(Editor’s note:  Following is the full text of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Hawaii Tribune-Herald staff Dave Smith and Hunter Bishop who were wrongly fired and other staff who were reprimanded as part of the newspaper management’s apparent effort to bust the union. Stephens Media, the parent company of Hawaii Tribune-Herald, has been in litigation with the National Labor Relations Board and the Hawaii Newspaper Guild, Local 39117,  for the past six years.)

Image courtesy of Democratic Underground

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

Argued January 10, 2012 Decided April 20, 2012

No. 11-1054

STEPHENS MEDIA, LLC, DOING BUSINESS AS HAWAII

TRIBUNE-HERALD,

PETITIONER

v.

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD,

RESPONDENT

HAWAII NEWSPAPER GUILD, LOCAL 39117,

COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO,

INTERVENOR

Consolidated with 11-1088

On Petition for Review and Cross-Application for

Enforcement of an Order of the National Labor Relations Board  Read the rest of this entry »

(Media release) — The Big Island Press Club on Saturday recognized Member of the Year Tiffany Edwards Hunt, publisher of the World Wide Web Log Big Island Chronicle, for her role in organizing a media symposium at the University of Hawaii at Hilo last year.

We also recognized Rod Thompson, treasurer and retired Star-Bulletin reporter, for organizing the Project of the Year, a Halloween get-together at his house at his own expense.

The honors were presented at the Hilo Yacht Club during the Annual Dinner, which was attended by more than 30 people. Dr. John Pezzuto, founding dean of the University of Hawaii at Hilo College of Pharmacy, gave the keynote address, which touched on the role of the pharmacy college in the community and the results of his research regarding the compound reservatrol.

(Submitted by Peter Sur.)

Congratulations to friend and fellow Big Island Press Club member Peter Serafin for his first place award in sports writing from the Society of Professional Journalists for his Honolulu Magazine piece entitled, “Outside the Octagon” about BJ Penn.

(Media release) — The Big Island Press Club (BIPC) announces the availability of scholarships for students pursuing careers in journalism.

The $1,500 Robert C. Miller Memorial Scholarship and the $500 Jack Markey Memorial Scholarship are funded entirely by donations to the nonprofit BIPC Scholarship Foundation. The $1,000 Bill Arballo Scholarship and the $500 Yukino Fukabori Memorial Scholarship are funded by endowments.

Qualified applicants must have Big Island residential ties, be pursuing a degree in journalism or a related field at an accredited institution of higher learning, and have a strong record of academic achievement.

For complete information about applying, interested students may inquire about an application from their counselor’s office or office of student financial aid. Applications and information may also be requested by e-mail at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

The deadline to apply is June 7. Other requirements include an academic transcript, a personal statement, and work samples, if available. Interviews will be held in the summer for the finalists.

(Submitted by Peter Sur.)

(Media release) — The state Board of Land and Natural Resources is this year’s recipient of the Big Island Press Club’s negative Lava Tube Award for running afoul of the state’s open meetings law.

The state Office of Information Practices ruled late last year that the Land Board violated state law when it proposed amendments to state boating rules.

The club is also awarding its annual positive Torch of Light Award to Kona resident Chuck Flaherty and others members of Citizens for Equitable and Responsible Government for their successful  proposal of an amendment of the Hawaii County Charter requiring greater openness in the process of redistricting County Council seats.

The Big Island Press Club gives the Lava Tube and the Torch of Light awards every year on Freedom of Information Day, March 16, the birthday of James Madison. Born in 1751, Madison was author of the U.S. Constitution and the foremost advocate for openness. The Big Island Press Club was founded in 1967 and is the oldest continually active media organization in the state of Hawaii.

LAVA TUBE

The Board of Land and Natural Resources receives the Lava Tube dishonor for a meeting on Aug. 14, 2009, in which proposed amendments to the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation’s administrative rules were only vaguely described in the meeting agenda. Laura Thielen was the Land Board chair at the time. Read the rest of this entry »

image courtesy of Pins and Ashes

(Media release) — In a continuing effort to foster literacy, the Big Island Press Club has launched a campaign to help replenish the children’s book collections at three East Hawaii public libraries just in time for Christmas.

“Learning and loving to read is a key element to a discriminating public, and for a lot of children, the public library is their first exposure to vast choices in reading,” BIPC president Stephanie Salazar said.

BIPC board member Brandon Haleamau proposed raising the funds after learning of the need to replace worn-out books at the Hilo, Naalehu, and Pahoa public libraries.

“Librarians said many of  the books are just worn out and they need to replace them, but their funds are limited,” Haleamau said. Read the rest of this entry »

Gary Varvel cartoon

(Media release) — Hawaii County Council Members, having run roughshod over the Sunshine Law in the last year, earned the Big Island PressClub’s 13th annual Lava Tube award in recognition of the year’s most notable offenses against the public’s “right to know.”

The County Council disregarded the Sunshine Law when reorganizing last June, sparking a lawsuit between the Council and West Hawaii Todaythat produced a restraining order against the Council and an order for the county to pay $23,000 in attorney’s fees to the newspaper. In the restraining order, Judge Ronald Ibarra barred any further Council action until council members reversed the reorganization and gave proper notice of the matter.

