Environment

• Effective immediately and until further notice, all new Fannie Mae foreclosures in Hawaii must be commenced as judicial foreclosures.
• Effective immediately, all pending Fannie Mae non-judicial foreclosures in Hawaii that have not proceeded to sale should be dismissed and converted to judicial foreclosures.

Abercrombie’s bizarre attack on the Pro-Bowl is part of Progressive Democrats’ ongoing war against Mufi Hannemann, Dan Inouye, and the “old-boy” Democrats. And this is not Abercrombie’s first attack on Mufi’s new base in the Hawaii tourism industry....

The Oahu Advisory Council of the Reapportionment Commission will meet Wednesday June 15 at 8AM in the State Capitol Conference room 329. Public testimony will be accepted.

The Naval Air Museum Barbers Point (NAMBP) will be hosting Hawaii Youth Challenge Graduating Cadets for a time of exploring real aircraft, beginning at 1300 through 1530 on Monday, June 13, 2011.  

“since taking office six months ago, Tax Director Fred Pablo has reviewed the department’s operations and noticed unusual reporting in monthly tax revenue reports. Pablo immediately addressed these concerns by conducting and completing an internal investigation and analysis of the revenue reports.”

Will Hawaii be saddled with the second-rate already failed ACO/Medical Home scheme promoted by Gov Abercrombie? The Washington Post is already debunking this failure before we start:

The Democratic candidate for governor was always a loud-mouthed hippie who had all the answers. I didn't forget....

Growing evidence from both sides of the Atlantic indicates that performance models based on wind data often promise levels of generation substantially above actual wind power output.

Sorting through different groups and deciding who to include, or who not to include in consideration for representation, I believe should be a non-issue. All should be included.

Hawaii’s per pupil expenditure climbed to $12,399 in 2009, ranking it as the 11^th highest in the nation, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report. This new rate marks a 12% increase compared to the previous year.

Some Democrats have advocated counting rapists, child molesters, pimps, drug dealers and other convicted felons and prison inmates but not counting the military personnel who put it all on the line to defend America.   The final decision was postponed until the next meeting.

Moving forward on his plan to invest in young children, Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced Terry Lock as the Governor’s Early Childhood Coordinator....

Your bargaining committee met with representatives of management for collective bargaining talks on May 24 and May 25. Darren Carroll, of TNG-CWA, was our chief negotiator. Ron Leong, an attorney, was management’s lead negotiator....

Ratings may be helpful during election periods .... 

Turnaround on vacant units was slow, adversely impacting families on the waiting list as well as rent collections. As of February 15, 2011, the authority had a total of 233 vacant units that either had pending maintenance work or were available for rent; overall, these units had been vacant an average of six months.

The meeting is on Saturday, June 18th at 1:00 PM at the Kona Vistas Pavilion.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) took action to improve operations at its State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) and ensure federal compliance. The Department awarded a contract to Solutions Pacific, LLC to implement recommendations of the National Park Service’s Corrective Action Plan.  

In November of 2011, MMNA will launch the battery-powered electric vehicle Mitsubishi i ....

In anticipation of the CIO’s arrival, OIMT has begun an assessment intended to provide an overview of technology across the state. OIMT selected Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to lead this assessment.

The American Medical Group Association said a survey of its members found that 93 percent wouldn't enroll as ACOs in the main proposed Medicare program.

You irresponsibly abuse the public’s trust in your organization and their concern for the health of their loved ones by falsely claiming that USEPA has not set a standard for Cr VI in the drinking water and demanding that it do so. This is a blatant lie. ...  Any high school student with access to the internet could have determined this. Given that EWG has been working on this issue for years, I can’t believe that your staff is incompetent enough not to know this.

Ours is the greatest country. Not just our founding principles, but our history and our continued promise. Our freedoms, balance of majority rule and minority rights, inclusion of new peoples. It’s not always easy being an American. We make mistakes, get out of balance, rarely take a straight path to a better future. But our foundations are sound, we self-correct, and we have bettered our world at great sacrifice. By staying true to our principles and heritage in a changing world, we will prevail.

Freedom Rankings for Hawaii

• #47 Overall
• #46 Economic
• #43 Personal

The report was produced by the Hawaii State Data Center, a part of the Research and Economic Analysis Division of DBEDT, from data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2010 Redistricting Data ....

Arraignment and plea is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at 8:30 a.m., in Courtroom 7C before the Honorable Randal Shintani.

 Recent Congressional Votes

• House: Debt Limit Increase
• House: Homeland Security Appropriations, FY 2012
• House: Use of Ground Forces in Libya
• House: Libya Troop Withdrawal

  Lets invite Al Gore to go skiing....

On rail, the current and previous city administration and city councils have shown anything but real leadership. Given the philosophy of government by polling at Honolulu Hale, we should get rid of the mayor's office and the city council. Instead, we could save a lot of money by just retaining a good polling company and have the polling firm lead our community.

