It’s the last Sunday in July and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused:
>> Federal overseers gave the city until after the election to explain the mystery of how Oahu rail got
$3 billion over budget and five years behind schedule. Borrowing from Agatha Christie, the report’s working title is “Murder on the Disoriented Express.”
>> Mayor Kirk Caldwell said he’ll cover part of the rail deficit by getting developers who benefit from the train to pay. Their initial response: “Um, didn’t we take care of that with our campaign contributions?”
>> Mayoral candidate Charles Djou blamed a campaign volunteer for an email that wrongly claimed he’d been endorsed by the Sierra Club. For the finger-pointing part of the mayor’s job, he’s ready to hit the ground running.
>> Councilman Ikaika Anderson claimed he was dumped as zoning chairman for political reasons, but Council Chairman Ernie Martin compared the Council to a sports team juggling its lineup. If our Council is a sports team, it’s the Bad News Bears.
>> A proposal before the Charter Commission to bar city officials from taking any gifts from lobbyists hit resistance for being too stringent. You know we’re in trouble when our leaders need to be weaned off of bribery instead of going cold turkey.
>> Gov. David Ige skipped town as Tropical Storm Darby bore down on Hawaii to attend the Democratic National Convention. What a leap he’s made from governor-elect to governor-in-absentia.
>> Hawaii DNC delegate Chelsea Lyons Kent took the aloha spirit digital by flipping the bird on national TV as Hawaii cast its votes for president. Who’ll save us from entitled millennials?
>> The Legislature overrode Ige’s veto and gave Maui hospital workers a controversial $60 million payout as union leaders denied it was a “sweetheart” deal. It was more of a “do what we say or run for your political lives” deal.
>> A clean-energy initiative funded by the state Legislature has spent
$21.5 million to loan out $385,000 for 12 local rooftop solar installations. This program must have been designed by a graduate of Trump University.
>> Officials on the Big Island have all but given up on combating the pervasive coqui frogs that disturb the island’s peace. Once established, the noisy frogs are as difficult to eradicate as incumbent state legislators.
>> The state’s eight medical marijuana dispensaries are legally able to open this month, but won’t likely do so before the end of the year — partly because the state hasn’t found anybody to test the products. For goodness’ sake, 10,000 stoners would volunteer on the Big Island alone.
And the quote of the month … from Peter Carlisle, assessing the rail dilemma at a mayoral candidates’ forum: “Rail sucks, rail sucks, rail sucks. It doesn’t.” Is that true/false or multiple choice?
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
