BY SAM SLOM –Proud to be an American. Hawaii officially became a state on August 21, 1959, after 94 percent of the voting population enthusiastically supported entrance into the union. Statehood, or Admission Day, was established as a paid state holiday in Hawaii decades ago. Problem is, for nearly the last two decades, Hawaii officials have been fearful of actually openly celebrating the day or verbalizing taking any pride in being an American because of discontent among certain native Hawaiian activist groups. Several years ago, it got ugly; I know because I sponsored a statehood event when no one else would. After that, I suggested eliminating this day as a paid government holiday since the government no longer wants to acknowledge the benefits of being the 50th State. The law was changed, but only to designate the third Friday in August as another government day off to go to the beach, shopping, or have protests against the USA, etc. This Friday is Statehood Day. While some may celebrate quietly and privately, or not at all, I’m still proud to be an American.
Green Bunnies, Blue Bunnies. Using an active transgenesis technique founded by medical researchers at the University of Hawai`i Mānoa, scientists in Turkey have produced glowing green bunnies. This is the first time the UH technique has been used to produce green rabbits. The transgenic bunnies were born last week at a university in Istanbul. In normal lighting, they look just like their furry, white rabbit siblings. But when exposed to black light, the pair of transgenic bunnies shines a vivid shade of green.
Previously, UH created green mice. You may ask why we’d want to have green bunnies.
Some questions come to mind: Will the bunnies join in with UH Rainbow Dancers at the UH football games or join the UH football team as the new mascot? Will the bunnies receive taxpayer salaries for not playing or doing anything at all as some humans are doing at UH right now? And, for the Blue Bunny ice cream fans, these green bunnies are not blue bunnies and probably should not be eaten.
Perry on the Left… Hawaii’s highest-rated morning radio personalities, Michael W. Perry and Larry Price, celebrated 30 years together at last Saturday’s Ala Moana breakfast program. The odd couple of radio-(who put Perry on the left and Price on the right anyway?)-started on the old KGMB AM 590 after the death of radio legend, Hal Lewis, aka “J. Akuhead Pupule,” Now, Perry & Price are radio legends. Congratulations to them both.
Celebrate with a Bang. Every Friday night, Hilton Hawaiian Village lights up the skies over Waikiki with a spectacular fireworks show. The Hilton has added a second show, which debuted Tuesday, Aug. 6. The show is now scheduled for every Tuesday at 8 p.m. and every Friday at 7:45 p.m.
Guava Chiffon Pancakes, Japanese Style? Cinnamon’s in Kailua, one of the community’s most popular restaurants for breakfast and lunch, is expanding its business to Japan, opening a new restaurant in Tokyo on August 26, according to a KITV 4 News Report. Cinnamon’s is known for its delicious eggs benedict and its pancakes that come in several varieties such as red velvet, guava chiffon and carrot. Chef Carsie Green told KITV: “We started by making a carrot pancake. I always thought what you make into a cake or cookie, you could turn into a pancake.” >See the story on KITV
We’ve had many delicious meals at Cinnamon’s and wish the family owned business great success.
Historic Position Available.
Qualified applicants are invited to submit their resumes to: Department of Land and Natural Resources Personnel Office, Attention: Ms. Alice Schutte,1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 231, Honolulu, HI 96813
Hawaii Kai Library Community Bookstore. “Hawaii Kai Community Bookstore” at Hawaii Kai Library has been in operation since April, and now the store run by “the friends of the HK library” is planning a grand opening from August 22-24. It is a ‘community store’ run by students and residents as volunteers. All materials sold are donated by the community residents as well, and most importantly, all proceeds go right back to the library.
A welcome invitation, 25 years in the making. Seawind Tours & Travel, Inc. prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, this unique Hawaii-based company is also pleased to announce that it recently was invited to join the elite network of Virtuoso members. Founded on August 8, 1988 by Randy King and Kalena Yim, Seawind Tours & Travel, Inc. has an established reputation for designing and implementing truly intricate and specialized travel itineraries with an attention to detail that is second to none.
