Entries for April 2018

...Would the delegation have chastised Obama if he had stuck to his ultimatum and struck Syria after Assad crossed Obama’s infamous “red line in the sand?”....

...Pearl City ranks 178th--5th highest--for Labor Costs....

...The Court’s 1997 ruling on the majority required to call a state constitutional convention was a travesty of justice....

... Kauai poi farmers are appealing to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) for financial aid.  Are cash payouts reserved for insiders? ....

...HB 2432, one of the bills actively being considered this session, proposes to hike the “transient occupancy tax,” or TOT, by an as-yet-unspecified amount....

...Federal Recognition advocate Esther Kiaaina and William Aila....

...Largely due to the Tesla solar-plus-storage facility that opened in March 2017, KIUC added 415.3 watts of storage per customer in 2017, more than eight times as much storage as second place honoree Tucson Electric Power....

...HB2169 Maui County Suicide Prevention Bill heads for floor votes....

...If signed into law, SB3095 will have Hawaii restaurants crawling with cockroaches--this should be almost as good for tourism as the homeless tent cities Hanabusa is planning....

...On April 25th, the Hawaii state Senate voted to pass Senate Bill 2046....

...Kim and South Korean leader Moon Jae In pledged earlier today in Panmunjom to negotiate a treaty to formally end the Korean War and also to remove all nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula....

...look at how transparency goes by the wayside at the end of the session....

...This solution has passed the House before, but not yet in the Senate; however, this time the provision is included in a major bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration....

...Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands spent a total of $4.82 billion in the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 10.1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017....

...This year, the State of Hawaii’s four-decade-old mainframe payroll system will transition to a modern payroll software and processes utilizing PeopleSoft....

...the camps are littered with hundreds of plastic bottles, a vast array of bicycle parts, inoperable mopeds, and just about anything you can imagine....

...OHA Administration was tasked with reporting back on the feasibility and timing of such a plan by June 30....

...Highest Median Annual Wage for Real Estate Agents–Honolulu and Pearl City tied for #1....

...Justice Anthony Kennedy, who likely holds the deciding vote, appeared to agree, noting the order at issue was more detailed than similar proclamations issued by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. He elsewhere rejected hypotheticals proffered by Kagan and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, noting other legal avenues exist to address the abuses envisioned in their scenarios....

... In 1998 Hanabusa and Nakata teamed up with Mafia Godfather Larry Mehau to get rid of Attorney General Margery Bronster in an effort to protect the corrupt thieving Broken Trustees of Kamehameha Schools--now her Legislators want to give him a big fat stack of money....

... Update to the bills list introduced by members of our Republican Caucus that crossed over to the Senate ....

...The Hawaii Supreme Court Disciplinary Board oversees the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates allegations of attorney misconduct and incapacity, and recommends appropriate action....

... meet the people who covered for the Godfather ....

...Hawaii has the highest proportion of 'A' grade hospitals in USA....

...5th highest proportion of adults with ‘Gambling Problem’....

...The rankings are scored on net price, net debt, alumni earnings, timely graduation, school quality and access for low-income students....

...Vicious Circle: Cost of Living Jumps--So 'Affordable' Rents Jump Too....

...According to March data, the state with the lowest Affordability Score was Hawaii (0.52)....

...SB 2609 will allow the redaction of all financial interest amounts on public financial disclosure statements of volunteer members of certain state boards, commissions, and agencies....

...​HSTA Slush Fund Unlimited Tax Increases in Your Future....

...From 2010 through 2015, the Sierra Club Foundation received more than $18 million and Natural Resources Defense Council received more than $15 million....

"...I don’t want to vote for None of the Above...."

... a sibling says Peter Boy wasn’t home-schooled, he just didn’t go to school ....

...lots of surprises as lawmakers press forward....

...this can only mean one thing--more rate hikes coming....

...Over the past 15 years, the people of Hawaii have paid 260% more for electricity than the US average, while gasoline prices consistently hover close to $1-per-gallon higher.  (But we can go even higher)....

...this budget provides $15 million to fund homeless services, $3 million more than requested by the Governor....

...Conference Committee Members Assigned....

...and 44% non-religious, 8th-least religious in USA....

...Hawaii has the seventh-smallest average gross ROI in flips at less than 30 percent. Plus, its median home list price of over $900,000, the highest nationwide, ties up a lot of your capital at a time....

...rail, during its 20 hours of daily operation, will use more energy per passenger-mile than is used today by one person in a gas-combustion automobile....

...Panos Prevedouros, chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, estimates that it will cost at least $13 billion....

...Randy Awo, David Kaapu, Zachary Helm....

...the islands of American Samoa were exempted from maritime cabotage by the Tripartite Convention of 1899 concluding the Second Samoan Civil War....

...Senate Bill 2046 would make it a crime to manufacture, import, sell, gift, lend, or possess certain trigger modification....

...“Let’s unite and return OHA to its true mission,” says King on announcing his candidacy....

...Office of Curriculum seeking broad input from educators and the public on the draft Secondary (grades 6-12) Social Studies Standards through April 30, 2018.... 

...The driver, who was alone in the car, used crutches to stand when he got out of the vehicle and spoke limited English....

...In the latest edition of “Rich States, Poor States,” Hawaii ranked 45th overall. One of the biggest reasons for that low ranking was Hawaii’s high level of taxation....

...Analysis Reveals Hawaii Federal Lawmakers’ Extreme Liberal Voting Records....