I ran into this little story about things Hawaiian to be found on the mainland, including an exhibit on “the history and culture of Pacific Northwest Hawaiians“. I’m sorry that I won’t have a chance to visit that one.

From the New York Times last week–a story explaining that the rush to attract biotech companies to new areas has communities really betting against the odds in hopes of winning.

Here’s the basic argument:

Skeptics cite two major problems with the race for biotech. First, the industry is highly concentrated in established epicenters like Boston, San Diego and San Francisco, which offer not just scientific talent but also executives who know how to steer drugs through the arduous approval process.

“Most of these states probably don’t stand much of a chance to develop a viable biotech industry,” said Gary P. Pisano, a Harvard Business School professor and the author of “Science Business: The Promise, the Reality and the Future of Biotech.”

“You can always get a few top people,” Mr. Pisano said, “but you need a lot of critical mass.”

Second, biotech is a relatively tiny industry with a lengthy product-development process, and even in its largest clusters offers only a fraction of the jobs of traditional manufacturing. In the United States, only 43 biotechnology companies employ more than 1,000 people, according to BioAbility, a consulting firm in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

It’s an interesting read in light of our continuing debates over high tech tax credits, state investment, etc.

The Washington State Supreme Court is taking up the issue of whether administrative records of the court system are public records under the state’s records law.

This really isn’t an issue in Hawaii because our public records law is written to account for judicial records.

Section 92F-3 provides:

“Agency” means any unit of government in this State, any county, or any combination of counties; department; institution; board; commission; district; council; bureau; office; governing authority; other instrumentality of state or county government; or corporation or other establishment owned, operated, or managed by or on behalf of this State or any county, but does not include the nonadministrative functions of the courts of this State.

InverseCondemnation.com has a good summary and discussion of the challenge to the residency of Sol Kahoohalahala, who was elected to fill the Lanai seat on the Maui County Council but has been a physical resident of Maui. The outcome of the case would have broad impact on elected officials throughout the state. The blog entry has links to case documents, etc.

Advertiser Editor Mark Platte’s column yesterday looked at the paper’s handling of a tip involving Punahou School. Platte defends the newspapers decision to report Punahou’s response to anonymous allegations about a staff member, originally described as a “dean”.

The local media outlets did the right thing by reporting on the action Punahou planned to take and waiting for the results of the internal investigation. If disciplinary action is taken, the school should announce it and we should report it. If the allegations are found to be false, we should likewise make that information public. Anonymous or not, such accusations should be taken seriously.

Not only is Punahou a leading local institution, but it now attracts more interest as the president’s alma mater. Platte defends reporting on Punahou’s statements regarding the allegations. What isn’t clear, though, is whether the Advertiser attempted to report the story. It seems to have had sufficient information–the names of those involved, the time period involved. Did the Advertiser find that it couldn’t confirm the allegations? Did they try? Are they still working on it? Or is this the “sit back and wait to cover the press conference” approach? I doubt it is the latter, but Platte doesn’t give us a clue.

Last night was for leftovers. I recycled Saturday’s meal by adding fried bananas and black beans to reheated mashed potato and pork tenderloin to come up with a new dinner. I have to admit that the beans came out of a can, something I wouldn’t ordinarily do. I prepared them by cooking up some chopped onion and garlic, adding in the beans, red pepper, and seasoning with some jerk pork seasoning, chile powder, red pepper, and fresh cilantro. A bit more cilantro was dropped onto the pork before serving.