September 2011
128 posts
Hirono $6,060 From Goal
Rep. Mazie Hirono is just over $6,000 away from a $25,000 fundraising goal she set for her Senate campaign earlier this week.
Hirono’s campaign again reached out to donors on Friday, hours ahead of the Federal Election Commission’s close of books for the three-month campaign finance period that ends Sept. 30.
“Since we launched our $25,000 grassroots fundraising drive on...
Gay Weddings By Military Chaplains OKed
Ten days after the Department of Defense officially ended its Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ban on openly gay military service, the Pentagon said on Friday that military chaplains are allowed to officiate same-sex weddings on or off military bases.
The Defense Department issued guidance to chaplains saying they may participate in ceremonies in states where gay unions are allowed. They are not...
Deadline Day for Campaign Donations
Today marks the Federal Election Commission’s close-of-books deadline for the last quarter of campaign fundraising.
Hawaii’s U.S. House and Senate hopefuls have been asking for last-minute donations all week. City Council member Tulsi Gabbard sent supporters another request for donations today, writing that it’s “crunch time.” (Gabbard is running for the...
[PHOTO] Hirono's Tip Top Dinner
Rep. Mazie Hirono was all smiles with a plate of tonkatsu from Tip Top Café on Kauai last night. Hirono posted this photo to Twitter, and wrote: “Ono ono tonkatsu… Tasty way to end the day on the Garden Isle!”
Key States for Obama in 2012
The New York Times has a great interactive map that looks at which states will be critical for President Barack Obama’s victory in 2012.
Virginia and Colorado will join key states like Ohio, Florida and Indiana, the newspaper finds. Check out the interactive feature — and notice Hawaii’s positioning leading the states that backed Obama in 2008. There was huge support for Obama in the...
Did Duckworth Overstate Hawaii Support?
A couple of things piqued our interest about a press release issued by former Hawaii resident and Illinois congressional hopeful Tammy Duckwoth’s campaign on Thursday.
The campaign described a fundraiser she attended in Honolulu as hosted by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and Reps. Mazie Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa.
This caught our attention because...
Peek At Sen. Inouye's Daily Planner
Here’s a look at some of the items on Sen. Daniel Inouye’s schedule today, according to a spokesman for the senator.
• Preside on the Senate floor for a brief, pro-forma session
• Meet with East-West Center President Charles Morrison (read a related article)
• Accept a blazer from Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, who also met with Sen. Daniel Akaka today
• Meet with George Sullivan,...
Peek At Sen. Akaka's Daily Planner
It’s a relatively quiet week on Capitol Hill.
Today, Sen. Daniel Akaka sat down with Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, the former Adjutant General of Hawaii, according to a spokesman for the senator.
Lee now serves on the FEMA National Advisory Board. The senator told Lee that he is “pleased” disaster aid was secured after fierce disagreement over the issue on the Hill last week, the...
Hawaii's Jail Uptick Bucks National Trend
Here’s one of the statistics that stayed with us from Chad Blair’s information-rich story about Hawaii’s criminal justice system this morning: Hawaii’s jail population has increased 48 percent since 2006.
In contrast, the US Department of Justice reports that the nation’s average jail population dropped 0.9 percent between 2006 and 2010, the year for which the most...
Capitol Police: All Clear After Satire
A string of fake news Twitter posts from The Onion, a satirical newspaper and website, prompted Capitol Hill Police to issue an “all clear” about security Thursday.
The Onion published a story about Congress taking hostage a group of school children, then posted a string of made-up breaking news updates. Here’s a sampling from @TheOnion’s Twitter feed this morning:
...
Clinton, Inouye To Speak at U.S.-Japan Conference
Sen. Daniel Inouye is scheduled to offer remarks at the 2011 U.S.-Japan Council Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., next week, according to the State Department.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also speak at the event, along with Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki.
Hannemann Also Wants Your Money
Yesterday we wrote about the flurry of emails that Hawaii candidates have sent in recent days, asking for last-minute donations ahead of Friday’s campaign finance deadline.
