Education K-12

There is upon your desk an emergency appropriation by the legislature (HB838) awaiting your signature to fund the functions of the Reapportionment Commission and its temporary staff positions.

This spring, on Sunday, May 29, 2011, we will again create a festive environment to commemorate Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel's Independence Day....

Representative Gene Ward, Ph.D. speaks with Dianne Glei Event Chair, for the Independence Day at Maunalua Bay; Kevin Nitta, treasurer of the Independence Day at Maunalua Bay Foundation and Laura Buck, the IDMB Foundation president.

...next Friday, June 3rd, we are on schedule to adopting a budget which (though imperfect in many ways) is definitely trying to make up for the shortchanging of taxpayers in years gone by....

The Honolulu Neighborhood Commission Office has announced the complete election results for Honolulu Neighborhood Boards. The online voting, which ended Saturday May 21 drew 13,264 voters for an 8.5% turnout.

...legal issues that the rail project will involve, include eminent domain, environmental questions, and the relationship with the newly-created Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART), an agency within city government to oversee the project....

Having deployed twice to the Middle East, served 2 years in the US Senate with Senator Akaka, assisting him with issues such as energy independence, homeland security, the environment, and veteran affairs, being elected as a State legislator and City Councilmember, as well as my work with my environmental non-profit, I am well-equipped to take on these challenges, and am confident that I will serve you well.

Representative George Fontaine discusses domestic violence in Hawaii with Dara Carlin a domestic violence survivor and advocate; and Tiffinie Walters a domestic violence survivor....

Phoning it in from a black-tie event in Washington, DC, Rep Mazie Hirono blessedly informed Hawaii that she will not be a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District in 2012.

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. 

After months of trying to get on base in Hawaii, is it ‘three strikes and they’re out’ for the Turkish Gulen cult?

 The Honolulu Republican Committee has issued a list of all Neighborhood Board candidates who are Republican.

All nine federal judges in Hawaii have recused themselves from hearing the latest complaint, of a long string, that challenges a major transportation project in Honolulu.  With each judge stepping back from the case, 9th Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima will step in, according to an order filed Friday....

In April, the Obama administration lost $1.5 billion of $2 billion budgeted to improve America's antiquated transportation systems, with high-speed rail projects. Though the funds will now likely go toward deficit reduction, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a defendant in the Hawaii rail lawsuit, has asked for $53 billion over the next six years.

Town Hall Meeting, Hawaii Kai, with Representative Gene Ward, Minority Leader; and Senator Sam Slom, Minority Leader May 2011

The state is contributing $1.5 million for the project, and Kyoya and HTA will provide $500,000 each.

Honolulu City Council has got to have more important things to focus on than regulating and restricting yet another aspect of our lives.

Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to ensure that Defendants do not implement the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project...before complying fully with federal environmental laws.

In a speech in Boston, Mr. Tutu directly attacked the Jewish supporters of Israel as being in effect traitors to America, controlling U.S. foreign policy for the benefit of Israel and to the detriment of America. In that speech he compared American Jewish supporters of Israel to Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Milosevich, Stalin, and Pinochet.

Transit coverage is highest in Western metro areas such as Honolulu and Los Angeles, and lowest in Southern metro areas such as Chattanooga and Greenville....

Ms. Takaki is active in the Hawaii Chapter of The ESOP Association has served on the Executive Committee's State & Regional Chapter Council. From 2007 – 2009, Ms. Takaki served as Chair of The ESOP Association.

In an effort to raise awareness about pornography Craig Gross founded XXXchurch.com, the website mixes the seedy with the sacred in an effort to raise the often taboo subject of pornography as a problem that needs to be dealt with. The website has had over 70 million visitors....

Representative Gene Ward, Minority Leader, Sine Die Announcement May 2011, Hawaii State House of Representatives ....

…a decade’s worth of reform and rhetoric that hasn’t made much of a dent. 

Janet Grace, Executive Director of Hawaii Right to Life, states, "We believe the Neighborhood Board election is as important as any other state electoral contest because it gives voters the opportunity to choose lawmakers who are uncompromisingly committed to pursuing life-affirming policies in our local statutes. Each vote for candidates who value life will help bring the urgent change Honolulu needs to thrive and prosper."

