PBS Hawaii can celebrate its 10th anniversary as a private nonprofit organization July 1 with a more than $300,000 grant that will enable it to boost signal strength and deliver high-definition programming.

KHET-TV, or Hawaii Public Television cut its ties with the state on July 1, 2000, after suffering from declining state support for many years – and became viewer- and grant-supported.

The high-def and signal-boosting funding comes through a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and both U.S. senators from Hawaii issued a joint statement applauding the funding.

"We must work to keep the nonprofit station competitive and viable," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, while U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka noted that "PBS Hawaii creates a wealth of original programming about the state and its people and makes educational national shows available to local viewers.

The lion’s share of the grant will be used to add high-definition equipment to the station’s master control facility, that will allow the station to handle delivery of PBS’ national HD programming as well as improve over-the-air and cable distribution.

Hawaii advertising wins glistening national awards

Hawaii advertising professionals have brought home three national second-place silver ADDY awards from the American Advertising Federation annual conference in Florida.

There were 50 Hawaii entries that were automatically qualified to enter, having won state-level Pele Awards in April.

The entry that won Best of Show for Design at the Peles, the "Tree of Plenty" spread for Hanahou! Magazine, was among those that won a silver ADDY, as did a TV spot titled "The Daves" for Bar 35, created by Wall To Wall Studios and a print ad for Mid Pac Petroleum (Union 76) produced by Element 8 LLC.

"Our agency is very proud to be among such outstanding creative executions from across the nation," said Jerry Blue, Element 8 owner.

Nearly 1,600 entries were judged in the national competition. The three Hawaii awardees were among 175 silver ADDY winners. One hundred gold ADDYs were presented at the conference in Orlando earlier this month.

It was the same conference at which Ad 2 Honolulu, the ad industry organization for professionals age 32 and younger, won first place for its annual pro-bono campaign for a nonprofit organization, as reported in this space June 11.

As it turns out, it is not the first time AAF-Hawaii, formerly known as HAF, has come home from the industry’s "big dance" with three ADDY awards. It happened most recently in 2007, according to research by Paul Lam, AAF-Hawaii president.

Kauai-based Tsunami Marketing won a national, first-place gold ADDY in 2002 for its "Truth Hurts" agency self-promotion materials. That same year, Studio Ignition Inc. of Honolulu won a silver ADDY for packaging design it created for Clara Confectioners.

The AAF has an online archive of ADDY awards and certificates of excellence won in recent decades.

Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Advertiser. Reach her by e-mail at erika@staradvertiser.com.