HCDA Approves Condo. The Hawaii Community Development Association (HCDA) unanimously voted to approve the Alexander & Baldwin high-rise project in Kaka’ako named “The Collection.” There are several high-rise condo proposals before the HCDA, which are part of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) projects associated with the city’s planned $5.2 billion elevated steel rail. Many citizens have expressed their opposition to the numerous planned high-density projects in the Kaka’ako area.
Rail Battle Continues. On Thursday, August 15, interested Honolulu residents will gather at 11 am in U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi’s federal courtroom to listen to arguments for and against the city’s controversial rail project. The hearing is taking place live in San Francisco before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Malia Zimmerman of Hawaii Reporter made the arrangements to have the proceedings broadcast live here in the federal building, but the court will not allow electronics in the court room so it can be broadcast outside the court building. The hearing is open to the public. The final decision is expected next month.
New Capitol Attorney. Tisha Panter has been appointed as the new full-time Senate Attorney/Director of Research for the State Senate Minority at the Capitol. Panter brings an extensive legal, military and business background to the position. She has been employed at the Domestic Violence Action Center in Honolulu since December 2012. While there she represented victims of domestic violence in the Family Court. She was also a self-employed attorney for her own law firm in Manhattan, Kansas, and worked as a litigation attorney for Wear Davis, L.C. where she specialized in domestic relations and construction law. A naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Australia, Panter was a Department of Defense officer for the Australian Army, and worked as a senior lawyer and Barrister-at-Law while residing in Australia. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law.
Merger Challenged. US Attorney General Eric Holder and Attorneys General from six states have filed an action to block the proposed merger of American Airlines and US Air. The merger would result in the world’s largest airline but government critics say the merger would result in less competition, higher fares and reduced markets.
Wounded Warriors. A press conference for the Wounded Warrior Canoe Regatta – one of the kickoff events for the 12th Annual Duke’s OceanFest – will be held on Friday, August 16 at 9:30 a.m. at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in the Waikiki Beachcomber Resort. Kimo Kahoano will emcee and present the 2013 grand marshals Captain Jerry Coffee and Lt. General Hank Stackpole. During the Vietnam War, Coffee was a POW for seven years, and Stackpole survived a 50-caliber gunshot wound and downed helicopter. Also in attendance will be racing team captains, Wounded Warrior participants, sponsors, supporters, and organizers Judge Ed Kubo and Navy League president Dave Livingston.
Malama Na Koa – a Wounded Warrior support program – holds this regatta annually. The group’s mission is to promote awareness of the Wounded Warriors in Hawaii who are recovering from the effects of war and for the state to embrace and support them during their recuperation. This year’s race is Sunday, August 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fort DeRussy Beach.
Frozen Out. Federal and state investigators have identified a total of 63 health and safety violations, including willful violations of three standards, at a refrigerated food warehouse in Honolulu occupied by Unicold Corp. and nine tenants. The employers face $251,330 in total proposed fines following joint inspections conducted in February by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Occupational Safety and Health Division. The inspections were conducted under OSHA’s National Emphasis Program for facilities with highly hazardous chemicals.
The willful violations include locked and sealed exit doors, failure to keep exit routes free and unobstructed and failure to label exit routes and post signs clearly indicating the route to the nearest exit. Inspectors found 13 of the exit doors were locked from the outside and sealed shut, and that workers could not open or reach emergency exit doors because storage racks filled with pallets of products blocked the doors. The willful violations carry a proposed penalty totaling $112,000. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742), the agency’s Honolulu office at 808-541-2680 or the HIOSH office at 808-586-9092. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. For more information, visit www.osha.gov
Kaeo at August 29 SBH SUNRISE. Jan Kaeo, marketing specialist and local head of Dale Carnegie courses, will speak at the next monthly SBH SUNRISE Networking Breakfast, Thursday, August 29, from 7-8:30 a.m. at the Pineapple Room in Macy’s at the Ala Moana Center. Her topic will deal with improving employee and customer relations. There will be an opportunity for networking, business updates and a full breakfast buffet. All participants will be introduced. Come, say Aloha to our new SBH Assistant, Jaynahe Self, who joined SBH August 1. Info and reservations, call SBH at 396-1724.
