Local News
![Rendering of proposed new Fono Building [SN file photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/fono%20bldg%20rendering_38.jpg?itok=5SQ5FYuP "Rendering of proposed new Fono Building [SN file photo]")
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Vehicle licenses and registration fees would go up under a bill introduced in the House last week. The main sponsor of the bill was Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui Jr. and the co sponsors are Vesi Talalelei Fautanu Jr, Gafatasi Afalava, Lavea Fatulegae’e Mauga, Fagaoatua Dorian...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Federal prosecutors are seeking a 24-month jail term for Corina Ifopo, the American Samoa woman, accused of filing false tax returns with the US Internal Revenue Service for local residents, arguing that this is deterrent to others.
Ifopo, who resides in Hawai’i, is...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — There are many American Samoans living in several states and territories, who want to be recognized as US citizens without being required to go through the naturalization process, says Neil Weare of the Washington D.C. based “Equally American” group.
Weaner, who is an...
![Armed police officers [photo by AF]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/armed%20police%20officers_0768.jpg?itok=DtlJJPVP "Armed police officers [photo by AF]")
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Police Commissioner Le’i Sonny Thompson told members of the House Public Safety committee during a hearing last month, the reason why police officers show force on public highways is not because they want to, but because when people see police officers with guns, that’s...
![Rendering of proposed new Fono Building [SN file photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/fono%20bldg%20rendering_37.jpg?itok=3sPYGG9N "Rendering of proposed new Fono Building [SN file photo]")
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The House of Representatives has approved a bill increasing members’ contributions to the American Samoa Employees Retirement Fund from 3% to 5%. The bill, which was only introduced on Tuesday was approved in second reading on Thursday and cleared final reading in the...
(New Zealand, 28 March 2018) - Six years after substantive work began on the U.S. Federally funded Fiber to the Home (FTTH) project in American Samoa, named the Broadband Linking the American Samoa Territory or BLAST project, the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) is preparing to...
As we journey to the culmination of Holy Week, The Triduum of Easter: the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we as a Community of Christians reflect on God’s immense love for us. This Love whereby His only begotten Son was crucified to the Cross as atonement for our sins...
![Mutiny Vodka distilled in the State of Virginia from breadfruit flour from American Samoa in the South Pacific, initiated as a product from the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. [courtesy photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/Breadfruit%20vodkaweb.jpg?itok=mGCDx6pt "Mutiny Vodka distilled in the State of Virginia from breadfruit flour from American Samoa in the South Pacific, initiated as a product from the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. [courtesy photo]")
Honolulu, HAWAII — Chef Todd Manley, a former Virginia chef and now restaurateur in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, recently visited Hawaii and was hosted by the Pacific Business Center Program (PBCP) on his way to and from American Samoa. Chef Manley, who imports breadfruit flour from various...
![[SN file photo]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/AM%20Samoa%20HC_105.jpeg?itok=p9D2A1qT "[SN file photo]")
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man, who was convicted in 2013 for unlawful drug possession, has been ordered to depart American Samoa and return to his home country for the duration of his 15-year probation sentence.
Filisi Setefano appeared in High Court last week for a probation violation hearing...
![Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross with President Donald Trump. Ross directed the Census Bureau, an agency within the Department of Commerce, to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. [Mark Wilson/Getty Images via Slate]](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/trump%20n%20wilbur%20ross.jpeg?itok=Cbo5Atch "Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross with President Donald Trump. Ross directed the Census Bureau, an agency within the Department of Commerce, to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. [Mark Wilson/Getty Images via Slate]")
On Thursday, the Census Bureau sent Congress a complete list of the questions it plans to ask on the 2020 decennial census. The preview included the bureau’s new citizenship question, which may suppress the response rate in immigrant communities and provide states with data that could allow for a...