Archive - Mar 7, 2012 - Article (News Story)

This past Saturday featured the play-off match ups for the American Youth Football of Samoa season Three — determining who would be the teams for the Championship Game, to be played this Saturday.

The play-offs sorted out the top four teams in the league, which edged off with the undefeated in regular season Raiders claiming a resounding victory over the Bears in the first game, keeping their record immaculate.  It was followed with the tough match up between the Chiefs and the Chargers, which almost saw the Chargers make it to the Championship game.

In a Senate Hospital Committee hearing held yesterday, key government witnesses and  LBJ medical center officials updated the senators on the current financial situation at the only hospital in the territory, as well as the state of local health care.  

The first witnesses called before the Senate at yesterday’s committee hearing, chaired by Senator Galea’i Tuufuli, were Gaea Perefoti, the ASG’s internal auditor and Deputy Treasurer Ueligitone Tonumaipe’a who were assigned by Gov. Togiola Tulafono to review hospital funds.

Congressman Faleomavaega Eni has cited deficiencies with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) draft proposal to expand the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary and called for NOAA to continue consultations and discussions with all stakeholders, because this is critical to the success of the proposal.

Besides changing the name of the sanctuary, NOAA’s proposed rule would effectively add five new sanctuary units consisting of more than 13,000 square miles of marine areas in the Territory, said Faleomavaega.

Samoa celebrates 50 years of independence this year. There is no better time to recognize the need to help women achieve social, psychological, and economic freedom and independence than now.

Senate President Gaoteote Palaie Tofau is the sponsor of a Senate bill which seeks to refinance $2 million under the current $20 million loan from the ASG Employees Retirement Fund to fund operations of the LBJ Medical Center.

The $20 million loan was signed into law in 2007 to fund local capital improvement projects and amended the following year to add more local projects such as the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts and the undersea fiber optic cable project.

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Toetagata Albert Mailo has ruled in favor of the American Samoa Government, who terminated a teacher for misconduct stemming from actions he took against his students.

Fagaitua High School teacher Louie Segi contested his termination by the Department of Education and trial in the matter was held late last year, where Segi was represented by local attorney Mark Ude, while ASG and DOE were represented by Assistant Attorney General Daniel Woods.

Seven teenagers who agreed among themselves to stone police vehicles, an act which injured a senior police officer last year October, made their initial appearance before the District Court on Monday.

Vani Atafua, Siaosi Laulu, Benjamin Maybir and Iosefa Falealo are charged with property damage first degree which is a class D felony and is punishable by up to five years in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000 —and public peace disturbance, which is a misdemeanor.

For 40 years the American Samoa Bar Association has been promoting justice in American Samoa. Success has only been accomplished with champions of justice throughout the territory. To promote these champions, the ASBA is pleased to announce the first annual Arthur A. Morrow Justice Award.

SAIPAN, CNMI —The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which makes recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce for the management of fisheries in federal waters surrounding the U.S. Pacific Islands, today completed its two-day meeting at the Saipan Fiesta Resort and Spa in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and now moves to the Hilton Guam Resort and Spa, Tumon Bay, Guam, where it will reconvene on March 8- 9.

It is not too often that a cruise ship leaves port with its lights on, but on Monday evening, March 5, the cruise ship Ocean Princess left Pago Pago at nearly 7 p.m., and the early darkness had the beautiful lights on the ship aglow as it pulled away from the dock.

The Ocean Princess is the ninth of nineteen cruise ships scheduled to visit the territory in 2012, and the only one scheduled to call into port during the month of March.