Entries for November 2011

They came, they saw, and they debated....

Roth has 18 years as Deputy Prosecutor starting in Honolulu and then, at the invitation of former prosecutor Jay Kimura, joined the Hawaii County Prosecutor’s office in 1998.

“The #UNLV money line when it hosted #Hawaii opened at around +1600. By kickoff, it was around +700. Pretty mysterious movement at the time.”

Today’s Washington Post Style page offers up this beyond-satire account of Dylan Bozlee of Hilo, Hawaii, who ....

The CIA and U.S. Treasury Department have determined IHH and the Free Gaza Movement "have known terrorist ties," the bill says. (They also have extensive Hawaii ties--Editor)

Tonight at 8 p.m. ET (3PM HST), eight Republican presidential candidates will take the stage at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., to tell America where they stand on foreign policy and national security ....

Today, the Union received formal notification from the Company that it will be implementing its last best and final offer on December 1, 2011....

The 2010 figures show that residents of Hawaii, Maryland and Alabama have a lot more to fear in their electric bill than folks living in Utah, New Mexico or Montana.

Lingle will benefit from what's likely to be a major schism in the Democratic field, as Rep. Mazie Hirono and ex-Rep. Ed Case battle it out in a late primary.

There are sensible proposals already available to cut federal spending, raise additional revenues and grow our economy. These include the balanced proposals offered by the Bipartisan Policy Center....

“This year’s schedule will make our nominating process more of a marathon than 2008’s sprint,” said former Hawaii Republican Party Chairman Willes Lee. 

the report finds that costs were high even in the "lowest" average-cost states. Premiums ranged from $11,379 to $12,409 in Idaho, Arkansas, Hawaii, Montana, and Alabama, the five states with the lowest average costs for private employer-based coverage.

You can tell it’s an occupation from the signs and T-shirts. Otherwise the protesters would blend right in.

• Senate: Fiscal 2012 Agriculture Appropriations
• House: National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011
• House: Fiscal 2012 Agriculture Appropriations
• House: Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States

It has improved the health of enrolled patients, achieved high patient satisfaction, and kept cost increases below average, saving Florida up to $161 million annually.

Failing to enact the plan by January 15, 2012, would result in automatic cuts to military spending--a scenario that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta describes as "devastating."

... bankrolled by secret interests who want to operate outside the norms of Hawaii's Ethics Commission; and designed by experienced labor and gambling industry lobbyists desperate for the appearance of "grassroots" support ....

HART schedules a new review of the Ansaldo deal November 25, the deadline for the contract to be signed ....

For years, the real property burden was shifted to businesses, but businesses have to pass the costs onto their customers. When it comes to paying for government, there is no free lunch.

...

...wind farms are interfering with military radar, making airplanes disappear from sight on screens and cluttering those same screens with the blade-rotation changes of turbine blades....

The Senate has been “in play” for months, but Republicans continue to expand the playing field by adding unexpected candidates in states from Hawaii and Michigan to Connecticut .... 

On March 4, Cathy Takase, the Acting Director of OIP was let go by the Abercrombie Administration. Takase had authored a February, 2011 opinion mandating release of the names of Judicial nominees....

"This does not necessarily mean, however, that an appeal will not be taken in the present case, which was decided prior to the Judicial Selection Commission's rule change."  -- AG David Louie

...companies affiliated with all three of Hawaii’s major water carriers—Matson, Young Bros, and Horizon—are guilty of price fixing in the Puerto Rico market. Is Hawaii next? ....

Several states make multiple appearances at the bottom of the three categories in this study, meaning they rank worst. These states include: Alaska, New Jersey, Hawaii, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Illinois.

Earlier today, Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Mazie Hirono voted against a Balanced Budget Amendment. A bi-partisan majority, including 25 Democrats voted to support the measure, H.J. Res. 2, to balance the federal budget, but the measure fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass....

Former Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Linda Lingle released today the second in a series of videos detailing her positions on issues of importance to the people of Hawai'i.

...it will set up a partnership for the AnsaldoBreda trainmaking unit in advance of selling the business....

Lingle shows she's in a dogfight through a consistent stream of polling and fundraising....

The former executive director of the American Samoa Special Services Commission pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to steal more than $325,000 in AmeriCorps grant funds....

So what's Washington doing about it? Fighting over how high to raise taxes instead of getting to the root of the problem.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging In Chan Park, 53, of Honolulu, and Paige Teruya, 47, of Waipahu, Hawaii with fraud relating to identification documents....

A two-parent family of four with annual income at the poverty line (which is $22,314 for a family of that size) owed $498 in Alabama, $292 in Hawaii, $238 in Georgia, and $234 in Oregon.

More than 15,000 people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on Oakland, California-based Matson Navigation to stop shipping live pigs from the mainland United States to Hawaii for slaughter....

As first reported in Motor Trend, hybrid vehicles that operate on gasoline and electricity such as the Toyota Prius often produce less carbon dioxide than vehicles that operate solely on electricity such as the Nissan Leaf....

China has increased its defense budget by double digits every year for the last 20 years. Just as China seems to be gearing up for some undefined enterprise, the U.S. is winding down its defense budget at a similarly rapid pace.

 Governor Abercrombie announced today that the State and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (“OHA”) are discussing an agreement in principle, subject to Legislative approval, relating to ceded lands.

At prior NSSEs, demonstrations had led to riots and property damage, so for APEC, Hawaii National Guard soldiers and airmen were ready to help the Honolulu Police Department with any civil disturbances.

The killing of Osama bin Laden was a hard-won victory for the United States, but the gains made in pursuit of that day of justice and in waging the war in Afghanistan--including putting al-Qaeda on its heels--could be squandered if the Obama Administration continues its plotted course.

The Center on the Family at UH Mānoa and the Homeless Programs Office of the Hawai‘i State Department of Human Services have released the Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawai‘i 2011.

...Senate candidate Linda Lingle, the former two-term governor of Hawaii, will participate in the Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) third annual political summit, Taking the Poison Out of Partisanship, at Tulane University in New Orleans, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 16....

Next Tuesday, when the Republican presidential candidates come together to discuss foreign policy and national security in a debate presented by The Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute on CNN, they should remember the lessons that the fall of the USSR taught us....

Mesa will continue to operate its jet inter-island service as go!Mokulele. Under the terms of the sale Transpac Aviation, operating as Mokulele Flight Services, Inc, will also continue to offer service under the go!Mokulele brand....

The Letter of Intent was signed by both parties just hours after the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Hawai'i-China CEO Forum “Transforming to Clean Energy.”

The site of a massive proposed wind farm in West Lanai where hundreds of archaeological and cultural sites have been identified has been named one of the state's "most endangered historic places" for 2011 by the Historic Hawaii Foundation.

• Strengthening our grassroots efforts;
• Growing our membership and expanding our base;
• Increasing the number of volunteers;
• Recruiting strong candidates to run for office in 2012; and,
• Improving our Party’s finances by working diligently to raise money.

...some jurisdictions did not accurately define compact migrants, account for federal funding that supplemented local expenditures, or include revenue received from compact migrants....

• Senate: Motion to Proceed; Net Neutrality disapproval
• Senate: Motion to Proceed; Cross-border air pollution rule disapproval
• Senate: Government Contractor Withholding Repeal Act

President Barack Obama wants the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction (“super committee”) to kill market competition for prescription drug coverage chosen by workers and retirees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).