Off the News

United Football League grabs Hawaii's attention

Suddenly sports fans in Hawaii are a lot more interested in the United Football League, now that it appears University of Hawaii Warriors wunderkind Colt Brennan might become quarterback for the Hartford Colonials.

Adding to the excitement is that Brennan's head coach most likely would be Jerry Glanville, the former head coach of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and the defensive coordinator at UH for part of the time Brennan was there.

The UFL, now in its third season, has five teams that will play eight games between August and October, with most or all of it likely to be televised. It is heavy with former National Football League talent and could help Brennan get back to that league, for which he played briefly.

With the NFL in a lockout mode, this could be a good year for the UFL — and for Brennan.

How Hawaii taxes rank

Hawaii's overall tax burden ranks ninth highest in the U.S., according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council's Business Tax Index 2011.

Hawaii shares the nation's highest personal income tax on the wealthy with Oregon. And under the category of "state and local sales, gross receipts and excise taxes," Hawaii's are the highest, according to the Council.

On the upside, Hawaii has the seventh lowest corporate capital gains tax and 10th lowest state or local property taxes.

In the 1990s, when the ratings went by the moniker of the Small Business Survival Index, Hawaii was dead last overall. That was when non-tax items such as allowing union shops — regarded as a bad thing, as opposed to right-to-work laws — were factored in.