Search for remains and wreckage from crash ends
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Army ended active efforts to locate remains and retrieve wreckage after a helicopter crashed off Oahu last month.
The 25th Infantry Division said in a statement Thursday that officials wrapped up the search after concluding it was unlikely to find additional remains. Investigators also determined they gathered enough evidence for a thorough probe into the cause of the crash.
All five crew members on board were killed when the UH-60 helicopter went down Aug. 15 off Oahu.
The crew were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stephen Cantrell of Wichita Falls, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brian Woeber of Decatur, Ala.; 1st Lt. Kathryn M. Bailey of Hope Mills, N.C.; Staff Sgt. Abigail R. Milam of Jenkins, Ky.; and Sgt. Michael L. Nelson of Antioch, Tenn.
Guam governor asks feds to stop construction
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo is calling for the U.S. Department of Defense to halt military construction projects on the island until the shortage of foreign labor is remedied.
Federal immigration officials denied most of the requests by Guam businesses to use temporary foreign labor under the H-2B visa program.
A few years ago, the U.S. territory had a foreign workforce of more than 1,000 people. As the number dropped to less than 100, businesses on the island filed a lawsuit over the denials last year.
Calvo asked the Defense Department to stop military construction and for the guidelines of the buildups to be reassessed. The military relied on the island’s temporary foreign workforce in the past.
“Unfortunately, this H-2B denial, which started with the bureaucrats of the Obama administration, continues to linger,” said Calvo, a Republican. “In so doing, it is not only hindering our island’s economy, but I believe it is risking our island and our nation’s security as well.”
In a letter to acting Director James W. McCament of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Calvo said the visa denials are causing harm by inflating construction costs and leaving fewer bids for military and civilian projects.
“I consider this a clear and present danger to the safety and health of the people of Guam,” Calvo said.
US government sues Guam over land law
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — The U.S. government has filed a lawsuit against Guam and the island’s Chamorro Land Trust Commission, saying the territory’s government violated provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act.
The lawsuit filed Friday says Guam’s Chamorro Land Trust Act, which holds public land for the benefit of the island’s indigenous people, discriminated on the basis of race or national origin.
The U.S. territory’s law allows the Chamorro people to apply for residential and agricultural leases of that land. The commission also leases some of the land for commercial purposes to non-indigenous people in order to generate revenue.
As an example of the law’s discriminating practices, the lawsuit outlines the case of a non-indigenous man married to a Chamorro woman who lost his home on a land-trust plot after his wife died. The lawsuit states the commission evicted the man following a hearing about his claim because he was not native to Guam.
The lawsuit asks the federal court to prohibit Guam’s practices it claims are discriminatory. The lawsuit also calls for monetary damages to be awarded to those harmed by the law.
Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo said they plan to fight the lawsuit.
“It’s clear that they don’t understand or don’t care about the reason behind the creation of the Chamorro Land Trust’s Commission,” Calvo said.
