LINK>>>UH Manoa activist sold Hawaii controversial Student Loan Bonds
State Elections Officials 'Unable' To Release Voter Names
In regular primary and general elections with walk-in voting at polling places, campaigns routinely send volunteers to polling places who read polling books all day long, to see who has voted. They then relay the information back to their campaign offices, so the campaigns stop calling their likely supporters who've already cast ballots….
"It doesn't have the capability of providing real-time reports on who did and who didn't vote," said Rex Quidilla, who heads the voter services section of the state’s office of elections. “It may not be convenient for the campaigns, but we need to count the ballots accurately and that’s our priority.”
"I think that's unfortunate,” Nonaka said. “I think giving us this information would help us increase voter turnout and increase voter participation, which is an important thing. I think that should be a mission of the office of elections."
RELATED: Hawaii Chief Elections Officer: “Is it my job to get people to turn out and vote?”
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Lingle says she will confer with both sides on civil unions
Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona issued a statement shortly after the bill passed, saying he is opposed to the civil unions bill and the measure should not become law.
House Bill 444 allows any two unrelated adults to establish a civil union with all the rights, responsibilities and duties of a married couple, but specifically says the couple are not considered married.
Lingle said she would think carefully about Aiona's opinions.
"His opinion is always important to me. I value it in all issues, especially issues that are controversial. I think he is a clear thinker," Lingle said.
She noted that Aiona, a strong Catholic, has both a religious and a broad community viewpoint.
"He obviously has a very strong faith and he has a religious point of view on this, but he also has a community point of view," said Lingle. "He is a person whose opinion I value a lot."
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Hanabusa to Obama: I won’t quit
“Colleen Hanabusa’s press conference today reaffirms the reason I decided to run for this seat - politics as usual in Washington DC is fatally flawed. The mainland party bosses have been trying to push Colleen out of the race because they are worried two voices exposing Ed Case’s record is a recipe for disaster for the Democrats. I welcome all candidates in this special election - the more choices for the people in our election the healthier it is for our democracy. I will continue talking with voters about fiscal responsibility, accountability, lower taxes and job creation as these are the issues voters care deeply about in this election.” –Charles Djou
KHON: Colleen Hanabusa won't back out of race for congress
(As the votes roll in, Democrats are still arguing about who should drop out. Impressive.)
"I don't know how else to respond but to just say this: I'm in this race until the end, and i'm in this race to win," says Sen. Colleen Hanabusa.
Senator Dan Inouye told KHON2: "I want Ms. Hanabusa to win. We need her fighting for Hawaii in Congress."
This after months of behind-the-scenes maneuvers by national democrats trying to sway him and other influential Hanabusa supporters to get behind the candidate they think is more electable instead.
It's a message Hanabusa says the party never delivered directly to her, nor was a poll and memo the DNC and white house circulated earlier this week stating only case had a shot against Djou.
"I wish they would discuss it with me or would've told me first. i wonder why they would release it to all of you and not release it to me."
"I'm not sure what motivates them other than maybe a seat, just having another seat, so for me, i think the one thing it will backfire on is i am no longer the great insider as they accuse me of doing." …
According to the office of elections, fewer than one fifth of the ballots have been sent back in by voters. Just 60,000 so far out of the 317,000 issued. So it's still anyone's race. The due date is May 22nd.
SB: “My nephew Ed Case is the best choice”
We are sure that SB editorial board member Dan H Case gave serious consideration to all the candidates who were not nephews of his. Mr. Case certainly wouldn’t use his position to give a boost to his nephew Ed, just like he didn’t use his position to help his son AOL/Time/Warner boss Steve Case buy Grove Farm. After all, Steve Case didn’t use his influence over Time Magazine to assist his cousin Ed Case in 2006. Really.
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Case closed
Independent Women’s Voice, a national conservative group that backs limited government, free markets, and personal responsibility, has made a significant campaign advertising buy in Hawaii targeting former congressman Ed Case in the special election for Congress.
The ad buy -- well into the six figures -- portrays Case as a “tax raising liberal” who claims to be a moderate.
