Just sayin' -- spinmeisters deconstruct Hawaii GOP congressional victory

Let the spin begin.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou's victory in Saturday's special election to fill one of only two Hawaii congressional seats was just about a foregone conclusion after two Democrats split the winner-take-all ticket.  Djou won with 39.4 percent of the vote, compared to state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa’s 30.8 percent and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case’s 27.6 percent.

So it's not all that surprising that the prognosticators and spinmeisters jumped on stage early to help us understand just what this newest development means to the political parties battling for control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

“How did a Republican win in Obama's Hawaii hometown?” asks the Christian Science Monitor. “Hawaii gives Rep. Pete Sessions/NRCC a needed boost after drubbing in Pennsylvania,” proclaims the Dallas Morning News.

Sure the loss, even temporarily, of a Democratic seat in this bluest of the blue states is bound to be bit of a national embarrassment for the Democratic Party, especially for the president. And the national GOP can take away some bragging rights, at least in the short term.

But folks would be wise to heed the mantra of the late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill that “all politics is local.” This has absolutely nothing to do with the broader picture, especially in Hawaii, whose people rarely look beyond their little rocks bobbing in the great blue Pacific over to what is universally here called “the Mainland,” as if it’s just another much larger rock bobbing in the same deep blue ocean.

Instead, this all about the local Democrats, and their bitter feud to claim a seat that in their minds, is historically and rightfully theirs.  It’s also about the Democratic new guard bumping up against the Democratic old guard and the battle that sees longtime kingmaker Sen. Daniel Inouye gradually losing his grip on the reins of power he’s controlled for decades.

There’s even some spin associated with that: “Finishing order shows influence of Inouye pick,” proclaims the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In other words, says a prognosticator in that article, Inouye, by anointing Hanabusa, didn’t pick the winner, but he did pick the loser.

Which boils down to that old saw by Will Rogers, that “I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat.” That is never more true than right here, right now.

Lucky for this splintered party that voters – not candidates, egos and kingmakers – will chose the Democrat who faces off against Djou in November.

Djou is right to revel in his victory. He should proceed to Washington amid congratulations for being the first Republican in almost 20 years to breach that not-so-thin blue line. But he might be wise to take out a short-term rental of an apartment there.

Because the silly season ain’t done yet. Just sayin’.

BREAKING -- Republican Djou wins Hawaii Congressional District 1 -- first GOP in almost 20 years

From state Office of Elections:

Congressional District I
98 of 98
(R) DJOU, Charles 67,274 39.5%
(D) HANABUSA, Colleen 52,445 30.8%
(D) CASE, Ed 47,012 27.6%
(D) DEL CASTILLO, Rafael (Del) 654 0.4%
(N) STRODE, Kalaeloa 489 0.3%
(N) BREWER, Jim 269 0.2%
(D) LEE, Philmund (Phil) 254 0.1%
(R) COLLINS, Charles (Googie) 192 0.1%
(R) AMSTERDAM, C. Kaui Jochanan 169 0.1%
(D) BROWNE, Vinny 149 0.1%
(N) TATAII, Steve 123 0.1%
(R) CRUM, Douglas 107 0.1%
(R) GIUFFRE, John (Raghu) 82 0.0%
(N) MOSELEY, Karl F. 79 0.0%
Blank Votes: 134
Over Votes: 880 0.5%
0.1%
REGISTRATION AND TURNOUT
****************************************
****************************************
SPECIAL
TOTAL REGISTRATION
TOTAL TURNOUT
ABSENTEE TURNOUT
317,337
52.9%
0.7%
PRECINCT TURNOUT
170,312 53.7%
168,010
2,302
OVERSEAS TURNOUT
****************************************
****************************************
OVERSEAS BALLOTS CAST
1ST CONGRESSIONAL
2ND CONGRESSIONAL
285
0
285 0.0%

State tax checks in the mail, the taxman leaveth, Big Island still loves its pickup trucks, water the issue on Maui, UH may hike tuition, Kileauea wows the media, more top Hawaii news

Saying pickup trucks are some families' only mode of transportation, the Hawaii County Council on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at keeping passengers from riding in open truck beds.

In this day and age of volatile gas prices and a downward-spiraling economy, drivers may be increasingly more inclined to accept that driving is a privilege rather than a right.

It's not a lot of money in the scheme of Hawai'i's $50 billion-plus economy. But the nearly $125 million in state tax refunds that start going out today will provide a welcome psychological lift as businesses try to come back from an exhausting economic downturn.

State Tax Director Kurt Kawafuchi will be leaving his job June 15, Gov. Linda Lingle's office said yesterday.

Gov. Linda Lingle invited about two dozen public school principals, teachers and parents to her office Thursday, to discuss three education bills awaiting her signature.


A bill making its way through Congress could provide Hawai'i with an estimated $91 million to save education jobs and potentially help eliminate furlough Fridays next school year, according to U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's office.

Hawaii will move its primary from late September to the second Saturday in August starting in 2012 to comply with a federal law intended to ensure that military and overseas voters get ballots within 45 days before elections.

Mail-In Voting The Winner In Special Election

A fundraising letter from the Republican National Committee that rankled Congress into passing a law banning deceptive mailings because they could be mistaken for an official U.S. Census document appears to be making the rounds in Hawaii.

University of Hawaii administrators are weighing whether to propose a tuition increase beginning in the fall of 2012.

