Akaka Bill?  Lawmakers focus on other pork first

Advertiser: As the new Congress gets under way, Hawai'i lawmakers are focusing on an economic stimulus plan as their immediate priority.  "I don't know that there is much beyond that right now," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i.

But the state's lawmakers in Washington have a wealth of other issues to pursue, including federal recognition of Native Hawaiians, early childhood education and aid for former prisoners of war who are disabled.

Sen. Dan Akaka, D-Hawai'i, also said passing an economic stimulus package and fiscal aid to states lead his priority list. Akaka also said he would push for a vote as soon as possible on a bill that creates a process for Native Hawaiian self-government and leads to federal recognition. "This may be a good time to bring it up again since the president-elect supports it," he said.  Akaka said he has talked with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., about moving the bill "but I don't have any indication from him yet on when it would be."

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Hawaii electricity as entitlement to get more expensive

Advertiser: For the lower-income families of Hawai'i, the state's "Clean Energy Initiative" agreement, signed in October, will bring good news long before major changes are made to the Hawaiian Electric Co. power grid. That's because part of the agreement is for the utility to produce a plan for a "lifeline" rate discount for these families. The plan will be presented by April to the state Public Utilities Commission.

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Go?  Mesa receives NASDAQ delist warning

Phoenix-based Mesa (Nasdaq: MESA) said it has been given 180 days, or until June 29, to regain compliance. Mesa will regain compliance if the bid price for its common stock closes at $1 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days. The company also announced late last week that it will release its fourth quarter and annual results on Tuesday.

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Shrinking Advertiser makes format changes

Jeanne Mariani-Belding, editor of The Advertiser’s editorial and opinion section, said in a column Sunday the Advertiser chose to cut its editorial page on Saturdays because of low readership of the newspaper that day. 

But who is going to peddle the latest socialist schemes???  And how are we going to get more transsexuals on the school board?  We need our Advertiser!

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