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The news media, Cabinet officials and Clayton Hee, chairman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, waited for Gov. Ben Cayetano to start a news conference last week at which he would announce that he had changed his mind and would not seek the immediate ouster of the present OHA board. Hee tee-hees
past tease
about kneesBefore going to the microphones, Cayetano made a point to pretend he was dusting off Hee's knees, as if his slacks were dusty from kneeling in front of Cayetano to beg for his position.
Later, when reporters jokingly asked Hee if that is what happened, Hee, who is over 6 feet tall, said the reporters got it wrong.
"My knees were dirty because I had to go down to see eye-to-eye with the governor," Hee said of the much shorter governor.
FIREWORKS FORUM: If you are fed up with fireworks, there is a meeting for you.
The Hawaiian Humane Society and the American Lung Association will sponsor a meeting Wednesday, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the state Capitol auditorium. A coalition of 21 community agencies and concerned citizens will be talking about how to get stronger fireworks regulations.
The coalition wants to stop illegal fireworks from entering the state and to reduce the smoke and noise generated by legal fireworks.
BUSINESS CREDITS: U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie is co-sponsoring a bill that will provide a three-year tax credit for small businesses who establish employee pension plans.
The Small Business Start-Up Credit Act of 2000 (HR1021) calls for credits that, in the first year of the pension plan, would provide up to $1,000 in administrative and retirement education expenses associated with start-up costs for a defined contribution plan.
For the second and third years, the credit would be up to $500 in such costs.
REEF CONSERVATION: The Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, D.C., is hailing the National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs as "a bold move" that embodies many CMC goals.
"We have now taken the first step in the long journey to ensure the complete protection and conservation of our nation's and world's coral reefs," center president Roger T. Rufe said in a news release after federal agencies unveiled the plan last week.
The plan aims to protect 20 percent of the nation's coral reefs by making them "no-take zones" for harvesting of resources.
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