Hawaii’s Instaweek: The Melee at UH, a Big Island GMO Ban and Aloha JFK

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After one of the most highly charged legislative sessions in recent memory, Hawaii seemed destined to fade from national attention.

Then came Rep. Tom Brower’s stunt where he took a sledgehammer to shopping carts used by homeless people to store their belongings. More on that later.

But we’ve tried to focus our energies on other things, too. If you visited Civil Beat this week, you would’ve seen reporter Alia Wong‘s “Learning Hilo” series that looked at charter schools in that community that should be an inspiration for others. Alia visited campuses to learn how they work, what their vision is, and what sort of adults they might send off into the world.

The series also brought welcome coverage of Hilo. People complain that Honolulu media don’t pay enough attention to the neighbor islands. Some readers on our expressed appreciation of our deep-dive reporting. I’ve actually been to one of the campuses, Nawahiokalaniopuu Iki, a Native Hawaiian immersion school where I spent hours. I appreciated learning more about their mission and challenges from Alia.

And of course, this was a perfect showcase for Civil Beat Chief Photographer PF Bentley‘s work. You might’ve noticed a mini-redesign of our front page to better highlight photography. PF is a top-notch photographer and and we’re honored to have him in our offices and his photos accompanying our articles.

You can read the entire series through the following links.

And now the rest of the week.

Sunday, Nov. 17

Here’s a story that has only gotten worse over time. During the University of Hawaii women’s basketball game against West Virginia on Sunday, attempting to break up a fight between fans.

Most people are familiar with the following photo, shot by Honolulu Star-Advertiser sports reporter Brian McInnis.

Here’s another one that hasn’t been distributed as widely, but it’s certainly clearer.

We later discovered that Jay suffered internal bleeding and a . West Virginia University assistant women’s basketball coach Lester Rowe was reprimanded for his role in the fight.

Jay has attempted to be an agent of change for the beleaguered athletics department, and hopefully this won’t keep him down.

Monday, Nov. 18

Last week, Hawaii made international headlines by passing same-sex marriage.

This week, all it took for Hawaii to reclaim national attention again was one man, Rep. Tom Brower, and his sledgehammer. Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Allison Schaefers about Brower’s head-scratching homelessness-inspired anger toward shopping carts.

As a result, it led to headlines like this one: ““

News of Brower’s antics spread far and wide, and he eventually said he would stop. We couldn’t help but wonder: Did he break any laws?

Tuesday, Nov. 19

More national headlines, this time out of Hawaii County. The council unanimously passed a .

And also that evening, designed at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The launch occurred along the Virginia coast.

Wednesday, Nov. 20

The vog started to finally settle on Oahu, leaving some residents teary eyed and flushed with allergic reactions.

But in Hawaii, sunsets can be fascinating despite — or sometimes because of — the vog.

And President Obama honored the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye with a . He presented the medal to Inouye’s wife, Irene Hirano Inouye.

Thursday, Nov. 21

As many as 500 in favor of reasonable workloads and adequate staffing.

Another night, another UH basketball game back at the Stan Sheriff Center. It was peaceful, considering it was a game against Hilo’s Vulcans.

Friday, Nov. 22

Flags flew at half-staff for President John F. Kennedy exactly 50 years after his assassination.

Although Instagram/Twitter user Nicholas Augusta posted the following photos to commemorate JFK’s visit to Honolulu in 1963, it’s appropriate to share them now since they offer a fascinating look back at our state in the 1960s.

And finally, the president addressed Hawaii upon his arrival at Honolulu International Airport.

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