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It’s a no-win situation. Sandwich Isles Communications, the telcom under investigation and audit since the indictment and sentencing of founder Albert Hee, can’t get certified as the provider for Department of Hawaiian Home Lands services, and is losing out on federal funds as a result.
Now the utility is complaining in court that the Public Utilities Commission turned down its certification after asking questions not subjected to other companies. Well, the PUC is supposed to regulate — so it would seem reasonable to ask some hard questions after the company’s founder was sentenced for federal tax evasion, accused of skimming some $4 million.
Filipino, Filipino-American vets get their due
The long wait for formal recognition of Filipino and Filipino-American World War II veterans is nearly over. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted unanimously to confer on some 260,000 soldiers the Congressional Gold Medal. The measure is now on President Barack Obama’s desk. With fewer than 10 surviving Filipino veterans of the war in Hawaii, the honor is long overdue. Previously, the medal has gone to other WWII minority military units, ranging from the Navajo Code Talkers (2008) to Japanese-American soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service (2010).
