10/31//2025 - Joint Task Force Micronesia Commander Rear Adm. Joshua Lasky said the U.S. military could’ve done a better job in giving more contracts to local companies for their ongoing military projects in Micronesia. Answering a question from Yap Sen. John Mafel during the second day of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures General Assembly at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan last Oct. 27, Lasky said it was not only in Yap that the military had shortcomings in giving preference to local companies, but also in the CNMI.

10/31/2025 - In our final segment featuring the top five CNMI Teacher of the Year finalists, MP sits down with Koblerville Elementary School's Dorothy Deleon Guerrero. Deleon Guerrero shares her journey in education and her message to fellow educators. 

10/31/2025 - After announcing the effort in April 2023, Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog and community members gathered yesterday to complete the 1,000 Fruit Trees Initiative.

10/30/2025 - The Department of Finance has sent demand letters to nine government and autonomous agencies seeking repayment of more than $46 million in deficient employer contributions to the Defined Benefit Plan of the now-defunct Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund.

10/30/2025 - Kiribati delegate Birimaka Tekanene said a mix-up almost led to the island nation not participating in the 65th Board of Directors Meeting of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures General Assembly.

10/30/2025 - In our fourth segment featuring the top five CNMI Teacher of the Year finalists, MP sits down with Saipan Southern High School's Karen Camacho. Camacho shares her journey in education and her message to fellow educators. 

10/30/2025 - The Public School System announces the postponement of austerity measures originally scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2025, as previously announced in a memorandum issued on October 24. These measures, including the suspension of Monday classes and a 64-hour biweekly work schedule for employees, will now be implemented on November 17, 2025.

10/29/2025 - The Superior Court has issued a penal summons to Department of Land and Natural Resources Secretary Sylvan O. Igisomar to appear on Dec. 15, 2025, to face multiple charges, including misconduct in public office, theft of services, and child endangerment.

10/29/2025 - The CNMI Board of Education failed to meet quorum last Oct. 28 and failed to act on a major agenda item to address the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget and implementation plan, which includes Austerity Mondays set to start in November.

10/29/2025 - The Northern Marianas College will be hosting a campus-wide food drive for the Proa Pantry in Partnership with the Associated Students of the Northern Marianas College and the Office of Student Activities and Leadership. It will take place on Friday, October 31, 2025, at the college’s annual Trick-or-Treat event.

10/29/2025 - In our third segment of our Teacher of the Year Finalists series, we sit down with William S. Reyes Elementary School's Kate Borja to discuss her passion for the job and her approach to teaching in the classroom. Thomas Manglona II reports.

10/28/2025 - Delegates to the 65th Board of Directors Meeting of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures General Assembly have called for a more unified and self-reliant Blue Continent as Pacific Island nations continue to face economic uncertainty, environmental threats, militarization, and the ripple effects of the ongoing U.S. federal government shutdown.

10/28/2025 - After 75 years, a latte stone from Rota purchased in the 1950s by a private collector has returned to the Northern Mariana Islands. The latte stone, weighing more than 10,000 pounds, was transported from the Port of Saipan to the NMI Museum grounds in shipping crates and will later be unveiled in a public ceremony next month, where community members will be able to pay their respects and officially welcome it home.

10/28/2025 - Northern Marianas College students planning to continue their education at Portland State University are now eligible for in-state tuition rates, thanks to a partnership between the two institutions aimed at easing transfer pathways and reducing financial barriers.

10/28/2025 - Marianas High School's Teacher of the Year Marifi Doculan shares what it means to be named a finalist for CNMI Teacher of the Year and the impact she hopes to have on her students. In this week-long series, Marianas Press' Thomas Manglona II sits down with the top five finalists for this year's award, who talk about why they became educators and how they hope to shape the next generation. 

10/27/2025 - CNMI Gov. David Apatang and CNMI Lt. Gov. Dennis Mendiola wrote to the legislature on October 24, 2025, urging lawmakers to take action on their administration-sponsored bill to amend the Casino Act of 2014 amid the islands’ fiscal crisis. 

10/27/2025 - Rep. John Paul Sablan has introduced a bill that would conditionally authorize the Marianas Public Land Trust to establish a margin account solely to facilitate the $29-million loan authorized under Public Law 24-13.

10/27/2025 - The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs (DCCA) presented its plans for the Oleai Sports Complex Development Center and the Cultural Events Center during a Department of Coastal Resources Management (DCRM) public hearing on Friday—the final step before the project moves into the construction bidding phase.

