Early Voting Open Now--Find Your Polling Place
HMSA Private shared-savings deal puts half of future raises at hospital system at risk
Sequestration: Federally Funded Employees, Contractors to Receive Layoff Notices Just Before Election
Hawaii Solar Scammers Push for More Ratepayer, Taxpayer Handouts
Ansaldo Awards Rail Electrification Contract to Siemens
Rail Jobs? Honolulu Construction Employment Down 6%
Abercrombie Appoints Maria Zielinski as DAGS Deputy Director
Veterans in Politics Endorses Ed Case
Romney must win over Asian voters
Cayetano: Hannemann was Doling out Personal Services Contracts Like Hot Cakes
HM: “Mufi Hannemann had been doling out personal service contracts like hot cakes—$150,000 here, $200,000 there. I know what the guy’s doing. He gave John DeSoto a $150,000 contract. John DeSoto was one of the five [Honolulu City Council members] that voted against rail. I don’t know what John DeSoto does to warrant that, but, you know. Mufi was sprinkling this stuff around. So anyway, I asked Peter, ‘Make some changes, man. Kick these guys out, for crying out loud.’ He says, ‘I’ll do it.’ He gets in, nothing changes. He changes the managing director. That’s all. Then he starts to drink that Kool-Aid, and all of a sudden he’s a pro-rail guy.”
read … Pandora's Box
Case would “drive a stake into the heart of Democratic machine.”
PR: …in a speech last Thursday morning to Smart Business Hawaii, the conservative small business group, the moderate Case was particularly blunt. He described his primary with U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono as a “death match” against Hawaii’s Democratic political machine and predicted that his success, regardless of the result against former Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican, in the November general election, would “drive a stake into the heart of that machine.”
read … Death Match
Democrats Slightly Less Disgusted by Abercrombie
SA: The Hawaii Poll (larded with 62% Democrats) put the Democrat's job approval at 43 percent, up from 39 percent in February. The survey showed that the governor has started to win back some of the Democrats who were divided over his performance after his first year in office, but he remains a disappointment to union workers.
Fifty-one percent of Democrats approve of Abercrombie's performance, up from 47 percent in February. Thirty-seven percent who live in union households approve of the governor's work, up from 35 percent in February….
State Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria (D, Downtown-Waikiki) said Abercrombie has "kind of found some legs."
"The governor has never been hesitant about being himself," he said. "We get what we vote for. So if there's a good thing about it, it's that we know him. If there's a bad thing about it, it's we know him."
Wil Okabe, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said he thinks the governor's job approval rating went up overall because of the state surplus. But he said the surplus was created in part by sacrifices from public-sector labor unions, which may explain why the governor's performance is viewed more negatively in union households.
"It is on the backs of the public-union sector," he said….
State Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai) said Abercrombie and his staff were more engaged with lawmakers during the legislative session, appearing at hearings and conference committee negotiations on the administration's priority bills.
"I don't think there's any question," he said. "First of all, I think last year, his first year, he bit off more than he could chew. And he got a number of his fellow party members mad at him because he made announcements really without talking to them and without figuring out what the political consequences would be.
"That did not happen to that extent this year. Part of it, I think, is explainable because this is an election year. Part of it because I think they had meetings — both House members and Senate members — and they told him what they were willing and able to do and what they weren't."
SA: Public mostly not happy with plans to build rail
read … But Mostly they still hate the loud mouthed hippy
Lingle criticizes Hawaii County clerk's voter registration problems
HNN: The voting registration problems and a probe into possible voter fraud in Hawaii County have illustrated a potential problem: county voting officials do not have to answer to the state. And that fact prompted new criticism from a U.S. Senate candidate Monday.
State elections officials said Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi has not responded to their requests for a detailed briefing on voter registration or other problems in her office that first surfaced a week ago today, when she shut down the county elections office in Hilo for what she called an "audit."
Last Thursday, Hawaii News Now reported the state sought the FBI's help in an investigation into allegations of voter fraud on the Big Island. Details of the allegations aren't clear, but they are said to involve charges that absentee ballots were doctored.
"I think that is a real problem, any time the federal government gets involved in investigating your election process, you know there's a pretty serious problem or they wouldn't have stepped in the first place," said Linda Lingle, the former Republican governor who's running for a U.S. Senate seat.
After the November election Lingle said the legislature needs to look at changing the power structure for election officials.
"This idea that you have four independent county clerks not really reporting to anyone and now the head of our office of elections not able to even communicate with one of the clerks is a real problem," Lingle said.
