New National Democrat Poll Confirms 8-Point Lead For Djou
Obama to Inouye: Dump Hanabusa
Governor Lingle invites public comments on veto decisions
VIDEO SB2646: Hawaii surfing reserves killed by House Democrats
Debate Fact Check: Ed Case vs. Reality
Aiona calls on panel to approve Laupahoehoe Charter
Maui News polls gay civil unions >>> link
Star-Bulletin polls gay civil unions >>> link
Advertiser polls whether Case or Hanabusa should drop out of race >>> link
Lingle's job approval hits lowest level so far
Just 40 percent of voters interviewed said they approved of the job Lingle is doing with the challenges facing Hawai'i. Fifty-three percent disapprove, and 7 percent said they did not know….
Rebecca Ward, president of Ward Research, which conducted the poll for The Advertiser and Hawai'i News Now, said she believes teacher furloughs, and not the recession, drove the governor's job approval rating downward.
The poll was taken among 604 voters statewide between April 23 and April 28. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.
"I didn't think it would be this low. But I think this is fallout from the furlough Fridays and the teacher problems," Ward said. "I think the public is blaming her. Some blame her. Some blame the teachers union. But it's going to those two.
PRECISELY AS PREDICTED HERE: Furloughs vs. Layoffs: The union no-solution strategy
RELATED:
PDF: Details of governor’s race poll and Gov. Lingle poll
read more
Lingle's cuts kept in budget
Democrat Borreca writes: While Democrats contend they were able to amend the budget to save key state jobs and programs, the budget shows that $1.1 billion of the money needed to address the $1.2 billion shortfall comes from Lingle's cuts.
The biggest cut or savings comes from Lingle's insistence on furloughing state workers. That change in working conditions lessened the shortfall by $366.7 million.
The next-biggest change in the budget was adjusting state income tax refunds so that the state paid $275 million in refunds in the new fiscal year, starting in July.
(And the Democrat media is doing its best to keep driving Lingle’s poll number’s down, and Aiona’s with her.)
RELATED: Hannemann, Abercrombie split Hawaii voters, yet both lead Aiona
read more
Akaka Bill splits candidates
Djou said the bill should define native sovereignty only after talks have taken place with the state, and Case said the most recent version of the Akaka Bill leaves too much uncertainty in interpretation and the potential for litigation.
Hanabusa said the bill supports recognition similar to American Indians' and that there is enough case law to interpret the relationship between native Hawaiians and government entities.
(This is the first time in Hawaii history that the Akaka Bill has been openly debated as part of any serious electoral campaign at any level.)
read more
Strangelove Advertiser: Stop worrying and learn to love stimulus
That may be the case in other states, but in Hawai'i, the $1.2 billion economic footprint left by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the stimulus — is huge. A new report says the stimulus saved or created more than 5,500 jobs in the past six months. Add the multiplier — jobs supported by the spending of those employed directly — and the total more than triples, according to federal estimates.
(In other words, the Advertiser starts with Obama’s lies about non-existent “jobs” and then uses that to claim that Djou is wrong to oppose stimulus. Nice try, but the people are already voting.)
REALITY: The Fake Jobs of Obama’s Failed Stimulus
read more
Advertiser to Big Island: Drop Dead
The cancellation of the (JAL) Kona flight will probably mean about 70,000 fewer visitors to the Big Island from Japan….We hope no one spends a lot of time and money trying to coax United, Delta and All Nippon to provide new direct flights….
read more
Sierra Club Hawaii Issues Dual Hawaii Special Election Endorsement
After polling all of the candidates and extensive deliberations, the Sierra Club endorses both Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa as the two best candidates in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District special election.
read more
Kenoi says he has no interest in running for Lt. Gov: Has raised over $47K
Kenoi said he's heard the rumors -- perhaps bolstered by his fundraising -- that he plans to run for lieutenant governor later this year.
"I have absolutely no interest in pursuing any other public office," he said. "(I've) got a responsibility (here), and I'm committed to this island."