Media Council of Hawaii is filing another complaint to the Federal Communications Commission about the merger between KGMB, KHNL and KFVE.

Every year thousands of visitors travel to Kilauea on the Big Island for a chance to see one of the most active volcanoes in the world. A massive plume still billows from the active lava filled vents.

Halemaumau Crater has been putting on a show like this since March 2008.

The public is being asked to comment on major improvements for Highway 130 -- the Keaau-Pahoa Road -- that may cost in excess of $100 million.

With the relaxing of water limits and removal of the penalty of jail time, the Hawaii County Council on Wednesday found a water spigot bill it could agree upon.

The proposed Villages of Aina Lea South Kohala development would offer some new regional road connectivity, with a mauka-makai road between the development, which is mauka of the Mauna Lani Resort, and nearby Waikoloa.

A U.S. Geological Survey study 4 years in the making and released this week describes the effects of taking millions of gallons of water daily from "the Four Streams" of Na Wai Eha that originate in the West Maui Mountains.

The state Commission on Water Resource Management will take up a petition next week to set new instream-flow standards for 16 East Maui streams.

The Pioneer Mill abandoned the sugarcane fields of Lahaina in 1999, and the browning of the once verdant slopes of the West Maui Mountains began.

A car running on java plum wood chips was the star of the 14th Annual Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day, Thursday.

Paddleboarders, swimmers at odds, Kauai utility faces EPA sanctions, counties contemplate cuts, congressional election looms, more top Hawaii news

The state installs a boundary of buoys in an effort to resolve the fight for space between paddlers and swimmers at Ala Moana Beach Park

The buoys were placed in a row just off-shore as a way to prevent conflict in the water, only they instead caused some confusion.

The surf world is in mourning. Hawaiian waterman Marvin Foster has died.

Important clean energy projects have opened a rift in Hawaii's environmental community.

Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative was informed Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has obtained an indictment of the cooperative for violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The central Pacific should see only two or three tropical cyclones this hurricane season — fewer than normal — but federal and state officials yesterday pleaded with everyone to be ready for the Big One.

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka met Wed- nesday with Solicitor General Elena Kagan regarding her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hannemann campaign official says mayor will run for governor

State elections officials began counting the ballots in the special election for Congress yesterday while the top candidates made last-minute appeals to voters.

Hawaii elections officials on Wednesday reported that 46 percent of the ballots in the special election for Hawaii's congressional race have been returned.

In Hawaii's winner-take-all special election to fill a 1st Congressional District vacancy, candidates are struggling before Saturday's deadline to increase voter turn out.

The election of either Charles Djou or Colleen Hanabusa in this Saturday's Congressional District 1 election would put into motion a process leading to a short-term replacement.

A proposal to build the world's largest telescope atop Mauna Kea has cleared another hurdle.

The state is feeling more optimistic about the strength of the economic recovery.

Big Island homeowners fearful that a neighbor's tree may fall onto their property and cause damage or injury don't have many places to turn.

When longtime residents of this small town needed a road paved, they did what families here have done for years -- they contacted their county councilman and asked. And asked. And asked.

Some Hawaii County Council members say they want greater assurances a reorganized Transportation Agency won't cost more before they approve it as part of the budget.

Maui fire officials and their supporters made a last-ditch effort Tuesday to oppose funding cuts for the county's fire and rescue helicopter, but County Council members stuck with their plan to trim $90,000 from the program.

As far as massacres go, the one that occurred in Hilo on Aug. 1, 1938, was mild, resulting in 50 injuries and no deaths.

Charlene Prickett said her friends are going to make her a T-shirt that on the front reads "FHB -- fucking haole bitch, the lady at the end of the street," and on the back, "My friends call me Charlene."

Property tax increases looming in counties across the state, Native Hawaiian remains at issue on Oahu, Kauai, state health subsidy aims to stem unemployment, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

The tax increase on people who own their homes but don't live in them was presented as a way to protect resident homeowners from additional taxes.

Farmers and hoteliers joined forces Monday to decry tax increases they say hit the county's two main economic drivers the hardest.

The public sent a unanimous message to the Hawaii County Council at a Monday night hearing: Don't raise real property tax rates.

The Maui County Council voted unanimously Monday to fix the real property tax rates as it had last discussed them in April, but two members voted with reservations.

A forensic anthropologist has confirmed that remains found by Army contractors Friday at a Schofield Barracks construction site were human remains, the Army said Tuesday.

More than five years after opening for business, the Keeaumoku Street Walmart and Sam's Club have seen the end to a legal challenge to their construction.

Wailua path project delayed amid Hawaiian protest

Hawaii's special election wraps up this weekend, but what happens after the next Congressional Representative is chosen?

Tax collections needed to pay the city's share of a planned elevated commuter rail line are running flat year-over-year with two months to go in fiscal 2010. If they continue at their current pace, transit tax collections are headed for a third straight year of little to no growth.

Small businesses in Hawaii are getting a big boost. The state says hire someone who is collecting unemployment right now and we'll help you pay for them.

As owners of a small home construction business in Waimanalo, Ozzy and Shontaz Naweli say one of the primary roadblocks to hiring new workers is the cost of providing health care.

In 2009, 95 percent of the applications were approved, meaning a record high 33,678 firearms were registered last year, outpacing the previous year by 30 percent.

The value of building permits authorized in Hawaii County increased in March, compared with the same month last year, while the number of permits decreased slightly.

