10 Must Read Stories From The Week Of Dec. 3 – 7
A long farewell to U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka and questions about potential changes in Hawaii’s top political leadership topped the news this week.
Akaka, who has been in Congress for 36 years, is retiring. The 88-year-old senator sat down with Civil Beat and talked about his accomplishments and his vision for Hawaii.
Meanwhile, Democratic party insiders are worried that Hawaii’s senior senator, Daniel Inouye, will decide to step down before his term ends at the end of 2015. Inouye is also 88, and would be 92 when he runs again. But Inouye has been arguably Hawaii’s most important political figure and his departure would mean a significant change for the state.
His likely successor, Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, sat down with Civil Beat for an interview that you can find in our Thursday segment, DC808:On The Wire.
We also started a new column that aims to give teachers a voice. Hawaii Teacher is the commentary and observations of Susan Kay Anderson, a Big Island teacher with a nice writing touch and a passion for the plight of rank-and-file teachers. We encourage others with a different point of view to send columns, too, that we will publish in our Community Voices section.
Our popular Fact Check feature also finally has a home. Fact Checks dating back to the beginning of Civil Beat in May 2010 can now be found on a Fact Check page. We hope you will find it a good resource. And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for other facts to check.
And, in case you were busy getting a jump on Christmas shopping, here are 10 more stories you won’t want to have missed:
-
Akaka Retiring: Plenty Aloha, But What About Accomplishments?
-
Mustard Bombs Off Pearl Harbor Investigated for Potential Health Hazards
-
Hawaii Lawmakers: How Much Will School Bus Overhaul Cost Us?
-
Hawaii Teacher: Fighting For The Integrity Of The Human Mind
-
Abercrombie: Hawaii Heading In ‘Other Direction’ of Fiscal Cliff
-
Gladys Ainoa Brandt: The Unpublished Pearl Harbor Day Speech
