Entries for 'Selected News Articles'

Among dozens of “green” schools in Washington state, only two use less energy than traditional schools built in those same districts. In more than one instance, the “green” schools use 30 percent more energy per square foot ....

Lucrative state and federal contracts funded by American taxpayer dollars should not be awarded to companies doing business with a regime that is aggressively pursuing a nuclear weapons program, training and supplying weapons to terrorists who are killing U.S. troops, and engaging in egregious human rights abuses inside its own borders.

Today’s scheduled time for the Route C Country Express service of TheBus from Kapolei Transit Center to Ala Moana Center during the rush hour varies from 44 to 58 minutes and averages 52 minutes.

While the U.S. is dumping billions of dollars into wind farms and onshore and offshore wind turbines, this energy source is being cast aside as a failure elsewhere in the world.

Nearly one of every 10 midsized or big employers expects to stop offering health coverage to workers after insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014 as part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul....

A religious-discrimination lawsuit involving the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is taking a giant step forward this week, with a federal judge demanding a response from the Obama administration....

Washington, D.C., led the nation in economic confidence during the first half of 2011 with the only positive Economic Confidence Index score (+11) in the U.S....

Just 25% of Hawaii employers are adding jobs, another 15% are laying off ....

Military programs...have already been targeted for a minimum of $350 billion in cuts over 10 years, with the possibility of $600 billion more if the Super Committee fails to agree on other areas to cut — a strong possibility given Washington’s well-known gridlock.

Horizon Lines Inc. (HRZ), the shipper negotiating a debt restructuring with its lenders, missed an Aug. 15 interest payment on its $330 million of convertible notes....

Janney Capital Markets analyst Tony Wible is concerned that Disney's losing its magical touch with a Hawaiian timeshare resort where projected operating costs are spiraling out of control....

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – Death hovered behind a car window packed with figurines and Teddy Bears on a tract of Iraqi road with no name....

She voted against a...proposal to mandate he inscription of a religious message at the Capitol Visitor Center....  A non-practicing Buddhist, Mazie would be the first non-theist to serve in the Senate.

The states most dependent on federal spending could also see their credit ratings fall in the wake of a major deficit reduction deal if they fail to adapt accordingly.

HSTA’s leadership has alleged that the leaders of other public unions have made agreements with the Governor and that UHPA conspired against Hawaii’s teachers and prohibited their right to bargain. As a result, more than 88 individuals, some representing the leaders of UHPA, HGEA and UPW, have been subpoenaed to testify at the HLRB hearings. The notion of a conspiracy is an insult.

Djou: “Hawaii, in particular, has become exceptionally isolated and vulnerable in Washington D.C because of the lack of a bipartisan congressional delegation...."

Financial issues with a new Walt Disney Co. resort scheduled to open this month in Hawaii prompted the company to suspend all time-share sales for the project and force out three executives, including the president of its Celebration-based time-share business...

The mother, Jane Doe, claims that the "defendants had actual or constructive knowledge of what was going on."

Michele Bachmann has been named the winner of the Iowa straw poll, taking 4,823 votes out of nearly 17,000 cast. Ron Paul was a close runner-up, taking 4,671 votes and trailing Bachmann by less than 200 ballots. In a distant third place was former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who took 2,293 votes after investing heavily in the event.

Obama approval has dropped by 12%.  A year ago Obama’s approval was 68% in Hawaii....

The entire press staff of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is in Maui, even though a field hearing there won’t happen until next Wednesday....

Faleomavaega long has prided himself on being the voice of the Pacific in Washington (when he's there) and an influential senior policymaker. Apparently Hawaii's two House members bought this load of baloney because when the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to abolish the Hawaii-based East West Center, they turned to their Samoan colleague, a member of the committee, to save the day.

On January 25, 2011, Winnipeg priest Father Bohdan Borowec arrived in Hawaii for the first time in his life....

This year’s revolt against the bemedalled despot will reduce Finmeccanica’s revenue by some €300m.

 ....

