Entries for February 2015

...If approved, non-profits directed by Grace, the Paradise Lua porta-potty magnate who beat the rap for the 1999 Aloha Stadium porta-potty fire bombings, would be eligible for millions of dollars to fund proposals such as the "Paradise Ohana Heart and Vascular Center, Inc."....

The 2015 Neighborhood Board elections will be held in April and May of this year. At stake are 437 seats on Oahu’s 33 Neighborhood Boards, whose volunteer members hold monthly meetings and serve as advisors on community concerns....

...the role, vision and challenges of the GOP in Hawaii....

The event was attended by approximately 80-100 members of public, some legislators, legislature staff and members of the shipping industry....

As the Minority member on the House Special Committee to investigate the residency challenge to Rep. Calvin Say, I know many people expected me to put forward a dissenting opinion....

...the proposed laws could actually increase obesity by increasing poverty....

...not all damage from the past recession has been repaired....

...Japanese arrivals decreased 4.9 percent to 110,969 visitors....

...Ige held a news conference to provide information about his participation in the National Governors Association Winter Meeting....

At 6:10 a.m. Thursday (February 26), Kona Patrol officers responded to a report of a fire at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Captain Cook....

The old arguments in favor of the Act are no longer persuasive in light of the overwhelming evidence that it raises the cost of living....

...The question now is not whether the dispensary bills will pass, but more what these bills will look like....

...House Bill 1482 aims to establish a crowd-funding exemption for limited intrastate investments between Hawaii residents and Hawaii businesses....

Contrary to some reports, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are continuing to accept solar photovoltaic (PV) applications....

They Had Everything Planned So Carefully....

...Tulsi Gabbard has quietly hired an identified associate of the Chris Butler Cult as her new Chief of Staff....

The problems were partly due to mismanagement but even more, as I have suggested, to the dishonesty of the leadership and its willingness — even eagerness — to shamelessly lie to its own employees....

The next step in the process is to begin contract negotiations with Ormat, with an agreement to be submitted to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for approval....

Marijuana advocates are hard at work trying to game the system....

Italy’s largest union, Cgil, called for “a meeting with the government to discuss the possibility of blocking the sale to protect jobs and one of the country’s strategic industries.”

...a short documentary film to educate the public about the Jones Act, which will be shown this Friday, February 27, 2015 at 12pm in the Capitol Auditorium....

Also in the H&R Block report is the news that the individual mandate penalty is averaging $172. This is likely to rise in future years....

...While the FCC is inserting government bureaucracy into all aspects of Internet access, the FEC is debating whether to regulate Internet content, specifically political speech posted for free online....

"We want to encourage parents to always be the ones that are responsible for what their kids are learning in the public school system," Hawaii Family Forum's Eva Andrade said....

Neighborhood Board elections will be held in April and May of this year. At stake are 437 seats on Oahu’s 33 Neighborhood Boards....

...a surprise announcement to over 450 guests at the annual Lincoln Dinner....

"That you're not only outlining the timeline — which is troubling, but you're also talking about specifically how many troops, how many brigades, where they're coming from, and what they're going to be doing...."

The state House investigation of a challenge to former speaker Calvin Say’s right to hold his seat in Hawaii’s House of Representatives has taken a new twist....

...Thursday, March 5, 2015, from 6:00 - 7:15 p.m. at the Farrington High School Cafeteria....

Under SB358, gas will be taxed more heavily than oil....

If approved, Hawaii taxpayers could find themselves providing $44M in loan guarantees to an Indian company's jet fuel deal in England....

...we are exporting around 15%-20% of our general excise tax....

SB 473, SD1, proposing carry permit issue rules under the Federal retired Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA), has a hearing, Tuesday, 02-24 at 9:15AM....

The Hawaii State Legislature opened on January 21, 2015 and today, February 20, 2015, is DECKING.  What that means is that all bills that have been assigned to multiple committees, must have moved to their final committees....

Incorporating the precautionary principle into public policy is itself “an activity [that] raises threats of harm to human health or the environment.”....

In the past nine years, Utah has decreased the number of homeless by 72 percent—largely by finding and building apartments where they can live, permanently, with no strings attached....

The 2015 Neighborhood Board elections will be held in April and May of this year. At stake are 437 seats on Oahu’s 33 Neighborhood Boards....

... According to ITEP, payment of sales and excise taxes takes up an average of 11% of family income for the poorest 20% of earners ....

The fasted growing type of pass-through business is the S corporation....

We have good news to share about our fights against unfair taxes and regulation....

The best part of the hearing was hearing Dustin Barca go on about toxins and the horrible corporations. He even talked about how the cigarette companies and their evils. It’s weird because I just saw him smoking some corporate grown tobacco and inhaling toxins....

...the effect of this bill is to burden the compliant small businesses and owner/operator establishments by creating a system that favors larger rental companies and hotels....

The Hawaii state legislature committed three more waivers of notice....

...bills that might have negative impacts on families or communities....

The deadline to submit completed candidate and voter registration forms for Neighborhood Board elections is this Friday, February 20, 2015....

Church attendance provides ties that bind members to their communities, and research shows that at the individual level, those who are most religious have higher well-being than those who are less religious....