Inouye: Senate Dems may not have time for Akaka Bill
"A project such as the Akaka Bill is going to take two or three days. The leadership might say, 'We don't have the time for that,'" said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
WSJ: The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy (No mention of Akaka Bill here.)
RELATED: Inouye pressures Akaka Tribe: Akaka pushes back, (UPDATE) Akaka Bill: More than 73% of Hawaiians not "Qualified" for membership in Akaka Tribe, Amended Akaka Bill: A Trojan horse for Tribal immunity?, Lingle announces terms of agreement on Akaka Bill
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Ilind: Mufi cronies control Honolulu Ethics commission
Honolulu Ethics Commission chairman Lex Smith resigned earlier this year because his increased involvement in Managing Director Kirk Caldwell’s mayoral campaign would have violated legal restrictions on political activity by commission members.
New members have now been appointed to the commission to fill Smith’s seat and other vacancies. Among the new members is Charles Gall, a partner in the law firm of Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda, the same firm where Smith is a partner.
While I have no doubt about Gall’s personal and professional qualifications to serve on the commission, there are obviously some concerns raised by this appointment.
As noted here earlier, the senior partner in the law firm has hosted fundraisers for Mayor Mufi Hannemann and for Caldwell, according to campaign records.
The firm is also a major recipient of city non-bid contracts for legal services. Earlier, I had identified some $1.5 million in fees going to Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda in recent years.
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Civil Union Support Could Affect Elections
The question now is what's next? Will lawmakers introduce a similar measure next session or will the issue surface on the ballot for voters to decide in 2012. The answers to all of those questions may not come until the primary and general elections are decided.
"For the 31 members that voted in favor of this or the 20 members that voted in opposition to this in the house, I think whether they come back will really be an indicator of the future viability of the bill," said Oshiro.
Many believe four house members will face serious opposition because of their support for civil unions including Rep. Oshiro who'll be challenged by councilman Gary Okino in the primary.
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Mufi quicker to comment on LeBron James than HB444
How long can Mufi dodge taking a position on HB444?
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Borreca: Majority rule is not always best for society
More gay marriage rhetoric based on the idea that changing the family into something it has never been is now a civil rights issue. This is easy for Borreca to write because the Star-Advertiser is a nest of ‘progressives’ who gathered around the newsroom TV impressing each other by snickering, gasping loudly, and making snide remarks as Lingle read her veto announcement.
More of the same from Cataluna: Politicians avoid controversy by handing choices to voters
More of the same from Oi: Gov. Lingle used marriage as red herring in civil-unions veto
REBUTTAL: A Veto from Hawaii: Marriage Debate Needs More Than Last-Minute Legislative Maneuvers
RELATED: White House silent on Mass. gay marriage ruling
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Federal Judge rules DOMA Unconstitutional (Gay Marriage to be exported across state lines)
The state had argued the law denied benefits such as Medicaid to gay married couples in Massachusetts, where same-sex unions have been legal since 2004.
Tauro agreed, and said the act forces Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens. The act "plainly encroaches" upon the right of the state to determine marriage, Tauro said in his ruling on a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Martha Coakley.
In a ruling in a separate case filed by Gays & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Tauro ruled the act violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"Congress undertook this classification for the one purpose that lies entirely outside of legislative bounds, to disadvantage a group of which it disapproves. And such a classification the Constitution clearly will not permit," Tauro wrote.
Gill v. OPM, 1:09-cv-10309-JLT, (D.Mass. July 8, 2010), at 38: http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/cases/2010-07-08-gill-district-court-decision.pdf
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Gay-Atheist Lobby: Trouble In Paradise?: Religious Right Organizes In An Unlikely Place – Hawaii
(The usual gay-atheist slanders followed by this… )
“Transformation Hawaii is developing the ability to mobilize large numbers of Hawaiian voters and, because Hawaii has historically had a low rate of voter turnout, the organization’s ongoing church-based voter registration drive has the potential to significantly impact upcoming elections such as the 2010 Hawaii gubernatorial race,” wrote Wilson.
We don’t know how all of this will shake out, but recent developments in Hawaii should serve as a lesson to all of us. There has been a lot of talk about the Religious Right being on the ropes. Many commentators in the media have speculated that the movement is taking a backseat to the insurgents of the TEA Party.
I’ve argued before that this assertion is short-sighted. No other right-wing movement has the money, leadership and institutional presence of the Religious Right. With the political situation of the nation in flux, Religious Right organizations could easily ride the coattails of a bevy of far-right candidate (sic) and come roaring back into power this fall.
The Religious Right remains a potent force in American political life.
(And the atheist lobby cannot figure out why churches are strong in Hawaii.)
RELATED:
Star-Bulletin comes out against voter registration drive
Hawaii evangelical churches plan election push
Churches Are Key to Creating Two-Party Political System for Hawaii (2007)
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McCully, Moiliili residents speak out about homeless problem
"Homelessness is a complex issue and we need to address the individual situations on a case by case basis. There is no band aid, no one solution fix all," said Honolulu City Council Member Director Department of Community Services Debbie Kim Morikawa. (A Mufi administration member.)
Lawmakers say a task force would help identify the core reason for homeless, and one designated park would help keep things centralized, but kicking the camps off the sidewalk isn't an immediate solution.
Now that problem has moved to the sidewalks, the city of Honolulu is looking into possibly passing a law that would regulate the sidewalks. But that is the very touch (sic) subject because sidewalks everywhere are public domain. (Yes and the public’s domain is violated by the individual who has taken over to camp there.)
