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City may just pay state
archaeologists instead of creating
preservation panelCITY HALL BRIEFS
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinThe city administration says it is considering paying the salaries of two archaeologists at the state Historic Preservation Office instead of creating a city historic preservation commission.
Peter Apo, director of the city Office of Waikiki Development, made it clear that the administration does not oppose a resolution by Councilman Mufi Hannemann calling for a city commission.
Such a commission, however, likely would have similar duties as the existing state Historic Preservation Office and the Hawaiian Historic Places Review Board, Apo said.
"We're not sure that adding another layer, or another commission, would help or hinder," he told members of Hannemann's Cultural Affairs Committee yesterday.
Apo said the city is looking at funding two positions, at between $30,000 and $40,000 each per year, to ease the Oahu Burial Council's heavy workload.
Members of the native Hawaiian community, however, testified in favor of Hannemann's proposal.
Hannemann is renewing the call for a city historic preservation commission to "identify, protect, preserve, restore and rehabilitate historic properties" following controversy over the discovery of more than 40 remains in Waikiki.
Hannemann, who will challenge Jeremy Harris for mayor this fall, believes situations like the one in Waikiki, which involved bones unearthed during work on a water main, can be prevented with creation of a city commission.
Members of the Oahu Burial Council and the nonprofit Hui Malama I Na Kupuna o Hawaii Nei say the Waikiki example is just the most blatant example of the city's generally lax approach to laws pertaining to the discovery of ancestral remains.
Several representatives from the native Hawaiian community urged the council to move forward with a city historic preservation commission.
"Why has it become so acceptable to destroy everything that is Hawaiian?" charged Shad Kane, a member of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I. "The disrespect that is shown the iwi (bones) of our ancestors is unforgivable."
Council attorney Jim Williston said a 1993 ordinance established a city historic preservation commission. But then-Mayor Frank Fasi opposed it and never formed it. The council and Fasi went to court over the ordinance but the issue was never resolved.
City Hall briefs
Mirikitani bill targets violent video games
Excessively violent video games would be off-limits to minors under a measure that got a nod from the Council Planning Committee yesterday.Introduced by Councilman Andy Mirikitani, the measure makes it illegal for anyone under 18 to buy or rent "excessively and realistically violent" video games.
Such games are defined as those depicting "decapitating, dismembering, sundering, or flaying a realistic human character in a manner which draws blood from or exposes an internal organ of the character."
Also falling under the category are games that show "shooting a realistic human character with a weapon and having the character's body bleed, burst, or puncture where hit or collapse, explode, or spasm when hit."
The definitions are part of a national rating system established by the video game industry.
"M" games are designated for mature audiences only, "T" games for teenagers, "E" games for all ages, and "K" games specifically for kids.
Mirikitani cited reports that show the games contribute to desensitizing youths to violence.
Those found in violation would be guilt of a petty misdemeanor and could get hit with either a citation or arrest.
Council eyes plans to expand health facilities
Separate proposals to expand Kuakini Healthcare Systems and St. Francis Medical Center West are moving through the City Council.Both plans received initial nods from the Council Zoning Committee yesterday.
The St. Francis West plan calls for a women's addiction treatment center, senior living center and facilities maintenance building.
St. Francis West, first built in 1985, sees total build-out at 2006.
The expansion of Kuakini would add three parcels to the campus, which would translate to 59,736 square feet more of usable area.
Plans include expansion of surgical and pharmacy facilities, and realignment of thoroughfares on the property -- all within the next five years.
Both plans now go to public hearing.
Expansion of the two facilities comes on the heels of last year's approval of extensive renovation plans for the Queen's Medical Center.
Bill seeks to ban flavored 'bidi' cigarettes
A measure that would ban the sale of a new type of tobacco cigarette that appears to be targeting youths has moved out of the City Council's Planning Committee.Councilman Steve Holmes, who introduced the bill, says bidi cigarettes are unfiltered cigarettes from Asia that appeal to teen-agers because they carry flavors such as strawberry, chocolate and mango.
Julian Lipsher of the state Health Department said the cigarettes pose a greater threat to youths than traditional cigarettes because they are unfiltered and carry more toxins.
Lipsher said cigarettes that appeal specifically to youths are particularly dangerous because 90 percent of smokers begin smoking before they are 18. About 29 percent of youths in Hawaii smoke, he said.
By Star-Bulletin staff
City & County of Honolulu
