Flashback: Neil Abercrombie rejects Investigation of Pay-to-Play Earmark Schemes
HCF: Blank votes beat all BoE Candidates
Djou: HR2378 will hurt Chinese tourism in Hawaii
Source: Kiewit set to sock City with major change order on rail project
43% of school board votes left blank on Oahu
Big reforms planned for Hawaii public schools and lingering anger over teacher furloughs weren't enough to boost low voter participation in Board of Education races.
In fact, the opposite occurred.
Nearly 43 percent of ballots for three Oahu at-large seats on the board were left blank in the primary election Sept. 18, up from 24 percent in the 2008 primaries.
And more than half of neighbor island voters didn't weigh in on the race for one Maui board seat.
By comparison, 1 percent to 6 percent of ballots were left blank in high-profile races.
RELATED: HCF: Blank votes beat all BoE Candidates
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KITV’s Denby Fawcett launches attack on Aiona
Fawcett was a key player in the “Abercrombie is an Episcopalian” scam. Now this “unbiased reporter” is trying to make Duke Aiona’s preference for nasal mist flu vaccinations into some kind of scandal.
Chiming in, Democrat Ian Lind immediately comes out with this: “Duke Aiona is still not convinced that vaccines are beneficial?? Or perhaps he doesn’t believe in science?”
SA: Aiona promotes flu shot but doesn't get it himself
Here’s what KITV’s Fawcett reports: “‘We have it in the form of a shot and the form of a nasal mist. Those of you who are like me and are sissies, and don't like shots, we have it in nasal form,’ said Aiona.”
The Fawcett/ILind hit is designed to play to the fears and prejudices of the “enlightened, conscious, and progressive” crowd. These are an easily manipulated group of people because, without any sense of irony, they see themselves as the defenders of reason against the ignorant superstitious hordes.
RELATED: Confirmed: Neil Abercrombie does not claim to be Episcopalian
RELATED: Star-Advertiser & Abercrombie sing duet on Religion: Only we the elite may draw lines between right and wrong
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Democrat Shapiro calls latest RGA Aiona ad “a test fart”
Very mild as far as negative ads go, and a clear sign of the sensitivity to negative advertising in the race after the huge backfire of Mufi Hannemann’s “Compare and Decide” in the primary.
It reminds me of advice in the book “Etiquette for Outlaws” on what to do if you feel a bout of flatulence coming on while at a party. The advice is to find somewhere semi-private to cut a test fart, see how bad it smells and gauge from that if it’s safe to let loose back in mixed company.
This ad was the political equivalent of a test fart to see how much negativity the electorate will tolerate, and it’ll be ramped up until blowback is encountered.
(They are hoping the RGA will copy Hannemann’s failed strategy. Keep dreaming.)
RELATED: VIDEO: Abercrombie voted for bonuses for Wall Street Execs
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Piltz says views in line with Arakawa, supports candidate
Piltz said Wednesday that he met with Arakawa and Tavares after the primary to discuss his views and found his priorities aligned more with Arakawa. He said creating jobs, streamlining the county's permitting process and developing water resources were issues he felt Arakawa would focus on.
"I presented the same thing to Charmaine and, well, the answer I got from Alan was more to what I'd like to do," Piltz said. "It wasn't like I needed to be in any of the administrations. It would help if I was,but if they were able to address (those issues) with the people they already had, that would be fine."
Piltz confirmed that he and Arakawa had discussed the possibility of a position in his administration if elected, including planning director.
RELATED: Randy Piltz Endorses Alan Arakawa for Mayor
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HGEA to demand legislature make salaries secret
The head of Hawaii's largest union says he will seek to alter the state open records law in the coming legislative session to limit access to information about public employee salaries.
Randy Perreira, executive director of the 43,000 member Hawaii Government Employees Association, told Civil Beat Wednesday that he has two main concerns about the publication of salaries by Civil Beat:
- The names and salaries of law enforcement employees.
- The exact salaries of any employee whose salary doesn't come from the general fund.
