Hawaii stakes high in all-mail House vote
(The Sunday before balloting begins, and this is the ONLY article or news story in any Hawaii media about the CD1 race. That is because Djou is leading in the latest poll and the media are all Democrat servants.)
Djou said his staff has some questions about the all-mail process that have not yet been answered by the elections office.
At this point, he said, "I don't know how concerned my campaign should be."
Most of the questions have to deal with security of the ballots and the integrity of an all-mail process. Djou said his camp wants to have a meeting to discuss issues such as who's in charge of the handling and inventory of the ballots, how and where they will be stored, and who will do the actual counting.
Rex Quidilla, the Office of Elections' voter services coordinator, said the all-mail election will incorporate security and monitoring features.
"Many of these safeguards and precautions are what we normally do for absentee mail ballots," he said.
Election staff were approached by Republican officials and "we've just not met with them yet," Quidilla said….
Djou said he believes a fair and impartial election can be achieved and that he supports an all-mail election.
"I'm fine with it as long my questions are answered," he said. "I want this to go smoothly and I think the example of the two previous (council mail-in) elections appeared to go very smoothly. But the stakes for this congressional election are so much higher. I mean, a couple of thousand votes can easily sway the difference here."
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Stretched schedule: DoE to be forced to provide 180 days (HSTA’s game busted)
Hawaii's students would be guaranteed a school year of 180 days under legislation headed for final votes this week, an effort aimed at preventing teacher furloughs from ever displacing children from classrooms again.
If passed, it would be the first time the state has made the length of the public school year a matter of law. Until now, the academic year has been set through bargaining with the Hawaii State Teachers Association. A spokesman said HSTA President Wil Okabe was not available for comment yesterday. In testimony, the union had raised concerns about collective bargaining rights and potential costs. (Lawsuit coming?)
Another public school parent, Olga Boric-Lubecke, who has been active in the union shill Save Our Schools group battling furloughs, welcomed the bill's movement but warned that it is too early to celebrate. "I think if it goes through, it's something that is very positive," Boric-Lubecke said. "My caution is that we're not quite there yet." (Because our objective is to elect Abercrombie, not to Save the Schools)
(In other words, having a minimum required school year prevents the BoE/DoE/HSTA from imposing furlough days as a means to hold students hostage to DoE’s demands for money.)
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Hawaii counties won't lose hotel-room tax share to state
All four mayors sat in a third-floor conference room at the state Capitol waiting with the public lobbyists, union officials, and ACT 221 scammers, for several hours while, in closed-door talks, budget negotiators determined they did not need to take any of the roughly $100 million in hotel-room tax revenue that counties share annually. (Great opportunity for Mufi to press the flesh and collect donations)
State lawmakers suggested on Thursday night that they might not need the money to close a $1.2 billion deficit (ie they back Mufi over Neil) through June 2011, but official word did not come Friday until after the midnight deadline to have bills ready for final votes next week had expired.
"My colleagues and I worked very hard to make a strong case about how important this was to the counties," Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said. "We balanced our budgets based on being able to keep the hotel-room tax, and we're just very grateful that many members of the Legislature saw it that way and were able to make us whole."
(Mufi has lined up the other three mayors to run his campaign on sister isles)
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Counties keep hotel room tax but the revenue chase goes on (TAX INCREASE)
Mayor Mufi Hannemann proposed an increase in the real property tax rate for so-called "non-homeowners," raising it 30 cents to $3.72 per $1,000 of property value, generating an estimated $18 million in revenue for the city.
Several Council members have expressed concern that the separate rate, which was targeted at speculators and investors,—could hit renters hard if those non-homeowners, many of them landlords, decide to pass along the cost.
"My sense of it is some of the members are still a bit unsettled over the (non-homeowner) tax rate," Garcia said yesterday. "I don't have five votes on that one. I need to chase $18 million."
He also noted that many landlords are local residents.
