i L i n d . n e t

Chuck Freedman, local Obama campaigner and staffer for House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, has an interesting column that appeared in his hometown newspaper, Greenwich Time (CT) linking his high school experience as caddie for Jackie Robinson to his current support for Barack Obama. I haven’t found it online yet, but luckily Chuck sent along a copy.

It seems like an unusual amount of down time on the state’s various public computer systems. The Judiciary file system was down in May, an outage blamed on “an old, faulty server which crashed.”

PBN reported on Friday that the Bureau of Conveyances has also had a meltdown.

Hawaii businesses and homeowners needing to look up real property titles have been frustrated since a power outage June 4 shut down four public-access computers at the state Bureau of Conveyances.

Power was soon restored, but for unexplained reasons images of scanned documents can no longer be viewed.

Deputy registrar Nicki Thompson said the data is safe and can be printed, but she was unsure when the viewing capability would be restored.

The bureau, housed in the Department of Land and Natural Resources at the Kalanimoku Building on Punchbowl Street, stores more than 344,000 records.

Then there’s our own Hawaiian Telcom. Jeff Garland reports that he lost the ability to send email for 52 hours, possibly extended because he was initially deterred by wait times of about an hour or more to reach the company’s customer service and report the outage.

Let’s see. Looking ahead to the Democratic National Convention. There is still floating unhappiness over potential lack of diversity among bloggers chosen for the State Blogger Corps, remedied somewhat by an additional group added to a general blogger pool who will be getting media credentials. Here’s a relatively representative blog entry about the situation. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has launched “Road to Denver“, an official web site devoted to national convention delegates.

But while bloggers are wrestling over convention credentials, Denver has announced an approved parade route for groups planning to march towards the convention at downtown Denver’s Pepsi Center. At the same time, Denver police are stocking up on pepper spray and other nonlethal weapons, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Aloha, Democrats, fair warning!

A Wall Street Journal blog previews Ted Stevens re-election battle in Alaska, where Hawaii’s Sen. Dan Inouye has jumped party lines to support his longtime friend.

Meanwhile, news seems to go from bad to worse for the newspaper industry. McClatchy is the latest to announce big layoffs while advertising revenues continue to tank tank.

Gannet reported a continuing drop in ads, down 14.3 percent in May, driving its stock price down to a level last seen in 1994, and financial analysts say the price still hasn’t falling into what could be considered bargain territory. I shudder to think what this is doing to the pensions of long-time Gannett employees whose retirement plans were heavily invested in the company’s stock.

Today Gannett announced a major investment in Cozi, “a free Web service that helps busy families manage schedules, share information and stay in communication.”

Cozi launched in the fall of 2006 and now has more than 600,000 family members. The innovative web service provides modern solutions to help families organize and simplify their busy lives with a central family calendar, customized shopping and to-do lists, an easy-to-use family blog and simple messaging tools to stay in communication – all in one place. Families can access Cozi from home, work or on-the-go with any computer or mobile phone so they are always connected to the information they need.

Introducing a new dog on the beach,

This is Ms. Cassie, who has been joining her people on the beach in the morning for a couple of weeks now. Cassie and her family used to live on the other end of Kaaawa, now have moved down closer to the beach.

She’s a pretty dog and will stand up and dance for a doggie treat.

Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of her.

Former Star-Bulletin assistant managing editor Rich Somerville died over the weekend at his home in California.

I got the news from John Hollon, former executive editor at the Advertiser. Here is John’s note:

I knew Rich from when we both were at The Advertiser in the mid-1990s, and I kept in touch with him over the years, especially after he moved to California. You and many others probably remember him well from his time at the Star-Bulletin.

Rich always was warm and gracious. I could count on him for an insightful comment about journalism, or newspapers, or people we both knew. I will miss that, and him, greatly.

Here’s the last e-mail I received from him in early November of 2007. It updates what he had been doing, and knowing Rich, he wouldn’t mind me sharing it with you or anyone else:

John:

I just signed up for LinkedIn, on your advice, so I don’t get lost again.

