Lingle: My Opponent is one of the '12 Percenters'
Djou: On to the General Election!
Lingle Releases Comprehensive Debate Schedule
Ed Case Thanks Supporters, Not One Word About Hirono
Lorraine Inouye: ‘Not Satisfied This Election Was Fair and Legal’
Surgical Safety: Hawaii Hoispitals 2nd Worst in Nation
Open Letter to Holder: Thai Workers Protest DoJ Abandonment of Hawaii Slavery Case
Hirono Missed Over 120 Votes in Congress
KITV: Lingle not only wanted people to remember what Hirono did, but also what she didn't do. According to Lingle, Hirono has missed over 120 votes in Congress.
"Political inaction in Washington and delayed decision making is putting America's future at risk, as well as our way of life here in Hawaii," said Lingle.
"That's the best possible situation for people of Hawaii, one Republican and one Democrat. Then, whichever party is in power we have someone in that party," said Lingle.
Lingle added if she was elected she would propose a four point plan to cap Congressional salaries as well as define their work week and budget.
Fact Check: Hirono Missed 127 Votes In Congress This Year
HNN: Lingle says general election presents voters with 'clear choice'
Read … 120 Votes
Star-Adv Editors Beg Caldwell to tell PRP to Stop Talking About Pay to Play
SA: A simple tally of Saturday's numbers shows that the majority of voters went pro-rail — Caldwell and Carlisle combined for 54.6 percent — but it's too simplistic to rely on such solidarity to sweep Caldwell into office and keep rail going. Cayetano already is casting doubt there, saying Caldwell's pro-labor base has plateaued while the independent and Republican voters are largely his to gain in the general.
Though we disagree with Cayetano's anti-rail position, his campaign has shrewdly tapped into a vein of people empowerment. Never mind that Cayetano, a two-term former governor and veteran legislator, is at the pinnacle of Hawaii's power elite; he has managed to mold his campaign into "the little guy" versus the power-broker establishment. Conversely, what's been sorely lacking from the pro-rail side is a real-people boosterism of the transit project, grown organically from the communities that believe in the many benefits of rail. Recent slick ads, particularly the attack ones, bankrolled by those who stand to gain economically from rail, only feed into a prevailing suspicion of "gravy train" contracts and top-down proclamations. These are seriously overshadowing the positives of rail.
Caldwell is now the project's standard-bearer, so must find a way to tamp fears and for rail to "sell" itself all over again — from the ground up. He also must raise his own name recognition and public appeal, no small order next to the feisty Cayetano.
The timing could not be more precarious, with $1.55 billion of federal rail funds in the balance. That decision is expected around November, and the result of the Nov. 6 election could make or break approval. The loss of $1.55 billion would be monumental — and there's little hope that Hawaii will again see that kind of financial support for any traffic solution.
Carlisle vowed Saturday to keep moving forward on rail construction in his final months as mayor. In a gracious show of solidarity, he appeared at Caldwell headquarters to concede, and said he would ask Caldwell to accompany him to Washington, D.C., to convince federal transit officials about Honolulu's commitment to rail. That can't hurt. But the real convincing must be done here at home: to resonate with a majority of voters that rail, done right, holds benefits for us all, individually and as a city.
read … Media Doing its Part to Keep Truth from the People in order to score $1.5B from Feds
Abercrombie Demands Silence on Pay to Play, Cayetano Promises Retaliation
PR: Said Abercrombie:
“Now this situation with rail will work out one way or another, but I’ll tell you one thing that I am not going to stand for, and I hope nobody stands for it here. This business of denouncing other people’s character has got to stop. We’ve got two Democrats that are running right now. We’ve got a situation in which there are outside parties that are coming and trying to denounce the character of Ben Cayetano in this. And I won’t stand for it. It’s a lie. It’s s slander and it’s not worthy of anybody in this party to be associated with it.
… I hope today that all of us are going to take a pledge, in terms of unity, that we are going to say to people, ‘There’s no place in Hawaii for personal denunciation and character assassination in our elections.’
“That was impromptu on his part,” Cayetano said of Abercrombie’s message, adding:
I didn’t expect it but, yeah, I think that he knows me and so I think it was a good message. But you know what? PRP can spend all the money they want – they can spend another $1 million, $2 million. I think the people have figured them out already and in the end, after this election, win or lose, we’re gonna hold these guys accountable.
