News Links and Upcoming City Events
The monthly City and County of Honolulu Newsletter from the Culture and Arts office has been released. You can download the PDF here.
Among the highlights are this coming weekends Hawaii Book & Music Festival being held on the grounds of Honolulu Hale, May 6 & 7 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The event features live music, hula performances and food booths. Admission and parking is free.
The month of May also sees Memorial Day coming up on May 29. The city is seeking lei donations at Honolulu Hale. They will have a lei making activity on May 26 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. The public is invited to make a lei or drop one off at city hall.
NEWS LINKS : Short briefs to news of the week….
The Hawaii State Legislature is coming to an end on Thursday, May 4. Final voting on bills will occur on May 2 and 4. The most significant bill will be an increase on the hotel room tax from 10% to 12% to fund the city’s rail project which will cost taxpayers at least $10 billion and up to $13 billion by some estimates. We’ll probably have commentary on this at our affiliated blog Hawaii Political Platter.
In the past month Rat Lungworm Disease has manifested itself in the islands through local produce. The symptoms from this affliction can be very serious, and in some cases fatal. The best way to prevent rat lungworm disease is to thoroughly wash all produce (fruits and vegetables) to make sure you don’t ingest the vector that is responsible for the spread of the disease: snails and slugs. Rat Lungworm disease has negatively impacted local farmers as consumers and businesses have started to avoid buying local produce. Cooking your vegetables is another prevention measure.
