Community / Bicyclists have long been overlooked by four-wheel riders on Honolulu’s congested streets. In the gleaming, armored pecking order of the road, cyclists are too often dismissed as lane hogs, hand-signaling nuisances and unfortunates who can’t afford cars.
Legal / April 30 was a happy day for all the babysitters, caregivers and housekeepers on our island. The Legislature passed SB 535, making Hawaii the second state after New York to have a Bill of Rights for domestic workers.
Mauka to Makai Mauka to Makai / When Mufi Hannemann was mayor, the Australians discovered the best remedy for jellyfish stings was an immediate application of hot water. Upon hearing that, I immediately wrote to the mayor and suggested he contact the U.S.
Environment / Caren Diamond thought the Hawaii Supreme Court had settled the issue when it ruled in her favor–the public beach extends to the highest seasonal wash of the waves. The landmark case Diamond v.
Education / “In schools, as in life, the commodity in shortest supply is time. How we spend our time is how we reflect our values,” says Buffy Cushman-Patz, School Leader and Governing Board Member of The School for Examining Essential Questions of Sustainability (SEEQS), a newly authorized charter school that will open its doors on August 5 for the 2013-14 school year.
Hidden by undergrowth, between Jameson’s restaurant and Haleiwa Beach Park Mauka, lies Loko Ea fishpond, which dates back to the 1600’s. Every third Saturday of the month, community members, college students, island visitors and keiki visit to help revive the pond to its native use.
Consider the numbers. A background check of population growth in Hawaii reveals: 1.
Multiple bills, including SB 1084, which would allow the appropriation of funds for private preschools, are advancing through the Legislature, so the Weekly asked Dee Jay Mailer, CEO of Kamehameha Schools and an advocate of early childhood learning, for her perspective. Kamehameha Schools’s investment in preschools seems to have had great results in students’ continuing education and achievements.
Mauka to Makai / The state Legislature has a rare opportunity this session to make a significant difference in achieving a sustainable future for Hawaii. Bills under consideration call for long-term, dedicated funding for watershed protection and invasive species management and for clean energy and food security.
Mauka to Makai / On Dec. 12, 2012, I attended Turtle Bay Resort’s (TBR) open house promotion for two new hotels and hundreds of time-share condos.
Mauka to Makai / When I offered samples from a bag of hemp-seed tortilla chips–purchased at Whole Foods–to my House colleagues recently, some of them recoiled, asking, “Is that legal?” Others asked, only half-joking, “Will it get me high?” Not for stoners Let’s get one thing out of the way: Hemp is not a drug. Unlike its fun-loving cousin marijuana, hard-working, utilitarian hemp contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Mauka to Makai / The 2012 hurricane season ended in the Central Pacific on Nov. 30 about as quietly as it began.
Architecture / Last October, when the Howard Hughes Development Corporation unveiled its massive, $7.5 billion “Ward Villages” plan for 60 acres in Kakaako–22 towers and 4,300 residential units in a 15-year build-out–architecture buffs were relieved to hear that the landmark IBM Building on Ala Moana Boulevard, designed by top Hawaii architect Vladimir Ossipoff in 1962, would be spared the wrecking ball. Demolished, no.
Politics / In times of war, violence and civil strife, genuine peacemakers can rise to the status of rock stars and cultural heroes. Last Spring, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was invited to give a series of talks on peace in Honolulu, and thousands of admirers came out to join what some called the Lama-palooza tour!
Mauka to Makai / Representative Cynthia Thielen is vice chair of the state House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection. The public’s access along Hawaii’s shoreline is in jeopardy.
Politics / Veteran Molokai activist Walter Ritte couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he watched hundreds of people marching down Beretania Street toward the State Capitol, most of them chanting and waving signs. “This is unreal,” he said.
While the Nov. 6 general election is more than two months behind us, the consequences are still a matter of debate.
Mauka to Makai / The Turtle Bay Resort (TBR), accepting public comments on new development plans in its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) until Jan. 18, says it wants to enhance and protect the environment.
Community / A recent study finds that native Hawaiian youth are twice as likely to end up in the juvenile justice system (JJS) as any other ethnic group. And with youth employment at lower rates in 2011 than at any time during the prior decade, the problem may get worse.
Turtle Bay Resort (TBR) hosted a public open house on Dec. 12 to discuss a revised Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for its new expansion plan.
In two years, Hawaii has had three tsunami evacuations, but wave heights fell short of predictions. Five hours into the most recent warning, on Oct.
Widespread problems at Oahu polls in the Nov. 6 general election–including ballot shortages at 70 polling places–further eroded public confidence in the Hawaii Office of Elections and led some to question election results.
Community / Homelessness is rising on Oahu. The City and County of Honolulu recorded 4,353 homeless residents in January 2012, up from 4,234 last year.
Community / Chinatown recently made headlines again about street crime. On Monday, Oct.
For as long as we can remember, Chinatown has been notorious for drugs, homelessness and filthy streets. Some claim nothing has changed–and that it never will.
Bicyclists have long been overlooked by four-wheel riders on Honolulu’s congested streets. In the gleaming, armored pecking order of the road, cyclists are too often dismissed as lane hogs, hand-signaling nuisances and unfortunates who can’t afford cars.
The fate of some 1,525 acres of land at Hoopili in ‘Ewa may have been decided last Wednesday in Hawaii’s First Circuit Court. The decision might have gone differently, but the appellant attorneys’ strategy seemed to collapse as Judge Rhonda Nishimura picked it apart based on technical errors.
Last Thursday, May 9, the Caldwell administration revealed its action plan for solving Honolulu’s homeless problem. But at the City Council’s budget meeting the same day, Budget chair Ann Kobayashi wanted to know where the money for “Housing First” (see Cover Story, pg.
The Mayor Wright Housing project has been slated for major redevelopment by the Hawaii State Housing Authority (HSHA); requests for qualifications will be going out to developers in three to six months. Nonprofit group Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) wants to make sure the project’s tenants have a say in the redevelopment process, which could include major renovations or a total rebuild.
The Honolulu City Council held a special Committee on Transportation meeting on Tuesday, May 7, to go over its Complete Streets initiative with input from the department directors of Design and Construction (DDC), Planning and Permitting (DPP) and Transportation Services (DTS). At prior meetings, including the Moiliili workshop, community members pressed the idea of combining Complete Streets with Caldwell’s repaving projects, which Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute and some councilmembers have said makes sense.
Not much to agree with my friend Doc Berry (“Limits of Growth,” April 17). None of the scenarios he posits will ever materialize.
In your Diary of May 8 (“End of the 27th)” you reported on SB 1214, passed by the Legislature. In their nimble way, the Legislature tacked the wheel boot prohibition on a bill that was intended to abolish the Commission on Transportation.
On Friday, May 3, at 3:45 p.m., I was driving town bound through the Wilson tunnel on the Likelike. I was parallel to another car, and there were several other cars following closely behind me.
Congratulations Honolulu Weekly on the recent Pai award for investigative reporting (“Boss GMO,” Jan. 4, 2012).
When the biofuel guys say that costs are “confidential” (“Big-foot Biofuel,” May 8), I reply that since I am the one who is going to end up paying the cost, I have a right to know. Frankly, when everybody tries to hide the costs, I smell rat …
The Foster Botanical Garden never ceases to inspire for an urban setting it is like a step back in time (“See the Flora,” May 8). If Koko Crater Botanical Garden contains the world’s largest plumeria collection as suggested, it may be thanks in part to the Prussian born Dr.
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