November 10, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

November 10, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:13 PM :: 5052 Views

AP: Akaka Bill “as good as dead”

Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka, for whom the legislation is named, said he will push to pass the bill during the Senate’s lame-duck session starting Monday, but the chamber also will be busy with tax cut extensions and a stop-gap spending measure to keep the government running.

“I think it’s as good as dead,” said outgoing U.S. Rep. Charles Djou, R-Hawai‘i, who supports the measure. “We had a situation where the president of the United States said he would sign the Akaka bill and the Democrats held overwhelming majorities in both chambers, and Sen. Akaka wasn’t able to get it through.”

If the bill fails, its downfall will be partially attributed to amendments proposed by Hawai‘i’s Democratic congressional delegation last December in response to requests by the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior.

One of the proposed changes would have immediately given the Native Hawaiian governing entity many of the rights that Native American tribal governments enjoy before negotiations with the federal government.

Lingle opposed the changes until Hawai‘i’s senators agreed in July to again modify the bill. The time lost between December and July damaged the measure’s opportunity for receiving Senate approval.

This AP article is a sanitized version of THIS: Inouye: “Odds of passing the Akaka Bill are bad”

Rohlfing: Leave Akaka Bill to Hawaii voters, not to the politicians in D.C.

Gay-Atheist lobby will control selection of Hanabusa’s replacement

Attention Democrats in “good standing”: Want to be in the Hawaii State Senate? Bring 30 copies of your resume to the Oahu County General Membership meeting (aka: the gay/atheist lobby) this Saturday, November 13, at Leihoku Elementary School in Waianae. Resumes of one to three candidates will be submitted to the governor. Hanabusa is on her way to Congress after defeating GOP’s Congressman Charles Djou.

Moves afoot to appoint Mr Kim Coco Iwamoto to new BoE

SHAPIRO: Barely a week after voters decided by a wide margin to abolish the elected Board of Education in favor of a panel appointed by the governor, some elected members are lobbying for appointment to the new board.

In the Legislature, which must set the appointment process, there's talk of allowing current elected members to be eligible without going through the usual screening process.

Hopefully, Gov.-elect Neil Abercrombie, who will ultimately name the new school board, will nip this godawful idea in the bud.

The vote of 57.4 percent to 42.6 percent in favor of an appointed Board of Education was an unequivocal repudiation of the work of the current board.

To give us the same old same-old in the face of a clear mandate for change would strip Abercrombie of his own credibility as the agent of change he presented himself to be.

(The transsexual is a lock. Neil can’t say no to the surgically altered man so many of his core campaign workers took time to assist.)

REALITY: The transsexual agenda for Hawaii schools

Legislative Democrats maneuver in secret to shape new BoE: How will they keep it under HST/HGEA control?

"Neil believes the responsibility of determining the process of appointing the BOE is left up to the state Legislature, and he will work with them and what they determine," said Laurie Au, spokeswoman for Abercrombie.

Legislators approved a bill earlier this year that would have set up an advisory council to select a limited number of Board of Education candidates for the governor's consideration. But it was vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle. She objected to the process as too restrictive, subject to manipulation by special interest and secretive because the council's meetings would not be open to public scrutiny.

"I propose that the next governor offer implementing legislation that ensures the Board of Education members are selected directly by the governor, allowing for a fair, open and accountable process that this critical task deserves," Lingle said.

The six members elected to the board on Tuesday and their colleagues are expected to serve until a new board is appointed, which is likely to take at least several months. Takumi said he hopes to get a bill passed early in the legislative session to expedite that shift.

"I don't believe the voters want us to wait until May, then the governor signs it and the committee meets and so on," he said. "I think they want us to move with all deliberate speed -- not be hasty, but not wait until eight or nine months from now."

Abercrombie has work cut out for him stamping out economy’s bright spots

Hawaii, like every other state, has been waiting to exhale ever since the financial system teetered on the brink and the economy plunged into a recession, an abyss out of which it's only begun to climb. And while the current economic outlook is not exactly rosy, prospects look far more promising here than in most other states.