Check out News Behind the News with Malia Zimmerman where we discuss Hawaii’s Business Climate. >Click here
“A Better Day” on TV.
Olelo schedule | All on “VIEWS” Channel 5
8/20 Tue 8:30am
8/27 Tue 8:30am
9/03 Tue 8:30am.
Reapportionment Update on TV. Tune in to “Better Government” on Olelo TV this month for an update on Reapportionment in Hawaii with Michael Palcic, Chair, Oahu Advisory Council on Reapportionment.” >Click here
Olelo schedule | All on “VIEWS” Channel 54
8/19 Mon 3:00pm
8/26 Mon 3:00pm
9/02 Mon 3:00pm.
SBH Welcomes Young Professionals. Smart Business Hawaii (SBH) is welcoming Young Entrepreneurs. The SBH YOUNG PROFESSIONALS is now up and running. Annual dues are only $75 for those under 30 years. Contact me directly ( SBH@lava.net), go online (www.smartbusinesshawaii.com) or call 396-1724.
Hawaii Reporter.com, Hawaii’s first electronic daily newspaper launched in 2002, has all the breaking news and unlike other publications in town, is still free. Award winning Hawaii Reporter and Malia Zimmerman report daily (M-F) on theRick Hamada Show heard on KHVH radio on 830 AM at 7:05 am. Malia will share the news behind the news.
Tune in to Panos Prevedouros. SBH Director and UH Engineering Professor Dr. Panos Prevedouros is a weekly guest on Rick Hamada’s morning radio show every Tuesday from 7:05 a.m. to 8 am. Tune in!
Read SB NEWS. Don’t forget to read your current monthly SB NEWS by PDF attachment or link. More expanded news and views for the Hawaii business community.
Want More Business? JOIN SBH! Is YOUR business a member of SBH? No? Lots of benefits. Strong networking organization. Call 396-1724 or go online to www.smartbusinesshawaii.com.
Want more local business information? Please visit the several SBH websites at www.smartbusinesshawaii.com,www.educate808.com and www.sbhfoundation.org
Celebrating a business milestone? Your business press releases are welcome in the weekly SBH News & Views e-News, which reaches more than 15,000 business owners and government leaders in Hawaii.
What? Not receiving your copy? Send PR, additional requests and email address to SBH@lava.net or call 396-1724.
SBH can help you with YOUR business. Just starting a business? Call me personally for help at 396-1724 or email: SBH@lava.net. Smart Business Hawaii Means Business and we’re here to help you.
As always, SBH appreciates your support, so please consider joining or sending a donation to help SBH continue to assist the private, independent businesses in our community.
Mahalo!
SBH Business All StarsSBH Business All Stars. The Small Business Hawaii Entrepreneurial Education Foundation will host its annual SBH Business All Stars Awards Banquet on Friday, September 20, at the Waialae Country Club from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Several business people will receive awards, there will be a sumptuous buffet, fun, entertainment, a silent auction and good networking. Sponsorships available (contact Malia Zimmerman at 306-3161) or to make reservations, contact SBH at 396-1724. Auction donations appreciated and welcome.
2013 awardees:
SBH Lex Brodie Business Person of the Year
John Carpenter of Island Slipper Company
John will be honored for his many years of business success, management style and keeping alive an iconic family business that he successfully expanded.
SBH Jean Fukuda Civic Leadership Award
for her role as successful businesswoman, civic leader and cultural advocate.
SBH George Mason Outstanding Business ReportingSteve Petranik, editor of Hawaii Business MagazinePetranik has written about, mentored and sponsored many small business events and individuals in Hawaii.
SBH Business Boosters
Ryan Ozawa and Burt Lum of Byte Marks Café
Both Ryan and Burt are techie experts who give their time and knowledge to the community and regularly advocate for business and entrepreneurs in public and on radio and television.
