Your watching the "Weekend Report" for March 13, 2009 (requires Quicktime 7.4)

Below is the text vesion of the weekend report with headlines from around Palau and the Pacific.

NEWS:

The Peleliu Special Election was held on Thursday, March 12, 2009.   The Palau Election Commission has released the unofficial results puts Kangichi Uchau in the lead with 263 votes over Hanes Tsuneo who received 109 votes.

On Thursday, March 11, the President of Palau and his delegation met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.   The meeting was scheduled to occur at 11am.   Her schedule had allotted 30 minutes for the meeting.   Hillary Clinton said in her official letter to Palau that    "the United States and Palau have a Special and very close relationship. This year marks an important milestone in our Compact of Free Association....The Department of State looks forward to working with the government of Palau."

The President also had a meeting with the Secretary of Interior scheduled on the same day at 3:40 pm.    OTV will continue to cover this important Presidential visit.

Joshua Koshiba has become an ambassador by Executive Order.   The President has determined that by international diplomatic protocol Palau's Chief Negotiator should bear the title of Ambassador and now be accorded all of the rights privileges and duties of an agent of Ambassadorial rank. Congratulations to our new ambassador.

Senator Paul Ueki has authored a bill that would allow commercial fishing of sharks. Senator Adalbert Eledui announced during a shark week   event   that he encourages comments from the public, from those who favor and oppose the bill . Palau's sharks are also one of the biggest attractions for divers.   Palau was internationally recognized in 2003-2004 for its ban on shark finning.

Oil and gas exploration is soon expected   to begin north of Kayangel state and Velasco reef.   A small aircraft is here in Palau to conduct an airborne survey, which is the last phase before the drilling begins.   The survey will be done in two weeks time depending on the weather.   Oil and gas drilling is expected to take place within the year.

The Belau Modekngei warehouse located in btelul a chang was engulfed in flames earlier this week.   Fire Chief Benhart Baulechong, stated that the report was called in sometime around 3am and after responding and engaging the fire for about two hours, the fire was finally put out. This is very unfortunate due to the fact that the warehouse was just recently stocked with new merchandise. The building was reported to be leased to George Sugiyama. The cause of the fire is still unknown as of yet but Chief Baulechong states that it could just be the result of a power overload in the main switch. The fire department still investigating the fire

Five divers and their dive instructor were found approximately two miles off shore east of Peleliu after drifting for about 1 hour. They were diving at Peleliu Wall, after which, they were to meet at the south dock of peleliu known as camp beck at 11 o'clock. However, after not resurfacing at the scheduled time, the boat operator alerted the dive center in Koror and a search and rescue was initiated.   Thank you to Hubert Akiwo, an employee of PNCC, for coming to their rescue.

On Thursday, March 12, the Palau SDA school held a very successful creativity fair.

Also, today the Palau Community College, hosted a science fair.

Wednesday march   11 they Palau Navigational society held a fundraising at M-Dock. Congratulations on a successful fundraising

Special Prosecutor, Michael Copeland filed criminal charges against Attorney General Ronald Ledgerwood   for driving uner the influence and reckless driving last August.   Witnesses allegedly saw Ledgerwood collide with a wooden electric pole in Ngerbodel then saw him walking to Waterfront Villa holding an unopened can of beer.   Ledgerwood   could face up to a maximum of seven days in custody if he is to plead guilty.

Local Noni farmers are struggling now as Palau Organic farms announced the reduction of the amount of produce that they will be buying off of individual farmers. Palau Organic Farm informed the farmers that this is all due to an overstock of produce in the warehouse.    And since Palau Organic Farms is the only buyer of Noni on island, there is no other choice but to concede to the demands.

The National Development Bank of Palau whose broad based mission is the economic development of Palau has made a large loan to an FIB company.    This FIB company is a leaseholder on the property that is being developed for management   by the Aman Resort.   This $20 million dollar construction project is to be located at the former Nikko Hotel in Ngermid.   Their arrangement with the National Development Bank is said to been a short term loan and includes an opportunity for the loan to be converted   into stock.   If NDBP ultimately elects to convert the loan to shares, their intention is to make the shares available to Palauans so that they can become stakeholders in the Aman Project.   The President of the NDBP has stated that this short term loan does not does not effect the pool of money available to Palauan homeowners or business entrepreneurs.   The NDBP continues to actively seek good projects for loans!

Friday was   Friday the 13 th , this is the second of three Friday the 13 days this year the last will be in November.   While many believe that this is a day when strange things and accidents occur, research has shown that Friday the thirteenth is actually one of the safest days of the year with reports showing people are more careful in their daily lives.   If you have any unusual stories from this superstitious day please share them with us by calling 488-6884 and we will report on them next week.

On Tuesday this week, eight students from the University of Tokyo presented their proposal, to conduct studies on the watershed-management along Babeldaob. Their professor, Mikiko Ishikawa and her team expressed that Palau is the ideal location for their research because of its vast beauty and landscape. Also, the geography has so much to offer for their research. The studies will be concentrated at Ngerdoch Watershed, Ngermeduu basin, and the Tabecheding watershed.

On the weird side of news, researchers from the University of California, on a Pentagon contract, announced in January their success at rigging a live flower beetle with electrodes and a radio receiver to enable scientists to control the insect's flight. They explained that, pulses sent to the bug's muscles can command it to take off, turn left or right, or hover according to a report in MIT Technology Review . The insect's "large" size which is a a massive four inches in length, would enable it to also carry a camera, giving the beetle military uses such as surveillance or search and rescue. The researchers admired the native flight-control ability of the beetle so much that they abandoned developing robot beetles.

Also, an airline in the UK is considering charging its customers for "using the loo". That's right, ryanair, in an interview with BBC stated that they are thinking of charging customers for using the lavatory. This is just a part of their attempt to further lower the cost of air-fare. This might cause a problem for those trying to save money on flights over eight hours long.

Tonight is Friday the 13 th , this is the second of three Friday the 13 days this year the last will be in November.   While many believe that this is a day when strange things and accidents occur, research has shown that Friday the thirteenth is actually one of the safest days of the year with reports showing people are more careful in their daily lives.   If you have any unusual stories from this superstitious day please share them with us by calling 488-6884 and we will report on them next week.

Let us not forget that Sunday is youth day. There will be a lot of fun games and activities all around Palau, so please bring your youth and participate.

On the weird side of news, researchers from the University of California, on a Pentagon contract, announced in January their success at rigging a live flower beetle with electrodes and a radio receiver to enable scientists to control the insect's flight. They explained that, pulses sent to the bug's muscles can command it to take off, turn left or right, or hover according to a report in MIT Technology Review . The insect's "large" size which is a a massive four inches in length, would enable it to also carry a camera, giving the beetle military uses such as surveillance or search and rescue. The researchers admired the native flight-control ability of the beetle so much that they abandoned developing robot beetles.

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