Tulsi Gabbard visited the San Francisco Bay Area last weekend. The three term Congresswoman from Hawaii is 37 years old and ethnically diverse. Remarkably, she has 15 years of military experience in the US Army and National Guard as well as substantial political experience. She was elected to the Hawaii State Assembly at age 21.

Tulsi Gabbard supports progressive domestic policy issues including criminal justice reform, healthcare-for-all, national and international steps to protect the environment. She has a high approval rating on gay issues.

What makes Gabbard really distinctive is her emphasis and approach to US foreign policy. While other candidates largely avoid the subject, Tulsi Gabbard says the issue is “central” to all other issues. She says we need to change the policy of “regime change wars” and “new cold war” with Russia and China. She advocates cooperation instead of conflict.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford issued a statement Monday denying weekend media reports that the US plans to leave around 1,000 troops in Syria, saying the reports are “factually incorrect.”

Dunford presented the current planned “residual force” as 200, saying that this hadn’t changed since February. The US announced 200 would stay on February 21, but on February 22 officially increased that number to 400.

It’s not clear from Dunford’s statement where the “incorrect” aspect of the new report, which came out of a Wall Street Journal, exists. That report suggested that the 1,000 figure was not yet finalized, but was being discussed. Dunford’s comments didn’t include any details on what is actually being discussed, but just that nothing was finalized.

The state has warned the Honolulu rail authority that it will not release funding for invoices that are being scrutinized by the federal government as part of the ongoing federal investigation of the city rail project, according to state Comptroller Curt Otaguro….

The state Department of Accounting and General Serv­ices reviews invoices from the Honolulu rail project to determine whether they qualify for state funding, and Otaguro said he instructed the rail authority “not to submit any invoice that is in question under the federal subpoena and investigation.”…

As of the end of last year, DAGS had refused to reimburse HART for invoices worth $40.4 million until rail officials provide more information, Otaguro said.

Democrat presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard issued a statement in favor of free speech earlier today, calling on Americans to “stand united” against attempts by Facebook and others to “censor,” “stifle,” and “influence” public debate.

Gabbard, a Democratic representative from Hawaii who served in Iraq with the Army National Guard, is known for her opposition to interventionist regime change wars, and has opposed continuing U.S. intervention in Syria.

She added her voice to a growing bipartisan chorus condemning social media platforms for censorship.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard has made reforming United States foreign policy, particularly ending what she calls “regime change wars” and the “new Cold War and nuclear arms race,” central to her 2020 presidential campaign. She is virtually the only presidential candidate warning of the specter of nuclear war.
At a CNN town hall at South By Southwest on March 10, Gabbard contended, “We are in a situation today where we, here in the United States and the world, are at a greater risk of nuclear catastrophe than ever before in history.”

“My commitment in fighting to end these counterproductive regime change wars is based on these experiences and my understanding [of] the cost of war and who pays the price,” Gabbard added:

Yes, it is our service members. It is our troops. It is our military families. It is the people in these countries, where these wars are waged, whose suffering ends up far worse after we launch these regime change wars.”

Hawaiian Airlines was the most punctual carrier in the US last year closely followed by Delta, new figures have revealed.

The US Department of Transport has released its official Air Travel Consumer Report, which details the on-time performance for America's 10 biggest carriers in 2018.

It also shows that the airline with the worst punctuality was Frontier, which was on-time just 69.4 per cent of the time.

Normally when a Democratic Party-aligned politician appears on such a show, you can expect jokes about how stupid Trump is and how badly they’re going to beat the Republicans, how they’re going to help ordinary Americans, and maybe some friendly back-and-forth about where they grew up or something. Colbert had no time to waste on such things, however, because this was not an interview with a normal Democratic Party-aligned politician: this was a politician who has been loudly and consistently criticizing US foreign policy.

A Magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the south flank of K?lauea Volcano on Hawai?i Island at 12:55 a.m. HST early Wednesday morning.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.3 km and was felt all across the Big Island. It was felt strongest in Volcano Village.

For a short time, the USGS website also measured the earthquake at a possible Magnitude 4.8, but later appeared to confirm a Magnitude 5.3 measurement. The strength of the quake was later revised to a 5.5.

Just kidding! It turns out Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is a fan of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey's (D-MA) ambitious Green New Deal. Hirono was justifiably confused about how her Hawaii constituents would fare if the measure passed, considering it calls for things like reduced air travel.

