Hawaii County

HHB can now move ahead with its engineering design, construction and refurbishing of the former Hilo Coast Power Company power plant at Pepeekeo into a modern biomass facility.

On Aug. 2, 2011, Safeway Director of Public Affairs & Governmental Relations Susan Houghton and other Safeway officials met with KCFA Board member Paul Uster at Safeway headquarters in Pleasanton, California, to review the concerns of Kona coffee growers....

Among dozens of “green” schools in Washington state, only two use less energy than traditional schools built in those same districts. In more than one instance, the “green” schools use 30 percent more energy per square foot ....

Today, we filed the Reply Brief in the case that asks: after Kelo, when is eminent domain pretextual?

"What’s All the Fuss About International Building Codes?” will be the topic of the August meeting of the Conservative Forum for Hawaii. The public is invited to the free forum on Sunday, 28 August, 2:00pm at the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort’s Polynesian Room, Banyan Dr, Hilo.

Abercrombie last week appointed* Barry T. Mizuno to fill the Hawai'i County seat on the Board of Regents of the University of Hawai'i (UH).

Last week the developer and the County of Hawaii filed their joint Brief in Opposition in C & J Coupe Family Limited Partnership v. County of Hawaii....

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A loud drinking party on county property brought to a halt by the police early May 1 included Mayor Billy Kenoi, state Rep. Jerry Chang and a host of other bigwigs celebrating the end of the Merrie Monarch Festival....

Lloyd Y. Kimura, 61, former president of Maui Industrial Loan & Finance Company and Lloyd Y. Kimura, Inc. in Wailuku, was sentenced today in State Circuit Court on Maui by Judge Joseph Cardoza to 20 years imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,093,907

(Handy Tip: Deposit $100M and make OHA give you $400M. Not only will you prosper, but by bankrupting OHA, you will make Hawaii a better place.)

According to the Companies, the application of the biofuel surcharge “would apply to HELCO and HECO customers, and would add about 1/3 of a cent per kilowatt hour.”

Here's the latest in a case we've been following. In Bridge Aina Lea, LLC v. State of Hawaii Land Use Comm'n....

• HILO -- JULY 27, WEDNESDAY—1:00PM-3:00PM.
• MAUI -- JULY 28, THURSDAY-- 5PM youth session, 6:30PM general session.
• OAHU -- JULY 29, FRIDAY—6:30PM to 8:30PM.

On March 5, 2007--just four months after her 2006 Lt Governor run gave Hawaii Democrats their worst gubernatorial defeat since Statehood—Solomon led about 100 people to sit in at the the Federal District Courtroom of Judge Michael Seabright to support her friend, Shawn Aguiar—the Big Island's largest methamphetamines dealer.

The initiative’s first site is located in Honoka'a, within the Hamakua Coast, where services will be provided at the North Hawai'i Education & Research Center (NHERC). The Rural Outreach Services initiative is a partnership between federal, state, county governments, and private non-profit agencies.

EIRs are required for plastic bag bans by (i) “larger” cities and counties and also (ii) small cities based on the cumulative impacts. Save The Plastic Bag Coalition has legal standing to enforce that requirement.... 

On July 14, 2011, we filed a cert petition, which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship....

fair, equitable representation for all residents ... one man/one vote fairness doctrine ....  we urge the State Democratic Party to pursue all legal options including filing a lawsuit, if necessary, to overturn this Reapportionment Commission decision....

Senate Bill 219 prohibits physically restraining inmates who are pregnant....

“Hawaii is the most regulated state in the nation.” He described that it takes about 10-14 years to get a project in Hawaii from green field (non-urban designation) to completion. ...“Every delay adds to the cost of housing, as projects are all financed and the cost of those loans keeps accruing even though no development has actually taken place.” We all end up with higher housing costs as a result.

As we are celebrating the 4^th of July this weekend, we recommend you take some time to read some substantive articles about who we are as Americans....

Please come and join us in Makawao on Saturday, July 2nd for the Annual Makawao Paniolo July 4th Parade. TEA Party Maui plans to enter a patriotic float in the Parade....

...the Land Use Commission changed the land use boundaries from "urban use to agricultural use while affordable housing was being constructed on the property."

the HECO Companies' proposed Biofuel Surcharge Provision clearly results in an increase in rates that triggers the contested case and public hearing provisions of HRS §269-16(b).

The Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) will host the events in coordination with robotics supporters and community partners throughout the state, beginning on June 21 and running through August 28, 2011.

