Hula Planet:What To Do In Hawaii

Kamehameha Schools opponents must be public, Hawaii 2012 politics show Hirono, Case, Lingle leaders, Abercrombie popularity 50%, rail transit pricey,…

Gov. Neil Abercrombie (c) 2011 All Hawaii News A new Hawaii Poll shows 50 percent of registered voters approve of the job that Neil Abercrombie is doing as governor, much lower than his predecessor at the same point in office, and a reflection of the difficulty Abercrombie has had in pushing his agenda forward. Hawaii News Now. Former congressman Ed Case and U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono are tied in a hypothetical matchup in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, a new Hawaii Poll shows. Star-Advertiser. Out of nine public figures and possible political candidates, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono garnered the highest favorable ratings in the Hawaii News Now/Honolulu Star-Advertiser Hawaii Poll. Hawaii News Now. Former Gov. Linda Lingle told fellow Hawaii Republicans at the party's convention in Kauai over the weekend that she would decide by the end of August whether to run for the U.S. Senate next year. Civil Beat. The Supreme Court has declined to hear a dispute over whether students challenging a private Hawaiian school system's admissions policy must be identified. Associated Press. The first female soldier enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard 38 years ago … but it was only this year that a woman was promoted to General. Hawaii Public Radio. Recently proposed Medicaid qualification standards would leave around 4,500 without health insurance around Hawaii. Molokai Dispatch. Homeowners have a fighting chance with foreclosure law. Maui News. Act 48 suspends nonjudicial foreclosures in Hawaii and creates a mortgage foreclosure dispute resolution program administered by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Office of Administrative Hearings. Associated Press. After concluding a grueling legislative session of tax raising and budget cutting, Hawaii lawmakers may find that their work is not yet done. Associated Press. The state's Legacy Lands Conservation program is providing $4.5 million in grants for the purchase and protection of culturally and agriculturally important lands on the Big Island and Oahu. Associated Press. The state plans to open a new H-1 freeway on-ramp and an off-ramp this week that are expected to remove traffic bottlenecks around some large shopping centers in Kapolei. KITV4. The state Department of Transportation will not reopen the temporary Kapa‘a bypass road for another week as recent rainstorms have delayed resurfacing work. Garden Island. While about half of Honolulu residents remain in favor of completing the rail transit system, nearly 9 in 10 agree the project is likely to cost more than the $5.3 billion estimated price tag. Star-Advertiser. The price tag for preparation of the Honolulu rapid transit project’s environmental impact statement was originally $86 million but has since bulged to $156 million, a City spokesman confirmed today. Hawaii Reporter. A bike rental program to promote an active lifestyle and reduce traffic will officially launch on Friday in Kailua. Star-Advertiser. It would be a stretch to say that Hawaii’s renewable energy companies, the utilities and the public are moving together in harmony toward a clean energy future. Pacific Business News A milestone in Manoa -- a special graduation ceremony. Thousands turned their tassels at the University of Hawaii's 100th commencement ceremonies. KITV4. Mostly dry trade wind weather will prevail for the next several days, with brief showers favoring windward areas during nights and mornings. KHON2. If you received your motor vehicle registration reminder notice in the mail this month, you might have noticed that the form looks different. Tribune-Herald. Ka'u is well on the way of making a name for itself in the coffee industry on an island for many decades known primarily for its Kona-grown coffee. West Hawaii Today.

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Hawaii storms wreak havoc, school days cut, Maui budget cuts mayor’s big increases, Samoa leaving island time, more news from the Hawaiian Islands

