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Welcome to Inside Honolulu! There’s not much on the at Honolulu Hale this week, but there’s always something going on. Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

5:51 p.m. It’s Official: The Craft Fair is Back On

The 36th annual Mayor’s Craft and Country Fair has been rescheduled and will be held Saturday, Dec. 4 at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

“I’m very pleased that the seniors who make this event so special will have the opportunity to share their wonderful crafts with everyone,” Mayor Peter Carlisle said in a .

On Tuesday, the fair was cancelled by the city’s Parks Department, citing tax enforcement concerns that might have affected some of the senior vendors.

In an earlier post, Civil Beat reported that the mayor felt the city made a rash decision in the cancellation and committed on Wednesday to reschedule the event.

The fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and admission is free.

11:25 a.m. “I’m Smiling – That’s All I’ll Tell You”

Civil Beat caught up with Mayor Peter Carlisle as he made his way from one meeting to the next. He was mum on details but said that he was optimistic the city would be able reorganize the 36th annual Mayor’s Craft and Country Fair.

“I’m smiling – that’s all I’ll tell you,” Carlisle said.

The fair was cancelled Tuesday by the city’s Parks Department, but the mayor said it was the wrong decision.

A press release will be issued shortly with details as to when and where the craft fair will be held.

10:45 a.m. A Family Affair: Relatives Face Off in District 1 Special Election Race

The special election to replace Council Chair Todd Apo has become a family affair.

Candidates Matthew LoPresti and Celeste Lacuesta, who have both filed papers to vie for the seat to represent the bulk of southwest Oahu – are related.

“She’s my aunt-in-law,” LoPresti told Civil Beat. He said he married into the family, “so it’s not a blood relation.”

The matchup could create some tension at Thanksgiving dinner.

“I have no reservations whatsoever,” LoPresti said, referring to possible problems in running against a relative. “I’m not surprised she entered. She enters just about every race she can get her name into.”

The special election is a winner-take-all scenario and will take place Dec. 29. So far, 9 candidates have filed papers to enter the race. The deadline to file is Friday.

Apo stepped down Nov. 8 to take a job with the new Disney Aulani resort at Ko Olina. There are two years left in his term.

10:25 a.m. Mayor trying to salvage canceled craft fair

Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle is in talks this morning to salvage a previously cancelled craft fair, which raises money for senior citizen groups.

The 36th annual Mayor’s Craft and Country Fair was scheduled for Saturday at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall but called off Tuesday by the city’s Parks Department. The department cited concerns that a special enforcement division of Hawaii’s tax agency would target businesses at the fair that made cash transactions without paying proper taxes to the government.

“We’re trying to right a wrong,” the mayor’s spokeswoman, Louise Kim McCoy, told Civil Beat. “Some of these groups wait all year for this fair. It means a lot to them.”

McCoy said that before the mayor can reschedule the event, as he said he would do when he learned of the cancellation Wednesday, he would have to convince the senior groups to recommit.

“A lot of them were very disappointed,” Mccoy said.

If Carlisle can convince enough of the groups to return to the fair, it will be held either this Saturday or at a future date. It will take place either at the Blaisdell or the Mission Memorial Auditorium next to Honolulu Hale.