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January 11, 2003 - Saturday
It rained all night here in Kaaawa, stopping sometime between 3 and 5 a.m. We'll have to wait to see whether it will be too wet for a pleasant morning walk.
Folks back in B.C. appear to be spinning over the drunk driving arrest of their premier, Gordon Campbell, while vacationing on Maui. The Times Colonist in Victoria, the British Columbia capitol as well as home of Star-Bulletin owner David Black, gave the case detailed coverage, as did the Vancouver Sun.
They're struggling with the issue of astronomical salaries levels for university presidents in Washington state, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Note that corrections to the original story are highlighted directly in the text of the online archived version.
A former islander now living in the San Francisco Bay Area shared this reaction after a recent island stay:
Watching the local broadcast news was a shock -- I can't believe how much it has collectively declined in quality over the last couple of years. Here's an email message I sent to KHON after watching its SAT 10 pm newscast....
Dear KHON General Manager:
On your 10:00 PM telecast on Saturday, JAN 4, you ran a story about a tar truck catching on fire somewhere in Florida. No injuries, no deaths, no property damage.
Could you please tell me why this is considered "news" to you? Is it because you got some fire footage from a FOX feed and thought it would make a good visual?
What possible relevance does a tar truck fire have to a Hawaii audience?
What's even more galling is that this story came BEFORE your half-hearted coverage of the District 2 congressional election. This is an extremely important event, as once Hawaii elects a congressional representative, he or she basically remains in office for life.
But you treated this election with the same lackadaisical approach as your soft stories. No exit polling, no candidate interviews, no real effort on your part to get a story.
KHON seems to have lost its interest in enterprise reporting and in any commitment to public service reporting. You now simply cover whatever press release comes over the fax or whatever titillating story comes from the FOX feed.
What a disappointment.
I just sent off an email to find out whether any reply was received from KHON. If so, I'll try to post it here as well.
January 10, 2003 - Friday
Ouch! Toby just came flying across the kitchen, onto my shoulder, around behind my head for a quick bite at an ear, then a flying leap onto the computer desk for a close inspection of anything with a cable and all pieces of paper. Duke appears to have taken temporary refuge out of kitten reach, something he does when the joys of parenting get overwhelming. Now someone's scratching the screen door. Turn on the light long enough to see that it's Lindsey wanting in for breakfast. Too far to walk to the other side of the house where the cat door is open and waiting. Let him in. What's the crash on the other side of the room? Sounds of kitten running. Don't want to look. I might have to clean it up. Get on with this morning's entry.
Here's a January 6 speech by Jonathan Adelstein, the FCC's newest commissioner.
"I am not sure that I am the first FCC Commissioner who plays rock n' roll, but I hope I am not the last," Adelstein said, while encouraging musicians and other artists to join the public debate over FCC policy and media consolidation.
And Colleen Hanabusa's campaign committee finally filed three reports online with the Federal Election Commission on January 2.
Does the Legislature turn its computer system off overnight? I've been trying for an early morning check of legislative information, and keep getting an error message, "The connection was refused when trying to contact www.capitol.hawaii.gov." What gives?
| It's been cold this week in Kaaawa and around the state. Temperatures dipping down into the 60's at night. But the mornings have been beautiful Yesterday was no exception. |
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It's Friday. Have a good one.
January 9, 2003 - Thursday
The New York Times carried an excellent op-ed piece this week opposing the FCC's move to reduce or eliminate restrictions on corporate ownership of the media and urging public comment. Please read.
This week's MidWeek cover features Honolulu Weekly publisher and majority owner Laurie Carlson. It's a friendly interview, staying largely on safe terrain, and an interesting concession to Honolulu Weekly's staying power.
Roll Call, the Washington newspaper that provides a daily inside look at Congress, has shuttered its public web site, which is now available only to subscribers who cough up the hefty $199 fee (a discount from the regular $260). The move follows several other attempts at combining their high-priced print subscriptions with some form of free web presence. It will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.
S-B writer Burl Burlingame had this observation on the lawsuit by Eric Lighter:
Actually, Lighter is suing you because ... you said he files too many lawsuits. So, by bringing suit against you, he ratifies your original claim. It's the opposite of Catch-22.
Thanks for that, Burl.
I don't know Peter McConaghy, who must have done an Internet search for "rosti melamine spoons", but he passed on this intelligence:
In mid 2001 you were searching for Rosti melamine spoons - something I have been doing for ages. We were recently in Denmark and I found that there are very similar spoons available in one of the "department store" type shops there.
I can't remember the name off the top of my head and they don't do mail order. But if you know someone in Denmark perhaps they could buy some for you. The ones I found were the smallish cooking spoons - about 15cm long (6 inches?) with a flat bottom.
Now if I just knew someone heading for Denmark....
January 8, 2003 - Wednesday
A reader added this useful footnote to Saturday's reference to a controversy over privacy and personal garbage in Portland.
Enjoyed the link to the story on garbage and privacy. Hawaii is one of few states where there is a specific opinion by the Supreme Court that individuals have a right to privacy in their trash under the 4th Amendment. State v. Tanaka, 67 Hawaii. 658 (1985).
Blooper of the day: KITV ran a story on the 6 p.m. news last night about the low grade given the state's education system in a comparative ranking by Education Week magazine.
A large on-screen graphic read: "Standards/Accoutability"
I did track down more information on the question of how lawsuits against the "old" Star-Bulletin are being handled after the sale of the newspaper. I was able to track down the pertinent provisions in the sale agreements.
It turns out there are two sale agreements, one between Black Press and Liberty Newspapers, and the second between Black Press and Gannett, but both make clear the Star-Bulletin's new owners bought the paper "free and clear of all liabilities".
It appears that Liberty Newspapers, the S-B's former owner, has indemnified Black Press and must either defend against lawsuits or pay the bill. It gets a little complicated, because there is reference to a 2-year window, but for now at least the nature of the legal responsibility seems clear.
Now I'll have to dig out the Guild contract that applied at the time to see if it sheds any light on the newspaper's responsibility to me.
I also went down to Circuit Court and took at look at what was filed (Civil 03-1-0027). In the short document, Lighter claims that he personally asked to "have the HSB stop such publication and issue an apology and retraction for such false and misleading statements...." But he never identifies any specific false or misleading statements.
Fact is, Lighter never made such a request for a retraction or apology, nor did he to my knowledge ever object to anything published in the story. Until now.
Lighter also has to grapple with the fact that he has spent years making himself a public figure with bizarre stunts and widely circulated "confessions", which substantially raises the bar for any claims of defamation.
January 7, 2003 - Tuesday
According to a message I received last night, I've been named in a lawsuit filed against the Star-Bulletin's publisher, Oahu Publications, over a two-year old story about a Big Island man who alleged he was defrauded of a Volcano-area bed and breakfast. On rereading, it was a solid story.
According to the message, the suit was filed by Eric Aaron Lighter "pro se", without benefit of an attorney.
The case doesn't show up yet in the state courts' online index, so I can't confirm that it has been filed, but I've got no reason to doubt it. As I reported at the time, Lighter is well known among island judges and lawyers for his repeated appearances in court, although he is not a lawyer.
"Lighter's pleadings are an exercise in redundancy and immateriality. They are replete with impertinent and scandalous matter," the late Judge Harold M. Fong ruled in one case several years ago.
And Lighter's courtroom tactics -- including avalanches of paperwork, accusations of corruption hurled at opponents and their attorneys, and dogged persistence in appealing every ruling -- have driven even experienced lawyers to despair.
Many lawyers contacted by the Star-Bulletin declined to be quoted about Lighter, saying they did not want to risk having him involved with their lives.
One interesting question is who will defend against this suit. Although Oahu Publications is named, I doubt that the court-supervised sale of the Star-Bulletin's assets included assumption of liability for previously published stories. Certain liabilities, such as the S-B's retirement plan, were transferred to Gannett. Won't it be ironic if Gannett's lawyers end up defending this case?