I have been moving around a lot since I left Hawaii the second time in 1996. I had a doctoral fellowship at Missouri (still trying to finish the dissertation), worked on media research at the Readership Institute at Northwestern, went back into the newsroom to try out some of our research findings (at Grass Valley, CA), then did consulting around the country for several years on newsroom change before being tapped for this job. It’s kind of a troubleshooter position, an extension of the consulting.

An archconservative businessman here started a free, home-delivered daily to drive this MediaNews paper out of business because it endorsed his wife’s opponent for mayor a couple of years ago. It costs him maybe $5M a year to stay in business, but he sees it as a crusade against Dean Singleton. Singleton made me an offer I couldn’t refuse to come in and strengthen the news side.

A year later, and things are going well. Our paper keeps improving, circulation is up, and word comes that the other paper (The Eureka Reporter) is laying off and tightening their belts. I’m enjoying the battle a lot, plus this is a great place to live.

Thanks for agreeing to check out Sharon’s stuff. Meanwhile, if you’re ever want to get away from the heat, this is a great place to visit, and I have room for guests where I live, in a little seaside town called Trinidad.

All the best; good to touch base again.

Rich

I ran into this profile of Somerville, which will give you a bit more insight into the man.

Condolences to those who were close to him.

A group of Maui residents is scheduled to go to court today to press their lawsuit over alleged sunshine law violations by the Maui County Council, according to a good story in the Maui Weekly. The plaintiffs claim the county improperly approved the Honua‘ula development by avoiding public opposition.

In April, Wailuku Attorney Lance Collins filed a lawsuit on behalf of five Kihei residents for the alleged violation of Hawai‘i’s Sunshine Law, or the open meetings law, which provides transparency in government decision-making, in addition to requiring public commentary be accepted at every meeting of a public board or agency. The suit alleged that the residents had been denied the opportunity to provide testimony over a two-month period, and that council members had also distributed documents and engaged in private discussions concerning proposed amendments related to the issue. Collins filed the motion several days after Mayor Charmaine Tavares signed the bills that would move the project forward. Collins requested that Second Circuit Court Judge Joseph Cardoza void the council’s decision to grant zoning for the project. In order to fairly review the case, Judge Cardoza issued an injunction preventing any further development on the project, giving both parties an equal chance to prepare their case.

In an interview with The Maui News, Collins said the members of the council’s Land Use Committee violated the statute by improperly conducting 13 council hearings, citing a continuous pattern of abruptly recessing and erratically scheduling hearings on different days of the week. It is suspected by many that the committee employed these tactics to avoid public testimony at the deliberations.

From our neighbor in Kaaawa:

Sometimes you just can’t believe your eyes. This week is one of those times.
On Wednesday night, June 18th, step outside at sunset and look around. You’ll see a giant form rising in the east. At first glance it looks like the full Moon. It has craters and seas and the face of a man, but this “moon” is strangely inflated. It’s huge!

You’ve just experienced the Moon Illusion. This web site explains the phenomenon and gives moon rise times for major cities

So weather permitting, take a peek when the moon rises tonight.

Am I the only one who thinks that this brief report on a local indictment deserved a bit more attention? I recall the early reports of this incident, which followed a series of disputes between the state airport officials and officers of the small Pacific Wings airline. Articles at the time left open just which side was responsible for the violent incident. Now, three years down the line, it’s the security company’s personnel who allegedly committed tried to rig up false witness reports and are facing prison time. What about DOT? We need a better assessment of its role in the whole sequence of events leading involving Pacific Wings.

Great. PBN reports that Hawaii now has the highest diesel cost in the nation. We have a diesel VW Jetta. When we bought it just a few years ago, diesel cost quite a bit less than premium gas. Today, well, every fill up is an occasion for comment, despite the car’s excellent mileage. We filled up yesterday morning for $5.199 per gallon, two cents less than the $5.22 quoted in the PBN story. Wow. We got away cheap!

An editorial in the Maui News ties the current water crisis on Molokai to the County Council’s past delegation of authority regarding provision of utilities to the developers behind new projects. It’s worth a read.

Here’s an interesting story here from Law.com on “loaded words” like “victim” and “crime scene” being barred from trials. Can’t help wondering if this has happened here yet.

I ran into a couple of CDs yesterday with some of my first digital photos taken in 1998.