However, Kenoi went to Kauai in April to appear at a fundraiser for Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and billed the trip's $243 cost to his own campaign.
"We ran it through legal review," Kenoi said of using campaign money to lobby for a mayor from another jurisdiction. However, Kenoi said the trip also provided a "political benefit" to his campaign because he met with "mutual supporters and friends" while on Kauai.
That campaign expense is "something we absolutely would want to take a look at," Grant Tanimoto, an attorney for the state Campaign Spending Commission, said when told about the report item.
"On the surface, there's an issue there," he said.
RELATED: Malu Motta: “I need one governor so he can pardon me.”
read more
Hawaii Ranked 12th Worst In State Preschools
HONOLULU -- Hawaii is one of the 12 worst when it comes to state-funded preschool programs according to a report by the National Institute for Early Education Research. The reason why Hawaii is at the bottom of the list when it comes to preschool programs is simple. Hawaii has no state-funded programs. It's a distinction Hawaii shares with 11 other states.
read more
Honolulu daily papers now have one owner
Oahu Publications Inc., owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, completed its purchase of The Honolulu Advertiser from Gannett Co. Inc. on Monday.
The purchase includes the Advertiser’s website, its nondaily publications, 101 Things to Do Inc. and Gannett’s interest in Hawaii.com.
The merger is expected to result in mass layoffs.
read more
Kona police captain says charges unlikely: Fellow officer files complaint following DUI stop
Officer Richard Carter Jr. filed a criminal complaint with the department in March alleging Jelsma committed unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle when he reached into Carter's pickup truck, without permission, and unlocked the truck's door during a traffic stop around 12:23 a.m. Oct. 26 on Kilauea Avenue in Hilo.
Carter was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicant after refusing to undergo field sobriety and blood alcohol content tests, Jelsma said.
Carter said Tuesday afternoon that the charges were dropped. He declined further comment….
Area II Assistant Chief Henry Tavares said the department investigated the incident and forwarded possible charges against Jelsma to the Prosecutor's Office earlier this month.
After conferring with prosecutors, Jelsma said formal charges likely wouldn't be filed because he acted within department protocol. Iboshi said she was unable to comment on the case, but both Jelsma and Carter will be notified of the decision.
Carter, a 20-year veteran of the department….
(No this is not a made up story….)
read more
Man claims police illegally confiscated his pakalolo
The first hearing on the civil case is scheduled for May 19. Hara at that hearing will consider a motion to dismiss the case by Deputy Corporation Counsel Michael Udovic.
Ruggles is acting as his own attorney. The first complaint in the case, filed Oct. 8, was handwritten on lined notebook paper and he sought $1 million in damages. His April 8 amended complaint was typewritten and the price went up to $4.5 million. (That’s some typewriter, eh?)
"The complaint filed by plaintiff Michael Doyle Ruggles fails to follow the rules of pleading and is so vague and ambiguous that a responsive pleading can't be filed at this time," Udovic said in a court filing Thursday. (Of course that has absolutely nothing to do with the effects of smoking marijuana.)
read more
Maui Council defers plan to reduce tax exemption
Mayor Charmaine Tavares had proposed reducing the homeowner tax exemption from $300,000 to $200,000, to help cope with the county's revenue shortfall, although the change would not go into effect until 2012.
read more
Council to consider land fund, redistricting
Ford also brought an alternative amendment for another of the charter commission's recommendations, this one regarding council district reapportionment. She said the commission did a good job in its proposal in making requirements of the four criteria outlined in the county code: That no district shall be drawn to favor or penalize a person or political group, that districts shall be contiguous and compact, that district lines shall follow permanent features and that districts shall have about equal resident populations. Ford said she took the criteria further, to ensure that the differences in how many people each council member represents, known as the deviation in districting lingo, does not exceed the standards previously established by the U.S. Supreme Court. She also wanted to prevent "interested communities," such as subdivisions, from being divided during redistricting. That happened to Hawaiian Paradise Park and other subdivisions during the 2001 redistricting process, she said.
read more