Huntsman Drops Out of GOP Presidential Race, Endorses Romney
Life-Changing Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Netra Halperin: Molester’s Former Underling Running for House, Demands Censorship
The Atheist Declaration of War on Hawaii Churches
Lingle looking for balance in Congressional delegation
HI24/7: She countered the arguments she is sure will be made by senior Sen. Daniel Inouye and President Barack Obama, both Democrats.
For example, Inouye will argue if the Republicans gain in the Senate, he will lose the powerful Appropriations Committee chairmanship.
Lingle said the Republicans could win majority in the Senate anyway, which would leave Hawaii without any representation.
“It would be worse to have no-one from the state in the majority party,” she said. “It’s best to have a foot in both camps.”
read … Lingle in Kona
Abercrombie’s $334M Power Grab
MN: Here we are two years into the Abercrombie administration and Hawaii's Democrats are blaming someone else yet again for something they alone are completely at fault. Especially now that their tax and spend budget failed last session.
Now they wish to spend an additional $334 million for another greedy power grab.
read … Abercrombie
Calvin Say: “No New Taxes”
CB: For the short-term, the Legislature must maintain stability with respect to the state budget. "Maintaining stability" means no new taxes that divert substantial new general revenues for the financial plan from private residents and businesses. "Maintaining stability" means no major general fund appropriation increase for the expansion of state programs.
read … Priorities for 2012
Jobs, Economy at Top of Fontaine’s Agenda
MN: South Maui Rep. George Fontaine, the Maui legislative delegation's only Republican, said his top priorities also include jobs and the economy.
"Government can assist by helping to create a healthy climate that allows businesses to invest," he said.
Fontaine and the Republican caucus are seeking a measure for the state to dedicate 3 percent of all state purchases, an estimated $33 million per year, to veteran-owned businesses in Hawaii.
"It is important to support the veterans in our state," he said. "They are willing to put their lives on the line in order to defend our nation, and this is something that we can do to show our appreciation for their service."
Fontaine said that he also thinks renewable energy will be pushed during this legislative session.
"Maui is at the forefront of renewable energy, with the Kaheawa Wind Farm a model for renewable energy," he said, adding that the smart grid project in South Maui is supported by Gov. Neil Abercrombie and "puts Hawaii on an international stage."
read … ‘Economic revitalization’ on the minds of lawmakers
Boylan: Ethnicity Would Finally Work to Cayetano’s Advantage
MW: Ethnicity also would favor Cayetano, for perhaps the first time in his political career. When Cayetano entered politics, Filipinos constituted the state’s fourth largest ethnic group; today, they make up its second. As a gubernatorial candidate, Cayetano ran poorly in haole neighborhoods. In 2012, the haoles of East Honolulu and Kailua will vote for the anti-rail candidate, no matter his ethnicity.
read … Cayetano
Star-Adv Suggests Way to Attack Sidewalk Storage Law
SA: Ideally, those affected by the dismantling of homeless camps would be directed to shelters where they can recuperate and receive help to achieve at least temporary housing, but that is not always easy.
After camping in front of Old Stadium Park for the past year and a half, having being evicted from an apartment, laid-off tour driver Van Apolo told the Star-Advertiser's Gregg K. Kakesako that he and his girlfriend are on a five-week waiting period for housing at the Next Step Shelter in Kakaako. Among other things, he must find a place to store his personal items.
Campers were given notices that their impounded property would be inventoried, with matching photos taken the previous day, put in gray garbage bins, taken to the city's Halawa base yard and be kept there until claimed.
However, a provision of the ordinance requires that the owner pay for "moving, storage and other related fees and costs" of their impounded property. The items are to be "disposed of" if not claimed within 30 days. Those items can be precious, sometimes needed for job interviews or medical care but difficult for a homeless person to carry around. (Which? The sex toys? The Booze? The little glass pipes?)
