SCR179 and SR149: LGBTQ Commission to Rewrite Entire Hawaii Legal Code with "Gender Neutral Language"
The New Tax Cuts Website
HB371: Covering Up Pay-To-Play Politics
CB: … The most anticipated political accountability bill of the session passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this past week. That would be House Bill 371, the measure that would ban the owners, officers and close family members of government contractors and organizations that receive state grants in aid from donating to political campaigns.
But a disturbing provision was slipped in by Judiciary Chair Karl Rhoads with no public discussion. And it is wording that would make key information submitted to the state Campaign Spending Commission off-limits to the public.
In the bill passed by the House, state and county agencies would be required to send a list of contractors, grantees and the people connected to them to the state Campaign Spending Commission. Not only would the commission then be able to easily check those names against the names of donors but the public could do the same, and alert the commission to potential violators.
“The commission shall periodically publish the names of the state and county contractors and grantees, and their officers and adult immediate family members, on its website, as reported by the state and county agencies,” according to the House version.
The new version, as passed by the Senate committee on Tuesday: “The state or county office shall make the reported information available electronically to the commission, which shall then make the information available to candidate and noncandidate committees on a password-protected section of the commission’s website; provided that the state or county office shall not be required to make the reported information available for procurements of less than $100,000 for goods or services or $250,000 for construction. (That’s The Blog’s emphasis in bold.)….
Just to remind everyone, this is a measure that has been introduced and killed year after year. It came up again in 2023 as part of the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct’s recommendations and again a year later in 2024. It still failed…
read … The Sunshine Blog: Covering Up Pay-To-Play Politics - Honolulu Civil Beat
10 Things You Might Not Know About Hawaiʻi’s 2024 Election
CB: … Who raised the most money? Who spent the most per vote? The Campaign Spending Commission has answers….
read … 10 Things You Might Not Know About Hawaiʻi’s 2024 Election - Honolulu Civil Beat
DSA-Connection? Green Card Holder to be Deported?
HNN: … Lewelyn Dixon emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii 50 years ago. She graduated from Farrington High School and has been working as a lab technician at the University of Washington.
Dixon was returning home to Seattle from a family trip to the Philippines.
“She was there for like a couple of weeks. And then she returned on Feb. 28. And she was stuck in customs,” said her niece, Emily Cristobal.
“We got the news, I think it was March 2, that she got taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and then detained in the Northwestern detainment facility,” she said. “We haven’t officially been told why she’s being held. They just keep saying that they’re waiting for documents.”
Cristobal is also the office manager for (pro-Hamas DSA-er) state Rep. Tina Grandinetti ….
BACKGROUND:
read … Immigration crackdown now hitting green card holders
COVID Vigilante now Promotes ‘Brain Health’ Remedies for ‘Long COVID’
SA: … Long COVID sufferer Angela Keen has finally begun to heal but occasionally still needs brain treatments to combat lingering symptoms.
Keen, 56, works as director of provider relations and marketing/communications for Hawaii Brain Health and also volunteers at The Queen’s Medical Center’s Long-COVID Clinic to help others who are undergoing this longest of journeys.
Keen, one of the first people in Hawaii to get COVID-19 and a driving force in the controversial Kapu Quarantine Breakers (vigilante) group, said COVID-19 remains a polarizing issue, even in Hawaii’s mostly “blue state” community. She said she has been bullied by people who do not recognize COVID-19 as an illness, even though Hawaii’s death toll from the disease topped 2,000 people.
“That’s why I believe it’s so important to share our stories,” she said. “People need to know that they are not alone.”
Keen said she tried many different COVID-19 medical treatments, but it took brain therapy to rid her of the worst of her symptoms, which ranged from trouble breathing, brain fog and fatigue to severe depression and suicidal thoughts.
She also found purpose in Kapu Quarantine Breakers, which sought to bring awareness to those who were not following COVID-19-related quarantines, mask mandates or bans on large gatherings….
HNN: UH doctors search for long covid study participants
read … COVID changes still disrupt lives across Hawaii | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
County Council passes pilot program to allow mobile vendors along a stretch of highway in Kona
BIN: … The Hawaiʻi County Council on Wednesday voted for a pilot program that would authorize special activity permits for commercial vendors on the ocean side of Ane Keohokālole Highway in Kailua-Kona.
Council Chair Holeka Inaba introduced the measure that changes the permitting to allow small, mobile businesses to apply to operate within a 200-yard stretch between the West Hawaiʻi Civic Center and Allied Quarry Access Road.
Inaba said commercial activity already is occurring on the side of the highway and on several other roadways in Kailua-Kona. He said they have no legal places along roads in the county for mobile vendors to do business….
read … County Council passes pilot program to allow mobile vendors along a stretch of highway in Kona : Big Island Now
Camera system warning phase for speeders in urban Honolulu starts Monday
SA: … The state Department of Transportation will begin issuing warnings Monday for speeding violations detected by newly implemented safety camera systems. The cameras, installed at 10 urban Honolulu intersections where red-light cameras are already operational, will begin citing speeding motorists in September or October, according to DOT Director Ed Sniffen.
Cameras have been issuing citations for red-light violations since November 2022. DOT data indicates a 69% reduction in major crashes at intersections where the red-light cameras were activated. The new speed enforcement program is expected to further improve safety and encourage compliance with posted speed limits .…
read … Camera system warning phase for speeders in urban Honolulu starts Monday
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