August 21, 2009 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, August 21, 2009

August 21, 2009 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:19 PM :: 9419 Views

Hawaii has come long way in 50 years

Within minutes, Associate Justice Masaji Marumoto of the Hawai'i Supreme Court administered oaths of office to Quinn and Lt. Gov. James Kealoha before a packed house in the executive chambers of 'Iolani Palace.

Thus began a week of grand public displays of pride and patriotism, even as those quietly opposed to statehood mourned the passing of the last vestiges of Hawaiian independence. (LIE)

READ: Hawaii Statehood: Tiny 1959 opposition was anti-Japanese, not anti-American

Rich culture vital to Hawaii's state

Alaska, which won statehood seven months earlier, celebrated its anniversary with concerts, fireworks and a prize-winning float in California's Rose Parade, capping a year-long observance. That level of gaiety in Hawaii would have triggered confrontation with many Hawaiians resentful of how the kingdom was overthrown at the instigation of Americans in 1893.

Re-examine post-statehood identity

Early in 1970 there was an announcement on a radio station that invited anyone concerned about "justice for the Hawaiian people" to a meeting off-campus near University of Hawaii-Manoa. A handful of us showed up.

This was the beginning of a few native Hawaiians, locals and supporters questioning the direction statehood had taken these Hawaiian islands since the overthrow, imprisonment of our Queen Liliuokalani and the theft of our Hawaiian nation.

(M. Akaka correctly points to the origins of the so-called sovereignty movement in campus radical activism.)

Peaceful protests greet Admission Day

About 1,000 demonstrators who would rather see Hawaii's independence restored are expected to rally today outside the conference at the Hawaii Convention Center.

HA: All quiet on Iolani Palace grounds

Maui: Protesters see no reason to celebrate

KGI: Statehood! From agriculture to tourism, 50 years of economic changes

Eco propaganda: Statehood as enviro disaster....

Maui News: The effects of statehood differ among Hawaiians

more cultural nationalist propaganda...but this bit of honesty slipped in...

Lanai activist, publisher and farmer Alberta de Jetley, 64, recalls the emergency sirens going off during the school lunch hour to mark the achievement of statehood.

"We all thought it was a good thing," said de Jetley, whose mother is half Native Hawaiian. "In those days, we didn't even think of sovereignty. I was excited that we were going to become 100 percent Americans."

Preliminary Testing Results Show 187 Schools Did Not Meet Standards by NCLB

Meaning thirty-four percent of Hawaii schools passed, an eight percent drop from last year.

"Its saying basically that all children are going to learn everything all at the same rate and that's not we are all different and we all do better in certain things and so we are not ever going to have all kids learning the same thing at the same time," said Board of Education member, Maggie Cox.

(And Cox's nonsense is the kind of "thought" which has been used to excuse failure after failure .)

And here's the version from the Advertiser, correctly tagged as part of the problem by Randy Roth: Hawaii students getting better at math, reading

State health plan raises alarm

A state plan to scale back health care benefits to about 7,500 adult Micronesians — including no longer covering dialysis treatment or chemotherapy — could be a "death sentence" for some, advocates and patients' relatives warned at a legislative briefing yesterday.

The new plan goes into effect Sept. 1, and is aimed at saving the state about $15 million a year. It replaces a comprehensive health care coverage plan the state started providing to low-income, adult Micronesians in 1996, when Congress made them ineligible for federally funded care.

Officials said the state no longer has the money for the comprehensive plan.

Under the new plan, about 100 Micronesians would no longer get their dialysis treatment covered.

(Sacrificed on the altar to HGEA)

Island Hotel Occupancy Down To Record Levels

Hawaii hotel room revenues fell by $339 million to $1.22 billion in the first half 2009. The loss was driven by a combination of a 7.8 percentage point decrease in occupancy to 66.0 percent, which is the lowest ever recorded since the survey began in 1987, according to the survey.

HA: Hawaii hotels suffer 5th straight month of record low occupancy

Unemployment rate falls

While Hawaii's government, trade, transportation, utilities, and professional and business sectors gained jobs last month, jobs were cut from the educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and financial activities sectors.

HA: Isles' jobless rate drops to 7% in July

Hannemann Administration Misled the Honolulu City Council on Rail Finances

The principal change in the May 1 Plan from the Draft EIS is an admission that the City was not going to be able to collect the $4.054 billion they had projected from the GE Tax. Instead they now project collecting $3.316 billion (p. 2-12), which if added to the 2007/8 collection totals $3.534 billion, or a $520 million shortfall....

Controversy Among Honolulu's Rail Funding | Video Video

Governors resist Reserve plan

Gov. Linda Lingle has joined other state chief executives in opposing a congressional proposal that would expand the Pentagon's control of Reserve troops in domestic disasters.

Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, who as state adjutant general controls Hawaii's 5,500 Hawaii Army and Air Guard troops, said the proposal could lead to confusion about who's in charge during natural and man-made disasters and could result in duplicate response levels.