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It rained much of the night. Hard. Very hard. It was one of those nights you lay in bed and wish there was a rain gauge to check. But it's still dark, and there's already a pair of cardinals in a song competition somewhere very nearby, oblivious to the danger of calling attention to themselves in the midst of this feline territory.
By the time the sun came up, the clouds had moved off, leaving just a few remnants hanging on the mountains, and the air scrubbed clean.
I don't know of many places where the mountains and the sea meet so directly and dramatically as they do here in Kaaawa.
Kaaawa morning, Saturday, 5/19Here's one of the comments received on Wednesday:
can i also offer some well-meaning advise.... keep this thing going, man.... there are lots of us out here that have followed this site for a long time now and it has become a part of our daily routines... and in my case, even if i don't know you and the cats, i feel as if you are an old friend....going through the trials and tribulations that we all do..just keeping a journal.... your insights are now shifting from just the newspaper to other things and are becoming a well written commentary about hawaii... not to mention that it keeps you visible and thus marketable for future endeavors... what the star bulletin lost was a good reporter... what you gained, seems to me, is your self respect... i'm sure your friend had his reasons for writing you of his thoughts, well so do i... thanks. r.c. (honolulu).
I've gotten quite a range of comments in response to the critique included in Wednesday's entry, and there's clearly a disagreement among those who have followed this enterprise.My inclination is to continue, for now, but with less attention to the newspaper war, since I no longer have the personal experience that provided the base for writing. But these daily entries are pretty much on autopilot, and I'll just follow my nose and see where we all end up.
I'm more bothered by the second part of the Wednesday comments.
My friend wrote: "I wish we all lived in the world you live in - where all people do what's right. It's just that I know we don't, and thus we all end up make questionable compromises. You're right about a lot. But in the end, the only thing that came out of all this is that we lost a good reporter and a good guy."
I respectfully disagree. I think most of us live in the world where we want to do what's right, but too often just drift with the flow because it's easier. We make those compromises. That's what most of life is about. But the important thing is to remember that they are compromises--choices--and that we are capable of making different choices. In those unusual situations where the stakes are high, we can decline the forced choice and just walk past the compromises that cut to the soul, even when, as in this case, we don't know where it will lead.
It's the old "means-ends" dilemma. Sometimes you've just got to stick to the right means, choosing what's right in each of the small decisions, and let the ends sort themselves out later.
I am truly sorry that friend is uncomfortable with my choices in this instance, and I regret having to walk away from our shared workplace. But in the end, I came away with a lot. I think my friend understands, despite his protestations.
I finally remembered to dig out the brief notes from a presentation back in January by Doug Aton, retired ass't chief of the Honolulu Police Department, on planning for the ADB convention. Aton, now with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, was making the rounds of area groups making the pitch.One memorable statement:
part of mistakes of seattle.
looked at constitutional rights of protesters before constitutional rights of citizens.
citizens have to be assured of constitutional rights to do business.That one just about says it all, doesn't it?
I also noticed yesterday that the Star-Bulletin is now getting the afternoon edition, with a "night final" designation, into street racks. I don't know whether these are selected racks or all racks, but it's a good move and shows that the circulation infrastructure is improving.
Don't miss this week's Honolulu Weekly, if you've got a chance to pick one up. They reprint a letter to the editor on the ADB conference submitted by ACLU's staff attorney, along with hostile comments apparently returned by S-B editorial director Richard Halloran criticizing different parts of the original letter, and ending with Halloran's pledge that it would never be printed in the Star-Bulletin. So much for the robust and open airing of opposing views promised for the editorial pages.
The sun is now up well before 6 a.m., and our early morning walk takes on a whole different character. It's amazing how different the world looks, and feels, with the addition of sunlight.
self-portrait
The "rumor" of Cagle's departure from the Advertiser was confirmed yesterday by the artist himself in an email to a Star-Bulletin staffer. He also confirmed that his former employer is in cost-cutting mode. It's going around the industry, you might say. JournalismJobs.com has a running tally of media layoffs, including newspapers, that's tough to read. Jack Downs' newspaper guide on About.com has a news update featuring that link and others.And these comments came several days ago from a friend at the Star-Bulletin. Not thoughts to be lightly dismissed or walked past, and I'm still pondering the various implications.