Here’s one dated June 1998. It’s Kili and Wally at six months, taken with my original digital, a Ricoh RDC-2, I believe was the designation. With resolution slightly more than 640×480 that prevailed at that time, it was my gateway to the digital world. I’m so glad to discover that those early digital images have survived, although I had to download Graphic Converter, the only software I could think of capable of opening the non-standard image format.

I noticed a revealing item in a Star-Bulletin story this morning. The story is a straight forward account of a U.S. Department of Labor ruling disqualifying a candidate for a Laborers’ Union office because of a prior felony conviction.

Oliver Kupau III has been a business agent for the union local before running for a top union position, according to the story, but according to the feds is ineligible either to hold a union office or to be employed by the union.

At the bottom of the story, Kupau’s salary is reported, citing ” the Center for Union Facts — a nonprofit watchdog that tracks abuse by union officials at www.unionfacts.com.”

Nonprofit watchdog?

According to Source Watch: “The Center for Union Facts is a secretive front group for individuals and industries opposed to union activities.”

American Rights at Work says: “The Center for Union Facts is a front group focused on damaging the public image of unions, depressing workers’ rights, pushing legislation that would make it more difficult for workers to join unions, and furthering an anti-union business climate. ”

Wikipedia says: “The Center for Union Facts is an advocacy group critical of union officials’ activities. It is one of several advocacy and public relations groups created by Richard Berman. Berman’s Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm, Berman and Company, specializes in research, communications and advertising.”

The depressing thing is that there was no reason to turn to a blatantly anti-labor organization for salary information when the U.S. Labor Department makes those annual union reports, known as Form LM-2, directly available on its official web site. It’s easy to search for an individual union local using the DOL search page. In the case of the Laborers’ Local 368, the Labor Department has the reports through 2007.

Unfortunately, the Star-Bulletin didn’t realize that reliance on the anti-union Center for Union Facts reveals more about the newspaper than about the union business it was reporting.

I shouldn’t admit this, but…I was sitting at our dining table in front of my computer in the semi-darkness, just finishing up this item about the Center for Union Facts, when out of the darkness came a stream of warm liquid, just missing the computer and spraying my arm and down onto the floor. If you guessed cat pee, you would be right. I had just started to sputter and curse when I heard Leo leap off the table and race off across the room. By the time I rinsed my arm and wiped up the residue, he got close enough for me to snatch him up and toss him out the door onto the front deck. Now for the last several minutes he’s been pathetically standing there scratching at the door, desperately trying to signal that he wants to reenter. I’ll probably relent. So it goes.

A sign of the times, courtesy of a friend in Honolulu:

I got in the mail today an offer of receiving an unsecured loan of $1000 or $2000 - the catch is that the interest rate is 96% - at first I thought that this was a joke - but it’s not. It’s Brookwood Loans of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I wonder how many people in Hawaii have been mailed these ridiculous “offers”. Then again - I am thinking more deviously - since I am newly unemployed, has the DLIR record been sold to Brookwood? Lingle promised to run the government like a “business” - could this be an aspect of it? Its the timing of this ridiculous offer that causes me to think this way.

An astute question, but these solicitations have been in circulation for a while. I noted this blog entry from back in January concerning a similar solicitation, with some background on the company behind it, Meta Financial Group, Inc., a publicly owned company which trades under the stock symbol, CASH. That’s not to say there isn’t a link here to employment status, but I wouldn’t assume it.

But a 96 percent rate of interest? That sounds like the days of loan sharking. Watch your kneecaps if you fall behind in those hefty payments.

Stick this in your “how time flies” file. A classmate of mine at University High School came up with his own “remember when” list.

For more unbelievable memories – in our family’s lunch-wagon, we sold the following:

Shaved ice: 5 cents (did you know that keyboards don’t have the “cents” icon?)

Candy bars: 5 cents except Nestle Crunch which was 10 c.

Hotdogs: 20 c

Hamburgers: 25 c

Potato chips: 10 c

Saimin: 25 c.

Regular plate lunch: 50 c

Mixed plate lunch (bbq meat, fried chicken, kau yuk, mac salad, and rice): 75 c

Bottled soda: 10 c

On a very good day, we grossed $100 in sales. I have no idea what our net income was, but this supported our family of seven.

