Ford Island Control Tower Blessing Friday at the Pacific Aviation Museum

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Damon

Tower Blessing Friday at Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

Media Release:

Stabilization of the Ford Island Control Tower officially begins Friday, February 25, 10am with a blessing, it was announced today by Pacific Aviation Museum Executive Director Kenneth DeHoff.

“It’s time to begin this long awaited and badly needed Tower stabilization project. The Tower stood guard over Ford Island on the day of the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, so its historical significance is immense,” said DeHoff.

Present at the blessing will be Lance Wilhelm, senior vice president of Kiewit Building Group Inc., the contractor for the stabilization project, along with Project Manager Scott Ruppel, Project Engineer Matt Brannon and Kiewit Business Manager Alma Ohta.

“We look forward to assisting Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor in the stabilization of the historic building and control tower that defines the skyline in Pearl Harbor,” said Wilhelm.

This is the second project that Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor and Kiewit Building Group have done together. Kiewit Building Group was the general contractor for the current site of the Museum when it opened December 6, 2006.

Also attending the blessing will be Glenn Mason, president of Mason Architects, Inc., architect for the project, and Project Manager Angela Thompson. Commander of Navy Region Hawaii RADM (Rear Admiral) Dixon Smith will also be in attendance, as well as CAPT (Captain) Richard Kitchens, commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

It is estimated that $7.5 million is needed to completely restore the Tower.  Former Congressman and now Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie was instrumental in helping to secure $3.8 million through the Department of Defense appropriations for the stabilization and restoration of an historic landmark.

The Ford Island Tower complex constructed in 1941 consists of a 3rd story Aerological Center and Observation Deck on top of the 2-story Operations Building, and the Air Traffic Control Center on top a 158-foot steel water tank tower. The Tower played a major role in the naval activity at Pearl Harbor, especially during World War II.  The Tower is registered as a Category I structure in the Pearl Harbor Naval Base Historic Preservation Plan of 1978.

The Tower and two-story concrete building and its third story observation structure have been in need of attention over the past 30 years and have deteriorated. The steel components throughout the structure which include the tower skin, stairs, landings, ladders, beams, fascia and flanges are experiencing severe corrosion. Many of the components require repair and refinishing, and in some areas complete removal and replacement.

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. Its mission is to develop and maintain an internationally recognized aviation museum on historic Ford Island that educates young and old alike, honors aviators and their support personnel who defended freedom in The Pacific Region, and to preserve Pacific aviation history.

The Museum, located at 319 Lexington Boulevard in Hangars 37 and 79 on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor, recently, was ranked one of the “top ten aviation attractions” nationally by TripAdvisor. Phone (808) 441-1000 or visit www.PacificAviationMuseum.org for tickets and more information.

Filed under: Announcements, Hawaii, Military, National Affairs, State Affairs | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Big Island Resident in the SPAM Can Design Contest

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Damon

SPAM is considered a “staple” to many Hawaii residents and recently Hormel has offered the residents of Hawaii a chance to design their own SPAN can that will actually be placed in grocery stores throughout the state.

Big Island resident Amy Okamura is currently in second place of this contest that will end on February 25th.

This is her design:

I’m encouraging folks to vote for Amy here:  Hawaii Packaging Design Contest

Filed under: aloha, Announcements, Big Island, Food & Drink, Hawaii, State Affairs | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Hilo Rally to Answer the Call for the American Dream Movement

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Damon
Media Release:

Answering the call for the American Dream Movement as a counterpoint to the unthinking/uncaring GOP/Tea Partiers who are trying to eliminate  public services, workers’ rights, women’s rights and more, a Hilo rally is being staged this Saturday, Feb. 26, on the Kamehameha Avenue sidewalk just downslope from the State Bldg. and the king’s statue, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. PLEASE JOIN US in a show of PEOPLE POWER! As a friend of mine said, Americans need to go back to the streets like we did in the 60s and 70s.