While officials at the state's Office of Elections oversee state elections and handle precincts and polling places, they have no power over county clerks, who carry out voter registration and early walk-in and mail-in voting.
Background: FBI investigating? Sex, Lies and Retaliation at Big Island Election Office
read … reform
First Day of Early Voting Goes Smoothly in Hilo
KITV: County clerk Jamae Kawauchi was on hand to oversee the first day of walk-in voting.
"Early walk-in voting it appears to going well. Voters are coming in. Things are going smoothly,” said Kawauchi, who was onhand to oversee the first day of walk-in voting.
Kawauchi wouldn’t address questions about the recent friction with the state elections office saying she would answer questions raised about the unexpected closure of the Hilo office last week, and why she met with state lawyers -- at a new conference in the next day or two.
Kawauchi said she did speak with the state office of elections by phone today, but did not elaborate on what was shared.
Here on Oahu, at least one senate candidate who voted early is calling for a review of the structure of the elections office, in light of the Big Island election flap.
"This idea that you have four independent county clerks not really reporting to anyone, and now, our head of our office of elections not being able to communicate with one of the clerks is a real problem. So after this election, it should be looked at. The legislature should take this up at the next session," said Linda Lingle.
Senate candidate Ed Case, who also voted at Honolulu Hale today, is not convinced the current system should be thrown out.
"I assume they are all trying very hard to work it out . I have never been through an election, whether I won or lost, that the election officials delivered a fair election and I have no reason it’s going to be any different this time,” said Case.
The Big Island elections office said its absentee ballots were eventually sent to registered Hawaii County voters on Thursday….
Background: FBI investigating? Sex, Lies and Retaliation at Big Island Election Office
Read … Smooth Sailing in Hilo?
Hirono Continues to Miss Congressional Votes
HR: Hirono missed five votes last week. That is a total of 15 votes in the last few weeks.
Those include votes on Tribal Land Leases, the Levee Construction, the Federal Reserve Audit, and Regulatory Overhaul bill. She also missed voting on the Oil and Gas Drilling bill, which would "nearly double the number of drilling leases, from 15 to 29 and it would include drilling off the coasts of California, Virginia, and South Carolina."
Hirono has been absent from Congress for several weeks, missing votes on the Foreign Relations Authorization, on the Sequestration Report, and on the Defense Appropriations Act.
Hirono also missed casting her vote on Veterans Licensing, which would "instruct the heads of federal agencies to recognize relevant training and skills acquired by veterans during their terms of service as meeting the requirements for federal licenses;" the ATM Fee Disclosure, which would "lift a requirement that ATMs bear a physical display warning users that they may incur a fee if they are not account holders at the financial institution that owns the ATM;" and the Hydropower Generation, which would "exempt small hydropower facilities that generate up to 10,000 kilowatts of electricity from permitting by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)."
Before that, she was absent for votes on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, a bill the White House threatened to veto, which "directs the Director of National Intelligence to develop procedures to share cyber-threat information on a voluntary basis between the government's intelligence community and the private sector; the Interest Rate Reduction Act, which would "keep the interest rate for government-subsidized student loans at 3.4 percent, and stop it from a scheduled increase to 6.8 percent;" and the Legislative Branch Appropriations, which "funds FY 13 spending on legislative branch operations including funding for Member and committee offices and operations of agencies such as the Library of Congress, Capitol Police, Congressional Research Service (CRS), and Government Accountability Office (GAO)."
Hirono also was absent for the vote on the FDA User Fee Reauthorization, which would "reauthorize the FDA to impose user fees on drug and device manufacturers for five years."
read … Lazy Mazie
Progressive Democrats of Hawaii Hang Albatross Around Hirono’s Neck
Best Comment: Let’s get real! The “Progressive Democrats” are not now, and never were, for the “middle” class in Hawaii. Their fringe ideas have been off the page when it came to being reasonable or having any common sense. These folks make the Communist Party look like Blue Dog Democrats!
read … Gay-Atheist Lunatics
Lingle Campaign Invests $1M in Victory
NJ: When the second quarter fundraising numbers came in, we wrote about Hawaii Republican Senate nominee Linda Lingle's high burn rate -- she raised an impressive $1.1 million during the period, but spent just over a million of it.
