Sharp eyes of folks at PBN noted an unusually long set of “corrections” published this week by the UH Manoa student newspaper, Ka Leo, and tracked down the story.

PBN reports that 26 stories written by former Ka Leo reporter and news editor Kris DeRego included fabricated quotes or other errors, including misspelled names and misidentification.

The correction said the existence of 21 people who were quoted by the reporter as students at UH Manoa could not be confirmed.

For eight others, the paper said there were students with similar names, but that they were not enrolled as students at the time they were quoted.

You might remember DeRego’s Hardball Hawaii, which was online during 2007 and can now be traced back using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

My own short interchange with DeRego and Hardball Hawaii is described here, and the original can be found at the bottom of this archived page from DeRego’s blog.

This comment comes from former Star-Bulletin photographer and photo editor Dean Sensui, now executive producer of Hawaii Goes Fishing.

I just learned today that it seems the State is making a huge mistake in shutting down the Anuenue hatchery program at Sand Island, along with the artificial reef program and other fishing-related programs.

For every dollar the State spends, these programs get three dollars in Federal funds. These funds come from the Dingell-Johnson act which funds the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. The WSFRP gets its funding from the sale of fishing-related equipment as mandated by Federal law.

http://wildlifelaw.unm.edu/fedbook/djact.html
http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/

If the State shuts down the fishery program, it loses more than it gains. There’s the freshwater stock programs. The artificial reef program. The Fish Attraction Device (FAD) program. And other programs in the Division of Aquatic Resources that have provided valuable scientific information. Overall, the state could lose as much as $3 million to $4 million in federal funding.

Much worse is that all the work that went into establishing these fish stock and habitat programs — several years of intense efforts — would be lost. It would take several more years to re-establish breeder stocks, for example. A huge waste. And all that scientific research would be interrupted when it’s needed most.

Something else to look at: what’s happening to the money? Are the federal funds being returned to the feds if they’re not being applied toward fishing-related projects as mandated? Or are they being redirected elsewhere? If so, that’s probably illegal.

Dean Sensui

A memorial for UH Professor Ira Rohter will be held Saturday morning in Niu Valley, according to Ka Leo.

Political junkies may want to check this out. According to information activist Michael Ravnitzky, an archive of legal briefs from the Norm Coleman-Al Franken court marathon are temporarily available for download.

Ravnitzky also pointed to a story in the NY Daily News based on formerly secret FBI files from the agency’s interrogation of Saddam Hussein, obtained via a Freedom of Information request. What a score in terms of document searching!

The Senate is seeking feedback on its “paperless” initiative which has tried to reduce paper and printing by increasing online access to Senate documents. Comments are being sought via a survey form available here.

According to an email being sent out by the Senate Clerk’s office:

Aloha – On behalf of the Hawai‘i Senate, we want to extend our sincere Mahalo for your participation in our Paperless Process Initiative during these past two legislative sessions. This ongoing initiative is part of the Senate’s commitment to support sustainability in Hawai‘i and increase public access to the legislative process.

As part of our ongoing effort to improve our Paperless Process Initiative, we are interested in receiving your compliments and/or concerns. We would appreciate you taking a few minutes to complete the attached user survey.

To complete this form electronically, we recommend that you use the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Please go to www.adobe.com to download the free PDF reader. Just open the document in Reader, fill in your responses, and when you have finished, click on File, Attach to E-mail, and send e-mail to: sclerk2@capitol.hawaii.gov

Mahalo for your participation and we look forward to hearing from you.

Hawaii Senate Clerk’s Office

So let them know what you think!