CHECK OUT YOUR CHILD CAR SEAT THIS SATURDAY AT OMV COMPOUND

Sept. 14-20 is National Child Passenger Safety Week and the DPS Office of Highway Safety’s Occupant Protection Program will be hosting a fitting station at the OMV compound in Tafuna this Saturday, from 9 a.m. til 12noon.

Parents who need car seats for their infants and toddlers are invited, as technicians will be on hand to demonstrate how to properly install a car seat. Attendees must bring the child the car seat is intended for. Free car seats will be distributed on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, dependent on certain criteria.

First, the vehicle must pass an inspection, to ensure that it is safe to transport children. Secondly, parents must be able to demonstrate what they learned, by installing a car seat themselves.

The event is a collaboration between OHS, the Dept. of Health, the Fire Department, and the Dept. of Human and Social Services, which is a sub-grantee of the program.

Since the program was implemented four years ago, over 3,000 free car seats have been distributed to local residents. Sadly, the local compliance/usage percentage is less than half the national average.

In the US, the national compliance level is 80% while locally, the numbers are devastating. In 2010, the compliance level stood at 30% The following year in 2011, that number dropped to 23% and then increased to 33% in 2012.

No figures are available for 2013 and 2014.

OHS Occupant Safety Program manager David Bird said in an initial interview that the numbers are "very sad," and he encourages all parents to remember that the safest place in a moving vehicle for a child is in a properly fitted and secured car seat.

There is a limit of one car seat per child and more information can be obtained by contacting David Bird at 633-7634.

SEVERAL EVENTS PLANNED FOR HOKULE’A’S SECOND COMING

The crews of the Hokule’a and Hikianalia have already departed the Swains Island and were scheduled to arrive back in American Samoa yesterday evening.

Superintendent of the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (NMSAS) Gene Brighouse said via email to the Samoa News that their office has a long schedule of events planned for the crew members while they are in town, including community service learning projects, school presentations, google hangouts, Sphere Casts, an open house, and storytelling.

 “Join in on the fun… to spread the word on the mission of ‘Malama Honua’ — a mission to share with each place the importance of our planet and our role as caretakers!” Brighouse said.

As Jean Michel Cousteau says all the time: “You protect the ocean, it protects you!”

More information can be obtained by calling the NMSAS at 633-6500.

NORM FOR RAINFALL WILL RISE AS HURRICANE SEASON LOOMS

Hurricane season for the territory is November-April and from now until the first quarter of next year, the norm for rainfall will rise.

The good news is, the rain hasn’t dampened too many plans this month or the previous month, as the total rainfall for both August and so far for September are well below the normal level.

The normal rainfall for August, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tafuna, is 6.30 inches but last month, the territory only received a total of 3.22 inches of rain.

The normal rainfall for September is slightly higher at 7.63 inches but as of yesterday morning, the territory had only recorded .70 inches of rain so far this month.

Local meteorologist Carol Maafala-Baqui said Monday that there will be scattered showers around the territory this morning, as there are some clouds generating showers to the south of American Samoa.

However, mid-week onwards, she added, there will be minimal showers and the weather conditions should be favorable.

SIX CONTESTANTS LINED UP FOR MISS AMERICAN SAMOA PAGEANT

A total of six local beauties will be competing in the upcoming Ms. American Samoa pageant set to be held on Friday, Sept. 26 at the Governor H. Rex Lee Auditorium in Utulei.

Last Saturday, the contestants were briefed on the rules and regulations, including the criteria for each category.

Tomorrow is a “Meet the Contestants” dinner during which the contestants will pull numbers to determine the order in which order they will be competing.

Other events leading up to the pageant night include the floats on Saturday and the yearly visits to the Governor’s Office, the LBJ Medical Center, the Hope House at Fatuoaiga, and a tour of the Government House at Mauga o Alii.

