The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it would keep Hawaii on "high risk" status for failing to carry out education reforms it promised in return for a $75 million grant from the federal government....

No surprise here.  This has always been the plan ....

Just a day after her last legislative day at the State Capitol, Representative Kymberly Pine will pull her papers today at 11:30 a.m. to run for the City Council District 1 seat....

"I am encouraged that yesterday the Hawaii State Legislature passed SB 2785, which establishes a regulatory framework for the private investment in, and development of, an inter-island electricity transmission cable."

State's April 2012 Monthly Energy Trends Report has just been released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism....

...today's jobs report shows, the U.S. economy only added 115,000 jobs in April -- well below expectations and far, far below what is necessary to drive the economy back to full employment....

With the end of the 2012 Legislative session today, hundreds of measures now come to Governor Neil Abercrombie for his approval....

The Hawaii House of Representatives took action Thursday on its final bills of the session....

Republicans in the State House of Representatives successfully led the way in opposing a series of bills that would have resulted in lasting damage to our environment....

"As candidates for HSTA President, we had our disagreements. However, we both agree that asking teachers to reconsider the January settlement proposal is in the best interest of Hawaii's teachers and children." -Paul Daugherty & Wil Okabe

Pre-Trial is a threat to public safety. Releasing thousands of prisoners cannot be taken lightly, and the current process for early release is inadequate....

... supported by Delegate Gregorio “Kilili” Camacho Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands), the top Democrat on the Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs ....

Blaine Harden, Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West, Viking, $26.95....

their aggregate impact on the environmental is completely accounted for, they may be more harmful than their gasoline-only predecessors....

However, new research finds that wind farms actually warm up the surface of the land underneath them during the night....

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$25 billion in losses over the last five years, $20 billion in annual losses projected in the coming years, and 80 percent of its locations losing money....

Religious freedom, suicide, gambling, LBGT curriculum, and trangender birth certificates ....

...the House Conferees battled down to the last six minutes to protect churches who did not want to be involved with civil unions....

the Senate has voted to make the public shoulder the burden of a $1billion cable system....

HB2175, HB2099, HB1875....

In a statement to a local reporter, Hirono's spokesperson said that her campaign travel itinerary took precedence over her duty as a Congresswoman to vote ....

Government interference in the sugar market hurts consumers and food manufacturers by driving up the price of sugar, threatening competitive farmers and ranchers by jeopardizing export growth, and weakening the U.S. economy by diverting resources from more competitive uses...

In 2009, the shift to biotech crops reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 17.6 billion kilograms, equal to the removal of 7.8 million cars from the road for a year....

Unfortunately, under this Administration, the military is facing significant cuts that severely undermine America's ability to defend itself and stand ready to combat the threats that lie around the corner.

The State Legislature has passed three groundbreaking bills to curb the growing cyber crime trend in Hawaii. The bills were the result of the cyber crime informational briefing co-chaired by Representatives Kymberly Marcos Pine and George Fontaine.

Representative Thielen's amendment required that, by 2020, food grown in Hawaii for local consumption would double from the amount which was grown in the state in 2014....

As the nation’s hospitals rush to adopt new health information technologies such as computerized medication prescribing systems, the potential for such advances to inadvertently result in harm to patients remains a major challenge ....

Governor Abercrombie, HECO and some House and Senate members are now finalizing legislation that would allow the project to fast-track without sufficient environmental analysis or public review....

The certification process has become a restrictive bottleneck, damaging the industry it was intended to protect....

If it ever was a secret, it's not a secret any longer: The Obama Administration is on a vindictive campaign to injure America's oil and gas industry....

“Society should protect and strengthen marriage, not undermine it as this lawsuit seeks to do,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Holly Carmichael....

Robles, 18, was there as a condition of parole for the juvenile crimes of sex assault, theft and runaway charges, according to the complaint.  The family claims that the home failed to supervise the two boys despite house rules that required curfews and bed checks every 20 minutes on overnight shifts.

Hawaii Christian Coalition presents its annual Prayer at the Capitol May 3, Thursday 6:30-8:00pm State Capitol Auditorium....  

• Senate: 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012
• Senate: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011
• House: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
• House: Interest Rate Reduction Act

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Horizon wishes to assure the Jones Act industry of its fidelity and that it will not succumb to the siren call of Jones Act reform even if that means it will never have a chance to rationally renew its fleet of dreadful old clunkers....

“Mr. Gill explained that ... Hawaii’s primary election law is out of compliance with the freedom of association provision in the U.S. Constitution. In order to rectify this error, a lawsuit must be filed and Mr. Gill asked UHPA to consider supporting this federal litigation.”

... but a bill for Hollywood Moguls' Tax Credits appears dead, and a sneaky attempt to foist another HCEI-style set of 'goals' on Hawaii has been thwarted ....

They were welcomed by our vibrant MC, Miss Hawaii Lauren Cheape....

Seven Hawaii high school teams, and one independent elementary school team, are competing in the 2012 FIRST Championship robotics competition at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO....

...the tax incentive did nothing more than skew the economic cycle and created the feast and famine of construction activity....

Robert Thomas, a Director with Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert in Honolulu, concentrates his practice on property and land use issues including eminent domain, regulatory takings, water rights, and voting rights....

Soldiers from Schofield Barracks’ 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and other Army units, rolled up their sleeves ....

In response to my article, a reader asks: “We get all the natural gas we need now. How does it get here? The article makes it sound impossible, but it’s here.”

"I will support Congressional investigation efforts into the TSA policies and guidelines and will advocate for practices that maintain security while not sacrificing the personal dignity of our residents and visitors." -- Gov. Lingle

...in some regions of the country, the well-to-wheel emissions level for all-electric vehicles may be higher than the best hybrid and all-gasoline competitors, says the New York Times....

Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE: CPF), parent company of Central Pacific Bank (the "Bank"), today reported net income for the first quarter of 2012 of $13.5 million....

Savage is the creator of the two-year-old It Gets Better Project which encourages teens struggling with same-sex attractions to embrace homosexuality....

"I was paying close to $1,000 in annual dues. After I won that case, I started paying about $100. I didn't want to pay for the things that I'm not obligated to pay for like giving money to political candidates...."