CB: … State lawmakers want to repeal an annual rail audit requirement in part, they say, to get out of the way of federal investigators now probing the multibillion-dollar transit project.

(Reality: They don’t want auditors to uncover even more, so they are de-funding the audits.)

On Tuesday, the House passed House Bill 118, a measure that was overhauled earlier via the “gut-and-replace” procedure. The revised bill would free the state auditor from having to inspect Honolulu rail’s invoices each year, making sure those expenses comply with what state law allows.

A similar measure is moving in the Senate.

As part of their 2017 rail bailout, state leaders gave the Department of Accounting and General Services $400,000 to verify that all rail expenditures are legitimate — that they relate directly to construction — before reimbursing the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation for the costs.

The University of South Dakota allegedly pressured the Student Bar Association to change the name of its event from “Hawaiian day” to “Beach Day.” However, after first keeping leis in the program, USD later advised against wearing them, calling them “culturally insensitive.”

Now, a Hawaii state representative is accusing some at USD of having “their head stuck in a snowbank.”

“The lei is a symbol of our Aloha spirit in Hawaii, inclusive and welcoming. One individual’s objection to its use at a festive event is both patronizing and an insult to our island tradition"

Hawaii state Rep. Bob McDermott commented on the situation in a letter to the editor published by the University of South Dakota's school newspaper, The Volante, and claimed that usage of the leis is not offensive, but honorable.

CB: … the climate commission’s work has only begun. The 20-member group has adopted a landmark sea level rise report, which includes online mapping tools for the public and state agencies to use for planning. In November, it unanimously called on the Legislature to pass a carbon tax to incentivize people to change their habits for the planet’s well-being (environmentalists’ private profit)….

On the Senate side, the biggest is a proposed carbon tax — a sweeping environmental policy reform that would affect virtually everyone in Hawaii.

Senate Bill 1463, introduced by Sen. Karl Rhoads and six colleagues, unanimously passed the 25-member chamber. It was transmitted to the 51-member House on Tuesday.

It’s the only version of a carbon tax still alive. Two House bills, far different than Rhoads’ proposal, died without a hearing. One related measure, House Bill 1584, is still moving forward but it only calls for a study by the University of Hawaii….

A group of Hawaii state legislators wants Congress to repeal the right to bear arms — or at least specify that it is not an individual right. The resolution filed Tuesday in the Hawaii Senate, SCR42, is backed by freshman state Sen. Stanley Chang, best known for defeating the chamber’s last Republican in 2016.

Chang’s measure, which has four co-sponsors, would request Washington discuss either scrapping the Second Amendment altogether or clarifying that it only applies to organizations such as state militias.

Chang, a Honolulu attorney who studied law under now-U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, throws rocks at the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller ruling that held the Second Amendment protected an individual right to arms.

Legislators in Hawaii, which has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the United States, moved this week to bring their concerns about the Second Amendment to the national level.

In Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) No. 42, introduced Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers assert that

in light of the numerous tragic mass shootings at schools, work places, and public events, this body believes that it is necessary to repeal or amend the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

In the resolution, lawmakers urge Congress to

a"dopt a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution pursuant to article V of the United States Constitution to clarify the constitutional right to bear arms."

The FBI says a former Honolulu deputy prosecutor used cocaine with her brother and others involved in a drug distribution conspiracy and using her position to cover up their crimes.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday that the allegation is contained in an FBI affidavit to support a search warrant request on Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha's brother, physician Rudolph Puana.

Kealoha and Puana are charged in a February 7 federal grand jury indictment on drug charges.

First, one might imagine that she would be the dream candidate for the Democratic Party: she is a female, she is not White, she has impeccable “patriotic” credentials, she is obviously both very good looking and very smart, she does not have any skeletons in her past (at least none that we know of for the time being) and she is not associated with the notorious Clinton gang. So what’s there not to like about her if you are a Democrat?

Well, as we all saw, the putatively “liberal” legacy Ziomedia hates Tulsi Gabbard with a passion. Maybe not as much as that legacy Ziomedia hates Trump or Putin, but still – the levels of hostility against her are truly amazing. This may seem bizarre until you realize that, just like Donald Trump, Tulsi Gabbard has said all the right things about Israel, but that this was not nearly “enough” to please the US Ziolobby.

