Sometimes I should just sleep in a bit more in the morning before sitting down to write. That’s the case this morning, since I just somehow erased everything I wrote in the last 45 minutes. Now it’s here, now it’s gone. Sort of like those jobs at the Star-Bulletin. It was tough waiting and watching for yesterday’s S-B announcement, which came at a 2 p.m. staff meeting. No topic announced in advance. As Nancy Lauer commented later, “nothing good ever comes of those things.”
Business writer and columnist Erika Engle got the assignment to report the layoffs and cutbacks.
She also shared a few brief reactions via Twitter.com yesterday afternoon.
Tough day. Job cuts, wage freeze, shift from broadsheet to MidWeek-sized format http://snipurl.com/bgazg Grateful 2 have gig.
Thanks for all the Twitter love for the Star-Bulletin! Important note. Tabloid just refers to format (MidWeek size), NOT content.
I’m ok. Feeling bad for 17 precious colleagues.
Gonna clam-up re: Star-Bulletin now, in deference to my colleagues and our sensitive situation.
As one mainland media watcher tweeted: “xo to all s-b folks. this media environment sucks rocks.”
That’s as good a statement as any, I think.
Names of those losing their jobs at the Star-Bulletin have not been announced.
You may not have noticed that Honolulu City Clerk Denise De Costa quietly retired at the end of December after 5-1/2 years in the job. De Costa, also known as Mahealani Cypher, was much in the news last year when her ruling prevented Kirk Caldwell from running against Duke Bainum for an open city council seat.
Speaking of Caldwell, his nomination to serve as Honolulu’s managing director is on the agenda of council’s Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee at 1:30 p.m. next Wednesday, February 11.
For those who might be interested, here’s his updated resume, which is among the supporting documents for this agenda item.
Boy Scouts, beware! One of your traditional tools could soon be illegal. SB 126, introduced by Sen. Les Ihara (by request), would ban the manufacturing, transfer, sale or possession of folding knives “suitable for carrying in the pocket.”
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This ‘by request’ thing is a sad trick played on people who think their cause will now advance.
I can’t recall, do they mark the governor’s package ‘on request’ also?
The boy scouts are safe, and they’ll have a lesson in fake democracy.
Yes, like all packages (Judiciary, cinties, etc.) introduced by the Senate President and House Speaker, the Governor’s package is introduced “By Request.”
While to all but the uninitiated the “B/R” designation is the proverbial equivalent of the legislator holding his/her nose, it does serve a purpose. Many legislators, especially those who oppose initiative/referendum and and even some who support it, take the position that the antidote to the absence of initiative/referendum is free access to the legislative sausage maker. It say, “I’ll introduce your bill so that AT LEAST YOU GET IN THE DOOR, but you have to carry your own water after this.”
There are few, if any, people who think that a B/R introduction is an endorsement. Even if the bill is introduced without the “B/R” tag, what matters is what comes out of the sausage machine, not what goes in.
Sorry, that’s “counties” not “cinties”, a cross, I guess between “city” and “county”?
Does that mean Boy Scouts are going to have to start carrying machetes instead?