Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 1, 1 January 2008 — Top 10 News Stories of 2007 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Top 10 News Stories of 2007

By Lisa Asatū | Publicatians Editur Filled with happenings from the mountain to the sea, 2007 brought the long-touted arrival of the Hawai'i Superferry, court conclusions and new directions in land management for OHA. Here is KWO's list of the 10 biggest news stories of 2007.

1Arakaki vs. Lingle An appeal of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of govermnent programs for Native Hawaiians was dismissed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. A U.S. Supreme _

Court ruling in a sepa- . rate case, I w h i c h " in effect

invalidated the lower court's

2Kamehameha Schools A four-year-old lawsuit challenging the Hawaiianpreference admission policy of Kamehameha Schools ended with a settlement between the school and "John Doe," who had been denied admission because he is not Hawaiian. The

settlement eann as the U.S. S u p r e m e Court was d e c i d i n g whether it would hear the case. Tenns of the settlement art

confidential. The

lawsuit challenged the admission policy as racially discriminatory and a violation of federal civil rights, but was shut down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, whieh ruled that policy is legal because it seeks to improve the poor educational standing of Native Hawaiians. After the announcement of the settlement, loeal attorney David Rosen suggested through an email

that heeame puhlie that he was attempting to find potential plaintiffs to challenge the school's admission policy.

3Hawaii State Advisory Commission After months of puhlie meetings across the state, the Hawaii State Advisory Coimnission voted, in effect, to not take any action on the Akaka Bill, otherwise known as the Native Hawaiian Govermnent Reorsanization Act of 2007.

The 8-6 vote left intact its support of the hill, whieh would grant federal recognition of a Native Hawaiian governing entity. HSAC, the loeal advisory panel to the U.S. Connnission on Civil Rights,

' had earlier been criticized for being "stacked" with opponents of the Akaka Bill. The problem?

Some commissioners have sued to abolish Hawaiian programs as being illegally race-based.

4Wao Kele o Puna Marking the first time ceded lands were returned to native ownership, Wao Kele o Puna was fonnally turned over to OHA at a ceremony on the grounds of the rainforest, whieh had been marked for geothermal development in the 1980s, attracting demonstrations and arrests. OHA gained title to the 25,856-acre forest in 2006 as part of a cooperative conservation deal involving the federal government, OHA, the Trust for Puhlie Land and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. In her State of OHA address last month, OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona lauded the direction OHA is tak-

ing to mālama 'āina by playing "a direct role in caring for Hawai'i's natural resources" like Wao Kele o Puna and Waimea Valley (see

No. 7).

5Hokule'a The voyaging eanoe Hokule'a sailed on a five-month, 8,000-mile goodwill tour through the islands of Micronesia and Japan. In Micronesia's Satawal, crew members delivered a gift of a new eanoe, the Alingano Maisu, to grandmaster navigator Pius "Mau" Pialug, who in 1976 brought the lost art of traditional navigation back to Hawai'i. Hokule'a's other stops included Uwajima in an emohonal visit to honor those

lost in the Ehime Maru tragedy, and Yokohama Bay, site of King Kalākaua's 1881 visit to Japan, whieh opened the door to Japanese iimnigration to Hawai'i. 6Superferry Since its August launeh, the Hawai'i Superferry spawned

_ Hawati , Superferry

court injunctions, protesters on surfboards, a special session of the Legislature and at least one online anti-Superferry song. The one thing it didn't produce in 2007 was an environmental assessment - whieh was central to the controversy. An environmental review is pending while it sails. Opponents of the passenger-vehicle-cargo ferry also cited concerns of invasive species, hanning endangered whales, traffic jams and preserving a small-town way of life on the neighbor islands. Service to Maui resumed Dec. 13; resumption of

service to Kaua'i was pending.

7Waimea Valley Months of speculation over the future of Waimea Valley were put to rest when OHA announced it would create a nonprofit to manage the l,875-acre valley, considered 0'ahu's last intact ahupua'a. Home cultural sites,

botanical gardens and about 6,000 rare species of plants, Waimea Valley was permanently protected from development in 2006 when the city, state, federal and private agencies pooled resources to buy the valley from a developer for $14 million. The nonprofit corporation Hi'ilei Aloha will oversee the Waimea nonprofit, headed by executive director Gary Gill. Plans eall for OHA to assume management of Waimea Valley in early 2008, when the Nahonal Audubon

NŪ HOU • NEWS

ruling, spurred the lower court to revisit the case and reverse its earlier decision. The appeal arose from a 2002 lawsuit in whieh a group of 14 state taxpayers led by retired Honolulu polieeman Earl Arakaki sued on the grounds that programs that solely benefit Native Hawaiians violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The dismissal sends the case back to the U.S. District Court in Hawai'i to determine whether the plaintiffs have any other recourse.

HSAC: State Attorney General Mak Bennett and Roger Cless of the Virginabased Center for Equal Opportunity give opposing views of the Akaka Bill. - Photo: KW0 file

Hokule'a journeys to the islands of Micronesia and Japan. - Photo: KW0 file t0

Society ends its management of the valley after five years. 8Kau Inoa The Kau Inoa registry continues to grow despite attorney H. William Burgess' demand letter that five of his non-Hawaiian clients be allowed to plaee their name. Kau Inoa, whieh is nearing 80,000 registrants, is a registry for Native Hawaiians who will

participate in the fonnation of a Hawaiian governing entity. Proof of ancestry is required. Suing to register are Thurston Twigg-Smith, Patricia Ann Caroll, Toby Miehael Kravet, Earl Francis Arakaki and Garry Paul Smith. All but Smith are party to the dismissed Arakaki vs. Lingle suit.

9Akaka Bill The U.S. House approved the Akaka Bill by a vote of 261153 - and O'ahu folks got to listen to live floor debate through OHA's morning drive-time radio show, Nā 'Ōiwi 'Ōlino. Opponents, such as U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Georgia) called the hill "divisive." But Hawaii Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D-2nd District) hailed the approval as "a victory for all the people of Hawai'i." The hill is now in the hands of the U.S. Senate. Papahānaumokuākea The largest marine eonservation area on earth gets its Hawaiian name. First lady Laura Bush had the honor of announeing the name of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Monument, Papahānaumokuākea, whieh symbolizes the genealogy of the Hawaiian Islands. While the 17letter, nine-syllable word didn't trip up the first lady, some polite giggling ensued when she stumbled over Gov. Linda Lingle's name, thanking "Gov. Ling-will." Encompassing almost 14,000 square miles of U.S. waters, 4,500 square miles of relatively undisturbed coral reef habitat, Papahānaumokuākea is home to rare and endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal and threatened Hawaiian green sea turtle. E3

Above: Hawaiian monk seals, or 'ilioholoikūuauū, depend on the undisturbed beoches of the NWHI to have their pups and escape from predafors. - Photo: James Watt.

Left: First Lady Laura Bush announcing the name of the Northwestern Hawūiian lslands Monument, Papūhūnaumokuūkeū. - Photo: Derek Pem

HSAC Member Bill Burgess. - Photo: KW0 file