The Winter Weather Advisory has been extended and is now in effect until 10 a.m. for the summit of Haleakal? on Maui and the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Hawai?i Island.

The National Weather Service says occasional snow showers will continue to impact the highest elevations through mid morning Saturday. Snow covered and icy roadways leading to the summits will make travel to the summits extremely dangerous.

Due to the life-threatening conditions, the National Park Service has closed the road leading to the summit of Haleakal?. Travel to the summits should be avoided until the roadways have been cleared from snow and ice and deemed safe for travel.

Across the country, people are getting fed up with large, expensive public works projects that siphon away taxpayer funds.

In January, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo canceled a plan years in the making that would have shut down New York City’s L Train for tunnel repairs. Instead, he opted for a substantially cheaper plan concocted in a matter of weeks by a team of unpaid academic engineers. What’s more, the new plan can be carried out on nights and weekends, so the city won’t have to shut down service for more than a year while it’s completed.

If Cuomo’s plan works, it will be a rebuke to big, expensive and time-consuming government projects — and a black eye for the agency that insisted big and expensive was the only option.

Nor is New York the only state exploring alternatives to a public works boondoggle.

Despite Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction for an early spring, winter isn’t letting go of its hold just yet — in fact, it’s setting records … in Hawaii.

A major winter storm that began rolling in over the weekend has forced many state parks across the islands to close, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources reported in a Facebook post on Sunday.

Notably, the DLNR wrote, “For perhaps the first time ever, snow has fallen in a Hawaii State Park,” explaining that Polipoli State Park on the island of Maui is “blanketed with snow.”

Snow and ice shut down Haleakala National Park’s Summit District on Sunday, while downpours and strong winds took down power lines and trees, and high surf pushed boats ashore in West and South Maui.

The wintry conditions were brought on by a powerful storm tracking southward toward the Hawaiian Islands, bringing a band of enhanced moisture and predictions of up to 3 inches of snow on the summit of Haleakala, the National Weather Service said.

Shortly after noon on Sunday, the Summit District was closed due to snowy and icy road conditions, as well as power outages throughout the district, park spokesperson Nancy Stimson said. The closure was scheduled to remain in effect through at least 9 a.m. today, and today’s sunrise viewing was also canceled. Maui County officials also warned the public not to drive toward the summit.

Snow falls in Hawaii a few times a year in winter on the state's highest peak, Mauna Kea rising 13,803 elevation in feet, but the white stuff is rarely seen at elevations below 9,000 feet to 10,000 feet.

On Sunday, Maui's 10,ooo-foot Haleakala received a thick dusting and snow also accumulated at 6,200 feet in Polipoli State Recreation Area.

Officials at the Department of Land and Natural Resources say this could mark the lowest-elevation snowfall ever recorded in the state.

A deadly winter storm battered Hawaii over the weekend, bringing dangerous surf conditions, heavy snow and damaging winds.

Waves near Waimea Bay on the north shore of Oahu surpassed 60 feet Sunday afternoon, meteorologist Gavin Shigesato with the National Weather Service Honolulu forecast office told USA TODAY.

Surf heights hit 45 feet on another part of the island, according to observation reports. A 66-year-old California man died Friday after getting stuck in rough ocean conditions off northwest Maui, Hawaii News Now said.

A monstrous 191-mph wind gust was recorded on the peak of Mauna Kea on the Big Island Sunday, the weather service said.

A massive complex of 20 U.S. military storage tanks is buried in a bluff called Red Hill that overlooks Honolulu’s primary drinking water supply, 100 feet below.

The walls on the 75-year-old jet fuel tanks are now so thin that the edge of a dime is thicker. Each of the underground tanks holds 12.5 million gallons of jet fuel; 225,000,000 gallons in total.

In 2014, 27,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked through a weak spot on a tank that had been repaired with a welded patch. The welding gave way and the fuel entered the the water supply.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) expressed skepticism about progressive Democrats’ Green New Deal proposal Thursday, saying the goal of replacing necessary air travel with high-speed rail transport would be burdensome on her home state of Hawaii.

“That would be pretty hard for Hawaii,” Hirono said of the far-left environmental proposal unveiled Thursday by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), according to Fox News’ Chad Pergram. Hawaii is roughly 2,500 miles away from Los Angeles, California, with a flight time of four and a half hours.

As NTK Network notes: “To put that in perspective, the longest railroad trip offered by Amtrak, which is not high-speed rail, is 2,265 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles and takes on average 43 hours to complete.”

