It’s Friday again and time to display a few more of our favored felines. This is Mr. Romeo. He’s just big, friendly, and very very jealous. If a cat is getting attention, Romeo pushes forward and insists on attention. If a cat is in Meda’s lap, Romeo will insist on getting in my lap. He is The Insister. But today’s photos also include an update on Ms. Kitten, the cat now known as Olivia. So click on Romeo’s handsome photo to see the rest of this Friday’s selection.

I’m going to have to look up more about the lawsuit in Charleston, WV, where the Justice Department is challenging what appears to be a scheme to dissolve a JOE and eliminate the second newspaper, just like the one that almost played out here in Honolulu. Now other groups, including the Communications Workers of America (the Newspaper Guild’s parent union) are seeking to formally intervene in the case as “friends of the court”.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes in the aftermath of another fast ferry operation that burned through a bunch of municipal cash before going belly up twice in two years:

“I think the ferry ought to be shipped to Albany and put on a granite pedestal in front of the Capitol as a monument to the folly of pork-barrel spending. It is just a beautiful physical symbol of everything that is wrong,” said E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy in Albany.

But there’s an interesting comparison to be made. The “Spirit of Ontario”, which operated briefly out of Rochester, cost $42.5 million to build. It carries 774 passengers and 236 cars, compared to the Superferry’s 886 passengers and 282 cars. The Superferry cost about twice as much to build for the marginal increase in carrying capacity.

Also tucked away in one story on the Rochester ferry:

Before the city bought the ferry last year, Istanbul Fast Ferries, a Turkish company, and American Sealift, a company affiliated with J.F. Lehman & Co. of New York City, inspected the vessel and were considered potential bidders. But both companies backed away without disclosing their reasons.

Hmmm…the same J.F. Lehman & Co. that is the primary and controlling investor in the Hawaii ferry. Interesting…

Regarding financial advisor Mark Teruya, a reader commented:

The SEC action is a civil action that usually precedes the criminal one by the US Attorney when fraud is mentioned. Additionally, the state civil and criminal penalties may be a lot worse for him. If convicted under the Hawaii securities statutes, he is facing multiple counts for Class A Felonies. Hate to be him if he has to face sentencing with Judge Alm.

I haven’t even had a chance to check the local dailies this morning, so I might have to add an update later.