Hawaii hoteliers put a little umbrella in our political brew as we "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused:
» The Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association gave its U.S. Senate endorsement to all three major candidates — Democrats Mazie Hirono and Ed Case and Republican Linda Lingle. They seem to be confusing buying influence with buying a pupu sampler at the hotel bar.
» Hirono is touting her self-reliance in the latest TV ad for her Senate campaign. Only in Hawaii politics would drawing a government check for three decades be passed off as self-reliance.
» Lingle and Hirono each reported raising about $1 million in the latest quarter, bringing their campaign totals to $4.2 million for Lingle and $3.2 million for Hirono. Case got the loose change the others lost in the sofa.
» After the city promised voters in 2010 that creating the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation would use existing staff and facilities and cause "no additional cost," HART is increasing its staff by nearly half and its office space by a third. The truth can HURT.
» Former campaign spending chief Bob Watada said Pacific Resource Partnership’s ads accusing mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano of spending violations are "bogus" and compared the attacks to the "birther" campaign against President Barack Obama. PRP’s John White would have more credibility with birther king Donald Trump’s eyebrows.
» Cayetano’s opponents, Mayor Peter Carlisle and Kirk Caldwell, said they doubt he’ll be able to keep his promise to stop the Honolulu rail project if he’s elected. It’s like the machine in "The Terminator" that can’t be killed.
» A Stevie Wonder concert to benefit University of Hawaii sports was canceled, a $200,000 deposit is missing and athletic director Jim Donovan is on leave after Wonder’s representatives called to say he knew nothing of the event. If only he’d just called to say he loves us.
» The city is using a $1.05 million federal grant to take high-resolution pictures of Oahu roads that will help guide maintenance. The images are so fine they can find cars that have completely disappeared into potholes.
» State sheriff deputies were told to back off their downtown anti-jaywalking campaign after some bigwig violators reportedly were irked. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get better cellphone reception to complain to his legislator.
» Resource managers are considering easing restrictions on bottom-fishing around Hawaii. That’s one way to give voters more ballot choices.
And the quote of the week … from UH President M.R.C. Greenwood on the Stevie Wonder fiasco: "We don’t know if this is bad judgment and poor policy or whether we have something more serious on our hands." The only thing for sure is they have egg all over their faces.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net