This year, Pacific Independent Distributors (PID) is the major sponsor for the event. The contestants are prepping for a week full of activities, accompanied by the reigning Miss American Samoa, Eleitino Tuiasosopo.

LEONE VILLAGE BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW FALEVA’A

The council of chiefs and villagers of Leone broke ground last Friday for the site of their new boatshed (faleva’a) that will house a fautasi (long boat) expected to compete during the annual Flag Day fautasi race next April.

Rev. Father Kolio Etuale blessed the site in the presence of proud village residents who will be assisting a contracted boat builder in making their fautasi dreams a reality.

The faleva’a is located on land belonging to the church and Samoa News understands that through village fundraisers, an estimated $200,000 has been set aside for the fautasi and boatshed project.

DESPITE DELAYS, FOOD STAMP ‘BONUS’ ISSUED AS SCHEDULED

Nearly 700 local residents who benefit from the American Samoa Nutrition Assistance Program (ASNAP)— better known as the Food Stamp Program—received $90 worth of ‘bonus’ food coupons this past Monday.

This was despite delays, as ASNAP employees had to manually key in all the entries.

Samoa News understands that the system is set up to where food vouchers are only issued once a month. However, the additional $90 came after the monthly coupons were already issued so everything had to be manually processed.

ASNAP employees didn’t get off work until after 5 p.m. Monday, after the last person was served. The Food Stamp office was full to maximum capacity, with some clients waiting in excess of three hours for their food vouchers.

This was due in part to people showing up spontaneously. The Department of Human and Social Services (DHSS) under which the ASNAP falls, issued a schedule based on the first letter of people’s last names but clients who weren’t scheduled for Monday’s issuance showed up anyway.

The final day to pick up the additional $90 bonus is Friday.

VAITOGI VILLAGE ENFORCES CURFEW TO REMEMBER FIRE VICTIMS

For many years, Vaitogi village has enforced a 24-hour curfew from 6 p.m. on October 15 to 6 p.m. October 16 in commemoration of a devastating fire that occurred in the village decades ago.

The curfew permits no movement, with village ‘aumaga blocking off the entrance to the village.

Vehicles and/or pedestrians were not allowed to enter or exit the village for the 24-hour period which ended last night at 6 p.m.

NEPHROLOGY NURSES WEEK OPENS WITH PLEA FROM GOVERNOR LOLO

Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga, in his remarks during the official opening of Nephrology Nurses Week, urged parents to monitor what their kids buy from the store, as a way to help decrease the number of non-communicable disease (NCD) cases.

During a special prayer service held this past Sunday at the CCCAS Fagaalu Church, Lolo said that when he was in Hawai’i, he was given the heart wrenching news by medical experts, who told him that American Samoa is ranked #1 in the world for diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and hypertension.

Lolo said the news didn’t sit well with him, adding that the territory is in a bad state, as millions of dollars are being used to serve people at the LBJ Hospital who have fallen victim to NCDs.

He explained that last year, the LBJ’s budget was $52 million but this year, the figure has ballooned to $80 million. “The question now is: Why?” Lolo asked.

He said there are no ‘ifs, ands, or buts’ about it — 99.9% of the territory’s residents are affected — directly or indirectly — by NCDs.

The Governor said he is scared, and added that the Fono should pass legislation to set restrictions on food items that are being brought into the territory — unhealthy items that contribute to diabetes and heart disease — and parents should be more mindful of what the children are buying from the stores.

Activities for Nephrology Nurses Week, “to honor the men and women whose dedication, compassion, and commitment to their patients puts nephrology nursing ‘on the map’,” ends this Saturday with a “healthy walk” at 5 a.m. from Nuuuli to the Siugaula ole Atuvasa Beach Park in Utulei, and a Cinderella Ball/Fiafia Night from 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. at the Governor H. Rex Lee Auditorium.

Nephrology nurses are those who work in the LBJ Hospital’s Dialysis Unit and they are urging everyone to “join us in the fight against kidney disease and be an advocate of kidney health in American Samoa.”