It’s the last Sunday in August and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused:
>> Gov. David Ige said he can beat U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in next year’s Democratic primary. His message to voters is simple: He promised nothing and he delivered it.
>> The governor isn’t worried he’s raised only $250,000 for his re-election. Who needs campaign funds when you have an $893 million state budget surplus to give public worker unions?
>> Hanabusa faulted Ige for not achieving more when there are no Republicans in the state Senate and just five in the House. Only a Democrat would expect less competition to equal more productivity.
>> Sen. Jill Tokuda joined a crowded field for lieutenant governor that potentially includes fellow Sens. Josh Green and Will Espero, Rep. Joe Souki, Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa and Attorney General Doug Chin. Why do so many fight so hard to contribute so little?
>> The city named Andrew Robbins, whose company lost the bid to supply Oahu rail cars, as CEO of the $10 billion rail project. He’s a fitting lead singer for the Grand Flunk Railroad.
>> Mayor Kirk Caldwell had a hissy fit that the $2.4 billion rail bailout offered by state legislators wasn’t enough, crying, “I will not jeopardize the financial health of the city and negatively impact the residents and taxpayers.” He’s $5 billion too late to preach that gospel.
>> The City Council further restricted areas on Oahu where people can sit and lie. The Council chambers are one of the few safe havens left.
>> Happy patients said it was like Disneyland as Hawaii’s first medical marijuana dispensaries opened to overflow crowds eager to buy “Chocolope,” “Blue Dream” and “Kolossus.” The name “Snake Oil” was already taken.
>> President Donald Trump boasted that his nuclear brinkmanship leading North Korea to threaten “an enveloping fire” around Guam will increase the island’s tourism “tenfold.” Trump thinks atomic blast is the stuff he uses to make his face orange.
>> Attorney Lisa Munger ripped tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar’s proposed dairy near her client’s Kauai resort, griping that “each dairy cow will produce 90.8 pounds of manure per day.” You’d think she would extend them professional courtesy.
>> Nearby residents opposed the dairy with bumper stickers reading, “No Moo Poo in Maha‘ulepu.” Perhaps the cattle should go someplace where the smells would blend in, like the Capitol District.
>> Kauai Council members turned down $100,000 in private donations for a climate change plan, saying they’ll let Washington take care of it. Lolos who wait for Trump to take care of climate change deserve their drowning.
And the quote of the month … from Rep. Sylvia Luke on the struggle to finance rail: “I don’t know why reasonable, intelligent people can’t figure this out.” We should elect some reasonable, intelligent people and find out.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
