeten-Kiyu Public library in Susupe, at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 30, 2026. It will end at 7 p.m. The interviewees in the book are requested to come so that they can pick up their courtesy copy, as well as to meet attendees at the launching. On this day, the 383-page book (soft-cover) will have a special launching price of $25.00. Regular price is $30. All proceeds from the book returns to IKNM/KAM, a non-profit organization, chartered in the CNMI and whose mission is to preserve and promote the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian cultures, languages, traditional healing practices, and history of the Northern Mariana Islands through projects like language revitalization, documenting cultural icons, and creating cultural resources for the community, ensuring these traditions thrive. Read the full press release on our website.

The Department of Homeland Security has reserved the right to appeal the $10,000 bond set by the Honolulu Immigration Court for the release of former Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC majority owner Lijie Cui. During the 67-year-old Hong Kong citizen’s removal proceedings at the Saipan Immigration Court last Jan. 27, Honolulu Immigration Court Presiding Judge Clarence Wagner set a $10,000 bond for Cui’s release from DHS custody. This came after the court found that Cui does not pose a danger to the community. During the hearing, Cui appeared wearing the now-ubiquitous red overalls, with heavy-duty fetters on her hands and feet, pink sneakers, and her hair tied back in a ponytail. With regard to the $10,000 bond, Wagner set a Feb. 26, 2026, hearing to allow DHS to appeal the bond. This followed a suggestion from one of Cui’s attorneys, Richard M. Wilner, that the bond could be increased in exchange for DHS waiving the right to appeal. DHS counsel Shannon Fruthranjit said the agency would reserve the right to appeal. During the proceedings, Wagner also cautioned Cui and her attorneys—Wilner and Charles H. McDonald—that the $10,000 bond would be forfeited if Cui failed to attend future immigration court hearings as requested and directed by DHS. The presiding judge also set an individual hearing for Feb. 18, 2026, at 9am, during which Cui and her attorneys are to update the immigration court on the status of her immigration case. Wagner then set a Feb. 12, 2026, deadline on the findings for Cui’s pending I-130 petition. Cui’s attorneys earlier told the court that she has a pending I-130 petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which could allow her to adjust her immigration status and lawfully remain in the United States. According to the USCIS website, Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, is the first step for eligible family members seeking to immigrate to the United States and apply for lawful permanent resident status, commonly known as a green card.

Captured in their element: Beyond the Game with Leigh Gases delivers a sharper one-on-one with CNMI's athletes. Stay tuned for a whole year’s worth of stories seen past the sidelines and goes beyond the game. Beyond the Game is brought to you by Tan Holdings.

500 Sails in collaboration with Pacific Coastal Research and Planning, took a major step in ocean safety and maritime awareness in local waters this week. On Thursday, the organizations deployed one backyard buoy at the Sugar Dock channel and today they plan to deploy a second one at the Akino Reef north of Garapan. As traditional canoes bring the modern technology to Marianas waters, organizers said it will provide real-time ocean data for the community to access online. According to PCRP, the small, solar-powered buoys float on the surface and measure wave height and direction, water temperature, and ocean conditions. “Backyard buoys are kind of like a weather station for the ocean,” PCRP explained. They said ocean data helps the community make better decisions. The effort is a collaboration between 500 Sails, PCRP, PacIOOS, Backyard Buoys, and the University of Hawai’i.  Thomas Manglona II reports. Watch to learn more.

The story of Saipan Bird Rescue and its founders is a story of how two physicians transformed from trauma care royalty to angels of winged patients soon after arriving on the island. For decades, Dr. Tom Flowers and Dr. Roxanne Richter worked on the front lines of human trauma—treating fractures, critical injuries, and life-or-death emergencies. When the couple arrived on Saipan two years ago, that experience found an unexpected extension—caring for the island’s injured and orphaned wild birds. “Currently, I'm a physician in the family care clinic at the hospital here on Saipan. My background is mostly emergency medicine,” Flowers said. “I did emergency medicine for 32 years in the U.S. and also for six months here.” Richter brings a similarly intensive background. “I'm a global health professor, but I'm also a paramedic,” she said. It was that shared trauma-care experience—combined with a long history of caring for birds—that led them to establish Saipan Bird Rescue, now the island’s only fully licensed wild bird rehabilitation operation. “So that's why we decided to start Saipan Bird Rescue because both of us are… I'm a trauma queen, and he's a trauma king,” Richter said. “So we very much enjoy all the beautiful birds here. And when we realized that there wasn't a vet on the island who would take care of birds, we decided to put our knowledge to work.” Soon after arriving on Saipan, the couple discovered a critical gap in animal care. While veterinarians occasionally visit the island, avian medicine is highly specialized. “They weren't necessarily interested in doing what we call avian care or bird care, which is unfortunately very, very different from taking care of a dog or a cat,” Richter said. Both physicians had extensive experience with birds long before moving to the CNMI.

