1 Lucky Mōʻiliʻili Resident will win & Mahalo to Ron Lockwood

One lucky Mōʻiliʻili resident will win a $50 Star-Markets Gift Certificate. CLICK HERE to find out how to enter the drawing and what the rules are.

Earlier today, (well before the $50 gift certificate drawing was announced) Ron Lockwood invited about 100 people to join Mōʻiliʻili Matters. In addition, Ron also posted questions, observations and thoughts on various subjects and in different parts of our community social network. Ron is definitely playing an active role on this community site to help keep us informed. Thank you very much Ron!

Two new neighbors over the weekend & Angela Keen

TWO NEW NEIGHBORS
This Memorial Day weekend two people became neighbors at Mōʻiliʻili Matters. These people are Kaimana Pinē and Sang "Sam" Han.

Kaimana may be more well-known on the leeward side for his familyʻs business, Hale Nalu. However, Kaimana has made the McCully-Mōʻiliʻili area his new home. Kaimana informed me that he loves to take pictures and suggested that we might see some of his photos here on Mōʻiliʻili Matters. I am looking forward to seeing those. Kaimana also likes the idea of a community specific site and says he will be logging on regularly.

I have never been a coffee drinker, but I know a lot of coffee drinkers, and a lot of coffee drinkers know Sang "Sam" Han. Sang/Sam is the owner of Glazerʻs Coffee where he is also the master barista there. I first started going to Glazerʻs Coffee to study in the spring semester of 2007. Because of his friendly nature, Sang knows many of his customers by name. Although I do not drink coffee I enjoy drinking the chai lattes and green tea that are served there. If you have never been to Glazerʻs I suggest you check it out.

Please extend a welcome to our two newest neighbors Kaimana and Sang.

ANGELA KEEN
I remember Angela Keen as a broadcast journalism reporter. From what I can recall she worked at KGMB for a while then transferred to KHNL. I have known for a while that Angela Keen is on Twitter, but I never realized that she lived in Mōʻiliʻili. I realized that Angela lived in the area when she posted tweets about the police looking for the May 14, 2009, Mōʻiliʻili shooting suspect. In my mind, she could have described what she saw if she lived in the neighborhood. Angela, at this time, has about 1570 followers on Twitter. If you do not know what Twitter is, you can find out by CLICKING HERE.

I am hoping that we can get Angela onto Mōʻiliʻili Matters.

UPDATES: Senator Taniguchi Signs Up & Shooting Suspect is Caught

Earlier today, May 21, 2009, Senator Brian Taniguchi joined Mōʻiliʻili Matters. Senator Taniguchi is definitely another welcomed member of this network. In doing so, Senator Taniguchi has made himself more accessible to his constituents.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported today (5/21/09) that the shoot suspect from May 14, has been arrested. Check out the story at http://tr.im/MMshootingsuspect On 5/14/09, the Star-Bulletin described the area of the crime as Mōʻiliʻili. But the 5/21/09 article describes the place as McCully.

Another meeting and another new neighbor

Yesterday afternoon, I met with Kekoa and Elizabeth at Glazerʻs Coffee in Mōʻiliʻili. Kekoa and Elizabeth work for Kamehameha Schools and shared with me some updates regarding Kamehamehaʻs development/revitalization plans for Mōʻiliʻili. I previously read that Kamehameha owns 11 acres of land in our community. It was a great meeting and I look forward to Kekoa and/or Elizabeth providing us with updates on Kamehamehaʻs plans.

Mōʻiliʻili Matters has another new neighbor. Her name is Laura Ruby. Laura is the editor of the book, Mōʻiliʻili--The Life of a Community. Laura is also an educator at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her UH website shows the classes she teaches.

Welcome Laura!

Presentation with the OTMBA and more new neighbors

Aloha,

This morning began with a presentation to the Old Town Mōʻiliʻili Business Association ("OTMBA") about Mōʻiliʻili Matters. It was a great opportunity to discuss the new online network with area business leaders. If anyone is interested in a longer presentation, feel free to let Derek Kauanoe know and those arrangements can be made.

We now have more great neighbors after todayʻs presentation These neighbors include:

• Christina Cox


• Marisa


• Carl Hamada


• Ron Lockwood


• Rebecca Ryan, and


• Darryl Wong

Another new neighbor and Mōʻiliʻili Community Center funding

Please welcome another new neighbor to the Mōʻiliʻili Matters social network, Elizabeth Ahana.

