Hawaii News

Hawai’i most likely has more talented unarguably great musician/singers than anyplace on Earth – - – some magical confluence of the Planets, the water, the power of the  ancient Gods who brought these Islands forth from the Sea – - – any number of theories can be advanced, any number of scientific dissertations discussed the final result remains the same this is one Heck of a place for music.

There is a true tower of talented singers/musicians and when they combine their talents the voltage goes off the scale.  There are many Hawai’i’an artists scaling the heights of greatness and then there are those that are simply stratospheric such a pairing is known by two letters: C & K.

Way back in February 1973 friends introduced Native-American-Hispanic Cecilio Rodriguez to truly local Hawai’i’an Harry Kapono and the result has been decades of incredible music.  Each has had a stellar solo career, both men are among the hardest working musician/singers on Earth, neither of them content to kick back and coast on their past laurels, each eagerly embracing the future continuing to generate vital music well into the end of the decade of the double zeros of a new century.  When they get back together it is a time to rejoice.  Now into its third year the C & K Back in the Day Concert on the Great Lawn of the Hilton Hawai’i’an Village has become a Labor Day Weekend treat, a tradition one hopes will continue for decades to be.

This is a two day event and truly an event not merely a concert, a perfect Pau Hanna Friday event repeated on Saturday: September 3^rd, 4^th 2010.  Here is the complete schedule courtesy of the C & K website: “Doors & VIP Pre-Party 6:00PM.  Opening Music 6:30PM.  Show Starts 7:00PM.  Fans doing C&K 7:30p.  Cecilio & Kapono 8:00p.

Fantastic Fire Works Show each night!” And ticket Info “$35 Reserved Seating. $45 Preferred Seating.  VIP & Super VIP Packages Available while they last!  Honolulu Box Office Log on: www.HonoluluBoxOffice.com ; Call: 808 550-8457 (11AM-6PM Tues thru Sat) In Person: 680 Iwilei Road Suite 100 Dole Cannery * Service Fees may apply”

Get Labor Day Weekend off to a terrific start with what will be one of the best concerts on O’ahu – - – soar to the heights with C & K.

After some excitement about the second Wild Bean Espresso truck opening in Kaka’ako, there was some disappointed coffee drinkers when in that same week the truck was being towed for repairs. Just when I was getting used to the idea of having Nikki serve me coffee every other morning.

But… We’re happy to let you know that the second truck WBE2, will be re-opening and still in the Kaka’ako/Ward area. Although it won’t be at the same place. Instead the truck is moving just up the road closer to some of the Ward action, and we’re guessing a lot better spot.

The truck will open on Ward and Halekauwila Streets we’re guessing somewhere near Kanpai Bar and Grill at 11 am (thanks for the heads up Halle). We’ve also been told that after Monday the truck will be open from 7 AM to 7 PM. Great news!

No no no, it’s not because the lingerie clad coffee girls are causing controversy that the Wild Bean Espresso truck on Keawe and Pohukaina Street is being towed in this picture, although that’s what I thought immediately. Especially after someone texted me and said “where is the 2nd Wild Bean Espresso truck, it’s not there anymore?”

So, I checked in with the crew over there who quickly responded that the truck just needs to go in for service and should be back up and running soon. Although they posted yesterday on their facebook page that they would be able to still serve coffee today while the truck was being worked on, it turns out that they were incorrect. Today, a new announcement states they’ll be just working on the truck in the hopes that it will be up and running soon.

I’m hoping that it gets back to the Keawe location soon because, as much as I like Starbucks at Ward, having a coffee or a smoothie served by a Wild Bean girl like Nikki just makes my day a little more cheerful. We’ll keep you posted on it’s return and if in fact it is located in the same place. There’s rumors it will be moving.

Please stay

Francine Gamil – who was given an ultimatum (miss her young son play baseball for the winning Ewa Beach Broncos team, or lose her job), has been given her job back after all. In a story that was first aired by KGMB Hawaii News Now, it seems that Bank of Hawaii has had quite a quick turn-around in their stance towards the issue.

“She gave me two options – Gamil’s Bank of Hawaii supervisor, she told me either we’ll see you back for work or you need to resign,” said Francine Gamil. Gamil says she just couldn’t leave her son and miss out on the experience.

“Once in a lifetime our boys did this. We’re never going to get it back again and it’s well worth it, but I still need a job, but I’m glad I made that decision, I do not regret it,” said Gamil, as she wiped away the tears. Gamil currently works two jobs to make it out here in Hawaii. The fact that Bank of Hawaii even had the nerve to pull something like this is a total disgrace.

Bank of Hawaii was recently named the #1 bank in America, I guess they forgot about how to treat their employees for a while there. After hearing the story, it left an even dirtier taste in my mouth, as Gamil’s Bank of Hawaii supervisor was adamant about Gamil resigning her post. Instead of just firing her – which they knew they had no grounds to do, they tried to force her to quit so they would not have to provide her any type of severance package.

At least it looks like it is going to turn out the right way though. Bank of Hawaii Vice Chairman Shelley Thompson issued a statement saying, “We want to apologize to Francine. This was our mistake and should not have happened. It is completely understandable that as a mother, she would do whatever it takes to be with her son. This should have been a time of celebration for the family and if she is willing to return to her job at the bank, we would love to have her. Congratulations to the entire team on a job well done.”

Gamil doesn’t know if she will return now because of the embarrassing and unprofessional way the entire matter was handled, though she does plan to go in and sit down with her boss and discuss how it should have been handled.

You never keep parents from experiencing an event with their children. To threaten job security against a mother who works two jobs is pathetic. Bank of Hawaii owes her a raise along with the public apology they already issued!

We talked about the original Hawaii Lingerie Lunch Wagon opening in Honolulu. Then we gave hints to another store opening in Kaka’ako. And now we think we know where it will exactly be.

While taking a walk after work it looks like the truck is parked at the corner of Keawe Street and Phukaina Street in Kaka’ako. We’re not sure if that is going to be the final spot for the latest Wild Bean Espresso to open up, but from what we’ve read it will be open on August 18th, or this Wednesday, so we should know soon. Correction, Wild Bean Espresso in Kaka’ako is open!!!

For those of you wanting more information, you should check out their Facebook page. We should have pictures and more information on Wednesday when it opens. This wagon is right on my drive into work, man this is going to be tough not to stop every day.

After the Hawaii State Bar Association, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate all rejected Linda Lingle’s first pick as chief justice of Hawaii, Katherine Leonard, she has officially chosen the person everyone thought was a shoe-in for the job, Mark Recktenwald.

Recktenwald is currently an associate justice on the state supreme court so the move will be an easy on once current chief justice Ronald Moon leaves due to mandatory retirement based on Moon turning 70. The original choice, Leonard, was thought to be inexperienced for the job at hand, heading up a branch of the government.

Justice Recktenwald will begin his 10 year term sometime this year when Chief Justice Moon will step down. Lingle, who was publicly upset about the Senate turning down her first choice made the second choice easily it would seem. Although second choice Recktenwald will easily be confirmed base on his vast experience and his dedication to the job.

Wild Bean Espresso, that lingerie lunch wagon that cause quite a stir when it opened shop on the corner Puuhale Road and Dillingham Boulevard looks like it’s opening another wagon in Kaka’ako on the south shore of Oahu.

I just so happen to be driving down my normal route when I snapped this shot at the corner of Halekauwila St. and Keawe St. I saw this sign announcing that Wild Bean Espresso would be opening soon, August 18th to be exact, or so says the sign.

Now what I’m not sure about is whether or not the lunch wagon will be right at this intersection or if it will be just in Kaka’ako. There’s plenty of space around the area with many many parking lots that several lunch wagons of the non-lingerie type have moved into.

The only two coffee shops that I now of in the immediate vacinity are Insomnia Cafe on Auahi Street and This is It Deli on Cooke Street. I’ll keep you posted if I hear any more on the exact location. Looks like for the sake of good reporting I’ll have to continue down my same route daily.

First is was the HSBA that shot down Governor Lingle’s first choice for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, also head of 1800 judical employees. Then came the Judiciary committee that agreed that Katherine Leonard wasn’t fit to be the CJ of Hawaii.