The challenge for the islands and their leaders will be taking encouragement from these signs without taking their eye off the bottom line: The need for fairly austere budgeting practices will be with us for a while, given that Hawaii's tourism-based economy depends on things improving elsewhere in the country as well.

The reason why economists are at least breathing a little easier is that they like the look of three graphs showing different views of the state's rebound. The graph depicting the overall economy shows Hawaii starting a gradual climb from a steep decline

(Don’t worry. Abercrombie will kill this recovery just like Cayetano did.)

APEC 2011: Hawaii must get down to business

Hawaii RNC members continue to back Steele

Miriam Hellreich on Tuesday said she is a strong backer of Steele and hopes he will seek re-election in January. She says he played a major role in the GOP's success in last week's election.

Committeeman Brennon Morioka also says he supports Steele.

The other Hawaii representative on the RNC, state GOP chairman Jonah Kaauwai, did not respond to a request for comment.

(And the liberal media is waiting with bated breath, hoping against hope that the GOP will dump Steele. Ain’t gonna happen.)

Colliers: Honolulu has highest industrial rents in North America

And by limiting the amount of land that is available for development, the land trusts and their environmentalist servants are doing everything they can to keep it this way. $$$$$$$

Honolulu Mayor Expects $100M Budget Shortfall: Carlisle Plans To Drastically Reduce Construction Budget

The mayor said the budget will be reduced in all kinds of ways.

"Careful review of overtime. Careful review of new hires. Freezing of new hires to the extent possible. All of those things. Hiring at the bottom rather from the top, making savings that way. All of those things and finding efficiencies and seeing if there's waste," Carlisle said.

The city's construction budget – officially known as the capital improvement budget -- funds everything from improvements at city parks to fixing leaks at police headquarters. Carlisle wants to reduce that budget by 55 percent from this year, down to $125 million, at the advice of budget planners….

The $103 million shortfall estimate does not include any increase in pay and benefits for four public worker unions whose contracts expire next summer. The shortfall could grow if the legislature reduces the counties' share of the hotel room tax, which lawmakers considered but eventually rejected during the 2010 legislative session.

After losing election, Tavares’ minions decide to lessen their oppression of small business signage

WAILUKU - Even after being threatened with a county citation, Maui Coffee Roasters owner Nicky "Beans" Matichyn refused to remove a window painting that announced what he was selling in his store.

"For me to put up 'coffee' was logical," Matichyn said as he recalled a county inspector telling him to take the word "coffee" off his store window this past summer. He never did, and now that the Maui County Council has approved changes to the commercial signs ordinance, it appears that Matichyn's window may remain….

OHA stalling request to cough up employee salary list, claims not to be public agency

OHA had stalled Civil Beat's public records request for the names, salaries and positions of its employees. The agency basically claimed its employees were not "public employees" because the bulk of its revenue comes from ceded lands, which it says are not "public funds."

Kauai Community calls for drug treatment center

Barry Deblake, a Kaua‘i Police officer, said every person on this island is fighting a war on drugs. “Why don’t you want it?” Deblake asked of a substance abuse treatment facility. “You allow the dealers to live in your community, but not the victims trying to recover?” (This is the exact question which should be posed to OHA.)

REALITY: OHA driving Hawaiians out of Hawaii

Prosecutor Tries To Block Killer's Hawaii Move: Kaneshiro Says State Missed Required Steps

Kaneshiro is also concerned that Boulay killed a university coed, and his wife is employed by the university.

“I am concerned about the safety of the students at the University of Hawaii, but overall I am concerned about the safety of the citizens that we have a convicted murderer coming here and we need to know what plan of supervision there is,” Kaneshiro said.

Hawaii Paroling Authority Executive Director Max Otani said he had not had time to review Kaneshiro’s letter Tuesday.

KITV attempted to reach Boulay's wife by phone and e-mail Monday and Tuesday. She has not responded.

International Transformation meet in Honolulu

JOIN Ed Silvoso and an amazing faculty of transformational practitioners….

Maui Victims of Sovereignty Mortgage Scammers may lose home

Special Election: Former Rep. Bob McDermott to seek Todd Apo’s Honolulu Council seat

Maui TEA Party to gather Veterans Day