New & Noteworthy

posted in: August 2005 | 0

On Second Thought: In January, we reported that Lyle Wong of the state Department of Agriculture proposed charging Environment Hawai‘i $4,270 for costs associated with a request we had made to review documents associated with his recent efforts to bring an irradiation facility to Hawai‘i. In February, an attorney with the state Office of Information Practices met with Wong, at our request, to discuss his response.

The outcome? The Department of Agri culture has revised its bill to $190, or less than 5 percent of what it originally proposed. In a letter to the OIP, Wong thanked staff attorney Lorna Aratani for her helpful visit. “You were able to clarify for us what a public record is under the Uniform Information Practices Act,” Wong wrote. “We will act on your recommendations to make processing of information requests more efficient in the future.”

Another Loss: The medical, environmental, and paddling community of Maui was shocked at news of the death of Steve Moser last month. Moser, age 55, died unexpectedly of natural causes. His death leaves a huge hole in the hearts of thousands of people affected by his life and work.

Before his death, Moser was spearheading an effort to give the rural community of Hana a dialysis center. His work on behalf of public health was no less energetic than his work in support of environmental causes. A decade ago, when the environmental and conserva tion community of Maui rose up in anger against state plans to expand the Kahului airport runway, Moser was among the leaders.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to the many friends and family he leaves behind.

And the Nominees Are…: The state Commis sion on Water Resource Management and the Board of Land and Natural Resources have positions coming vacant on June 30. Commis sioners Meredith Ching and Clayton De La Cruz, both appointees of former Governor Cayetano, will leave the commission then, unless they are nominated by Governor Lingle for a second four-year term. Board member Kathryn Whang Inouye will end her second four-year term (no reappointment possible) while Ted Yamamura, another Cayetano ap pointee, will go off the board unless reap pointed by Lingle.

If anyone was concerned about meeting deadlines at the governor’s office, it was not apparent in mid-March. According to a spokes woman for the governor, “we have until April 20 to submit nominations to the Senate.”

Correction: Our February story on the Water Plan stated that the Agricultural Water Use Development Plan had been completed in 2003. Actually, only phase 1 had been com pleted. Phase 2 was completed last year, and work on phase 3 is expected to start soon.

Volume 15, Number 10 April 2005

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