“It is clear that a quorum of councilors discussed resolutions regarding selection of board officers pending before the board, prior to and outside of, the June 16, 2009, public meeting, in violation of (the state Sunshine Law),” Ibarra said. Throughout the course of the lawsuit, council members spoke publicly of the inconvenience of the state’s Open Meetings Law. Read the rest of this entry »

(Media release) — In a topic timely for the upcoming election season, CBS News Pollster Kathleen Frankovic will speak on the methods, history and the challenge of getting accurate information without slanting facts when conducting polls. Frankovic will speak at the Big Island Press Club annual dinner, Friday, January 29, 2010, at the Coconut Grill Restaurant (The former Hukilau) in Hilo.

No Host Cocktails 5:30p.m.

Dinner:  6:15 p.m.

Price $25 per person (includes tax and tip) (Menu:  Mahimahi, hibachi chicken, Kalua pork, lomi salmon, poi, rice, Pineapple upside down cake)

Reservations:  Call Rod Thompson, 982-6631 or e mail bearinpuna@yahoo.com

Frankovic, one of the world’s leading experts in public opinion polling, recently retired from CBS News, where she was the network’s Director of Surveys and Producer, with major responsibility for the design, analysis and broadcasting of results from CBS News and CBS News/New York Times polls.  She remains an election and polling consultant for CBS News and other public opinion research organizations.

In 2008, Frankovic received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Association’s lifetime achievement award given for an outstanding contribution to the field of public opinion research.  Frankovic earned an A.B. from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University.

Dave Corrigan (L), T. Ilihia Gionson, Bob Duerr, Rod Thompson, Alan McNarie, Janice Crowl, Pat Tummons, and Opal the Chocolate Laborador

Read the rest of this entry »

Image Courtesy of Patch Place

 By Hugh Clark

I feel like a kid who discovered Christmas has come four months early.

It arrived in Tallahassee, Fla., where a state judge ruled Thursday the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the big-bully sports governing agency for colleges, must disclose public information.

As best I know this is first time in nearly five decades the NCAA has been called to answer for itself.

I have had a private war with this autocratic, bureaucratic group when I called them to task for cancellation of a tiny football bowl game in northwestern California benefiting crippled kids. I testified (by letter) in the Congressional record before the late Sen. Warren Magnuson’s committee as a small town editor in Ely, Nevada, before ever arriving in Hawaii. Read the rest of this entry »

Mayor Billy Kenoi

Just in from Big Island Press Club (BIPC) Gleanings Editor Rod Thompson: Mayor Billy Kenoi will be the featured speaker at BIPC’s annual Scholarship Dinner in two weeks. 

I write this as a commentary because 1. I am biased in favor of BIPC being a  member myself 2. I want to complain about the cost of the event set for 5:30 p.m., Friday, July 31, 2009.

Granted, $28 accesses you to a smorgasbord of mahimahi, chicken, kalua, pork, lomi salmon, poi, rice, and cake at the Hilo Seaside Hotel’s Coconut Girl and the pleasantry of Mayor Billy Kenoi.  

Big Island Press Club has been protecting the public's right to know since 1967

“Kenoi hasn’t said what his topic will be, but do we need to ask?” Rod Thompson wrote. “The mayors of all counties, plus the governor, have been deeply involved in trying to figure out how to keep the state and county governments at least partly operational, while cutting back on government employee incomes in one manner or another.  Some questioning from the audience may also be directed toward the mayor’s feelings about the recent County Council reorganization… Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Island Press Club is the oldest continuously active media organization in Hawaii.

Big Island Press Club, of which I’ve been a member since 2001, has changed and modernized its website, thanks to fellow member Wayne “Big Dog” Joseph and Puna blogger Damon Tucker.  The pair has changed the website to bigislandpressclub.org; gave the site a new, more modern look; and has allowed for the public to interact with the press club by offering comments on entries. 

“I was hoping that we could make the new site interactive with members making contributions on various issues from time to time,” said Wayne Joseph. “Since the new site is so easy to post things, we can update on a regular basis, not like the dot com site, which had BJ Penn up for nearly 18 months with no movement or traffic. Also, with this new site we’d like to link members’ blogs, have photo/bio’s of the board, link to .org press clubs throughout the country. So much more can be done.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Island Press Club has selected Noelani Whittington, public information officer for the Hawaii County Department of Public Works, as the unfavorable recipient of the Big Island Press Club’s Lava Tube Award, given annually to highlight the worst violation of government openness in the state.

The Torch of Light Award, awarded for the best example of open government, goes to Gov. Linda Lingle and the Hawaii State Legislature for passing a law to protect newsgatherers from revealing confidential sources.

Whittington “wins” this year for a memo she wrote in mid-November directing employees how to handle media requests. The memo directed employees not to speak to the media, not to discuss the causes of problems and how to stop the photographing or videotaping of baseyards and road projects.

The since-rescinded memo named several individuals — video producer Dave Corrigan, and bloggers Aaron Stene and Damon Tucker — who are not to receive any information from the department. This is despite the Hawaii County Charter requirement that “all persons shall be treated in a courteous, fair and impartial manner.” Read the rest of this entry »

(Rod Thompson, the Honolulu Star Bulletin Big Island Bureau chief until his retirement on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009, is treasurer of the Big Island Press Club (BIPC) and the editor of the BIPC newsletter, “Gleanings.”  Below is the latest edition of the Gleanings, which is packed too full of news not to publish.)

 Let me – your editor, Rod Thompson – start with a personal note. As some of you already know, all of the neighbor island offices of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, including the Big Island office, are closing effective Feb. 27. I will be laid off. Read the rest of this entry »