Archive - Jun 25, 2012 - Article (News Story)

The federal low income housing tax credit program called Section 1602, administered locally by the Development Bank of American Samoa (DBAS), is the subject of this Wednesday’s Senate Investigative Committee (SIC)  hearing with two witnesses subpoenaed to testify.

The program is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

CRYSTAL TE’O CHANGES PLEA

Crystal Te’o is scheduled to appear in the High Court today for a change of plea, from not guilty to guilty.

Te’o remains in custody,  and will appear before Chief Justice Michael Kruse.

The details of the plea agreement between the government and the defendants are not known at this time, but once the plea hearing goes through, it will be announced in open court today.

The Chamber of Commerce’s executive board is expressing concerns from the private sector over the difficulties they continue to face in getting small business loans which are guaranteed by a federal government program. The board has initiated meetings with the three local banks to see what can be done.

Gov. Togiola Tulafono has written to two ranking senators of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance to keep American Samoa in mind during Congressional debates on federal tax reform laws and to consider tax credits that will benefit U.S. companies wanting to set up in the territory.

Va’ai was accused of bribing a voter with a bottle of whiskey, $500 and $300 on different occasions.

A former Cabinet minister and the leader of the Opposition Party, Va’ai Papu Vailupe, has been fined by the District Court, for bribery. Va’ai was slapped with a $6,000 fine for three counts of bribery in relation to the General Elections, last year.

The former MP for Vaisigano No. 2 and leader of the Tautua Samoa Party won his seat. However, a petition filed against him by one of his opponents was successful and he was disqualified.

A couple accused in the District Court of running a prostitution ring out of their home at Malololelei have vehemently denied the allegations against them. Metala James and Sanele Sanele, of Manono and Papaloloa, face 13 charges in relation to prostitution. They are accused of using four girls in a prostitution operation that caters for customers from all over Samoa.

The Fa’asao Marist High School Crusaders football team was the recent recipient of brand new football helmets donated by Nashville Sporting Goods, through Field House 100.

Nashville Sporting Goods is a major athletic distributor located in the state of Tennessee. FH100 American Samoa, which started in the territory in 2009, was organized and designed to help student-athletes transition from high school to college.

 The Department of Human Resources (DHR) annual Summer Youth Employment Program or SYEP kicked off last Thursday, with 125 youth members on board.

Moana Purcell with DHR said some of the youth are in high school, others are attending the community college, while still others have yet to attain jobs. The theme for this year’s SYEP is “ the sky is the limit”.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A divided Supreme Court threw out major parts of Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants Monday in a ruling sure to reverberate through the November elections. The justices unanimously approved the law's most-discussed provision - requiring police to check the immigration status of those they stop for other reasons - but limited the consequences.