People Briefs

Front row from left are Maricel Noche, TPR Instructor, Lara Reklai and Tasha Kay Lecholch; middle row from left are Joshua Dever, Sumang Seid, and Yves Page; and back row from left are Tkel Etpison, Rolel Toribiong, and Adam Kyota. (Photo: Courtesy St John School)

Eight high school students from throughout Palau have completed the Princeton Review SAT course offered by St. John's School on Guam. The students are preparing to take the CollegeBoard® SAT and enrolled in the 18-hour course to acquire math, reading, writing, and grammar skills that maximize SAT scores and also improve academic performance. Students from Saipan will have the opportunity to take the course in time for the April 1 SAT. -- SM

The Commonwealth Ports Authority (CPA) on Saipan has selected Lee Cabrera as its new executive director, replacing retired Carlos S. Salas. But the CPA Board hired Salas on a one-year consulting contract. Cabrera was most recently the CPA's Saipan seaport manager. Rota airport/seaport manager Benjamin Manglona also retired at the end of December. His replacement is Thomas A. Manglona. -- FSR

New Zealand All Black Captain Tana Umaga announced his retirement from international rugby in January. He told a packed media conference in Wellington that his decision stemmed from a wish to spend more time with his family. Umaga was the first Samoan and Pacific Islander to captain the All Blacks test side in 2004. Last year, he led the All Blacks to a series sweep over the British Lions, Tri-Nations title, Bledisloe Cup and "grand slam" wins over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Umaga will continue to play for Wellington and the Hurricanes in this year's Super 14. -- PR

A man who had just lost his job in the gold mining town of Vatukoula and used his severance pay to buy a lottery ticket won F$1.45 million (US$840 thousand) in the Tattslotto draw on New Year's Eve in Melbourne. Identified only as C. Singh, 51, the man used the birth dates of his sons and other family members to pick his lottery numbers. He was one of 28 winners in the first division prize pool in the US$23 million mega-draw. -- RM

Kiwis' rugby league captain Ruben Wiki and boxer David Tua were the major winners at the New Zealand Samoa Sports Awards held in Auckland last December. Wiki won the Senior Sportsman and Overall Sports Personality of 2005 awards. He led the Kiwis to victory in the 2005 Tri-Nations Championship over Australia and Great Britain. Tua was named People's Choice Sportsperson of the Decade edging out other leading personalities such as Beatrice Faumuina, Michael Jones and Ray Sefo. -- PR

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce installed its new officers on January 10 in a ceremony held at the Saipan Resort & Spa attended by Governor Benigno R. Fitial. The new officers are Charles V. Cepeda, president; Alex A. Sablan, vice president; Michael S. Johnson, treasurer; and Jay B. Jones, secretary. Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona V. Manglona administered the oath of office. -- FSR

Northern Marianas Governor Benigno R. Fitial named his cabinet members during his inaugural ceremony held at Marianas High School gym on January 9th. They are: Eloy Inos, secretary, department of finance; Dr. Ignacio Dela Cruz, secretary, lands and natural resources; Clarence P. Tenorio Jr., secretary of commerce; Joseph K. Villagomez, secretary of public health; Gilbert San Nicolas, secretary of labor; John Wabol, commissioner of public safety; Ray Mafnas, secretary of corrections; Jose S. Demapan, secretary of public works; Daisy Villagomez-Bier, secretary of community and cultural affairs; Matthew Gregory, attorney general; John S. Del Rosario, senior policy advisor; Esther S. Fleming, special assistant for administration; Patrick P. Tenorio, special assistant for homeland security; Charles P. Reyes Jr., governor's Press Secretary; Tony Muna, office of management and budget; and Mathilda A. Rosario, personnel office. With the exception of special assistants, the rest of the nominees require Senate confirmation. -- FSR

In New Zealand, Tongan Fakanoa Fonua has been jailed for taking money from Pacific Islanders after falsely promising quick New Zealand permanent residencies. The New Zealand Herald reported Fonua was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment. Fonua had promised more than 50 Hawkes Bay-based Pacific Islanders fast permanent residency for a NZ$500 (US$340) fee. -- SM

Papua New Guinea parliamentarian and Madang Governor James Yali has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for raping his relative. The National Court when handing down its ruling said the sexual offense committed in October 2004 was grave and should attract the heaviest penalty. Yali's lawyers had argued the court should be lenient on the MP as he committed the offense without violence and had nine children to look after. -- AR

Former Papua New Guinea state solicitor Isikel Mesulam has been found guilty of possessing a pornographic videotape containing sex acts in a number of Port Moresby hotels. The Waigani grade five court ruled in favor of state evidence that Mesulam knowingly and without lawful justification had in his possession an obscene videotape between February 2002 and 2004 in breach of the Summary Offences Act. Mesulam will appeal. -- AR

Tongan lawyer Posesi Bloomfield is the new Attorney General in the Marshall Islands. Bloomfield launched his tenure as the government's chief legal official with the innovative approach of reaching out to many government department heads, elected leaders, business people and non-government organization leaders to find out what they want from the Attorney General's office and to identify gaps in laws. "This office needs to go back to serving and to be more open to the public," says Bloomfield, a New Zealand and Australian-educated attorney who has worked in the AG's office for three years as an assistant attorney general. -- GJ

Three officers of the Guam Chamber of Commerce were elected in December. Michael Benito, general manager of Payless Supermarkets, was elected chairman; Stephen Ruder, president of Glimpses Advertising, was elected vice chairman; and Jerold Filush, partner-in-charge of Deloitte and Touche was re-elected secretary and treasurer. -- FW

The European Union (EU) head of delegation to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Dr. Anthony Crasner, has returned to Europe after the end of his five-year contract. When he started on the job based in Port Moresby five years ago, Crasner urged Papua New Guineans to start projects at their own expense before applying for donor funding. The EU is now the second largest donor to PNG after Australia. -- AR

East Timor's Foreign Minister and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. José Ramos-Horta arrived in Fiji Jan. 13 for a youth peace camp organized by an NGO. Ramos-Horta launched a fundraising drive as part of the Ecumenical Center for Research, Education and Advocacy's (ECREA) peace program. He addressed youth at an inaugural "peace camp" which ECREA hopes will build a "culture of peace" in Fiji. -- RM

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has named New Caledonian Dr. Thierry Jubeau, previously head of the Health Action Department of New Caledonia's Southern Province, as SPC's new Public Health Program manager. Jubeau is a doctor and public health specialist, with qualifications in tropical medicine, disaster medicine and epidemiology. -- GJ

Kevan Gosper (Photo: Giff Johnson)

International Olympic Committee official Kevan Gosper, who is also president of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC), visited Majuro along with Guam NOC president Ricardo Blas at the end of last year as part of final preparations for nomination of the Marshall Islands for IOC membership in the early part of 2006. The RMI was admitted on February 9, 2006 as the 203rd member of the Olympic Movement. -- GJ

In Memoriam

Polataivao Fossi Schmidt, Samoa's longest serving politician, died in December after suffering heart failure. A founding member of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party, Polataivao also served in Cabinet for many years. He entered Parliament in 1964 and retired in 2001. Before Parliament, Polataivao had been an international boxer and later a successful businessman. -- AT

Former Northern Marianas Senate President Ponciano C. Rasa died January 8 at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu after a long illness. Rasa, 67, was president of the nine-member Senate during the 4th Legislature, from 1984-86. A long-time resident of Honolulu in the 1960s and 70s, Rasa was a world-class surfer and an all-around athlete. He was buried on Saipan on Jan. 18 in a ceremony attended by high-ranking political leaders. He is survived by his wife Vivian and six children. -- FSR

Two soldiers from Guam were killed in Iraq. U.S. Army Spc. Richard Jr. DeGracia Naputi, 24, of Talofofo was killed in Tali, Iraq on Dec. 21 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee. Naputi was serving with the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and was scheduled to get out of the Army in January. Pfc. Kasper Allen Camacho Dudkiewicz, 23, of Chalan Pago died in combat on Jan. 15. He was a member of the Army's Military Police. -- FW

Long-time independence fighter and anti-nuclear campaigner Ben Teriitehau has died in French Polynesia. Teriitehau was the founder of the first local liberation movement, called Polynesia Liberation Front, in the late 1970s. -- Oceania Flash

Leader of the Catholic Church for the Samoan Islands, Cardinal Pio Taofinu'u passed Jan. 19. He was 84. Pio was the first Pacific Islander to be ordained Cardinal in 1973. -- FS

Otto Haleck

American Samoa businessman Otto Haleck died Friday, February 17, 2006, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was 85. His major entrepreneurial ventures include the Clarion Tradewinds Hotel and the Tutuila-based South Pacific Express Airline. He is survived by wife Dorothy Ah Ching Haleck and six children William, Lottie, Vincent, Ernest, David and Catherine. -- FS

Contributors: Samantha Magick, Frank S. Rosario, Peter Rees, Ricardo Morris, Giff Johnson, Afamasaga Toleafoa, Alexander Rheeney, Fili Sagapolutele and Frank Whitman.