This week, everyone’s talking about President Obama’s new national policy on oceans, which was unvieled Monday afternoon Hawaii time. Call it a hopeful guess, really–we’re putting the paper to bed at four o’clock Monday, and have no idea whether people will be talking about the new framework come Wednesday morning.
First, an apology. During Gov.
Regardless of what you’ve heard, Honolulu has not become a one-newspaper town. Despite its efforts to convince us otherwise, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is just one of many newspapers serving this community.
Our story last week about the changes in Hawaii’s journalistic landscape–and a note here about how those changes affect readers of the Weekly–brought in a strong response from readers. We so appreciate your support, and more to the point, your patience as we continue to work out the kinks in our distribution schedule.
Readers clearly noticed last week when the Weekly arrived very late Wednesday to most of our distribution points. We received many phone calls and e-mails wondering what had happened.
It’s weird, isn’t it? Either way, Honolulu will have to adjust to life without the Honolulu Advertiser. Whatever else one thinks of it, the Advertiser was the newspaper of record in Hawaii for at least a generation, and it documented life in these Islands every day since long before David Kalakaua entered politics.
As noted here recently, we’ve had a lot of staffing changes at the Weekly over the past month, and our annual Food & Drink issue presents the perfect opportunity to announce the most recent: We’re happy that Martha Cheng has joined the Weekly as Food & Drink editor. Cheng’s writing, which has been appearing here for the better part of two years now, has generated a lot of interest from the food and “foodie” communities, and we’re excited to have her with us in a leadership role.
Your newspaper has been in a process of transition in recent weeks. At the beginning of the month, we bid aloha to Adrienne LaFrance, who had been Managing Editor since 2008.
This week we begin our two-part preview of the special election to fill the remainder of Neil Abercrombie’s term in Congress. On May 5, we’ll focus on the three best-known and most heavily-funded candidates.
Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin / Frank Fasi, whose public memorial service is this morning, was among many other things a fierce critic of the Joint Operating Agreement that from 1962–2001 governed the business operations of the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The legendary former mayor often portrayed himself as a victim of unfair reporting, but self-servingly or not, he long maintained that our dailies were two sides of the same coin, and that Honolulu needed more vigorous competition in its daily newspapers.
Our cover story this week profiles the three Hawaii residents who were selected from the many nominees to our first-ever Local Heroes celebration. Jointly sponsored by Honolulu Weekly and Kilauea Lodge in Volcano, Local Heroes was designed as a thank-you to the many islanders who work hard in relative obscurity to enrich and improve the lives of others.
We’re defying expectations left and right this week. Right, as in Emily Hobelmann’s Q&A with Rep.
The economic meltdown that began in the summer of 2007 lurches now into 2010, with no end in sight. A well-publicized decision by Legislative leaders to scale back today’s opening ceremonies was intended as a sign that leaders understand and respect the struggles Hawaii residents face.
Let us be among the very last to wish you a happy new year and offer our 2010 greetings. We’re as excited as anyone to be in a new decade–the last one was a little rough.
In this, the decade’s last edition of Honolulu Weekly, we’ve taken a light approach. Yes, dear cynics, that’s partly because sources (and staffers) are harder to come by during the holiday season.
It’s a good time of year for good news, and this week we’ve made an effort to highlight a couple of things that are going right around here. Our cover story this week features good news from the public sector–Kevin O’Leary’s piece on the Board of Water Supply is sure to upend some assumptions–to the arts, where Adrienne LaFrance talks to some of the people responsible for making a real difference in the quality and quantity of live entertainment in Honolulu.
On Sunday, the Honolulu Advertiser featured what looked like two front pages, including a fold-over section–the industry term is a “spadea”–featuring a big report on statehood. Above the fold was the headline “Statehood: The Next Fifty Years,” and underneath a photo collage was the main story, titled “Survey says: Statehood has been positive.” The story itself is a straightforward rundown of some of pollster John Zogby’s findings about how Hawaii residents view our state.
Shortly before 8 o’clock on Tuesday morning, I was on the phone with Tim Vandeveer of Defend Oahu Coalition, listening to him outline a meeting to be held that night regarding development plans at Turtle Bay Resort. Suddenly it sounded like Tim had fallen into a jet engine.
I made a mistake two weeks ago in this space, and I want to correct it here. Our recent piece on rail, which ran in the 11/18 issue, was based on original reporting by Curt Sanburn, and made a strong case for the reopening of the City’s selection process for the new rail line.
