I can still remember hearing about Civil Beat for the first time. When one of the Internet鈥檚 most notable pioneers launches a project in the town where you鈥檙e living, it makes an impression. The first article I read made an instant impact on me.

It was a piece on homelessness in Hawaii by Chad Blair, an issue that I鈥檝e wrestled with since I first arrived on Oahu in 2007. The photo attached to this story was one of the first I took when I got here, I think it was my first day. I was struck by the homeless man with a shopping cart in a beautiful ocean park. I realized that Hawaii was much more complicated than the Waikiki post cards had made it seem.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have been welcomed as a guest in Hawaii for the last five years. It’s an amazing place to live and work. But there are real problems here, too. And, as Chad’s story showed, Civil Beat was created to shine light on them.

Change Begins With A Question is the mission we try to live by at Civil Beat. By asking tough questions, Civil Beat wants to inspire positive change for Hawaii and its citizens. As the community host responsible for being the liaison between our readers and our journalists, I got to both literally and figuratively sit in the middle of the action and hear the thousands of questions each reporter asked.

I witnessed the change they made.

I got to read thousands of comments, emails and Tweets from you, our readers who were reacting to our work or sharing an opinion. It wasn鈥檛 always positive, but it was almost always civil.

I learned how many of you there are who want to see change.

I鈥檓 no journalist. But after two years at Civil Beat I understand and appreciate what it means to have a team of watchdogs in your community. I would love to have a team like the one at Civil Beat in the next place I call home.

I鈥檓 moving to the West Coast to be closer to my family, while still maintaining my relationship with Hawaii.

I’m moving on to new work, but I’ll never forget all the people I met through Civil Beat and what you taught me about community.

Mahalo.

The post Saying Goodbye appeared first on 天美视频.

Even Honolulu’s mayor Peter Carlisle mentioned one in his State of the City speech Thursday.

“We have launched the Honolulu Three One One mobile app, which allows citizens to submit requests for service to the city with their smart phone by taking a photograph and sending it, along with GPS data on the location to the city. We have received more than five hundred and twenty five reports on abandoned vehicles, broken streetlights and signs, illegal dumping, and uplifted sidewalks, tree and plant maintenance and storage of property in public spaces.”

Not a bad start considering launched less than a month ago. The mayor did a good job explaining what the app does. It’s simple and it gets to the point quickly by design.

As soon as you launch the app you’re prompted to “Submit a Report.” The application allows you to take a photo and describe the problem you’re reporting on. Then by utilizing GPS technology, it pinpoints your report’s exact location. Essentially the city is creating a team of citizen watchdogs that monitor the streets for issues that need its attention.

Once the report is filed, you can track its progress in the comments section below each individual report. Scrolling through a few of them I saw a good number marked as “ReferredToDept” or “closed.” That makes it seem like the appropriate steps are being taken. I checked with a few friends to see if they had been using 311. I was surprised to find one who not only had filed an abandoned vehicle report, but said that the car was taken away after two weeks.

The city’s tech team seems to be moving in the right direction. They’ve pinpointed problem areas and are working with tech-minded people like Information Technology Deputy Director Forest Frizzell and Hawaii’s Chief Information Officer Sonny Bhagowalia.

Now that these tools are in place with others in the pipeline, it’s time for the city to focus on building the community of people who will use them and spread the word. It was good to hear that the city had received more than 500 reports. What I would have liked to hear was how many had been taken care of.

It’s those kinds of success stories that will encourage other people to try the app.

The post Honolulu’s New 311 App Is a Step In the Right Tech Direction appeared first on 天美视频.

Local boy John John Florence, 19, finished fifth after world champ Kelly Slater knocked him out of the Pipe quarterfinals. But with Florence’s consistent performance through all three events in the Series, he was named overall winner of the 2011 Vans Triple Crown.

Check out the nicest barrels and the meanest wipeouts captured on film by :

The post PHOTOS 鈥� Surfing’s 2011 Pipeline Masters: Barrels and Wipeouts appeared first on 天美视频.

But now that it’s winter, it’s the North Shore’s turn in the spotlight.

The only problem has been that the surf on the North Shore has looked like what you’d expect on the South Shore.

At least until Sunday, when Oahu’s North Shore finally looked like itself again 鈥� with wave sizes of 10-15 feet Hawaiian (20 foot wave faces). Although stormy, windy and even chilly 鈥� the traffic was backed up for miles with eager surf fans trying to watch the Triple Crown of Surfing’s second event at Sunset Beach.

We were there to capture the scene.

