We had a meeting of the Kaaawa Community Association last night so missed the mayoral debate fireworks. But thanks to the Advertiser’s story this morning, I know that Ann Kobayashi wore “a blue sport coat and a green blouse”, Mayor Hannemann appeared in “a black suit and blue shirt”, and Panos Prevedouros was in “a blue shirt and black sport coat”.

Perhaps the video is available online for viewing today….

This was too close to home, a shark attack yesterday on a surfer just down the road at a surf spot out in front of the Crouching Lion.

It seems that the big flood control project for Makaua Stream, which experienced major flooding during the heavy rains in 2006, is in trouble. A state demand that landowners along the stream agree to indemnify and defend the state against any future stream-related lawsuits in perpetuity had caused Kualoa Ranch, which owns the access points from the Kaneohe side of the stream, to decline to sign the agreement.

That leaves the state struggling to see whether the project can move forward with just one side of the stream being worked on. Decisions have to be made soon or $1 million in federal funds will lapse. There’s some kind of consultation today with the state attorney general to determine whether wording of the liability agreement can be amended enough to appease the ranch. We’ll see…

For a few minutes yesterday, I thought Hawaii’s courts were bringing their online access into the 21st century. The flash of optimism came when I saw this notice while accessing the Judiciary’s Ho’ohiki database, which presents basic docket information on court cases:

Note: Effective Sept 18, 2008, the Ho’ohiki system will be upgraded to provide full-text viewing of document information. The Judiciary is pleased to announce this new enhanced function to the Ho’ohiki application, which hoppefully provide Ho’ohiki users with the ability to view document information in a more efficient and user-friendly manner.

Federal courts have Pacer, a system which provides access to all documents filed in court as well as docket information. Documents can be downloaded for a small fee in pdf format. The state tried a similar system about 10 years ago, but the system didn’t work and was abandoned. As far as I know, there hasn’t been another try made since. Until, I hoped, this latest announcement.

So I called for more information. First I tried the Ho’ohiki help line. The folks there were nice, but seemed to have no clue what I was talking about. Same thing with the public affairs office. But they sent me to Lori Okita, administrator of the legal documents branch, who quickly dashed my hopes.

“Full-text viewing” in this case means full text of docket entries rather than the sometimes abbreviated entries that currently appear. It will be an improvement, but will still not give access to case documents.

I just learned of the recent death of Gaius Thede, who was Methodist campus minister at UH back in the late 1960s and 1970s. He was a strong presence, and provided office space to peace activist Jim Albertini and hosted many community activities at the Wesley Foundation building on University Avenue. I’m hoping for more info today.

Several people forwarded an email sent to staff yesterday by Advertiser publisher Lee Webber.

Webber wrote:

Aloha

Attached is a letter from Robert J. Dickey, President, Gannett U.S. Community Publishing for all USCP employees.

I wanted to ensure you received this directly from me rather than hearing or reading about it in some other format, because knowing first hand what is happening company-wide is important to us all.

Bob also wanted me to remind all employees that they should feel free to contact him at anytime should they have any questions.

As you know, this year we have faced our own challenges as we continually navigate through these difficult economic times, keeping our eye constantly on the future.

We have a GREAT team at the Advertiser and I am confident we will all continue to work together, changing when and where we must, ensuring we grow our way into the future.

We must remain Hawaii’s #1 source for news and information in this constantly changing information industry and business environment.

We can and will do that.