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From the small world department. Joe P. messaged me from Japan in reply to yesterday's note about the 5:13 a.m. garbage pickup, and pointed me back to a recent Kokua Line item in the Star-Bulletin, according to which residential pickups shouldn't begin before 6 a.m.And this sobering note about life at the Star-Bulletin/MidWeek speaks for itself, but first a disclaimer: While I have no reason to question the note's legitimacy, I haven't double-checked it, and don't know to what extent it might be representative.
You know Ian, I hate to say this but I know we interviewed almost all of the Advertisers managers. They were offered big money with big promises. They did the same thing with several on the sales force. I'm finding out now that they were smart to stay. The idea of what the Star-bulletin could be clouded reality, and most of us over here are now paying for it! Broken promises, being kept in the Canadian dark and working ungodly hours has taken it's toll. We now have nobody in advertising that knows the Hawaiian market. Meetings where the words use to inspire me, now they disgust me (because I know they are trying to use us). Papers are a business, we have to understand that. I wish I could say I was on the side that was doing things better, but that would be a lie and I'm not going to do that.It is funny reading what you and Burl write, while I'm out here doing it. Obviously Burl doesn't have many connections in sales, if he did I'm guessing he would be preaching a different story. As for the writer you printed today, they are obviously not in the inside of either paper. Printing opinions of the uninformed will just make you look foolish in the end. I hate to write this, but I cannot take it any more.
If you'd like to add your comments on conditions, just send me an email.
And in Kaaawa, the rambling rodent made his last run. Mr. Rat's adventure in our house ended before midnight in a brief confrontation with Ms. Kili just three feet from our bed. Unlike Leo, she knew exactly what to do and did it swiftly and cleanly. After that, we could all sleep a bit better.
5:13 a.m. and the city's garbage truck is already making it's run through the neighborhood. Luckily, our cans aren't picked up until tomorrow, but I'll have to remember to get an early start.Did you notice KHON's news anchor, Joe Moore, with one of his little bloopers on Wednesday night? It was in his little "did you know..." segment that ends each newscast.
Did you know...the first recorded reference to trees being a part of the Christmas celebration came in the 15th cnetury. Families in Strasbourg, Germany, decorated fir trees with colored paper, fruits and sweets.Then Joe added, "Way back in the 1500's!"
Well, Joe, did you know that the 15th century would have been the 1400's? I know--Picky, picky, picky, but it was jarring when he said it and earned a comment here.
This lengthy comment was sent in by someone who disclaims any personal link to the Star-Bulletin or MidWeek:
It is Christmas, I know. But the shopping spree at the SB/MW by Gannett is rather odd. I believe Gannett is planting a seed in minds of advertisers and the public that the SB/MW is sinking and thus employees are jumping ship. If not that, I believe Gannett feels as though it is throwing a blow at Black and his company by snatching key people--call it blow to morale. I realize the recent moves had a lot to do with money. Former SB/MW employees sought more money. Gannett flaunted their money. SB/MW employees were hypnotized.Gannett's shopping spree is going to cost them money. Sure, the Gannett Corp. is sitting on a heap of cash but everyone knows they are trying to cut back their expenses. Like the reckless shopper during the holidays, Gannett will soon realize that it has gone over budget and will need to find a remedy. Boy, I can image the discussion in their board room.
"How are we going to fix this latest mess?" asks one Exec.
"Let's terminate a handful of employees who have been with us well before we recruited our competitors," says one Exec.
"Good idea. Their contracts expire early next year. It will be easy to fire then. Heck, next year we will be firing left and right. It's going to be riot!" adds one Exec.
"Ha!" laughs another Exec. "I've got a better idea. In a few months, let's terminate the guys we just pulled from our competitor! They are the ones responsible for our shortfall!"
"Think we can pull that off?" asks one Exec.
"Hey, we've done it before. We can do it again. Remember what we did with that cartoonist? We hired 'em and we fired 'em."
I certainly hope the SB/MW turned Gannett crowd did not switch for the love of money, for they may soon realize that the higher salary for a few months was not worth the price they have to pay--unemployment.
Gannett is painting a picture in which the SB/MW is failing. What they do not realize is that they are painting a picture of their own future. I am a big believer in Karma (as you can tell by my email address--karmicvoyage@------.com).
Have you ever noticed how much more exciting life becomes when there's a large rat that's gone missing in the house? Perhaps not. In this case, it started with Mr. Silverman, who blasted through the cat door early yesterday morning with a gift for the household, a large lively rat. He proceeded to set it down at one side of the kitchen and then step back to admire his handiwork. Other cats came running to see what was going on, but they were too startled or inexperienced to get a quick hold on this visitor, who was moving very fast. And, when he went motionless, they quickly lost interest and wandered off, leaving Mr. Rat to make his escape.
Leo, on the floor, waits for the rat while Silverman, on the table, ignores it.