Anyone wanting to show solidarity to the Wisconsin Dems, teachers, nurses and other public workers, unions, those who rely for every penny they get from SocSec, the young, elderly and in-between who need medical care, women (who Republicans seem to want to eliminate from the face of the Earth….the most recent outrages being changing the definition of rape and investigating any woman who suffers a miscarriage!!!), those who believe in evolution, who want our gov’t to act responsibly regarding climate change, who want our government to quit waging war, on and on, ad infinitum, please come stand with us this Saturday.

Make a sign to carry expressing your frustration, wear red if you want to support the Wisconsin effort, or just come out and help us show the strength in numbers!!!!  MoveOn.org is coordinating this across the country. Hope to see you there!

Here are some links you might want to read:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/22-7

http://bl151w.blu151.mail.live.com/default.aspx?n=773179453

Malama pono America!

Filed under: Announcements, Guest Commentator, Hawaii, Hilo, Politics | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

PBS Hawaii Presents “A Conversation with America ’s Poet Laureate: W.S. Merwin”

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Damon

Program Will Premiere for Hawaii Audiences Thursday, February 24th at 8:30PM Before Airing on PBS Stations Across the Country

Media Release:

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and longtime Maui resident W.S. Merwin is America ’s Poet Laureate.  This honor had never been bestowed upon a Hawaii resident; let alone a writer who wants to be known as a Hawaii poet.  True to this conviction, Mr. Merwin insisted on presenting himself to the world from Hawaii with an interviewer from Hawaii .

 

Leslie Wilcox talks story with Mr. Merwin

PBS Hawaii CEO and veteran journalist Leslie Wilcox spoke with Mr. Merwin at his lush, secluded home on Maui ’s northern coast, where he and his wife Paula cultivate one of the world’s largest collections of endangered palm trees.

Flowing through the hour-long program,  produced by PBS Hawaii,  are readings from his work and his thoughts about poetry, literature, the power of words, Hawaiian myth and values, conservation, the future of mankind and much more.  In the end, a never-before-seen portrait of the man and the artist emerges.

 

Merwin's garden

Merwin is the seventeenth United States Poet Laureate.  He has published 26 collections of poetry and received numerous honors and awards in a career that spans more than six decades.

William Stanley Merwin was born in New York City in September of 1927, the son of a strict Presbyterian minister. He was raised in New Jersey and Pennsylvania .  As a child, he listened to and was moved by the language of the King James Version of the Bible and the children’s poetry his mother often read to him. With a gift for languages, he graduated from Princeton University in 1948, and then traveled, living for many years, alternately, in Europe and the United States .

In 1976, Merwin moved to Hawaii to study Buddhism with the revered Zen master, Robert Aitken.  Besides being a widely read poet and accomplished literary translator, Merwin is also recognized for his commitment to the environment.  For the last thirty five years the Hawaiian Islands have been Merwin’s home.

Because Merwin wishes to be represented to the world through this interview, selections from it will also be made available to media outlets around the globe.

Filed under: aloha, Announcements, Entertainment, Guest Commentator, Hawaii, Something New?, Television | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

*UPDATE* Census Data Being Released TODAY

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Damon
Media Release:

Today, the Census Bureau shipped local 2010 Census data to the governor and leadership of the state legislature in Hawaii. After confirmation of receipt, usually within 24 hours of shipment, the Census Bureau will issue a news release with five custom tables of data for the state. Because of time zone differences and the increased time required to ship to Hawaii, the data will be released to the public Thursday, around 3 p.m. EST. At that time, the full set of data will be available via FTP download at http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File–PL_94-171/. Within 24 hours after release, the data will be posted on the Census Bureau’s new American FactFinder site http://factfinder2.census.gov.

The data will include summaries of population totals, as well as data on race, Hispanic origin and voting age for multiple geographies within the state, such as census blocks, tracts, voting districts, cities, counties and school districts.

According to Public Law 94-171, the Census Bureau must provide redistricting data to the 50 states no later than April 1 of the year following the census. As a result, the Census Bureau is delivering the data state-by-state on a flow basis in February and March. All states will receive their data by April 1, 2011.

For More Information:

For more information on the Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data Program, visit http://www.census.gov/rdo and http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/redistricting.html.

Filed under: Hawaii, National Affairs, State Affairs | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »