Hafa Adai, Tiroow, and Good Morning. 

Governor Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Governor David M. Apatang, through the CNMI Department of Commerce, Central Statistics Division announce the beginning of data collection for the 2023 CNMI Prevailing Wage Study (PWS) to update the current prevailing wages for the CNMI that expires on June 30, 2023.  

Last week, Governor Arnold I. Palacios met with Mr. Patrick J. O’Brien, Director of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) – Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) as part of his meeting with various federal agencies in Washington D.C. 

WHEREAS, teen dating violence is pervasive, yet an underreported crime in our community that happens in person, online, and through technology. This form of intimate partner violence affects millions of teens every year. It is a pattern of behaviors involving the use or attempted use of abuse including physical violence, sexual violence, psychological aggression like emotional abuse or intimidation, and stalking of another person with whom they have or have had a teen dating relationship; and

We join the people of the Marianas in mourning the loss of one of the founding fathers of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Mr. Edward Deleon Guerrero Pangelinan. 

The national theme for the 2023 Catholic Schools Week is

Senior military officials, including Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment/Chief Sustainability Officer) Meredith Berger, and Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps General David H. Berger, traveled to Saipan yesterday to meet with Governor Arnold I. Palacios as part of high level talks to expand cooperation and communication between the CNMI and the U.S. Department of Defense. 

In a meeting held with Governor Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Governor David M. Apatang, Honorable Carmen G. Cantor, Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior confirmed $1.65 million in Compact Impact grant funding for the CNMI.

Governor Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Governor David M. Apatang today met with U.S. Congressman Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan to discuss a range of issues that included the financial challenges that the Commonwealth is facing.

In response to Governor Arnold Palacios’s invitation and request to meet, the Honorable Carmen G. Cantor, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior (International and Insular Affairs), has confirmed that she will be visiting the Commonwealth next week.