• Senate: Confirmation of Robert S. Mueller III to be Director of the FBI
• Senate: Budget Control Act of 2011
• House: North American-Made Energy Security Act
• House: Budget Control Act of 2011

Driving the compact is the memory of the 2000 presidential election, in which George W. Bush won the slimmest of electoral-vote majorities even though Al Gore gained a plurality of popular votes. But that election itself suggests a fatal flaw in the proposal....

... a "waste of time" because of the billion of euros it has lost over the years. The division, AnsaldoBreda, makes trams, trains and subways....

Queen Kaomileika'ahumanu - was buried at the Waipouli cave in the One'ula area. She died on October 31, 1796, but was removed from her burial without approval from the State's OIBC.  

• HILO -- JULY 27, WEDNESDAY—1:00PM-3:00PM.
• MAUI -- JULY 28, THURSDAY-- 5PM youth session, 6:30PM general session.
• OAHU -- JULY 29, FRIDAY—6:30PM to 8:30PM.

Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, chairman of defense and aerospace group Finmeccanica (Parent Company of Honolulu Rail Contractor Ansaldo), has been put under investigation by Rome prosecutors examining allegations of secret slush funds, legal sources said on Friday.

Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy have plunged from 77% to barely half.

• Senate: Military Construction-VA Appropriations, FY2012
• Senate: Motion to Table; Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011
• House: Cut, Cap, and Balance Act
• House: Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2011
• House: Legislative Branch Appropriations, FY2012

Residents of California and Hawaii are the most indebted individuals in America, but they’re also among a group that are making the most progress in paying down the amount they owe, according to a MoneyWatch analysis of state-by-state debt statistics....

this week ... Bt eggplant trials in the Philippines, GM wheat and potato test fields in Germany; and the recent Greenpeace "media event" destroying the GM wheat trial in Australia.  Not even the U.S is immune, as someone has destroyed thousands of GM papaya trees in Hawaii.

The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don't invest, their holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government and there's no need soft peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman....

• TUESDAY 4:43AM HST
• WEDNESDAY 5:19AM HST

 Recent Congressional Votes

• House: Better Use of Light Bulbs Act
• House: Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011
  • House: Energy-Water Appropriations, FY2012

...it was a pleasant surprise to see the leading radio news organization, Radio States KHJ-FM raise questions about some of the campaign money he has raised, based on our report, even if the story was centered on Faleomavaega's condemnation of us for our report....

“Mazie Hirono and Ed Case batter each other in a contested Democratic primary, then the survivor meets and loses to Lingle in the general election."

Using results in legislative districts from the past three presidential elections, the two most recent gubernatorial elections and the last legislative election, he predicts margins of victory for Democratic or Republican candidates based on the districts’ political preferences.

(See complete Index for Hawaii House and Senate)

School Year 2010-11 AYP Results and Corresponding School Year 2011-12 Accountability Status by Complex

Despite the fact that the state has the fourth highest median household income in the country, Hawaii actually had a larger portion of its Medicaid bill covered by the federal government than poorer states like Illinois, Virginia and Nevada. Compared to most wealthy “blue” states, the group of islands spends very little on Medicaid. 

Almost all discussions about Medicare reform ignore one key factor: Medicare utilization is roughly 50 percent higher than private health insurance utilization, even after adjusting for age and medical conditions....

The White House on Wednesday declined to challenge an account in a new book that suggests that President Obama, in his campaign to overhaul American health care, mischaracterized a central anecdote about his mother’s deathbed dispute with her insurance company.

...there has actually been an increase in emergency room use by people with incomes below 300% of the poverty level....

Most states that have approved same-sex marriage or civil unions have not lost the services of faith-based child welfare providers, but the recent conflict between Illinois and one of its largest religious partners suggests those losses might occur as more states pass such laws.

It was a simple and powerful story, one Obama would tell many more times as president during the national health care debate. But now we're learning the real story of Ann Dunham's health coverage is not quite what her son made it out to be.

The president explained that if it were not for the scholarship he received to attend a prestigious private school in Hawaii when he was ten years old, he would not be president today. Lindsey Burke, education analyst at The Heritage Foundation, says she was astonished by the remark.