It looks like there won’t be newspapers available in street racks anywhere in the Villages of Kapolei, at least according to the city’s view.

April 7, 2008 2:30 p.m.

To All Publishers:

We have been informed that sidewalks along private streets may not be permitted for the placement of general publication newsstands.

Permits will not be approved for general publication newsstands for the majority of streets within the Villages of Kapolei. To determine whether a street is public or private, please call the Land Division, City Department of Design and Construction, at ph. 768-8706. If the area is owned by the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), a letter from the DHHL will be required for the permitting and placement of all general publication newsstands.

Before applying for sidewalk use permits in new subdivision locations, CSD recommend that you confer with the Land Division, City Department of Design and Construction, to determine ownership of the street.

Please insure that this information is also passed on to your distributors. Should you have any questions contact us at, ph. 532-7793.

August Range and Gideon Awa

Also in newspaper world, MarketWatch.com reports that newspaper sites are clear leaders in online advertising revenue, although overall ad revenue is still dropping.

Newspapers’ online editions took a 26% share of local online-video advertising, topping any competitor. According to the survey, video is the fastest growing segment of local online ad sales, generating $363 million last year — a figure that is expected to jump nearly fourfold to $1.2 billion.
Late last month, the NAA said total advertising expenditures at newspapers and their online editions fell 10% in the fourth quarter despite a sharp increase in online-ad sales, suggesting that the industry remains troubled by a shift away from print readership and a sputtering U.S. economy.

Don’t miss bookmarking this site: “The 50 greatest comedy sketches of all time“. What a great collection! If you need a way to take up a few hours on a rainy day, this is it!

Here’s an interesting item from the Washington Post. It seems that members of Congress ran into ethics issues when they put links on their official web sites to YouTube videos of themsevles. The problems arise because YouTube is a commercial site and so their video links were treated as using government resources to further commercial interests. So YouTube is going to create a non-commercial area featuring the Congressional videos that will meet the Congressional standard.

A similar issue will arise here as more public officials start to use YouTube as a communications vehicle.

The so-called reporters’ shield bill is heading for conference committee. The draft that came out of the Senate applies to professional journalists “presently or previously employed by or otherwise professionally associated with any newspaper or magazine or any digital version thereof operated by the same organization, news agency, press association, wire service, or radio or television transmission station or network”.

It also applies to:

…any individual who can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that:

(1) The individual has regularly and materially participated in the reporting or publishing of news or information of substantial public interest for the purpose of dissemination to the general public by means of tangible or electronic media;

(2) The position of the individual is materially similar or identical to that of a journalist or newscaster, taking into account the method of dissemination;

(3) The interest of the individual in protecting the sources and unpublished information under subsection (a) is materially similar to the interest of the individuals referenced under subsection (a); and

(4) The public interest is served by affording the protections of this section in a specific circumstance under consideration.

There are, of course, limitations and exceptions written in to the bill, and more can probably be expected if an agreement can be reached in conference. House and Senate conferees have not been named.

Oh…don’t miss Joan Conrow’s reprise of a Kauai radio interview with a welder and a union rep from the Austal shipyard where the Superferry was built.

Wayne Jenkins, a welder employed by Austal USA, which built the Alakai for Hawaii Superferry, said he “had problems with the way some of the welds were being done on the boat.”

He pointed these out to his supervisors, but was told the welds didn’t need to look good, because they’d be covered with insulation. However, he said, “those little cracks continue to expand.”

When those hairline cracks are subjected to stress, Jenkins said, “they will crack all the way through,” causing leaks, and that’s apparently what happened to the Alakai.

And so it goes on a sunny Saturday.