Add former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann to the list. Hannemann’s running in the 2nd Congressional District race. The seat will become vacant since its current occupant, Rep. Mazie Hirono, is running for U.S....
Inouye: One Thing At A Time
Fifty-five days and counting. That’s how long Congress’ so-called super committee has to come up with a plan to slash at least $1.2 trillion in federal spending over a 10-year period.
Plenty of people are skeptical — partly because of how partisan the environment on Capitol Hill is these days, but also because the stakes are so high. The fact that the 12-member committee has been so...
Near-Empty House Buys Time
The House approved a four-day funding extension to keep the federal government running on Thursday.
The Washington Post reports that a near-empty chamber approved the extension by voice vote. Most House members are away from Capitol Hill for a weeklong recess. Hawaii’s House Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Mazie Hirono are in the Islands this week.
The extension means that House members have...
Marines Consolidate Pacific Command
The Marine Corps is consolidating Pacific region leadership under a single command in Okinawa this week, according to the military affairs newspaper Stars and Stripes.
The newly created headquarters will merge facilities throughout Hawaii, South Korea and Japan under Maj. Gen. Peter Talleri’s command, the newspaper reported.
Read the full story.
Hill Harassment Up, Insults Politer
The Washington Post has a pair of interesting articles this week on how people treat one another on Capitol Hill.
One piece examines a new University of Pennsylvania study that finds the members of the U.S. House are insulting each other less frequently. In a count of the number of instances in which a congressperson formally objected to an insult, researchers found that this year’s...
Six Additions To Big Island 5-0
The Hawaii County Police Department will receive $1.4 million to hire six new police officers, members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation announced on Wednesday.
The money comes from a hiring grants program within the U.S. Department of Justice.
EPA Orders Maui Wastewater Disinfection
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Wednesday that it has finalized an order that will require Maui County to fully disinfect all wastewater at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility.
EPA determined that treated wastewater going into the facility’s wells contains bacteria that threatens the drinking water. The new treatment requirements also help prevent pollution in...
Hawaii Candidates Want Your Money
Inbox flooded with requests for donations lately?
Time is dwindling before the Federal Election Commission’s close-of-books deadline on Friday, and candidates with their sights set on Washington — or the ones already here who want to stay — want your dough.
Rep. Mazie Hirono wants to raise $25,000 by Friday in her bid for U.S. Senate.
Her opponent for the Democratic nomination in that...
Why Is Hirono's Site So Empty?
We were recently nudged toward Rep. Mazie Hirono’s U.S. Senate campaign website with a question about why it is so bare.
The site says “Mazie for Hawaii U.S. Senate” (nice touch dotting the “i” with the Big Island, by the way) and includes links to donate money, sign up for newsletters and a video message from Hirono. There’s also a link to a June newspaper...
HGEA Endorses Hanabusa, Hirono
The Hawaii Government Employees Association announced on Tuesday that it is endorsing Rep. Colleen Hanabusa for re-election in the House and Rep. Mazie Hirono in her bid for U.S. Senate.
Backing from the state’s largest labor union is significant for both Democrats. But the endorsement is particularly important for Hirono, who is fighting former Congressman Ed Case for the Democratic...
Hirono Wants $25K By Friday
Rep. Mazie Hirono is calling on grassroots supporters to donate $25,000 to her U.S. Senate campaign by Friday at midnight.
That deadline is critical because it marks the close-of-books for the next Federal Election Commission campaign finance deadline. In an email sent to supporters on Tuesday, Hirono asked for gifts starting at $5.
“This is your campaign,” the Hirono campaign...
$3M For Hawaii Disability Programs
The U.S. Department of Labor is giving Hawaii nearly $3 million for programs that help train and educate unemployed adults with disabilities, according to a statement issued jointly by Hawaii’s congressional delegates on Tuesday.
Hawaii is one of seven states splitting more than $21 million through the Disability Employment Initiative, which will expand services at job-search centers on...
