Hawaii Family Forum Releases Primary Voter Guide
Hawaii GOP Chair to Wed Former Chair
Statement from Governor Linda Lingle on Aurora Shooting Tragedy
After Inexplicably Abandoning Kau Inoa, OHA Launches New Roll for Akaka Tribe
Unfair Indemnification: Truckers Association Pleased by Passage of SB824
More than 5,000 students Step Up
Governor Releases $92.8 Million for Highways, Airports and Harbors
Hawaii GOP Chair to Wed Former Chair
Restoring City Bus Service: Hearing This Wednesday
BLNR to Decide on Mandatory Boating Safety Courses
Marumoto Briefs Mainland Lawmakers on Hawaii Renewable Energy
Rail Vacuums Another $47M Out of Your Pocket
PBN: The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation will receive nearly $47 million in revenue from a surcharge on Hawaii's general excise tax for the second quarter of this year, officials said Friday.
The money collected from April to June brings the total GET revenue collected for Honolulu's rail-transit project to $905.72 million. The project, which will go from Kapolei in West Oahu to Ala Moana Center, is expected to cost $5.16 billion.
read … Honolulu rail Q2 tax surcharge revenue totals $47M
City Purchasing Boss: Fire Department ‘Misinterpreted policy’ on Merger Contract
CB: The Honolulu Fire Department appears to have misinterpreted city procurement policy when it determined scores needed to be changed to break a tie between the top two bidders for a contract to evaluate merging the HFD with the Emergency Services Department.
Budget and Fiscal Services Director Mike Hansen and Purchasing Division Administrator Wendy Imamura told Civil Beat Friday individual scoresheets should be tallied up to come up with a single total score for each bidder. They would not discuss the specific implications for the $175,000 merger evaluation contract because that procurement is the subject of an ongoing Ethics Commission investigation, but Hansen's and Imamura's general statements contradict the Fire Department's contention that each evaluator's scoresheet should be counted as a vote for his or her top-ranked option, and that the bidder with the most votes wins.
SA: HFD believes it can integrate Emergency Services
read … Its a misunderstanding, really
Joey Manahan Investigated for Spending $29K on Meals
HNN: Joey Manahan, a candidate for the Kalihi seat on the Honolulu City Council, has spent nearly $30,000 of his campaign funds on food and drinks during the last six months, prompting a review by the Campaign Spending Commission.
Manahan is a three-term State House member who's running for a seat representing Kalihi-Kai and Kapalama on the city council that's being vacated by Romy Cachola because of term limits.
Mahahan's campaign spending report filed earlier this month shows his campaign spent $12,167 for a fundraiser at the Ala Moana Hotel in May.
Manahan also received a $6,000 in-kind contribution from Outrigger Hotels for a "meet and greet" event at the Outrigger Reef Hotel in Waikiki in April.
His campaign has reimbursed Manahan and his wife Mary Ann for what he calls "campaign meals" at other well-known spots, including $516 at Ala Moana Center's Mai Tai Bar, $443 for meals at Wolfgang's Steakhouse in Waikiki and $263 for food at the Hilton Hawaiian Village….
Manahan listed 152 food and beverage charges worth $29,041 from January through the end of June this year….
Manahan's campaign chair, (Abercrombie crony) Amy Agbayani, claimed all of his meal expenses were related to his campaign….
read … Joey Tam
Civil Beat Publishing Responses to Legislative Questionnaires
CB: More than 150 candidates are running for the 25 Senate seats and 51 House seats that will be on the Aug. 11 primary ballot.
Civil Beat sent questionnaires to the candidates who have contested primary races. Dozens of those responses are coming in and we are publishing them on our Elections page on a district-by-district basis. Check out the views of candidates in House District 26 and Senate District 25 now, and watch for others in the days leading up to the primary.
You can always go to our archive and catch up on candidate Q & A's you might have missed; in recent weeks we've published questionnaires from candidates for the U.S. Senate, the 1st Congressional District, 2nd Congressional District, Honolulu mayor's race and Honolulu City Council races.
read … Questionnaires
Hawaii Women’s Political Caucus Endorses Candidates
CB: Lorraine Inouye, Roz Baker, Carol Fukunaga, Suzanne Chun Oakland, Michelle Kidani, Senate District, Maile Shimabukuro, Laura Thielen, Pohai Ryan, Levani Lipton, Faye Hanohano, Nicole Lowen, Netra Halperin, Dee Morkikawa, Keiko Bonk, Della Au Belatti, Nicole Velasco, Linda Ichiyama, Heather Giugni, Marilyn Lee, Jessica Wooley and Cynthia Thielen…
read … pro-abortion
Agriculture in Hawaii gets a boost after Eco-Faddists Defeated
SA: After years of delay, Hawaii's second irradiation facility to treat papaya and other produce is scheduled to come online in September, giving local farmers a much-needed boost in opening mainland markets to their products.
Environmental challenges to the initial proposal to locate it near Honolulu Airport were successful, and the new location at an agricultural research center at Kunia in Central Oahu seems to satisfy all parties. Even so, it's unfortunate that a dispute over the facility's location led to a six-year delay in completing the project.
The environmental law firm Earthjustice and the group Concerned Citizens of Honolulu challenged Pa'ina's Hawaii LLC's $4 million facility when it was announced seven years ago. Gamma irradiation involves using cobalt-60 to sterilize or kill fruit flies and other insects.
