Molokai brush fire

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If your plans take you to Molokai today or this week, you may want to call ahead just to make sure nothing has changed. The crews are doing a great job trying to contain it but best to err on the side of caution just to make sure any arrangement are still a go. Keeping our fingers crossed it is contained asap!

Click here to follow the progress of the brush fire.

Hawaii television stations to merge

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Yesterday it was announced that Hawaii news stations KGMB, KHNL and K5 will merge. They will simulcast newscasts which begs the question, which of our favorite anchors/meteorologists, etc will we be seeing at the news desk? 68 people are scheduled to lose their jobs and it is understandable that journalists are concerned. The current plan is to keep non-news oriented programming largely uneffected which I hope is true. I still want to see Sam Choy’s Kitchen and many other shows that make Hawaii programming so unique. You can read more about this story here.

So who would be your Hawaii newscasting “dream team?”

Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort to foreclose

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For those of you who may have reservations at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort on the Big Island after July 31st, you may want to contact the hotel or consider changing to another hotel. It is being auctioned off on July 31st after the owner defaulted on the mortgage. While some think the hotel likely wouldn’t close and they are “expected” to continue business as usual, you should decide if you are personally comfortable with that.

You can contact them for further information.

Breaking News: Hawaii IPTV to terminate service

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It is with heavy heart that we pass along an email received from the folks at Hawaii IPTV.

Aloha,
It is with great regret that we inform you that Hawaii IPTV will be ending services to all of our
customers effective July 1, 2009.

For those of you who have paid for your annual subscriptions up front, we will credit the prorated amount of your unused months of subscription to your credit card. NeuLion, Inc. will be handling the processing of credits to your credit card. Refunds for subscriptions will be issued during the first two weeks of July. Should you have any questions regarding your credit card refunds, please contact Patti Kelly at 808-262-0377.

For those of you on our monthly payment plan, your credit card was not charged for July services, so a refund is not applicable.

We truly enjoyed having you as a customer and deeply appreciate your patronage and support.
Mahalo nui loa for being part of our Hawaii IPTV Ohana.

While we have had some issues with the service on and off over the years, we have to say that people from Hawaii IPTV frequently checked in with our blogs and had an honest want to fix any problems that people discussed here. That is very rare these days that level of customer service is shown to its customers and we applaud them for that. If you are a current customer and have any questions regarding your service/refund you can go to their website at www.tvfromhawaii.com.

Save Lanai City!

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I was shocked to read that despite the beautiful old plantation town being on the National Trust for Historic Preservation that Castle & Cooke “submitted a three-part plan calling for the demolition or alteration of 15-20 historic buildings in Lanai City to make way for large-scale commercial development. The new development proposal includes an oversized, out-of-scale grocery store, dramatically incompatible with the historic downtown. The grocery store’s parking lot alone would consume an entire city block.” By the way an entire city block is HALF of the size of the city! Imagine half of the city you live in being a parking lot! That is why it is listed on the 11 Most Historic Places Endangered list. To see more about it, click here for video of the city and leave your feedback of your favorite memories from Lanai. To read more about where I saw this, you can click here.

If you have ever been to Lanai, you know the biggest draw to this quaint island is the fact that it is a sleepy town and not at all developed except for the resorts and gee, guess who owns those? If you’d like to let Castle and Cooke know how you feel, here’s their contact information:

Castle & Cooke Hawaii
E-mail: info@castlecookehawaii.com

Official update from HVCB about the swine flu

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H1N1 VIRUS (SWINE FLU)

National/International Situation:

Updated information on the national and international situation can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: www.cdc.gov/swineflu
CDC has issued a travel health warning that recommends against nonessential travel to Mexico: http://www.cdc.gov/travel/
There are no travel advisories or warnings regarding travel in the U.S.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today raised its alert level from 4 to 5 indicating that a global outbreak of the new virus is imminent.
However, “WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities.”

Situation in Hawaii

There are no confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) in Hawaii at this time.
Two people in Hawaii are being tested for the H1N1 virus, but none have been confirmed.
Physicians statewide have been asked to be on the watch for the H1N1 virus in patients.
There are on-going health surveillance and diagnostic protocols in place at Honolulu International Airport for all incoming flights. This program has been expanded to the neighbor islands of Maui, Kauai and the Island of Hawaii.
According to the State Department of Health, Hawaii’s active H1N1 (swine flu) airport screening procedures exceed what the CDC is calling for at this time.
For more information go to the Hawaii Department of Health website: http://www.state.hi.us/doh/

Should I come to Hawaii as planned?

New Coco Palms news

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In yet another attempt to breathe life into the hopes of the many (including me) that Coco Palms will someday be a reality, another extension was granted. To read about the nuts and bolts of it, click here.

Here’s hoping this isn’t just another stall tactic by the builders. Develop it or drop it already!

Polihale State Park back open!

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For those missing the burning hot sand, beautiful views of the Na Pali coast and sunsets from Polihale Beach, rejoice! The road is now open again thanks to the tireless efforts of many volunteers. The Garden Island newspaper reports the following were completed by the volunteers:

— Bridge repair and improvements: welding surface pieces in place, pouring concrete access segments, installation of vehicle barrier rails, clearing accumulated debris below to re-establish ability for natural flow under the bridge, and adding structural supports.

— Repair of four roadway washouts: tasks include grading four miles of roadway, and portions covered in silt run-off or scoured out, repair of the road accessing the park water well and pump, repair of the broken water line to four comfort stations, and blocking off vehicle access to the fifth comfort station that was severely damaged by the Dec. 11 rain storm.

DLNR staff has not yet estimated the actual value of the volunteers’ efforts but it could be worth near $200,000, the release said. The last time the road to Polihale State Park was graded, it cost the state $90,000. In addition to the volunteers’ work, other tasks completed by DLNR State Parks staff included: clearing of drainage culverts, cleaning comfort stations, adding safety and information signage, installation of rock barriers to prevent vehicles from driving into culverts at the approaches to the two bridges, and installation of road edge markers at two drainage spots where washouts were repaired.

Camping permits for Polihale will again be issued starting Monday, DLNR said.

Hana Highway temporarily closed

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There’s been another mudslide on the Hana Highway near mile marker 21 by Puakaa Park. There’s currently no ETA as to when it will be re-opened but if it’s like the last one, it was opened later the same day. This is the 2nd landslide in the same area over the past month.

For those who plan to use the Hana Highway in the upcoming months, PLEASE exercise caution between mile markers 20-23 where this land now seems to be a little more unstable. Be very aware of your surroundings and no lollygagging. This is not to say speed above the 15 mph speed limit either but there’s plenty of other scenery to see on the highway. If you should see a mudslide while on the highway and by some miracle are able to get decent cell coverage, call the Maui County Police Department at 808-244-6340.

Disney’s Lilo and Stitch Special Edition available today

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Lilo and Stitch has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Not only because I’ve been to some of the places in the movie and it’s kinda cool to see them animated but Disney really did their research and captured many characteristics of island life. It’s not only entertaining for the kids but for adults as well. Today is the release date of their special “2 disc Big Wave edition.” Packed with a few deleted scenes as well as some extras the kids will appreciate, this is the perfect time to add this great movie to your video collection!

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