Every once in a while I like to look at how Hawaii is showing up in the news elsewhere. Here’s a quick sweep of relatively current news items.

MailOnline, “Surf’s oop! How Hawaiian princes brought water sport to Britain in 1890 (in chilly Yorkshire of all places)”

Hawaii author Sandra Hall unearthed a long lost letter describing brothers, Princes David Kahalepouli Kawanaankoa and Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole, and Princess Ka’iulani, surfing while in England. Great find!

Bloomberg Businessweek, “GSA spent millions in relocation costs”

The General Services Administration inspector general was told the agency spent as much as $330,000 to move an employee from Denver to Hawaii, an example of millions of dollars wasted in relocation costs.

San Francisco Chronicle, “Inspector cuts endanger Hawaii farms, environment”

In the past few years, Hawaii has made big cuts to its team of inspectors who check shipping containers and keep an eye on tourists’ luggage. The number of inspectors fell from 95 people in 2009 to 50 last year. Since then, a few additional positions have been filled, but there hasn’t been enough money to come close to previous staffing levels.

Wall Street Journal, “Hawaii Turns to Dog Shrinks as ‘Incessant Barkers’ Cut Plea Deals”

There’s the problem. Local authorities have charged Kala and Kamakani with being “incessant barkers,” an offense under a new law here on the Big Island. If the two Italian sheepdogs don’t zip it, their owners face $575 in fines, and the dogs could be evicted from the neighborhood.

“We have to say ‘no’ like a loving parent,” Mr. Oguss, who operates the East Hawaii Dog Psychology Center, explains to owners Henry and Lindsey Kapu, whose lenience he thinks makes the dogs feel free to bark. He’s administering dog counseling as part of a plea deal the Kapus have made after five barking citations.

Scientific American Blog, “First Dedicated Biorefinery Could Wean Hawaii Off Imported Oil”

On former pineapple fields outside of Honolulu, an industrial tube has been erected, ensconced in a steel scaffold. Dwarfed by the nearby oil refinery, the modest tube represents an attempt to one day wean Hawaii from imported oil. It is the nation’s first dedicated biorefinery, employing high heat to turn plant matter into oil, followed by chemical catalysis to upgrade that oil into a useable fuel, just like the much larger refinery down the road.

The Register-Guard, “Lure of the luau”

I guess there’s nothing like that old local favorite, pineapple coleslaw. What??

Ballot Access News, “Hawaii Districting Plan Faces Challenge in 3-Judge U.S. District Court”

Comments here are most interesting. Here’s part of one:

In 2000, the reapportionment commission debated a long time whether or not to include non-resident military. A lot of it appeared to be tied to avoiding the use of canoe districts – districts which combine areas between island groups. Almost all the military are on Oahu, so if you can reduce the apportionment population for Oahu, you may be able to get enough rounding to have whole number of districts for Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai.

It is possible, that the Hawaii constitution’s provisions against canoe districts doesn’t violate equal protection. When legislative districts exceed 5% deviation, the burden shifts to the State to justify their use; but Hawaii may be able to meet that burden rather than having districts separated by hundreds of miles of international waters, which are arguably neither compact nor contiguous.

MarketWatch, “Hawaii Selects VoltDelta N11 Platform for State’s First 511 Travel Information Service”

Motorists in Hawaii will be able to call 511 from their hands-free cell phones and simply speak to the system to get traffic and weather information. Initially, the VoltDelta service will be able to provide:

— Areas with traffic congestion

— Emergency condition information including severe weather alerts

Subsequent phases of the system will include incident and event-related information.

MarketWatch, “Genworth’s 9th Annual Cost of Care Survey Shows Long Term Care In-Home Services Costs Rise in Hawaii”

By comparison, the median annual cost for care in an assisted living facility is $39,600 nationally. The comparable cost in Hawaii is $45,000. The national yearly cost for assisted living has increased 5.7 percent a year over the past five years, while long term care costs in Hawaii have increased 13.4 percent a year during the same time period. Nationally, the median annual cost for a private nursing home room rose 4.3 percent annually over the past five years to $81,030, while costs in Hawaii increased 4.2 percent a year during the comparable time period to $125,925.

Kirksville Daily Express, “Wyatt could legally serve district from Hawaii”

A Missouri state representative says he’s moving to Hawaii to enroll in the University of Hawaii, but doesn’t plan to resign from office.

“Some in the Kirksville area have voiced concerns over Wyatt remaining in his role as a representative after moving to Hawaii, continuing to be paid for his state service and being able to maintain a presence to represent his constituency.

Wyatt responded by noting the actual legislative session will be over in May, and that advances in electronic communication will allow him to remain engaged in Jefferson City.

“The thing people are not going to see is me coming to all the dinners and events and eating at every event,” Wyatt said. “I’m still going to be able to represent everyone and in this time of electronic media, stay in constant contact with everyone.”