10/27/2025 - Kagman High School's Teacher of the Year Elizabeth Basa shares what it means to be named a finalist for CNMI Teacher of the Year and the impact she hopes to have on her students. In this week-long series, Marianas Press' Thomas Manglona II sits down with the top five finalists for this year's award who talk about why they became educators and how they hope to shape the next generation. 

10/27/2025 - The CNMI Public School System must begin implementing cost-cutting measures to stay within the $31.7 million budget. CNMI Commissioner of Education Dr. Lawrence Camacho shared that urgent message to PSS stakeholders in a memo last Friday.

10/24/2025 - CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds and independent congressional candidate Galvin Sablan Deleon Guerrero have both voiced alarm over the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s directive halting food assistance payments in November due to the ongoing federal shutdown.

10/24/2025 - While the next election might be more than a year away, the Commonwealth Election Commission is already preparing for it to ensure a smooth process for candidates and voters.

10/24/2025 - As the CNMI looks to diversify its economy beyond tourism, a manufacturing company in Chalan Kiya is making the case that Saipan can become a hub for high-quality, U.S.-standard production.

10/23/2025 - The precipitous drop in construction tax and how CNMI government operations are affected by the federal shutdown were discussed during a joint session of the House Standing Committee on Ways and Means and Senate Standing Committee on Fiscal Affairs last Oct. 22 at the House chamber on Capitol Hill.

10/23/2025 - U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has accepted the guilty plea of former Public School System employee Giselle Butalid during her change-of-plea hearing on Oct. 22.

10/23/2025 - CNMI Congresswoman Kimberly King-Hinds said that federal intervention is not the answer to the recent news that the CNMI faces nearly $257-million in questionable costs through fiscal year 2022.

10/23/2025 - With a new law in effect requiring a warning label on betel nut being sold in stores across the CNMI, MP's Thomas Manglona II sat down with the NMI Hospital's Chief Dentist, Dr. Angelica Sabino, to discuss oral cancer in the islands and its link to betel nut chewing. 

10/23/2025 -  "I humbly ask the leadership of CHC, the Rota Health Center, and the CNMI Medical Board to reconsider renewing Dr. Tillman Farley’s contract. His six-month tenure on Rota is nearing its end, and his departure would be a tremendous loss to our island community," wrote Rota resident Denise Tanya King. 

10/22/2025 – Both know about the hardship in preparing the Mt. Tapochao Road for the annual Good Friday pilgrimage up to Saipan’s highest peak.  That’s why it was no coincidence that both praised and were actually relieved that the Department of Public Works held the ribbon-cutting for the $9.8-million Mt. Tapochao Road Project last Oct. 21 at the start of the roadway near the old Commerce building on Capitol Hill.

10/22/2025 - The Economic Diversification Committee of the CNMI Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers held its first meeting on Tuesday, intending to set the agenda to bring in new industries to the Commonwealth. 

10/22/2025 - Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog announced that Matson will begin to service the people of Rota starting November 03, 2025. She said this marks “the start of a service that will help improve the movement of goods and cargo to and from the island of Rota from Guam or Saipan.”

10/22/2025 - Communications and Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor John Gonzales has informed the administration that he will resign effective October 31, 2025. Gonzales was hired by the late Governor Arnold Palacios in June.

10/21/2025 - CNMI Governor David Apatang announced that the electronic benefit transfer system for the CNMI Nutrition Assistance Program will go live on November 1, 2025. It’s an announcement a decade in the making.

“This marks a proud and historic moment for our Commonwealth,” Apatang said during a press conference alongside Lt. Gov. Dennis Mendiola, Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Frank Rabauliman, NAP Program Administrator Margaret Aldan, and Administrative Manager Annie Reyes.

10/21/2025 - Ironically, even though Korean Air and Asiana Airlines no longer fly to the CNMI, the merger of the two carriers and their new strategy in Guam have negatively affected the Commonwealth’s No. 1 tourism market of South Korea.

Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Jamika Taijeron explained this during the Society of Professional Journalists-CNMI Chapter’s monthly meeting last Oct. 17 at Pepoy’s Café and Restaurant.

10/21/2025 - U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Angel Demapan officially informed CNMI Governor David Apatang of the $5.7 million in federal support for government programs and services in a letter dated October 17, 2025. 

10/20/2025 - The CNMI Board of Education discussed sensitive topics, such as all-gender bathrooms and participation of transgender students in Public School System sports during its board meeting last Oct. 17 on Tinian. Student Issues, Community, and Parental Programs Committee chair Anthony Dela Cruz Barcinas cautioned that PSS potentially can lose federal funding if it continues to construct all-gender bathrooms.

10/20/2025 - CNMI Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds announced that the Department of the Interior awarded $5.7-million to support CNMI government operations in the first quarter of the fiscal year.