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The Conversation: Tuesday, January 31st, 2017

American Art

Being Indigenous in the Modern World; Possible Tax Increase on Tobacco; Policy Priorities for Keiki Caucus

Proposed Sales Tax Increase on Large Cigars: Jessica Yamauchi

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Jessica Yamauchi

Credit Pixabay
Cigars may become more expensive in 2017.

If you were at the Capitol on opening day, you probably saw them. A lot of young people in blue t-shirts with a drawing of a red car and hashtag breathe aloha on the front. The Coalition for a Tobacco free Hawaii is a project of the Hawaii Public Health Institute. Many of its members walked the halls to generate support for bills to fund tobacco education. A bill to increase the tax on large cigars has now passed first reading and is scheduled for hearing tomorrow. But why increase just the tax on big cigars?  Jessica Yamaguchi is the Executive Director of the Hawaii Public Health Institute.

Intro Music: Plantation Inn by The Mar-Keys

Outro Music: Sauce by Diego Raposo

Being Indigenous in the Modern World: Barry Lopez

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Barry Lopez

Credit Barry Lopez
Barry Lopez has written extensively on indigenous cultures in the modern era.

Barry Lopez has written extensively about the relationship of indigenous people to the land. That is a subject for which the people of Hawaii provide a ready audience. He’s speaking tomorrow evening at UH-Manoa about Sacred Ground and Reconciliation.

Intro Music: Kalimba Interlude by Earth, Wind and Fire

Outro Music: Antenna by Bonobo

Civil Beat Reality Check: Rescue Resource for Hawaii County

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Chad Blair

Credit Eric Tessmer/Civil Beat
Hawaii Island's remote Pololu Valley poses substantial challenges for rescue workers.

Firefighters and lifeguards risk their lives to help residents and visitors but who helps them with their wish list to better do their jobs? Over the last 20 years, it has been a family foundation started by a couple whose son died before rescuers could get to him for want of extra-long ropes. Civil Beat reporter Chad Blair has the reality check.

Outro Music: I'll Be Your Man by The Black Keys

Keiki Caucus 2017 Legislative Agenda: Senator Karl Rhoads

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Karl Rhoads

Senator Karl Rhoads.

In Hawaii, we talk a lot about the needs of the smallest among us: kids. The responsibility for ensuring laws to benefit them often rests with Hawaii’s Keiki Caucus. Since 1994, it has worked with community youth advocates to develop initiatives addressing kids’ health and well-being. The Keiki Caucus is a bipartisan group of House and Senate members plus community organizations. Key items on this year’s agenda include lowering the eligibility age for children in the open doors preschool program, support for social and emotional learning training for teachers, and funding to create an after-school program for public middle and intermediate schools Sen. Karl Rhoads  is a  co-convener of the Keiki Caucus.

Outro Music: This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) by Talking Heads

Hamilton National Tour Cast Member: Daniel Ching

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David Ching

Credit Daniel Ching
Daniel Ching has joined the cast of 'Hamilton' as part of the ensemble.

Theater artists often feel that their professional lives don’t really start until they’re called upon to work on a show all day, every day, and then settle into a grueling round of eight performances a week. And training can only take you so far.  Daniel Ching had had plenty of that, as a 2010 graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute’s School of the Arts and a 2016 graduate of Juilliard, but he’s recently faced a unique challenge: joining the cast of the most popular Broadway show in recent memory while it’s on the road.

Intro Music: Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Outro Music: Alexander Hamilton by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

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