Folks you won’t meet in Longs: One of the weirdest things The Sunshine Blog has seen lately has got to be The Garden Island newspaper’s new video newscast in which a couple of fake people named James and Rose (or Kai) read stories online.

Broadcast every Monday and Thursday at noon, “TGI Today” as the show is called features AI-generated humans reading the news. It’s prominently sponsored by Longs Drugs.

“All news, opinions and analysis are based on the professional work of The Garden Island’s editorial team,” according to a press release announcing the new product, which is done with Caledo News, which appears to be an Israeli startup. “Caledo’s AI platform generates captivating studio shows featuring dialogues and interviews between avatars.”

Aaron Kotarek, Oahu Publishing’s senior vice president of audience and operations, says in the news release: “To my knowledge we are one of the very first publishers in the U.S. to create a local news broadcast solely utilizing AI and avatars.”

The Blog thinks there’s probably a reason for that. And you can see it for yourself here. Watch James and Rose (who was called Kai in the first promo for the show) read the news on Kauai (try not be distracted by James’ hands):

Besides being more than a little creeped out by this whole thing, The Blog wonders what the point is. Generally, anchor avatars would be called in to replace the highly paid human TV talent for a huge cost savings.

But TGI barely has a reporting staff left to replace. Perhaps James and Rose will soon be writing the news as well as reading it. The Blog hopes they show up at a governor’s news conference one day soon.

Presidential selection: The Blog previously reported on all the efforts to get Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the Hawaii ballot.

But now that the Kennedy family scion and running mate Nicole Shanahan have endorsed former President Donald Trump, supporters are trying to pull the independent candidates from ballots in swing states in order to not take votes away from Trump. He’s neck and neck with Vice President Kamala Harris in most polls, after all.

Hawaii is not a swing state, however, and We The People (the party not the citizenry) did not submit its nominees to the State Office of Elections by Friday’s deadline. So Hawaii folks can’t vote for RFK Jr.

Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominees, are on the 2024 ballot, though. Same goes for Republicans Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

The Green Party ticket of Jill Stein and Rudolph Ware also made the cut, as did the Libertarian Party pairing of Oliver Chase and Mike ter Maat. Same goes for Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak of the American Solidarity Party. Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia of the Party for Socialism and Liberation are also running for president and VP, respectively.

“For the planet to live capitalism must die,” the party’s webpage states.

Deja vu all over again: Matthias Kusch, a Big Island Democrat, was appointed last month by Gov. Josh Green to represent House District 1 in the Legislature. The district was represented by Mark Nakashima, who died in July.

But Kusch will only hold the seat, which includes Hamakua and parts of Hilo, for a short while.

“Technically, Rep. Kusch is only appointed to the position until November’s general election,” Will Kane, a senior advisor to Green, told The Blog Friday. “At that time the same nomination process will have to repeat itself, with the Democratic Party selecting and sending three names to Gov. Green, who will then have to appoint again for the full two-year term.”

This will be Green’s eighth appointment of a legislative seat in less than two years. Along with Kusch, Hawaii County Democrats also submitted the names of Dwight Takamine and Kristen Alice Apruzzese.

It’s not clear who Dems will select next time, but Wendy Botelho, Koohan Paik-Mander, Misty-Leigh Carter and Jo Kim also applied for the vacancy this summer. Nakashima was unopposed in both the Aug. 10 primary and Nov. 5 general.

Where you wen grad: Want a well-paying job after college? It’s best to major in science-related fields.

That’s the takeaway from a UHERO blog post last month, which determined which majors pay the best in Hawaii and the U.S.

Among the 35 observed majors in Hawaii, those in medical and health sciences “are projected to have the highest mid-career earnings, at just under $107,000,” according to economists Rachel Inafuku and Tim Halliday of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.

The category includes nursing and dental assisting. Following closely in terms of earnings are majors in the physical sciences and biology and life sciences. Engineering and economics are also in the top five.

“On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest projected mid-career earnings are found in fine arts, theology and religious vocations, and public affairs, policy, and social work,” the authors conclude.

One other conclusion of note: Graduates with STEM degrees find much higher financial returns if they leave Hawaii.

“This situation underscores a major challenge for state policymakers who aim to diversify the state’s economy into high-paying sectors,” Inafuku and Halliday add.

Yup.