We have a piece on rail by Curt Sanburn this week. Sanburn, a former Weekly editor who famously penned a blistering profile of then-Councilman Mufi Hannemann years ago, contacted the publisher last month with the thought that the Weekly should do a piece on what he felt were problems with the City’s selection of heavy rail technology, and with the process that lead to the choice.
The Surfrider Foundation, one of the country’s most consistently effective environmental organizations, has plenty to celebrate this year, including the hiring of its first statewide coordinator and the national organization’s 25th anniversary. With that in mind, the group’s Oahu chapter is hosting a statewide conference this weekend–also a first–to plan for the upcoming year.
UH football / We’re a long way from the 2007 University of Hawaii football season, in which the Rainbows–sorry, the Warriors–went undefeated through the regular season and appeared in the Sugar Bowl. The entire state joined along for the ride that year, and the team’s success brought tremendous pride to the Islands, and a particular kind of pride, too, of a sort we hadn’t experienced before.
Letter from the Editor / With those words, printed on the back page of the paper’s introductory issue in 1990, Honolulu Weekly was born. The founding idea: To build a newspaper that would tell the kinds of stories that didn’t appear anywhere else, give voice to people and issues and perspectives that had no other home and challenge the status quo by asking the questions that mattered.
Welcome to Hawaii. Despite our mild-mannered image, we can be a pretty rowdy bunch, actually–you just have to pick the right issue.
“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot, With a pink hotel, a boutique, And a swinging hot spot. Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?” That’s Joni Mitchell, of course.
For this year’s Food + Drink issue, we compiled 100-plus memories of the fantastic bites we’ve taken, the culinary experiences we’ve undergone and other tasteful moments of absolutely loving what Hawaii’s food scene has to offer. The result is a mixed plate of the Weekly ‘ohana’s favorite dishes, libations, produce, places and some lesser-known joys.
Respect Your Veg At long last, vegetables are being recognized as culinary stars. The following dishes have two things in common: They’re veggie-centric, if not strictly vegetarian, and best eaten on the spot.
Paitan Broth: Kyoto Ramen Yotekko-Ya If you’re a ramen lover, you know the most important element of the bowl is the broth. At Kyoto Ramen Yotekko-Ya, the paitan broth ($9.95 for paitan chashu ramen) is deeply savory.
Naan: Cafe Maharani “The dough is just special,” says owner Chris Rahman of Cafe Maharani. The naan ($2.99) is made to order and handled very delicately.
Asian: Green Door Cafe Enter into Green Door Cafe to find a whole ‘nother world. Owner Betty Peng is a one-woman show (don’t start with her, or else) and cooks all of her Singaporean dishes to order.
Byron’s Drive-in The vacant, former Byron’s Drive-in building still stands near the airport since closing its doors in February. “We’d always go [to Byron’s] late at night,” says Sabrina Thompson, a Tripler Hospital nurse.
Shinsato Pork: Guava Smoked Scott Shibuya of Guava Smoked made a splash in the farmers’ market scene with his finger-licking good, guava wood-smoked Shinsato Pork. “I really wanted to be my own boss,” he says.
Cheese: Surfing Goat Dairy Owners Thomas and Eva Kafsack moved from Germany to Maui and found that they missed receiving fresh goat cheese from their neighbors’ backyards. A few goats from the Big Island (and a huge investment) later, Surfing Goat Dairy was born.
Decadent Fries: Home Bar and Grill These aren’t ordinary fried potatoes. Chef Neil Nakasone’s Parmesan truffle fries ($8) are an elite class of spuds.
Rotations: Taste Some might say Chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi and partner Amanda Corby, with the help of another power couple, Poni and Brandon Askew of StreetGrindz, fleshed out the pop-up trend with Taste. But: “Actually, Adam is Taste,” Gooch explains, referring to Taste’s general manager, Adam Lock.
Healthy Food Truck: Beet Box Cafe The Beet Box Cafe is a sit-down eatery located in Haleiwa Town, but their bright yellow lunch wagon is also worth following. The lunchtruck serves organic, vegetarian burritos ($7-10), a special of the day made with farm-to-table ingredients ($10-12), smoothies ($7.50), kombucha ($5) and snacks such as baked goods and dried fruits ($3).
A Cook’s Catch When it comes to fish, freshness really matters, so eating local from our Hawaiian waters is always in the best of taste. Health and sustainability also count.
Whole Foods & Down To Earth Down to Earth offers strictly vegetarian delights such as Bombay spinach, eggplant parmesan, stuffed shells, Thai curry and vegetable korma ($9.59/pound). The tofu and eggplant are always sourced from local producers.