Needless to say, Mr. Rat made it through the kitchen and over to a bookshelf with Leo in close pursuit, hiding first behind the cookbooks and then, as I removed those from the shelves, taking refuge behind a large serving bowl. Silverman, meanwhile, the one who launched this incident, lounged on the dining table like a guy without a care in the world.
We do have a hunting cohort--Leo and Kili appear to be the lead hunters, with Harriet playing backup. They've spent the last 24-hours locating and staking out the rat's hiding places, and then launching into moments of chaos whenever the rat makes a run for another location.
At twenty minutes after midnight, I was awakened by sounds of the hunt. Unfortunately, the sounds were in our bedroom. The three hunters making up the rat patrol were in pursuit of Mr. Rat, who apparently made it to a hiding spot somewhere behind the bed, headboard, or bookcase. I got up, hoping those hunters would finally catch their prey. No such luck. I finally had to slip back into bed, hoping that the cats would prevent the rat from making a move into the bed. Kili snuggled right up on our pillows, without much in the way of a hunting attitude, but I tried to repress my squeamishness in order to get a few hours of sleep.
The cats are still on alert this morning, meaning that they still haven't dispatched Mr. Rat. I wonder whether we should leave a door open and hope that the rat finds it?
If you can't beat 'em, raid 'em. Gannett's raid continued yesterday, with news that the Star-Bulletin/MidWeek advertising director Jay Higa is also jumping ship and will begin work next month as the Advertiser's manager of retail advertising. Higa made an appearance over at the Advertiser yesterday as news of the move spread.And if these raids aren't enough of a problem for the Star-Bulletin, this little vignette was sent my way yesterday from a very reliable source:
I have now twice tried to subscribe to the SB since SB became independent without success. I subscribed via Internet just after the paper went "solo" and never received the paper. Then, 3 weeks ago I get a cold call asking me to ensure that Honolulu remains a two newspaper town and I agreed to subscribe. Caller said the paper would arrive in 2 or 3 days. Still no paper.I wonder how many others are having this problem.
And so do I. Wonder, that is.
It might go down as the newspaper war's terrible Tuesday, the day the Star-Bulletin absorbed another 1-2 punch.First a rumor around midday that MidWeek's longtime boss, Ken Berry, had resigned. This probably wouldn't have been a huge surprise on its own, but then came the bitter twist--he's resigned and moving to the Advertiser, which announced the move in its online edition yesterday afternoon, with an article following in today's paper.
Although a press release written by S-B publisher Don Kendall was circulating in their newsroom late yesterday, I didn't notice anything about Berry's move in my first pass through today's Bulletin.
Considering his intimate history with MidWeek over two decades, it would appear that Berry can provide the Advertiser with quite an intimate look at the inner workings of the competition. That alone is probably worth the price for them.
Then came blow #2 for the day--word that veteran investigative reporter Jim Dooley is leaving television and returning to the Advertiser, strengthening an already substantial news team and perhaps adding more emphasis to the divergence between the two newspapers approaches to news, with the Star-Bulletin veering towards "soft" news while the Advertiser reemphasizing "hard" news.
One S-B/MidWeek observer reacted:
Obviously, the bottom line comes first, especially in a time of economic and job insecurity. They were willing to pay for him. We were not.I'm glad to see his talents will return to the print arena. He was wasted on television. I doubt Gannett will give him his own office again, but he will certainly be returning to his old stomping ground. Hawaii's readers will benefit.
But the whole thing still depresses me. The Advertiser has successfully recruited someone who will come back to maim us, time and again. We are going to get mauled when it comes to investigative stories. We already are getting beat, and now it's going to get worse.
Dooley's choice of team is just another brick in the wall. He is going to cream us. And we will deserve it.
Another S-B staffer says there's talk of others being approached by the Advertiser, although without any mention of exactly who those "others" are.
Instead of giving away more free papers, the Advertiser now appears to be investing in journalism. Newspaper readers will be the beneficiaries, at least for as long as the current competitive situation exists.
And across the world, our government continues to commit potential war crimes in our name. Today's Washington Post reports that American officials are blocking the surrender of Al Qaeda soldiers:
One Afghan commander said, "The Arabs want to surrender. The Americans wouldn't let them." The commander, Yunas, added that instead of a deal, "an intense and severe fight" was now likely.If true, it's another in a string of policy decisions by our government which appear to violate international laws of war. Shame.
The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that online journalists have the same status as traditional media when defending against charges of libel, according to a report in Wired.com. Plaintiffs would have to meet the tough standards by the Supreme Court in the case of NYT v. Sullivan, which reduce journalists' exposure when reporting on public events. Thanks to Sen. Les Ihara for sending this link.Star-Bulletin sports editor Paul Arnett, another Kaaawa guy, slipped in some not too veiled criticism of the University of Hawaii athletic department and the Advertiser in a column yesterday. The aside jumped out at me as I read Paul's piece:
THROUGH THE YEARS, no one can ever claim I have been a fan of UH. And that's as it should be. While the athletic department has tried for a decade to bend the will of this department by leaking stories to the competition and refusing to comment in critical situations, this staff has stood firm and will continue to do so long after the current athletic director and his assistants are gone from the scene.As a journalism teacher once told me, "We'll be here on their way up, and their way down."