Now, the pre-primary report shows Lingle has continued spending at a very quick clip, with the campaign shelling out an average of about $21,000 a day, far more than she's bringing in. In advance of the August 11 primary (which is not competitive on the Republican side) Lingle raised about $172,000 and spent $468,000 in the time covered by the report -- from July 1 to July 22.
read … Using that Money
Downtown, Kahala top Cayetano Donors by Zip Code
ILind: More than 100 donors gave former Gov. Ben Cayetano’s mayoral campaign the maximum $4,000 allowed by law during the first six months of 2012…. Download (PDF, 46KB)
Cayetano’s full report, including all contributions and expenditures, can be found on the Campaign Spending Commission’s website.
Zip Code Amount
96816 $101,612.20
96813 $91,919.96
96817 $69,700.00
96821 $67,014.68
96822 $61,633.51
96814 $55,475.00
96815 $46,950.00
96825 $42,667.07
96819 $38,804.90
96744 $32,083.51
96701 $29,833.51
96734 $21,615.87
read … Cayetano Donors
Liz Larson Challenges Galuteria in New 12th District Senate Seat
HR: She has focused on three basic issues, which she believes can be part of a winning formula:
As a mother with two children at Jefferson Elementary, she supports educational reform which includes greater parental involvement, support for charter schools and a comprehensive audit of the state Department of Education.
As the owner of a small business, with her husband Steve, she is concerned about the impact that both higher taxes and excessive regulation have on the ability of similar small firms to generate growth and create new jobs.
Like everyone in her district, she is concerned about making Hawaii affordable for families and our kapuna (senior citizens). She believes that public policy ought to be directed towards stimulating the construction of more affordable housing and providing greater employment opportunities for youth that allow them to remain in Hawaii.
Although a political newcomer, Larson understands the uphill nature of a race against an incumbent and is committed to running an aggressive campaign with a full complement of volunteers and seasoned professionals.
Of note: reports on file with State Elections Office show that Larson was only $1,500 behind Galuteria in contributions for the current quarter.
read … Liz Larson
HSTA Operative Challenges Nakashima in HD1
HTH: Challenging Nakashima for his job is Pajimola, 34, who had her first major taste of leadership in the public sector when she organized parents and teachers in Laupahoehoe in opposition to converting the town’s school to a charter school.
read … Not reactionary enough
Star-Adv Profiles Council Races
Star-Adv: Land Development Corp Must have Rules in Place
SA: When the Public Land Development Corp. was created by the Legislature last year, concerns were raised about its broad authority to promote and approve development projects on land owned by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The agency's first efforts to enhance the productivity of three parcels — two on Oahu and one on Hawaii island — do little to allay those concerns.
The Legislature created the corporation during last year's session to pursue revenue-generating projects that could include all sorts of commercial endeavors in partnership with private entities. In signing it into law, Gov. Neil Abercrombie called it the "development arm" of DLNR.
While its activities are bound by some state laws, including the Sunshine Law, it is exempt "from all statutes, ordinances, charter provisions and rules of any government agency."
The agency has yet to adopt the administrative rules that establish the standards or criteria for proposing new projects. Nonetheless, the agency has plunged ahead with three proposals:
"You're proceeding forward without knowing if you should be proceeding forward or not," said Robert Harris, executive director of the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter.
He and other environmental and cultural activists are justifiably concerned. The agency is exempt from land use and zoning regulations and includes appointees with political connections. Cronyism and back-room dealings are genuine threats in a state where land and power go hand in hand.
read … Land and Power
Pearl Harbor seen as site for new ships
SA: A new study on U.S. military forces in the Pacific recommends placing another three-ship amphibious ready group in the region — possibly in Hawaii — in addition to the 2,700 extra Marines already moving here.
The report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, commissioned by the Pentagon, also calls for more submarines in Guam and additional ballistic missile defenses there and in Japan and possibly South Korea.
The study released last week includes recommendations as well as alternatives that would increase U.S. capabilities in the region. Among the latter is the suggestion to add at Pearl Harbor an amphibious ready group — consisting of a carrierlike amphibious assault ship, a transport dock ship and a dock landing ship that together can transport 2,200 Marines, helicopters and Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to trouble spots.
read … Three Ships
School Bus Cuts Fail to Disrupt Traffic
SA: State Department of Education officials reported no major problems on the first day back. There was concern that cuts to school bus service for about 2,000 students would snarl traffic and cause big delays, but those fears didn't appear to materialize.
"It was relatively quiet," said Ray L'Heureux, DOE assistant superintendent of school facilities and support services.
HNN: VIDEO: Families scramble on day one of school bus cutbacks
read … bad news for contractors
‘Slavery’ case dismissal frustrates Utah ‘victims’
SLT: The two Thais are strong men, but they wept Monday. One even abruptly jumped up from an interview table, darted into a corner, and buried his face there to hide and wipe tears that embarrassed him.
