MAUICOUNTY
COCONUT WIRELESS THE WEEK IN REVIEW
BY JACOB SHAFER JACOB@MAUITIME.COM
al restoration efforts in Honokawai Valley and above Kaheawa Wind Farms through his Maui Cultural Lands group. Lindsey co-founded the Maui Nui Marine Resources Council, was president of the ‘Ohana Coalition, served on the Maui Tomorrow board and much more. Look for a tribute to a life welllived in the July 16 Rob Report.” OK, me again. Why wait ’til July 16, you ask? Next week is our annual Best of Maui, so Rob Report and the other upfront features will be taking the issue off.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24 This is a story that’s been developing for a while, but the chatter has increased in recent weeks: Not everyone’s pleased with a plan to turn Lanai into a massive wind farm, which would provide power to Oahu and possibly Maui via undersea cables. The project is being spearheaded by Castle & Cooke and its head man David Murdock (the 183rd richest dude on the planet, according to Forbes), who, for all intents and purposes, owns the island. Proponents tout it as a way to reduce Hawaii’s fossil fuel dependence. They also say Lanai is an ideal staging ground for windmills—quoted in an April Bloomberg.com report, a U.S. Energy Department official called the island “the most impressive site I’ve ever been to for wind.” But some have questioned the viability of the endeavor. And many Lanai residents, who pay the highest electricity bills in the state, say Oahu is capable of producing its own power and shouldn’t be outsourcing the job.
Photo by tata_aka_t (Lanai)
THURSDAY, JUNE 25 I’m going to turn this entry over to our own Rob Parsons: “[Yesterday] morning marked the passing of Edwin ‘Uncle Ed’ Lindsey, now at rest after a long bout with cancer. Lindsey, 70, was a lifelong educator and a champion of the natural environment. He taught school at ‘Iao Intermediate for 25 years, and was even more active in his ‘retirement,’ spearheading native plant and cultur-
I got an interesting e-mail this morning about the luau Obama threw at the White House for various congresspeople and other D.C. hoity-toitys. The writer, who used a pseudonym, accused the president of “faking Hawaiian, faking local.” It’s an interesting point—Obama was only partly raised on Oahu—but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Who’s he trying to impress? George Bush, an Ivy League boy with East Coast ties, had a reason to “fake Texas”—it increased his brush clearing, cow rustlin’ Red State appeal. Meanwhile, I think it’s safe to say that, whether or not he wears a lei and eats kalua pork, Barack’s got the Aloha State in the bag.
SATURDAY, JUNE 27 Gov. Lingle graced us with her royal presence yesterday, popping over to address the Maui Chamber of Commerce at the Fairmont in Wailea. In addition to defending her controversial furloughs— set to take effect in a matter of days pending legal challenges—Lingle reportedly took a swipe at the County Council for slashing the budget of the Maui Visitors Bureau. At the same meeting, the Chamber anointed Maui News publisher Joe Bradley as its new chairman. The News ran a front-page story in today’s issue, which featured only quotes from the governor—no reaction from local officials or Lingle critics. Accompanying the piece was a nice photo of Joe and Linda sharing a hug by the podium. Now isn’t that cozy.
SUNDAY, JUNE 28 Wait…did you feel that?
OK, it won’t look exactly like that. County Charter dating back to 1963— when the first meeting of the Charter Commission was held—are now available online at mauicharterarchive.org. County charters, in case you need a refresher, are kind of like mini-constitutions; they deal with the responsibilities and powers of local government—stuff that affects us all but that we tend to deprioritize in favor of other stuff, like the death of washed-up pop stars. OK, so not everything on there is a riveting pageturner. But in 2011 there’s going to be a mandatory charter review, meaning this would be a good time to start arming yourself with information.
TUESDAY, JUNE 30 Here’s what the AP headline says: “Hawaii has fist swine flu death.” Here’s what the third paragraph of the accompanying story says: “[Health] Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said Monday the swine flu was not the patient’s primary cause of death, but a secondary cause.” Look, I don’t want to be callous. Certainly when someone dies it’s sad, and certainly if they were infected with a communicable
disease, that’s a story worth reporting. But, according to Centers for Disease Control statistics, close to 40,000 people die of influenza every year. This particular strain—H1N1 as they want us to call it now to let the poor pigs off the hook—has not proven to be especially deadly, and has mostly impacted people with underlying health conditions. The media’s job is to provide facts and clear-headed analysis to combat hysteria and misinformation. But, as is too often the case, sensationalism has carried the day… In other news: Economic doom and gloom dominate the headlines, but not everyone’s hurting. According to a rosy report in today Maui News, Maui Community College has seen a significant uptick in enrollment— almost 60 percent more students have signed up to attend in the fall and school officials are predicting similar numbers for the spring. Hey, there are worse things to do when you’re out of work than get an education. MTW Jacob Shafer is also available in Twitter form. Visit twitter.com/jacobshafer or text “follow jacobshafer” to 40404.
MONDAY, JUNE 29 OK, turns out it was a 3.5 quake, centered between Kaupo and Kipahula, according to the USGS (earthquake.usgs.gov). Pretty small in the scheme of things, but the biggest seismic hiccup to hit the Valley Isle in almost three years. Enough to make you pay attention at least… In other news: Got an e-mail today from attorney Lance Collins on behalf of the Lahaina-based North Beach West Maui Benefit Fund. The purpose was to let me (and you) know that documents related to the Maui
OVERHEARD... “It’s not that I’m uptight—I just get upset if things don’t go a certain way.” - Woman to her friend in Wailea
MAUI TIME WEEKLY
JULY 02, 2009
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