Archive - Jan 8, 2012 - Article (News Story)

The governor's annual address before the 3rd regular session of the 32nd Legislature is scheduled for 10a.m. on Monday, January 9, at the Fono Guest Fale.

As of Friday, no official comment was available from the governor's office regarding the contents of the annual address, which is required by law.

Congressman Faleomavaega Eni, on Thursday, invited local residents, local and government leaders to testify on two proposed federal legislations dealing with immigration matters. 

One proposed bill will allow for certain long term residents to apply to become US nationals.  The other will expedite the naturalization process and allow residents of American Samoa to apply directly for citizenship without leaving the territory. 

Beginning this Sunday, Jan. 8, Hawaiian Airlines will operate a Sunday flight instead of Monday, while still maintaining their Thursday night flight.

Asked why the airline made this change despite its earlier statement that passengers preferred not to travel on Sunday, Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner told Samoa News yesterday the “change was made to accommodate fleet scheduling requirements.”

All groups in the Commerce Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 3rd Quarter of the 2011 calendar year (July - September), recorded increases except the Alcohol-Beverages and Transportation groups which decreased -0.4 and -0.3 percent respectively. Inflation was recorded at 8.1% in the same quarter.

The report, released Thursday, says the 3rd quarter CPI shows the Housing Group recorded the highest quarterly increase with 3.7%; and the Food Group up by 1.2% because of cost increases of lamb neck, lamb flap, ground beef, mayonnaise and potatoes.

LONDON (AP) -- The remains of a woman found on one of Queen Elizabeth's vast estates belong to a 17-year-old missing girl, British detectives investigating the murder said Sunday.

Forensic tests identified the decomposed body as that of Latvian Alisa Dmitrijeva, who was reported missing from her home in eastern England in August, Norfolk Police said.

The body was found by a dog walker on New Year's Day in woodland three miles (five kilometers) from the royal residence at Sandringham House.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ron Paul cited a staggering number in the Republican presidential debate Sunday - $15 trillion supposedly spent by the Fed "bailing out their friends." Like Mitt Romney and his claims about creating jobs in the private sector, Paul came up with that shocker by presenting an unbalanced look at balance sheets.

A look at some of the claims in a pair of lively GOP debates on the weekend and how they compare with the facts:

Samoa's 50th Anniversary logo that will be displayed all over the country. The logo has a traditional canoe with two men and one woman passenger sailing at sea. “The daring fisherman - conqueror of the oceans, those who await his return and the prayers of those who keep vigil of Samoa’s journey, keeping the home fires burning.

“Samoa’s voyage in the last 50 years has not been smooth sailing. It had to master high winds and rough seas,” said Co-chair of the Independence committee, Tolofuaivalelei Falemoe Leiataua said.

Lotto Samoa has closed business after 20 years of service. Mrs Karen Kapisi told the Samoa Observer that this was because the license was not renewed. However she said, the decision had come as no surprise, as they had already been informed by Government in a letter received last June.

“The Government has made a decision that only Government can operate national lotteries,” said the Chairman of the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) Chairman, Samau Etuale Sefo. This is similar to operations in Australia and New Zealand.

The Fifth Annual American Samoa Goodwill Mission will be held in Pago Pago, American Samoa, June 11– 14, 2012 and once again sponsored by the June Jones Foundation.

The Football Academy will be led by Southern Methodist University Head Football Coach June Jones and several past and present NFL players of Samoan descent including San Francisco 49er great Jesse Sapolu, the “Throwin Samoan” Jack Thompson and legendary Pro Bowler Junior Seau. Serving as Honorary Ambassadors once again are Penny & Paul Loyd.

NEW YORK (AP) -- EBay's PayPal service is testing out a payments system in brick-and-mortar Home Depot stores.

PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar said Friday that the system is being tested in just five stores and involves a small number of PayPal employees. That means it's not available to the general public and likely won't be for some time.

The move is part of eBay's strategy to expand beyond the desktop computer into mobile devices and other aspects of everyday life.