When Tulsi Gabbard announced her plans to run in the 2020 presidential election, I predicted that it would disrupt war propaganda narratives and force a much-needed conversation about US interventionism, but I didn’t realize that it would happen so quickly, so ubiquitously, and so explosively. Gabbard officially began her campaign for president a mere three days ago, and already she’s become the front line upon which the debate about US warmongering is happening. Even if you oppose Gabbard’s run for the presidency, this should be self-evident to you by now.

Nothing good can ever come from the government dictating to people what they are allowed to put in their bodies, and that includes smoking. Are we free or not? Do we own ourselves or not? Governments assume they own us as tax cattle and therefore it’s their right to tell us how to live our lives. Unfortunately, too many bow down to the whims of the state while others enforce these nanny state policies.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D – HI) is a perfect case study with what is wrong with American politics. She represents fairly standard Democratic party positions on issues like gay rights, gun control, health care and redistributive tax policy.

But on the crucial issue of foreign policy she’s a dissenter. And, from what I can figure out, this dissention comes from a principled position.

And that makes her persona non grata in the current political climate of partisanship.

Anti-war American lawmaker, Tulsi Gabbard, has rejected a 2020 endorsement by David Duke, a founder and former grand wizard of the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

“I have strongly denounced David Duke’s hateful views and his so-called ‘support’ multiple times in the past, and reject his support,” said the first Hindu member of US Congress in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday.

The Hawaii representative was endorsed by Duke on Twitter

“Tulsi Gabbard in 2020. Finally, a candidate for president who will really put America First?” he tweeted Monday.

NBC NEWS PUBLISHED a predictably viral story Friday, claiming that “experts who track websites and social media linked to Russia have seen stirrings of a possible campaign of support for Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard.”

But the whole story was a sham: The only “expert” cited by NBC in support of its key claim was the firm New Knowledge, which just got caught by the New York Times fabricating Russian troll accounts on behalf of the Democratic Party in the Alabama Senate race to manufacture false accusations that the Kremlin was interfering in that election.

A Kauai firefighter suffered several large lacerations to his leg Monday afternoon after an apparent shark bite in Kauai’s Hanalei Bay.

Authorities closed the popular swimming and surfing spot after the incident, which happened about 1:45 p.m.

Kauai authorities said the surfer injured in the shark bite was in stable condition.

The other day Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard came out with what remains the strongest rejection of the Trump administration’s regime change interventionism in Venezuela out of anyone likely to run for the presidency in 2020.

“The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela,” Gabbard tweeted.

“Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders? - ?so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.”

Boom. Unambiguous, unequivocal, and without any of the “Yeah Maduro is an evil monster, but” modifiers that other officials (including Bernie Sanders) have been prefacing their feeble objections to Trump’s campaign to topple the Venezuelan government with. Which of course outraged all the usual war pundits, including the Washington Post’s most reliable military-industrial complex fluffer Josh Rogin.

Starts 40 minutes in

Sky gazers in Hawaii were treated to a rare treat of a super blood wolf moon on Sunday and Monday.

The celestial phenomenon occurs when a total lunar eclipse happens at the same time as a super moon — and in January.

“There’s one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace.” Those were the words of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawaii, appearing on CNN on January 12, as she threw her hat into the presidential ring.

Gabbard is one of the few Democrats in the 2020 mix who has experience as a combatant in war. Back in 2004, at the peak of fighting in Iraq, she volunteered for duty with the Hawaii National Guard as it was deployed to that country. So for her, as well as for all the other veterans of our recent wars of choice, America’s Middle East policy is more than an object for armchair strategizing.

Thus did Gabbard smile in agreement when CNN host Van Jones summarized her views as “hawk on terror, dove on regime change.” And most Americans would agree: that is, everybody wants an anti-terrorism policy, but few want more foreign wars and regime changes.

On 22 December 2016, a retired professor of Hawaiian studies named Carlos Andrade sent a letter to dozens of his relatives informing them that he was about to sue them.

The relatives were among hundreds of partial owners of four small parcels of land on the island of Kauai, the legacy of a shared ancestor named Manuel Rapozo. A neighboring landowner, Northshore Kalo LLC, was willing to pay the legal fees to clear up the title on the property – enabling Andrade to take full ownership and compensate his fellow descendants for their shares.

