Honolulu County

Read between the lines of Sen. Hooser’s commentary and you will see the only idea he has is to increase taxes on Hawai'i’s already overtaxed citizens.  We need elected officials who can make difficult decisions and solve complicated problems, not hope someone else will find a solution.

The ACLU is threatening a lawsuit against the City of Honolulu after the City Council voted to ban sleeping on sidewalks.  Today's Star-Bulletin editorializes:

Councilman Charles Djou introduced the bill because of concerns about how the homeless sleeping on Waikiki sidewalks is affecting tourism. Djou maintains that refusing to allow the chronically homeless to sleep on sidewalks would "put the hammer on people getting the help they need."

Djou needs to cite a precedent where such tough compassion has actually worked.

The answer is embarrassingly simple: Los Angeles. 

This leads to an obvious question the Star-Bulletin editorialists must answer:

Where has your laissez-faire attitude towards homelessness ever produced anything but more homelessness?

“Statehood was a major turning point for our state, and 50 years later, we are proud of everything we have accomplished. I hope the residents of Hawai‘i will show their pride in our island home by attending local commemorations and learning more about our state’s history,” said Kippen de Alba Chu, chair of the 50th Anniversary of Statehood Commission.

Links to Memorial Day commemorations across the state...

When the Star-Bulletin and Advertiser write about "ethical lapses" of public officials without actually describing the lapses it is a sure sign that a good story is lurking below the surface.  Of course that is the case with MRC Greenwood, one of the two finalists selected from 600 applicants for the job of UH system President. 

This hidden story involves money-grubbing lesbians, a $30,000 dog run paid for by the UC system, former Communist Party vice-presidential candidate Angela Davis, and one suicide.  Questions Hawaii reporters should be asking Greenwood include:  "If hired, will UH be expected to also hire Ms Goff and/or your son?"  and "Will you speak up in favor of  administrators arranging cushy high-paying jobs for their lovers at UH--or was that just a UC thing?"

Due to the state’s projected $2 billion revenue shortfall and decreases to the DLNR budget, it was not known when funds would be available to make repairs to reopen the road and park. The infusion of community volunteer energy made it possible for the park to be reopened sooner.

For those who feel they're paying too much and have a yen to vent, there's an event tomorrow just for you (assuming that you're not one of those last-minute procrastinators and have the time to attend). The "Tax Day Tea Party" will be held 4-7 p.m. at the state Capitol.

Here's the call to action from the organizer's Web site, www.overtaxedhawaii.com:

"Many of our elected state legislators in Hawaii are planning to enact massive tax increases in the weeks ahead when the legislative session ends on May 7th. YOU CAN HELP STOP THEM.

SEVEN "Tax Day Tea Party" events are scheduled for Hawaii April 15  Here is a news release for the Hilo event as well as contact information and details for each of the seven events.

And after only eight days, all of the repairs were done, Pleas said. It was a shockingly quick fix to a problem that may have taken much longer if they waited for state money to funnel in."

Not just state money, state workers.  Two years to complete the project, the state said, whatever it was, and four million bucks.  And these people did it in eight days!  Ivan Slack said,  "'We can wait around for the state or federal government to make this move, or we can go out and do our part.  Just like everyone's sitting around waiting for a stimulus check, we were waiting for this but decided we couldn't wait anymore.' ... Now, because of their hard work, volunteers hope they'll be ready to send that positive message -- right in time for the tourist season."

The bogus bonds are not sold through an investment firm or brokerage house, as legitimate bonds are. They also purport to represent ownership in a fictitious Hawaiian nation named Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, sponsored by the Hawaiiloa Foundation.

The companies pushing the bogus bonds, several claiming to be affiliated with Native Hawaiian sovereignty movements, are targeting Native Hawaiian homeowners and others who are facing foreclosure.

With Hurricane Jova and two other major other storms lined up in formation, Oahu Civil Defense planners describe a shortfall of 60,000 spaces in evacuation plans which are themselves designed to shelter only about one-third of Oahu`s population. These numbers sound bad enough, but they grotesquely understate the problem.