Apana gets HGEA support
in re-election bid

WAILUKU >> The state's largest public employee union has endorsed Maui County Mayor James Apana in his bid for a second term.

The Hawaii Government Employees Association said Thursday that Apana has been a strong advocate for working families and has been willing to work with the union.

The union represents 4,609 members on Maui, Molokai and Lanai.

Apana, a Democrat, was elected to office in 1998, defeating Republican Alan Arakawa.

It's a matter of height

For a group of state lawmakers who enjoy hanging 10, it's not the size of their boards that matters, as was pointed out on the Senate floor recently.

Three members of the Legislature's so-called surfing caucus -- Senate Minority Floor Leader Fred Hemmings (R, Kailua-Waimanalo), a former professional surfer; Senate Majority Leader Jonathan Chun (D, Kauai); and House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa) -- are featured in the current issue of Hawaiian Airline's in-flight magazine, Hana Hou!

Waving a copy of the magazine story, Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai) told fellow senators that here was something he didn't previously know about the surfing caucus:

"There is a direct correlation between the size of the individual and the length of the board, so that the tallest board goes to the person that is vertically challenged," Slom proclaimed. "And I'm not sure whether that constitutes board envy or what."

Surfing trip is a wipeout

Sen. Fred Hemmings originally was supposed to go to Peru on a surfing trip with friends, but it turned out to be all politics, and he never got into the ocean.

Hemmings met with the U.S. ambassador in Peru at the U.S. Embassy, which he said was heavily guarded.

He also met one of Peru's senators, who informed him of Peruvian laws that protect surf sites. Hemmings brought back a copy of that section of Peru's national laws and is having them translated. The Peruvian senator gave Hemmings a plaque to honor his trip to Peru.

"What's interesting is that Peru is the oldest surfing in South America," Hemmings said.

He discovered there is a surfing museum, called Museo de Tablas Kon-tiki, in the home of a prominent Peruvian citizen.

He also visited Club Waikiki in Lima, modeled after the Outrigger Canoe Club.

Hemmings said he would like to see comprehensive rules and regulations of ocean use so commercial uses can occur but would not interfere with private uses. He has ideas of developing ocean parks instead of government spending time and resources developing land-based parks.

KFC takes up traffic cams

Those controversial traffic cameras may return -- not in a real political campaign, but one planned by KFC and its "Chicken Ranger," Ray Bumatai, who is hawking fried chicken.

In a commercial shot Friday at the state Capitol, Bumatai announces he is running for an unspecified office and makes the campaign pledge to "bring back the traffic cameras" to a crowd of supporters who, upon hearing the promise, fall suddenly silent.

---

Legislature Directory
Legislature Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes