LINK>>>Green hypocrites: Case & Omidyar’s Maui Land & Pine tied to human trafficking case
LINK>>>Case “voted for the Bush tax cuts before he voted against them”
Congressional candidates tone it down in latest debate
Djou was questioned about his opposition to congressional earmarks, which bring millions of dollars in projects to the state. By turning down earmarks, Djou would be hurting the state, Kerr said.
Djou responded that by cleaning up the federal budget process and making it more transparent, money will continue to pour into the local economy.
"The majority of our earmarks come from the Department of Defense budget. You talk to most of the senior officials in the Department of Defense, they will tell you Hawai'i will score very favorably in a system where the entire budgeting process is done fairly, is done transparently, instead of done with backroom deals and political back-scratching," Djou said.
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Elections Officials To Test Ballot Counters
The test is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday in Room 329 of the state Capitol.
Officials say the purpose of the test is to ensure all hardware is working properly and to evaluate the accuracy of the ballot counting program.
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$425,000 gift saves state science fair
The flight to San Jose for 23 Hawaii students in an international competition in California yesterday turned into a celebration of a $425,000 gift that keeps the state science fair alive.
Lt. Gov. James R. "Duke" Aiona Jr. announced the funding for the fair and other Hawaii Academy of Science activities before the district and state Science and Engineering Fair winners boarded a plane yesterday for San Jose, Calif., headed for the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair.
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Hawaii 'surf reserves' bill hits sudden wipeout in Legislature
Rep. Gene Ward, R-17th, (Kalama Valley, Queen's Gate, Hawai'i Kai), then told Say that the bill to create new surfing reserves had gone through "hearing after hearing after hearing" only to be killed in the House.
"Why at the 11th hour are we doing this?" Ward asked. "It's unorthodox."
After being told he was out of order by Say for focusing on Hemmings — and not the issue of recommitting the bill — Ward responded, "Let's be real. This is the swan song for one of Hawai'i's best. I challenge you to say I'm out of order to speak for Fred Hemmings."
Say quickly complied.
"Representative, you are out of order," Say interrupted. "You are out of order."
PDF: Read Senate Bill 2646
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Meheula, Winer lawfirm scammed out of $300K
(OHA and the Akaka Gang are driving 1000s of young Hawaii residents out of the state every year. Here is the story of one attempted escape…and how he almost made the Akaka Gang pay for it.)
"Within thirty days of being hired he began a number of fraud schemes targeting the law firm," deputy prosecutor Christopher Van Marter said.
From 2007 to 2009 Salmingo worked for Winer, Meheula and Devens.
(Ahem…that’s Akaka Gang charter members Andy Winer and Bill Meheula. Andy Winer, now removed from these isles as an Obama appointee, managed Akaka’s 2006 campaign. Winer also stage managed the 2002 death of Patsy Mink. Bill Meheula, Akaka Bill propagandist and lawyer, wrote a key memo attacking Case in the 2006 campaign and has been an inside player in OHA entitlement politics for years.)
He's accused of forging company checks to pay personal debts, using the law firm's credit cards, and stealing from the petty cash fund to buy a BMW, computers, Ipods and electronics.
"Over the course of eighteen months he stole approximately $300,000 from the law firm," Van Marter said.
The U.S. Postal Service tracked him to New Jersey then New York. He was arrested Thursday in Manhattan.
SB: Suspected embezzler caught Salmingo is wanted in Hawaii on a $500,000 state court bench warrant.
KITV: Former Office Manager Arrested In Theft Case “The law firm, Winer, Meheula and Devens, said most of the losses were covered by insurance. (oh well) Its not clear whether Salmingo will fight extradition to Hawaii.”
Salmingo listed here: PBN People On the Move (scroll down to ‘elections’)
(He should, when he gets back here some politically connected—and normally soft-on-crime--old-boy judge is going to hang him from a lamppost. In NY or NJ Salmingo would likely get probation and community service.)
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Mililani Restaurant Owner Attacked: Suspect Accused Of Rape, Robbery, Assault (38 priors)
Honolulu police said her suspected attacker is Joseph Navas, 44. They said he grabbed the woman, took her jewelry as he held her down and punched her, knocking out her tooth, before sexually assaulting her….
"The cops came back and told him they caught him. He was still at the store right next door, standing with his knife in his hand, still had no clothes on," said Kelley Siuta, Fast Stop manager….
The woman, 47, was still hospital Friday night. Joseph Navas has 38 prior charges, including drug violations, according to court records. He's awaiting new charges of robbery, kidnapping, burglary and sexual assault.
