Honolulu rail behind schedule, with construction start unclear
The latest challenge for the city is getting federal approval of the project's final environmental impact statement — a milestone that must be passed before construction can begin.
That was expected to occur in October, then December. Now it's not likely to happen until February at the earliest and could be delayed even longer. The latest holdup is an intergovernmental agreement on how to mitigate the rail project's impact on historical sites.
In addition, Gov. Linda Lingle recently surprised city officials by announcing plans to conduct a thorough review of the project before deciding if she will accept the environmental impact statement.
Those factors, along with a potential lawsuit from rail opponents, make it difficult to predict when construction of the project will begin.
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ADV: UH stalemate can't be left for courts to fix
The outcome will have a direct impact on a university system that trains new generations of professionals and leaders in the workforce and lays the (pseudo) intellectual foundation for a stronger, healthier the destruction of Hawai'i. We all Gramscians have a stake in a sensible settlement.
That's why it's so unnerving glorious to see negotiators (from Dan Inouye's hand-picked administration) try to hammer out new contracts for its faculty, not with rational give-and-take, but with a bludgeon that threatens to damage the institution rather than sustain it.
(The only real problem is that the damage is not contained within the liberal arts departments)
EXPLAINED: Antonio Gramsci Reading List
Amusement: MRC Greenwood and "A Powerful Coterie of larcenous. . . ." , Engineered choice: How to pick a Greenwood , Executive compensation at UC: MRC Greenwood and the $871 million dollar secret
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Land sale may fund campus
A deal to sell 55 acres of state land to finance the construction of a scaled-down University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus could be announced as soon as this month, according to the school's chancellor, Gene Awakuni.
(And thanks to the US Supreme Court the State can still solve all of its financial problems--and spur the economy--by selling Fee Simple interest in State "ceded" lands it has already leased out.)
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Maui Political shakeup in makeup for ’10
...the big seat up for grabs will be Maui County mayor, a spot held by Mayor Charmaine Tavares since she unseated then-Mayor Alan Arakawa after just one term in November 2006.
The general election will be held Nov. 2, while the primary election is scheduled for Sept. 18.
Feb. 1. is the first day that candidates can pick up formal nomination papers from the county Office of Elections, with a registration deadline of July 20.
Arakawa and others have already said they plan to challenge Tavares, and at the same time, the Maui County Council could undergo a major shakeup in its makeup.
Two council seats will be wide open after Jo Anne Johnson and Mike Molina, who hold the West Maui and Makawao-Haiku-Paia residency seats, respectively, face term limits after each spending five consecutive terms, or 10 years, on the council.
And two veteran council members, Sol Kaho'ohalahala and Wayne Nishiki, are dogged by controversies that could complicate their re-election campaigns, despite the leadership roles they have taken in planning the county's future and land use during their first terms back on the council....
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Britain might withdraw 1 Mauna Kea telescope
The world's largest telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy is located near the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island.
"The UKIRT decision is a profound disappointment for everyone associated with the observatory," the center said. "We are working with STFC to define the time scale and the implementation details, and we are also looking at alternative modes of operation. We emphasize that no decision has yet been taken to close the facility."
(Hawaii can screw anybody who brings money to these isles because there will always be another coming right behind him ... NOT)
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The demand is there for locally grown food
Cyntia Oi peddles the bogus theory that there were 1M Hawaiians before contact and they were all fed using stone age ag techniques.
"If a million mouths could be fed back then, this points to a future where we can wean our reliance on food from the outside world," said Gon, who as senior scientist with The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii participated in the study.
DITTO from Mikulina: Clean power future needs people power (peddles energy independence)
And these are important because they have a model of 'sustainability" they want us to follow.... Cuba - Only Country With "Sustainable" Development
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ADV: Americans anticipating better times
Perhaps in the belief that the economy cannot get any worse than it has been, Americans are optimistic about the year ahead. That optimism, while a wish more than fact-based analysis, extends into the business sector and could be instrumental in the recovery of the economy, including Hawaii's tourism engine.
(After one year of Obamunism, the Obamabot Advertiser writes this. Yet they cannot grasp the implication of their own words.)
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