Update: New Poll: Lingle 47% - Hirono 41%
Duke Aiona Urges Supporters to Participate in GOP Primary, Vote for Lingle
Lingle: Obama's STEM Education Plan 'in Sync' with Hawaii
IRS Backs Off, Grants Tax Free Status to Maui TEA Party
Full Text: Sierra Club Declines to Make Mayoral Endorsement
Takamine, Abercrombie Blame Romney(!) as Feds take over Hawaii workplace safety inspections
HNN: (Skip 5 paragraphs where they praise themselves and blame Lingle…) Starting next month, the feds will handle safety inspections in the hotel and restaurant industries in Hawaii, as well as at manufacturing plants.
The state's inspectors will continue to check on safety conditions at construction sites and in the transportation industry, such as the airlines….
While the state has filled most of those vacant safety inspector positions, it's still dealing with the learning curve for new inspectors, who can take two to three years to be fully trained.
"We have a lot of new employees. A lot of employees or staff who are inexperienced who need training just so that they can get up to speed in terms of effective enforcement," Takamine said. The feds have committed an unspecified amount of money and staffing to help the state improve its workplace inspection program. But Takamine admitted that could change if Republican Mitt Romney is elected president in November or if Congress cuts funding to the U.S. Labor Department. (Yup. They’re already blaming Romney and he hasn’t even been elected yet.)
(ANALYSIS: Abecrombie and Takamine are incompetent to harass business properly so they blame Lingle. Takamine even blames Romney for his future incompetence. Can federal inspectors be counted upon to deliver the 'right' kind of reports when a business fails to generate sufficient campaign contributions??? We're talking about the foundations of the system here and Abercrombie and Takamine have only excuses.)
SA: State job-safety regulation to be taken over by federal government
News Release: DLIR Fails, OSHA Takes Over
read … Takamine’s DLIR Can’t Handle It
Rail Propaganda Smackdown
HW: …Among the canned contracts was a $351,538 two-year contract with Carlson Communications, a company of pro-rail blogger Doug Carlson who pens [Yes2Rail.com]. Many have alleged that HART is funding a blog which is attempting to sway political opinion. Although Carlson repeatedly says in the blog that it’s “apolitical,” he also calls mayoral, anti-rail candidate Ben Cayetano’s Bus Rapid Transit plan a “scheme” just as many times. In fact, every post appears to be an anti-Cayetano effort. The Weekly reached Carlson–who is said to live in California–by phone for an explanation of what he has done for HART and reasons for the termination of his contract. “I’m sorry, I’m not commenting on it,” he said, and encouraged us to read his blog. This is still possible, because the contract with Carlson Communication is not set to be terminated until Aug, 15th–four days after the primary election, which may ultimately decide HART’s future funding fates. Several other, lower-dollar contracts will be terminated earlier on August 1st….
(HW’s publisher is Doug Carlson’s daughter Laurie Carlson. No leaks here. LOL!)
read … Smackdown
Survey: Honolulu Mayor’s Race to Shape Primary Electorate
PBN: Which race in the Aug. 11 Hawaii primary interests you the most?
Case v. Hirono for U.S. Senate 11%
Carlisle v. Caldwell v. Cayetano for Honolulu mayor 40%
Gabbard v. Hannemann for U.S. Representative District 21.5%
SA: Rail once again hogs the stage at forum for mayoral candidates
read … Top Primary
Hirono Skips Three U.S. House Votes, Blames ‘Republicans’
CB: “Because if Hawaii doesn’t like the partisan games being played nearly every day by the Republicans who control the U.S. House, then we certainly cannot afford to allow the Republican Party to win….”
· CB: Hirono Skips Three U.S. House Votes
· HR: Hirono Missing Votes to Campaign for U.S. Senate
· Related: Hawaii Congressional Delegation: How They Voted July 16, 2012
read … Hirono Skips Three U.S. House Votes
MoveOn: Leftist Whackjobs Endorse Hirono
HP: MoveOn.org, the group which created Occupy Wall Street has endorsed lazy Mazie …
read … Birds of a Feather
Business Leaders Tour Hawaii Raising Money for Lingle
SA: Castner and Darlene Miller, president and chief executive officer of Permac Industries, a Minnesota precision parts manufacturing company, have events for Lingle scheduled on Maui, Hawaii island and Kauai.
The U.S. Chamber has released poll results that show Lingle with a slight lead over Hirono in a potential November matchup.
“Her past record as governor of Hawaii really lends itself to her credibility, especially in creating jobs and bringing tourism back to Hawaii,” said Miller, who serves on the chamber’s board of directors.
read … Fundraising
Rats Migrate from Capitol, Infest Waikiki
SA: It's clearly a liability to the state's bedrock industry to allow this problem to fester unchecked. Nothing will wreck the Hawaii brand faster than mounting reports, disseminated through mass media, of rodents skittering along parks, hotels and restaurants.
