Op-Ed: The CNMI Must Organize Now on Deep Sea Mining
Recent reporting highlighted by Angelo Villagomez of the Center for American Progress and published in the Guam Daily Post should concern everyone in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
CNMI issues Flood Watch for Saipan, Tinian and Rota through Tuesday morning
SAIPAN — The CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management office issued a Flood Watch Friday morning for Saipan, Tinian and Rota, warning residents that flash flooding remains possible from late tonight through Tuesday morning as a tropical disturbance interacts with a shear line over the Marianas.
Macaranas Reinstated as DPS Commissioner, Fired During Governor’s D.C. Trip
SAIPAN — Police Commissioner Anthony Macaranas has been reinstated to his position at the Department of Public Safety. Macaranas was reinstated Thursday morning, days after Acting Governor Dennis Mendiola fired him while Governor David Apatang was in Washington, D.C. on a federal engagement trip.
Trump taps Mullin as DHS secretary — a senator who sought to scrap CNMI’s Chinese tourist visa program
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will leave the Department of Homeland Security on March 31, 2026, replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, one of the senators who earlier this year called on the administration to eliminate the CNMI’s visa program for Chinese tourists.
This Week on NMI News Service: March 2-5, 2026
It was a week dominated by federal engagement, legal battles, and community milestones across the Marianas and Guam, with developments moving simultaneously in Washington, D.C., Taipei, Hagåtña, and Saipan.
CNMI Visa Waiver Program Surfaces in Congressional Hearing as Noem Confirms Meeting With Governor Apatang
WASHINGTON — The Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program came under renewed scrutiny Wednesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed she had recently met with the CNMI governor, acknowledged the islands want the program restored, but said compliance with security concerns would need to come first.
Governor Apatang Returns From D.C. With Working Groups, Federal Commitments, and a 30-Day Clock
SAIPAN — Governor David M. Apatang held his first extended media availability since returning from Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, briefing reporters on a week of federal meetings alongside the broad coalition he brought to the nation’s capital, while declining to address a turbulent home front that greeted him when he arrived back on Saipan Friday.
DPS HR Official Files Sexual Harassment Complaint Against Former Commissioner Macaranas With Civil Service Commission
SAIPAN — A human resources official with the Department of Public Safety has filed a formal sexual harassment grievance against former DPS Commissioner Anthony I. Macaranas with the Civil Service Commission, NMI News Service has confirmed.
DHS Releases Photos From Governor Apatang’s Washington Meetings; Press Conference Set for Tomorrow
SAIPAN — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released photos from Governor David M. Apatang’s recent meetings in Washington, D.C., showing the governor alongside DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin E. Lunday, and Washington lobbyist Jason Osborne.
Apatang, Leon Guerrero Hold Washington Talks on Marianas Conservation and Military Readiness
WASHINGTON, D.C. — CNMI Governor David Apatang and Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero joined federal officials in Washington for high-level talks focused on balancing conservation priorities, economic development, and military readiness across the Marianas.