Wonky Tweet FTW
This Twitter post by Slate political reporter Dave Weigel will probably only crack up those who have either worked as Capitol Hill reporters or watched a decent amount of C-SPAN over the past couple of decades:
A primer for the uninitiated: Senate voting is alphabetical, so Hawaii’s alphabetically advantaged Sen. Daniel Akaka has been first in line for quite some time now.
Those who...
Hawaii Coral Closer to Federal Protection
The federal government is agreeing to determine within seven months whether 82 species of coral should be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The agreement is part of a federal court settlement filed today, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
The settlement means federal officials have until April 15, 2012 to determine which coral species should get protection status. Among...
Silly Signatures: Hanabusa vs. Lew
New York Magazine recently offered a pop quiz for readers to guess which member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet has this “hilariously indecipherable signature:”
Budget Director Jacob Lew’s curly signature made us laugh, not just because it looks like a piglet’s tail but also because it reminded us of another unusual sig.
Look familiar?
We’ll...
Library of Congress Seeks Cayetano's Papers
The Library of Congress is interested in acquiring former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano’s papers.
DC808 met this week with Franklin Odo, chief of the library’s Asian Division. Odo grew up in Hawaii, and said he often looks for ways to more comprehensively represent the Islands at the library.
“There are not a lot of places (outside of Hawaii) that collect, specifically, Asian...
Akaka on Workplace Innovation Forum
Nearly a decade after Sen. Daniel Akaka and then-Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, established the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, Akaka is giving a keynote-by-video for the council’s upcoming innovation conference in Philadelphia.
The council is tasked with advancing goals related to keeping the federal workforce productive and modern, like upgrading human resources systems. A...
Washington Monument Closed Indefinitely
The Washington Monument sustained more damage than officials initially disclosed after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook Washington last month, according to The Washington Post.
The monument is closed indefinitely for repairs, the newspaper reports. Check out surveillance footage from inside the monument, which shows visitors rushing to evacuate the shaking obelisk.
$25M For UH Workforce Development
Hawaii’s congressional delegation announced on Monday that the University of Hawaii’s community colleges will receive $24.7 million to team up with local businesses for workforce development programs.
The funding is part of $500 million in grants going to community college across the country.
Hawaii’s share of the money is aimed at sparking job growth in the agriculture,...
Congress 'Off the Wagon'
After political brinksmanship over the debt ceiling drove down congressional approval ratings this summer, members of Congress left for the August recess promising they’d return refreshed and ready to compromise.
But as Politico points out, the spirit of cooperation is still absent on Capitol Hill these days. Politico reports that Sen. Daniel Inouye said he’s “never seen it...
Gimmick or Legitimate Savings?
Should the more than $1 trillion in savings expected from U.S. military withdrawals in Iraq and Afghanistan count toward the congressional super committee’s budget cuts?
That’s the question raised this morning by The Hill, which reports that members of the committee say everything — including counting drawdown savings toward their total cuts — is on the table.
Such a move would make...
Dem Senate Candidates Face Off in District
Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Rep. Mazie Hirono and former Congressman Ed Case are both vying for Hawaii voters’ attention with events in Hawaii this week.
Case will kick off things with a tweet-up on his 59th birthday Tuesday. The Case campaign is promoting the event with the hashtag #Edcasebday.
Hirono is heading back to the Islands for a series of afternoon meet and greets with...
DC808 Gone Fishing
Please excuse our absence while DC808 is out of the district until Sept. 26.
Our colleagues back in Honolulu will be keeping a long-distance eye on what’s happening in Washington, and we’ll be back in action before you know it.
In the meantime, get your minute-to-minute news fix from Civil Beat.
Hirono 'Humbled' By Union Support
Rep. Mazie Hirono said she is humbled by the endorsement of Hawaii’s AFL-CIO in her bid for U.S. Senate.
“From my days in the state Legislature, and throughout my years of public service, fighting for our working families has always been a top priority of mine,” Hirono said in a statement. “In Congress, I have been a strong supporter of working people and will continue to be in...
Hawaii Jobless Rate Creeps Up
Hawaii’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in August, up from 6.1 percent in July, according to new data from the Hawai‘i State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations. Nationally, unemployment held steady at 9.1 percent in July and August.