Triple Crown Video

Triple Crown Photos

Photo Credit: Neal Kido of and Dan Zelikman of Civil Beat

You can follow Triple Crown’s .

The post VIDEO & PHOTOS 鈥� Oahu’s North Shore Feels First Big Swell appeared first on 天美视频.

I’ve lived there for the past four years. The idea of APEC coming to town was already daunting. Even without APEC, Waikiki can be a crowded, loud and overwhelming place. Tourists stay up late drinking and shouting and sounds from motorcycles, mopeds and sirens bounce off buildings.

My girlfriend and I always joke that we should have listened to our friends and moved out sooner 鈥� but to be honest our location is convenient. It’s a five minute walk to one of our favorite surf spots on the island. Generally we don鈥檛 go to Kalakaua because we want to avoid the crowds. Kuhio Avenue is even worse. Prostitutes, homeless under the influence and intoxicated tourists are not my idea of fun 鈥� so it just seems safer to avoid the place, especially at night.

But now APEC gives me a new reason to avoid Waikiki 鈥� and I鈥檓 not talking about the traffic. I鈥檓 talking about the U.S. State Department agent charged in the shooting death of a Kailua man at the McDonald’s on Kuhio. I don鈥檛 know the whole story, (surveillance camera footage may tell us more) but what I do know is that a 23-year-old man was killed because of some disagreement or altercation. Senseless.

Would it have happened if Special Agent Christopher Deedy was never asked to come to the islands for APEC?

Our reporter in Washington, D.C., Adrienne LaFrance, reported that Deedy was in fact sent here for APEC. Is this really what we can expect from the conference? A week of heavy traffic, protests and now 鈥� violence that leads to death? I thought this event was supposed to present Honolulu in a positive light.

Talking with other locals in the neighborhood the mood seemed to be consistent. A neighbor I spoke with during an elevator ride said that events like APEC perpetuate these types of things. That a special agent from the mainland has no business in a Waikiki nightclub while carrying a weapon. A cashier from the nearby Whalers General Store seemed overwhelmed. To her, APEC is nothing but bad news for the islands and Saturday’s shooting was just the beginning. I must have heard, “I just can’t wait until APEC is over” more than a dozen times Sunday.

I hope they’re wrong. The event was supposed to be positive. Instead the first mention of APEC is a young man getting killed in a fight in Waikiki.

I want to offer my condolences to the family of Kollin Elderts.

The post I’m Mad That an APEC Cop Killed a Local appeared first on 天美视频.

Readers have been posting and now it’s time to vote on which ones we should pursue. Just the way we chased down answers about why we use so much plastic foam in Hawaii.

Some of the most popular question in our forum are:

• What are underlying causes for Hawaii’s perpetually low voter turnout?
• Should Hawaii use Lanai and Molokai as industrial wind power plants for Oahu, with an undersea cable paid for by Hawaii’s ratepayers and taxpayers?
• UH President Greenwood is spending big money searching the U.S. mainland for a new chancellor. Why aren’t local people ever chosen to run Hawaii’s largest university when most would jump at the chance to earn $337,672?

But there are many more. Just head to to vote or add a question of your own.

If you feel strongly about one of the questions, encourage your friends to participate. The question that gets at least 100 votes will be the one we tackle next.

The post Vote For Our Next Change Begins With a Question鈩� Topic appeared first on 天美视频.

Civil Beat: PUC Rejects Big Biofuels Project

Aina Koa Pono was planning to build a $350 million biofuels plant in the Ka’u region of the Big Island. But the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission ruled the cost of the fuel was too expensive.

Civil Beat: City Council Targets The Homeless?

A ban on tents on sidewalks and now a proposal to remove all personal property. It’s all part of Honolulu’s effort to remove the homeless from public areas. But as new measures are passed, are there really any plans for actual enforcement?

Civil Beat: How Will HPD Handle Protests During APEC?

Preparations are already underway to ensure a safe and smooth summit, hosted by Hawaii-born president, Barack Obama. But questions remain on how law enforcement will handle groups that plan to protest during APEC.

Civil Beat: Mayor Carlisle’s Overseas Trips

Mayor Carlisle will leave the island for his 10th official out-of-state business trip promoting Honolulu’s interests abroad. It turns out he has spent a good chunk of that year outside the state.

Civil Beat: Paying For Police Protection

The Waikiki Business Improvement District Association forked up the cash to pay for police to patrol Waikiki’s sidewalks.

The post VIDEO 鈥� KITV Week In Review: Oct. 14 appeared first on 天美视频.

