March 11, 2006 - Saturday

Another computer problem at HostRocket delayed this update for hours. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Don't forget--send me a photo of your favorite pet along with a short description and I'll add it to the new Gallery of Readers' Pets. Click on the "Your pets" button to the left to check out the early arrivals.

I've heard that contract talks at the Star-Bulletin will continue beyond next week's expiration of the current contract, but that progress is being made and there have been no apparent major roadblocks. We'll just stay tuned.

Meanwhile, S-B publisher Dennis Francis told Pacific Business News that MidWeek had it's largest year-to-year revenue gain since its 2001 sale to S-B owner David Black. Francis is quoted in the current issue that arrived in mailboxes yesterday.

Meanwhile, the continued lack of progress in bargaining at the Hawaii Tribune Herald has prompted a resolution in the House of Representatives (HR 59) alleging that the newspaper's publisher has refused to meet with union representatives and citing concerns about past anti-labor actions by Stephens Media Group, the paper's owner.

Here's another report on last week's Kaaawa flood courtesy of environmental engineer Travis Hylton, who lives on the other end of Kaaawa. Very sobering for those of us on this side of the island.

Speaking of the flooding, does anyone else find it strange that our civil defense emergency messages are broadcast to the public by a disembodied computer voice that is apparently programmed to mangle almost every Hawaiian place name? Why can't these alerts be read by a person? They would certainly be more understandable, and isn't that the goal?

For those who are interested, click here to view a copy of the "proposed" motion filed in the Hokulia case asking Judge Ibarra to reconsider his 2004 order and judgement, and Ibarra's stated "inclination" to rule positively. It is a "proposed" motion, of course, because at the time it was filed Judge Ibarra had no jurisdiction over the case, which was before the Supreme Court. And if he had no jurisdiction, how could he be accepting and essentially ruling in advance on any "proposed" motion? The motion really doesn't clarify much of anything. It does not present any specific reasons that the matter should be reconsidered under the court's Rule 60 or why the proposed "settlement" should be considered as a matter of "justice", as the rule's catch-all provision seems to require. It's all very peculiar unless you remember that behind the "rule of law" are certain realities of power.

March 10, 2006 - Friday

The flood water has receded, but signs of last week's storm can still be found all around Kaaawa. Signs warning of contaminated water are posted along the interior streets that had been under water, as well as along the beach. Piles of flood damaged furniture, rugs, and appliances sit outside waiting for city crews to haul them away. Luckily, yesterday's rain largely spared Kaaawa, dumping most of its moisture farther up the coast in Punaluu and Hauula.

Corner of Ohelokai & Kekio

A petition circulating at the University of Hawaii is trying to win greater recognition of the contributions of another female scientist of the early 20th century, Alice Augusta Ball, according to a recent story in Ka Leo.

An inquiry by the Seattle Times into the practice of sealing court records at the request of influential people and businesses in the State of Washington. The Times reported on Sunday that most of the files were sealed illegally by judges who did not comply with court rules and for matters that should not have been secret. The Times story is a great read, spelling out just how the practice has impacted the public.

You've seen Girlie, the sweet Husky who lives on the other end of Kaaawa. Now's your chance to hear her in a short video appearance. Click on her picture for her brief performance. Actually, she let out a series of wonderful howls, but the camera only caught the last one. Maybe I'll be quicker another day.

Girlie

March 9, 2006 - Thursday

4:45 a.m. and the wind, thunder, and lightening has been pretty much continuous since Wednesday evening. But, luckily, right here in Kaaawa there hasn't been much rain....5:05 a.m. and the wind is kicking up, thunder sounds closer. It's drizzling, but still no hard rain. I had to grab Ms. Kili after she made a break when I went out onto the deck to check conditions. I don't think she wants to be out in bad weather. She just wants to be out. So I'm exerting parental control.

