I ended up in an informal conversation with Les Kondo, executive director of the State Ethics Commission, when I stopped by their office earlier this week. Kondo said he had read my comments that morning about the problem with lobbyist disclosures, and recent comments about personal financial disclosure by public officials, and that he agrees [...]
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We weren’t out walking early enough to get the pre-dawn colors this morning. Instead, we enjoyed the deep blue sky and dramatic clouds that came just a short time later.
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My choice for quote of the day comes from Gov. Abercrombie, quoted in the Star-Advertiser this morning concerning the state’s “last, best, and final” contract offer to the Hawaii State Teachers Association. “I think that anybody would come to the conclusion that it (the contract) was not only fair, but that it was the best [...]
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Three hikers from Laie spent a couple of tense hours trapped on a ridge above Makaua Stream in Kaaawa on Tuesday afternoon before being plucked to safety by a Honolulu Fire Department rescue team. The HFD helicopter made three separate trips to the precarious spot high in the valley to complete the rescue. Once on [...]
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Okay. I’ve done it. I finally subscribed to Civil Beat this morning. Up until now, I’ve resisted the pay wall model and the high price of admission. Then several things happened. First of all, Civil Beat’s reporting has matured as its reporters have gained experience and focus. I still have issues with many stories. For [...]
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A reader asked a question yesterday worth sharing. Are you able to identify post origins from the email address attending the post or are you tracking individual IP addresses? I think people posting would like to know, or at least I would. Short answer: The WordPress software, which powers this site, captures both the email [...]
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I’ve complained about the State Ethics Commission’s system of lobbyist disclosure. It’s a system that divides responsibility between lobbyists and their employers or clients, making it easy for both to fail to report their expenditures and, if questioned, claim they thought the other guy was supposed to disclose. Here’s what I wrote in April 2009: [...]
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As feared, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled against Arizona’s Clean Elections Act, which provided a system in which publicly funded candidates could complete effectively with well-heeled opponents relying on private contributors. The court, by a 5-4 majority, held that a provision for “matching funds” to publicly funded candidates when their opponents’ fundraising hit certain [...]
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