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The word is in our very name.

Beat. Civil Beat.

Obviously we’ve stressed the importance of the word civil more than the word beat as we’ve talked about the work we’re doing here — on Waialae Avenue and on our website.

But this week we produced a number of articles that shed light on the many meanings of beat.

Beat: Be The Best

This means to have stories you won’t find anywhere else.

Many times those come from us. They’re reports that make people pay attention.

A few good examples from this week:

• Straight Talk From Hawaii Union Rep to His Members, where you learned what a union lobbyist tells his members about what’s going on at the Capitol when the doors are closed. John Radcliffe is right. He’s an entertaining speaker.
• Wide Gap Between Illegal Rentals, City Enforcement , Adrienne LaFrance’s report on her use of Hawaii open records law to find out how many property owners on Oahu had been cited for violating Honolulu short-term rental laws, an important problem in many neighborhoods. Her story appears to have encouraged the City Council to take a second look at the issue.

Other times they come from contributors:

• A Way To Save Hawaii’s Government Employees’ Retirement System, the last in a four-part series by actuary George Berish on what should be done to save the state’s troubled public pension system. There may not be a topic more dense or more prone to misunderstanding. One thing we can be sure of: There’s no way to ignore the expertise of Berish, a fellow of the society of actuaries. He can tell it like it is on the money beat in a way that’s hard to equal.
• State Can’t Reduce Benefits for Those Who Already Earned Them, advice from lawyer Paul Alston, whom Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s staff might wanted to have touched base with before proposing cutting reimbursements for Medicare Part B for government retirees. Alston can write with authority on this, and many other legal issues, because his firm established the case law that should have warned the governor from going down the path he tried.

Beat: Go Further, Ask Tough Questions

Another meaning of beat is the terrain we cover the streets or issues we work.

A few good examples from this week:

• Cachola: Lots of Other States Have Worse Homeless Problems, a fact check by Robert Brown. We’re committed to sticking with issues and letting you know whether what you’re hearing stands up to scrutiny. Homelessness is one such issue.
• A Surcharge on Safety: Racking Up Overtime While Taking Vacation , Nanea Kalani’s report revealing that employees of the Department of Public Safety who claimed to work more than 1,000 hours of overtime in a single year also took a lot of sick leave and vacation, making their hours even more incredible. Money — especially how public funds are being spent and how some private parties benefit more than others — is a constant focus at Civil Beat.

Beat: Capture the Heartbeat of Hawaii

Beat also means the beat of the place, what makes it tick, the rhythm of Honolulu and Hawaii.

Some of you help us make that beat real.

• More Photos – Not Your Typical Hawaii Beach Scene, is a collection of photos from readers. I used one from this week to illustrate this story.

Beat: Tell It Like It Is –> “Off The Beat”

As you probably guessed, reporters talk about their beats, what they find in the course of the day — and many other things — in the newsroom. Those conversations are often as interesting — or more — than the stories they write. So we thought we would begin to share them with you.

Hence, our new feature, “Off The Beat.”

Here are a few examples:

• Off The Beat: Mayor Carlisle’s Business Too Good For The Gulch
• Off The Beat: Who’s the Governor Listening to?
• Off The Beat: Hooker or Victim?

Beat: Tired

One more meaning of beat: tired.

That’s the way many of us feel at the end of a long week at Civil Beat.

But, I’m already upbeat about all that we’ll have for you next week.

We’ll be back at you Monday.