Can I offer some well-meaning advice? I would consider ending this thing, man. You're a good reporter but sometimes I feel you might actually be losing some credibility by keeping this thing going. Don't get me wrong, I believe you are right most of the time, it's just that it just might be time to move on. I think it would do you good. And one last thing - I wish we all lived in the world you live in - where all people do what's right. It's just that I know we don't, and thus we all end up make questionable compromises. You're right about a lot. But in the end, the only thing that came out of all this is that we lost a good reporter and a good guy. I wish you could have have found a way to stay with us cause we really need people like you right now.
On a lighter note, I spent a day working at home yesterday. Not easy, until the cats hit that big "nap" part of the day and cease the endless passes past the computer to see what I'm up to. But the day also provided several great cat photo sessions, which will make it to an updated photo gallery in a couple of days. In the meantime, here's what happens when Harry Meets Lizzie. That's Ms. Harriet (aka Harry), stretching in the foreground, with Lizzie behind her.
Harry meets Lizzie.
Click for larger picture.
Until this weekend, when someone--presumably someone on the public payroll and under some sort of adult supervision--mowed the grass and mowed them all down as well. It shouldn't have required a rocket scientist to see that these were trees of the future, requiring a bit of nurturing. Instead, ground zero. Total devastation. Some jerk on a ride-around mower wasted it all.
Before. Seedlings appear.
(Click for larger photo)I try not to let acts of wanton stupidity get to me, but this one was too painful to ignore.
There's a little park as you enter Kaaawa from the Kaneohe direction. It's directly across from Kaaawa Place. Erosion has been a terrible problem for years, and several large trees were toppled after storms tore up the coast a few years ago.
But slowly, to the joy of everyone who uses the beach, a batch of seedlings appeared and took hold last year. They've slowly grown. Some people carry containers of water over to nourish them, and one had grown to about 4 feet.
After. All gone.I think it's a city crew that maintains the area, but I shouldn't point fingers until I find out for sure.
Warning: this is gossip only. Not news. The rumor mill reports that Gannett's Honolulu Advertiser has bid cartoonist Daryl Cagle aloha in what's been described as a cost cutting move. He was one of the first staff additions, and now it seems he's one of the first victims of the newspaper war.
In case you missed, them, check out the two stories ("brings out best and worst" and "war spawns ugliness") in yesterday's Star-Bulletin on the current state of the newspaper war. I'm not going to comment on them until I've had a chance to reread both.And here's a bit of commentary about Gannett's latest free-by-mail weekly product, this from a reader who thankfully has saved me from more self-revealing blather this a.m.:
I'd like to take a moment to look at what the Advertiser is doing with that weekly ... THING ... they mail out. What the hell IS that, anyhow? A bunch of syndicated twaddle with no center, and only one locally written piece, encasing a mishmash of advertising. Out of four articles, one is written by Advertiser staff.Wait! I think I just described the Honolulu Advertiser!
All's quiet. Too quiet. I have to wonder what's going on behind the scenes in both Honolulu papers. Less and less insider info has been coming my way, and as we approach the two-month mark of my separation from the Star-Bulletin, the information gap grows.I've been stopped several times in the past few days by people asking if I think the S-B can survive. It must be something in the air. I'm told by some that the management attitude at the Star-Bulletin is: "If there's a problem, let's fix it." I've also heard, though, that the layer of Canadian managers are pretty sharp, but also naive about the practical side of putting out a daily metro newspaper.
I still say the Bulletin can make it. Although a much smaller paper at this point, ad sales are growing and it also lacks the voracious parent corporation demanding to be fed a steady series of inflated profits. If the S-B lasts through its first year of independent publication, then Gannett will run into its next stumbling block, the expiration of its current labor contracts, while the Star-Bulletin is operating under a 5-year labor contract with the Newspaper Guild. I'm watching to see whether or not Gannett actually breaks ground on its new printing plant, indicating that it's following through on long-term plans here. Until that happens, it appears that they're hedging their bets.
Black appears committed to operating the Star-Bulletin for 40 weeks, since under the terms of the new Star-Bulletin contract staff are entitled to a minimum of 40 weeks pay of the paper folds before that time. Unless it's just hemorrhaging cash at that point, I predict that it's going to survive, and may prove that two newspapers can be supported after all.
It's getting light in Kaaawa, the cats are out prowling (with an occasional pass through the house, or a pause to scratch at one of the screens), and it's time to get ready for the walk.
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