Hawaii county council comes out against PLDC

Erin Miller, reporting for West Hawaii Today:

Overwhelming testimony supporting a resolution asking the state to abolish the Public Land Development Corp. preceded the Hawaii County Council’s Planning Committee’s unanimous favorable vote on the measure Tuesday morning.

Community gathers to support 808 Urban

The community came together Thursday evening to support the work of 808 Urban, spearheaded by John "Prime" Hina.

23 Oahu species added to endangered, threatened list

The US Fish and Wildlife service has added 23 more Oahu species to the list of endangered plants and animals.

PLDC board to meet today, 2:30 pm

The Public Land Development Corporation will meet today at 2:30 pm in the Kalanimoku Building conference room. The agenda includes approval of minutes, a report on the statewide administrative rules hearings, and a PLDC strategic plan.

Hawaii experts examine possible tsunami debris

A team of state officials are investigating a piece of ocean debris found offshore of Kaupo, O‘ahu, which they believe may be tsunami refuse from Japan.

Consumer Reports finds high arsenic levels in rice

A new Consumer Reports study finds high levels in arsenic in rice. Tom Philpott, food and agriculture blogger for Mother Jones, reports:

What's the takeaway from all of this? To avoid excessive exposure to arsenic, Consumer Reports recommends that adults limit their rice intake to two quarter-cup servings per week; children, they say, should get just 1.25 servings per week. In the long term, Urvashi Rangan, director of safety and sustainability at Consumer Reports, told me, "what we'd really like to see happen is for the FDA to get serious about getting arsenic out of chicken feed."

Romney responds with “‘Recovery, not dependency”

Romney is handling the "47%" debacle by sticking to his talking points.

Instead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty.

Click through for the full op-ed.

Study finds strong link between diabetes and walkability

Researchers studied one million Toronto residents, and found that less walkable neighborhoods lead to higher rates of diabetes.