Caldwell stopped short of publicly denouncing the PRP ads, but said:
I think the governor has a good message. I have never said anything personally about any of my opponents ever in any race and I haven’t run in that many. … For me it’s about doing good. You don’t do good by talking stink or being negative. I’ve never made any personal comments on any of my opponents and I’m not going to be doing so good forward either.
I am not going to coordinate or talk about what someone else is doing. It’s not appropriate for me to do so, so I’m focusing on me. I’m going to talk about what I’m going to do, just like I have in the primary. I’m going to do that in the general.
read … You Will be Silent!
Tulsi Gabbard Suddenly ‘Proud’ Hindu, Continues to Lie about Mike Gabbard’s Religion
TD: Gabbard is proud of her Hindu religion, (Wow did you hear that? Two weeks ago the subject was Taboo.) but she is not Indian or of Indian heritage. Tulsi was born in 1981 in Leloaloa, who strictly practices Hindu and a pure vegetarian. She was the fourth of five Gabbard children.
Her father Mike Gabbard, a Christian Catholic (WHAT?) and a state senator, is from American Samoa. Her mother Carol Porter Gabbard, a white American, is a practicing Hindu and an educator. When she was two, the family moved to Hawai’i, which is the birthplace of President Barack Obama.
In her victory speech in Honolulu, Gabbard, 31, thanked her supporters. “I am privileged to be able to work for the people of Hawaii in whatever capacity,” Gabbard said after her rival Mufi Hannemann conceded defeat.
Her victory brought in instantaneous jubilation among the Hindus across the United States. Vijay Pallod, a Hindu activist from Texas said Hindus in America will have voice in Congress.
Gabbard said she was wishing and expecting her first trip to India as an elected member of the House of Representatives. Being a Vaishnava, she is looking forward to visit the holy sites of Vrindavan.
Though not of Indian origin, Gabbard promises to be a representative for all the Indians in the US. “Based on my strong affinity for India and Indian culture, as well as my warm love for the country and its people, I will always make myself available to hear the concerns of the Indian Diaspora and do my best to be of assistance,” she said.
Related: To Stop Mufi, Mrs Abercrombie Joins the Chris Butler Cult
read … Thought Control
Loraine Inouye May Demand Recount
HTH: Final results released at 3:12 a.m. Sunday show Solomon with 4,068 votes to Inouye’s 3,999 for a 67-vote difference between the two. The winning margin was 0.83 percent of all valid votes cast. There were also 499 blank votes.
Inouye said her attorneys, whom she did not name, were looking into the possibility of requesting a recount.
State law provides that candidates seeking relief may file a complaint in the state Supreme Court for any reason that could cause a difference in the election results. Inouye will have until 4:30 p.m. to file a complaint with the Supreme Court, along with a monetary deposit. The court will then issue summonses, hear arguments and render a judgment on which candidate will appear on the general election ballot to face Green Party candidate Kelly Greenwell.
Inouye said one of the reasons for her complaint was that the state Elections Office printout at 11 p.m. had Solomon with 3,866 votes to Inouye’s 3,788, a difference of 78 votes, with all 13 precincts reporting.
Sometime after midnight, however, Inouye sent someone down to the County Building to find that there was one truck coming in from Waimea with ballots.
“The questions that we have are several,” Inouye said. She wanted to know from where those extra votes had come if all 13 precincts had reported results by 11 p.m. Saturday….
The 4th Senate District primary race was not the closest one in Hawaii County.
That distinction goes to 6th House District candidate Nicole Lowen, who earned the Democratic Party nod over Kalei Akaka by a vote of 1,067 to 1,022, a 45-vote margin.
And Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, a candidate for prosecuting attorney, is headed into a runoff with Mitch Roth. Ashida could have won the election outright with a simple majority of the vote — 50 percent, plus one. Instead, he got 49.979 percent in the three-way race.
Ashida said he expected a runoff in his race and he is not contesting the outcome
HTH: More vote absentee this election
read … Recount
DoE Doubles Down in Attack on Disabled Children
SA: Loveland and Pacific Autism Center are among six Hawaii private schools that receive DOE money to provide services to a fraction of Hawaii's special-education children.
