All or Nothing - Gambling in Hawaii?

This session the Hawaii legislature is hearing HB2759 proposed by State Representative Mele Carroll (13th district). The bill suggests revenue could be generated on homestead lands for Native Hawaiians.  The concept is based on a Native American model that has been successful for some time on the Tulalip tribal reservation.  

Pacific Network features an on-going video editorial each quarter with related links.  The editorial attempts to provide Hawaii's voters with one- on- one interviews on controversial subjects.  Not just pro or con but all the shades in between that often get truncated in what we see in short news clips.  The subject of gambling has been a long time subject that has garnered a lot of criticism and commentary.  Just a little history for history's sake -- while many were opposed to gambling during the mid 19th century Hawaii King David Kalakaua supported "the sport" by designing plans for a casino at Kapiolani Park, where a racing track had already been established and horse racing had become a Honolulu Sunday pastime.  

In today's economic times where one in ten Americans is out of work it will be interesting to see how Hawaii's voters respond.  For more video visit PacificNetwork.tv  Editorial. Enjoy! 

 http://pacificnetwork.tv/blog/2010/02/06/gambling-in-hawaii/

Shark's Cove North Shore Pt. 2

Lots of readers loved our "just another day at the beach" coverage by Johann Bouit and producer, Jeff Mueller, at the reef's edge to give us a sense of scale (so we could see just how awesome a spray of 30 ft. of ocean looks like) so we're posting more -- and in honor of Honolulu's longest-serving,  unconventional, "for the little guy" Mayor Frank Fasi; Cec Heftel, an  icon in Hawai's media industry and former Congressional delegate; and author- historian Bob Dye.

" Life is either a daring adventure or nothing".  -Helen Keller

For more video visit www.pacific.network.tv

Paddles are up! And hitting our beautiful Pacific waters off the island of O‘ahu with the start of the Kanaka Ikaika Racing Association’s upcomingrelays. This five-month-long paddling series takes athletes out 20.5 miles from Waimanalo Beach to Magic Island or eight miles from Sandy Beach to Kaimana Beach.  Just a few races in which individual paddlers from around the world have been participating in and what a great tourism draw: an open ocean outrigger canoe challenge.

The first race of 2010 kicked off at Makai Pier to Kailua Beach Park, and Kailua’s Pat Dolan came in first at 51:47, representing the Men’s Open 19-29 division. About a minute later, his younger brother Ryan Dolan whizzed right past with a time of 52:41.

Christine Couch represented the Female’s Open 30-39 division, coming in as the first woman paddler of the course. Her time of 1:02:00 wowed spectators.

Last year’s kick-off race, which started at Makai Pier, went around Rabbit Island and then finished at Kailua Beach Park with a bit of a twist. It was the self fulfillment of the physical challenge, but it was also a dash for cash. The first person to make it to the island won $300.

For more video, visit our Sports Channel at

http://sports.pacificnetwork.tv/HotPicks/.

Treehouse Living

He’s been dubbed Dr. Sustainability because of his green habits and resourceful tendencies. Jeremai Cann, a solar energy coordinator, not only shares his knowledge with others in the community through a series of workshops but also practices what he preaches.

From atop one of Honolulu’s major valleys, Cann’s home is easily overlooked among the trees and vegetation. That’s because his one-story structure looks very much like a tree house and is completely off-grid from city water and electrical.  Jeremai calls this "Sustainability Land".

Cann, “Like a tree house, there’s life inside and outside... and if it’s 60-degrees out side, (then) it will be 60-degrees right here.” Water for drinking, showering and washing cars comes from the rain. A 2,500-gallon water tank is stored under the house and serves as a water catchment with an ultraviolet light to sterilize the rainwater.

Fruit trees and vegetables decorate the Cann family property. Plants feed off Cann’s rich worm and recyclable debris composts. But the real secret to a successful crop, he says, is human urine. But that's another conversation, and there’s much more Cann has in store for his tree-like house. He plans to create a dryland garden where he will grow taro and set up several aquaponics systems.

For more video, visit the Green Channel at

http://science.pacificnetwork.tv/GreenPicks/.

Alyssa S. Navares, PacificNetwork.tv

UH Students Make Sustainability...Sexy

The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa is bringing sexy back with a new organization aimed to connect students, faculty, staff and the community through sustainable efforts.

SustainableUH’s mission includes helping those establishing UH as a world leader in sustainable education, research and practices by facilitating community events and providing “student-power” for energy audits, waste audits, and other green workforce projects throughout the 10-campus system.