Edible Land: Permablitz Fruit trees flourish in Hawaii but sadly, much goes to waste. Permablitz aims to change that.
Foraging: Strawberry Guava at Waahila Ridge Strawberry guava is invasive to Hawaii, which is why I don’t feel an ounce of guilt picking the small, red fruits in (free!) handfuls whenever I hike up Waahila Ridge. When they’re a light red color, just pull them off the trees, check for bug-made holes and bite in.
Nutmeg and Cloves: Frankie’s Nursery Want to spice up your kitchen? Lynn Tsuruda of Frankie’s Nursery says they sell spices grown in Hawaii, by the plant or the fruit.
Filipino: Pacific Drive out to Central Oahu and find Pacific Supermarket, a haven for all things Southeast Asian. With the Leeward community’s large Filipino population, access to local favorites at Pacific is a big deal.
Korean Chew: Taegu Taegu, more properly pronounced as dae-goo, is either a variety of cod, sliced into strips and seasoned, or a seasoned side dish. There is some confusion, as I came to realize while asking my born-and-raised-in-Korea mom, because those side dishes are made with different fish.
Matcha Latte: Peace Cafe Peace Cafe, a second home for vegans, carries a matcha (green tea) latte with a secret. “The first sip is always the most important,” explains an employee.
Good For You: Kombucha A SCOBY is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast integral to making kombucha. Kombucha, a fizzy tea, is full of promises to boost detoxification, immunity and digestion and joint health.
Free: Whole Foods Whole Foods Market Kahala offers free cooking classes at CookSpace in Ward Warehouse. “We just did a Health Starts Here cooking class,” says Whole Foods marketing supervisor Natalie Aczon.
Wine Tasting: Kalapawai Cafe Every second Sunday of the month at 3:30 p.m., Kalapawai Cafe holds a free wine tasting. “We [have] five wines.
Dear Friends, Readers, and Advertisers, I am sorry to say that this will be the last issue of the Weekly that we will print. I am sad about closing but I see no way that we can maintain our revenue stream and our fiscal health.
Native Hawaiians and preservationists have pledged to fight a law, signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie on May 28, that will allow some construction projects to begin before the site has been fully inspected for ancient burials.
Imagine you’re walking through downtown Honolulu and, rather than bypassing an empty, blighted park, you’re drawn into an urban oasis–a forest of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs. You could spend your lunch break chatting with friends in the shade of an ‘ulu tree–and, if you’re hungry, pick whatever’s in season.
Road Rule On May 20, Gov. Abercrombie signed Act 73, requiring all vehicle passengers to buckle up regardless of age or seating arrangement.
Tourists enjoying the Waikiki waterfront were treated to Hawaiian phrases such as “Aole, aole, aole GMO!” chanted by protesters in the March Against Monsanto on Sat., May 25. Translation: No GMOs, ever.
The Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) made its proposed plan to redevelop the Kakaako district available to the community during an open house on Thu., May 23. HCDA Executive Director Tony Ching began with a presentation of the new Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) plan before letting residents ask questions.
In 2011 the city Department of Transportation Services (DTS) was tasked by then-Mayor Peter Carlisle’s administration to shave $10 million from its budget. Over the course of a year, several bus routes were cut and many more were shortened or reconfigured and the frequency of service decreased.
You mentioned in your May 29 GMO article (“Big Pharm Fallout”) that GMO bans were placed on taro and coffee in 2008 in Kohala County. However it was an islandwide ban in Hawaii County.
What a great quote: “I understand that it’s frustrating that we can’t get past the issue of homelessness . .
I know space is limited and you couldn’t put everything in one small article (“Art with HART,” May 29). Here is the rest of what I wanted to have said.
Have five or more contractors “compete” by tackling sections of roadway (“Road Repaving,” May 29). Criteria for competing are expenses, timeliness and a level of quality assurance standards.
Thanks for this article (“The Naked Truth,” May 22), I’m Mykel Hicks, grandson of Sharon Hicks, and I am so proud of my grandma for all she has done for herself, this family and specifically me. She is an amazing grandma who comes with a moving story I hope can help people around the world.
Please remind readers that the HCDA is not interested in providing housing for minimum wage individuals or families, but in providing property developers with profitable opportunities; that our ancient water and sewage lines were not designed to support the needs of thousands of condo and apartment dwellers, but no one is interested in replacing them because no one wants to pay the price (“Civix,” May 22). As a result, Kakaako’s streets are regularly flooded with no sidewalk retreat for pedestrians, wheelchairs, bicyclists, skateboarders, etc., and constantly excavated/repaired to accommodate one project after the other.
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