i L i n d . n e t

The Honolulu Advertiser reports the indictment of a woman for allegedly embezzling $329,000 from former Advertiser owner Thurston Twigg-Smith. Green was reported to have been a personal assistant to Twigg-Smith and his wife when the money went missing.

This quickly sent members of the Honolulu Community-Meda Council all atwitter trying to confirm whether or not this is the same Holly Green who served as coordinator of the Media Council for several years after Ah Jook Ku’s “retirement” from the group. At this point, I haven’t seen or heard a definitive answer one way or the other.

Iraq on their minds. I suppose that’s the reason for the Star-Bulletin’s misdirected headline on the editorial page today. Unfortunately, the editorial is really about U.S. relations with Iran. Oops.

Thanks to Joan Conrow for this additional information on Gov. Lingle’s session on Kauai last week.

As people were entering Lingle’s meeting, they were handed a legal-sized piece of paper that noted SUMMARY OF STATE LAW CONSEQUENCES on one side, and Summary of Consequences for Violation of USGS Security Zone at Nawiliwili Harbor on the other.

On the state side, one of the “possible criminal charges” listed was “Endangering the Welfare of a Minor: Any person who, being a parent, guardian, or other person whether or not charged with the care or custody of a minor, knowingly endangers the minor’s physical or mental welfare by violating or interfering with any legal duty of care or protection owed such minor. The penalties are up to one year in hail and/or a fine of $2,000.”

At the bottom of the sheet, it states:

POSSIBLE INVESTIGATION INTO THREATENED HARM TO A CHILD
If your conduct places a child into a dangerous situation, such as placing a child in a Coast Guard Security Zone or in the course of a vessel, the Department of Human Services could investigate you for such conduct, including pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 587, the Child Protection Act.

When questioned about this by a speaker, Lingle said they had not come up with any new laws in this regard, but were using existing laws. This prompted a Kauai CPS worker to take his turn at thee microphone to inform Lingle that the law had never been used in such a way, and the agency was already overwhelmed with real cases of parental abuse and neglect.

Conroy added another update on her blog yesterday:

Court proceedings begin next week for Kauai residents arrested Aug. 26 and 27 during Superferry protests. While some attorneys are predicting the state will have a hard time prosecuting many of the cases, the surfers and boogie boarders who were booked are already being punished —none of their boards have been returned. Presumably, they’re being held as evidence, but some surfers have complained they weren’t given receipts for their seized property.

Here’s one to think about: Is it time for a “maximum wage“? Thanks to AlterNet for calling attention to this proposal. It really needs to turn into a broader discussion. But even the terms in this proposal are far more generous than previously. It used to be said that Japanese corporations were more competitive globally because their top executives were only paid something like thirty times the average employee, while this proposal pegs the acceptable ratio at 100 times. But debating what limits are appropriate is part of the much-needed self examination of our top-heavy society.

And while thinking about how much is enough, here’s a similar assessment of the situation in housing, where Hawaii has been blighted with the McMansion problem as much as anywhere in the country, I’m sure.