Honors for Hawaii’s musicians, young and old

The depth and breadth of Hawaiian music is being celebrated, from sea to shining sea. Here at home, Hawaiian musician Kuana Torres Kahele won six Na Hoku Hanohano awards from the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts on Sunday. Kahele, a founding member of Na Palapalai, led the field of winners, which included the female vocalist of the year, Natalie Ai Kamauu, and group of the year, Waipuna.

On the other side of the ocean, their musical forbears were honored as well. The Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry announced the addition of Gabby Pahinui’s "Hula Medley" and Sol Hoopii’s "Fascinating Rhythm" to its collection of national musical treasures. It was a fitting tribute to two guitar masters — Pahinui on slack key and Hoopii on steel — and a reminder of Hawaiian music’s role in building our country’s musical heritage. Hana hou!

Keep a weather eye out for seaborne debris

It’s a disturbing mystery: What happened to 1.5 million tons of debris swept into the ocean by the tsunami that struck Japan 14 months ago? No one seems to know. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration says it doesn’t have the money to mount a cleanup even if it could find the rubbish, which it can’t. Satellite and aerial photographs have proven unhelpful. It seems the only way to know where the stuff is headed is by what reaches ashore.

So it’ll be up to regular beachcombers and those weekend volunteer cleanup crews to do their own version of sorting trash — not paper and plastic, but what looks like it came from Japan, and everything else.