It wasn’t until nearly a month later that the Honolulu Star-Advertiser broke the news that Northshore Kalo LLC was not a taro farm, as some had assumed (“kalo” means “taro” in Hawaiian), but a shell corporation controlled by Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder was pursuing eight separate lawsuits related to parcels of land that, like the Rapozo parcels, were surrounded by his 700-acre Kauai estate.

Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard has announced her intent to campaign for President of the United States, and the entire political spectrum is shitting bricks about it. Mainstream liberals and neocons are calling her a Putin puppet and Assad’s BFF, leftists and progressives are criticizing her associations with right-wing factions in India and anti-LGBT comments she made in the early 2000s, conspiracy analysts are criticizing her Council on Foreign Relations membership, and the Zionist elements of Trump’s base are openly promising to destroy her candidacy. A lot of others, myself included, got a lot more interested in the 2020 elections when she threw her hat in.

A spokesman for Ed Case explained that the newly sworn-in congressman was referencing something that his Japanese-American wife says about him, but some accused him of trying to score political points by playing the race card.

Democratic Representative for Hawaii's first district Ed Case faced public backlash criticism for his comments on racial identity, prompting him to apologise.

"I'm an Asian trapped in a white body," Case claimed on Tuesday at a Washington, D.C. event dedicated to newly minted members of Congress with Asian American and Pacific Islander roots.

With China rising to become an ever greater threat to American dominance in the Pacific , the United States Air Force has started to rotate its premier long-range strike assets to the region as a counter to Beijing’s increasing belligerence.

Earlier this year, the Air Force deployed three Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit stealth bombers to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii in order to demonstrate America’s ability to hold any target on Earth at risk—including deep inside Chinese airspace.

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been in the news a couple of times in the last week. She went after a clutch of Democrat Senators (Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, and fellow Hawaiian Mazie Hirono) over their creation of an actual religious test for federal court nominees: that is, if they are observant Catholics they are disqualified. This caused some of them to call foul:

Hawaiian Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's just announced 2020 presidential bid has unleashed fury from both the right and the left, but more so from within her own party, and especially from corners long focused on regime change in Syria and who generally lobby for a more muscular "boots on the ground" foreign policy from Ukraine to Syria to Afghanistan. Some pundits have already gone so far as to say "keep an eye on her finances," suggesting illegal foreign campaign funding through Damascus or Moscow.

In 2012, the City and County of Honolulu broke ground on a 20.1 mile elevated rail transit system extending from Kapolei to Ala Moana.

We found that, as the Honolulu Rail Transit Project progressed and costs swelled from $5.122 billion in 2012 to $9.188 billion in 2018, HART began reporting information to the public that often contradicted its own internal projections or differed from what it was telling the Federal Transit Administration.

We found that HART’s inaccurate reporting of its estimated costs to complete the Project and the estimated date by which it expected to begin full operations undermined the Board’s oversight, obscured the extent of the Project’s financial problems, and eroded public confidence.

Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. The Samoan and Hindu congresswoman is an Iraq War veteran and an outspoken critic of US ‘regime change’ policy in Syria.

“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard told CNN’s Van Jones, the network revealed on Friday evening. The interview will air on Saturday evening.

“There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve,” she said, mentioning healthcare access, criminal justice reform and climate change as her key platform issues.

Tulsi Gabbard, the Democratic US representative from Hawaii, said she will run for president in 2020, CNN reported on Friday.

“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” she said in an interview with CNN that is scheduled to air on Saturday.

Gabbard is a 37-year-old Iraq war veteran and the first Hindu and first Samoan-American elected to the US Congress. She said “the issue of war and peace” would be the main focus of her campaign.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard took aim at Democratic colleagues, including U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, accusing them of religious bigotry in their questioning of Brian Buescher, a nominee to the U.S. District Court of Nebraska, in an opinion piece published by The Hill yesterday.

Such a schism in Hawaii’s Democratic congressional delegation is highly unusual. Hirono’s office wasn’t told of the piece before it ran. In a statement issued today, Hirono called Gabbard’s opinion misguided and suggested it was influenced by arguments advanced by “right-wing ideologues.”

There’s at least one Hawaii lawmaker who supports the idea of a Trump-Kim meeting in the islands.

Last March, state Rep. Gene Ward suggested just that as a way to start a dialogue with North Korea.