While the process is generally safe and reliable in sterilizing items ranging from food to medical products, Concerned Citizens alleged that because of potential threats from tsunami, hurricanes, plane crashes, terrorism attacks or other disasters at the airport location, the plant could release radioactive materials, threatening public health and safety.
read … After 6 years of mindless hype and obstructionism
Ho'opili, Koa Ridge foes file suits to halt projects
SA: An environmental group and a state senator want a judge to overrule a recent state Land Use Commission approval urbanizing farmland in Leeward and Central Oahu for development of more than 15,000 homes.
The Sierra Club and Sen. Clayton Hee filed lawsuits Friday in state Circuit Court appealing June decisions by the commission that approved plans for the 11,750-home Ho‘opili project by D.R. Horton and 5,000-home Koa Ridge project by Castle & Cooke Homes.
The lawsuits were anticipated, and are expected to be contested by the developers and lawyers representing the commission, the state Office of Planning and city Department of Planning and Permitting.
"We are prepared to deal with it," said Cameron Nekota, a Horton vice president in charge of Ho‘opili. "We are going to respond (in court)." ….
read … More Lawsuits
Bill 11: City Affirms Commercial Ban at Parks
SA: "The lawyers for the City Council have said that it is illegal for commercial businesses to operate, and it's been going on for years."
On the Net: » View Ordinance 12-2 9 (formerly Bill 11) at www.goo.gl/EKhEE .
read … Twogood
Human Trafficking Case Dismissed
AP: A federal judge dismissed human trafficking charges Friday against executives and business associates of a labor recruiting company accused of exploiting hundreds of farm workers from Thailand by putting them into debt, confiscating their passports and threatening to deport them.
The move came after prosecutors requested dismissal of the case against CEO Mordechai Orian and Director of International Relations Pranee Tubchumpol of Global Horizons Manpower Inc., and business associates….
Background: Human Trafficking: Did the US DoJ Purposefully lose the Aloun Farms Case?
read … Traffic
Hawaii State Plan for Occupational Safety and Health; Proposed Modification
OSHA: During the past three years, the state plan has faced significant budgetary constraints and staffing challenges, and has requested federal OSHA assistance to ensure that workers are afforded adequate worker protection during this period. The Hawaii Director of Labor and Industrial Relations has requested a temporary modification of the state plan's approval status from final approval to initial approval, to permit exercise of supplemental federal enforcement….
read … August 23, 2012 Deadline to Comment
US Marshalls Round Up 72 Fugitives in Hawaii
KITV: More than 72 fugitives were arrested and 109 warrants cleared by the United States Marshals Hawaii Fugitive Task Force over four days starting on July 16 in Hawaii.
The operation focused on arresting fugitives wanted for the following crimes: robbery, possession of narcotics, sexual assault, parole and felony probation violation. During the operation drug paraphernalia were seized
The agencies involved in the collaborative initiative include the Honolulu Police Department, Department of Public Safety Sheriffs Division, Hawaii County Police Department, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security- HSI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Secret Service, Western States Information Network, Federal Protective Services, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
read … And not a single elected official
Program for visually impaired receives prestigious certification
News Release: Hawaii’s Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and Services for the Blind Division has received national recognition for a unique training program called “New Visions,” which is offered to blind and visually impaired consumers.
In June 2012, the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB) recertified Hawaii’s New Visions program as a Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) program.
Hawaii is one of only three state agencies to hold this prestigious certification.
read … Certification
KITV Back on Cable-Air
SA: KITV programming returned to the Oceanic Time Warner Cable system at about 3:25 p.m. Thursday after an agreement was reached in a 10-day-long contract dispute between their respective parent companies.
At issue was the retransmission consent agreements in which Time Warner Cable Inc. pays Hearst Television Inc., both based in New York City, for programming. Terms were not disclosed.
During the dispute, Time Warner Cable had blamed “greedy broadcasters” for driving up costs for customers and decried Hearst’s demand for a 300 percent increase, a figure Hearst officials said was inaccurate. Industry studies have shown that while broadcasters’ programming drives most of cable and satellite providers’ viewers, payments made to cable programming providers are greater than those made to broadcast networks.
Hearst presented Time Warner Cable an offer Tuesday that it said was within 5 percent of the cable carrier’s most recent proposal, and Thursday the agreement was announced, without details or terms. The agreement restores Hearst’s affected NBC affiliates to cable in time for the start next week of the highly rated Olympics broadcasts.
read … Oceanic customers have KITV again after agreement
Fontaine Factor - Charter Schools
- · Host: Representative George Fontaine / HD 11
- · Guest 1: Lynn Finnegan / Exec. Director of Hawaii Public Charter Schools Network
- · Guest 2: Representative Aaron Ling Johanson / HD 32
- · contact: repfontaine@capitol.hawaii.gov
Watch … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OryLiQA_d0U
Islamic Society at UH Manoa has no members around to Celebrate Ramadan
SA: The group, with almost 100 members, would normally hold an event on campus to celebrate Ramadan, but the holy observance began Friday, when school was not in session, Khan said. The dates of the month long holiday vary every year, depending on the cycle of the new moon.
The society's adviser, professor James Frankel, who teaches Islam and other religions at the university, said, "Ramadan is called the month of patience.…”
read … Islamic Society