(Kicking them off the sidewalks and out of the parks again and again IS at the core of the solution—which is forcing them into shelters. Unless the desire to live in sloth is repressed, the slothful will continue to live on your sidewalk. They must be forced into shelters by constant police enforcement.)
REALITY:
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Toughen safety penalties (Case family’s SA launches another attack on Darwin Ching)
The Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division fined each of the companies a piddling $750, AG Transport for failing to submit a written engineering risk survey and San Construction for failing to adequately oversee the project. State Labor Director Darwin Ching said the fines were based on state law, including the factor of the worker's "contributory negligence."
"Sometimes you can't prevent everything from happening," said Ching, who left office last month to run for city prosecutor.
Ching said companies that violate safety rules tend to lose out on bidding for future jobs. Meanwhile, AG Transport still faces state investigation for failure to seek licensing and faces a civil lawsuit by the Navarro family.
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Kamehameha admits another non-native Hawaiian student
Kamehameha Schools acknowledged admitting a third non-native Hawaiian student, according to a letter from the Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer posted on the school's website.
The student, who was not named, will attend classes this fall and was picked from a wait list of 45 students because there were spaces available, the letter said. The letter does not say what campus the non-Hawaiian student will attend. The private school has campuses at Kapalama, Maui and the Big Island.
"Non-Hawaiian applicants who meet our admissions criteria can be admitted if vacancies exist after the preference is applied," the letter said.
The school said there were five additional spaces in the 11th and 12th grades after all applicants in the waitpool were admitted, allowing five additional native Hawaiian applicants in the sophomore wait pool to be admitted on Maui.
(If this admission policy ever comes before the 9th Circuit court, it will be overturned. Hawaii needs vouchers or a private-school takeover of public schools as on Waianae coast to solve the admissions problem by expanding overall admissions rather than creating an Indian Tribe.)
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Ban on shark-finning brings Hawaii international notice
Ben Cayetano leads the pack as world-wide trendy progressives use Hawaii as a launching pad for their latest initiative. This example is repeated over and over again.
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Federal agency sides with environmentalists opposed to nuclear irradiator at airport
This technology has been used safely worldwide and all over the US for decades. Now Obama’s crackpot NRC comes to Hawaii to begin the process of stopping it.
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Lingle vetoes Democrat Boss’ biofuel financing plan: Calvin Say refuses to rescue Dante Carpenter’s $40M bond
The plan was championed by Dante Carpenter, former Hawaii County mayor and current chairman of the state Democratic Party. Carpenter is secretary of the board and registered agent for Carbon Bio-Engineers Inc., an Oahu company. (And Calvin Say did not see fit to call a special session to save Dante’s $40M handout)
"This bill is objectionable because the firm in question and members of its management have not satisfactorily resolved issues associated with the patent and licensing of a process developed by the University of Hawaii," Lingle, a Republican, said Tuesday in her veto message.
(Tee-hee. One Democrat doesn’t get his $40M sinecure.)
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Central Pacific Financial Signs Written Agreement With Regulators
The company stated that the terms of this Agreement are substantially similar to and will replace a memorandum of understanding that was entered into by the same parties on April 1, 2009.
Central Pacific also added that John Dean, recently appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of CPF and CPB, stated that he is planning to meet with potential investors together with a senior team he assembled.
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VIDEO REPORT: Aina Lea development in trouble?
The developers of the project have missed a March 31st deadline to build 16 affordable homes on the land, and the commission is waiting to see if developers can now meet a Nov. 17th deadline to have the entire project finished….West Hawaii Today reports that contractors working on the project say they haven’t been paid in months. The developers are $300,000 behind in some payments, according to the article.
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Trial for Suspected Pimp Continues Without Him
Joseph Vaimili was to have been tried in what prosecutors called one of Honolulu's higher-profile human trafficking cases. But on the day of opening arguments last month, Vaimili didn't show up. While the manhunt for him continues, so too can his trial.
A key witness is the 19-year-old, who states in police records she knew Vaimili as “Joe Blo,” but didn’t know he was a pimp when she began talking to him at Waikiki’s Zanzabar Night Club in February 2009. Shortly after their first conversation, she says Vaimili forced her to work “the track,” a prostitution route down Kuhio Avenue, and give him everything she earned.
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Corporation Faces Sex Discrimination Suit in Hawaii
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a sex discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday against the high-technology corporation ITT Corp. The commission is suing ITT Corp. on behalf of a woman employed as a firefighter at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai who claims to be the victim of repeated accounts of sexual harassment.
The commission states that male employees working at the missile range repeatedly made uninvited and explicitly sexual remarks to the female firefighter, as well as viewed obscene videos in her presence, reports the Associated Press.
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‘Exceptional’ Drought Worsens
On Thursday the weather service expanded exceptional drought conditions in Hawaii, known as D4, to include the southeast portion of the Big Island’s Kau District.
The South Kohala District has been under exceptional drought conditions the past four months.
“Certainly it's not getting better, it's growing in coverage,” Kodama said about the lack of rain.
Elsewhere, parts of Molokai, Maui and Oahu continue under ‘extreme’ drought conditions, or D3. All three islands have instituted voluntary or mandatory water restrictions in response to the dry conditions.
“We have the worst drought conditions in the country right now,” said Kodama.
HNN: Drought continues to worsen in Hawaii
SA: Drought not about to let up for islands' leeward regions
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House Finance Chair Weighs In On Frozen Funds
CB runs Marcus Oshiro’s riff on frozen Student Loan Bonds.
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