Taking Calls For Cousin Dog

Don Chapman
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October 04, 2006
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Doggone it, the phone has been ringing more often at home since my cousin - or so we think - Duane “Dog” Chapman was arrested last month. I average a call or two a month from Mainland people trying to reach Dog, usually desperately, but there’s been a spike. From the calls and messages I’ve received, there’s a ton of support for him and his colleagues in the Andrew Luster/Mexico extradition case ...

You ask me, there’s money involved - perhaps Andrew Luster’s Max Factor millions used to prompt Mexican officials - among the most corrupt in the world - to move on Dog, and those same officials expecting a bribe from Dog ...

You can see, of course, why President George W. Bush is so chummy with the Mexican government, right? ...


By the way, we were pleased to run a letter of thanks from Dog and his wife Beth in last week’s MidWeek. Our relationship goes back to the day in 2001 when a mutual acquaintance introduced me to Beth, who came to my office and laid out Dog’s amazing story. That led to a cover story by Bill Mossman. Dog and Beth say they still appreciate MidWeek being the first media outlet to take Dog and his bounty hunting work seriously, and to give him some ink ...

I was withholding comment until after the primary election: Was anybody else not surprised that the Advertiser endorsed MidWeek sports columnist Bob Hogue’s opponent in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary? ...

And, yes, we are rather proud that both Bob and Jerry Coffee, another of our columnists, won their primaries. After suffering a heart attack, Jerry won’t be able to run, but a Coffee-Akaka race would have been very interesting, don’t you think? ...

Glad to report Jerry is getting stronger every day, and we expect to have his and wife Susan Page’s columns back in these pages soon ...

It’s been very gratifying to receive nothing but positive feedback from readers regarding my column spelling out MidWeek‘s policy not to endorse candidates or parties, and to remain editorially independent and neutral. Thank you for your calls and letters of appreciation and support ...

As we enter the start of Hawaii’s cooler months, is anybody else looking ahead and wondering a bit nervously what the rainy season might bring us this time around? ...

I’m certainly no economics whiz, but I do understand leading indicators. Walking through my very middle-class Kaneohe neighborhood (or is that redundant?), in recent weeks I’ve seen five new lawns going in, additions or renovations to six homes, and on curbs old refrigerators, TVs, ACs and computers, and boxes that new stuff came in. Nothing expresses confidence in the future quite like those kinds of investments ...

To paraphrase Jesus: The super rich will always be with us. If you read Roz Makaula’s “Blonde Highlights” column in our Sept. 22 weekend paper, you know I spent a couple of weekends ago at Kona playing golf. And I discovered a new trend in island golf - private golf clubs that cater to Mainland millionaires and billionaires. Four courses in the Kona area charge $250,000 initiation dues. At three of the clubs - Kukio, Hokulia and Hualalai - owning a home at that course is a prerequisite for golf membership. And the cheapest lot - just dirt - currently available costs $2 million. Nanea, developed by Charles Schwab, does not include a real estate component ...

And get this: A number of people have memberships at Nanea, Kukio and Hualalai (plus home Mainland courses). You do the math ...

I’d heard about Kona traffic woes, and experienced them firsthand. On a Friday at 3:30 p.m., it was stop and go from the Kona airport into Kailua-Kona, and all along Ali’i Drive. Good news is that the highway is being widened to four lanes between the airport and town ...

It had been years since I’d been there, but am pleased to report that Huggo’s on the Rocks is still serving great food and ambiance, right on the water ...


David Black, the man who saved the Star-Bulletin in 2001 and purchased MidWeek to make it happen, was in town last week. He stopped by my office and couldn’t stop smiling as we talked about how MidWeek has officially passed the Sunday Advertiser in readership to become the state’s best read publication. David and I agree that our success is entirely because we have such a great staff and contributors - talented and hard-working people who really care about MidWeek. It’s an honor for me to serve as their editor ...

Time flies when you’re getting old: Hard to believe, but December will make 12 years since I replaced Vera Benedek as the editor ...

Harder still to believe is that Oct. 15 makes 27 years since I first came to work in these islands, then so strange and now so much a part of who I am. Go figgah ...

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