The stories are already piling up. Spot checks with Waikiki residents by Star-Advertiser writer Dan Nakaso yielded observations by Keli‘i Mahoe, who put the estimated monthly count at 20 rats seen darting across the sidewalk where she walks her dog along the Ala Wai Canal. The situation has "definitely gotten worse" in the last 18 months that she's lived in Waikiki, Mahoe said.
Bob Iinuma, a resident visiting a Waikiki friend, said he's seen more rats by the Honolulu Zoo, and that they're getting bolder in their search for food. "By the zoo I've seen 15, 20 at one time," Iinuma said. Those are not pictures that fit neatly in a tourism marketing plan.
read … Legislative Session Ends
Do you think local politics are “corrupt”?
ILind: …politics are seen as corrupt because political processes gives some people–those with money, power, connections, experience, family ties, even professional expertise–more influence in shaping policy than your average concerned citizen or group of concerned citizens.
Lobbyists have an obvious edge because they know the legislative system and are in a position to take advantage of its quirks and foibles to advance their clients’ interests, both in the hallways of the capitol and also out in the political world, where they have the means to support the campaigns of legislators who share their viewpoints.
I don’t think those contributions buy votes. The political world is too complicated for that kind of simple exchange. They do, however, certainly increase access, directly or indirectly. More importantly, though, lobbyists or others who contribute are part of the scene, they make the rounds at fundraisers to see and be seen, they become familiar with legislators and staff, and their access grows over time accordingly.
While I understand the frustration of trying to affect legislation without being a capitol insider, I don’t think it’s helpful to view this essentially inequality of influence as corruption.
read … Do you think local politics are “corrupt”?
Thielen Raises Money from Family, Ryan from Labor
CB: Thielen, whose controversial run as a Democrat has caused an uproar within the Democratic Party of Hawaii, received the most contributions among the four District 25 state Senate candidates.
She raised just over $30,000 between Jan. 1 and June 30, according her campaign finance report.
The biggest contributions amounted to $4,000 each — it's the maximum allowed during an election cycle — and came from more than 25 people, some of them members of Thielen's immediate family. Records show that the candidate gave herself $4,000, too.
With total expenditures adding up to roughly $12,500, Thielen had more than $21,400 cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Ryan, the incumbent, raised about $28,500 in the first half of 2012. Most of it came from organized labor.
read … Who is the real Democrat?
Inouye Prepares to Defeat Solomon Again
SA: Inouye, 72, was a state senator for 10 years before leaving for an unsuccessful run for Hawaii County mayor in 2008. She previously was Hawaii Island's mayor for two years in the 1990s, and before that, served on the Hawaii County Council for six years.
Solomon and Inouye are running in a new Hawaii Island district. The seat was shifted from Oahu after the state Supreme Court ruled nonpermanent residents had to be excluded from the population base used to allocate legislative seats among islands….
Inouye, who describes herself as a "people person," says her experience chairing numerous committees as a senator and her experience as mayor qualify her for the job.
If elected, she would immediately introduce legislation to change the selection process for the reapportionment commission. She wants to give neighbor islands better representation and said district boundaries were poorly drawn, resulting in the splitting of close communities — such as Naalehu and Pahala on Hawaii island.
read … Only Abercrombie is voting for Malama
Hawaii’s bottle deposit fee to increase by a half cent
PBN: Hawaii will increase by a half-cent the bottle deposit fee that the state charges beverage manufacturers, distributors and importers, state health officials said Wednesday.
The fee will increase from 1 cent to 1.5 cents, starting Sept. 1, the Hawaii State Department of Health said in a statement.
It’s the first time in four years that the state is increasing the fee, which is part of the state’s HI-5 beverage container deposit program. The increase is expected to generate about $4.5 million in additional revenues for the program.
HNN: State raising beverage container fee
read … Hand in your pocket
Justice Reinvestment: Felon Kills Man, Up for Parole in One Year
SA: Tevita Keokava Aholelei faced a mandatory 20-year prison term for manslaughter at his sentencing in state court Wednesday.
Because he has a prior felony theft conviction, state Circuit Judge Glenn Kim could have ordered Aholelei to spend at least six years and eight months behind bars before he would be eligible for parole.
But Kim told Aholelei, 21, he will have to spend only a year behind bars before he can seek parole. The Hawaii Paroling Authority can set a higher minimum term.
read … Soft on Crime
Honolulu Mayor Hires Co-Defendant In Whistleblower Lawsuit
HR: A co-defendant with Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle in a whistleblower lawsuit settled by the city for $325,000 earlier this year is now on the mayor’s payroll and calling himself “Acting Director” of the city Department of the Medical Examiner.
