i L i n d . n e t

A hearing that might have produced additional information in the convoluted case of the alleged blackmail of Gov. Lingle’s chief of staff was cancelled at the last minute after the attorneys apparently reached an agreement on the handling of information.

The hearing had been scheduled to consider a motion filed by Patkar’s federal public defender asking for clarificaiton of a prosecution request “that counsel and defendant sign a proposed order in which the name of the alleged victim and certain details of the instant offense are not revealed unless and until there is a trial on the merits. The government does not require itself to sign its proposed order.”

The latest stipulation had not been made public yet when I left the U.S. District Court in Honolulu shortly after 10 a.m. today, but I’ll be checking back later.

Hawaii Reporter’s Malia Zimmerman wrote earlier this week:

Also depending on what is discovered in the blackmail trial, sources say Awana could become the target of a separate but related federal investigation – and in that case, these sponsors and donors may once again be called as witnesses.

One source close to the investigation told Hawaii Reporter: “It will only get worse for Awana from here. There is no upside for him.”

It’s hard to evaluate her unnamed sources, but I have no trouble believing that, indeed, “there is no upside” for Awana.

This is my first day of testing a Sprint wireless broadband card with my laptop. Set-up is simple. Insert in slot, select “connect” from a menu, and you’re on the Internet. The speed is noticeably slower than RoadRunner’s cable connection produces, but for most routine uses it doesn’t make a practical difference. And this connection is mobile and can be used in most parts of the country on the Sprint network.

My initial reaction is that this is a keeper.