A group of around 20 volunteers worked diligently last Friday to cultivate a small piece of land that soon will thrive with papayas, bananas and taro. This is not a farm or backyard–it’s in the heart of urban Honolulu at the Institute for Human Services (IHS) homeless shelter.

Keiki on board -- no smoke in car now law on Big Island, Hawaii Five-O coming back to TV, Lingle weighs in on congressional race, Abercrombie opens West Hawaii HQ, city parking contractors say boss stole $250,000, more top Hawaii news

Gov. Linda Lingle has rebuked claims made by Hawaii’s three former governors, who said Sunday electing republican Charles Djou to Congress would not bode well for the state’s congressional delegation.

Smiling candidate? Check. Photos with keiki? Yep. Red, white and blue background? Uh-huh. Prominently placed "Contribute" button. Duh.

Hawaii elections officials are reporting that almost 41 percent of the ballots mailed to registered voters in the contest for Hawaii's vacant congressional seat have been returned.

The delay of state refund checks has been lifted, somewhat.

Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday that she would release most tax refunds sooner than expected because revenue collections have improved as the state's economy improves.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie opened his West Hawaii campaign headquarters Sunday evening in Kailua-Kona, where he encouraged people to "break away from the false comfort of the status quo" and help change the current political climate.

Even though it has not been announced by CBS, a revamped version of "Hawaii Five-0" will finally see the light of day as part of the network's upcoming fall season lineup

'Hawaii Five-O', take two! In showbiz slang, the Five-O pilot has been picked up.

When the owners of KGMB9, KHNL and K5 television stations launched Hawaii News Now in October, they characterized the deal as a newsroom merger and not as an ownership change.

A bill signed into law yesterday expands the list of felony charges that prosecutors can levy against a suspect without going through the grand jury process.

Local anti-smoking advocates are applauding a new Big Island law that prohibits smoking in a vehicle when a minor is present.

The former general manager of a city parking concessionaire told KITV4 two city officials and co-workers helped a former city parking lot manager steal $250,000 from two city parking lots.

At the Big Island Regional Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV) Tournament, held Saturday at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Student Life Center Pool, Hilo High student Quintin Watanabe prepares to launch his team's underwater robot.

A new Kihei high school, a second Wailuku elementary school, a replacement cafeteria at Paia Elementary and a bigger one at Lahainaluna High School are the Maui District's big-ticket items moving forward soon, a top state Department of Education official said recently.

What can you do with $287? That is the fine for having an illegal tint on an automobile as stated in the citation book used by Kaua‘i Police Department officers.

Cockfight bust scatters 500, former governors band against Djou, televised Honolulu City Council meetings could fall to budget ax, UH studies deep-sea vents, Hilo branch to get new chancellor, more Hawaii news

A deep-sea expedition headed by a University of Hawaii geologist has yielded insights into one of Earth's most active volcanic areas, in the Galapagos Islands.

Showing a united front in a party that has been described as divided, Hawaii's last three governors, all Democrats, warned yesterday that the election of Republican Charles Djou to the U.S. House would be a setback for Hawaii.

Three former Democratic governors asked voters yesterday to choose a Democrat in the special election for Congress and prevent Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou, a Republican, from taking advantage of a divided electorate.

Less than a week left in the special election and democrats are worried a republican could win the race for congress.

The latest ad campaign from Republican Charles Djou blasts Democratic opponent Ed Case.

Three of Hawaii's past governors are calling on voters to keep the 1st Congressional District seat Democratic

Here are some of the questions and answers that didn't make it into our one hour long debate-- like what the candidates have done and will do to help small businesses.

When construction begins on Honolulu's rail line is now up to the governor and federal government. But it's unlikely that the mayor who's been the force behind the project will be in his office for the groundbreaking.

Four O'ahu men have been charged with animal cruelty after Honolulu police raided a Nānākuli cockfight attended by an estimated 500 people Saturday afternoon.

Residents of Hakimo Road in Nanakuli have split opinions regarding a massive police raid in their neighborhood Saturday. Officers armed with a search warrant broke up a cockfighting event that was attended by an estimated 500 people.

Fifty-one of the most beautiful women took the stage for the 2010 Miss USA Pageant.

A plan by some City Council members to chop funding for the televised broadcasts of its committee meetings is starting to draw protests from their colleagues and others.

New legislation would place limits on the use of leaf blowers, offering some relief to residents from the noisy machine — but not as much as some had hoped for.

Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration appears to be moving quickly to convert the Hawaii County Band into a private nonprofit corporation.

The dean of science at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona has been tabbed to succeed Rose Tseng as University of Hawaii at Hilo chancellor.

West Hawaii, which accounts for 76.2 percent of all property value in the county, is set to be hit the hardest by property tax hikes proposed by Mayor Billy Kenoi.

The 10th Maui Matsuri was held on Saturday at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

Biotechnology is a viable industry, said agricultural expert Douglas Jones during a luncheon hosted by the Hawai‘i Crop Improvement Association and the Chamber of Commerce last week at JJ’s Broiler.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Engineering Division will hold a public information meeting on Wednesday, May 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to discuss a planned improvement project at Maalaea Small Boat Harbor.

Just sayin' -- Veil of secrecy threatens access to Hawaii public records

I guess if a journalist were allowed to have an opinion about anything, it would be access to public records.

