Energy

As reported earlier, the current Tax Review Commission seems bent on finding ways to raise new tax revenues as it has directed its consultants to come up with ways to find more money.

We just posted the full, uncut video from the U.S Senate Candidates Forum on Thursday....

To go beyond supplying their current gas customer base in Hawaii, it will be necessary for Hawaii Gas and the other players to look at a very much larger scale program....

Department of Defense (DoD) stands in clear violation of a central provision of this federal law, which mandated the creation of on-base voter assistance offices....

The following candidates running in 2012 and on the Primary Ballot have failed to file the Final Primary Report due August 31, 2012....

Candidates have until September 7 to file....

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan do have a plan. They know that "government belongs to us". They know that if you have a business YOU built it.

Cooper and Daws’ thesis in Land and Power in Hawaii, namely that land means power, is being played out by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ....

The new report urges the state to raise taxes, tax pensions, and cut or cancel tax deductions. And it wants to continue increased hotel room taxes....

Republicans will win back the Senate in the fall picking up seats in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska, the party's National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus predicts to Newmax.TV.

Comments to the new Programmatic Environment Impact Statement for Hawaii’s Clean Energy Program are due on October 9th. The newest IAM film explains the PEIS process and how to make your comments.... 

The problem was that she was a nearly 50 point underdog in the polls, and the conventional wisdom in D.C. was that she had no shot....

...she needed to assimilate more into the local culture and break up with her boyfriend at the time, also white, in favor of a local boy....

Hirono attempted to mislead the audience at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii with at least 10 statements that were factually inaccurate and patently false....

The 9th Circuit chastised the parent of a Honolulu hotel on Thursday for a decade of union-busting and defiance of federal labor laws.

Governor Abercrombie is in North Carolina attending the Democratic Governors Association meeting as well as the Democratic National Convention. The NGA announced its committees for the 2012 – 2013 year today....

“This is a very important step in implementing the National Ocean Policy in the Pacific,” said Dave Raney, Chair of the Sierra Club’s national Marine Action Team....

Yesterday afternoon, Elections Administrator, Patricia Nakamoto, and former Senior Elections Clerk, Shyla Ayau, filed separate defamation and negligence lawsuits.

The CanAm loan funds are currently in escrow, awaiting final approval by the US government, and were expected to be released this summer. The new projected release date is October, 2012.

Mazie Hirono has enabled this spending binge. She may be notorious for skipping votes—127 and counting so far this year—but she knows how to vote “aye” along party lines when it comes to more spending.

This began a long march to transform the Democratic Party from the party of Truman and JFK to the party of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama....

Linda Lingle has the heart and vision to be the leader Hawaii needs in Washington, D.C....

I ask that they print this Press Release in their news section, and that the state Attorney General's Office look into these false allegations for possible criminal charges....

... over $50,000 for every American - including our children ....

For the third consecutive year, State Budget Solutions examined state debt and calculated the total amount of debt that each state faces....

Hirono abstained from voting 23 times; Sen. Daniel Inouye abstained from voting nine times; Hanabusa abstained from voting six times; Sen. Daniel Akaka abstained from voting six times....

The Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawaii will host the 2012 Hawaii Agriculture Conference. The biennial event will be held at the Hawaii Convention Center on September 20 & 21, 2012.

There is a growing skepticism among employers about whether those lucky enough to graduate have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary for success in the 21st century economy.

"Since taking office, Mazie Hirono sponsored 49 bills and zero has passed into law. And she missed 127 votes so far this year, many of them pertaining to important issues like job creation, the environment, and federal support for student loans."

There will be a national summit on affordable housing that will be held in Honolulu next week...

Oahu has fewer than 400,000 taxpayers so the possibility of a twelve billion dollar bill for a long rail line presents a staggering liability. Over $30,000 per taxpayer....
 

Apparently, there is an effort to get the Judiciary or the Legislature to form another court with specialized jurisdiction....

...Abercrombie and the governors of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI), and Guam have signed a partnership agreement to assist the region in identifying coastal and ocean management priorities....

The State is not liable for GET and it is illogical for the State to pay itself taxes. However, the DOE estimates it will pay more than $2 million in school year 2012 for contractors’ GET. The department was unable to explain why it pays GET on most contracts.

...OSFSS branches have been given even greater procurement authority with greatly reduced, if any, oversight by the Procurement and Contracts Branch....

Less than half of 2009 recommendations have been implemented; public school teachers’ personal information at risk....

On Sept. 5 many students, including those aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, will bring home federal survey cards for parents to complete as soon as possible in order to bring in additional funding for their school.

The resolution asks for the federal government to “consult with our tribal governments and indigenous communities for guidance in all policies that affect our way of life ....

 ...Public comment accepted through September 21, 2012 ....

... on Aug. 27, the State of Hawaii, Office of Elections held a voting equipment debriefing in Honolulu....  She did not attend the voting equipment debriefing, because she met with the voting equipment vendor’s Regional Manager and Island Representative in Hilo on Aug. 22 ....

The beacon has funded 19 Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) projects proposed by individuals and groups in a number of communities on the Big Island....It’s a way to build trust, according to Jessica Yamamoto, Hawaii beacon’s community engagement manager. 

Year-to-date visitor spending has generated an estimated $915 million in state tax revenues....

"People are really eager to go to convention and get everything going." -- David Chang, State GOP Chair

The Office of the Governor is seeking nominations for a number of boards and commissions....

... Hawaiian leaders, community and cultural practitioners, business executives, trust land experts, sovereignty proponents, policy makers and government officials ....

...what happens if Obama loses the election to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who will bring in his own education secretary? There will be more than a year left for implementation, so how will a new administration oversee the grants....

The 20 lowest ranked libraries were ....

HAMPAC, the Political Action Committee of the Hawaii Medical Association (HMA) today announced its endorsement of Governor Linda Lingle for Hawaii's open U.S. Senate seat.

...more government entities than ever are getting in on the action and creating forums -- in a technological sense -- for public debate.  But are they also creating public forums in a legal sense?

...internal poll results we received today shows Governor Lingle is ahead of Mazie Hirono by 6 percentage points!