The 2011 New Starts funds for the whole nation is $1.59 Billion and Honolulu is asking for $1.55 Billion.

Even when wind is present, the turbines are doing nothing.

This fee increase will only help perpetuate the program. If there’s one thing we’ve all learned this year, it’s that once you put money into a program and personnel, it’s very hard to get it back out. It’s harder still to shut down the program entirely. In a word, if we provide more money, the program will become dependent - even addicted - upon that money.

Apparently, neither the mayor nor my council leadership want transportation experts overseeing a transportation project. Clearly, they want inexperienced 'yes men' to do the bidding of the rail consortium and developers rather than truly qualified experts who'll keep an eye on how taxpayer funds are expended with Hawaii's largest and most expensive public works project ever.

I have initiated establishment of a 501(c)4 nonprofit educational organization called "Foundation 1776,"the mission of which will be advocate for the application of the foundational principles on which our nation and our families were built....  We will also build a separate Political Action Committee designed to help recruit, train and fund the campaigns of like-minded candidates seeking to serve in the 76 legislative seats in the Hawaii House of Representatives and Senate.  

As Honolulu County voters begin casting their ballots in Neighborhood Board elections, Hawaii Right to Life reveals its list of endorsed candidates ....

Several businesses have already announced hiring freezes, and possible layoffs because of the legislative action. Several local non-profits are even harder hit and several may cease operations.

“All during this session I received a steady stream of letters, phone calls and e mails. I was stopped several times in neighborhood markets and shopping centers. None of the communications were form letters, but individual pleas reminding me that retirees could not afford to lose more income to taxes."

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed spent most of 1994 plotting to blow up or hijack 12 airplanes carrying about 4,000 passengers bound for Honolulu and 11 other locations as part of Operation Bojinka, based in Manila, Philippines.  He would later use operational experienced gained from his Bojinka failure to mastermind 9-11.

Now Hawaii's two Senators have voted to help spring Mohammed from detention at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. 

...NLIHC calculates Hawaii’s "housing wage" at $31.08 per hour. The “housing wage” which is the full-time hourly wage a household would need to earn in order to afford the fair market rent for an apartment....

The JABSOM measure appeared to have support in both houses, but the conference committees deadlocked over a different bill-one the House of Representatives supported to tax pension income over $200,000. The Senate firmly opposed any pension tax.

...the 2011 Legislative Session ends on Thursday. Tomorrow, for the last time, your House of Representatives will vote on the entirety of bills still alive this session....

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. 

…And another immigration memo, from June 1964, records that Harvard officials were trying "to get rid of him" and "couldn't seem to figure out how many wives he had."….

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 ....

With Hawaii now experiencing the highest gasoline prices in history, it is baffling that the politicians in the City government are actually contemplating an increase in the gasoline tax.

Pacific Office Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PCE), a real estate investment trust owning interests in 45 office buildings primarily in Hawaii and California, reported today that it received notice from the NYSE Amex (the “Exchange”) indicating that the Company is not in compliance with the continued listing standards ....

in a House committee, HCR 135 was the victim of “gut and replace”  .... 

Tony Santos, former resident of Hawaii, Farrington High School student, and past Mayor of the City of San Leandro, California, has been actively advising Hawaii lawmakers to kill off a proposal to establish Instant Runoff Voting on the county level.

Here is a geopolitical look at the Turkish Gulen Cult currently attempting to curry favor with Hawaii legislators and take over Mokapu Elementary School....

 “I refuse to impose on my constituents the lethal combo of a fuel tax increase, a property tax increase, and a sewer rate increase while a whopping nine million dollars per year from the general fund is diverted to subsidize the game of golf .... "

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

Is the City is hiding a politically damaging increase in rail cost projections by placing the money in the Handi-van account and using inflated census numbers to justify it?  At a future date, will the moneys be quietly transferred back to rail?

Mayor Carlisle appointed retired union representative William Hong, current Corporation Counsel Carrie Okinaga, and First Hawaiian Bank Chairman Don Horner.