Animal lovers, take note. The Advertiser reports that Randall Lockwood, of the American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals is speaking tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 6 p.m. at the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Among the topics he’ll discuss are animal fighting, animal hoarding, animal CSI, why dogs and cats do the things they do and also an update on Michael Vick’s fighting dogs.

Ah, perhaps this is an appropriate time for a bit more canine energy.

This is Ms. Hoku. She isn’t outside every morning when we walk by, but she would like to be. When she is out, she waits in the corner of the yard and barks a welcome as we approach. Then it’s over to the gate, where she stands up and waits for a dog biscuit. On this recent morning, she was true to form.

If clicking on the photo doesn’t work, try clicking here to download the movie.

Meda was reading one of the Sunday newspapers after our morning walk yesterday when she looked across to the kitchen. I was busy. A batch of brownies had just gone in the oven in preparation for our drive into town to deliver a Father’s Day lunch to my parents. I had four strips of turkey bacon cooking in a pan on the stove, while I was separating eggs for our Sunday morning egg white omelet. Eggs done, I chopped a hard-boiled egg and mixed it into the batch of potato salad prepared Saturday night, then dug out a jar of sweet pickles to add a bit of pickle juice to the potato salad for flavor, along with a dollop of low-fat mayonnaise, a slight flavor enhancement over the non-fat variety relied on for this relatively “healthy” salad. And I had just finished those jobs when the bacon was ready, so it was time to beat the egg whites with a hand whisk and then tend the omelet while a few slices of Star Bakery’s sourdough whole wheat bread went into the toaster.

Meda’s comment: “Who said men can’t multi-task?”

Here’s the resulting breakfast. Egg white omelet, with one egg yolk included, toast, turkey bacon, and coffee.

Oh, did I mention the cat?

Ms. Kili decided to settle down between my breakfast and my computer, also on the table. You’ll have to click on the photo to see the whole scene.

Oh–need I mention that the lunch with my parents was a nice event. At 94, both enjoyed the visit, the meal, and a few Father’s Day presents.

Thanks to Doug White (www.poinography.com) for an interesting post concerning the anti-rail petition drive, and offering the occasion for the excellent comments that fill in some of the political context of the petition backers.

Here’s what “Bob” had to say:

Look at the related organizations. There are 12 people who represent over 20 “organizations.” Cliff Slater is about 6 of them himself. Prevedorous is president of the Hawaii Highway Users Alliance (autodealers, petroleum, conrete, bus companies, etc.) and affiliated with the Amerian Highway Users Alliance (anti-rail accross the country).

Most of the for right (right of Ron Paul) haoles worship at the alter of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (Slater and Dale Evans are board members, Pano is on their “Board of Schollars, whatever the hell that is, Malia Zimmerman a co-founder, etc.) Their new President, Jamie Story is a recent Miss Texas and former staffer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, another far-right WASP fest. They funded all anti rail activities (and still do in Texas). Just a coincidenc she showed up. They have a history of not wanting to talk about where their money comes from either.

E.W. Scripps is splitting into separate companies, one for its healthy cable networks and the other for its newspapers, which include the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel and the Ventura County (Calif.) Star, along with the Scripps Howard News Service. At least one financial analyst expects the newspaper unit to face immediate financial pressure and a low stock price.

The head of the new newspaper company said it will focus on local markets and local issues, following Gannett’s focus on local news. He also predicted a rough ride for newspaper employees (surprise?).

Boehne said E.W. Scripps’ focus will be on local markets, where he says growth opportunities exist.

“This split gives us the opportunity to focus on media that is intensely local, and this company will be intensely local,” Boehne said.

He said a priority will be to command the largest multi-platform audience in each market.

Representatives of the Memphis Newspaper Guild, a Scripps shareholder and a union that represents employees at Scripps’ newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., The Commercial Appeal, expressed concern about the weaker profit margins in the new E.W. Scripps Co.

“I think the split is basically going to be good for the shareholders, but I’m not sure how good it will be for the newspaper employees,” said Reggie Sudduth, president of the Memphis Guild.

