Education K-12

one of my concerns with this bill as currently drafted is that, while the threshold is now higher, $100,000, it opens the door to taxing the pensions of those with a lower AGI in the future.  It could slip down to $75,000 or lower before the end of session or in future sessions.

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald announced today that he is seeking written comment on judicial nominees for three vacancies at the District Court of the First Circuit and one vacancy at the District Family Court of the First Circuit (Oahu).

HB1101: Allows for increase in the State motor vehicle registration fee

HB1097: Extends the $3 per day surcharge on rental motor vehicles

...at the end Yoshioka accused Slater of lying and mentioned the 20 misrepresentations by Slater that he had presented to the City Council. At this point Slater was on his feet demanding to answer this slander but with Council Chair Garcia screaming that he was out of order, Slater stood down....

“I’m relieved that HECO and IBEW leaders have put the people of Hawaii first today."

Workers are exhausted from working very long shifts.  Some told me they worked 17 hours yesterday and are back on the scene again today to work the same number of hours or more.

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“In times of disaster we must come together, put aside our differences and help people first." 

The power outage has also affected traffic signals which impact the ability of emergency medical personnel, police, fire, civil defense and other emergency services. We are also concerned that hospitals and care facilities may not be able to run the equipment necessary to maintain the health and welfare of their patients.

Party leaders at all levels made a strong push to recruit candidates for Oahu’s neighborhood boards and now that most of the applications are in, there are over 60 Republicans who are running for the boards. 

“I think she would make an outstanding United States senator,” Djou says. “The best illustration of Governor Lingle’s abilities is 2006. In 2006, it was a highly toxic environment for the GOP nationally, but she managed to win reelection not only by a large landslide but by the largest margin in the history of the state.”

Speaking to KHON yesterday, Caldwell said not a word about Akaka.  Instead he tractors both Mazie Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa into the Senate race, and then transports himself into Congress--CD1 or CD2 no matter—all in one sentence....

One day, the mother of a 12 year-old girl I mentored called me asking for help after they had become homeless....

I worked closely with the Senator to gain support for the Akaka Bill and I still have hopes that this important legislation will come to fruition during the remainder of his term. -- Gov Linda Lingle

While some may be curious, there will be plenty of time to discuss my own personal plans in light of his announcement.

An email sent in June 2008 with regard to teachers who were late in making the paybacks reads: "Brother Veli wants to have all the “salary returns."  And he says to withhold future salaries from those who have not made them."

More incriminating still is an email dated June 13, 2007...which recommends "increasing the number of teachers from Turkey ... to acquire more money."

Kick-Off Rally on Sunday, March 6 @ State Capitol from 4:00PM - 5:30PM

Being Human Documentary to Air March 8-11 on KALO-TV

Slom: Legislators, Governor will turn to GE Tax in the waning days of this session….

... the House Finance Committee heard bills that would tell a business how much it can pay its executives, prohibit a deduction of business travel expenses, impose fees on repeat visitor accommodations, tax creative entrepreneurs who write music or movies, tax their death benefits when a key employee dies; and reverse the state’s long standing position of encouraging investment in high technology firms.

“This State run bank would be governed by persons without a banking background including Governor Abercrombie and the State Director of Labor. I cannot see how Governor Abercrombie, who would be designated as Chairman of the Bank, and three of his political appointees could operate this bank while also managing the entire State, ” noted Rep. Gene Ward, House Republican Leader.

Sadly, the most widely exploited document used by perpetrators of elderly abuse is the Power of Attorney because it can give the perpetrator immediate access to the victim’s bank accounts, real estate, and other valuable property unlike a will, trust, or estate planning document that may not take effect for many years.

According to an analysis of the 111th US Congress published Friday by the National Journal, among Republicans Hawaii Representative Charles Djou was out-moderated only by Rep Joseph Cao of New Orleans. 

We'd have to check the archives to see if the Honolulu City Council ever did issue a condemnation of Mao Tse-tung for the genocide of Chinese people back when the cultural revolution, the great leap forward and all that stuff took place. 

 The word change can simply mean, “something becomes different.”  Like a car tire that runs over a large pothole, and becomes flat.  But change can also mean “something is transformed.”  Transformation is an evolutionary process.  Like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.  “Transformation” is a concept that will be discussed several times today as we review the challenges facing our city.

"That’s why it is egregious for you to indicate that what I’m saying is that somebody with a sole total income of $37,500—that that is their sole income—that they would be asked under those circumstances to pay that.  But if anybody wants to try and manipulate the numbers for a personal political agenda in order to  try and score political points, let me tell you—this is one Governor that’s not going to put up with it." -- Abercrombie

Hawaii’s elected officials are ready to tackle every issue - except job creation and the deficit.  The first major action taken by the Hawaii State Senate was to become the only legislative chamber in the United States to eliminate the invocation.  The legislature has confronted issues ranging from decriminalization of marijuana, civil unions, bingo on Hawaiian Homelands and banning the sale of toy guns. 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be headlining the Hawaii GOP’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner.  The Party fundraising event will be held tonight at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Judge Browning’s assignment is effective March 4, 2011. He will succeed Judge Sabrina McKenna, who will be sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court on March 3 at 4:15 p.m. in the Supreme Court Courtroom.