From longtime newsman Bob Jones comes this message with the subject header, "southeast asia tour and goodbye Bob Jones"
i'm offering my final southeast asia tour this year. My Big Blast & Aloha.
it will not be offering some crappy off-the-rack affair. this is going to be my grand finale, give-it-all affair. Screw the cost.
those who go on this one will defintely have something to talk about for many years to come.
i won't set myself on fire for you, but this will not be ordinary.
nobody i've invited is ordinary. No dullards.
if you think tours are boring -- i tell you this will not be.
this is my southeast asia swansong. going out with a Big Bang. All my old Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam people will treat you as my preferred guests and Francis-of-Bangkok will give you the royal treatment.
let's go out in style, with all the people who travel in style.
Nobody, nobody, will ever have such a blast through all of SE Asia.
It's my farewell tour. The final. The Unquiet American.
If you want to see me again you may have to pay your own way to Hanoi.
Bob
You can email Bob for more information.
January 6, 2003 - Monday
The Advertiser has a good follow-up this morning on the weekend's reported near miss between a 747 and a Waikiki condo.
A reader also provided this observation:
I drove past Century Center today, and thought the same thing about the Ala Moana Hotel, and the Nauru Towers (i.e. KHON building), which also stand between Century Center and the airport. But I also wouldn't discount it, specifically with China Airlines.
Not that they have a history of weird flight antics or anything, but just last week Saturday, my heart stopped when I watched a China Airlines plane pull an incredibly steep, engine-straining turn coming over the mountains
and realigning itself to come in to HNL from the East (for Kona winds, the same way the plane in today's stories would be coming). It was like watching an F-14 maneuver in slow motion.
It was at around the same time, too, so I suspect it was the same flight.
Strikes me as cutting corners more than anything. Flights generally don't go over land, unless pilots are in a hurry. Westbound flights taking off to the East (the usual direction) often cut over before Koko Head, and I remember low flyovers from Hawaiian/Aloha flights from Kauai... coming from the West initially, they otherwise have to circle wide for a Kona winds landing. I think the China Air pilot I saw last Saturday and the one reported today were doing the same thing.
Interesting...the spell check in this program offered alternatives to the "unknown" word, Waikiki. Offered up were Wichita, wicked, whacked and walkout.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a good story on the cleansing of electronic libraries by one large academic publisher. It raises interesting questions about how the historical record can be maintained in this electronic age.
| I should perhaps apologize to all those who are allergic to cats, but there were just lots of good photos this past week and I had to post another batch. Just click on this shot of Toby or on the cats banner to the right. |
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January 5, 2003 - Sunday
Did a loaded 747 really come within 30 feet of Century Center, a high rise condominium directly across from the convention center at the edge of Waikiki?
That's what the Star-Bulletin is reporting this morning in its Breaking News section, and the Advertiser has a similar story based on the same AP report. I don't know if there's any more information in the print editions.
I've got a special interest in the question. My little office is in the building, and, more importantly, I'm the condo board president this year. Wouldn't that be a phone call to remember? "Hey, a jumbo jet just took out the building!"
What I can't figure out is how a plane could come that close to Century Center and miss the Ala Moana Hotel, which is just a block over towards the ocean and, if I'm not mistaken, about the same height. Was it following Kapiolani Blvd? What about those buildings on the other side of Ala Moana Center?
Obviously, everybody living or working in one of Honolulu's high rise buildings is going to be interested in details about this incident.
| Mr. Toby's been flying nonstop for a couple of days now. He's already been playing for an hour or so, and it's just 5:45 a.m. This little box that brought my last round of Peets coffee continues to be the best possible cat toy. Throw in a bit of the packing paper and it's kitten heaven. |
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| I did collect a few sunrise photos from the last days of 2002 and the first day of 2003. Click on this photo or the "photo gallery" banner to take a look. |
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