In modern age, everyone’s a journalist

Professional journalists know all about the impulse to chronicle events, whether or not they’re on the clock. Most can recall at least a few occasions when news broke in their off hours, and their first act was to grab a camera, notebook or phone, and sometimes all three.

Now everyone feels the same impulse, or something like it. The gripping story of Ferdinand Puentes, one of the survivors of the Dec. 11 Makani Kai Air plane crash in waters off Molokai, was captured in part by the waterproof videocamera he held on a stick to record the aftermath, images the Star-Advertiser published Friday.

Increasingly the record of tragedies — the Boston Marathon terror attack comes to mind — is bolstered by cameras that almost everyone has on hand in the era of cellphones. Whether people feel they are serving as "citizen journalists" or, as Puentes said, gathering images to help with coping, the phenomenon is now common.

Right-sizing of 803 Waimanu pays off

It may not seem like a win to some residents in the neighboring Imperial Plaza, but the just-approved 803 Waimanu condo project has been forced into conforming with the area’s development rules.

First proposed as a 27-story tower seeking major exemptions from height and setback rules, the development by Franco Mola quickly encountered a firestorm of opposition from Kakaako residents and others appalled by its scope. So Mola right-sized his "workforce housing" project, lopping off 20 stories and stepping upper-floor units away from the Imperial Plaza. The mid-rise now meets standards for the site set by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which gave it the green light.

Again, not a win in some eyes — but others eager for one of the 153 new units surely have a different view.