Tsunamis have killed more people in Hawaii than any other form of natural disaster, yet basic tsunami education — from signs of an approaching one to what to do when it comes — is severely lacking in the Islands. Located in downtown Hilo on the Island of Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Museum was initially founded 30 years ago to fill that void — a hub for education and awareness that contends “no one should die due to a tsunami.” The museum is filled with photos and videos of tsunamis that have hit Hawaii and other parts of the Pacific, along with a large archive of firsthand interviews with survivors.
Hawaii
Hawaii-based ‘Magnum P.I.’ moves to NBC after CBS cancellation
LOS ANGELES — “Magnum P.I.” has been rescued from sequence cancellation.
NBC has ordered two extra seasons of the Hawaii-based detective drama, in response to The Hollywood Reporter. Every season will comprise 10 episodes, and NBC might go for additional seasons if the present is profitable at its new residence.
The primary 4 seasons of the present aired on CBS, and regardless of being one of many highest-rated exhibits in its Friday evening time slot, the community canceled the drama in Might after negotiations broke down over licensing charges.
“Magnum P.I.” is a co-production of CBS Studios and Common Tv. In June, phrase broke that NBC or its sister cable community USA Community have been in critical negotiations to select up the present. Time was operating out, as choices on the forged would have expired on June 30.
A reboot of the Eighties sequence starring Tom Selleck, “Magnum” stars Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, a non-public investigator in Hawaii. Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Amy Hill and Tim Kang spherical out the forged. The present employs a number of hundred individuals in Hawaii, together with technicians, movie crew and extras.
The cancellation prompted an outpouring of fan help all over the world to attempt to save the sequence. They held tweet events, despatched letters and postcards to the networks and known as them every day.
Additionally they organized a crowdfunding marketing campaign and despatched greater than 1,000 leis to executives at NBC to induce them to select up a brand new season. However they didn’t cease there. They raised cash to pay for a billboard in Instances Sq. pleading with tv executives to “Save Magnum P.I.”
Dr. Tori Jones, a fan in London, informed Spectrum Information Hawaii she found the present firstly of the pandemic whereas working lengthy shifts as a doctor on a COVID-19 unit.
“This was pre-treatments and pre-vaccinations, and it was a very terrible expertise,” she mentioned. “However the present’s inherent ‘really feel good’ issue gave quite a lot of us a really welcome escape from actuality every week – it definitely helped to maintain me going, and gave me one thing to stay up for at a really bleak time.”
It was a bit circuitous however we did it!Your love & help helped get us over the end line, thanks & due to @nbc for stepping up!Time to mud off the Aloha shirt! #ohana ❣️🍾😎🏝🌈🏎 https://t.co/wJqoJ64lEh
— Jay Hernandez (@jay_hernandez) July 1, 2022
Hernandez reacted on Twitter to the renewal, writing, “It was a bit circuitous however we did it! Your love & help helped get us over the end line, thanks & due to @nbc for stepping up!Time to mud off the Aloha shirt!”
Knighted added, “This one is for the FANS. You guys are AMAZING!”
This one is for the FANS. You guys are AMAZING! ❤️ 🌈 🏝 https://t.co/LPv5EEjjrT
— zaChknighton (@ZachKnighton) July 1, 2022
Jones mentioned the followers are “completely delighted” with the information the sequence has been saved.
“This cancellation was extremely unfair from the start (based mostly on cash, fairly than scores), so the fandom actually feels that an injustice was accomplished to the forged and crew.
“The present means lots to so many individuals, and the themes of friendship and household have actually resonated with viewers, particularly through the previous couple of years,” she mentioned.
Hawaii
Hawaii museum lays off entire staff, at risk of closing for good
Now, it’s at risk of closing its doors for good.
Earlier this month, the Pacific Tsunami Museum laid off all 10 of its employees and suspended operations. Former staff are now volunteering their time to keep the doors open on a reduced schedule.
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“We have several problems,” Walter Dudley told SFGATE. Dudley co-founded the museum with tsunami survivor Jeanne Johnston in 1994 to educate residents and visitors about the natural disaster and to serve as a living memorial to those who lost their lives.
The museum’s 100-year-old historic building, which was donated to the organization in 1997, is expensive to maintain. “The AC died and cost us way outside our budget,” Dudley said. “The roof sprung a leak and we used our entire supplemental budget to fix that and clear up mold because, you know, Hilo is on the rainy side.”
Dudley doesn’t want to see the museum close completely. “Sadly, that’s one possibility,” he said. “I mean, we all hope that doesn’t happen, but unless we get some, you know, some serious help for the issues that we do have, that’s the worst-case scenario.”
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The museum needs monetary donations to fix up the building and to pay the staff so that it can reopen. “As the years go by, a lot of survivors who were many of our biggest supporters have passed away,” Dudley continued. “They’re no longer around, and that actually makes our mission all that much important because people tend to forget that tsunamis are a true and present danger in Hawaii.”
