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| Malia Zimmerman |
Hawaii Reporter Sister Newspaper - Hawaii Free Press - Launched on Island of Hawaii
Twenty thousand copies of Hawaii Free Press, a new sister paper to Hawaii Reporter, came hot off the press today on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Founder and Editor of Hawaii Free Press Andrew Walden, a resident of the Big Island, is printing the bi-monthly publication, which includes articles from Hawaii Reporter, and has a focus on neighbor island as well as national news. In his opening letter to his readers as to why he undertook the ambitious venture, Walden says he is trying to combat the one-sided media in Hawaii and further investigative reporting.
He says: "On Christmas Eve, a soldier in Mosul, Iraq, asked Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, ‘How do we win the war in the
media? It seems that is where we are getting beat up more
than anyplace else.’ Just days after terrorists killed 22 soldiers and civilian workers in Mosul, the media is where at least one soldier feels he is, ‘getting beat up more than anyplace else.’ I can’t think of a better way to explain why the Hawaii Free Press is being published. Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t the only ones harmed by one-sided media. Here is Hawaii massive political corruption and government waste are sometimes not reported even when the stories literally fall right into reporters laps. This is not because the public does not care. It is because the media choose not to report. Hawaii is a ‘target-rich environment’ for investigative journalists and the Hawaii Free Press is going to light up these targets. A watchful press, an informed public and vigorous debate make for clean government and good policy from both parties. Hawaii Free Press intends to be part of the answer to the question from the soldier in Mosul. We will report the untold stories, the unspoken opinions, and the other side currently missing from other media outlets."
To find out more about Hawaii Free Press or to advertise in the new publication, email Walden at mailto:andrewwalden@email.com
President Honors Former Hawaii Representative at White House
Fifty state legislators from around the country, including Hawaii state Rep. Guy Ontai, R-Millilani, were recently honored by President George W. Bush at a White House reception for "showing leadership in maintaining Hawaii support for President Bush's agenda."
The president acknowledged legislators for support on such issues as the War on Terror, tax reform and Social Security reform and for leadership in moving state resolutions that bolstered his policies over the year.
The event is organized annually by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), so lawmakers can compare notes and hold a brief meeting with the president, says Grover Norquist, president of ATR, a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all federal, state and local tax increases.
He notes Guy Ontai is a champion for taxpayers in Hawaii whose leadership helped to advance freedom and common-sense values at home, and made America safer in the world. (Editor’s note: Ontai lost his re-election bid this year.)
ATR began its State Legislative Advisory Project in 2001 to encourage state leaders to become more involved in national governance. The 2004 Project included 10 resolutions supporting:
- Tax cut permanence,
- The President's War on Terror,
- Lifetime and Retirement Savings Accounts,
- Abolishing the Death Tax permanently,
- First priority for the defense appropriations bill,
- Social Security personal retirement accounts,
- Tort reform,
- Floor votes for President Bush’s judicial nominees,
- Banning Internet access taxes, and
- Ending the abuse of tort law against the firearms industry.
Budget Hearings Held in Anticipation of the 2005 Legislative Session; Governor Presents Balanced Budget With No Raids on Special Funds and No Fee or Tax Increases
The members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee are meeting several times a week, sometimes with the House Finance committee members, to hear presentations from local economists on the condition of the economy, as well as from the governor’s cabinet members who are making budget requests for their departments.
The legislative session begins Wed., Jan. 19, 2005, and will run through May 5, 2005, although there are only 60 official working days in the session.
Gov. Linda Lingle last week unveiled her $9 billion two-year budget -- which was balanced without raiding special funds or raising taxes and fees. She noted her budget increases only to accommodate the rising costs of medical care and other benefits for state and retired state workers. Otherwise the budget remains relatively flat, with just around a 2 percent increase in 2006 and another 2 percent in 2007.
The Legislature will review the governor’s budget requests and vote on what will and will not be funded and whether to maintain her policy of not raising taxes and fees and maintaining her conservative spending.
