Kia’aina gets full vote of confidence

A unanimous voice vote of the U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed the appointment of Esther Kia’aina as assistant secretary of insular affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior.

She’ll be coordinating federal policy on Guam — where she was born — as well as in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa. She  also will administer federal assistance to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau.

None of this concerns the proposed rulemaking on federal recognition of Native Hawaiians, the primary focus of community hearings that she’s attended for Interior this week around the state.

Given the emotional tenor of some of those meetings, perhaps Kia’aina is ready to head back to Washington for some peace and quiet. Oh, wait: That’s not likely.

The candidates are in the house

There are seven — count ’em, seven — candidates in the Democratic primary race for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, the U.S. House seat representing urban Honolulu.

On Saturday, voters will be able to hear all seven at a 2 p.m. free forum at Honolulu Community College, in the Norman Loui Conference Center’s Building 2, room 213. The candidates are all fairly well known: City Council members Ikaika Anderson, Stanley Chang and Joey Manahan; state legislators Will Espero, Donna Mercado Kim and K. Mark Takai; and rights activist Kathryn Xian.

With the primary just six weeks away, it’s prime time to vet choices; this race has no incumbent. The Democratic winner will face the Republican and the nonpartisan winners in November.