"That's a constituency too, and we're hearing from them," he said.
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Retaliation: Senate Democrats, Democrat media reject truth-teller as UH Regent
The state Senate last night voted to confirm two of Gov. Linda Lingle nominees to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents -- student Matthew Williams and current regent Chuck Gee -- but rejected Ronald Montgomery, a former Silicon Valley executive who lives on Maui.
Montgomery, an advocate for the failed Malulani hospital project on Maui, has also had some harsh accurate words for certain senators in the past.
Telling this truth will get you rejected for any appointed position: Senate Committee Chair's Logic to Reject Maui Hospital is Laughable at Best
What a bunch of cowards we have in the legislature. They revel in the culture of retaliation because it shields them from hearing the truth about themselves.
And Derrick “I am not a Democrat” DePledge? His headline "No", the absence of criticism, and his characterization of Montgomery’s words as “harsh” implies that he vicariously joins them in giving the imperial "thumbs down" to a truth-teller.
RELATED: Probe (Senators prepare 2011 retaliation committee against Lingle Appointees. Excuse? Frozen Student Loan securities.)
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The Democratic dilemma on gay unions
Supporters of civil unions for gay couples are again pressing for a vote in the Legislature this year, trying to persuade lawmakers that public opinion has changed since voters rejected same-sex marriage by 2 to 1 margin more than a decade ago.
The big question is whether it's public opinion that has significantly changed since 1998 or just Democratic Party politics….
Some Democratic lawmakers aren't so sure that public opinion has changed all that much since 1998, but at the same time there's a fear that didn't exist back then about crossing marriage-rights advocates in the party.
We'll get a reading on the state of public opinion on gay unions in the fall elections, with both sides vowing to make it a central issue in key legislative races no matter what happens with HB 444.
(Abercrombie=Gay Marriage – Aiona or Hannemann=No gay marriage)
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Hanabusa picks up Local 5 endorsement
Saying that Colleen Hanabusa "has been an effective ally of working families throughout our state," the executive board of Unite Here! Local 5 has endorsed the state Senate president in her bid for Congress.
(This is the same union which launched transsexual, Mr Kim Coco Iwamoto, onto the BoE.)
RELATED: Union man: Family values yes, Hanabusa no
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Police officer is arrested for drunken driving
A 53-year-old off duty police officer was arrested for drunken driving today after he struck a woman in a crosswalk at Aala and North Kukui streets in Chinatown, police said.
The accident occurred shortly before 7 a.m. and injured the 61-year-old woman's left arm, said Honolulu police Capt. Letha DeCaires. She was taken to the hospital in stable condition….
The arrested officer, who is a patrol officer in central Oahu, has been with the department for 23 years. He will not be able to drive because his license has been revoked, DeCaires said.
The department will determine how he may be sanctioned when he returns to work.
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Anti-'birther' exemption would imperil public access
The birther fringe questioning of President Barack Obama's natural citizenship is not going away, and the state Department of Health is tiring of the inquiries. But legislation allowing the department to ignore follow-up requests would only feed the fringe and dangerously chip away at Hawaii's Sunshine Law.
SB Oi: Arizona politicians join the 'birther' movement (Progressives desperately trying to find another reason to feel superior.)
REALITY: 9/11 Truthers Meet the Birth Certificate Brigade
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Atheist files Complaint filed over prayers at Honolulu City Council sessions: similar action planned against Senate
"We've had enough of Christians insulting citizens at public meetings," Kahle wrote in a recent e-mail to a Catholic priest who delivered one of the council messages.
RELATED: Mitchell Kahle added another scalp to his belt when restrictions on apparel and accessories depicting Satanism were yanked from Kaimuki High….
What's his goal?
"To be saved," he said.
And then, with a sly and unrepentant grin he added, "... from God's followers."
Of course, since Atheist regimes murdered over 100M people during the last century, it is they who we must be saved from.
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