Robert K.W. “Bobby” Lee Jr. was accused in the 2004 suit of mounting a criminal investigation of colleague Craig Whang when both men worked as investigators under then-Prosecutor Carlisle. The investigation began after Whang raised concerns that Lee could be a physical threat to co-workers in the office.
Remarkably, Whang eventually pleaded no contest to four felonies as a result of that investigation but his retaliation lawsuit continued in civil court for eight years. The defendants were Lee, Carlisle and former First Deputy Prosecutor Iwalani White.
Whang’s civil suit was finally settled two months ago with an agreement to pay $325,000 to Whang that was recommended to the City Council by Carlisle’s administration. None of the defendants admitted wrongdoing and Carlisle was not involved in the city Corporation’s Counsel’s recommendation to settle the case, according to the city
read … Honolulu Mayor Hires Co-Defendant In Whistleblower Lawsuit
City Still Seeking A New Chief Medical Examiner
HR: The city has been trying unsuccessfully for years to hire a new director of the Medical Examiner’s Department, but the position has stayed vacant even though its salary has been bumped to $200,016 to attract qualified applicants.
The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) cancelled the department’s certification here in 2010 because a qualified forensic pathologist was not heading the office.
After the retirement of the last such qualified professional, Dr. Kanthi DeAlwis, the city promoted a deputy in the office, Dr. William Goodhue, to be acting director of the department.
But Goodhue did not meet NAME’s certification criteria, so the organization downgraded Honolulu’s certification.
Then Goodhue retired last September, leaving the office not just uncertified but seriously short-staffed.
Now a retired investigator from the prosecutor's office, who has no medical training, is calling himself acting director of the department. (see related story)
read … Medical Examiner
Community wants alternative to Kaneohe-Kailua sewer tunnel
KHON: Windward Oahu residents met Wednesday night to come up with a way to convince the city not to move forward with its plans to construct a Kaneohe to Kailua sewer tunnel.
"The biggest issue we have is we don't think all the alternatives were looked at equally," says Matthew Darnell, Kalaheo Hillside Residents Association.
In May the city announced it received federal approval to construct a 10-13 foot diameter tunnel about 3 miles long through Oneawa hillside. The goal would be to use gravity to move sewage from the Kaneohe Pre-Treatment Facility to the Kailua Wastewater treatment plant.
But residents who live along the ridgeline have concerns.
read … Tunnel
Meet the 2012 Mom Congress Hawaii Delegate
PM: Melanie Bailey is the 2012 Mom Congress Delegate for Hawaii. She is the Human Resources Manager for TS Restaurants Hawaii and a busy, single mom. Her local group of moms got involved in advocacy when their beloved school playground was torn down without notice. A bulldozer showed up the first Friday of the school year and the playground was gone by the end of the weekend. Enraged, they mobilized to raise over $200,000 (in the recession) and built a new playground in six months! Along the way, they formed lifelong friendships.
When “Furlough Fridays” were announced for Hawaii’s public school children, giving them the shortest school year in the nation, they mobilized again and put on a rally at the Capitol. Initially, Melanie called one elementary school and high school in all 50 states to see what their school days/years comprised. She then researched instructional time, legislation and contracts around the nation to prepare to testify at the Capitol. They passed a law in one session so that negotiating with their children’s educational time could never happen again. (well not quite) Since then, Melanie has been testifying at the Capitol on various education issues.
read … Melanie Bailey
Rep John Medeiros Dies
SA: Longtime Kailua residents might remember state Rep. John Medeiros campaigning door to door in the 1970s on his motorized scooter.
"When he would go back in two years, he would call them (voters) by their first name," his wife, Gloria Medeiros, said Tuesday. "And the kids would come out and they wanted to ride the scooter, and he would give them rides."
John Medeiros died Friday morning in his sleep after battling Parkinson's disease and a heart condition, his wife said. He was 83.
He devoted himself to serving his community in the state House of Representatives, she said.
"Many times he would say to them what they were doing when he first saw them," she said. "His memory was just outstanding, and he was very interested in his constituents. They would call him up for every problem — domestic, children, everything."
"He represented the district with great honor," said Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua-Kaneohe). "He taught me how important that was — to learn about people's concerns and opinions, and so I followed his role.
"He really was beloved."
Medeiros, a Republican, served in the state House for 18 years until 1986, his wife said, representing Windward residents.
He was also a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention in 1968, chairman of the Oahu Advisory Council from 1969 to 1970 and a Hawaii State Boxing Commission member for many years.
Gloria Medeiros said she remembers her husband campaigning on the side of the road with fellow lawmaker Whitney Anderson before roadside campaigning became popular.
read … John Medeiros