After Receiving Campaign Cash, OHA Trustees Give $1.25M to Insolvent Geothermal Company
A Terrible Week for Rail
Opportunity to Strengthen Accountability for Tax Dollars
Ige Part of Hanabusa's Strategy?
ILind: Senator David Ige’s announcement that he will challenge Gov. Abercrombie next year is being interpreted as a political harassment strategy by the Inouye-Hanabusa faction of the Democratic Party. While I haven’t heard anyone who believes Ige can come from relative obscurity to capture the governorship, his entry into the race will require Abercrombie’s political attention and detract from his ability to campaign actively for Schatz, thereby boosting Hanabusa’s campaign prospects.
One unverified rumor has it that Ige was asked to enter the race by former Gov. George Ariyoshi.
read ... ILind
Abercrombie Judgment Not Respected
Shapiro: State Sen. David Ige said he'll run against Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the 2014 Democratic primary in what one analyst described as "an unusually risky move for a lawmaker respected for his judgment." It says a lot about modern politics when it's risky for somebody who is respected for his judgment to run against somebody who is not.
Ige made his mark in the Senate as a leader of the liberal faction known as the Chess Club. Abercrombie has hung out with a different Democratic clique, dividing his time between the Drama Club and the Comedy Club.
read ... Comedy Club
Waihee, Danner, Star-Adv Coordinate Attack on DHHL
The purpose of the sudden interest in one of the decades-old suits against DHHL is to justify federal intervention into DHHL which has been mooted as a back-door to creation of the Akaka Tribe. Here are the four salvos in today's Star-Adv:
Survey: 96% of Hawaii Religious
KGI: SMS Research & Marketing Services Inc. based in Honolulu conducted a survey between April 1, 2012 and December 30, 2012. The sample size was 4,500 interviews with adult residents of Hawaii. The survey found, no big surprise, that religion is important to local residents. Here is what SMS had to say:
Nearly everyone in Hawaii — 96 percent — is willing to identify with one religion or another. Most of us tend to consider ourselves Christians of some type. Catholics make up the largest single religious group among our survey respondents, with 32 percent. Protestants made up about 25 percent, with very few naming a specific Protestant church.
read ... Less than 4% irreligious
Star-Adv: Bad business climate Justifies Corporate Welfare
SA: But in the short term, there has been some decent work going on here to improve things, at least in targeted areas.
Topping the list of pro-business bills signed into law was the HI Growth Initiative, which over the course of the legislative session was properly scaled back to fit budget realities, providing $6 million for entrepreneurial companies capable of generating new high-paying jobs. It got bipartisan support. GOP state Rep. Gene Ward cited the need for Hawaii to address its "dearth of entrepreneurs," backing House Bill 858 because it helps those "who put together the resources to make economic development happen."
(Actually the tax credits are the cause of Hawaii's lack of entrepreneurs. Abolish them and real entrepreneurs will come.)
The film industry got another boost with an increase in tax credits, and the tax credit for research activities that produce desirable technical jobs was also reenacted.
SA: Consumer spending, construction are 'headed in the right direction'
read ... Do more to fix business climate
Federal Reserve: Hawaii Business Environment Worst in Nation
Borreca: Back in May, another report card came out with another round of poor marks.
Chief Executive magazine put Hawaii as the 43rd best state for business. "California and Hawaii are very overtaxed," the report stated. The political climate, the magazine said "is only making it worse. "Business is very difficult in both states and increasing regulations making it nearly impossible yet they always demand more taxes."
Hawaii gross domestic product declined between 2010 and 2011, while the national average rose. People are leaving Hawaii: Between 2001 and 2009, more than 28,000 left....
A technical and unbiased assessment of all 50 states' economic outlook is prepared by the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. It combines four state economic indicators to come up with a single economic measure. The Brookings Institution's Tax Policy Center explains that the Philadelphia Fed's index measures expected future economic activity.
The report shows that Hawaii leading index is now at 109.32, the lowest of all 50 states.
read ... Other Surveys
Officers Get $3.80/hr for 'Standard of Conduct', Public Gets no Transparency
SA: The most egregious element is the conduct differential. Few people outside the department realize that for the past decade, police officers have received $1 per hour they work as compensation for having to adhere to the standard of conduct, whether they're on or off the clock.
