Monday, May 20, 2024

Government

Photo by Ryan Ozawa
FeaturedGovernmentPolitics
Hawaii Star Wire

Capitol chamber to open to the public

The House of Representatives today announced that the House Chamber will be open daily for Hawaii State Capitol visitors and guests to tour the gallery area during the remainder of the month of February as a pilot project. After February, the project will be evaluated and a decision will be made on whether to extend access to the Chamber year round beyond the months the legislature is in session, January to May.

Access to the Chamber will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., including the hours that the House is normally in session.

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Judge Leslie Kobayashi
FeaturedGovernmentPeople
Hawaii Star Wire

Judge Kobayashi confirmed by U.S. Senate

The U.S. Senate has confirmed President Obama’s nomination of Leslie E. Kobayashi, currently a federal magistrate judge in Honolulu, to serve as a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.

Judge Kobayashi, 53, was confirmed on Saturday on a voice vote of the Senate. She is expected to receive her commission shortly and will fill a judgeship vacant since June 30, 2009, when U.S. District Judge Helen W. Gillmor took senior status.

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FeaturedGovernmentPolitics
Ryan Ozawa

Abercrombie names first cabinet members

Governor-Elect Neil Abercrombie today appointed five Cabinet members in his first announcement on leadership positions in the Abercrombie Administration. William J. Aila Jr. was named the Chairperson of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, an appointment that Robert Harris, director of the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club, called “an outstanding choice.”

In addition to Aila, Abercrombie’s appointments are Richard Lim as the Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; Jodie Maesaka-Hirata as the Director of the Department of Public Safety; and Alapaki Nahalea and Bobby Hall as the team leading the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands as its Director and Deputy Director, respectively.

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Ronald Moon Judiciary Complex
FeaturedGovernment
Ryan Ozawa

Hawaii Supreme Court to Convene in Kapolei

The Hawaii Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Thursday, December 2, at 10 a.m. in the Ronald T. Y. Moon Judiciary Complex in Kapolei. It will be the first time the Supreme Court convenes in the Hawaii State Judiciary’s newest facility, which opened to the public in May 2010 and houses the First Circuit Family Court, Juvenile Detention Center and Waianae District Court.

Attorneys on each side will have a half hour to present arguments in a dispute over property division in a First Circuit divorce case, Cvitanovich-Dubie v. Dubie. The appellant is asking the Supreme Court to review the April 12, 2010 decision by the Intermediate Court of Appeals
(ICA).

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Hypothenemus hampei. Photo by Eric Erbe/USDA.
EnvironmentFeaturedGovernment
Hawaii Star Wire

State mulling Big Island coffee bean quarantine

The Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals, attached to the State Department of Agriculture, will meet on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 to consider one or more quarantine zones on the island of Hawaii to prohibit the importation of green coffee beans.

At issue is a serious infestation of the Coffee Berry Borer in local crops reported by Kona Coffee farmers. The pest infestation was confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture – Agriculture Research Service Systematic Entomology Laboratory.

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