Environment

"...legislators passed out a teacher evaluation bill that would effectively strip teachers of the collective bargaining rights ..." -- Okabe

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The Hawaii State House, with 17 ‘no’ votes has transmitted to the Senate a resolution calling for convening of a US Constitutional Convention....

The combined effect of these regulations and grant requirements are that a state would have to agree to surrender any last vestiges of meaningful control over how Obamacare is implemented. Thus, a state would now have no more real control over an exchange it set up than over one HHS established....

Hawaii State Representative Kymberly Pine today announced her candidacy for the Honolulu City Council District 1 (Leeward Coast) ....

Senator Blas introduced a resolution that requests Guam’s Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives to introduce legislation to exempt Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Alaska from the U.S. Build provision of the Jones Act....

Former Governor Linda Lingle, candidate for Hawaii's open U.S. Senate seat, will host U.S. Senator Susan Collins at a special luncheon at the Sheraton Waikiki on Wednesday, April 11 from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m....

The Mormon vote in Laie is reminiscent of the margins that Democrats often pull in inner-cities. It’s pretty stunning.

• Rafe Trickey
• Edward T. Knudson
• Erika L. Lacro

...even the most basic attempts at experimentation have to wait endlessly for federal approval and many are rejected....

Members of PACAID with current licenses and prescribing privileges for controlled substances can serve a consulting role to patients and their doctors, and write a prescription for life-ending medication if the primary physician declines to do so ....

During the Committee meeting, the DOE noted that annual savings of $12 million to $15 million may be achieved as current contracts expire and are replaced with contracts that offer contractors the opportunity to lease buses from the DOE....

Private health insurers generally don’t limit hospital coverage ....

Three interceptor ships near Japan and the Philippines, as well as U.S.-based interceptors, are ready to shoot down the North Korean missile if space-, land-, and sea-based sensors determine its flight path is targeted at the United States or U.S. allies....

Governor Neil Abercrombie today made more nominations to several boards and commissions including the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the Land Use Commission....

Only six agencies responded that in order to track cell phones, they must first get a warrant or have probable cause: County of Hawaii, Hawaii; Honolulu, Hawaii; Wichita, Kan.; Lexington, Ky.; Lincoln, Neb.; and North Las Vegas, Nev....

Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2011
• Senate: Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act
• House: Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2011
• House: Surface Transportation Extension Act
• House: Democratic Alternative Budget
• House: Fiscal 2013 House Budget Resolution

The Hawaii state legislature has taken dead aim at NAFTA and the provisions it requires of the state, and the protections it affords Canadians who make cross-border investments in vacation rental properties….

For more than a dozen years now, lawmakers have been touting the tax credit bandwagon....

“In my interview, they actually suggested I run for office as a Republican and then convert to the Democratic Party,” Thielen said.... “One person on the committee asked, ‘Would you bring your mother into the Democratic Party?’”

"The Ex-Im Bank is critical to help U.S. companies to access financing to support the exports of their goods and services abroad. In fact, 85% of Ex-Im Bank's transactions directly supported small businesses last year."

...he did not want to leave his medical colleagues at the hospital short-handed.  "He didn't eat (on shift), he didn't pee, he wasn't going to say 'I need to take an hour off to go to therapy,'" said Mrs. McCaddon....

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Honolulu Tea Party Rally Event, April 16, 2012, Monday from 4:00pm to 7:00pm ....

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has selected a site across the street from the West Hawai`i Civic Center for the new judiciary complex in Kona....

Hawai`i Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald is seeking applicants for Chair of the Hawai`i State Elections Commission.

NRA instructor liability protection legislation has been scheduled for a hearing in the state Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor this Monday, April 2, at 10:00 a.m., in conference room 16 of the State Capitol....

TARP, provided Central Pacific with a $135 million financial lifeline in the midst of the recession but will be collecting only about $74 million from selling its Central Pacific stock .... 

...actual growth was up 2.5 percent over a year ago (207,298 visitors per day in February 2012); and an adjusted total visitor spending of $1.061† billion would still be 4.7 percent above February 2011 levels....

Less than one year ago, Congress formally recognized that "the failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped precipitate the deepest economic decline since World War II."

House Bill 679, important NRA instructor liability protection legislation, MUST be heard in the state Senate Judiciary Committee next week or it will die....

When the wheels start coming off this project, as they undoubtedly will, we predict that many fingers will be pointing at your agency....

And yet enviros are doing everything they can to stop fracking ....

The bill "grants the State broad powers over project planning while simultaneously reducing county and community input"

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue today urged lawmakers to better promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to put the welcome mat back out for international visitors ....

We have just released a new report providing island-specific solutions utilizing only commercially proven and available renewable energy resources.....

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the HRP ohana, Nacia Lee Blom....

The labor dispute is not to blame for all delays, however. The state has the ability to connect student achievement data to graduates of teacher-preparation programs, but it has not....

• Senate: Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act
• House: Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011

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Kahuku is 3rd on this list of junk-grade US DoE loans and loan guarantees.

Ormat is Hawaii’s leading geothermal developer.... But a US House committee report shows that Ormat benefitted from its close ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and profited from a potentially illegal $98.5M bailout of an Ormat geothermal project in Nevada.

...no Hawaii governor can unilaterally furlough teachers or any Department of Education (DOE) employee since they are under the Board of Education’s (BOE) jurisdiction....

Determined to provide Hawaii residents and businesses with an alternative means of travel between the islands, Governor Lingle worked with Democrat House Speaker Calvin Say and then-Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, to convene a special session of the Legislature....

A funny thing happened on the way to doing state income taxes this year....

"These teams were tough, but we came together and pulled through," Jandie Sabo, a member of Waialua's Robotics team. 

$8.5 billion for military construction, down 29 percent ...

After an intense day of qualifying rounds, the pits are closed and teams are preparing themselves for the final day of competition tomorrow....

On March 6, House Bill 679, an NRA instructor liability protection bill, was amended and passed in the state House by a 47 to 4 vote. This bill is now pending in the state Senate Judiciary Committee.

Fact v. Myth articulates the facts, with sources and references available through the campaign website, putting to rest six misconceptions and politically-crafted falsehoods about Governor Lingle