ITEM: By collecting more than 50 percent of the votes in last Saturday’s primary, Jeremy Harris wins re-election as mayor of Honolulu without having to run in the general election. COMMENT: And that’s not all. The former oceanography instructor and
ITEM: By collecting more than 50 percent of the votes in last Saturday’s
primary, Jeremy Harris wins re-election as mayor of Honolulu without having to
run in the general election.
COMMENT: And that’s not all. The former
oceanography instructor and wunderkind of Kaua’i politics (he was elected to
the County Council here 20 years ago at the relatively tender age of 29) and
potential future governor pulled off his preemptive election strike without
using his first name of Joseph. Jerome, aka Jeremy, is his middle
moniker.
ITEM: The Honolulu Academy of Arts is selling studio editions of
handblown glass art by Dale Chihuly. Prices range from $2,500 to
$6,000.
COMMENT: Art is in the eye of the beholder. But it’s continually
amazing that Chihuly is “world-renowned,” as the academy and others call him,
for artwork that frequently looks like something found in thrift shops and
garage sales. Some of his works only lack a clock to be true titans of tack.
His curious hold even has civic and government leaders in hometown Tacoma,
Wash. tripping over themselves to build a museum for his glass goblins.
ITEM: Not all of them, but some mainland women continue to fear for their
safety when considering vacations in Kaua’i. The reason: The unsolved murders
and attack of three women on the island’s West Side. Typical of the many women
who’ve e-mailed The Garden Island for updates on the cases and advice on
whether to come here is one who wrote, “Any safer places than others? Am I
being a fool to even consider coming? I could cancel my rental and write off
the $3,000 loss as better than losing my life…I want to be an optimist, but
I don’t want to be a dead optimist.”
COMMENT: Our advice was to follow her
own instincts and heart, but also not to feel any more unsafe on Kaua’i than
anywhere else. At the same time, by all means don’t assume anything. Take the
same personal safety precautions here as anywhere, whether you’re a visitor or
a local.
ITEM: Many readers reacted angrily to a front-page article in
TGI’s Sept. 11 issue. They said the subject matter – an overview of major
serial killer cases elsewhere in the U.S. – and the headline, “Murderous plague
comes to Kaua’i,” were sensationalized and fueled fear over the suspected
serial murders here.
COMMENT: Could the story have been homogenized or not
done at all? Yes. Could the headline have been tamer? Certainly. But serial
killings – and until police say otherwise, that’s what’s happened here – are
new to Kaua’i. Islanders can’t be spared the history of these gruesome cases
elsewhere if they are to fully understand the seriousness of serial killing
sprees and why it’s so important to pay attention to them and, with any luck,
stop them as early as possible. The cases with the highest body counts began
with one or two victims, just like here.
TGI editor Pat Jenkins can be
reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) and [
HREF=”mailto:pjenkins@pulitzer.net”>pjenkins@pulitzer.net]
