Election Day Precinct Workers Needed
Tribe? Feds to Meet With Hawaiians in Southern California Today
Mainland Anti-GMO Group Pours Money into Kaneohe HD48 Race
NPS: Draft Ewa Plains Battlefield Nomination And Photo Archive Available
Everywhere...and Perversely Fair
Poll: Aiona Beats Ige 41-34 -- Aiona Beats Abercrombie 45-30
SA: Former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, a Republican who lost to Abercrombie in 2010, led both Abercrombie and Ige in potential November general election matchups. Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who lost to Abercrombie in the primary in 2010 and is now running under the new Hawaii Independent Party banner, was a distant third....
The upheaval among Democrats has already helped Aiona. The Republican's favorability is at 63 percent, the highest of any candidate tested in the poll, up from 58 percent in February. Fifty-one percent of traditional Democrats view him positively.
"I think the public just has had enough," Aiona said, referring to the federal, state and county levels of government. "I really believe that they're just kind of fed up with the elected officials."
Aiona said many voters "feel like their voice is not being heard," adding, "They're not being treated with respect."
Result: Aiona 41% -- Ige 34% -- Hannemann 15%
Result: Aiona 45% -- Abercrombie 30% -- Hannemann 14%
LINK: http://www.dukeaiona.com/
read ... Aiona a Winner
Education Reform in Trouble Under Ige
SA: The candidates for governor have been troublingly silent on public education issues to this point in the campaign. To make sure we choose the right candidate for governor for the future of our state's public education system, I would respectfully ask six questions....
Note: This is a message to Duke and Mufi. Ige has not been 'silent' on education reform. He ha loudly and aggressively embraced the HSTA's anti-reform agenda. Abercrombie is done. Ige is a slave to the HSTA. Will Duke and/or Mufi pick up the education reform banner?
Reality: Ige Renews Oath of Fealty to HSTA, Ige's Dirty Deal With HSTA: Phony 'Procedural Mixup' Dooms Key Education Measures, Quid pro Quo? HSTA Endorses Ige for Governor
With Abercrombie & Louie gone, correct this: Catholics Reject Abercrombie's Attempt to Re-Write Curriculum
read ... Mitch D'Olier
Apples gone but what of his plans?
SA: Lassner needs to settle whether hiring freezes that Apple implemented in his final weeks are still moving forward so campus departments can implement course offerings for the coming semester.
Looking ahead, he needs to make it clear what strategies he favors for erasing the $20 million shortfall in the UHM operating budget, since Apple's approach to UH fiscal woes seemingly was at the heart of his "less than satisfactory" job rating.
Anyone named to replace the chancellor -- assuming a replacement is forthcoming -- must know what approach has the backing of the head office. That backing will be critical to successfully enacting spending cuts that are sure to meet resistance from whichever departments are taking the hit.
Apple's perception, expressed in a letter he released publicly after sending it to Lassner, was that the president did not back him up in "hard decisions" he had made in efforts to square the budget.
read ... More Chaos at UH
Abercrombie Bi-Polar, Forgetful
Borreca: Today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser/Hawaii News Now poll shows Abercrombie losing to Ige by 18 percentage points, with a margin or error of 4.6 percentage points. It was conducted by Ward Research.
Most telling is Abercrombie's job performance rating: 56 percent of the voters surveyed disapprove of the 76-year-old Manoa Democrat.
For someone who has served in political office for 40 years, including 20 in Congress, it portends an astounding fall.
If the poll numbers are correct, Abercrombie will be the first governor in Hawaii history to be voted out of office in a primary election. That sort of a loss is especially telling because the primary voters are just the Democrats who originally put Abercrombie into office.
A veteran legislator who has watched Abercrombie for years says the governor created his own political problems.
"He has a bipolar relationship with the voters," said the lawmaker, who asked not to be identified.
"One minute he can empathize with you and knows your concerns, and the next minute he can't remember your name," the Democrat said.
read ... Abercrombie braces for astounding fall from grace
Abercrombie Fundraising at $5M, Ige Passes $500K Mark
CB: The latest filings with the state Campaign Spending Commission show Gov. Neil Abercrombie has raised $5 million for his re-election.
The figure includes $384,000 that he had in cash at the end of the previous election cycle.
The governor’s report that covers July 1-25 shows he spent almost $1 million last month, with big chunks of money going to media ad buys and to SMS Research and Marketing Services for surveys, polls and voter lists.
Among the contributors maxing out at the $6,000 limit during the last filing period were David Carey, the CEO and president of Outrigger Enterprise Group, and Bill Kaneko, an attorney with Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing who is Abercrombie’s campaign manager....
Recent contributors to Ige include fellow lawmakers Scott Saiki, Sylvia Luke and Gregg Takayama. Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, has also given money to the campaign.
read ... $5M for Nothing
Campaign Spending Commission launches a new Super PAC data visualization app
CB: Here’s something fresh and timely: The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission has launched a new data visualization application, which can be accessed on its website.
It allows anyone to see how noncandidate committees — which include super PACs (political action committees) — are raising and spending money on 2014 state and county races.
read ... New App
Native Hawaiians Are Not A Tribe
MW: Now, in keeping with President Obama’s propensity to legislate “with the stroke of a pen” what he knows he can’t get through Congress, he, his Department of the Interior and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) are quietly conspiring to use Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to simply declare the Native Hawaiians a “tribe” rather than an ethnic group, on to which the president has said he would sign.
To simply pull a “tribe” out of thin air — to make a “tribe” where none has ever existed before — is not only an absurd concept, but an insult to Native Hawaiians. Adding further insult to injury, as confirmed by numerous top legal experts, it’s unconstitutional to boot. As the president of Hawaii’s Grassroot Institute and candidate for OHA commissioner at large Ke’alii Akina puts it, “There is no tribe, only tribal leaders.” By “leaders,” of course, he means the wannabes of OHA who are exploiting Native Hawaiians.
read ... Native Hawaiians Are Not A Tribe
Honored HPD officer arrested on suspicion of sex assault
HNN: Hawaii News Now has learned that a 30-year-old officer has been booked on suspicion of sex assault and kidnapping.
He was arrested at about 3:45 a.m. this morning on Keonaona St. in Liliha.
read ... Another One
Anderson: Keep the Homeless, Homeless
SA: We also listened to powerful testimony given at the Zoning and Planning Committee from the Martin family: a homeless father, his wife and their toddler, who described how homeless families with young children are handled during the sweeps. (because they continue to refuse to go to the shelters.)
The Martins also testified that the homeless from Waikiki have already started to migrate into the Kakaako area, a place occupied heavily by homeless people with children. (Anderson is pushing a tent city?)
Their testimony did not fall on deaf ears. The Martins got our attention and raised questions as to how the law would be enforced on homeless families with children. As a father myself, I am not OK with a blanket approach for all of those who would violate the sit-lie law, especially when the violators are keiki. It is necessary to have more discussions as to how the law will address our most vulnerable homeless. (who continue to refuse available shelter spaces.)
read ... They are useful political pawns
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