Hawaii Blog

The Hawaii County Band, a 127-year-old institution on the Big Island, has been singled out for elimination in the county budget, expected to be unveiled on Monday. The news was announced tonight to stunned musicians and volunteers by Bob Fitzgerald and Clayton Honma, director and deputy director of the county parks department.
Budget cuts are hardly [...]

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Today was the last day Gov. Linda Lingle could veto bills from the 2009 legislative session. And while she didn’t sign SB199, she didn’t veto it, either. So, despite the extensive lobbying efforts by the local technology and business community, and despite the fact that she listed it as a potential veto [PDF] weeks ago, [...]

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A quick update to my last post on Amazon.com dropping Hawaii affiliates. As the online giant (and many local affiliate marketers) hoped, Gov. Linda Lingle today vetoed HB1405.  Now the ball is in the Legislature’s court, as lawmakers mull convening a special session to override the governor’s vetoes. The full text of Gov. Lingle’s press [...]

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Amazon.com has pulled the trigger. As reported earlier, a looming Hawaii state tax law change relating to online affiliate marketers has prompted the Internet retailer to close the Amazon Associates accounts of Hawaii residents. Members of the local tech community are pushing Gov. Linda Lingle to veto HB1405, but Amazon.com is acting pre-emptively, clearly hoping [...]

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An award-winning documentary on America’s addiction to oil and the promise of alternative energy is coming to Honolulu. “The Fuel Film” (formerly “Fields of Fuel“) will be screened one night only, this Friday at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
The film follows director and activist Josh Tickell as he travels around the country, uncovering the massive influence [...]

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“A Web site for college students subsidized with millions of dollars in state income tax credits is now an adult-oriented Internet portal.” So begins Sean Hao’s article in the Honolulu Advertiser, documenting the “rise and fall” of HotU. The site, which rode the dotcom boom into the dotcom bust in 2004, is used as an [...]

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Supporters of House Bill 444, or the “civil unions bill,” are not ready to give up. While Tuesday, May 5 Thursday, May 7 is the effective deadline for any last-minute action on the stalled bill, late signals from the Senate offer a glimmer of hope.
HB444, which offers same-sex couples the opportunity to enter into civil [...]

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Act 221 is on the brink of being gutted. A bill that would hack out the heart of tax credits aimed at building and sustaining a high tech industry in Hawaii is expected to come to a floor vote tomorrow.
Hawaii’s technology tax credits, generally referred to collectively as Act 221, have been under fire in [...]

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From the heady, shaky days of Howard Dean to the triumphant ascent of Pres. Barack Obama, there’s no question that the web is a vital tool for organizing and fundraising. Social networks have turned the grassroots into netroots. If you’re running for office today, you need to have “presence.” You better be on Facebook. And [...]

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Hawaii Rep. Neil Abercrombie is hoping to move from Washington D.C. to Washington Place in Honolulu, today making official his long-anticipated run for governor.
True, it was the worst-kept secret in local politics (I blogged it as a sure-thing in November, and I was late then!), and every media outlet had the story yesterday (after Abercrombie [...]

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