“Many in Hawaii, including myself, consider our island home to have the potential to be the ‘Geneva of the Pacific,’ a place where disputes can be settled," wrote Ward, in a letter to the White House.

Moving away has always been a fact of life in our islands, but lately it’s been getting worse. For the second year in a row, the state’s population declined. Between July 2017 and July 2018, we lost an average of 10 people per day. Yes, there were more births than deaths. Yes, there were 4,075 people who migrated here from other countries. But we also lost 12,430 residents who moved to the mainland.

There’s no mystery as to why so many people move away. The Christophers, Michaels and thousands of others are very willing to tell their stories … and many of them have, via the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s Facebook page.

It comes down to opportunity. Hawaii is notorious for its high taxes and excessive regulations. Land-use laws have throttled development, and housing here is ridiculously expensive. Hawaii’s cost of living is the highest in the U.S., but policymakers are unwilling to reduce the taxes, fees and other economic barriers that contribute to the problem.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going to great lengths to protect his privacy on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where he purchased a 700-acre plot of land in 2014 for more than $100 million. Starting last month, Zuckerberg began filing lawsuits against Hawaiian land owners who own small slices of his estate that were passed down from generation to generation, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. As many as eight suits have been filed against hundreds of people, some of whom are dead. Notably, this isn’t the first of the social network exec’s attempts to buy his privacy; Zuckerberg’s plan to teardown and rebuild four of his Palo Alto, California homes surrounding his primary residence was denied last September.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was spotted at a luxury hotel in Hawaii just before the partial government shutdown entered its seventh day Friday, with little sign of progress to end it.

The likely speaker didn't appear to miss out on any negotiations, as talks between the White House and Democratic congressional leaders appear to have ceased, even as hundreds of thousands of federal employees remain on furlough.

Pelosi's office says the White House hasn't contacted them since December 11, when Trump said at a tense meeting he would claim the 'mantle' of a shutdown.

The White House came out with a double-barreled attack on Pelosi Friday – not for being out of town, but for being unwilling to compromise and even claiming she was more interested in her own fortunes than protecting 'American lives.'

It turns out the nearly 100-year-old federal law doesn’t just apply to shipping vessels, but other qualifying vessels such as surfboards and kayaks, which negatively affects workers' compensation insurance for small businesses in Hawaii.

The Jones Act or “Merchant Marine Act of 1920” is a federal protectionist law that governs maritime activities and provides seamen with a personal injury negligence remedy. The federal law increases costs to ship owners and consumers by requiring shipping vessels transporting goods between U.S. ports to be built in and flagged by the U.S. and also to be 75 percent owned and crewed by Americans. The federal law not only increases the cost of living for Hawaii residents, but now it also affects small recreational water-sport businesses.

A simple change in the federal law to exclude recreational water-sport vessels from the Jones Act would reduce premium costs for businesses, which would only have to purchase and comply with state coverage rules.

For the first time since statehood in 1959, Hawaii’s population declined for two consecutive years with fewer births, more deaths and a greater number of residents moving to the mainland.

The trend is alarming because without enough people economic growth could be affected, said Eugene Tian, state economist with Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

“That is something significant because with fewer people it helps a little bit in the housing shortage, but there will definitely be less spending consumption and that will reduce economic growth,” said Tian, adding that 70 percent of gross domestic product is due to consumer spending. “Because the U.S. economy in the last two years has been growing faster than in Hawaii, people are looking for more opportunities and a lower cost of living.”

Routh Bolomet's fight to save her land has not only exposed rampant corruption in the "real estate" industry in collusion with the "State of Hawaii" courts, but it's raised issues of international law. The memorandum issued by UN Independent Expert, Dr. Alfred deZayas confirmed what we have been saying for years: that the United States' presumption of sovereignty over the Hawaiian Islands is unlawful, and that Hawaii is, as Dr. deZayas put it, under a "strange form of occupation."

The Hawaii Democrat, who has made visits to the first two voting states of the presidential primary, is looking to tap the same progressive firm that helped Bernie in 2016.

One constant in our city is that money always seems to excuse absurdity.

We saw it when Mayor Kirk Caldwell ripped the Trump administration for denying the dire warnings of its National Climate Assessment, only to practice his own climate denial when it came to Honolulu rail and the development around it.

It would be unthinkable, he said, to take advantage of new climate knowledge and stop rail at Middle Street or reroute it along Beretania Street to the University of Hawaii instead of continuing to aim it at a future swamp in Kakaako and Ala Moana.

