Entries for March 2017

He represents Bin Laden’s bodyguard for free, but charges the State of Hawaii $600/hr....

The plaintiff listed in Hawaii’s lawsuit against President Trump’s executive order on immigration is a member of an organization that has several current and former leaders tied to terrorist activity....

Hawaii’s lawsuit consists almost entirely of policy arguments as opposed to legal claims, and the legal claims that are made are far-fetched....

...5,000 Hawaii voters sign petition against assisted suicide....

With tax collections falling behind expectations, State lawmakers are pressuring the tax department to increase effort to collect uncollected taxes from internet sales....

DBEDT is measuring dollars not taxpayers. One out-of-state owner of a shopping mall, golf course, or hotel equals 1000s of individual local homeowners....

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin, is endangering the people of the Hawaiian Islands....

This Resolution directs the State Auditor to conduct a cost comparison between completing the rail system from Middle Street to Downtown Honolulu with street level versus an elevated rail system....

It's true that the session is far from over. And this bill could certainly end up morphing yet again....

The Ninth Circuit rejected the appeal by the arcade owners and affirmed United States District Court Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi’s April 30, 2014 ruling....

...why are we paying an east coast law firm for a legal cut- and-paste job which will accomplish nothing?....

It’s a litany of reasons why Hawaii and the Imam think the order is a big scary monster that’s embarrassing and keeps the Imam’s Syrian mother-in-law from visiting even though she hasn’t come to visit since 2005....

“Recent developments led the Foundation to have deep concerns that one candidate may have an unfair advantage over other applicants."

One side doesn’t have to lose in order for the other side to win....

Nothing of substance has changed....

...this policy likely would backfire and make all housing in the islands more expensive....

Senate Bill 898, sponsored by state Senator Ronald Kouchi (D-8), would permanently strip an individual of their Second Amendment rights, not based on a criminal conviction or mental adjudication, but based on a quasi-criminal proceeding....

...a Hawaii bill that would force the state’s five pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise taxpayer-funded abortions was sent along to the house Tuesday....

They tout it as a “common sense” measure but never disclose that there’s a penalty included in the bill that opens agricultural entities up to lawsuits....

...only pesticides from agriculture harm only native Hawaiians who are apparently immune to pesticides used on luxury resorts and golf courses.... 

The House passed HB314 by a 50-0 margin....

The Hawaiian Electric Companies reached a nearly 26 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard in 2016, up from 23 percent the year before....

Literally the first allegations against President Trump have to do with the things he said on the campaign trail, rather than the executive order itself....

...during fiscal year 2015, the state accepted all of seven refugees, according to data from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Only one jurisdiction, the District of Columbia, accepted fewer....

...When It Comes To OHA Misspending Funds, That's Just The Tip Of The Iceberg....

...Experts call for immediate upgrade in state's missile defenses....

...State Senators today approved 318 bills on third reading. Sixty-six bills were approved earlier on third reading for a total of 384....

The House voted to pass on to the Senate today another 157 bills, bringing the total to 365...

Both bills will now crossover to the House where the process will begin again....

This report, part of the Gallup-Healthways State of American Well-Being series, examines well-being across the nation, with 189 communities ranked....

There are currently 4,581 signatures....

"...Hawaii Government Employees Association President Jackie Ferguson-Miyamoto, had nothing to do with his hiring as a Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officer...."

Mufi Hannemann’s Hawaii Independent Party, the Constitution Party, and The American Shopping Party are to be disqualified from the Hawaii ballot for 2018....

This measure, the so-called Fair Pay and Safety Workplaces rule, would have allowed government officials to debar, or blacklist, construction companies from bidding on federal projects based on the mere allegation of labor law violations without any due process....

...Ige appointed Galera to the BOE in October 2016. Galera has also served as the chairperson for the Governor’s ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) Team since its inception in April 2016....

The new application deadline is Friday, March 31, 2017....

...testimonies she and several other pregnancy center supporters submitted had been completely omitted from the process, in spite of the fact they had receipts from their online submission forms....

...this assessment generates management options for a range of overfishing risk levels....

"...Everything seemed fine until Sabharwal tried to give an $18,000 bribe to a federal Environmental Protection Agency official...."

House Bill 1586 is a multi-faceted bill that seeks to change some of the characteristics of our tax system....

...Hawaii is being used in the fear mongering against farmers -- our story has had a global impact....

Senate Judiciary and Labor Votes Yes to Assisted Suicide....

The legislation would not only establish important privacy protections at the state level, it would also help thwart the federal surveillance state....

Another black eye for Ebay and Paypal owner, Hawaii luxury resort developer, and Civil Beat publisher Pierre Omidyar....

...MAY 4   ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE....

This bill sets to ignore the normal rules of criminal procedure in order to promote the anti-gun agenda of the political elites....

County workers throughout the state make higher wages than nearly all of their mainland counterparts adjusted for the cost of living....

"...Trump and the Republican Congress could disrupt health care, government employment, and public services...."