Runway lights at the Francisco C. Ada–Saipan International Airport have been fully restored, allowing normal night operations to resume after a lighting failure last Jan. 28 forced a temporary suspension of nighttime arrivals, according to Commonwealth Ports Authority newly elected CPA chair Bart Jackson. The outage, which halted all nighttime arrivals, stemmed from what appeared to be a maintenance-related failure that rendered the runway lights nonfunctional, Jackson told the media during a recess in the CPA board meeting last Jan. 29 at the Pacific Region Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Training Center. “Clearly, you can’t operate an airport at night without runway lights,” Jackson said. “So we had to temporarily halt all arrivals until such time as we were able to effect that repair, and it was done.” Jackson said CPA crews worked through the night to restore the system and complete additional preventative maintenance. “Our staff did a great job working 24 hours, working through the night to make sure that the lights were back on,” he said. “As of this morning, they are back on, we are fully operational, and we’re confident this will not happen again in the near future.” During the same board meeting, CPA executive director Esther Ada confirmed that the runway lights were restored late Wednesday night following emergency repairs that required outside assistance. “This emergency expenditure of funds is needed because we had to acquire the services of an external contractor to come in and assist our crew,” Ada said. “It also required the purchase of some supplies that we needed to make that repair. So as of late last night, the runways are working.” Ada said the cost of the emergency work is estimated at $10,000, though the final amount will not be known until billing is complete. “We won’t know exactly how much we expended until we get the billing from the external contractor,” she said. CPA board vice chair Antonio C. Cabrera noted that similar incidents have occurred in the past and stressed the importance of regular inspection and maintenance.

Anne Lee sweeps U18, women’s division titles in SIS tourney Saipan International School’s Anne Lee stole the spotlight with a dominant performance in both the adult and junior divisions as SIS’ annual tennis tournament neared its conclusion. The tournament has nearly wrapped up, with only a few matches remaining after rain delays disrupted play. The adult and high school divisions were contested over the rainy weekend of Jan. 23-25, while the junior division was completed earlier, from Jan. 16-18, at the American Memorial Park and Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan tennis courts. Lee swept both the Women’s and U18 girls divisions, capturing the Women’s 5.0 Singles title over Stella Choi after clinching the U18 girls championship ahead of Vivian Chung. The younger Choi put up an impressive fight, battling through a tough first set, but ultimately falling, 6-7. Gassed out, Choi’s momentum dropped and Lee took advantage to seal her win with a convincing 6-0 final set. In the adult divisions, Cody Park claimed gold in the Men’s 4.0 Singles after winning all three of his matches, while John Kenneth Casauran grabbed silver. John Bradley topped the Men’s 3.0 Singles field, with Tim Watson finishing second. In the Mixed 3.0 Doubles play, Jacky Chen and Yoyo Han took first place, followed by the team of John Bradley and Miki Zhou. The Mixed 5.0 Doubles title went to June Yu and Vivian Chung, edging out Siwoo Lee and Amy Park. The Mixed 4.0 Doubles, High School Doubles, and Men’s 5.0 Singles divisions remain unfinished and are scheduled to be completed this week, weather permitting. Read the full story by Leigh Gases on our website.