In todayʻs Honolulu Advertiser, there is an article titled, "Honoluluʻs senior centers in ʻdire straitsʻ as state cuts support: Some programs may end up on chopping block as funding dwindles." To read the article in its entirety, CLICK HERE. Halfway down the article, the reporter specifically mentions the Mōʻiliʻili Community Center. The Center, in the past, has received $107,000 annually. Although the article does not explicit state that the $107,000 will be cut completely, it expresses the concern of a community elder as to the future of the place.

as we continue . . .

As the site continues to develop we now have two new members, or as we refer to them here at Mōʻiliʻili Matters, neighbors. These two neighbors are:

• Kekoa Paulsen


• Susan Todani

A review of their profile pages shows that both Kekoa and Susan work at Kamehameha Schools. For those of you who may not know, media reports show that Kamehameha Schools owns approximately 11 acres in Mōʻiliʻili. If I recall correctly one parcel of property is the land under the old University theatre. Another is the Rainbow Vista apartments. Past media reports have also discussed revitalization plans of the Mōʻiliʻili area. Kekoa and Susanʻs presence here at Mōʻiliʻili Matters is very welcomed.

I have not been able to find any photos of Kekoa online, but below is an embedded video of Kekoa discussing Kamehameha Schools development plans for Kaka‘ako. Below the video is a photo of Susan Todani that is also available online.



Susan Todani


photo from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Still developing

Still developing the Mo‘ili‘ili Matters site. Mahalo nui loa to Hapaloha for her design assistance. The original design of the site apparently was very UN-appealing.

I am confident that there is a tremendous amount of potential for Mo‘ili‘ili Matters to play an significant role in how the residents, business owners, and the working people, in the Mo‘ili‘ili area, interact. As has been noted in the previous blog entry, State Representative Scott Saiki has become a member of this social network and expressed to me strong support for this. Representative Saikiʻs office manager, Benjamin Park, also became a member of this network as well. Both Rep. Saiki and Mr. Park are helping to spread the word about the Mo‘ili‘ili Matters.

Mo‘ili‘ili Matters will become a central online site where people can get a variety of information (matters) regarding the Mo‘ili‘ili area. With active involvement from neighbors and friends information regarding small businesses in the area, schools, and community organizations can all be centralized here.

Mahalo also to Gingerchew and Scott Murphy for signing up as well.

Hopefully by May 30 we will be out of beta status.

Representatives Scott Saiki Joins!

Today I met with Hawai‘i State Representative Scott Saiki at the capitol and shared with him the goal of creating a social-network for members of the Mō‘ili‘ili neighborhood and expanding to McCully. The ultimate goal is to help make Mō‘ili‘ili more neighborly. I think it is possible to make Mō‘ili‘ili more neighborly through the use of online social networks.

Mō‘ili‘ili is a nice small town with thousands of residents. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of opportunities for Mō‘ili‘ili residents together and meet each other. However, if Mō‘ili‘ili actively participate on something, like an online social-network and post their individual photos, then I believe that in itself will contribute greatly to the area becoming more neighborly. When my girlfriend and go eat at places like Aki-No No, or Kit N Kitchen, etc., maybe we will recognize a few faces in those places because those neighbors posted their pictures. Now, neither they nor I need to drop everything and start a conversation, but at least we will have a better idea as to who our neighbors are. All that just from adding photographs of ourselves to the network. That does not yet include participating with online discussion forums.

Mahalo nui to Representative Scott Saiki for joining and for his support.

Meeting with Ron Lockwood

I met with Ron Lockwood today. We discussed concerns and visions we have for the Mō‘ili‘ili area. Ron Lockwood is the chair of the McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili neighborhood board.

The meeting was great and the fruits of the meeting, I anticipate, will definitely be seen in the next few months.

Mō‘ili‘ili Graffiti Clean-up

Today, the Totally Against Graffiti (T.A.G.) Team organized a graffiti clean-up. Volunteers met at the Kūhiō School cafeteria at 8 am. Around 8:30 am, volunteer groups went to different areas of Mō‘ili‘ili to re-claim their community from vandals and paint over the graffiti.