Unsettled weather with locally heavy rains and the threat for thunderstorms will continue over the islands through Tuesday. KHON2. Flash flood warnings persisted into Sunday evening as heavy showers lingered over most of the Garden Isle, forcing the closure of the Hanalei Bridge and impacting Mother’s Day events. Garden Island. Kainaliu businesses and nonprofits spent Saturday cleaning up inches of water and mud that filled their stores during heavy rains on Friday. West Hawaii Today. Many people dream about retiring and enjoying their golden years, but a growing number of Hawaii seniors must work longer or come out of retirement just to make ends meet. Hawaii News Now. Some relief from suffocating gas prices will likely arrive just in time for summer vacation. Expect a drop of nearly 50 cents as early as June, analysts say. Associated Press. Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law yesterday Senate Bill 651, the Legislature’s comprehensive response to the foreclosure issue facing Hawaii families. Hawaii Independent. For the last three years, the Hawai’i State Center for Nursing has been leading a project that uses the expertise of nurses to improve patient care. Hawaii Public Radio. The Legislature did not pass a $2 million budget request for security expenses related to the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, but officials of Gov. Abercrombie’s administration are refusing all comment about the issue. Hawaii Reporter. With a new chairman at the Hawaiian Homes Commission, officials are taking a fresh look at ways to provide homes or homestead lots to the nearly 21,000 people on the residential waiting list. Star-Advertiser. The amount of instructional time offered at elementary schools statewide varies widely —from 41⁄3 to six hours on average each day — but there appears to be no correlation between campuses with shorter school days and those meeting annual learning benchmarks, new state data show. Star-Advertiser. More public schools throughout Hawaii are dropping traditional summer sessions from their schedule. Associated Press. $1.2 million UHH telescope still not working. Tribune-Herald. Maui County Council members reached an agreement late Friday night on a budget that would cut Mayor Alan Arakawa's spending request for 2012 by almost 11 percent. Maui News. Today council members will be back in their seats at chambers in Nawiliwili to review Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s supplemental budget, submitted Thursday. Garden Island. A newly discovered mineral has been named krotite in honor of University of Hawaii at Manoa researcher Alexander N. Krot. Associated Press. Traffic relief is on the way for people who drive through Makakilo. KHON2. Veterans Affairs officials are independently evaluating radiation levels at their Hilo outpatient clinic. Tribune-Herald. The state Legislature has bailed out a proposed Ka'u biofuel project after the Public Utilities Commission ruled Hawaii Electric Light Co. couldn't spread a rate hike over customers on other islands to help pay for it. West Hawaii Today. Century-old seawalls along the Gold Coast on Oahu's southern shore are breaking down, and nobody wants to step up and fix them. Civil Beat. Samoa plans to leap 24 hours into the future, erasing a day and putting a new kink in the Pacific's jagged international date line so that it can be on the same weekday as Australia, New Zealand and eastern Asia. Associated Press. Earlier this week, Aqua Hotels & Resorts announced it would offer a special discount to guests who produce their birth certificates upon check-in at one of the chain’s hotels on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Molokai. Pacific Business News

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Hawaii House readies $11 billion state budget,Honolulu budget transparent, Kauai fights arsenic, Maui basketball coach starts wedding business, news…

Taro protesters at state Capitol (c) 2011 All Hawaii News The illegal pai ai issue has recently attracted attention from a wide variety of groups, including those in the state house and senate. Honolulu Weekly . The state is moving forward with $2 million in infrastructure upgrades at Honolulu International Airport's international arrivals building. Associated Press. The state House Finance Committee completed its draft of the budget yesterday, which would shrink Gov. Neil Abercrombie's recommendations but still increase spending over this fiscal year. Star-Advertiser. Hawaii representatives are cutting funding from almost all of Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie's initiatives in an early draft of the state's budget. Associated Press. The House Finance Committee on Wednesday passed a state budget that restores the days that workers were on furlough, but calls for $250 million in cuts to Gov. Neil Abercrombie's plan. KITV4. A nearly $11 billion a year state budget passed the House Finance Committee Wednesday. KHON2. Scores of government officials gathered in and around a House hearing room Wednesday morning, waiting to learn how the Finance Committee planned to either reduce or increase the budgets for their departments or agencies. KITV4. The head of the House Finance Committee will ignore many of the new initiatives proposed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in producing what he says is a lean budget relying on a combination of tax increases and budget cuts. Hawaii Reporter. Hawaii's Per-Capita Spending Ranks in Top 5. Civil Beat. Dozens of legislators attended a free dinner last night organized by producers of genetically modified food but very few lawmakers cleared their attendance ahead of time with the state Ethics Commission, commission executive director Les Kondo said. Hawaii Reporter. Hawaii's public schools are waiting for millions of dollars in repairs, but Department of Education officials said major progress has been made in reducing the backlog. Hawaii News Now. The legislature is trying to tackle homelessness this session. Hawaii Public Radio. Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald has made public the names of candidates the Judicial Selection Commission has proposed for three district judgeships on Oahu and a fourth on Kauai. Star-Advertiser. The City and County of Honolulu unveiled its new fiscal transparency web site today. KHON2. A week after presenting his first budget as Honolulu mayor, Peter Carlisle on Tuesday night became the city's first mayor to upload line-by-line spending details to a website aimed at improving government transparency. Civil Beat. Honolulu homeowners, and particularly North Shore residents, will be keeping a close eye on Honolulu City Councilmembers who will be considering property tax relief and the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan next week. Hawaii Independent. Kauai residents said they're worried about the chemical contamination in soil found recently in a residential neighborhood that was once an industrial area near a former sugar mill. Star-Advertiser. The state Health Department has discovered arsenic contamination on historic plantation land in Kilauea. Garden Island. Dramatic changes to the county's 20-year-old building code are being sent back to a County Council committee, following public hearings that raised more questions than answers. West Hawaii Today. Two Percent for Public Land is back. Mayor Billy Kenoi's new budget, he announced, would mark "the resumption of transfers" to the Open Spaces Fund at the rate of two percent of property tax receipts after the County Council, at Kenoi's request, temporarily cut payments to the fund in 2009. Big Island Weekly. The nascent biofuels industry in Hawaii is struggling to produce commercially viable fuel for the Islands’ electricity needs, and a recent ruling by the state Public Utilities Commission stands to increase the challenges. Pacific Business News A scaled-down Maui Lani Center got its phase two project district approval from the Maui Planning Commission on Tuesday, just barely. Maui News. Former professional basketball coach Don Nelson signed an agreement with neighbors of his proposed wedding business on North Kihei Road on Tuesday morning, and in a brief hearing Tuesday afternoon got his special management area permit. Maui News. For many visitors, the view from a helicopter circling Kilauea's newest eruption leaves them reaching for words. Tribune-Herald. More electric vehicles may soon be spotted on Oahu roads, as another shipment of cars has arrived at Tony Nissan. KITV4. Herb Kawainui Kane once said his beliefs ran counter to contemporary theory -- the one that teaches artists to paint from the inside out. Hawaii News Now.

