This informational briefing will cover the topic of food safety as it concerns and relates to farmers, wholesalers and retailers in Hawaii....

· DATE: Tuesday, December 11, 2012

· TIME: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

· PLACE: Conference Room 229, State Capitol, 415 South Beretania Street

Higher income Asian economies have suffered the most from the trade falloff. At the same time, labor markets and fiscal conditions in East and Southeast Asian developing countries remain far stronger than in the developed world....

In his prior role at the Department of Attorney General, Wisch served as special assistant to the Attorney General....

Yesterday’s announcement that Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is leaving the U.S. Senate to replace Edwin J. Feulner as president of The Heritage Foundation surprised the political establishment in Washington and underlined Heritage’s role as a key institution for America’s future....

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the impact of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on the chain restaurant industry....

The volunteers that were supporting Moanalua have decided to put on a charity concert to benefit Mercy Ships. It will take place at the New Hope Ministry Center (290 Sand Island Access Road) on Friday, December 7th at 730pm

They do not want to protect fish. They only want to eliminate fishermen who stand in the way of their ocean based businesses....

Hawaii this year will collect $186 million in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 4.8 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs....

“This argument over what is covered by the contract and what isn’t, is a distraction and a deflection from the real issue - the fact that teachers have been disrespected by the governor.” -- Wil Okabe, HSTA President

... this wave of scientific progress faces opposition from anti-science and anti-technology groups. Consider these examples that have been hampered by activism ....

...every day now brings another business owner in the news talking about cutting workers’ hours or making other cost-cutting moves in anticipation of Obamacare’s impact in 2013....

Taxes on wages, dividends, interest, and partnership/sole proprietor income would exceed 50 percent only in Hawaii, California, and New York City….

The move being considered by Congress to raise the eligibility age from 65 to 67 would leave 26,893 seniors without health coverage (based on current beneficiary data), forcing them into the private insurance market, which is estimated to cost them an additional $2,200 per year*.

President Obama wants to do away with Congress when it comes to raising the country’s legal debt limit....

The UH BoR and Greenwood reviewed the findings of the Senate Special Committee regarding the oversight, accountability, and transparency of the operational and financial management of the university and agree with its recommendations calling for greater transparency and accountability (two out of three ain't bad).... 

Over 200 teams from schools statewide came to the Neil Blaisdell Center this weekend to compete and showcase their robots in the 2012 Hawaii FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Championships....

The spending ranges from less than 8 percent in Hawaii, where nursing home use is low, to more than 60 percent in North Dakota....

When President Obama put forth his first offer on the fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said, “You can’t be serious.” We could say the same thing to the Speaker after his counteroffer yesterday.

Full Council Hearing This Wednesday Dec. 5th Includes Rail: The Final Vote....

•             Senate: Sportsmens Access to Federal Land – Motion to Waive

•             Senate: Disability Treaty – Motion to Proceed

•             Senate: Defense Authorization – Amendment

•             House: STEM Visa Program – Final Passage

Number of working youth dropped by almost half since 2000; employment among young people at lowest level since 1950s....

The five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in October 2012 were: South Dakota (19), District of Columbia (64), Hawaii (452), North Dakota (511) and Maine (643)....

High tech met traditional tech when a group of US Navy Seabees pitched in to help the Waa’gey traditional canoe project in Yap, Micronesia....

...The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals held in this unpublished memorandum order that the Commission must hold a "contested case" hearing upon demand....

In keeping with a long tradition in Hawaii that land use cases are litigated in court on procedural rather than substantive grounds, the opening skirmish in Sierra Club v. D. R. Horton was fought over whether one of the parties’ appeal in the case should be disallowed....

Why would someone criticize such a storied name in American charity as ours?....

Obama’s answer to the fiscal cliff is a proposed $1.6 trillion in tax hikes plus new stimulus spending—and expanded power for himself to raise the debt ceiling....

"...the aquarium take on Maui is literally a drop in the bucket, representing less than 2% of the total mortality of (Maui) reef animals that year...."

Discover the Public's Power in the Legislative Process....

Hawaii was the only state to show a significant increase in the number of uninsured children from 2009-2011....

...some taxes are already scheduled to rise as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)....

The elections are over and the governing is to come. Now is the time for citizens to step up and get involved. Here are the ways....

...the United Nation’s is holding its annual “We’ve got to save the planet this year or it’s too late and we’re all doomed — no really, this time we mean it,” Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Doha, Qatar this year.... 

More than 4 million people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 did not vote this year. But by applying new voter science, Obama nudged enough replacements in key states — many who were rare or first-time voters — to give him his margin of victory....

These two bills would force states to recognize concealed carry permits issued by any other states....

...proposal to list 66 species of corals under the Endangered Species Act....

This review has found the entire student transportation services program to be in need of systemic change.

• Honorable Harry P. Freitas as District Court Judge, Third Circuit-term expires on May 31, 2013
• Honorable Lloyd X. Van De Car as District Family Court Judge, Third Circuit-term expires on May 31, 2013
• Honorable Rhonda A. Nishimura as Circuit Court Judge, First Circuit-term expires on June 19, 2013

Governor Abercrombie has 30 days from his receipt of the list today to make his appointment.

The White House’s proposal? $1.6 trillion in tax increases, $50 billion in new stimulus spending, and a change that would make it easier to raise the debt limit....

Among the 50 states, the top 10 least competitive commercial health insurance markets are in: 1. Alabama, 2. Hawaii, 3. Michigan....

 ... $3.7 million for capital improvement projects (CIPs) at Hilo Medical Center ....

...this action should not be taken as a sign that the Supreme Court is reconsidering the merits of the claims it addressed in NFIB....

The U.S. Supreme Court decides next week whether to hear challenges to laws defining marriage as the conjugal union of a man and a woman....

Census Bureau Reports More Adults Living in Shared Households, More Receiving Food Stamps, Public Assistance Unchanged....

Starting on Monday, the 193 member states of the ITU will meet in Dubai to update the 1988 International Telecommunications Regulations.  The ITU is looking to transform itself into a “global Internet rule maker” ....

Matson estimates the combined increase of the rate adjustment and terminal handling charge will result in shipping costs rising by an average of 5.6 percent.

A Quality Teacher in Every Classroom was approved by Leeward HSTA to be shared with the HSTA board on Saturday....

Hawaii has completed more than 90 percent of its RTTT grant deliverables in the past 24 months....