In the 2010-11 school year, the state paid $9.4 million to educate 68 special-needs students at private schools in Hawaii.
Thirty-three of those students attended Loveland, which received $6.9 million that year for its services — for an average per-student cost of $210,000, DOE data show.
The school with the second-largest payout was Pacific Autism Center, which received $1.1 million.
Nozoe said the decision to question billing statements from Loveland and Pacific Autism Center, after the DOE paid the schools for years, is about making sure public funds are being properly spent and that kids are well served.
He said that over the past two years alone, the department has paid Loveland Academy more than $13 million.
As of last month, the DOE said, 18 students were attending Loveland at state expense. The department said fewer than 10 public school students are receiving services at Pacific Autism Center….
Patricia Dukes, owner and executive director of Loveland Academy, said the DOE's allegations against her school are a "tactic … because they don't want to pay."
In an interview with the Star-Advertiser last week, she defended Loveland's services and said she hasn't changed her billing procedures much since the school opened in 1999.
Dukes acknowledged Loveland is expensive, but said the school's charges are comparable to similar mainland facilities. She added Loveland is ultimately saving the DOE money by keeping high-needs kids in the state.
"Our services are expensive because we're trying to keep the kids in their homes," she said.
Dukes also responded to the DOE's concerns about access to students for monitoring, saying DOE personnel are welcome to come on her campus to observe students.
But she also has had concerns about DOE workers making unannounced visits, which can be disruptive to autistic children, she said.
DOE monitors are "in here all the time," Dukes said. "We never turn them away if they are strictly here to monitor and if they have parental permission to observe."
Related: DoE Spends $3M/yr Suing Disabled Children, Forces Closure of Loveland Academy
read … Private schools out public funds
Progressives: Stop Building Homes, We Will Always Have a Housing Shortage
Lois Gill: Abercrombie, or any governor, does not own the public lands. The PLDC does not own the public lands; you cannot give away something that is not yours. Public land belongs to all the people. Each generation is caretaker of these lands, to preserve for future generations as previous generations have cared for them for us.
Stop building houses. Quit enticing more and more people to come here.
No matter what we do, we will always have a housing shortage.
We need to rethink, or give up, the outdated idea of a second city.
read … Public Land Development Corp. is betrayal of public trust
Hide The Knives! Democrat Unity Breakfast Joins Inouye, Cayetano—Hannemann Skips
HNN: Relative newcomer Tulsi Gabbard, winner of the Democratic primary for the Second Congressional District, sat at a head table with First District Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, Sen. and Mrs. Daniel Inouye, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, and former governors Cayetano and George Ariyoshi.
"It's a very serious responsibility and a tremendous privilege to be in a position to serve and fight for the people of Hawaii," she told reporters prior to the breakfast. Gabbard also appeared on stage with three of her Democratic primary rivals, including Esther Kia'aina, Miles Shiratori and Rafael Del Castillo.
Two other candidates in her primary, Mufi Hannemann and Hilo attorney Bob Marx, did not attend the breakfast. Retiring U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka also was not present.
Longtime Honolulu rail transit supporter Inouye acknowledged that his sitting with Cayetano -- who has vowed to stop the project -- was itself a sign of unity. "Absolutely," said Inouye. He added, "Whoever, becomes mayor, I will do whatever I can to be of help, but I can assure you that I'm for rail."
read … Unity?
Case’s 10% Gap Similar to 2006
SA: Hirono swept all four counties, with a solid 10-point gap on Oahu and staggering dominance on the neighbor islands. A district-by-district analysis by the Star-Advertiser shows that she took 47 of 51 state House districts, falling to the moderate Case only in more conservative districts such as Hawaii Kai, Aina Haina and Kailua, and in Case's former House district in Manoa.
Case did worse against Hirono than he did in the primary against U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka in 2006, when he lost 54 percent to 45 percent and captured 10 House districts.
Lingle invested in an extensive advertising campaign before the primary to reconnect with voters and help prepare for November. But only about 17 percent of primary voters marked Republican ballots, higher than usual but significantly less than the 29 percent that turned out for Lingle in the primary for governor in 2002….
Case urged Democrats at the Unity Breakfast to embrace inclusion and live up to the party's big-tent history. He told Hirono that she earned her victory, but he did not make a direct appeal for his supporters to back her against Lingle.