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PUC: Smart grid dumb idea, cable repair could take weeks, WWII munitions no danger yet, lawyers speak out on chief justice pick, more

Hawaii regulators have rejected plans for a broad expansion of smart grid electric technology that would have been paid for by residents and bus- inesses. Asso- ciated Press. When it comes to repairing a severed fiber-optic cable 3,000 feet under the sea, it won't be as simple as calling the cable guy. Star-Advertiser. Internet, cable television and telephone service began returning to normal Tuesday afternoon for thousands of Oceanic Time Warner Cable customers after a break in an undersea fiber-optic cable disrupted service about 12 hours earlier. Maui News. A rare break in an undersea fiber-optic cable Tuesday morning, left around 400,000 people without Internet, phone and TV service, for 12 hours in some cases. Hawaii News Now. Oahu resident Ian Kurihara discovered early Tuesday morning he wasn't able to go online. KITV. A wind farm on Oahu's North Shore is receiving a big boost in federal funding. KHON2. Chemical weapons dumped off Pearl Harbor after World War II pose no threat to humans for now but are "clearly deteriorating" and should continue to be monitored, the lead scientist on the University of Hawaii project said Tuesday. Associated Press . They're safe for now. There's no threat to humans or the ocean so far. Hawaii News Now. The Hawaii Women Lawyers will be expressing their strong support of Gov. Linda Lingle's appoint- ment of appeals Judge Katherine Leonard as the next chief justice, a spokeswoman for the group said yesterday. Star-Advertiser. In a letter to the Hawaii Bar Association, attorney Eric Seitz calls Katherine Leonard "ill equipped and unqualified" to be Hawaii's next Chief Justice. Hawaii News Now. After failing at its first bid for federal Race to the Top funds, Hawaii has placed among 19 finalists with its second application for one of the coveted education grants. Civil Beat. A West Hawaii ranch owner says a local business owner who bought part of Hokukano Ranch is cutting down old-growth sandalwood in the upper reaches of the property. West Hawaii Today. Recreational off-road vehicles have damaged much of the terrain at Kaena Point. KHON2. A city contractor working on a 42-inch main that broke late last week in Pearl City accidentally severed the 30-inch backup force main near the 14th hole of the Ted Makalena Golf Course, causing a spill of about 108,000 gallons of sewage yesterday. Star-Advertiser. Officials posted signs warning of a sewage spill are being posted along the Pearl Harbor bike path and at Middle Loch. KITV. Hawaii County property taxes are leaving the state this year. But don't worry, say county administrators, the money will come back. West Hawaii Today. Hawaii's "Sunshine Law" is hampering the County Council and should be overturned, says North Kona Councilman Kelly Greenwell. Tribune-Herald. A forum on the topic of “In Search of Real Security for Kaua‘i” will include remarks by Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, D-2nd District. Garden Island. Local divers will be competing in a tournament targeting invasive fish. The "Westside Roi Reckoning" takes place Saturday off Kahe Point. Hawaii News Now.

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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."

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Hotels more profitable, homeless invade Diamond Head, coqui coming to Oahu neighborhoods, Djou raising money as local Dems bicker, is state reneging…

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.

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