SB: Isle church honored by Obama's visit
From the Star Bulletin-- Young said he was not overly surprised or nervous, "just excited," when he first got a call from Borthwick Mortuary three weeks before the service was to be held.
It all made sense.
Young said Obama's book "Dreams from My Father" mentioned that he "went to Sunday school here when he was between 6 and 10, around that time."
When Young reminded Obama that he had attended Sunday school at First Unitarian, "his eyes lit up, and he said, 'Oh, that's right!'" No records can be found that Dunham was a member of the church, or of how regularly Obama attended, but Young said the Unitarian church is not renowned for its record-keeping.
So they weren't "non-practicing Baptists and Methodists?" and Why did Obama fail to mention this church in all of his books and speeches about faith?" How could Obama not remember where he went to Sunday School? But if Obama 'forgot" that he went to Sunday School at First Unitarian, and they weren't that good at record keeping, those would be a handy excuses for the omissions--if anybody was dumb enough to believe them. ... more to come on this ... But one thing is sure--Obama is going a long way out of his way to hide his Unitarian roots.
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HR: Jimmy Pflueger pleads ‘Not Guilty’
Flanked by his attorneys, retired auto dealer James Pflueger, 82, pled “not guilty” via video feed to Kauai’s Fifth Circuit Court to 7 counts of manslaughter and 1 count of reckless endangerment in the first degree, filed against him November 21, 2008, by the state of Hawaii over the March 14, 2006, breach of his Ka Loko Dam.
The breach on the North Shore of Kauai killed Alan Gareth Dingwall, Daniel Jay Arroyo, Rowan Grey Makana Fehring-Dingwall, Aurora Solveig Fehring, Christina Michelle McNees, Timothy Wendell Noonan, Jr. and Carl Wayne Rotstein and caused more than $100 million in property damage.
KGMB: Pflueger atty accuses state of withholding evidence--cites letter allowing state inspectors onto property
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HR: EPA denies Honolulu Wastewater Treatment Plants’ Exemptions
EPA has concluded that the discharges from the two plants do not meet the Clean Water Act’s conditions for renewed variances from requirements which apply to most of the nation’s municipal sewage treatment plants.... Neither of the plants’ discharges protect recreational use or marine life in the vicinity of the ocean outfalls.
LINK: Advertiser coverage
Jan 8:Sewage upgrade could be costly
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Workers will have to take a freeze but ...School board seeks more pay for chief
From Star Bulletin: Hawaii's top public school leader could earn more than $150,000 under a Board of Education proposal aimed at motivating educators to take leadership positions.
The school board is planning to ask the Legislature to remove the cap on the pay for Hawaii's schools superintendent as well as for the state librarian, whose salary is limited to $120,000.
In 2006 nearly one-third of Hawaii principals were receiving more money than their bosses at the district level under a 12-month contract implemented for principals a year earlier. Principals belong to the Hawaii Government Employees Association.
School Board Chairman Garrett Toguchi said he knew of at least one principal who took a pay cut to become a complex-area superintendent.
"I can tell you she (Hamamoto) has had a hard time filling ... positions for various reasons, and pay being one of them," he said.
(Why go for the big job when they can get their pension calculated on their 'top three years' as a Principal???)
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George W. Bush becomes the conservation president
And he's leaving, so the media can admit this to us now....
Yes, you read that right. A man whose administration doesn't exactly have a green seal of approval from environmentalists will grant monument status today to three vast and breathtaking areas teeming with marine life in the South Pacific. Combined with other designations over the past eight years, including the creation of a 138,000-square-mile marine national monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands two years ago, Mr. Bush has now protected more ocean habitat (333,000 square miles) than any of his predecessors.
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Advertiser: Army re-enlistments high
Hawai'i's Stryker brigade of about 4,300 soldiers is at almost 100 percent re-enlistment for two of its battalions in Iraq, with the other four at between 70 percent and 75 percent, said spokesman Maj. Al Hing.
Hing said re-enlistments are at record rates.
The brigade commander's goal was 80 percent before the unit returns to Hawai'i in February and March. Hing said there is a "very strong retention rate for the young company grade officers" at 94 percent.
Even as the huge re-enlistment bonuses of years past dwindle, soldiers and officers are finding reason to stay in — or return.
(And now--after 5 years of negative talk--the media can tell us this becuase Iraq will soon be Obama's war....)
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