Google for “pets floods” or “pets flooding” for updates on rescue efforts underway in Iowa and other states facing major flooding.

The Office of Elections has invited legislators to a demonstration of the new Election Night Reporting system (ENR) which is planned to be up and running by this fall’s elections.

This ENR system will enable any person in any location with internet access to obtain up to date election results down to the county and precinct level. THis system has been widely tested and successfully used in many states on the mainland.

The demonstration will be held on Tuesday, June 17, in Room 309 at the State Capitol beginning at 2:30 p.m. Is it considered a “private” demonstration or open to the public? Unknown.

On the important ag lands bill, one reader commented:

I think Jill and Dean did a good job talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the measure. A problem with the opposition has been its propensity to go to ludicrous extremes in describing what the bill could do. Because they are environmentalists, their credibility is high, especially with the print media. But in some cases, especially with this bill, they demonize good intentions. It’s disheartening that we can’t do better in our dialogue on issues like this.

I fear that if the governor vetoes the measure that comprehensive planning for important agriculture will sit around in the mulch pile for another 30 years.

I received an email earlier this week from Clarissa Tourtelot, Account-Supervisor-Marketing at Communications Pacific, inviting me to attend the media preview of Bodies…The Exhibition, which opened at Ala Moana Center yesterday. She said that she had seen what I wrote in Honolulu Weekly. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. I’m afflicted with too much moral imagination to want to gawk at preserved cadavers that might have been political prisoners who died in Chinese prisons. Apparently there are a lot of others who feel the same way, judging by the comments on this Star-Bulletin story.

Hmmm. Not only did the Advertiser run a “breaking news” story on Thursday that linked directly to a GMAC Insurance ad, but then they turned around the next day and ran a “local news” story based on the results of the insurer’s “test” and readers comments on the ‘Tiser web site. Manufactured news at its best!

This book cover might look familiar to regulars here at iLind.net, because the appeared here back in 2005, courtesy of Amy Price, a Texan who happens to own a house in Kaaawa.

Amy says the author of this new book ran the Ghost Tours at Carnton Mansion, where the ghostly cover photo was taken.

She reports: “It’s a good read - her writing is lively with interesting stories. ”

And finally, for this Sunday morning, here’s a calming 15-seconds or so from our Saturday morning on the beach in Kaaawa.

Just click on the photo…But if that doesn’t work, try this link.

Laurie Carlson, publisher of Honolulu Weekly and Hawaii Island Journal (at least until today’s announced closing of HIJ), emailed these corrections to what I wrote earlier in the week about the Journal’s demise.

1. Peter Serafin was on vacation on the mainland when I decided to close the Journal. I’m unsure as to why it came as a total surprise, given concerns and reductions in the editorial budget shared in Hilo with Peter in January. I told him when I called about the closure that low ad revenue and losses year to date were the reasons why.

2. The Journal has never had anywhere near the Weekly’s revenue–contrary to your impressions in reviewing ad space in either publication.

Meanwhile, Big Island activist Jim Albertini sent out this message last night:

I trust all of you have heard about the closing of the Hawaii Island Journal. From what I have heard, there is some talk of a possible rescue attempt. If any of you know some rich, liberal investors, (or of anyone with jobs for displaced good journalists ) please let me know. I believe it is very important to have an independent alternative newspaper here on Hawaii Island. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald, owner of the Big Island Weekly and West Hawaii Today, has too much power and media control.

As promised a couple of days ago, here’s a link to the discrimination suit filed against the Honolulu Advertiser on Tuesday.

In the complaint, former editorial staffer Pati Poblete alleges she was recruited by editorial and opinion editor Jeanne Mariani-Belding between April and July, 2006. At the time, according to Poblete’s complaint, Mariani-Belding said she expected to be promoted to publisher “within 3-4 months after Plaintiff was hired”.

The suit alleges Mariani-Belding made numerous disparaging remarks about Filipino employees and political figures, and later “admitted making the racial statements”.

Of course, this is a complaint containing untested allegations, so it shouldn’t be simply accepted as fact. That said, it provides lots of grist for the gossip mill.

A reader sent this comment:

I check The Advertiser’s web site as a matter of course several times throughout the day. This article caught my interest, so I clicked through the link – to an ad!!! What the hell is that all about?

