Janice Pechauer passed away last week after a courageous battle with cancer....

...real property tax rates were reduced by 3.1 percent across the board from fiscal year 2014 rates....

• Senate: Friedland Nomination – Confirmation
• Senate: Minimum Wage Increase – Cloture
• House: Mil Con/Veterans Affairs Appropriations – Passage
• House: Legislative Branch Appropriations – Passage

“As a practice that has long endured, legislative prayer has become part of our heritage and tradition...That a prayer is given in the name of Jesus, Allah, or Jehovah, or that it makes passing references to religious doctrines, does not remove it from that tradition.” -- US Supreme Court

Here are nine of our predictions that have come to pass—and it’s not over yet....

Monday, May 05, 2014 10:30 a.m. Room 229

This week we look at the term “stable funding source.” In business, there is no such thing....

UH Interim President David Lassner and Retired Lt. General Francis Wiercinski....

On Thursday, May 1, the Hawaii Legislature adjourned its 2014 regular session....

The half-percent GET surcharge for Oahu, which by law can only be used for Honolulu's rail system, began in January 2007 and is set to expire at the end of 2022....

The Hawaii State Senate today adjourned the 2014 session passing more than 240 bills....

The Hawaii Election Commission has released its candidate report for the week ending May 2, 2014....

...Hawaiian Electric is seeking proposals for one or more large-scale energy storage systems able to store 60 to 200 megawatts for up to 30 minutes....

...designed to bring large prime contractors together with local companies, and to provide the latest information about upcoming construction contracts....

Hawaii spent $920 per enrollment, and $87 per uninsured person and enrolled the fewest people in the USA.  Nobody spent more and nobody achieved less.... 

House Majority floor leader Rida Cabanilla, D-Ewa, controls a nonprofit that got a $100,000 grant from the Legislature, even though it was out of compliance with the Internal Revenue Service....

Under Hawaii law, police don’t need to have physical contact with prostitutes to make an arrest, though they must prove someone is willing to exchange sex for money....

The Hawai‘i Health Connector Hawai‘i concluded its first open enrollment period, which included a grace period that ended on April 30, with 9,785 enrollees....

...a handful of senators are working hard to make sure the government stays in the housing finance business....

... 7.5 million gallons of contaminated water, toxic soil, trash, fecal matter and human medical waste poured into west Oahu’s ocean waters on Jan. 13, 2011 ....

...Measures relate to state budget, minimum wage, TAT, Health Connector, seniors, invasive species, mandatory kindergarten, police misconduct, abuse of minors....

But Slom is a figure of unique solitude, comprising the only single-member caucus anywhere in the country....

...according to the Feds, Apple's 'random audit' story is bunk....

...In the midst of these world crises—and a U.S. military readiness crisis—we have a president who questions “the efficacy and even legitimacy of American power”....

A federal grand jury in Honolulu returned a 13-count indictment today charging Waste Management of Hawaii Inc....

...and 32,209 more enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP through the end of March 2014, compared to enrollment before the Marketplace opened last October....

The top-performing states—Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Hawaii—lead the nation across most dimensions of care, and have done so over time....

...analysis from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that teen childbearing in Hawaii cost taxpayers at least $32 million in 2010....

Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawaii in March 2014 fell 3.5 percent compared to last March to $1.2 billion....

...You’ll never see it as a line item in the budget....

...UNITE HERE Local 5 union officials have an ugly history of violating the rights of the workers they claim to represent....

This newfound abundance has come primarily from the application of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing....

This study analyzes the effects of the resulting changes at the individual employee level ....

...an unholy union of big government, big business, and big special interests twists public policy to benefit Washington insiders....

... Queens, Pali Momi, Straub, and Moanalua all scored 'A' ....

...four major decisions and orders that collectively provide key policy, resource planning, and operational directives to HECO....

...Tesoro indicated that domestic supply was not competitive, in part due to Jones Act restrictions....

"Congress needs to follow up on this presidential trip by passing trade promotion authority to conclude a free-trade agreement across Asia and the Pacific”

Shippers are increasingly moving crude to a refinery in Canada....

...the budget specifically appropriates $300,000 of general obligation bond funds toward design ... another $2 million is appropriated for the actual construction of an air conditioning system....

...$6M of added work due to unidentified utilities, design changes and added work scope....

The budget, which provides $6.189 billion in general funds and $12.147 billion in all means of financing, was characterized by House Finance Chair Sylvia Luke as measured and prudent....

VIDEO: House Republicans speak out on Hawaii State Budget during final debate today....

Despite claims to the contrary, relatively few Hawaiians would benefit from the increase....

Do conservatives still want to repeal Obamacare?  It would seem the media don’t want you to think so....

...what if America had never been founded?...

Super PACs and special interest groups look set to have the opportunity to hijack all future elections in Hawaii if HB2590 CD1 passes....

The Hawaii Refinery Task Force has completed its year-long study of the potential impacts of refinery closures....