Way to go, Paul!
Here's what I got back in response to my complaint about the running dogs of Haahaa Street:
Following up on your request, our office contacted the Hawaiian Humane Society this morning and received a phone call from Darryll, an animal control officer who called on-site from Kaaawa. He noticed that both dogs were adequately on-site and they both have the required (dog tag) licenses.Darryll spoke to a house guest that was present and informed her of the situation and to have the owners call him. In addition, he left a message on Mrs. M_'s cell voicemail to contact him.
Mrs. M_ returned Darryll's call and informed him that the adjacent neighbor to their property is selling their house and their fences have holes. To make up for this, Mr. & Mrs. M_ erected chicken wire. They were unaware that the dogs left the property (by digging under the wire) until the neighbors began complaining about them.
Darryll indicated that Mrs. M_ has "resolved the matter" and spoken directly with the owner of the injured guinea pig and the cat and that "everything is resolved." That being the case, Darryll has now closed this case (Case # 01-1210-003).
Darryll recommended that if any other incidents should occur, please contact the Hawaiian Humane Society again, as well as the owner, whom he said was "a very nice lady."
If you have any further concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office. Mahalo!
Sunny Greer
Aide to Councilmember Steve Holmes
(Kahuku - Kaaawa)
There were another pair of spectacular sunrises over the weekend. This one went through a series of stages, shifting colors from red to orange to this.
It gets us out of bed in the morning, if nothing else.
One of the best things about weekends is that there's time to cook.
Saturday night, while fretting about Lizzie's absence, I decided to do something with red wine. Not having any exotic ingredients, it had to be basic. So I started by browning onions for color and sweetness, added wine and garlic, threw in a couple of chicken breasts, and let the liquid cook down a couple of times. Added some chopped carrots and celery near the end, and served over mashed potatoes.
Luckily Ms. Lizzie showed up just before it was ready to serve, so that we could relax and enjoy it. And we did.
I've only gotten one sketchy account of Saturday's Star-Bulletin/MidWeek Christmas party at the Hawaii Prince . Nobody was drinking too much and getting rowdy this year, I'll bet, since after paying $30 each for the dinner, staffers discovered drinks were being sold for another $5 each. After years of company paid holiday parties, this caused a lot of grumbling, I'm sure.
Another day, another disappearance. Lizzie took off again. This time she wasn't around when we got home Friday night, and didn't show up again until 7:30 last night. Knowing she had done it before, we tried to repress the anxiety, but there was the dark worry beneath it all--three strikes, and she's out. So we worried. I was nervous enough to get a lot of work done, then made the mistake of turning on the tube to see the score in the UH football game, and got glued there.Detectives in training should be assigned to interrogate a runaway cat. At least that's what I told Meda last night after Lizzie returned. Figuring out where she's disappearing to--Lizzie, that is, not Meda--is proving to be a real investigative challenge.
It rained hard in the late afternoon. She showed up dry. That has to mean that she was in a dry place, but also that she had a way to get from there to here without pushing through wet grass and bushes. She didn't smell of wild grasses or the great outdoors. She wasn't dirty, except for some dirt on her paws, which just looked like she had walked under our house briefly. She was very hungry, so she wasn't sitting around being pampered by a neighbor. She seems a little depressed, and tired, but not wild and spooked. I've looked at her paws, claws, and other parts for clues, none jumped out at me. That's a clue in itself, but I don't know what it means.
I shouldn't inflict this cat angst onto the rest of you, but it's a major life factor right now and tough to ignore. Then there's the buzz along the street about whether and how to confront the new neighbors over their disruptive actions, from letting the dogs run to running a business out of the garage, and drinking in the garage with the work crew late each night.
Meantime, we've got the backdrop of John Ashcroft spewing rhetoric like Spiro Agnew and posturing like Joe McCarthy, and network pundits oozing about how macho the act is.
Then there's the repeat viewing of the CIA videotape of American "agents" interviewing the 20-year old Californian gone Taliban, complete with not very subtle death threats by the agents, and those same oozing pundits crowing about how bad it looks for the kid.
On the other hand, Ms. Lizzie did come home. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning in Kaaawa, destined for a refreshed photo gallery later today. I've got Ms. Wally in my lap, at her insistence. Silverman's hanging around more than normal after being corralled overnight with the rest of the herd. Baby, the rescued rooster, is hanging around, with an occasional foray up onto the front deck. All in all, just a normal Sunday in the country.
Kaaawa Red
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