And now it’s finally official. In a 14-8 vote, the Hawaii State Senate voted against Lingle in appointing the 2.5 year ICA judge to the position of the leader of one of the branches of government. A decision that Lingle and Leonard both bashed openly during the whole process.

This starts the clock ticking for Linda Lingle. She now only has 10 days to appoint a replacement for Chief Justice Ronald Moon who will be forced into retirement in early September due to age requirements (he’ll be 70.) From the list, the front runners are Associate Justice Mark Recktenwald who is already working in the Supreme Court and was the “word on the street” shoe-in for the job and Chief Judge Craig Nakamura of the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.

However, there are 3 others left on the approved list that the governor can choose from and she’ll have to decide if she wants to go with strategy of stacking the court with a conservative from the outside, or going with the only justice on the inside, Recktenwald, and leave the potential the her gubernatorial replacement will choose Recktenwalds Associate Justice replacement.

Other nominees are Richard W. Pollack of the First Circuit Court, Daniel R. Foley of the ICA, and Bert I. Ayabe of the First Circuit Court. As you note, Katherine was the only women on the list, so Lingle’s hopes of being the one to appoint the first women to head the Supreme Court of Hawaii, and the judicial branch of the government of Hawaii, are over.

Target has opened two stores on Oahu already and is set to open their 3rd store on the most populated Hawaiian Island. This store is set to take over the spot in Kailua Town that is currently occupied by the Don Quijote right next to the Safeway.

This Target store has come under much scrutiny by some Kailua residents as petitions were passed around, town hall meetings were held, and disgruntled facebook postings littered the walls of a few. But, it pretty much was a sealed deal once they got it in their minds, so all the voicing was for naught.

From a news story on It looks like the store will be opening in July of 2012 (as reported by several local news sources quoting Kaneohe Ranch and Target officials), just after the Whole Foods gets going in Kailua, which is set for Fall of 2011.  The controversy was mainly geared towards the potential traffic problem and the potential closing of local Kailua businesses. While the traffic issue I can see, especially early on, the business closing I can’t totally follow (and no, Don Quijote doesn’t count because that’s a big box store from Japan, like for like).

Maybe hungry ear music, but who knows how they stay open anyway.  I mean, more traffic should mean more customers for non-competing business.   And once Don Quijote is out I can’t find too many comparable business in Kailua (unless they start selling good surfboards to surf clothing, hint it’s national, so not too much of that will happen).

Whole Foods on the other hand, which I didn’t hear any grumbling about, has the potential to force out one of the three supermarkets in town, Safeway, Foodland, or Times, with Times a more likely candidate, although Foodland is right behind it.

But that’s just one opinion, most likely the craze will die down, people won’t travel over the Pali to go to Target, and traffic will resume to normal. I mean, at least in ain’t a Costco.

If you’d like to voice you’re opinion leave us a comment and let us know what you think, or head over to the neighborhood board meeting which will start at 7:00 PM at Kailua District Park.

Just as the Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) gave a vote of no confidence to Governor Linda Lingle’s choice for Hawaii Chief Justice Katherine Leonard, after some heated hearings yesterday, the State Senate Judiciary Committee has decided to do the same and voted 4 to 1 against the appointment of Judge Leonard as Hawaii’s CJ for the State Supreme Court.

Now this just means that they suggest she is not the best choice for the job. This doesn’t mean that she hasn’t gotten the job. No, that will wait for tomorrow when the senate will have to decide and will announce basically whether they agree with the HSBA and the Senate Judiciary Committee or whether they agree with Linda Lingle.

Much controversy has arose from the HSBA basically saying Katherine Leonard has no experience in running a branch of the government and has made Lingle call foul to the actions of both groups. Leonard, who was appointed as judge to the Intermediate Court of Appeals by Lingle Lingle 2 and a half years ago, was Lingle’s second choice there, after the same committee shot down her first appointment, (can’t remember that one, sorry).

For those who don’t know, the Chief Justice of Hawaii Supreme court oversees the budget for about 1800 employees.

Photo from KHON2 News