A Local Board will be recommending the spelling of the State’s Name be officially changed and be identical to its spoken form. HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.
Wayne Yoshioka is an award-winning journalist who has worked in television, print and radio in Hawaiʻi. He also has been on both sides of politics as a state departmental appointee and political/government reporter. He covered Hurricane Iwa (1982) as a TV reporter; was the State Department of Defense/Civil Defense spokesperson for Hurricane Iniki (1992); and, commanded a public affairs detachment in Afghanistan (2006). He has a master's degree in Communication from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is a decorated combat veteran (Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and 22 other commendation/service medals). He resides in Honolulu.
Attorney General Anne Lopez wants the information in a timely manner from the Maui Emergency Management Agency, the Maui Department of Public Works and the Maui Department of Water Supply. The first phase of the independent investigation by the Underwriters Laboratories Fire Safety Research Institute requires access to all the facts, the attorney general's office said.