The threatened disposal of personal belongings is a questionable part of the ordinance. Programs in various mainland cities have recognized the importance of providing storage of the personal belongings of the homeless, even maintaining access, as they struggle to reenter society.
That provision might warrant a second look. (So the ACLU filed this editorial instead of filing a lawsuit.) Otherwise, the ordinance stands to be beneficial in keeping public spaces sanitary and clear — while nudging the homeless toward temporary shelters, transitional housing and help toward recovery.
Reality: City Brings Backhoe, Removes Homeless’ Trash, Sex Toys, Drug Paraphernalia from Sidewalks
read … Homelessness Industry Never Gives Up
Coffee: Decentralize DoE
MW: …our state was and continues to be plagued by some of the lowest math and reading scores in the nation, usually ending up in the lowest three or four. And this has gone on for years, at least all of the 37 years of my residency. Why?
Could it be because Hawaii is the only state in the union to have a single, consolidated school district with a single school board? At last count in 2010, Hawaii’s Department of Education, Board of Education and lone superintendent of schools oversee 283 separate schools, more than 13,000 teachers and 178,000 pupils annually.
Lingle’s plan would have decentralized the statewide DOE with seven separate departments and boards of education, one for each island county and four for the City and County of Honolulu.
read … Decentralize
Maui News: Who to Blame for RTTT Failure DoE/BoE/HSTA?
MN: Hawaii is at risk of losing nearly the entire $75 million federal education grant for "unsatisfactory" performance. Who's most to blame?
- The state Department of Education 21%
- The teachers union 21%
- The governor-appointed Board of Education 11%
- All to blame equally 40%
- Some other entity 3%
- None of the above 3%
read … survey
Hawaii Island Regional Science Olympiad
WHT: Pressure was something 17-year-old senior Makayla Awa thought about while preparing for the Hawaii Island Regional Science Olympiad at Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo.
Awa said she pressured herself because she wanted to do well at the weekend tournament of fields relating to science, technology, engineering and math -- STEM.
The project her team faced, to build a tower that would withstand pressure. Awa and her peers built and tested five prototype towers in Patti Stover's Konawaena High School classroom. They prepared for the weekend contest, but going in, she still was uncertain their tower would handle the required weight.
Konawaena High was one of 15 isle middle and high schools that competed in the tournament. The other West Hawaii participants were Ka'u High School and West Hawaii Explorations Public Charter School.
read … About something the DoE/BoE/HSTA didn’t help with at all
Police: Hawaii is Magnet for Sex Offenders
KHON: In July 2009, a Texas grand jury indicted Sanchez on two counts of indecency with a child. Officials say Sanchez left Texas and started a new life in Hawaii….
Authorities realized Sanchez was in the islands after he applied to be a volunteer at one of the correctional facilities.
"So they ran him on (the) National Criminal Database and he got a hit that he had two existing warrants." (Handy tip for wanted criminals: Don’t go looking to volunteer at the local prison.)
"It seems that a lot of the sex offenders that we apprehended in Hawaii, they feel that they can come to the islands. It's kind of off the grid of the main continental United States and (they) kind of just disappear.
Just last month, 46-year-old Diego Mata Sanchez of Costa Rica was caught in Honolulu, after being on the run for three years.
He was accused of molesting and raping a three-year-old girl in Costa Rica.
And, last July, 31-year-old Joseph Lee Guseman of Montana was caught on Maui, after being on the run for a month.
He was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Montana.
read … The Legislature is Hiring
Instead of Waiting for Government, Volunteers Clear Kailua Canal
KITV: The Kailua Canoe Club and the Enchanted Lake Association have been mangling the mangroves since April.
Rather than wait for government help and the invasive species to smother Kaelepulu Stream, the community has taken the project into its own hands.
"We all depend a lot on our governments to do services for us. But it's our own responsibility to take care of our environment that's around us," said Bob Bourke, mangrove project coordinator.
The groups received a $25,000 grant through NOAA to get the project started. And one weekend day every other week, the groups have gathered along Kaelepulu Stream to hack away at the mangroves, using equipment, barges and services donated by community businesses….
