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I never stop being impressed by the incredible talent we have on the soccer field. The boys, girls, men, and women who represent the Marianas internationally are a tremendous source of pride for me and for our entire community. Despite the outstanding work of the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association in training our youth and building our program, FIFA has continued to deny the CNMI recognition to field our own team. This request is not unusual.

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I had the pleasure of attending a celebratory lunch at the Crowne Plaza Resort late last week to honor ou

I love seeing the incredible things our own are doing out in the world, and I could not be more proud of Saipan’s own Gio Hur. I saw the story on her new book, Islands After the War, which she and her fellow Harvard classmates put together after studying postwar landscapes in Okinawa, Iejima, Saipan, and Tinian. This is such a cool project, and I hope you can come celebrate it at the launch on Saturday, August 16, at 10:30 a.m. at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library. The authors will join on Zoom, with their local collaborators there in person.

We could sit in our air-conditioned offices and talk about what we think farmers need, but the truth is, they know best. If we want to truly work on developing greater food security, our role is to listen, understand their priorities, and take our cues from the farmers out in the fields themselves. I was grateful to join the Saipan and Northern Islands Soil and Water Conservation District, led by President Glenn Manglona, as they worked with the U.S.

This week, I had the opportunity to join a discussion on Mariana Islands Conservation Strategy (MICS). The dialogue focused on federal activities in our region, their environmental impacts, and ideas for mitigating those impacts for the people who live here. I appreciated the chance to learn more because this is a nuanced conversation. Yes, we want to ensure activities are mitigated, and the impacts across the Marianas archipelago are taken into account.

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Ensuring that the work in Washington stays connected to the people of the CNMI is very important to me.

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I was back behind the counter this week, this time as a volunteer at Great Harvest, where I helped make sandwiches, take orders, and connect w