Concorde garment factory shuts down

Hundreds of the 1,046 Chinese workers from Concorde staged a protest rally when it was announced that Concorde Garment Manufacturing Inc., company, the largest garment manufacturer in the CNMI, will be closing after 23 years of operations in Saipan. Concorde workers claimed their recruitment refunds at the Garapan Central Park.

News photos for March 2007

CAROLINIAN BEAT: Marianas High School students dance on a Carolinian dance beat during the school's annual Cultural Day celebration.

PI DAY: Saipan International School students compete in the “Hoola Hoop Relay” during the school's 3rd Annual Pi Day celebration.

FISH TRAP: Carolinian Affairs Office staff Wayne Pua works on a traditional fish trap with his colleagues Eugene Fitial and Jun Sablan at the Chamolinian Cultural Village in Garapan .

RUN FOR A CAUSE : XTERRA Trail Run/Walk kids and adult participants compete in the 5K run from the starting line at the Micro Beach Road.

SUGAR DOCK FUN: A group of friends spend their afternoon frolicking in the waters off Sugar Dock in Chalan Kanoa.

For more March front page photos go to:
http://saipantribune.com/photogalu.aspx?newsID=66146

News photos for February 2007

SUPER BOWL MANIA: Football fans cheer as they watch the Indianapolis Colts play the Chicago Bears for the Super Bowl XLI at the Saipan World Resort's Royal Taga Hall A in Susupe. Feb 5.

U.S. Marines lift the American flag from the casket of Lance Corporal Adam Q. Emul as Adam's family looks on during the interment ceremony at the CNMI Veterans Cemetery in Marpi.

San Vicente Elementary School students put up yellow ribbons with thank you messages for Lee Roy written on them within the school's fences in preparation for the arrival of the remains of U.S. Army Specialist Lee Roy Camacho, 27, who was killed in action in Iraq last Feb. 9.

Family members comfort CNMI soldier Corporal Lee Roy Apatang Camacho's mother and wife during the reception to the fallen hero inside the Saipan airport reception hall.

Former Office of Insular Affairs director now congressional staff member Allen Stayman is greeted by Dekada members upon arrival at the Saipan International Airport.

For more February front page photos go to:
http://saipantribune.com/photogalu.aspx?newsID=65330

News photos for January 2007

Saipan International Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting Department fire fighters hose down the fire on a burning mock-up aircraft during the Commonwealth Ports Authority and Federal Aviation Administration's Live Fire Demonstration and Actual Hands-On.

Garapan tourist district shines at night but no tourist is in sight as motorists pass the intersection in front of DFS Galleria. According to the Marianas Visitors Authority, the overall arrivals in the CNMI for November 2006 plunged by 7.29 percent. '

I HAVE A DREAM' African-American Cultural Preservation Committee officer Joe Hill chants together with hundreds of CNMI high school students, government, and private sector officials as they re-enact the Memphis March in 1968 during the first official CNMI-wide commemoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Members of the Dekada group hold hands to express their solidarity, as they called for the passage of a bill in the U.S. Congress that would improve the immigration status of long-staying nonresident workers in the CNMI.

Children join the rally led by a group called “Our Commonwealth” at the American Memorial Park.




For more January front page photos click:
http://saipantribune.com/photogalu.aspx?newsID=65300

News photos for December 2006

Yuan, Xiao Hua embraces her son Henry Qian 4, as hereceives a flu vaccine shot during the Department ofPublic Health’s Flu Vaccine Drive held at the GarapanElementary School.

Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theater’s YuliaAnufrieva gracefully performs the Adagio from theballet “The Nutcracker” for the finale of theGlushko's Academy of Performing Arts holidaypresentation of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty andConcert of Ballet Stars at the Hotel Nikko SaipanTheater Hall.

Cultural performers lined up for their dance finale asthey entertain tourist at the nightly cultural dinnershow at the Fiesta Resort and Spa’s Ocean View Terraceopen-air barbeque garden area.

Holding a protest placard a garment worker bravely approaches the stage voicing out her complains as hundreds of other Chinese garment workers fromConcorde Garment Manufacturing Inc., looks on, during a protest rally at the Fiesta Resort andSpa’s Hibiscus Hall in Garapan.

Hundreds of CNMI catholic residents trooped the Mt.Carmel Church in Chalan Kanoa for the Misa de NocheBuena or Christmas Eve midnight mass.

News photos for November 2006

Families of the late veteran Gregorio Camacho Cabrera gather on his memorial site during the interment ceremony. Cabrera was the first veteran to be buried on the newly opened CNMI Veterans Cemetery in Marpi.

Rotary Club of Saipan trooped to the center for a free arts workshop and provided free Thanksgiving lunch for the elderly.

USS Buffalo (SSN-715) is seen on the Saipan harbor after making its first port call on Saipan.

With only a few back-up lights, a legislative bureau staff walks down the legislative building’s dark hallway during a power outage in CapitalHill.

Members of the Saipan Community School team meticulously decorate a Christmas tree with their beautifully crafted recycled ornaments during the "A Green Christmas for the Children of the Marianas," tree decoration contest at the Paseo De Marianas.

Japan's Imperial couple visit Saipan

On June 2005, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko made a historical visit on the island to commemorate people who lost their lives in the Second World War. The emperor and empress paid tribute to soldiers and civilians who died in World War II and offered prayers at two cliffs where Japanese soldiers and citizens killed themselves rather than surrender to U.S. forces.

Saipan's traditional dances 2

View the catalyst for the rejuvenation of the traditional dances of the island, from the spectacular beats of Micronesian, Polynesian and to the famous Carolinian stick dance.

Xterra Saipan 2007

Close to 300 professional and amateur triathletes-both local and foreign-joined in the 6th XTERRA Saipan Championships on March 17 at the American Memorial Park. Olivier Marceau and Renata Bucher enjoyed their return on Saipan as the Swiss duo blew past their opponents.

Saipan news events

Witnessed the fury of Anatahan volcano, the celebration of Ash Wednesday, CUC power outages, Micronesian Outrigger competition and issues of the NMI Retirement Fund through its administrator Mark A. Aguon.