A campus-wide launch party in October celebrated this new organization. With the “Sustainability is sexy” theme, the public could swap surfboards or trade incandescent bulbs for CFL light bulbs. Paper and beverage recycling drives kick started the party as well.

Two upcoming projects for SustainableUH will include making the UHM Richardson School of Law the greenest law school in the nation and helping the Honolulu Community College save in energy expenditures. Lighting audits and dumpster dives have already started. A pilot program with Pacific Green IT to save power when using computers will be implemented as well.  One of the first initiatives of Help Us Bridge, the parent organization of SustainableUH, included the success at Saunders Hall. More than $149,900 was saved in annual energy without spending one cent. Through the upcoming projects, they hope to achieve at least $150,000 in energy savings while training students on how to be green.

“We can’t do it alone (because) it’s not about one person, one organization, one campus,” Sustainability Coordinator Shanah Trevenna said. “It’s about everyone taking their unique pieces and putting it together for a really big, amazing picture.”

In order to better serve the UH system and the state, students led breakout sessions with more than 70 guests which included political, campus, business and community leaders.  Discussions provided feedback on how to improve transportation, agriculture and waste management. They suggested building bike lanes and secure bike parking areas, as well as providing showers throughout the campus. Current community garden plots could also be shown through the organization’s Web site. In addressing waste management, Sustainable UH found that 84-percent of waste at UHM food locations could be composted if plastics were converted to biocompostables.  Great example of how Life is Good and sustainable without much effort or cost.  Cheers to these UH Students and their mentor for showing us the way.

For more video, visit the News Desk Channel at http://news.pacificnetwork.tv/NewsDesk/

Alyssa Navares for PacificNetwork.tv

Embracing the Cloud - PTC Conference 2010

The Pacific Telecommunications Council held its 32nd annual conference at the Hilton Hawaiian Village this Sunday. The coming together of telecommunication companies worldwide will continue until Wednesday and is an important networking opportunity for Hawaii and global communications companies.  This year's focus is on emerging "cloud-based services" that are inspiring far-reaching changes in the telecom industry and for the consumer this means the world we live in is headed toward even greater connectivity.

Whether in the business of service by satellite, submarine cable, equipment or  software development, investment, research, policy making, other "ICT" work, or content providing which is what we do at Pacific Network, this group of professionals is in Hawaii to forge alliances, negotiate agreements, and learn from other’s experiences.  PTC 2010 is a fascinating event and a platform where competitors may break bread, have one on one discussions, and make alliances with each other while witnessing this current evolution of "clouding". Love the nickname.  It's a reference to a cluster of systems working together to create a greater system working in tandem. The implications have great influence on a digital world that is rapidly evolving.

Our Hawaii based Internet television network, PacificNetwork.tv, is a small innovative example of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television - a system through which digital TV service is delivered using the architecture and networking methods of the Internet and broadband IT accessed networks instead of being delivered through traditional radio frequency, satellite signal, or cable TV formats).  And we offer different channels much like cable television.  So we look forward to this evolution and as per the telecom pundits we spoke with, "This shift will challenge existing business models..."

Oh no! not again!  Haven't we seen enough change in the last decade? I hear you and I hear our colleagues in the newspaper business, other print media, network television affiliates who have merged to meet demands of this downed market, advertising agencies who cannot steamline any more than they have already done in this last year.  But wake up Virginia,  the world is changing and we have to pay attention, be open to change, and hang on!

Stephan Beckert, Gary Kim and Richard Taylor are  PTC 2010  Program Co-Chairs. Sharon Nakama, CEO; John Hibbard, Pres.& Board of Governors

For more video  -- up at the close of today's conference -- please visit:

http://NEWS.pacificnetwork.tv/NewsDesk

Shark's Cove, North Shore of Oahu

Hawaii has had some giant swells come in and surfers, tow-in surfers, and spectators have been soaking up the glory of nature at her finest. We left town the other day to capture the crashing surf anticipating 20 - 30 ft waves.  Thanks to Professor Steve Businger, our weather guru, he and his fellow meteorologists were right on spot.  Surf was big at 2p with a monster swell coming in by 4p - 6p and growing.

Here is a short clip from this week out at the North Shore of Oahu -- one of the greatest destinations on the planet for those of you who are not familiar with the island of Oahu. Here you get a taste of old Hawaii in just a 45 minute drive from Waikiki. Terrific restaurants, my favorite boutique (Silver Moon), roadside pizza, Ted's Bakery (home of the world's best chocolate haupia pie), the Surfing Museum, glass blowing, shave ice stands, old style Mom & Pop shops, and great folks out there. Then there is the surf.