 Sunday 26 June, 2:00pm at the Naniloa Hotel's Polynesian Room in Hilo. Featured speakers are UH School of Law Prof. David Callies, author of the definitive book “Regulating Paradise” and Big Island real estate broker David Turner.

The meeting is on Saturday, June 18th at 1:00 PM at the Kona Vistas Pavilion.

  Lets invite Al Gore to go skiing....

The so called "Pacific Garbage Patch" was sampled by transit by Oregon State marine scientists, and NO plastic bags were either seen or recovered. The total plastic skimmed barely filled the bottom of a coffee cup, and consisted of fine particulates none of which were shown to be plastic bag origin.

...there’s no opportunity for the Consumer Advocate to be a part of that process to say on behalf of the consumer, ‘We don’t believe that this rate increase is legitimate. We don’t believe you should authorize it.’ .... 

After being hounded for years by charges of sexual harassment leveled against him by a former aide in a 2006 EEOC complaint, former Big Isle Council Chair and Mayoral candidate Stacy Higa has been named Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps programs in Hawaii.

The state’s Office of Aerospace Development will be the lead state agency for the project, enhancing dialogue and coordination among the state, private and academic partners to enable growth and diversification of the state’s aerospace economy.

FPCON BRAVO--This condition applies when an increased and more predictable threat of terrorist activity exists. 

HELCO reported that 20,660 customer interruptions (16% of all interruptions) were related to Independent Power Producer (non-HELCO Generation) sources. In 2009 Hamakua Energy Partners (HEP) and Pakini Nui Windfarm were the non-HELCO generation sources that caused customer interruptions. 

The Regents Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) will soon begin the recruitment process to fill a vacancy for a County of Hawai‘i seat on the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents.

For five and a half years, the US has hunted for Ahmed Hashim Abed--code-named "Objective Amber." Abed is the alleged ring-leader of an Islamist mob which murdered four US military contractors--including Pa`auilo resident Wesley Batalona--in Fallujah, Iraq on March 31, 2004.

Separately from the Army’s license application, a resident of Hawaii filed a petition on March 4, 2010, requesting the NRC take enforcement action against the Army if it found the Army possessed or released depleted uranium to the environment without a license in violation of NRC requirements. 

On the second Monday of every October, Hawaii celebrates, “Discoverers' Day", in recognition of the Polynesian discoverers of the Hawaiian Islands.”  But the Senate wants to put a stop to the celebrations.

According to the text of SCR55, introduced March 3 by Abercrombie-appointed Senator Maile Shimabukuro, the holiday should be dropped ....

Why should private sector struggling businesses become cash cows for an irresponsible Governor and spineless Legislature? 

Working in the complex world of submerged electronics, students and their mentors created remotely operating vehicles (ROVs) which are driven from a control system above the water's surface.

Dozens of Hawaii elementary, middle and high school students will take their robotic creations to the next level this weekend, by fully submerging them underwater....

Hawaii has one of the highest State Tax Rates in the United States, and yet the State Legislature is considering many new increases in taxes including income, excise, and other fees.  Are you Taxed Enough Already?

After two years of marketing the alleged horrors of the non-existent “Pacific Garbage Patch”, environmentalists, big business, and big government are ready to cash in.

For the city of Kapaa in particular, it’s all too telling that a simple search for the phrase “Kapaa alcohol” on Google doesn’t turn up a list of fun bars to hang out at but rather a long list of drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers.

NotHaus is co-founder of the Royal Hawaiian Mint and creator of the Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu.  NotHaus also produced the Ron Paul Dollar. 

With 125 mph hurricane Flossie still on track to pass August 13 just south of the Big Island, Hawaii County Civil Defense is opening ten emergency shelters in schools and other public buildings island wide. In Kau, likely to be hardest hit, the only available shelter is at Kau High School in Pahala.

Red Cross volunteers are working to get a second shelter opened up at an area church, but as yet have no firm commitment. Hawaii County Red Cross director Youlia Kalima explains the two buildings are the only hardened structures in the entire rural district of 5,000 people. The next nearest shelters would be at Konawaena HS in South Kona or Keaau HS in Puna—dozens of miles away.

The goal of the project is to give Big Island homeowners who have been served with a foreclosure action the opportunity to participate in mediation with the lender and a trained mediator before the case is heard by a judge.

County Police, Fire, Public Works and Environmental Management crews worked with State Highways, the American Red Cross and the county Office of Housing and Community Development to conduct preliminary damage assessments in the County of Hawai‘i today. Their findings include the following reports