The pair — who are among scores of Thais who say they were held in modern slavery in Utah — became emotional talking about prosecutors dismissing what the U.S. Justice Department had once called the largest human-trafficking case in U.S. history.
Related: Human Trafficking: Did the US DoJ Purposefully lose the Aloun Farms Case?
read … ‘Slavery’ case dismissal frustrates Utah ‘victims’
FBI: ‘Extremist Group’ Helps Hawaii Mortgage Scammers Escape
KHON: The FBI has intensified the manhunt for a Hawaii couple who plead guilty to operating a mortgage fraud scheme in which many Oahu families lost their homes.
John and Julieanne Dimitrion convinced several families having trouble paying their mortgage to sell their homes and invest the proceeds.
But instead, authorities say the couple used the money to fund their own lavish lifestyles.
The Dimitrions failed to appear at their sentencing hearing in July 2010.
Authorities believe the Dimitrions joined a domestic extremist group who arranged for them to leave.
They were last known to have been hiding in Alabama last year….
read … Extremist Groups and Mortgage Scammers? Where have we heard that before?
Sanctions for Neighborhood Board Outbursts
KITV: Concerned residents called it a case of an elected official behaving badly during the monthly meeting in March at the Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board meeting. "Keli'i got very belligerent. It was tragic what happened," said Lucy Gay.
According to a Neighborhood Commission review, Keli'i "denied the public the right to testify" with his outbursts and claimed his actions repeatedly violated the neighborhood plan as well as the state's sunshine law.
But Keli'i countered that the outbursts were the result of a long-simmering dispute that finally boiled over into personal attacks. "They were not focusing on the issue. They were making personal attacks against me. I had addressed the chair and he needed to take control of the meeting, but he had already lost control of the meeting," said Keli'i.
Keli'i claimed he has been the target of upset residents for years, because of his support to turn agricultural land in Nanaikuli into an industrial park. "When you had this kind of controversy and then when they lost -- they decided to pursue a smear campaign," he said.
So after the outbursts, Keli'i fired back with a letter of complaint against Gay's employer.
The commission members found that letter looked a lot like "an effort of intimidation and retaliation."
Read … Nanakuli Neighborhood Board
Hawaii auto insurance listed as third least expensive
KHON: Carinsurancequotes.com says Hawaii is the third least expensive state for auto insurance.
Residents here pay just 1.6% of our median annual income for insurance.
The most expensive state is Michigan where drivers pay 8% of their salaries on car insurance.
CIQ: 10 states where car insurance really bites your budget
read … Hawaii auto insurance listed as third least expensive
Gas Co Plans for 10,000 Hydrogen Cars
SA: Officials at The Gas Co. say the company plans to be a major supplier of hydrogen, which it generates as part of its production of synthetic natural gas.
The utility could deliver hydrogen to fueling stations on Oahu via the company's network of 1,000 miles of underground pipelines. Hydrogen could be delivered to the neighbor islands in tanks.
Jeff Kissel, president and chief executive officer of The Gas Co., has said the company would be able to produce enough hydrogen to power the equivalent of up to 10,000 vehicles annually.
read … Hydrogen in your future?
Insurers Will Cut Rates if you allow Spying
SA: DTRIC Insurance Underwriters Ltd. is the first local insurer approved to sell a discount program that creates an incentive for safe driving through the use of an Akamai Rater device that collects data used to evaluate how a customer drives.
The device is voluntarily installed in a vehicle by a policyholder who chooses to enroll in the plan.
read … value of privacy
Hawaii the only state without boat theft in 2011, report says
PBN: The National Insurance Crime Bureau said Monday that more than 6,000 boats were stolen in the United States in 2011 — but not one of them was in Hawaii.
Hawaii was the only state without a single reported theft of a watercraft between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011, according to the report, which draws data from the National Crime Information Center database for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
read … Lazy Thieves, No Imagination
Civil Beat Still Trying to Save Demented Fact Checks
CB: So last week we decided to turn our truth squad on ourselves, a discussion about the words and the labels we created two years ago to describe what we'd concluded after checking the facts.
The Fact Check scorecard was meant to allow for nuances in public and political speech. Not everything is black or white, true or false. There are shades in between.
read … sad and pathetic
QUICK HITS:
Quote of the day: “Mitt and the Republicans are out-raising us, attacking us, and – voila – they’ve almost got this thing tied up.” – James Carville July 31, 2012