i L i n d . n e t

The special legislative session that begins this morning will have more than the Superferry on the agenda. There’s a long list of public hearings on appointments being reviewed by the Senate, including important nominations to the Land Use Commission and the Intermediate Court of Appeals. There’s some unhappiness in town about Randal Lee’s nomination to [...]

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From Ms. Brenda, Toby’s friend in Austin, comes this little bit of Texas.
Brent & I visited his sister in south Austin this past Saturday, and I
made him stop the car so I could take a pic of this sign!!! LOL!!!!!
OMG!!! (I wasn’t the only one stopping, either. haha)

Another bit of humor came [...]

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Bret Yager at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald should get the credit for this great opening line in a story last Thursday:
The coqui “bounty hunter” campaign appears to have croaked.
An AP rewrite made it into the Star-Bulletin but without that great lede.
I should perhaps note that coqui could be heard along Banyan Drive where our hotel [...]

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A friend of mine, who is a sometimes lobbyist and well versed in the ways of politics, emailed me several days ago. Here’s part of his message:
If you are going to be back next session working for Lyla (Rep. Lyla Berg), you may want to be careful on how you talk about House members [...]

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Here’s a comment on the pending Superferry that was emailed rather than posted:
H-3 and the Alaska Pipeline were both pushed through after Congress exempted them from any further legal restrictions and court action. Whether the Hawaii Legislature can similarly exempt the Super Ferry would depend, I guess, on any peculiarities within the Hawaii Constitution [...]

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Perhaps I’m reading too much into the lively debate taking place at the capitol over the Superferry bailout bill. While the language of the bill in question, along with its legality and advisability, there’s also a clear by play over Attorney General Mark Bennett’s performance. Bennett is considered by many observers to be Lingle’s likely [...]

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I understand my entry yesterday caused a bit of confusion.
I’m told that I misinterpreted the reference to Superferry-related funding by Senator Inouye, which it turns out was for infrastructure development rather than the loan guarantee. A PBN story at the time noted: “U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye secured more than $25 million in funding for the [...]

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I wonder what we’re supposed to believe?
Here’s Rep. Tom Brower in a Star-Bulletinop-ed:
“A written opinion by the attorney general determined that no environmental assessment was required for the $40 million harbor renovation. These differing interpretations encourage the Legislature to act.”
And here’s Gov. Lingle as paraphrased by Derrick DePledge in Saturday’s Advertiser:
Under questioning from reporters at [...]

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