We asked producer, Jeff Mueller, if he wouldn't mind taking some shots from in the surf.  He's an experienced open ocean waterman, agreed to do so, and he also took our small Canon out there in its underwater housing. With Jeff in the shot we had a frame of reference to show just how big the waves were on this day.  Shooting 30 -35 ft in the air, Johann Bouit, back in Honolulu from setting up a PacificNetwork.tv studio in Papeete, Tahiti; shot on a high def Sony EX3 from a bluff about 30 yards from the edge of the reef.  To the right of Shark's Cove, muffled by the crashing waves, we heard a helicopter hovering overhead with another video crew capturing some tow-in surfers. (That's when a jetski tows a surfer out because the waves are too big to paddle. Then these big wave surfers are dropped into the wave and the jetski high-tails it out of there before the 40-50 ft wave begins to break).

Some folks go to the office.  I've gotta admit as demanding as our line of work is ... this kind of experience makes it all worth it.  So please enjoy just another "Hawaiian day at the beach".

For more video visit http://NEWS.pacificnetwork.tv/NewsDesk/ and http://SPORTS.pacificnetwork.tv/HotPicks/

Halekulani Green Cuisine

It was a night of green cuisine at The Halekulani Hotel last Friday. and Master chefs Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi, and Vikram Garg wowed the taste buds of those who attended.

“Alan’s Wong lobster and corn (soup) was just the best,” said Laurene Cianfrani, of Pennsylvania. “Roy’s got great steaks, and Halekulani is a wonderful house to all of us.”

All ingredients come from local farmers. The corn used in Alan Wong’s dish was grown out on O‘ahu’s north shore in Kahuku. It’s part of what makes the event’s theme:  Sustainable Cuisine.

Sustainable Cuisine is the practice of using products that are grown, harvested and processed with the least amount of impact on the environment. This includes locally grown produce, locally sourced and humane meats and seafoods.

“What sustainability allows us to do in Hawai‘i is support local culture, local commerce and the local workforce that’s producing products,” said Chief Operating Officer Peter Shaindlin of the Halekulani Corporations.

Students from the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head worked alongside the local chefs, learning through sight and taste. The proceeds from the event will benefit these students as well.

“That combined with the educational component, so many young people influenced and working with Halekulani coming out of culinary institute, we feel that it’s important to create an avenue for them to achieve what they’re trying to achieve,” said General Manager Gerald Glennon of Halekulani Corporations.  “To do it in this day in age, when sustainability globally is such a huge topic and relevant thing to realize, it just makes perfect sense.”

For more video visit http://NEWS.pacificnetwork.tv/NewsDesk/

Alyssa S. Navares, PacificNetwork.tv

Paia - Windsurfing Capital of the World

Some people live in the snow. Others live in the desert. And on Maui more and more residents claim to live in the wind.  Steady trade winds blow through the quaint beach town of Pa‘ia, located at the end of Hana Highway, to the breezy ocean shores, where hundreds of windsurfers from around the world whiz through the line up.

“Windsurfing was made for Maui,” said Maui sail designer Barry Spanier. And many agree with him. It’s been dubbed the World Capitol of Windsurfing.

Beaches like Ho‘okipa have become windsurfing’s Mecca. The combination of strong trades and winter surf makes this north shore break an ideal spot for hopping over the ocean’s chop. It’s also the new home to windsurfing contests including the Aloha Classic.

The white, sandy beaches of Sprecklesville may be uncrowded, but its oceanfront has become a playground for intermediate and advanced windsurfers as well.

While the world’s best windsurfers, like Robby Naish and Pete Cabrinha, can be seen zipping through the waves, part-time Maui resident Willie Nelson performs impromptu for locals and visitors at Charley’s.  The country singer- songwriter sometimes makes an on-stage appearance at this well-known restaurant, which has become a north shore institution attracting hundreds daily.

Like Charley’s, other boutiques and diners make this booming little sugar cane plantation town what it is today. Old plantation style wooden buildings can be seen throughout Pa‘ia, families and visitors enjoy days out and the wafting aroma of great burgers and fresh island grilled fish permeate this wonderful haven to the growing and diverse culture that lives there.

For more video, visit http://SPORTS.pacificnetwork.tv/Xtreme/

Alyssa S. Navares, PacificNetwork.tv