(It is more likely he is concerned that once HGEA members know the union hasn’t done squat for their pay rates, that an insurgency will emerge challenging Perreira and his cronies for the top jobs.)
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CB Opinion: Honolulu Should Not Start Rail Construction Until Engineering is Complete and Final Cost is Known
The city is saying it wants to start building rail immediately after the governor signs off on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recognizes this event by issuing a Record of Decision.
Is this a good idea?
RELATED: Source: Kiewit set to sock City with major change order on rail project, City’s Budget Director Leaving His Post
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Hirono, Djou split votes on spending measure
Obviously we’ve got to dump Hirono to unify the delegation.
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Democrat Borreca uses Rolfing book to bash Christians
With a pedigree rich enough to define the "haole in Hawaii" cliche, Fred Rohlfing should have been the mold used by the Republican Party to cast all its politicians…..
Discussing the fate of the local GOP, Rohlfing notes that, in the past, "Republicans have projected a lot of negative images; Democrats have taken advantage of the Republican Party's extreme expressions -- e.g., the 'Religious Right' and other boomlets by overly vocal conservatives."
Rohlfing's own politics were conservative on fiscal issues, but liberal on matters such as land reform.
"I was an activist when it came to the employment of government power to solve problems that free enterprise or ordinary citizens could or would not solve," Rohlfing said in a reflection that will make tea party activists' toes curl.
When Rohlfing ran for Congress in 1976, it was in a decidedly less politically divided Hawaii. Rohlfing, the Republican, won all the union endorsements, except for one, when he ran against Democrat Cec Heftel.
"I was an unabashed supporter of 'liberal' positions on leasehold land reform, state land management, affordable housing, mass transit and procedural reform," Rohlfing writes.
RELATED: Fred Rohlfing’s Island Son Presents an Alternative View of Hawaii Politics
When Cayetano wrote a book, here’s a story Borreca etal just happened to …uh…miss: Cayetano: Hanabusa's Broken Trust connections lead to Ko Olina
(Lesson. Don’t let axe-grinding Democrat “reporters” tell you what a book is about.)
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Rep. Gene Ward Sponsors Debate on Constitutional Amendment: Elected vs. Appointed Board of Education?
- WHAT: Future of the Board of Education Townhall Forum
- WHERE: Haha‘ione Elementary School Cafeteria
- WHEN: Tuesday, October 5 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
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Kamehameha Schools is considering buying the city land currently sought for a hotel
Kamehameha Schools is evaluating whether to reacquire city-owned parcels in Haleiwa, part of the same property that D.G. "Andy" Anderson wants for a boutique hotel.
The city obtained four of the six parcels from Bishop Estate, now known as Kamehameha Schools, through condemnation in July 1970 to expand Haleiwa Beach Park. The expansion never occurred and the parcels remain undeveloped.
The city has asked Kamehameha Schools to indicate by today whether it is interested in purchasing the land.
SA Oi: Development foes find new cause to rally around
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Star-Advertiser still pushing global warming scam
…scientists aboard a ship returning yesterday from waters in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument said although bleaching seems to be occurring more frequently, they haven't noticed any mass bleaching so far this year in the region. (No bleaching! This is a problem. How can we blame global warming for no bleaching?!? But they have a solution…just talk past this “inconvenient” truth.)
But he said coral bleaching has become more frequent in recent years. (But not this year….)
"The fact that now we're seeing it as a common event (but not this year) is one of those early indications the ecosystems themselves are changing," he said. "The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are in this transition to some new state."
Scientists said the pristine waters in Papahanaumokuakea provide good conditions for researching the effects of global warming without human factors, such as pollution and tourism, intruding into a study.
"This is giving us a special opportunity to understand ... what are the impacts of climate change on reefs ... and what can we do to help coral reefs survive," said Heidi Schuttenberg, research coordinator for Papahanaumokuakea.
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Hawaii tops nation in millionaires per capita
About 6.9% of Hawaii's households are millionaires. The survey defines a millionaire household as one with $1 million or more in investable or liquid assets. It does not include retirement plans and real estate.
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