The Democrat-controlled Illinois redistricting commission has apparently re-drawn the Illinois 8th Congressional District especially to include the home of Tammy Duckworth.

...Last month we were worrying that the always ambitious, always reactionary corporate shill, Ed Case, would get a free ride for the Senate seat he once tried to steal from Dan Akaka, a progressive who is now retiring....

...The grant will support initiatives proposed by Marc Alexander, the Governor’s Coordinator on Homelessness, including rapid housing and supportive services for people who are chronically homeless ....

Hanabusa supported Speaker John Boehner’s resolution demanding that Obama seek approval of the war under the War Powers Act within 14 days.  Hanabusa also supported a resolution offered by Rep Dennis Kucinich demanding US withdrawal from Libya within 15 days.

Hirono opposed both resolutions, essentially agreeing that the President may go to war without Congressional approval. This position differs sharply with her loud opposition to the Iraq war under President Bush.

The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Military Affairs Council and The Hawaii Institute For Public Affairs hosted a $35-a-ticket-event for the report co-sponsored by defense contractor BAE Systems yesterday.

• Ranked 1 for cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for Ozone
• Ranked 1 for cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for 24-hour particle pollution
• Ranked 4 for cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for annual particle pollution  

...there’s no opportunity for the Consumer Advocate to be a part of that process to say on behalf of the consumer, ‘We don’t believe that this rate increase is legitimate. We don’t believe you should authorize it.’ .... 

The legislators state that..."all ten members of the nationally recognized Physician Group Practice (PGP) CMS demonstration project" have expressed reservations over the regulation ...(and)... a recent report from American Hospital Association estimated that ACO startup costs would be at least 10 times higher than costs cited in the proposed rule.

You’re hearing a lot of Democratic criticism about the Medicare budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives.

What you need to hear more about are the changes to Medicare already enacted as part of the Obama health care law.

Life of the Land has filed a Motion to Intervene in PUC Docket 2011-0112. The docket was opened so that HECO could acquire nearly $4M of ratepayer money for completed Big Wind studies. This is illegal. Rate recovery can only occur after acceptance of the Final EIS.

These projects are aimed at improving and/or constructing learning facilities and campus environments within the Department of Education and the University of Hawai'i....

...On June 15^th from 7pm to 9pm at the brand new Ewa Makai Middle School in Ewa Beach, Berg will host several guest presenters in order to facilitate the public being able to form an up-to-date understanding of what they can truly expect from the rail project....

DoD expenditures in Hawaii during FY 2007–2009 averaged $6.5 billion per year in 2009 dollars — $4.1 billion for personnel and $2.4 billion for procurement. These expenditures were associated with $12.2 billion worth of Hawaii's output — 18 percent of Hawaii's 2009 GDP — and 101,000 jobs.

Congresswomen Hirono and Hanabusa are clearly part of the problem in Washington and have offered no solutions other than spending more money. This vote alone is a good reason why Congresswoman Hirono does not deserve or belong in the U.S. Senate.

Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: FY2012 House Budget Resolution
• Senate: President’s FY2012 Budget Resolution
• Senate: Patriot Act Extensions
• House: National Defense Authorization Act, FY2012
• House: Patriot Act Extensions

There is upon your desk an emergency appropriation by the legislature (HB838) awaiting your signature to fund the functions of the Reapportionment Commission and its temporary staff positions.

IAM is fortunate and pleased to announce that on June 2 at 6 p.m. at the Kulana `Oiwi Halau, Robin Kaye from Friends of Lanai (FOL) will be sharing the “Lanai Wind Fall Out” video and their experience with the Big Wind and undersea cable project.

Arrogantly, Abercrombie states that “we” –ie the State—have to “deal with” the question: “Are we extending life or are we prolonging death?”

...we noticed a very strong change in the legislature this year towards religious entities. Comments directed at Hawaii Family Forum, and other religious organizations, were negative. Pro‐family supporters walked away from several hearings disheartened at the way legislators allowed, and in some cases perpetuated, back‐ended derogatory comments about religious institutions. We have never before seen this type of discrimination at the capitol....

This spring, on Sunday, May 29, 2011, we will again create a festive environment to commemorate Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel's Independence Day....

Representative Gene Ward, Ph.D. speaks with Dianne Glei Event Chair, for the Independence Day at Maunalua Bay; Kevin Nitta, treasurer of the Independence Day at Maunalua Bay Foundation and Laura Buck, the IDMB Foundation president.

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies CONDEMNS the attempt by Maui authorities to force this disclosure, and SUPPORTS the right of Maui Time and Tommy Russo to oppose this subpoena and CALLS ON the district attorney of Maui to immediately withdraw this subpoena and cease all efforts to chill the free speech rights of Maui Time readers.