So it's appropriate here to post two letters the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter recently sent to Gov. Linda Lingle, asking her to veto two insidious bills the state Legislature passed this year. I'm the signatory on these letters, and I did write them, but they represent the opinion of the SPJ board, on behalf of FOIA-ers everywhere.

As a moonlighting FOIA lobbyist, I guess I’d better keep my day job. Lingle on Wednesday signed the bill formerly known as “vexatious requestor” and now simply known as the  “birther” bill, and we can only hope that it won’t take on a life of its own and continue past its original purpose. Talk about vexatious!

Still to come – what the governor decides to do with the public’s right to know about complaints filed against their dentists, builders, real estate professionals, etc. Think HB1212 is a bad bill? It’s not too late to register your concerns with the governor’s office.

Stay tuned here or follow me on Twitter for updates on this bill and other government news. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. I’m just sayin.

You don't have to be married to live on a boat, crowds gearing up for camping trips, congressional election tit for tat, windmills coming to North Shore, Furlough Fridays soon no more, monk seal dies, more news

A long running controversy over live-in boat rules at state run harbors, may soon be resolved.

Dozens of people across the island are sleeping on sidewalks and in city parks -- not because they are homeless, but because they are trying to get their hands on camping permits for Memorial Day weekend.

The state land board is poised to accept $350,000 in federal drug eradication funds.

A critically endangered juvenile female Hawaiian monk seal was found dead at Glass Beach near ‘Ele‘ele and Port Allen on May 6, but the cause of death has not been determined, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Coordinator Jeff Walters

Hawaii's hotly contested special election to fill the 1st Congressional District seat vacated by Democrat Neil Abercrombie is moving into high gear nine days before ballots are counted May 22

"The election is pretty much over." That is the quote that sparked controversy in the special election for Congress. Charles Djou made the comment to a Washington DC reporter on Tuesday, but now says he's been taken out of context..

A political stalemate blocked efforts to restore furlough days to this year's public school calendar in Hawai'i, but the Board of Education may not have to rely on Gov. Linda Lingle's largesse next year.

Imagine there were no Furlough Fridays. Imagine if you try. Imagine that the teacher is in the classroom and the students are there, too.

The state yesterday fined the city and the company that operates the Waimānalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill $424,000 for violating their permit.

The North Shore is known for big surf, but could become famous for something else, Oahu's first wind energy farm in two decades.

The state Public Utilities Commission has approved a power purchase agreement between Hawaiian Electric Co. and the developer of a Kahuku wind farm project, described as the largest of its kind on O'ahu.

Buying a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or trading in an old refrigerator for a newer energy-efficient model could pay off for Hawaii consumers.

The former manager of two Honolulu city parking garages in Downtown Honolulu will no longer fight charges that she stole about $250,000 in parking fees over a two-and-a-half year period

A state judge refused yesterday to dismiss theft charges against the wife of state Sen. Fred Hemmings.

A Maui County Council committee voted unanimously Wednesday to ban the use of hand-held mobile electronic devices, including cell phones, while driving.

Garden Island newspaper Publisher Randy Kozerski was driving to work yesterday when he saw a dark cloud ahead — at first thinking it was a "weird cloud," then realizing it was smoke.

More than $400 million in highway projects have been proposed by various government agencies, including Hawaii County, for 2011

An apparent misunderstanding over access to the beach below the old Papaikou sugar mill has put surfers on one side of the fence and landowners on the other -- literally.

The Maui Planning Commission took action Tuesday to advance a new Maui Bus transfer center at the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center and a new McDonald's restaurant in Lahaina.

Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity officials in a press release stated their pleasure with receipt of an Office of Hawaiian Affairs grant of $58,745 to assist in operation of the island’s only emergency homeless shelter.

The Pioneer Mill abandoned the sugarcane fields of Lahaina in 1999, and the browning of the once verdant slopes of the West Maui Mountains began.

Lingle signs Obama birther bill, Honolulu budget includes tax hikes, layoffs looming for merged newspaper employees, Hawaii County police seek accreditation, more news from around the state

It's now law in Hawaii that the government can ignore repetitive requests for President Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie's plan to decentralize authority over public education in Hawaii to put more accountability at the school level drew support from campaign supporters Tuesday night in Waimea.

Real estate in Hawai'i's foreclosure pipeline hit a high for the year last month, signaling that homeowners continue to struggle with mortgage payments even as the economy and real estate market are showing signs of a slow recovery.

The Honolulu City Council has advanced a $1.8 billion city operating budget that includes funding for programs such as the Royal Hawaiian Band and Summer Fun, but also proposes to increase taxes on nonoccupant homeowners.

The Honolulu City Council moved another step toward a budget that raises the property tax on non-occupant homeowners, but promised to look for ways to minimize the increase before a final vote.

The merged Honolulu Star-Advertiser debuts June 7, with nearly 400 people losing their jobs in the process, according to the publisher of the combined newspaper.

Dennis Francis, Oahu Publications' president, said yesterday that the company should retain about two-thirds of the Star-Bulletin's 300 workers and about half of the Advertiser's staff of 580.

Nearly 35 percent of the state's mail-in special election ballots have been returned so far, state officials said.

On Nov. 5, 2002, Patsy Mink was re-elected to Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District with 52 percent of the vote. She had died six weeks earlier.

Former television news anchor Ramsay Wharton has filed candidacy papers for the Republican nomination for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District seat.

Honolulu police officer Kevin Fujioka has been convicted in Las Vegas of possessing marijuana and driving drunk, both misdemeanor charges.