The Castle Foundation has promised the club $20,000 towards the purchase of a new canoe once the mangrove project is complete, Bourke said.
The groups are far ahead of schedule.
"This is the last big lot there is. So this is great. So from this point on, all we have to do is pull up little keiki mangroves as they sprout themselves up," Bourke said as he and his volunteers rode away with bundles of mangrove branches on several barges.
Read … Faster and Cheaper
Star-Adv Uses Waianae Church Volunteers to Boost Abercrombie’s Appointed State Rep
SA: (Appointed) State Rep. Jo Jordan (needs a boost from the Advertiser going into election season) plans to return to an oft-flooded section of Puhawai Road in Waianae this morning with more than 60 volunteers to cut back branches and clear debris from an area that will undergo millions of dollars of flood-prevention work over the next several years.
On Dec. 10 Jordan (D, Waianae-Makua) and 120 volunteers and state and city workers removed more than 7.5 tons of debris, garbage and metal from the area where dozens of homes were flooded in 2008 and 2010.
The volunteer work is one of several projects that will continue over the next several years, Jordan said Sunday, including plans to replace three drainage tubes beneath Puhawai Road with much larger culverts that also will increase the height of the road where it once sat underneath 10 feet of water in 2010.
KHON: Major improvements are coming to ease flooding on Waianae Coast
That’s funny, there is no mention of where the volunteers came from. Here’s a different take with no mention of Jo Jordan: Church Volunteers Clean Waianae Storm Channels in Advance of Rainy Season
read … Jo Jordan Election Advertisement
ILind Highlights Margaret Willie Campaign for Hawaii Co Council
ILind: Attorney, community activist, and blogger Margaret Wille is “moving towards” running for a seat on the Hawaii County Council. Wille, a Waimea resident, hopes to fill the District 9 seat being vacated by Councilman Pete Hoffmann, who can’t run again due to the council’s term limits.
I’ve been a fan of her blog, MargaretWille.com, for some time.
In a recent blog post, she announces her intent to run and lists a number of her accomplishments in recent years.
read … Progressive Favorite
Thieving Doper Ordered to Pay Restitution to Medical Dope Dealer
KGI: Probation will also include 300 hours of community service. Watanabe said the court was going along with the defendant’s own restitution plan.
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Vogt said the restitution amount of $3,150 was calculated by determining the average value of the stolen plants and adding that to the cost of other damages. According to Vogt, the plants were being grown for three clients with medical marijuana permits. (Oh, Ok. It’s medical, see. ‘Cuz we want to feel medicated.)
Attorney Dan Hempey was in court on another matter, and was asked to speak on behalf of the victim he represents. He said that restitution instead of incarceration is appropriate in addressing the hardship presented to the clients.
Deputy Public Defender Stephanie Sato said Candelaria had already registered and partially completed a court-approved substance abuse program prior to any recommendation from his attorney or the court.
Sato said Candelaria’s addiction began with opiate-based pain medication he took following an injury sustained in an automobile accident. She said he turned to marijuana to move away from the opiates which led to the break-in to steal the medical marijuana plants.
Read … Restitution
American Samoa governor on Hawaii visit
RNZ: The Governor of American Samoa Togiola Tulafono has headed to Hawaii to meet the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs Anthony Babauta and Director of the Office of Insular Affairs Nikolao Pula.
Governor Togiola will also travel to the Big Island for a meeting regarding Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and geothermal power development in Hilo.
read … Samoa
Can We Bring Back 'Hog Cheese'?
CB: I hear terms like “Keep Country Country” and I don’t know what it means. Is that why we use them? So that everyone can define according to themselves? The person who just retired from the mainland who purchased his retirement estate has a different definition than the man who inherited his home from his grandparents and who cared for it for over a hundred years and now has his property taxes increased because of the recent addition to the “Keep County Country” mantra and struggles to pay the taxes.
read … Hog Cheese