Just two months into his term, Neil Abercrombie has led Hawaii politics into chaos.  From the White House to Honolulu Hale, progressive Democrats are duking it out with the old boys. 

Hundreds of community activists and aspiring political leaders across Oahu are preparing for Neighborhood Board Elections in April and May to fill 439 seats on 33 Neighborhood Boards.  February 18 is the last day to register to vote in the election and the last day for candidates to file nomination papers.  But NCO Executive Assistant Bryan Mick and the Neighborhood Commission (NCO) have a surprise in store.  On February 17, 2011 the Commission will be holding a “Special Meeting” to vote on a motion to cancel the election ....

The committee(s) on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs has rescheduled its public hearing to Saturday, 2-12-2011 at 10 a.m. in conference room 229.

• WHAT: Legislative Townhall Meeting 
• WHERE: Haha‘ione Elementary School Cafeteria
• WHEN: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  

HONOLULU – The Regents Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) has presented a list of candidates to Gov. Neil Abercrombie to fill four seats on the University of Hawai’i Board of Regents, including two City and County of Honolulu seats, a Hawai’i County seat and a Maui County seat.

According to Senate Bill 1425, relating to banning the acceptance of solid waste in landfills, no landfill in a county with a population greater than or less than 500,000 residents, will be allowed to accept deliveries of municipal solid waste - beginning  July 1, 2012, for Honolulu, and for the smaller counties, a date to be determined by their councils.

In November 2010, Hawai‘i voters approved a Constitutional Amendment that gives the Governor the authority to appoint members of the BOE. Governor Abercrombie is encouraged that the State Legislature has been moving expeditiously to establish the appointment process for BOE members. When that legislative process is complete, Governor Abercrombie intends to name Horner among his first appointments.

• Bills to Decongest Traffic
• Bills to Cut Taxes & Make Government More Responsive to the People
• Bills to Solve Problems within Homeowner Associations
• Bills to Stop Elder Abuse
• Bills to Solve Problems for Our Schools

Here's the long history behind the new anti-bullying policy being proposed for Hawaii schools. 

Former Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii) all but swore off elective politics in his recent farewell address, but the former congressman recently penned an article that is sure to ignite speculation among the state's political observers over whether a 2012 bid against Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) is in the offing.

Candidates have until Friday February 18 to file nomination papers for Oahu’s upcoming Neighborhood Board elections.  Up for grabs, all 439 seats on 33 Neighborhood Boards.

The Obama-style politics and the youthful 2010 class of freshmen Republicans in the U.S. House might be a passing fad or it might become a lasting trend.  Hawaii has sent a congressional delegation that is betting the modern movement toward a much quicker internet dominated system of governing, based on transparency rather than pork, is temporary and our nation will eventually return to the 20th Century seniority centric system of quiet machine based power-dealing.  The American people will render the verdict on Hawaii’s bet in the next couple of years.

Amends chapter 37, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to include agency-wide technology and computer systems with an estimated useful life of greater than seven years as capital investments to allow all costs to be financed with bond funds and depreciated as capital investments.

Fontaine: “We heard from a Maui roofing contractor who said that if he received a $70K fine … he would have to earn $7M in additional business in order to make up the fine because his profit margin is so slim.”

Although the Flag Bill (HB1468) must eventually be heard – the Flag Bill will NOT be heard tomorrow.  This delay however gives all us who are passionate about displaying our flag on our own property more time to contact and urge Representative Cabanilla, Chairman of the House Committee on Housing, to put the flag bill – HB 1468—on the schedule for a hearing.

However, the bill that will be heard tomorrow, HB 1464, also deals with homeowner community associations and the lack of transparency by some homeowner community association boards in their decisions and actions and the lack of fairness by some of these boards in their treatment of their association members. 

In detective novels and television crime dramas like "CSI," the nation's morgues are staffed by highly trained medical professionals equipped with the most sophisticated tools of 21st-century science. Operating at the nexus of medicine and criminal justice, these death detectives thoroughly investigate each and every suspicious fatality.

The reality, though, is far different. In a joint reporting effort, ProPublica, PBS "Frontline" and NPR spent a year looking at the nation's 2,300 coroner and medical examiner offices and found a deeply dysfunctional system that quite literally buries its mistakes.

The bill says that every qualified applicant “is required to authorize the attorney general to collect and transmit the necessary personal information required for registering the qualified applicant with the county clerk.”

This bill, HB 1468, brings Hawaii into compliance with the federal law as well as ensuring that these home owners may display their American Flag continuously 365 days a year despite any association board's regulation, covenant, or similar binding agreement to the contrary.  It also removes any fee you would have to pay to display our Flag.  HB1468 IS BEING HEARD WED FEB 2, 8:30AM IN CONFERENCE ROOM 325 AT THE CAPITOL.