Republican Party Chair Resigns, Takes Position with State
Brennon Morioka, Ph.D, P.E., the chair and executive director of the Hawaii Republican Party, yesterday was named deputy director of the highways division for the state Department of Transportation.
Morioka, who came under fire after the 2004 election because Republicans lost 5 seats in the House dropping the number from 15 seats to 10 seats of 51 seats, will begin working for the state at the end of January. He is a civil engineer by training who previously served as a senior geotechnical engineer in the Honolulu Office of URS Corporation, one of the largest engineering firms in the world.
Morioka earned a doctorate in civil engineering with a specialty in geotechnical engineering (foundations and soil engineering) from the University of Hawaii (U.H.) at Manoa College of Engineering, where he has also been a lecturer, research assistant and teaching assistant. He was selected to serve as Hawaii State Young Engineer of the Year in 2000, and was chosen to represent the United States as one of five delegates to the First International Youth Geotechnical Engineering Conference that same year for his research at U.H.
According to a release from the governor’s office, Morioka is a member of the Hawaii State Earthquake Advisory Committee, and serves as the Geotechnical Committee Chair, Hawaii Section, of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is also involved with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineers and Canadian Geotechnical Society.
Mayor-elect Names Three More to Cabinet, Creates New Position to Ensure Good Communication with Media
Mayor-Elect Mufi Hannemann, who will be sworn in as mayor of Honolulu in a private ceremony on Jan. 2, 2005, and publicly on Jan. 5, 2005, named three more people to his cabinet last week, making nine so-far announced of the total 20 members who will ultimately make up his cabinet. To see related story, go to: "Honolulu's Mayor-Elect Names Six Cabinet Members"
Eric Takamura PhD., currently the vice president and chief operating officer with Environet Inc., will become director of the Department of Environmental Services.
Kevin S. Yoshino, a director of Hawaii Electric Company’s customer account services division, founder of DREAM Team Hawaii, a non-profit that develops business entrepreneurships among elementary and middle school students, and owner of the marketing firm Yoshina & Associates, also was tapped to work for Hannemann. He will become the director of the Department of Customer Services.
William Brennan, known for his reports on city government over a 12-year period on Ch. 2 News, was named press secretary. A new position was created for Brennan, who worked a total of 13 years at the television station, in addition to his experience on radio news and as the media contact at the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Hannemann says Brennan was hired to ensure the media has an open line of communication with his administration. In the past, the media had to get all information from one source, the director of the Department of Customer Services, who often refused to respond to media or Council requests for information, even when Freedom of Information Acts were filed. The current mayor, Jeremy Harris, is heavily criticized by open government and media groups because of his extreme secrecy, his legendary refusal to issue virtually any information on his activities, expenditures or city government operations, and his general arrogance in dealing with the media.
Brennan assured the media at the press conference where his position was announced that he would handle their requests differently. Yoshina, who will not have to deal with the media directly because the new position was created, says he is relieved to have a former journalist with expertise assisting the media.
CrimeStoppers Issues Unusual Alert
Sometimes the best way to communicate is just to say it like it is. That is what CrimeStoppers did yesterday when it issued an alert about a bank robber who robbed at 1:10 p.m. at gunpoint tellers at the Bank of Hawaii’s Kapahulu Branch.
The alert reads: "Please note the body picture of the suspect. It appears that he has extremely thin legs and the "rat bite" on the left side of his hair may be the result of illness, or a bad hair cut."
The description continues: "Polynesian, possibly Samoan male, 30-40, 6' 2", slim build, 180 lbs., emaciated legs, Salt and pepper neck length hair with bleached tips, rat bite, left side, Clean shaven, dark complexion, Wearing a backward tan colored baseball cap, red "Nike" brand jacket, white shirt underneath, tan surfer shorts, Weapon: black handgun."
If anyone has any information on the skinny-legged bank robber having a bad hair day, call Detective James Nobriga directly at 692-4507. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at
955-8300, *CRIME on your cellular phone. Free cellular calls are provided by AT&T, Nextel Hawaii, and Verizon Wireless Hawaii.
CrimeStoppers will pay a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of this suspect.
Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at: mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com