The last deadly Hawaii tsunami was in 1975, when an earthquake off the coast of the Island of Hawaii generated large waves within seconds that killed two people. In 1960, a tsunami resulting from a 9.5 Chilean earthquake killed 61 people in Hilo.
The deadliest tsunami to hit Hawaii in modern history was on April 1, 1946, when a magnitude 8.6 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska triggered a tsunami with waves reaching heights of 55 feet. At least 159 people were killed throughout the Hawaiian island chain. The greatest loss of life was in Hilo, where an estimated 96 people died.
Because there are spans of years between major tsunami events, education is important to remind people of Hawaii’s tsunami history and risks — and to take them seriously.
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“There’s an apathy around knowing and believing it will happen again. And it will happen again. It absolutely will,” Cindi Preller, director of the Pacific Tsunami Museum, told SFGATE. “The earth’s tectonics don’t change. It’s just unpredictable, it’s unknowable. And for the local tsunami, it can arrive in just a few minutes, so it’s really, really, really important that people know nature’s warning signs as well as the official warning signs.”
Preller, who is now working as a volunteer alongside her staff, said visitor numbers were fine but building repairs have set them back. “If we were going to really restore this building, that would cost millions,” she said.
Through it all, Preller remains focused on the mission of the museum. She wants to revitalize the space and would like to see a new generation come in and help rebuild and do new things with the exhibits.
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“We need to strategically plan and create,” she said. “We just need to really revitalize and shake things up and create a plan so that we never ever have to shutter again.”
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Hawaii
Hawaii nonprofits brace for less federal funding
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii nonprofits that provide critical social safety nets are facing economic hardship of their own.
President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is expected to slash federal appropriations, government contracts and grant awards, and heavily impact social services across the state.
Melissa Pavlicek, Hawaii True Cost Coalition, explained, “The community-based organizations that are providing key government services are already struggling to provide those services. Some of their contract prices have not increased in over 10 years. The cost to provide those services is significantly greater. The transportation costs, rent, employees, food, everything has gone up. And to serve the community costs more. So we’re looking to our state policy leaders to help ensure those services are continued.”
To mitigate the potential fallout or disruption of services, nonprofit leaders are working to fill the gaps with the help of lawmakers, private donors, philanthropy, corporate foundations and residents themselves.
Suzanne Skjold, Aloha United Way COO, said, “Whether that’s helping your neighbor, maybe donating to a charity that is losing a program, even getting involved politically, locally, you know, voting matters. Being involved in our legislature matters.”
“The slack really has to be picked up by the state and county governments as well as the private sector,” warned U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, “and so these are gonna be tough times and I’m telling everybody, hey, let’s, not sugarcoat this. We have to be prepared for the unexpected.”
Another concern is legislation that some believe if passed could be used to target progressive nonprofits opposed by the Trump administration.
For now, community advocates are urged to keep calm.
Case said, “The first thing I would advise everybody is not to freak out. That we have been through changes in administration before. That these are core federal programs that within Congress, even a divided and polarized Congress, many, many people from both parties support these programs.”
“We want to make sure Hawaii doesn’t become the kind of place where we lead in a way that’s hateful to others,” Skjold said.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Visitors warned after toddler nearly runs off 400-foot cliff near Hawaii volcano
The National Park Service is warning parents to keep their children close after a toddler ran toward the edge of a 400-foot-tall cliff at Hawaii National Park on Christmas.
The young boy was at the park with his family to view the eruption of the Kilauea volcano. They were in a closed area at Kilauea Overlook when he wandered away from his family before the “near miss.” His mother, screaming, managed to grab him just about a foot away from a fatal fall.
“Park rangers remind visitors to stay on trail, stay out of closed areas and to keep their children close, especially when watching Kīlauea from viewpoints along Crater Rim Trail. Those who ignore the warnings, walk past closure signs, lose track of loved ones, and sneak into closed areas to get a closer look do so at great risk,” the agency warned.
Rangers noted that dangers escalate during volcanic eruptions, as people flock to view the spectacle of lava flowing out of the Earth’s crust. The Park Service urged drivers to slow, and watch out for pedestrians, Hawaiian geese, and switch to low beams when other cars and pedestrians are present.
The eruption, which started on December 23, is now in its second pause, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. But, it could still restart at any time.
Furthermore, emissions of toxic gas remain high, including particulate matter called tephra. Billions of minuscule pieces of tephra, which include all fragments of rock ejected into the air by an erupting volcano, can be carried on winds for thousands of miles and can cause respiratory issues. Volcanoes also produce dangerous gases, like carbon dioxide and hydrogen chloride.
Tephra has blanketed the closed portion of Crater Rim Drive downwind of the lava.
“The hazards that coincide with an eruption are dangerous, and we have safety measures in place including closed areas, barriers, closure signs, and traffic management,” Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh said in a statement.
“Your safety is our utmost concern, but we rely on everyone to recreate responsibility. National parks showcase nature’s splendor but they are not playgrounds,” she said.
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