(Bet Salmingo gets more time than this guy.)
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Maui officer surrenders on drug charges
Ryan Masada, 39, turned himself in Monday night to the Wailuku station for one count of third-degree promoting a dangerous drug and one count of prohibited acts related to drug paraphernalia, acting Sgt. Tanya Dods said in an e-mail.
An information charging arrest warrant was issued for Masada, and he was processed and posted $10,000 bail, Dods said.
He has been reassigned from the Wailuku Patrol Division to administrative duty.
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CT&T's Hawaii manufacturing plant could generate 400 jobs
Attention scammers and shake down artists….
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Is Alii Parkway project dead? No funds, more burial sites and little initiative point to yes
After spending nearly $7 million on studies over the last 40 years -- without turning so much as a spade of dirt -- has Hawaii County abandoned Alii Parkway?
A county official says no money is available for the road project, and without money, there is no project, and county efforts have been focused on other endeavors. A lineal descendent of the region holds to his position the preponderance of burials makes the road virtually impossible to design. A recent inadvertent burial report to the Hawaii Island Burial Council may decrease the project's chances significantly.
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30-meter telescope inching closer to reality
Gov. Linda Lingle accepted the University of Hawaii at Hilo's final environmental impact statement for the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope project.
The document was released Friday, noting a few remaining issues as the university moves toward signing a sublease with TMT officials for the $1 billion project. The university and state officials still need to determine how scientists and staff will access the site and complete a sublease between TMT officials and the university. Construction is expected to begin next year and take seven years to complete.
"There are two broad opinions concerning the project's potential impact on cultural practices and beliefs," the report said.
- "(One) that Hawaiian culture and astronomy can coexist on Mauna Kea and impacts can be -mitigated and
- (two) any development on Mauna Kea would result in a significant adverse impact that could not be mitigated."
Missing is the belief that the telescope itself is a positive impact. Debate is over how much to extract from the telescope project and those who claim that it cannot be mitigate exist to justify payoffs to those who believe it can.
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Residential tax rates rising: West Hawaii districts to be hit hardest
HILO -- North Kona and Kohala will be hit the hardest by Mayor Billy Kenoi's plans to hike property taxes on residential property not covered by homeowner's exemptions.
The County Council members representing those districts are mixed in their support for the plan that hits the wealthy the hardest while trying to spare working-class residents, union members and voters.
Kenoi is proposing tax rate hikes of 28.2 percent for buildings and 12.4 percent for land in the residential class that includes most of the county's second homes and part-time residents. That's an additional $2 in tax per $1,000 of value for the buildings and $1 for the land.
The category accounts for $62.1 million of Kenoi's proposed $376 million 2010-2011 budget.
A full 82 percent of the $5.6 billion in taxable value of that category is in the four council districts covering West Hawaii -- Ka'u, South Kona, North Kona and Kohala. That's up from 77 percent last year….
Hoffmann said he opposes any property tax hikes until the "sacred cows" are taken out of the budget. Among them, he said are funded vacant positions, overtime and other personnel costs.
Kenoi's budget unfunds 70 vacant positions, furloughs employees except those in public safety two unpaid days a month, freezes pay for managerial and appointed employees and cuts travel, conferences and vehicle expenses
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Kauai: Furloughs still on table
The final version of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s operating budget for fiscal year 2011, at $147 million, represents an increase of roughly $600,000 from the original one.
Bus drivers, trash collectors, water safety officers and police would be exempt from the furloughs….
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SB: Welfare services reform should still be pursued
State legislators rejected a promising streamline of welfare services statewide that would have saved $8 million a year, but the Lingle administration should not give up. Scaled-back legislation instead allows a pilot program on Oahu to go forward -- and the administration should find a way to do so, despite barriers….
However, Lillian Koller, Lingle's human services director, now says the new law's requirement for hearings, rule making and union consultation effectively killed the plans.
Lingle is right in attributing rejection of the streamlining to "the special interests of the public employee labor union."
The administration would serve the state's interest by going forward with hearings to put those facts on the public record. Slogging through the system is never easy, but vindication with success is a worthwhile goal.
(Plus, it would make a great Neil Abercrombie election circus.)
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About $10M in food stamp money goes unclaimed by needy
"There's a stigma attached. They think of it as welfare, especially the seniors. We're trying to get away from that,"
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800 more soldiers will serve in Iraq
The Army announced yesterday that about 800 soldiers from the headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division will deploy to Iraq this year, adding to a large Schofield Barracks involvement in what could be the last chapter for the U.S. in the seven-year-old war.
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