In principle, that's just wrong: Many professions with a high public profile require 24-hour behavior standards as a condition of employment. But increasing the hourly bump over the life of the contract to a high of $3.80 for most officers is flatly beyond the pale....
Meanwhile, HPD needs to realize the public expects something in exchange: excellent service in an atmosphere of openness.
Arguably, police officers do perform up to snuff, with few exceptions.
But law enforcement in Hawaii has a less than stellar record of providing public information. In particular, disclosures about disciplinary actions against errant police officers have been rare.
If the public is paying for officers to be on their best behavior around the clock, then people certainly deserve to find out more about the times when they aren't.
read ... Plenty Corruption
HECO: We're Going to Reduce Bills 20% by 2020
DN: “We’ll reduce bills by 20% by year 2020. I mean that’s our goal. That’s the one we’ve talked about. That’s what we are going to try to get to. But that means being very selective in the renewables you get based on price.”
SA: Hawaii Energy works to improve state’s efficiency
read ... Henry Curtis
Hawaii's appointed school board: Making the grade?
SA: "I think it needs to have a few more years maybe to see if it can sort itself out," said Joan Husted, former executive director of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, who still would prefer an elected board.
But Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, who was named to her job by the new board in September 2010 after serving as interim superintendent for most of that year, gives it high marks.
"They've tried to do outreach in different ways," Matayoshi said, and it "is working pretty well."
From her viewpoint as principal of private Saint Louis School, Patricia Hamamoto — who preceded Matayoshi as superintendent — said the Department of Education "has made what I consider to be positive progress. I think a lot of the decisions being made are on target to move our students to a higher level of achievement."
Hamamoto had publicly supported the change from elected to appointed school board members. The teachers union took the lead in opposing an appointed board.
Voters approved the appointed board in the November 2010 election, as 57 percent gave up their right to choose members of the school board, with 43 percent voting against it or left the ballot blank.
Garrett Toguchi, then chairman of the elected BOE, had warned that gubernatorial appointments "would be made without true public involvement, based on politics and party lines instead of the needs of our students."
After making inconsistent statements about an appointed board prior to the 2010 election, Abercrombie said he voted for the amendment "to give myself the opportunity, if I become governor, to appoint the school board."
read ... Hawaii's appointed school board: Making the grade?
Hawaii Roads Bad Due to Skimpy Asphalt
SA: Not enough inches of asphalt are being used on Hawaii's roads. Every pothole allows you to see the inches of black asphalt used.
Nationally, the old standard averaged 2 inches of asphalt over a 6-inch base, but increased traffic and heavier vehicles have shifted that to 4 inches over 6 inches. The busy commercial street of Keeau-moku was repaved with only 2 inches of asphalt. The Pali Highway (townbound by the light) is starting to pothole because it was covered with an insufficient layer of 1.5 inches.
Roadways that last need thicker asphalt coverings. Sometimes the base has to be repaired — road "rehabilitation" (replacing up to 15 percent of the base) or "reconstruction" (removing more than 15 percent base) is very expensive.
read ... Prof Amy C Brown
Larry Ellison to Save Hawaiian from Anti-Trust Problem?
SA: The alliance promises to present the biggest interisland threat to Hawaiian Airlines since the demise of Aloha Airlines more than five years ago. And while Hawaiian still is the market's 800-pound gorilla with an 85 percent market share, the revamped entity that would operate under the Island Air name would create a more formidable No. 2 carrier with at least 12 percent of the market.
Even with the name "go!" disappearing, Mesa still would have a presence here in providing some of the crew and aircraft, while Island Air would coordinate the routes and the fare structure, according to a person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity.
Island Air operates four 64-seat ATR 72 turboprop aircraft and offers 210 flights a week. Go! has five 50-seat CRJ 200 jets and provides about 280 flights a week which will increase in September to about 350 flights a week.
read ... No Antitrust Issues Here, See!
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