"The way for us to continue to earn the mantle of leadership, both in the state and the country, is to continue to live the big tent," he said. "Not just to talk about it, but to live it."
Hirono, asked by reporters how she would reach out to moderate Democrats and independents who favored Case, said, "Regardless of whether you're a Republican, Democrat or independent, we care about Hawaii. We need to move forward. The Republican agenda takes us backwards in terms of support for seniors, for women, for working people."
read … Victorious Lingle and Hirono trade jabs to begin new race
Cayetano's support stretches across rail's path
SA: Former Gov. Ben Cayetano won 33 of the 35 legislative House districts on Oahu on his way to becoming the top vote-getter in the mayoral primary election Saturday.
The remaining two districts were won by former city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell, who finished second, ahead of the incumbent, Peter Carlisle.
Although Cayetano had a strong showing across the island, it was not enough to give him more than 50 percent and an outright victory.
He and Caldwell advance to a runoff in the general election on Nov. 6.
Cayetano, the anti-rail candidate, led with 90,944 votes, or 44.7 percent. Caldwell was next with 55,955 for 29.5 percent. Carlisle finished with 51,087 votes, for 25.1 percent.
read … But Comes up Short of 50%
Gabbard defeats Hannemann in all voting districts except 1
SA: The Hawaii Poll, sponsored by the Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now, had Gabbard surging to within 10 points of Hannemann's lead at the end of July, a far cry from a February poll that showed her 45 points behind him.
Other polls in recent weeks even had Gabbard ahead, but no one predicted that she would pull off as decisive a win as precinct tallies showed.
Neighbor island voters comprise two-thirds of the 2nd District's constituency. Because Hannemann once worked and lived on Hawaii island as a C. Brewer executive, while Gabbard has no direct ties to any of the neighbor islands, observers had expected the former mayor would fare better there.
That wasn't the case, as Gabbard won all three neighbor island counties nearly as handily as she won Oahu.
Gabbard took 57 percent of the vote on Oahu, compared with Hannemann's 32 percent.
In Hawaii County, Gabbard beat him 53 percent to 32 percent.
In Maui County she won 51 percent to 38 percent; in Kauai County, 52 percent to 38 percent.
The only state House district that Hannemann carried was the 9th House District, which covers the central part of Maui.
(Ironically the only district Hannemann won is directly adjacent to Haiku which is where Chris Butler first launched his cult back in 1968.)
read … Kahului, Maui
Case, Cayetano, Gabbard Strong in Similar Districts
CB: Kailua's state House district was unique in three ways in Hawaii's three biggest primary races Saturday:
· District 50 was Ed Case's few bright spots in his blowout loss against Mazie Hirono.
· District 50 was the site of Tulsi Gabbard's largest victory margin over Mufi Hannemann in the 2nd Congressional District primary.
· District 50 was one of Ben Cayetano's strongest bases of support in the Honolulu mayor's race
The wealthier areas Case won could be tough for Hirono in November. There were 13 House districts where Hirono secured between 50 percent and 55 percent of the Democratic Party primary vote, including the Waialae seat currently held by retiring Republican Barbara Marumoto and other districts across the Windward side and southern shore of Oahu.
None of those relative weak spots — emphasis on relative — were on neighbor islands.
Hirono performed strongest on Maui, racking up more than 70 percent of the Democratic vote in District 9 (Kahului), District 8 (Wailuku) and District 13 (Molokai, Lanai, Hana). Of the seven other districts in which Hirono eclipsed 65 percent, six were on neighbor islands and only District 44 (Nanakuli) is on Oahu.
read … HD 50 Kailua
Molokai: Walter Ritte Hopes for Wind Farm Payoff from New Project Director
CB: Developers can now pitch projects on other islands that can reach Oahu via an undersea cable, or on Oahu itself. The process is now open to other renewable sources of energy besides wind — geothermal, for instance, or solar….
Walter Ritte, a longtime community activist on Molokai, who has remained open to the opportunity of a wind farm, said that the company hasn’t made any progress.
“It hasn’t gone anywhere,” he said of the project.
Ritte says there is no reason to support it.
“We haven’t heard one word about how this wind farm is going to benefit Molokai,” he said. “We have no idea how the future of Molokai is going to be better because we have this wind farm on our island. So it’s very easy to say let’s not have the wind turbines on our island.”