SBH Young Entrepreneur of the Year
12-year old (that’s right, 12!) Skylar Soares, who, despite serious medical challenges, chose through Make A Wish Foundation, and the help of students at Hawaii Pacific University, and Maryknoll School, to start her own successful sun-protection Hawaii hat business, “HI Sky.”
SBH 2013 Business All-Stars
Also singled out for outstanding business contributions during the year are: Signe Godfrey, Olsten Staffing and Personnel Services; Clark Hatch, Clark Hatch Fitness Center and Mark Storfer, Hilo Hattie.
SBH Educator of the Year
John Sosa, Principal, Kaiser High School.
SBH Lifetime Business Achievement Award
John Henry Felix, HMAA
Watch John Henry Felix on News Behind the News with Malia Zimmerman. >Click here
Thanks to Senator Sam Slom for his patriotism, his active opposition to the Akaka bill, and for his sponsorship of a Statehood Day celebration 7 years ago at the Territorial Capitol building (i.e., Iolani Palace). For news reports and commentaries and photos about what happened that day, please visit this webpage: https://www.angelfire.com/planet/bigfiles40/stateh…
By the way, the word "Kana'iolowalu" which is now used for the new OHA racial registry, can be translated as "conquest by swarming" which Senator Slom will recall is exactly how the wannabe terrorists 7 years ago disrupted our celebration.
Well, there are just some Hawaii locals that are still not okay with the idea of being under the rule of the U.S. government despite its progress and development. Some though are starting to be thankful because they are living wonderful lives already with great means of livelihood.
Aloha Mai Kakou,
For many of us of Hawaiian ancestry and those who understand the logic of self sustainability there is an unsettling feeling that Hawai'i Nei will continue to be abused and debased by those who view the 'Aina as something to build parking lots on; use our precious environment as an experimental laboratory with little to no oversight; and exploit the remoteness and dependency of our islands for overseas corporate profits.
These same people want to keep Hawai'i from being self-sustainable for all people who call Hawai'i home not just those of Hawaiian ancestry and twist the understanding of Hawaiian history to serve their Western consumer based culture. Instead of supporting and encouraging native Hawaiian expertise in sustainability and a vibrant local community based on respect for our unique and beautiful islands they would rather bend and bow to the self interest of stock holders and corporations that offer meager wages and questionable employment in exchange for the poisoning of our land and 'Ohana. What sort of future are these unaccountable corporations and purchased politicians preparing for us?
Those who deny native Hawaiian's their God given right to self determination and prefer more automobiles than people occupying the 'Aina are dooming us all to disaster. These unfortunate souls would prefer ALL PEOPLE to eat questionable GMO's because their legal teams believe it their right to shove them down our throats, instead of allowing us the choice to choose for ourselves what is healthy for our Keiki, Kupuna, and 'Aina.
So in the end when these disingenuous autocrats cry that we have no patriotism for their greed and exploitation, I think back to the overthrow and the cabal of traitors that fearfully huddled in the law office on Smith Street plotting the demise of the Hawaiian Kingdom while utilizing their prominent positions within the Kingdom's Government to execute their self-serving agenda and think, where was their Patriotism? The answer is where it has always been and where it lies today, in their pocketbooks and tax shelters.
When the United States holds itself accountable for the misdeeds of those who exploit their positions in government to further their own agendas at the expense of democracy than perhaps this article might have some semblance of relevance.
Sincerely with Aloha,
Kimo Stowell
P.S. Had the Hawaiian people been offered independence in 1959 rather the forms of greater and lesser dependency on the United States there is a high probability that there would have been a remarkably different voter tally. But there will always be those who will contest this notion, just not those of Hawaiian ancestry.
[…] Some native Hawaiian opposition to statehood arose later, and deference to those complaints has muted statehood celebrations in the 21st century. […]
[…] Some native Hawaiian opposition to statehood arose later, and deference to those complaints has muted statehood celebrations in the 21st century. […]
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