The Hawaii Police Department has applied for national accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi brought his budgetary justifications to a Kona audience Tuesday evening, detailing departmental cuts, furloughs and just how many funded, vacant county jobs remain.

An inmate who escaped from corrections officers during a funeral Saturday was back in police custody Wednesday afternoon after he was found in a vehicle in Kihei, police said.

With an estimated 500,000 people hiking the first two miles of the Kalalau Trail every year, from Ke‘e Beach to Hanakapi‘ai, closing the trail for maintenance purposes isn’t really an option, a state parks official said.

Ed Case trailing in fundraising, Obama still popular at home, hydrogen cars coming to Hawaii, homeless buy one-way tickets, The Bus riders buying fake passes, news all around the state

Robert White came here about two years ago after living on the streets in Sacramento, Calif. He figured if he was going to be homeless, he might as well live in Hawai'i.

Hawaii's upcoming special election will fill a vacant seat in the U.S. House for only six months, but that has not stopped candidates from raising $3 million so far.

Charles Djou and Colleen Hanabusa continued to receive strong financial backing from their core groups — both topping $1 million since the start of the year — while Ed Case came in a strong third place heading into the final weeks of the special election for Congress.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa raised more than $364,000 in April in her bid for the 1st Congressional District seat, her campaign reported Tuesday.

What he’s Djou-ing here

A state known for high gas prices is becoming the go to spot for alternative fuel options.  Just days after Korean manufacturer CT&T tapped Hawaii to build electric cars, General Motors announced a deal with The Gas Company to bring hydrogen powered cars to Hawaii.

Auto-maker General Motors has teamed up with The Gas Company for a pilot project using hydrogen fuel to power vehicles.

Voters will decide this November whether they would rather trade in their elected board of education for an appointed one, but little data exists to help them make an informed decision.

Board of Education committee on Tuesday recommended a fee hike for the popular A+ after-school program.

Mr. President, can you still feel the Aloha spirit?

Honolulu Police on Tuesday called for stricter new laws dealing with people who brandish replica guns in public, or use them while committing a crime.

Hundreds of Oahu bus riders are being lured into buying "bargain" bus passes but are finding that using the fake cards will get them ejected from TheBus, city officials said yesterday.

Wedding bells could soon be ringing at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, and some harbor residents don't like the sound of it.

Instead of heading to the chopping block, a 13,130-acre koa forest north of Hilo is going on the auction block.

Some members of the Hawaii County Council are taking a dim view of Mayor Billy Kenoi's proposal to balance the budget in part by raising property taxes.

First the architectural plans needed to be redrawn because the county administration omitted the County Council. Then the elevators had to be custom-made because the specs for the elevator shaft didn't fit any known elevator on the planet.

The mainland company that insured the bond for the Mamalahoa bypass wants more information from Hawaii County before handing over any money to county officials.

Power has been restored to about 1,400 Kahului customers who were left without electricity when a short circuit occurred on a power line on Dairy Road about 9:17 a.m. Tuesday, said Kau'i Awai-Dickson, spokeswoman for Maui Electric Co.

Sterling Kim's six-year struggle to build the Hale Mua affordable housing project has hit another barrier: a $12 million foreclosure action by a Colorado lender against the real estate and against the value of his hard-won government approvals.

Employees at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel spent four months building a four-man, single-hull Hawaiian sailing canoe.

Kaua‘i County Council members needed only one of the two scheduled sessions this week to tweak the mayor’s proposed budget.

Seventy-five homes for 100 years. That is the capacity of a new hydroelectric plant that was dedicated by Green Energy Hydro, Monday afternoon, in an albizia forest just outside of Koloa

Hotels more profitable, homeless invade Diamond Head, coqui coming to Oahu neighborhoods, Djou raising money as local Dems bicker, is state reneging on promise to investors? Top Hawaii news of the day.

Hotel occupancy climbed enough in March that the local lodging industry was able to turn the corner on a key measure of profitability for the first time in two years.

Even though Hawaii hoteliers are still offering room deals, a boost in occupancy statewide helped bring the industry a better return on its investment for March and for the first quarter.

Homeless Invade Slopes Of Diamond Head

First Congressional District candidate Ed Case has a new TV commercial that stops one step short of saying President Barack Obama endorses him.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou has seized the fundraising advantage in the special election for Congress, and likely has more cash available for the final two weeks of the campaign than congressman Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa.

The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made it official, saying it will spend no more money in the special election for Hawaii's vacant seat in Congress because an internal struggle among local Democrats could hand the seat to a Republican.

The state made a promise to investors. Then when the going got tough — a $1.2 billion deficit — lawmakers decided that they did not mean what they said.

Four Oahu high schools will be fitted with solar panels this year in a deal that will lower utility bills and save the state $1 million in roof repair costs.

What's that sound? You don't have to live in Hilo to hear that tell-tale chirp. Coqui frogs have been heard in neighborhoods all over Oahu.

Hundreds celebrate Saint Damien Day at state capitol

The possible disposition of 1,040 acres of Hawaii County's Paauilo lands will be the subject of a public meeting Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration has scheduled for later this month.

A former member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots program from World War II ditched her wheelchair, settled into the cockpit of a DA-20 Diamond Eclipse and relived her flying days Saturday.