A reader offered up this wonderful 1989 vignette in response to my mention of Frank Fasi several days ago:

I will never forget a moment from Fasi: I'd lived in Hawaii only a month or so, and I was walking up Alapai Street where it meets Kinau. As I approached the top of the street, I could see a guy sweeping the street. Someone had smashed beer bottles on the street and a man in a white jumpsuit was sweeping it up, broom and dustpan in hand. No press. No truck. No anything.

Just me and Fasi. I said, Mayor Fasi, cleaning up a little? And he said, Yeah, there's glass all over the street. Someone needs to clean it up. Why not me?

Apparently, he had gone down to the Board of Water Supply, grabbed a broom and dust pan and came back up to sweep.

He had my vote, right there.

Those who spend all their time with the "big picture" often forget that it's often the little things that count.

The Hokulia "settlement" appears to be moving forward now that the case has been sent back by to the trial judge by the Supreme Court.

Aaron Stene in Kona provided this clarification:

It is my understanding if this current settlement proposal mirrors the 2005 settlement proposal

It would require Oceanside to seek LUC approval to move nearly all of Oceanside to rural zoning. Judge Ibarra's decision ordered Oceanside to seek urban rezoning or have LUC declare Hokulia a legal use of agriculture lands.

I still wonder how the facts of this case are going to be shoehorned into the Rule 60 procedure, aimed at correcting clerical errors, as well as "Mistakes; inadvertence; excusable neglect; newly discovered evidence; fraud, etc", none of which seem particularly appropriate to describe the Hokulia decision. Perhaps after this case the rule will be rewritten to cover "Mistakes; inadvertence; excusable neglect; newly discovered evidence; fraud, and parties with enough money to buy a new decision."

In other news, Star-Bulletin owner David Black has reportedly been mentioned as a potential buyer of the Boston Herald and its string of suburban newspapers, according to a Boston Globe story. In one interesting reference, the Globe cites "Black's financial backer, Onex Corp., Canada's biggest buyout firm".

March 8, 2006 - Wednesday

Two comments were prompted by yesterday's mention of Ka Leo. First, from a campus observer:

I guess it's been a while since you been to UH campus, some of the clothing worn to school now days seems to be straight out of a Victoria Secrets catalog. It's hard to concentrate, but I'm not complaining.

No comment on the comment.

And this from a former Ka Leo journalist:

The Victoria’s Secret ad is an example of good targeted marketing. However, what I find strange is the Ka Leo mission statement that looks like it was recently posted.

From Capitol Hill Blue, an unusual story of government secrecy well worth reading.

And now for something completely different...Monty Python is returning to PBS, and a long lost live interview video has been circulating on the Internet. Python fans, rejoice!

The Star-Bulletin reports today that a settlement of the Hokulia law suit has been cited in documents filed in court.

One reader responded regarding the unusual process in this case:

I'm told that the settlement is being engineered in a most ususual way. The parties to the underlying lawsuit filed a joint Rule 60 reconsideration motion with Judge Ibarra who issued a some kind of statement saying that he would be inclined to grant the reconsideration motion were the case still pending in his court. This was presumably filed with the Supreme Court who remands the case to Judge Ibarra who then guts his prior ruling in its entirety.

Rule 60 motion seeking an order granting relief from a judgment may be filed for mistakes, inadvertance, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence and fraud:

Rule 60. RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT OR ORDER.

     (a) Clerical mistakes. Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time of its own initiative or on the motion of any party and after such notice, if any, as the court orders. During the pendency of an appeal, such mistakes may be so corrected before the appeal is docketed in the supreme court, and thereafter while the appeal is pending may be so corrected with leave of the supreme court.

     (b) Mistakes; inadvertence; excusable neglect; newly discovered evidence; fraud, etc . On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party's legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment. The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than one year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision (b) does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation. This rule does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment, order, or proceeding, or to set aside a judgment for fraud upon the court. Writs of coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, and bills of review and bills in the nature of a bill of review, are abolished, and the procedure for obtaining any relief from a judgment shall be by motion as prescribed in these rules or by an independent action.

