Recognizing the need to help the state balance it books, the hotel industry agreed to a temporary increase in the TAT rate which was increased two percentage points from 7.25% to 9.25%. The temporary increase is supposed to expire on June 30, 2015....

In 2004, Nopphon Fuchumpa was promised a great opportunity in the United States.... 

The bills would provide economic relief to American consumers and businesses who have been forced to pay a $14 billion hidden tax over the past four years alone in order for the federal government to provide a special interest subsidy to sugar producers....

Selected details from SunshineReview.org review of State, County, and DoE websites....

Candidate filing closed Friday, February 15.  The election is conducted entirely on-line and by telephone. Voting runs from April 26 through May 17....

... California, Alaska, Guam, Guess Who’s Next ....

Legislative Recess - A Perfect Time to Meet with Your Legislators at Home.  The state legislature goes into a mandatory five-day recess from February 21-26....

“Taxes shouldn’t be a tool for social engineering or an instrument to penalize Hawaiians for doing nothing wrong....”

...market withdrawal of select Organic Baby Spinach products with the potential to be contaminated with Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC)....

It is also possible that LGBT adults make conscious choices to reside in certain states rather than others....

...Colleen Hanabusa underperformed Obama by the most of any incumbent in the nation....

Air carriers have optimistically boosted scheduled seats from Japan, although in our view yen depreciation and higher room rates will act to limit further Japanese market gains....

...it appears that over 301,000 government record requests were routinely fulfilled by the reporting agencies....

You’re busy. So busy you barely have time to read these words. So why should you care about the U.S. debt? Does it affect your life?

During a special premiere at the State Capitol, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) today launched a new teen-focused multi-media campaign to combat obesity....

Really Obvious Question: They win by bribery in India, how do they win in Hawaii?

"After the hiring freeze was lifted staff hired still required Budget and Finance Approval and the Governor’s signature for general funded positions. This slowed the process down significantly. Around November or early December of 2011 the DLNR budget analyst left for vacation and all our paper work at Budget and Finance stopped moving...."

The proposed Jamaica logistics hub would act as a transshipment point for the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts....

...National Marriage Week (February 7–14) is drawing attention to the link between the collapse of marriage and child poverty—and its cost to America....

Medicare will begin adjusting payments to physicians based on “the value of the care provided” in 2015....

...hospice care was hit by a $17 billion payment cut from 2013 to 2022.  Now, contrary to all of the misleading claims, this effect is already beginning....

...lobbyists are relied upon heavily to vie for the interests of the higher-income consumers and producers, leaving the burden of the new tax to lower income consumers who cannot afford representation....

More than 46 million pounds of waste was generated from solar companies in California between 2007 and mid-2011....

The reality is that calories in the American diet from added sugars in soda have dropped nearly 40 percent since 2000....

On a dark night, with stars sparkling high above the shores of the Hawaiian Islands....

The President’s statement saluting “the courage and sacrifice of those who serve in dangerous places at great personal risk” unfortunately rings hollow when one considers the Administration’s treatment of the Benghazi terrorist attack....

...teachers at the DoE’s 11 Adult Schools may have been stealing everything: Tuition money, textbook fees, lab fees, and fixed assets.  They were also being paid for hours not worked....

Because project documents were not consistently retained or filed...the current state assessment team was unable to complete planned testing procedures....

...the court's environmental jurisprudence wasn't so much focused on outcome, but rather on process....

"...a 2011 Nissan Leaf that's a bargain to drive in Washington — $28.29 for 1,000 miles — is pricey in Hawaii, where those 1,000 miles would cost $97.21."

President Barack Obama laid out an ambitious agenda last night. Here are some highlights of our experts’ analysis of his claims, his plans, and his promises....

... our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity ....

...there are millions of Americans who ... have not yet been rewarded....

...state tax credit expenditures could reach $1.4 billion for residential units alone....

The Kahua Group is partnering with the Leadership Institute to provide grassroots training to activist all across the State Feb 16-21.

...20 separate violations of the State Ethics Code....

Tonight, the American people will be watching President Obama’s fifth State of the Union address. How has he done on his promises over the past four years?

Visit this link if you would like to send a message to your own Representative asking them not the pass same-sex marriage in Hawaii....

Alaska and Hawaii ranked second and third, respectively, with about 28% of each state's workers employed by government....

Federal officials will be visiting Hawaii in April to review first hand the work that is being done in all of its RTTT Assurance Areas....

...the Regents Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) delivered to Governor Neil Abercrombie's office a list of candidates for the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents....

This morning our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, announced his intention to resign the papacy ....

“...is likely to have a chilling effect on legitimate reporters. And it would be very unlikely to pass a court test of the First Amendment. Please trash this trashy bill.”

Magnitude 4.9 at 12:57PM HST 2-11-13....

• Senate: Gender-based Violence Prevention - Substitute Amendment
• House: Budget Submission Requirement - Final Passage

...advocates could potentially use these new data from the Department of Education to support a civil rights complaint....

How did your school do? Find out by clicking here....

...Recktenwald delivered his biennial State of the Judiciary address on the Judiciary’s new YouTube channel....

The bill, named after – indeed, written by – the Aerosmith frontman, could punish anyone who takes a photograph of a celebrity in public. That includes a tourist who takes out her iPhone to snap a pic of an aging rocker, or perhaps the Obama family....

...the United States has more than a century’s worth of natural gas beneath its soil....