Environment

HART will sign a full funding grant agreement with the FTA to provide $1,550,000,000 for the Oahu rail project, according to a Congressional notification sent to the Senate Committee on Appropriations....

The Negative Outlook reflects Fitch's concerns about the timeliness of the closing of the sales of the non-core assets....

FULL TEXT -- Senate Committee Documents Released Today

...County of Maui approved a coastal zone permit allowing a Halloween party to go forward in Lahaina, and someone was against it....

Kim will be replacing former president Clyde Shiigi at DataHouse, a sister company to local healthcare information technology company TeamPraxis....

• Senate: Cybersecurity – Cloture
• Senate: Sportsmen’s Access to Federal Land – Cloture
• House: Russia Trade Relations, Human Rights Oversight – Passage

...The reasons why the House, the Senate, and the Governor have been so assiduous in protecting the position of this individual will be the subject of intensive discovery should this case not be resolved....

Ever since the administration put forth the idea of taxing pension income a couple of years ago, the issue has drawn increased discussion especially as other taxes have been increased to make up for the shortfall in the state budget

...190 soldiers from the Hawaii Army Guard’s 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team....

In 2010, the five states with the lowest antibiotic use in the nation were Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington....

...what happened during the preparations for the concert that lead to the loss of the university's $200,000 and what policies and procedures needed to be changed....

Greenwood and representatives from the UH System administration and UH Board of Regents will visit the 10 University of Hawai‘i campuses for a series of public meetings scheduled for November through January 2013.

The ballot item on the formation of a hunting, fishing and gathering advisory commission in the November 6 election passed by almost 2 to 1 margin....

Based on the 2012 legislative session activity, Hawaii Family Advocates expects the following matters to be brought up again in 2013 ....

The owners want to build homes, which is consistent with the zoning but which cannot be built on a 1/2 acre parcel designated "Park."

Kendra Oishi joins the Governor’s office as Director of Policy, and Christine Hirasa joins as Deputy Director of Communications, effective immediately.

"She understands how university systems work."

The subsidies for insurance through the newly established state-based exchanges also increased....

Hawaii's economy is expected to continue positive growth for the rest of 2012 and into 2013....

HHS is required to complete their approval or conditional approval of state-based exchanges no later than January 1, 2013, for operation in 2014....

... adjusted to reflect geographic differences in housing costs ....

Large changes to both taxes and spending are scheduled to take place at the end of the year unless Congress acts....

James Donovan on CSUF campus November 28, 2012....

...without justification and without an honest belief in the truth of the matters defendant announced that plaintiff had committed rape, sexual harassment, promoting prostitution rings to executives of well-known Japanese corporations....

He fell at his apartment in Rockville, Md ... taken to the Bethesda Naval Hospital

The Second Amendment is alive and well in Hawaii....

...enrollment for the 2012-13 school year -- with all 254 Hawaii State Department of Education (DOE) schools and 32 charter schools -- is 183,251, an increase of 1.1 percent compared to last year’s total of 181,213...

The State Negotiating Team and representatives with the Hawaii State Teachers Association today resumed negotiations.

Honolulu City Council passed Resolution 12-305 unanimously requesting an investigation be conducted on last week’s elections

...his practice focused on product liability, toxic tort, and environmental cost recovery litigation....

Wind project impacts “may be worse than climate change,” says UK Environment Minister....

Have you ever been interested in learning the inner workings of State Government? Do you want to help make your State a better place to live and work?

Public Land Development Corporation Public Hearing live on Akaku Channel 54 and Olelo Channel 55. The meeting is being held on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 from 10:30am to 12:30pm

They will enter the school exactly at 8am and then leave exactly at 3pm ....

The labor board is telling the Supreme Court it has the discretion to take as long as it wants, possibly years, to render a decision....

...lawmakers figured that the general public would not notice that the exemptions were temporarily suspended....

Events and Ceremonies Statewide

Abercrombie announced the State of Hawaii’s “AA/AA/Aa2” credit rating was reaffirmed by three major credit agencies. He encouraged Hawaii investors to take advantage of this strong rating and purchase tax-exempt state bonds on Nov. 13 and 14.

Following Ward’s announcement, the House Minority Caucus met today to elect Rep. Aaron Ling Johanson, 32, as House Minority Leader and Rep. Beth Fukumoto, 29, as House Minority Floor Leader....

Measure B requires porn actors to wear condoms on film sets and for producers to apply and pay for health and film permits.

...there are still thousands of people in Hawaii who choose not to vote. There is so much work to be done in that regard and we will continue to expand and define more clearly our iVOTE Hawaii efforts....

...Tax guidance issued in 2010 has created uncertainty among taxpayers, an unlevel playing field within the renewable energy industry, and presented difficult tax enforcement issues for the Department....

More than 120 Hawaii employers hiring in today’s economy participated in the updated study through interviews and a survey that focused on “living wage” career pathways....

A federal grand jury in Honolulu yesterday indicted Marc Hubbardage 44, of North Carolina and Sean Barriero, age 44, of Miami....

Hawaiian Electric Company invested $188 million, close to twice its earnings, in local infrastructure projects to modernize the electric grid and reliably integrate increasing amounts of renewable energy. At American Savings Bank ... a $15 million increase in clean energy loans.

Here is complete listing of Senate Leadership and Committee Chairmanships....

...the fight for those seats are not over and we look forward to what the future holds....

...our newly elected Republicans are young, driven, and have a passion for representing their district....

May God bless you, the State of Hawaii and the United States of America....

These are the new McCarthyites -- on a witch hunt for racists instead of communists....