The company is getting new leadership, however. Guy Kaulukukui, a top state official recently left his job as deputy director of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources to head Bio-Logical Capital’s Hawaii operations. In addition to the Molokai wind farm and undersea cable project, the company is also interested in sustainable agriculture projects, and is seeking to buy Hana Ranch.
Kaulukukui has also been the director of the Kohala Center, a conservation organization on the Big Island. He was the first native Hawaiian vice president at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu and led its cultural studies division. He has a Ph.D. in economics education from the University of Kansas.
“Hopefully Guy can do something,” said Ritte. But he said that the conversation was going to have to change dramatically.
“Somebody is going to have to say something different and do something different to get Molokai to talk about this or even change its position, if that is possible,” he said.
Kaulukukui, whose first day on the job was Wednesday, said he didn’t know how the company might overcome resistance to the wind farm.
“I haven’t had the time to closely assess the basis for the well-chronicled resistance of some Molokai residents to wind energy,” he wrote in an email. “I’m looking forward to better understanding the dynamics of the situation, after which I will be able to give you a more meaningful answer.” …
While resistance on Molokai has been stiff, Karen Holt, (Ritte crony) executive director of the Molokai Community Service Council (she hands out the welfare checks), who has supported the wind farm in the past, said she thinks there is still an opportunity to gain community support for the project.
Background:
read … Ritte Demands Money in Exchange for Support
Donovan is Fall Guy in Freitas’ Power Play
SA: Rockne Freitas, UH vice president for student affairs and university/community relations, has been serving as acting athletic director since July 11, and the position is believed to be his if he wants it. He did not return calls Sunday seeking comment about whether he would be named to the post.
Freitas was an applicant for the position twice before: in 1983, when Stan Sheriff got the job, and in 2008, when Donovan was hired. Freitas served as an assistant athletic director under Stan Sheriff. Friends of Freitas, a former All-Pro National Football League lineman with the Detroit Lions, say he is "enjoying the job" despite shuttling between the two positions….
In a statement, Apple said, "Jim is a gentlemen (sic) who has conducted himself with great honor during this difficult period. I am delighted that we have agreed to his return to full duty status and we are looking forward to a long term relationship. Jim served the university well as our athletics director, and I know that his considerable talents are an asset to the university which will benefit from his continued service."
The Donovan settlement is described as a "compromise." Donovan reportedly wanted to return as athletic director, and the UH administration, which was not willing to negotiate a multiyear contract extension, is said to have been under considerable political pressure to retain him in some capacity when he was cleared in the Wonder case….
State Senate President Shan S. Tsutsui has been among Donovan and Rich Sheriff's most public supporters among members of the Legislature. In a July 31 letter to the Maui News, Tsutsui wrote, "I am disappointed with the university's treatment of Jim and his associate Rich Sheriff."
Moreover, Tsutsui wrote, "Given all of the positive work that Jim has done and the many things he has been able to accomplish, it is my hope that, absent a finding that he was somehow complicit in the fraudulent transaction, he will be restored to his position and we will continue to build on the good things that we have started."
Speculation is that Donovan could fill a reconfigured position left by Gregg Takayama, the Manoa director of communications and government affairs, who has been on leave to run for office. Takayama on Saturday won the Democratic primary for the state Senate seat in District 34.
Takayama's salary is less than half of what Donovan is to receive.
ILind: Donovan deal insults UH faculty, students, and public
read … Fall guy in Freitas’ power play
Fisheries Service pressed to use false killer whales in war on Longliners
SA: Steiner's group and the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Earthjustice, sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in June, saying the agency failed to complete a plan to protect false killer whales under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Michael Tosatto, the Pacific islands regional administrator for the fisheries service, said the agency is working toward developing a final plan.
Tosatto said the agency is reviewing the draft stock assessment report and requesting comments from the public, including environmentalists, the longline fishing industry and scientists.
Once the final plan is issued, Tosatto said, the goal would be to reduce the number of false killer whales eliminated by the Hawaii longline industry to nine in the first six months and to 0.9 per year within five years.
Environmental groups said the agency's latest information shows the Hawaii-based longline fisheries are killing an average of over 13 false killer whales each year — four beyond the number for a sustainable population.
read … Fisheries Service pressed to protect false killer whales
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