HONOLULU – Senator J. Kalani English, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, today called on the State Department of Transportation to include Hana Harbor in the State Harbors Modernization Plan. Governor Linda Lingle announced the plan in a news conference today, which Senator English attended.
By Hawaii State Senator Jill Tokuda
The resignation of Melanie Chinen as head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Historic Preservation Division presents DLNR director Laura Thielen with an opportunity to make a big difference in a small amount of time. However, making such a difference will require stepping away from past practices and taking a hard look at what is best for the division and our state.
While Melanie Chinen came under fire for her handling of SHPD and for what seemed to be a long string of controversies surrounding the division, we need to keep in mind (more…)
By Hawaii State Senator Mike Gabbard
Aloha! I hope you and your family are doing well.
During World War II the Honouliuli Internment Camp was one of five internment sites in Hawaii. It opened on March 1, 1943 and was located on 160 acres of land. The camp was built to hold up to 3,000 people, but never reached more than 320. Most of the internees were males of Japanese ancestry, but there were also a few Germans, Italians and prisoners of war. They lived in wooden barracks and tents, which were surrounded by barbed wire fences (more…)
Beginning with the upcoming 2008 legislative session, the Hawaii State Senate will adopt a paper reduction initiative to limit the number of paper documents generated and consumed by the Senate and the community. The initiative will replace many printed documents with electronic copies, in an effort to improve management of the state’s waste stream. Continue Reading- Paperless
By Hawaii State Senator Mike Gabbard
Attention seniors, retirees, or independently wealthy folks with time on your hands! If you’re bored playing golf every day, or if your “honey-do” list keeps getting longer and longer and you want to get out of the house, then there’s an opportunity knocking at the door that you may not want to pass up.
How about helping our community by signing up for the new Volunteer Special Enforcement Officers Program? (more…)
By Hawaii State Senator Mike Gabbard
PICTURE this scenario: After an exhausting day at the office, it’s 11 p.m., you’ve tucked the kids in bed, and you and your wife turn out the lights to go to sleep. In the middle of the night, a burglar breaks into your bedroom intent on stealing your valuables. You catch him in the act, tackle him, he falls down the stairs and breaks his arm and suffers a concussion. The police haul him away, and the courts put him in jail for a long time because of his many prior arrests. Then one day, you’re handed legal papers and find out that the guy who broke into your house is suing you for using excessive force. (more…)
Senator Espero’s Legislative Update
THE DEBATE IS ON AS TO WHO WILL GET TO THE MOON NEXT- Japan, China, or the United States. Hawaii is on its way to becoming a major partner in the U.S. effort to return to and colonize the moon as well as a major player in space exploration through PISCES, the new Pacific International Space Center for Explorations Systems. PISCES is funded by S.B. 907 which I introduced and which became law this year.
