After 54 years of Yoshito Takamine and Dwight Takamine ruling HD 1 unchallenged, Takamine suddenly faces challenges both within and outside his own party. In late 2006 he attempted to “shed more blood, not less” of Ed Case supporters in the Legislature after Case’s defeat in the Democratic Senate Primary. Takamine failed and lost his powerful chairmanship of the House Finance Committee. Shunned, Takamine then racked up the worst attendance of any Legislator in the 2007 session. He then fled the House, announcing his campaign for the Senate District 1 seat being vacated by Sen. Lorraine’s decision to seek the Hawai`i County Mayor’s seat.

While activists and politicians futilely beg government to fund Urgent Care in Puna, private enterprise provides it. Thanks to what Dr Ed Gutteling calls “a very favorable deal” on rental of a Shipman-Estate-owned building near the Kea`au Police Station, Kea`au Urgent Care is up and running. Initial hours are M-F 8:30A -6P. Call 966-7942 for info.

Banning plastic bags – like banning other legal products (light bulbs, electric water heaters, etc)-- is much more than an inconvenience. Our individual-freedom-based “people first” way of life is being hijacked by a so-called environmental “earth first” dictatorship.

In Forbes magazine’s annual list of best states in which to do business, released July 31, Hawai`i jumped 10 spots to 27th place, compared to 37th in 2007 and 42nd in 2006. Of the six criteria taken into account, Hawai`i ranked fourth in the nation for economic climate and 10th for labor. This is a vast improvement from March 2002, when Forbes’ infamous article said doing business in Honolulu had “become nearly equivalent to suicide.”

In August, I helped launch a new after-school program at Hilo Intermediate School for students who are left alone and unsupervised once the school bell rings.

Usual suspects against telescope, Stop Bill 324, Fascist Takamine?, Tooo Stooopid to reelect Council, Kaua`i water victory, Marine Acquitted --- Injustice Remains, Against law to deny schooling, HSTA vs Con-Con

All the newspapers have missed the connections between convicted Pali shooter Ethan Malu Motta, his codefendants, and the incident at Shooters Bar and Grill....

Entrenched incumbents are relying on donations from corporations which do business with the state, lobbyists, political action committees (PACs) and labor unions. But unlike elections over the last few decades, these incumbents are facing well-funded challenges whose contributors include many fresh faces coming largely from within the electoral district.

Many Hawai`i County Council races will be decided in the September 20 primary election.

After years of thuggery and intimidation by Bob Jacobson’s Ka`u Preservation, Inc supporters, Council District 6 residents are fighting back....

All the peoples of Hawai’i need to awaken and realize that what the American Democratic Party was calling for – the need to have government insurance for all people – is the same thing that is happening today in Hawai’i; and it is failing!

We are at a crossroads of employment training here in our Hawai`i Public Schools. Our direction must follow more career technical training (vocational training) and secure the jobs that are coming online for our children.

Misinformation on Takamine Donors--Who is to judge?--Spaceport pipedream--Son kept out of school--Barack McGovern Obama--3rd in costs, 47th in rank--Finish the road already

Admitted Pali Golf Course shooter Ethan “Malu” Motta apparently had a lot of friends in Hilo—including politicians....

For thirteen years, Jim O’Keefe has delivered fresh-baked specialty breads to retail customers, restaurants and hotels on the Big Island. But the pressures which give Hawai`i a reputation as the nations’ worst business environment have taken their toll.

Sheep eradication has failed at affecting Palila numbers—but it sure has killed a lot of sheep.

Puna is one of the very few places in Hawai`i where young local families can afford to buy their own home and begin life as a family.  But environmentalists are working hard to put a stop to the inflow of locals and replicate the success they have had in making Maui and Kaua`i into exclusive havens for rich mainland transplants.

Our fifth annual conference is taking place Wednesday, September 24, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Waikīkī Hotel and Resort.

Since 80% of smokers start by the time they are age 18, prevention is the key.

The plastic bag ban has a certain lucrative logic to it. It turns out that plastic bags gum up plastic recycling machines and reduce the resale value of bundled used plastics. So what is the solution? Improve the recycling machines so they don’t become gummed up? No. Instead recycling companies are using their clout with City and County governments all over the world to impose plastic bag bans. They will inconvenience the public rather than improve their technology.