Seventy-five homes for 100 years. That is the capacity of a new hydroelectric plant that was dedicated by Green Energy Hydro, Monday afternoon, in an albizia forest just outside of Koloa.

The wafting aroma of decaying animal carcasses is not something visitors should have to endure while enjoying Waimea Canyon’s beautiful vista, said Arthur Keale.

Employees at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel spent four months building a four-man, single-hull Hawaiian sailing canoe.

In January, Hawaii’s three former governors offered this plan for fixing our school system.

New poll shows Djou in the lead for Congress, public school repair backlog halved, what makes the coqui frog sing, other top Hawaii news

Republican Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou is on his way to Washington to represent Hawaii's 1st Congressional District, according to a new poll of likely voters conducted for Civil Beat.

Satellite city halls and many other city offices would be closed two Fridays a month beginning July 1 under a tentative agreement reached between the Hannemann administration and its two largest employee unions, according to documents obtained by The Advertiser.

Last year's federal economic stimulus law so far has steered about $584 million into Hawaii's economy, paying for transportation projects, unemployment benefits and other expenses the state and its four counties could not otherwise afford.

Office of Elections workers are tying up loose ends and making final preparations for the upcoming congressional special election.

State Rep. Lynn Finnegan entered the lieutenant governor's race with a song: "Watch out Mufi!"

A backlog of repair and maintenance work at Hawai'i's public schools that at one point soared to nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars has been cut by half and stands today at one of its lowest points in the last 10 years.

A man shot by an off-duty FBI agent along scenic Tantalus Drive yesterday afternoon was out on bail after allegedly posing as a police officer at the University of Hawai'i last week

The Big Island could soon serve as a model for the nation when it comes to accuracy and accessibility of patient medical records.

In the heart of coqui country, researchers are trying to figure out what makes the frogs sing.

The first case of the destructive tomato yellow leaf curl virus on the Big Island was recently found in a home garden in Kailua-Kona and confirmed in early April by testing at the University of Hawaii's virology lab in Manoa. 

Sixty-five percent of Maui County voters would favor changing the current system of electing County Council members to one that would create "nine single-member districts," according to a recent poll commissioned by a group supporting the idea.

Waimea residents and an attorney representing a family which has Kaua‘i roots dating to 1898 are involved in a battle to decide whether the family has rights to develop a piece of land sitting on a flood zone close to Waimea River.

The question of whether the county should allow dogs on the shared-use path has carried on for several months, stirring the community, who gave impassioned testimony

Abercrombie campaigning in Hilo: Kids are not bargaining chips

Feds say teachers can work for free, Big Island mayor says tax the rich, new electric car plant coming to Oahu, Neighbor Islands struggle with budgets, state to sell fishponds, more Hawaii news

Feds: Union Wrong, Teachers Can Work Legally For Free

A South Korea-based company has committed to build a $200 million assembly plant on O'ahu that would turn out two-seat electric cars and other vehicles and employ as many as 400 people.

A South Korea-based auto manufacturer announced yesterday its plans to build Hawaii's first car assembly plant.

Unable to reach an agreement after threatening legal action in March, conservationists and cultural practitioners are suing the St. Regis Princeville Resort for the hotel’s alleged failure to mitigate deaths and injuries of rare Hawaiian seabirds, according to a Thursday press release.

In less than two months, two stealthy F-22 Raptor fighters will fly from Utah to Hickam Air Force Base.

Frustrated by a divided local party, national Democratic groups that have spent more than $300,000 on ads and phone calls in attempts to weaken Republican Charles Djou's campaign for Congress appear ready to pull out of the battle.

Colleen Hanabusa has power.

State plans to auction ancient fishponds

The state Department of Transportation is ordering a contractor to restore a damaged stream on Oahu's north shore.

A Seattle-based firm that planned to ship hundreds of tons of the city's trash to the Pacific Northwest has been fined $40,400 by the state for illegally storing waste.

Marybeth Yuen Maul, 85, who served as an attorney and judge on Molokai for nearly 40 years, died April 23 in Eugene, Ore.

The number of homes resold on Oahu in April climbed compared to the same time last year and the previous month, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Tax rates for the county's wealthiest property owners could spike as much as 31.5 percent under a "cautiously optimistic" budget proposed Wednesday by Mayor Billy Kenoi.

The Hawaii County Council voted Wednesday night to delay the start new energy efficiency building standards to June 15, pending mayoral approval.

Partial funding for Hawaii County's two bands, extended transfer station hours and higher property tax rates are all part of the amended spending request Mayor Billy Kenoi gave to lawmakers Wednesday.

A proposal to increase water rates, particularly for agricultural users, met opposition during a public hearing before Hawaii County's Water Board on Wednesday at King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona.

Concerns about loss of conservation land, the impact of airplane noise above a development and a developers' broken promises were reiterated at a state Land Use Commission meeting Wednesday.

Even as they furlough employees, close pools and raise property tax rates to cope with a major decline in revenues, Maui County officials expressed frustration that more than $19 million in potential collections are frozen due to a backlog in property tax appeals.

Maui County will hold its first property tax foreclosure auction in more than 13 years later this month.

Recycling, The Kaua‘i Bus, lifeguards, the county auditor and other topics were on the minds of Kauaians at the last County Council public hearing on the county operating budget before Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. today delivers his final version to councilmembers.

State most expensive for car ownership, Election Office withholding records, congressional race and civil unions continue to dominate headlines, fire rages on Maui, more top Hawaii news

Hawaii has been ranked the most expensive state to own a car by Edmunds.com, an automotive information website.

The state Department of Human Services has called off a plan to close all the state's welfare eligibility offices and lay off 228 public employees.

Across the country, Democrats are on the defense, laboring to put out political fires sparked by angry voters and emboldened Republicans. Even Hawaii, the bluest of blue states, where a Democratic machine has controlled politics for the five decades since statehood, has become a dangerous hot spot for the party in power.

Representatives of three Congressional campaigns say the state's office of elections is not providing them with key information that would allow them to stop making thousands of phone calls to potential voters asking them if they’ve already voted in the special election.

Ed Case said he believes that most voters think the same way he does about government and politics in Hawai'i and Washington, D.C.: too partisan, too dysfunctional, too out of touch with everyday concerns.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, trailing in the polls and hearing of intense pressure from national Democrats who want her to step aside, vowed yesterday to stay in the special election for Congress until the end.

In the second installment of our special-election preview, Honolulu Weekly talks with each of the three best-known candidates in the race for Congress.

The congressional debate: watch the clips

The state Senate could be led by a Big Island lawmaker next year if Senate President Colleen Hanabusa prevails in her quest for a congressional seat.

Gov. Linda Lingle says she soon will start gathering information about the controversial civil unions bill that passed the state Legislature last week.

Civil unions bill on Lingle's desk

Madam Pele is on the move, putting on the hottest show in Hawaii that's too close for comfort. On Wednesday night, firefighters were on alert and families on edge as Big Island Civil Defense tracked a lava flow that shut down a popular sightseeing spot.

Safer streets, less traffic, and higher morale - those are the goals Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha unveiled on Wednesday.

Twenty people who were either cited or arrested during a protest at the governor's office are now going through the justice system. Some were in court on Wednesday.

The debate swirling around a proposed community development in Central Oahu is just the latest example of the tension between growth and farmland preservation in Hawaii.

A fire, the cause of which remained unknown, burned roughly 1,100 acres of brush mauka of the sparsely populated areas of Olowalu and Ukumehame to the ridges atop the West Maui Mountains on Monday and Tuesday.

A group of downtown Hilo businesspeople, professionals, surfers and anglers is hoping that Gov. Lingle will sign over a half-acre parcel on the Hilo Bayfront to the county.

A divided Hawaii County Council committee Tuesday agreed to strengthen the county's ethics code, despite protestations from opponents that county government is already ethical enough.

Dr. Peter Matsuura's vision for a Hilo medical complex and pedestrian-oriented community was endorsed by a County Council committee Tuesday.

Two bills regulating how much water Hawaii County residents may draw from county spigots will go to the full council with negative recommendations from the Public Safety and Parks and Recreation Committee.

After a nearly three-year Kaua‘i Police Department investigation, two local men were arrested on suspicion of first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.

The most recent Green Harvest mission on Kaua'i netted 200 marijuana plants and several arrests, county officials said Monday.

Gubernatorial race too close to call, Hawaii County mayor denies plans to run for lieutenant governor, Obama calling home on congressional race, 500 Honolulu Advertiser employees get layoff notices, Maui County cutting 108 jobs, more

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi: No plans to run for lieutenant governor, despite $47k contributions

In a head to head battle between Neil Abercrombie and Mufi Hannemann, former congressman Abercrombie has the lead by a margin of 36 to 32 percent.  The margin of error is four percent.

Republicans here and on the Mainland are banking on Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou becoming their first Hawai'i representative to Congress since Pat Saiki nearly two decades ago.

House Republicans call it the "death wish," by which they mean when Democrats take what they like in a Republican bill and make it their own.

President Obama has your number. So do U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka. Even former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie is planning to call you.

Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona denounced efforts to link him with an evangelical group that has been accused of trying to make Hawaii the first Christian state and supporting efforts to imprison gays in Uganda.

Advocates for the separation of church and state have filed an ethics complaint against Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona

Federal officials said they think a decomposing humpback whale calf that washed ashore Monday night at Po‘ipu may have floated all the way from O‘ahu.

Despite signs of an economic recovery, advocates warn that many Hawai'i families are still teetering close to homelessness — or falling into it — as they run through their savings.

The Maui County Council Budget and Finance Committee on Monday voted unanimously to recommend a budget for 2011 that would cut 108 county jobs and furlough remaining workers, while increasing property tax rates to partially offset lower tax collections.

The University of Hawaii at Hilo's 3-year-old College of Pharmacy has been awarded $16.1 million as one of 15 communities participating in a national pilot project to use information technology to improve health care.

Already battling one pest attacking honeybees, state agricultural officials are now starting an investigation into another: the small hive beetle.

More than 500 Honolulu Advertiser employees got their layoff notices last night. It came one day after HA Management took over daily operations of the Advertiser.

An estimated 1,100 acres burned in Maui brushfire

West Maui resident Jan Ehrenkrook said she looked out her window at about 1 a.m. yesterday and saw a wall of flames from a brush fire coming over a hill.

Kona coffee. We love it and we take pride in it in Hawaii, but did you know there is a chance your Kona Coffee is not Kona coffee after all.

A stretch of Queen Kaahumanu Highway fronting the Kohanaiki Business Park closed Monday afternoon as hazardous materials experts, state Highway Division crews and a private contractor removed about 10 tons of gravel, oil and coolant that spilled from a semi-truck that overturned and burned.

Gov. Lingle's popularity hits 8-year low, congressional candidates rumble in TV debate, voters prefer Democrat for next governor, Neighbor Island lawmakers weigh civil unions, more Hawaii news

Gov. Linda Lingle's job approval rating has tumbled to the lowest point in her two terms as the state's chief executive, a new Hawai'i Poll has found, as teacher furloughs and a sour economy have weakened her popularity.

The new version of the state budget, passed last week by the state Legislature, keeps almost all the budget cuts recommended by Gov. Linda Lingle.

A bill providing for civil unions exposed splits among the Big Island's legislative delegation.

Kaua‘i delegation split on civil unions

Hawai'i voters are divided between former Congressman Neil Abercrombie and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the Democratic primary for governor in September, but prefer either Democrat to Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, a Republican, in the November general election, a new Hawai'i Poll has found.

President Obama will appeal to Honolulu voters to choose a Democrat in the special election for Congress, as national Democrats grow increasingly alarmed that Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou, a Republican, could snatch the president's hometown district.

Three candidates running in the special election for the 1st Congressional District seat agreed native Hawaiians should receive some form of federal recognition similar to American Indians.

Three veteran politicians waged a battle of big ideas Monday night.

The most heated exchanges came between front runners Ed Case and Charles Djou in a televised debate for the 1st Congressional District Monday night.

Cheers, boos, and bursts of laughter - ask the live audience, and the one word nearly everyone used to describe Monday night's congressional debate was 'spirited'.

A plan to shift the route of Honolulu's proposed elevated commuter rail project to avoid Honolulu International Airport airspace has found favor with the Federal Aviation Administration, the city said yesterday.

A 66-year-old Colorado utility executive who was set to retire this summer was killed on his Big Island farm Sunday night after he was pinned under an overturned tractor.

Hawaiian Airlines began a major upgrade of its fleet Monday. The company received a new state-of-the-art plane for its trans-Pacific flights.

Man claims police illegally confiscated his pakalolo

The Lahainaluna High School boarders program survived in the Legislature's budget for the next fiscal year, but its future remains uncertain with Gov. Linda Lingle still having 45 days to take action on the lawmakers' spending plan.

Olowalu businesses and residents were advised to prepare to leave the area, if necessary, if a nearby brush fire gets too close, said county spokeswoman Mahina Martin on Monday night.

Most favor federal recognition for Native Hawaiians, man builds Styrofoam house, Chinese language amusingly difficult for English-speakers as more Chinese head to islands, more top Hawaii news

Hawai'i residents still favor federal recognition of Native Hawaiians by a 2-to-1 margin, the latest Advertiser Hawai'i Poll numbers show.

We're hearing directly from Governor Linda Lingle for the first time since she returned from a four-day trip to the Mainland.

Poorly maintained roads cost Hawai'i drivers an average of $503 a year as they shell out extra money for tire repairs and damaged shock absorbers.

Federal stimulus spending saved or created 2,566 jobs in Hawai'i during the first three months of this year, which is down from the 3,019 jobs attributed to the program during the last three months of 2009.

A Hawaii News Now-Honolulu Advertiser poll shows that Republican candidate Charles Djou has a big lead in the special election for Congress.

Across the country veteran politicians are facing serious competition generated by a tide of voter anger, even from within their own party.

Two social service organizations are giving food to an increasing number of people -- some of whom used to donate food themselves -- a reflection of the sour economy.

Tourism industry eager for Chinese

For English speakers with subpar Chinese skills, daily life in China offers a confounding array of choices. At banks, there are machines for "cash withdrawing" and "cash recycling." The menus of local restaurants might present such delectables as "fried enema," "monolithic tree mushroom stem squid" and a mysterious thirst-quencher known as "The Jew's Ear Juice."

Families Threaten Lawsuit Over Care For Autistic Children

Hawaii Family Builds Styrofoam Home

A proposed $286 million Hilo development promising shopping, housing and medical services has received the Windward Planning Commission's endorsement and is now heading to the County Council for consideration.

West Hawaii residents got a glimpse of several master plan alternatives for the Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park at a community meeting Saturday in Kealakekua.

While the question of whether civil unions will be legal in Hawaii rests with Gov. Linda Lingle, Maui County lawmakers cheered its passage in the state House of Representatives last week.

An agreement signed last week between Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and a private developer conveyed 138 acres of ocean-front property to the county, which prompted some community members to question what was given up in exchange for the land.

Boys’ Day, falling on the fifth day of the fifth month, is steeped in Japanese tradition and came to Hawai‘i with the immigrants brought to the Islands to work on the plantations.

New! Weekly blog feature Just sayin' -- Bidding aloha to the 2010 legislative session in Hawaii

"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session."
 -- Mark Twain

Whew! They're gone. The Hawaii Legislature adjourned sine die on Thursday, and reporters around the state are busily figuring out just what lawmakers accomplished during the 60-day session that in Hawaii Time stretches from Jan. 20 to April 29.

The debate over civil unions grabbed most of the headlines this legislative session, but tax and access issues hit equally close to home.

Old Samuel Langhorne Clemens had it right about property, at least as far as this year’s legislative session is concerned. In this tough economic climate, lawmakers raised the barrel tax from 5 cents to $1.05, an action expected to hike the cost of gas, electricity and shipping. Lawmakers also reinstated the death tax and tapped their old favorite, smokers, who face a 40-cent-per pack increase.