     (Amended December 7, 1999, effective January 1, 2000.)

One version of the proposed settlement would require the developers to return to the Land Use Commission to seek to properly reclassify the land out of the agricultural category as Judge Ibarra's 2003 order directed. But if they were going to do that, why not just do it?

March 7, 2006 - Tuesday

The spike in Kaaawa crime continues. A car was stolen right out of the owner's driveway along Kamehameha Highway after the thieves made at least a brief entry into the home. There's concern that this happened soon after the reappearance of a homeless camp associated with a white stretch limo that has drifted in recent months between Kaaawa and Waikane. There have been repeated allegations of drug sales from the limo, and the vehicle and its occupants have been repeatedly reported to police. It's possible that it's just a coincidence and they have nothing at all to do with the car theft, but it already has raised alarm on that end of the community.

"As kinky as it gets," according to one headline. We're talking about Kinky Friedman for Governor. Of Texas, that is, with the campaign slogan, "Why the hell not!" For those not familiar with Kinky's colorful past, he gained fame as a singer and song writer who toured with his band, Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys during the 1970s, and has written a series of off beat mystery novels featuring a somewhat autobiographical central character, including one set in Hawaii.

There is another island angle to this. Reuters reports Kinky has vowed to head our way if his campaign falls short:

"I just want Texas to be number one in something other than executions, toll roads and property taxes," Friedman says. But if he loses he promises to ditch Texas and head to Hawaii.

"If I lose this race I will retire in a petulant snit," he said. "I'm not going to go out gracefully, I promise you."

If you haven't paid a recent visit to the web site of Ka Leo, the student newspaper at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, check it out. It now prominently features a large photo of a buxom model lightly clad in Victoria's Secret product. I wonder if this raises any eyebrows on campus?

March 6, 2006 - Monday

Advertiser reporter Kevin Dayton has a very good story today which identifies much of the dynamic of the push behind the Hokulia bail-out legislation moving in the Legislature this year. One piece of the political dynamic focuses on the new highway that was to be built by the developer as part of the deal, Dayton reports.

"It's all about the road," Kelly said in an e-mailed response to questions. "Whatever people care about clean water, cultural preservation, land use — it pales compared to the emotional hot potato of the road. So in the last couple of years, as traffic and congestion get worse, people are over it, they want their road."

But what Dayton's story doesn't touch is the lobbying campaign by the developers which has encouraged public attention on this peripheral issue of traffic and diverted attention from the subversion of state law regarding the use of land designated as agricultural.

How a repored "settlement" of the underlying lawsuit will work isn't clear to me. There is a court ruling against the developers and the county which is on appeal to the state Supreme Court. If the case is simply dropped, wouldn't that ruling then stand? What about the lengthy findings of fact which found violations of state law? Or does it all magically go away if a "deal" is struck? Any attorneys out there want to enlighten us?

Meanwhile, with the first major legislative deadline up this week, members of the House will be in caucus today reviewing the remaining bills to be considered, including the House version of the Hokulia bill (HB1368 HD2). The committee report on the current house draft unfortunately reveals little of the dynamic of the debate.

The war in Iraq could be a deciding factor in the Senate race between Dan Akaka and Ed Case, the Advertiser notes today. And the web site Think Progess raises the disturbing question of whether death squads now operating openly in Iraq are a reflection of U.S. policy, the so-called "Salvador Option".

Last week got swept up by the rain, so it seemed like time to get back to our cats and dogs. Toby and Annie are at the top of the feline lineup. All are very happy to be able to get out of the house again. After three days of incarceration, even Wally wants to get out. On the dog front--well, we met one new dog and another that's on the "get to know soon" list. Just click either photo for more.	Kaaawa cats
	more morning dogs

March 5, 2006 - Sunday

Here are the boulders perched above the homes on the other side of Makaua Stream from where we live. I had trouble finding a vantage point for a photo. I would be worried if they were sitting above our house. Is that state land? Likely, but I'm not sure.