Our legislators bristle anew at paying their own way as we "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused:
» After a public outcry last year, the Abercrombie administration and legislators are trying again to loosen ethics laws to allow public officials to take free tickets to charitable events. What a state. While the rest of us are urged to give to charity, our lawmakers want charities to give to them.
» Despite a rocky first year in office, Gov. Neil Abercrombie has raised more than $1.1 million for his 2014 re-election campaign. He’s gratified that his donors remain steadfast in their loyalty to the dysfunction they paid for.
» The official opening of Hawaii’s political season will be delayed a month by the state Reapportionment Commission’s tardiness in finalizing district maps for the Legislature. Our majority of nonvoters will have less time than usual to ignore the election.
» Mayor Peter Carlisle said he’ll earmark a $450 million line of credit held by the city as additional backing for the $5.27 billion Oahu rail system. It seems fitting to pay for the Train to Nowhere with theoretical money.
» The city released a smartphone app called "Honolulu 311" that lets residents send photos, videos and audio clips to alert officials to problems around town. If they really wanted to know the problems in some parts of this city, they’d let us send odors.
» Speaking of which, a nearly two-year project to fix clogged sewer lines in the heart of Waikiki will subject visitors to foul smells, loud noise and road closures. No problem. We’ll market it as ecotourism, Hawaii style.
» Local electricity rates rose by twice the national average in the last decade and are the highest in the country, a new report says. Don’t worry, HECO has a contingency plan: Spend more money on TV commercials.
» A bill in the Legislature would allow customers to bring their dogs into restaurants that meet certain conditions. These include providing the animals privacy to lick their privates and toilets to drink from.
» The Honolulu Police Commission gave Chief Louis Kealoha a grade of "meets expectations plus" for his second year as top cop. The "plus" was for bringing Krispy Kremes to commission meetings.
» A patrolman used a Taser on a 26-year-old Honolulu man who became belligerent after being approached on a seat belt violation. Click It or Zzzzzztttt.
And the quote of the week … from Barbara Polk of Americans for Democratic Action-Hawaii on freebies for lawmakers: "It makes the nonprofits look bad. It makes the legislators look bad, and it opens the way to corruption of our entire system. It’s a minor corruption but minor corruptions are important, too."
We’re in trouble when we have to start classifying our corruption.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