VIDEO: http://thecaseisclosed.com/ (Watch ad)
TEXT: http://thenotebook.honadvblogs.com/files/2010/05/ad-text.JPG
MORE: http://iwvoice.org/
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Honolulu may have violated law in awarding of Rail design contracts (Neil vs Mufi in court)
The complaint of suspected city procurement violations was filed about two weeks ago with the state attorney general's office and the U.S. attorney's office by a local attorney, John McLaren, on behalf of former Gov. Ben Cayetano and other, unidentified, people. (Abercrombie Campaign at work.)
The audit said that two unidentified contractors were reluctant to bid on projects because of the city's relationship with Parsons Brinckerhoff.
"Perceptions of contractor favoritism persist among the public and for some within the engineering industry, due to the award of two contracts to PB Americas, a firm that has been awarded city projects for several decades," the audit said. "This perception was further reinforced by the project management support consultant award to former PB Americas employees who comprise InfraConsult."
PDF: Complaint filed by attorney John McLaren
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Union Shills Appear in Court
HONOLULU -- Twenty people who were either cited or arrested during a protest at the governor's office are now going through the justice system. Some were in court on Wednesday.
They protesters are part of the group Save our Schools, (and they are very pleased at the opportunity to continue their little agit-prop show on behalf of HSTA.)
SB: Arraignment for 7 Hawaii sit-in protesters over teacher furloughs delayed
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Override vote ends plan to close welfare offices
The plan was intended to save the state about $8 million, but lawmakers opposed to the idea said it would have reduced access to food stamps, cash assistance and medical benefits cost HGEA make-work jobs.
The law's requirement for public hearings, rule making and union consultation effectively killed the proposal, Koller said.
"It's a very sad thing that we lost this opportunity, that we were just flat-out stopped by the Legislature from doing what's really best for our consumers," Koller said.
Nearly everyone in the community HGEA was opposed to the welfare consolidation idea, said House Human Services Chairman John Mizuno. About 7,100 employees (HGEA members) and welfare recipients (sign or don’t get your check) signed a petition opposing Koller, he added.
ADV: Backlogs for aid may grow 'We're definitely in trouble,' says DHS chief as revamping plan dies
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Careful about who 'vexatious' requesters are
We need to watch carefully that this new law is not used as an excuse to refuse or delay legitimate requests for public information.
And don’t kid yourself. There are people in government who would be more than pleased to do just that.
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Kokubun could be in line for Senate presidency
All the more reason to throw him out of office.
RELATED: Legislators ranked by Small Business Hawaii
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Hawaii County: Kenoi proposes tax hikes to feed HGEA, UPW
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Ethics bill moves forward
The Finance Committee, by a 5-4 vote, advanced Mayor Billy Kenoi's ethics proposal to an upcoming County Council meeting.
The measure bans county employees from holding government contracts. It also prohibits employees from representing others before county agencies, an attempt to curtail a perception of cronyism and a "who you know" mentality that has persisted in this small county for decades.
Proponents were South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford, Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann, Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong and Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole-Beason.
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L.A. orders 439 medical marijuana dispensaries to close
Los Angeles city prosecutors began notifying 439 medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday that they must shut down by June 7, when the city's ordinance to regulate the stores takes effect. It's the first step in what could be a lengthy and expensive legal battle to regain control over pot sales….
Los Angeles became the epicenter of the state's dispensary boom last year, following the Obama administration's announcement that it would not prosecute medical marijuana stores that adhered to state law. Although the city had a moratorium on new dispensaries, it failed to enforce the ban and hundreds opened with no oversight, triggering complaints from neighborhood activists.
(Obama knows marijuana makes the people passive-aggressive; On one hand docile and compliant, while on the other leaving them paranoid and subject to manipulation by demagogues.)
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Black Hopefuls Pick This Year in G.O.P. Races
Among the many reverberations of President Obama’s election, here is one he probably never anticipated: at least 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans, the biggest surge since Reconstruction, according to party officials. …
(Ahem…Some people anticipated this….December, 2008: How the GOP Can Court Black Voters)
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Hawaii tot's killer gets life term for throwing child off overpass
No members of the dead child's family testified at yesterday's sentencing hearing.
"It doesn't surprise me that they're not here," Carlisle said.
"In terms of the surrounding members of the family of this child, for all intents and purposes they were always more with crystal meth than they were with the kid," said the prosecutor.
(And Cyrus Belt’s grandfather, Philip Asiata’s lifestyle was paid for by, among other things, Act 221 tax credits.)
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