![ASG Budget and Planning Office director Catherine Saelua. [SN file photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Catherine%20Saelua%206467_2.jpg?itok=5P6LGRSj "ASG Budget and Planning Office director Catherine Saelua. [SN file photo]")
Utility and personnel costs are exempted from the cutoff date for government purchases for the current fiscal year (FY 2017), according to a letter from ASG Budget and Planning Office director Cath
![[SN file photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/AM%20Samoa%20HC_43.jpeg?itok=4OVEgoIh "[SN file photo]")
A young man who was arrested earlier this year — while on probation — and charged with first-degree burglary and felony stealing is going to prison.
Two people are suspected to have died from dengue fever in Samoa and the Ministry of Health has issued an alert about an outbreak in the country.
![“Like all of our Pacific people who left the islands and moved to Aotearoa, we came looking for opportunities. Sadly for many, that dream is diminishing with the new landscape of Aotearoa. This is why our family has joined and will vote for the Māori Party. This is why our Pacific vote counts," says Rosa Tomasi-Puni, a mother of two of Samoan and Tokelauan heritage. See Pacific Briefs for story. [Courtesy photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/One%20Pacific_thank%20you%20Maori%20Party.jpg?itok=ktwcO4IW "“Like all of our Pacific people who left the islands and moved to Aotearoa, we came looking for opportunities. Sadly for many, that dream is diminishing with the new landscape of Aotearoa. This is why our family has joined and will vote for the Māori Party. This is why our Pacific vote counts,\" says Rosa Tomasi-Puni, a mother of two of Samoan and Tokelauan heritage. See Pacific Briefs for story. [Courtesy photo]")
NIGHTCLUBS, GAS STATIONS TARGETED WITH COUNTERFEIT MONEY
The McDonald’s Family Restaurant has secured the naming rights for the Miss Samoa Pageant 2017. The $100,000 deal was announced during a press conference at McDonald’s in Apia.
School Lunch Program cooks hard at work, packing breakfast and lunch items for the schools that have already started the new school year.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council says it is disappointed that the federal court in Honolulu has denied the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s motion to reco
![[SN file photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/samoaPM_15.jpg?itok=wHcn1j_- "[SN file photo]")
Tourism is synonymous with small islands and big business for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) accounting for 25% of gross domestic product (GDP).
![[photo: Christchurch Trust]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/court%20entrance%20copy.jpg?itok=i899rCf8 "[photo: Christchurch Trust]")
O le ala ile pule, o le tautua - The Pathway to leadership is to serve.
![Kanihi hapū chair Daisy Nobel said there was a spiritual element to Mount Taranaki. [Photo: Supplied / Jeremy Becker]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/taranaki_in_tarn.jpg?itok=QqniIKre "Kanihi hapū chair Daisy Nobel said there was a spiritual element to Mount Taranaki. [Photo: Supplied / Jeremy Becker]")