Is this a direction supposed news sites are going in, disguising ads as news content? EEEEWWWWW!

PBS Hawaii’s Island Insights on Thursday night featured a discussion of SB2646, the important agricultural lands bill passed by the Legislature this year. I’ve written about it here several times, such as in this entry and in this Honolulu Weekly column.

So I was prepared to fully support the critical views of attorney Kimo Frankel and Molokai’s Glenn Teves, who fear this compromise measure represents a giveaway to big land owners. But Dean Okimoto of Nalo Farms, current president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau, and Sen. Jill Tokuda, who introduced SB2646, made quite a persuasive case, in my view.

The problem is that critics tend to see the bill in terms of future risks that development will displace more agricultural uses, while Okimoto based his support for the bill on what it will do for struggling farmers trying to keep their agricultural businesses alive right now. His message appears to be that it doesn’t make sense to wait for a perfect bill to protect land from development and keep it open for future agricultural use unless you do something now to keep existing agricultural businesses alive. Wait for the hypothetical future bill that doesn’t require political compromises and there won’t be any farmers left to benefit or to take advantage of its protections.

There was also a notably tense exchange in which Frankel criticized the bills proponents for not seeking out the views of critics, while Okimoto seemed somewhere between angry and exasperated when he referred to meetings on the issues with two of Frankel’s colleagues, implying that they had fair warning but failed to jump into the often messy legislative process in a timely fashion.

I still have doubts about the version of the bill that passed, but in this round the bill’s proponents made a very good case that it should be signed into law.

Things are beginning to shape up for the Democratic National Convention, which begins August 24 in Denver. Hawaii delegates were elected during the state convention last month. Click here for the full slate of Hawaii delegates who will be going to Denver.

A message from Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper distributed by the Denver Convention Host Committee tried to put the expected crowd at the August convention into perspective:

While as many as 50,000 visitors are anticipated between Saturday, August 23 and Thursday, August 28 - including delegates, assorted guests and 15,000 members of the media - it is important to remember that this is less than the number of people that come downtown for Rockies’ Opening Day or for a Broncos game. Denver has hosted games in all three downtown stadiums at the same time, involving close to 150,000 people.

The convention, to be held in Pepsi Center, will require $15 million in modifications, which are underway. It will also require as yet undisclosed security procedures, including possible restrictions on rail travel. Although there is a light rail station just 200 feet from the building, it isn’t clear yet what, if any, security restrictions there will be, according to a recent story in the Denver Post. It may be that convention creditials may be needed in order to exit the rail line at Pepsi Center. It is clear, however, that convention organizers are relying on the rail system to make the logistics of the four-day convention work.

The Hawaii delegation, for example, will be staying at a hotel in the Denver suburb of Littleton. The rail system will provide the primary mode of transportation between the hotel and the convention itself. Cars are being actively discouraged.

Public protests during the convention are being anticipated. Mayor Hickenlooper points to the 10,000 demonstrators at the last convention in Boston.

Some peaceful demonstrations are anticipated in Civic Center, Skyline Park and other downtown parks during the week of the Convention.

As a point of reference, approximately 75,000 to 100,000 people gathered in Civic Center Park for a May 2006 rally, and it did not inconvenience downtown businesses, residents or City services. The annual set-up for the Downtown Denver Partnership’s Taste of Colorado will also begin in Civic Center on the Wednesday of the Convention week.

A designated parade route - the details of which will be announced by June 12 - will provide organizations that want to march toward the Pepsi Center a safe means to do so in a manner and timeframe that minimizes mobility impacts on downtown businesses, residents and visitors.

Designated state bloggers are still struggling with basic logistics. Finding a place to stay has not been easy for those without assistance from state Democratic Party officials or from friends in the area.

We’ve gotten warnings about the crush of media. Wifi will likely be overloaded in Pepsi Center, and organizers say they will try to make hard wire connections available in order to post from the convention. I presume this means that cell phone and wireless broadband service at the convention may also have capacity issues. So there are a lot of technological surprises to look forward to.