Classes at the Northern Marianas Technical Institute will restart on Monday, Feb. 2, weather permitting, after heavy rainfall earlier this week flooded nearly the entire NMTECH campus, forcing the cancellation of classes. NMTECH safety officer and operations manager Travis Jones confirmed that NMTECH chief executive officer Jodina Attao that classes at the Lower Base trades and technical school would likely resume on Monday. “We're cleaning today, it's going to take us the rest of the week, of course, we're on austerity as well, so we were off on Friday anyway. Classes are Monday through Thursday, but it's going to take us through the end of tomorrow to do the final cleanup.” Jones said he was notified around 5am last Jan. 26 after campus security cameras showed extensive flooding caused by roughly 7 inches of rain. When he arrived, parking areas were ankle-deep in water, and 2-3 inches of water covered most classrooms and offices. “I rushed in, and the parking lots were flooded everywhere out in front, all over the side, the streets were flooded, the main street coming in between the Capitol Hill lights and Saipan Ice lights was completely flooded and washed out, so I knew that there were going to be issues here,” he said. The flooding affected almost all facilities, including automotive, heavy equipment, welding, computer labs, maritime classrooms and offices, administrative offices, conference rooms, and core classrooms. Only areas with raised floors, such as the electrical room and portions of the bay area, avoided flooding. Jones said the water appeared to come up from the ground rather than entering from outside, likely due to saturated soil and overwhelmed city storm drainage systems as runoff flowed downhill toward the campus. Cleanup began immediately, with staff purchasing three sump pumps and working up to 10-12 hours to remove standing water once the city storm sewers cleared. By about 5pm the next day, Jan. 27, the campus was roughly 90% cleaned.

The Veterans Affairs Pacific Islands Health Care System hosted a two-day Community Call and PACT Act Registration event on Saipan, bringing medical services, benefits registration, and travel assistance directly to local veterans. The outreach was held last Jan. 23 and 24 at the Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center along Beach Road in Susupe. Jose Crisostomo, executive officer for the CNMI Veterans Affairs, said the event was designed to meet a wide range of veterans’ health and benefits needs. “Yeah, today (Jan. 23) and tomorrow (Jan. 24) is going to be like medical needs. If you need shots or any other medical stuff,” Crisostomo said. He said services available on-site included immunizations, mental health evaluations, enrollment in VA medical benefits, and assistance with VA identification cards.

The Marianas Visitors Authority board approved requests for proposals for Philippine Airlines-related marketing in the Philippines and for the licensing of MVA’s “Far From Ordinary” destination brand mascot, Mira, during its meeting last Jan. 28 at the MVA office along Beach Road in Garapan. On the Philippines initiative, MVA managing director Jamika Taijeron sought authority to issue an RFP following Philippine Airlines’ announcement of direct Manila-Saipan flights beginning March 29, 2026. The tourism body chief said the proposed RFP is intended to support route sustainability and market development, with services to include on-the-ground marketing and airline support. “This is a request to go out to RFP so that we can find a company to provide those services,” she told the board, emphasizing that the effort is not just for a representation office, but for an office with a plan. “Such a team would provide on-the-ground support for sales, marketing, public relations, and partner development, ensuring that the CNMI tourism interests are effectively represented and promoted,” she said. Taijeron added there's a significant opportunity to cultivate the Philippines as a new strategic source market for the CNMI, as it can also be a gateway for the outbound Chinese tourism market wishing to transit from Manila to the Commonwealth.

Welcome to MP’s monthly segment, Built By Latte Built. This segment highlights athletes training at Latte Built who are chasing their fitness goals and inspiring others along the way. This month, we feature Orrin Pharmin—a track and field athlete with years of experience of representing the CNMI locally and regionally. At the 2022 Oceania Athletics Masters Challenge in Australia, he won gold in the men’s 110m hurdles and high jump, five silvers in the shot put, 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, and a bronze in the javelin. Later in 2022 at the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games, he earned silver in the men’s octathlon and competed in the 4x400m relay. In 2023, he won gold in the 200m at the Northern Marianas Athletics Championships, with additional silver and bronze finishes in relay and sprint events. That same year at the CNMI Oceania Cup, he collected four gold medals in the 60m, 100m, 200m, and high jump, a silver in the 4x100m relay, and a bronze in the shot put. He took a break in 2024 and helped coach the athletics team that competed in the Micronesian Games, then in 2025, he added five more gold medals at the Oceania Athletics Masters Series virtual meets in Saipan, winning the 60m, 100m, 200m, long jump, and javelin. Pharmin said he was sponsored by Latte Built through owner Derek Cutting when he was training for the 2022 Mini Games and since then, has been using the gym for his workouts. His workouts consist of a lot of strength training, plyometrics, Olympic lifts, and running. Read the full story by Leigh Gases on our website.

Former House lawmaker Vicente Camacho joins The Election Desk on Marianas Press to discuss his Saipan Senate campaign. Thomas Manglona II reports.