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There’s been a lot of patting of backs in Hawaii over the response to the tsunami.

But that doesn’t mean that everything went smoothly. Events raised questions that deserved further investigation — which is what we did this week at Civil Beat.

We asked questions we thought readers would want answered: Did government websites do their job informing the public? Could we see damage in Hawaii on the scale of what happened in Japan? Why did the Big Island suffered the worst damage and did planning decisions contribute to the level of damage? What happened to the homeless, and were authorities successful in marking evacuation zones?

Here are a few links to stories I hope you didn’t miss:

• Hawaii State and County Websites Didn’t Serve Public During Tsunami
• Japan-Level Tsunami Damage Unlikely in Hawaii
• Big Island a Victim of Tsunami ‘Bad Luck’
• Planning for Disaster on Big Island of Hawaii
• During Tsunami, Hawaii Homeless Left Behind

We also explored the possible impact of Japan’s nuclear catastrophe on Hawaii, again with the intent to answer questions people in Hawaii might have.

Among our stories:

• Hawaii and Dealing with a Worst-Case Scenario from Fallout from Japanese Reactors
• Mobile Lab Would be Used in Honolulu to Detect Radiation From Japan
• Why Navy Ships Stayed Docked in Pearl Harbor During Hawaii Tsunami
• Learning from Japan’s Nuclear Disaster
• Learning from Japan’s Nuclear Disaster: Lessons for Hawaii
• FAQ: Nuclear Radiation, From Japan to Hawaii

If you have other questions you’re wondering about, please let us know.

Radiation from Japan and the impact of the Hawaii tsunami were the big stories of the week, but there were other examples of our commitment to sticking with stories.

One good example is how tax dollars are spent, a key focus of Civil Beat. This week we published two articles by our Money reporter, Nanea Kalani. One went much further in exploring how public employee compensation in Hawaii compares with the private sector. Another story she did put under the microscope the pay of public employee union leaders who negotiate state employees’ pay.

• More Than Just a Paycheck: How Public Compensation Stacks Up in Hawaii
• The Paychecks of Hawaii Public Union Leaders

Week in and week out we try to go further in our reporting at Civil Beat to help you understand local issues.

We had news of our own this week that should help us in those efforts.

An article announced: “We’re growing and will be expanding our team in every department. Civil Beat launched last May and today is Hawaii’s largest organization exclusively dedicated to public affairs reporting. We will be adding a software engineer, an editor and an operations director to help support our growth. We are also looking for reporter-hosts for future opportunities.”

Now that’s what I call a little good news.