While the numbers are a troubling indicator that economic recovery may be faltering, the state and national jobless rates...
Obama To Sign Patent Reform
The White House announced President Barack Obama will this morning sign into law the America Invents Act, which aims to overhaul the U.S. patent system.
Congress sent the act to Obama’s desk earlier this month. There is consensus that sweeping reform is needed, but the act itself is controversial. Critics say it doesn’t do enough to protect individual inventors and instead caters to...
UH To Get $4.7M For Disaster Prep
The University of Hawaii will receive $4.7 million to continue to develop programs to train Hawaii’s first responders in disaster preparedness, Sen. Daniel Inouye, Sen. Daniel Akaka and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa announced on Thursday.
“Hawaii’s isolated location in the middle of the Pacific means we have to protect our residents and visitors from a wide array of threats,” Inouye said in...
Prices Up in White House Vending Machines
The prices for snacks and sodas in vending machines are up across the White House, causing some of the people who work there to call for a boycott.
The vending machine company, Canteen, says in a letter posted to the machines that inflation drove up prices anywhere from .10 to .75 cents per item. In a West Wing press room, someone wrote “boycott” and “BS” on the letters...
Peek At Rep. Hirono's Daily Planner
Rep. Mazie Hirono is meeting with a group of Hawaii students who are in town for the opening of a pair of U.S. Department of Education art exhibits in which their award-winning work is featured. (Read related coverage).
Hirono’s spokeswoman told DC808 that the congresswoman will also visit a demonstration of the Emergency Vision Assurance system.
The system was developed by Hawaii-based...
Medal of Honor For Former Kaneohe Marine
President Barack Obama will today award the Medal of Honor to former Kaneohe Marine Dakota Meyer, who saved three dozen people during a battle in Afghanistan’s Ganjgal Valley in 2009.
The award makes Meyer the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here’s a photo, released by the White House, showing Meyer and Obama...
Feds Honor Three Hawaii Schools
Three Hawaii schools were named 2011 Blue Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Education announced on Thursday. The Hawaii schools being recognized are: King Liholiho Elementary School in Honolulu, Koko Head Elementary School in Honolulu and Waialua Elementary School on Oahu’s North Shore.
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle and high...
Peek At Sen. Akaka's Daily Planner
Here’s a rundown of some of the events on Sen. Daniel Akaka’s schedule today, according to a spokesman:
• Meeting with Lt. Gen Francis Wiercinski, Commanding General of U.S. Army Pacific. Click here to read his bio.
• Meeting with Raymond Chandler III, sergeant major of the U.S. Army, the highest ranking soldier in the entire Army. Click here to read his bio.
• Noon Bible study
•...
“As an island archipelago situated in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii is...”
– Sen. Daniel Inouye, in a statement about Hawaii’s receipt of more than $4 million in federal funds for airport repairs on Oahu and Molokai.
The funding announcement came days after Hawaii’s congressional delegation announced that the Hilo International Airport is getting $10.6 million...
Off-Record Tweeting
The website techPresident had a great little post about political Twitter accounts with “off the record” disclaimers.
The site pointed out that staffers in the office of Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse had posted disclaimers on their Twitter profiles deeming posts “off the record.”
Since attracting attention, the disclaimers have been removed.
Many...
Artists Share Hawaii With D.C.
The U.S. Department of Education caught a glimpse of Hawaii on Wednesday, with the help of a group of award-winning young artists from the Islands.
Eight Hawaii students were among a group of 34 young artists who traveled to D.C. from around the country for the opening of a pair of exhibits displaying their work. The students also participated in an art workshop with Honolulu artist Carl Pao, who...
Rogoff Welcomes Infrastructure Bank
In his speech announcing the American Jobs Act last week, President Barack Obama promoted the creation of a national infrastructure bank.
The idea is for the government to kick-start infrastructure projects by teaming up with private investors.
How would the creation of such a financial authority affect Hawaii?
On Oahu, officials have their hearts set on $1.55 billion in federal funds for...
