You might want to bookmark the new Maui Food Security blog just launched by Mark Sheehan and Rob Parsons. It’s focus is on encouraging “the grassroots movement of people interested in growing food, sharing ideas and resources, and striving for sustainability in their own communities.”

The Federal Communications Commission slammed Oceanic Cable after finding that the company “willfully violated” federal regulations by failing to notify state regulators of a change in the way it delivered cable services. An equipment change required customers to pay for a cable box in order to continue to receive some services that had been part of their cable package.

The Star-Bulletin’s Erika Engle flagged the issue in a column this week.

The FCC inquiry began in November 2007 after several complaints were lodged by Hawaii Consumers.

The company argued that it simply had an “equipment compatability” issue and had not made a rate or service change. The FCC responded:

As the Commission stated in another case involving TWC, “it is the subscribers’ perspective –not that of the cable operator –that is relevant in determining whether a change in programming services has occurred.”20 We doubt that Oceanic’s customers would view the
loss of more than forty (40) channels –including popular high definition programming –as merely an “equipment compatibility” issue.21 Indeed, according to a channel listing from two months after Oceanic’s migration of channels to an SDV platform, 135 of 248 Oceanic Time Warner’s linear channels
were unavailable to CableCARD users, including popular news and entertainment programming.22

In its ruling, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau rejected Oceanic’s legal argument, stating that it “defies both precedent and common sense.”

The company was fined $7,500 for the violation.

The FCC notice does not state whether state regulators took any action at all in response to consumer complaints on this matter.

Sean McLaughlin, on behalf of the group Hawaii Consumers, has written to Lawrence Reifurth, director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, inquiring what action, if any, was taken by DCCA regarding Oceanic’s violations.

Oceanic has been represented by the law firm of Watanabe Ing & Komeiji. Attorney John Komeiji, who has appeared on behalf of Oceanic in numerous proceedings, jumped earlier this year to a position at Hawaiian Telcom.

And what’s this? Leave for a week and the Advertiser’s cut another 27 jobs?

According to the Hawaii Newspaper Guild:

For the first time in more than a year of negotiations, company officials said the company was not making money and “experiencing serious revenue declines.” The company offered to show its financial books to an accountant chosen by the unions.

The Advertisers unions way they plan to bring in an accountant experienced in newspaper finances to review the books before negotiations resume.

In addition, the Guild announced union members will again stop writing voluntary blog entries.

Honolulu Advertiser union members are once again withholding writing their voluntary blogs in a sign of unity as contract negotiations resume on Monday, Aug. 25.

Unionized reporters, photographers, page designers, copy editors and other staff members already have unanimously declined to produce their voluntary news videos for The Advertiser’s web site since May in a show of unity and protest over the lack of a new contract.

In response, Advertiser managers have prevented readers from
commenting on several Advertiser blogs.