It was a week that began with diplomacy, economic advocacy and community news, and ended with the Marianas staring down a potential Category 4 typhoon.
Early in the week, the Pentagon finally responded to Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds’ urgent January letter on the CNMI’s economic crisis, acknowledging the Commonwealth’s fiscal strain and its strategic value but stopping short of any specific commitments on air access, visa policy or investment. The response, from Assistant Secretary of War John Noh, was notable as much for what it didn’t say as for what it did.
On Guam, Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero signed the Guam Registered Apprenticeship Program rules into law, offering businesses a 50 percent tax credit on training costs for registered apprentices. Locally, Governor David M. Apatang signed three Rota local laws funding medical subsistence, scholarships and local programs, and authorizing a pedestrian pathway at Wedding Cake Mountain and the Grotto.
Fuel prices climbed again. Mobil raised rates across all grades, with diesel jumping 65 cents a gallon to $9.989. It was a reminder of an economy still under strain.
The week brought two powerful moments of public courage. Congresswoman King-Hinds and Assistant Attorney General Frances Demapan delivered deeply personal remarks at the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Awareness Month proclamation at Marianas High School — King-Hinds speaking as a survivor of childhood abuse, Demapan revealing that fewer than one percent of the more than 2,000 abuse cases reported in 2025 resulted in charges. NMI News Service was on the ground for it.
Also on the ground: NMI News Service was on scene when Saipan Southern High School was cleared after a student was taken into custody for allegedly passing a threatening note to a teacher. DPS and CPA K-9 units swept the campus and declared it clear at 10:27 a.m. Wednesday.
The business community saw new activity. Triple J opened its Furniture and Appliance Store in Chalan Kanoa to a crowd on opening day. The MVA signed a marketing partnership with Korean travel platform Good Choice, including a YouTube series featuring comedian Kwak Beom exploring Saipan. NMC business students took their capstone research directly to Rep. TJ Manglona, presenting small business policy recommendations after comparing CNMI startup barriers with California, Hawaii and Guam.
At the CUC board meeting Thursday, Rep. Vincent R. Aldan showed up with a plain-language billing transparency chart and told the board directly: “If a customer cannot verify the math, the charge is functionally opaque — and opacity is where unjustified cost recovery can hide.”
Then the weather changed everything.
What started Monday as a Good Morning Marianas exclusive with NWS lead forecaster Patrick Doll saying a tropical disturbance near Pohnpei could reach the Marianas between April 12 and 14 soon became a week-long developing story that ended with Typhoon Sinlaku bearing down on the entire island chain. Invest 90W was formally designated Wednesday. By Friday it was Tropical Storm Sinlaku. By Saturday afternoon it was a typhoon with 85 mph sustained winds, a Typhoon Watch in effect for all four Marianas islands, a State of Significant Emergency declared by Governor Apatang, a price freeze making it a felony to raise prices, and NWS forecasting 140 mph winds at Guam landfall comparable to Typhoon Mawar.
Governor Leon Guerrero formally asked President Trump for a pre-landfall emergency declaration Saturday, calling it an imminent catastrophe and requesting Department of Defense strategic airlift, mass care supplies and generators.
The Flame Tree Arts Festival was postponed. NMIFA cancelled Sunday soccer. STAR Marianas Air suspended flights at noon Sunday. CUC had to issue a rumor control advisory to tell residents that no, power and water are not being deliberately shut off.
The Marianas has been here before. And the Marianas will get through this one too.