We’ve also been told that many convention activities will take place outside of Pepsi Center, in adjacent parts of downtown. In addition, there’s the Big Tent.

he DNCC is working with a group of Denver-based organizations to create a blog-friendly media center near the Convention site. “The Big Tent” is a project of ProgressNow, the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, The Wright Group and Daily Kos. This media facility will operate throughout the week of the Convention just a few blocks from the Pepsi Center.

Participants in The Big Tent will enjoy a WiFi-enabled, air-conditioned blogging/new media lounge, “The Big Stage,” with some of the most well known faces in the non-profit and political world, as well as food, drinks, entertainment, and much more.

All in all, it’s shaping up as quite an experience.

Another Friday, another look at our Kaaawa felines.

This is Mr. Leo. He was sleeping up on top of our kitchen cabinets when a noise outside disrupted his slumber.

That’s his look of annoyed confusion.

And, yes, he is just a little cross-eyed. We have always said that he’s a Siamese trapped in a gray tiger’s body.

Anyway, click on the photo for more.

The rain finally hit Kaaawa over night. It’s been raining on and off since somewhere just after midnight. Power went out briefly just before 2 a.m., resetting most of our clocks. The clocks confused us, the rain has confused the cats, who have been enjoying unusually dry weather for a while now.

Pacific Business News followed up yesterday with a brief entry about the closing of Hawaii Island Journal. According to PBN:

Journal editor Peter Serafin told PBN that Carlson called him Monday about the paper’s closure but gave no reason for the shutdown.

“It came as a complete surprise,” Serafin said.

A phone call from the owner with the bad news? Wouldn’t that have at least warranted a flight to Hilo to break the news in person, despite the unpleasant circumstances? I’m sorry. At least Rupert Phillips showed up in the Star-Bulletin newsroom to announce his 1999 plan to close the paper. A phone call? Bad form.

The Star-Bulletin reports this morning that the Advertiser has been hit with a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

Pati Poblete, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday against Gannett Publishing LLC, alleges that Advertiser Editorial and Opinion Page Editor Jeanne Mariani-Belding discriminated against her soon after she was hired as deputy editorial page editor on Sept. 12, 2006, until she resigned Nov. 6.

Advertiser Editor Mark Platte called the charges of racial discrimination, retaliation and emotional distress “baseless” and said the newspaper would fight the case.

Among other things, according to the S-B, Mariani-Belding:

…allegedly asserted that Honolulu Councilman Nestor Garcia has “a brain the size of a pea” and that state Rep. Rida Cabanilla-Arakawa, also of Filipino ancestry, is “dumber than a doorknob.”

Mariani-Belding is a former Star-Bulletin reporter who came back to the Advertiser from the San Jose Mercury News.

I’ll post the complaint later today when I have a chance to download it. Check back.

And news of Gannett’s big asset write down and pension freeze are still reverberating. Jim Romenesko printed a memo sent to Gannett employees by company CEO Craig Dubow. And comments have been piling up at the Gannett Blog concerning the pension freeze.

There’s another recent Gannett Blog entry which comments on the changing perspective of Gannett management towards this independent blog by a former USA Today editor from cautiously welcoming to apparently hostile. It’s quite interesting to see the different perspectives expressed in the comments. As one who also deals with issues involving a former employer, this mini debate is most informative.

Did you read about the woman who has been living on the Queen Elizabeth 2 on continual cruises since 1999? Now that the ship is being retired, she has to find a new cruise ship to call home.

Muller began sailing on the QE2 full time after her husband died (during a cruise on the ship; the couple already had become regulars). She told The Times her cabin costs about $7,000 a month, which compares favorably to the cost of a retirement home in Florida. But “it’s far more pleasant,” she told the paper. “They don’t organize you like senior citizens’ homes must do.”

The thing that caught my eye is that she says the cost is about $7,000 per month. By my calculation, that’s just about what you would have to pay on a $1 million mortgage. Given the number of million-dollar homes in play, even after the housing slump, perhaps this isn’t such an unrealistic solution after all.

I found and scanned a few more old photos this week. These were taken in 1966 and 1967, this one by the old Queen’s Surf and others around the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor.

Lots of building has gone on during the intervening 40 years, that’s for sure.

Just click on this photo for the new gallery.