Last week, commented on one of our 鈥淔riend or Foam鈥� posts. They wrote:

…One important thing to me is that as the customer, we have the ultimate say. We can ask our favorite lunch spot to transition to more sustainable choices (that I hope we will learn about in a future post) or ask to bring in our own reusable containers??

We heard you, Plastic Free Kailua. We went to , one of our favorite restaurants in Kaimuki, and asked if we could bring in our own food containers. Natalie Pornngam, the owner, was more than happy to accommodate our request.

She told us that by bringing in our own containers, we鈥檇 be helping them as well. They pay 25 cents per small plastic foam box, 45 cents per large plastic foam box and 40 cents per plastic curry container with lid.

Last Friday, the Civil Beat clan brought in our own food containers, dropped them off at To Thai For, placed our order, and voil脿 鈥� we had a plastic foam-free lunch. It was that easy.

We calculated that we saved To Thai For $5.35 on our entire lunch order, but who knows what we saved in environmental impact? For the first time after a group takeout lunch we didn鈥檛 have overflowing plastic foam in trash cans.

Take a look at the slideshow below.

Read our related stories about plastic foam in Hawaii:

• Why Do We Use So Much Plastic Foam In Hawaii?
• We’re On It 鈥� Why So Much Plastic Foam In Hawaii?
• Friend or Foam: Is All of Hawaii’s Plastic Foam Imported?
• Friend or Foam: How Does Most Plastic Foam Get to Hawaii?
• What We Could Use In Food Service Instead of Plastic Foam
• Friend or Foam: Is It Easy to Bring Your Own Container?
• Friend or Foam: Where Have Foam Food Containers Been Banned?
• Friend or Foam: For Hawaii’s Marine Life, Plastic Foam is a Foe
• Friend or Foam: Hawaii’s Plate Lunch History

Do you have questions about plastic foam? Share them below.

The post Friend or Foam: Is It Easy to Bring Your Own Container? appeared first on 天美视频.

Hawaii’s Incarceration Numbers

Crimes, arrests, and felony dispositions in court have been on the decline in Hawaii over the past 5 years.

City May Cut Ties With Rail Contractor Ansaldo

The Council’s Budget Committee considered and then deferred a resolution that would urge Mayor Peter Carlisle and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation or HART to cut its ties with Ansaldo and start the process over again.

GOP Financial Woes

A closer examination of finances under former Hawaii GOP chair Jonah Kaauwai shows that the party owes even more than initially reported. Were talking about tens of thousand of dollars for unpaid credit card bills and political mailers. John Temple from Civil Beat gives more details.

HSTA’s Dispute Against State

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that HSTA can strike once its current complaint before the labor relations board gets resolved.

Honolulu Police Prepare For APEC

Thousands of delegates from 21 member nations will descend upon Waikiki and Ko Olina for APEC meetings, and the Honolulu Police Department has been making preparations.

Mouse In The House

A rodent was spotted scurrying around the basement of the House Chambers at the state capitol.

The post VIDEO 鈥� Civil Beat on KITV This Week appeared first on 天美视频.

• Commenting is easier than ever.
• You can now comment beneath all articles.
• We’re stopping the use of Discussion pages until we can evaluate whether they have a future role on the site.
• We welcome your feedback and suggestions here. Mahalo!

Why We Made the Change

Since launch, we鈥檝e been passionate about giving our readers a place to voice their opinions. We began with our discussion section, where readers shared thoughtful opinions about Hawaii鈥檚 most important issues. As far as commenting on the web, you could tell right away that we were on to something different. The debate was lively 鈥� and civil.

But we thought more of you wanted to participate, and we wanted to include as wide a range of voices on Civil Beat as possible.

In July, we adopted Facebook comments. Now readers could share as long as they had a Facebook account that displayed their name and profile photo. The change attracted lots of new faces and opinions 鈥� exactly what we were hoping for.

But we were still hearing from our readers that comments on the site were tricky. People wondered why some Civil Beat articles allowed for commenting underneath, while others still sent them to a discussion page related to the topic of the article. We couldn’t blame readers for their confusion.

So now Civil Beat is offering commenting underneath each article. Just scroll down to the bottom of anything you’re reading and you’ll find a discussion you can begin or join.

Among the benefits of this approach is that Facebook’s commenting system has a notification system that will alert you when new comments are made in a discussion you’re participating in. Click on “Follow Post” underneath someone’s comment and never miss an update. You also can reply to specific comments and create conversation threads that are easy to follow.

We hope the changes help you navigate the conversations on Civil Beat more easily! Thanks for reading!

The post Civil Beat Comments 鈥� Confusing No More appeared first on 天美视频.