“The investment, the infrastructure, the real property values are just too tremendous to do that,” he said. Even if all the money ends up underwater, apparently.

On Friday, September 21, officers from the Honolulu Police Department and the state sheriff’s office responded to a call regarding a purported threat of physical violence against Khara Jabola-Carolus, executive director of Hawaii’s State Commission on the Status of Women.

After investigating the incident, police concluded that there had been no physical threat….

Officials with the city, state and federal governments who spoke on condition that they not be identi­fied told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that they are aware of the federal inquiry, which involves the Honolulu branch of the U.S. Attorney’s office. An investigator with the state Attorney General’s office is also involved, according to multiple sources….

Sources who describe the interest from federal authorities as an investigation were unsure what aspect of the rail project is under scrutiny….

Some of the cost increases within the project budget have been breathtaking. HART documents show the budget for professional services such as engineering, project management and construction management for rail ballooned from $1.183 billion in 2012 to more than $2.08 billion today.

Another budget category called “sitework and special conditions,” which includes utility relocation work, increased from $1.1 billion in 2012 to more than $2.54 billion today….

Bruno Mars will mark the end of his massive "24K Magic World Tour" by providing meals to 24,000 Hawaii residents in need for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Hawaiian-born singer announced Sunday he has donated money for the food to the Salvation Army's Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division, which hosts an annual Thanksgiving meal program to help those in need.

Mars is set to perform the final show of his 200-date tour at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on Sunday. It is his third consecutive night at the 50,000-seat venue.

A widely cited study issued last month by WalletHub erroneously stated that Hawaii public school teachers make a starting salary of only $24,409 when adjusted for cost of living, supposedly lowest in the nation.

In reality, Hawaii teachers make starting salaries that are $35,140 when adjusted for the cost of living, which is above the national average.

In response to a request for information from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, WalletHub said it assumed a cost-of-living index for Hawaii of 188.3. It attributed that number to a report by the Council for Community and Economic Research,[1] which catalogues cost-of-living indices of urban areas nationally.

Back then, in February 2015, the estimated cost for the Honolulu rail was $6 billion, and Atkinson said that was much too low. Atkinson also said she would be surprised if the rail were finished “in under 30 years for under $20 billion.”

Initially, I thought she was exaggerating. But now when I look at the largely ineffective battle by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) to control its costs, it occurs to me that she might have been right. A recent analysis by the Federal Transit Administration found that the project is costing more than HART anticipated. This, of course, is no surprise: In 2012 the city’s funding agreement with the FTA put the cost at $5.26 billion and completion by 2020, while the latest estimate is $9 billion and completion by 2025.

The only promise that is new about the promised peace plan is the way it will be forced on the Palestinians: no one has promised that the plan itself will be new. With Saudi Arabia and Egypt—the outside—brought onside with the promise of continued military aid despite their crimes against humanity and violations of international law and the Palestinians weakened by being silenced, economically crushed and stripped of any friends to help them, the United States and Israel are now free to attempt to impose a peace plan on the Palestinians.

Shakespeare said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet — proof that he wasn’t a lawyer … or a politician. Either of them would tell you that a “surcharge” smells a lot better to voters than a “tax.”

And that’s one of the problems with the ballot measure to raise taxes for public education.

The actual wording of the proposal that goes before Hawaii voters Nov. 6 is, “Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?”

You’ll notice that not only does it not define the term “investment real property” or what precisely will be funded in public education, but it also doesn’t use the word “tax.”

That may seem like a little thing, but consider if the question was worded more accurately: “Shall the legislature be given a new constitutional power to raise taxes on real property for state use?”

Hirono's assertion that there was corroborating evidence that supported Ford's story is false, as prosecutor Rachel Mitchell specifically noted in her 5-page memo on Ford's testimony. All the witnesses Ford claims exist have "either refuted her allegations or failed to corroborate them."

Hirono later suggested that the presumption of innocence should not apply to Kavanaugh because "this is not a court of law" and said that the FBI's investigation was a "sham."

"I want to ask you about the atmosphere. The president and Republicans, what they are saying is that Democratic protesters are -- quote -- 'an angry mob,'" Bash said as Hirono laughed. And what I want to ask you about is, you know, it is one thing to protest at the Supreme Court, to do it at the Capitol. That's been done for generations and, frankly, since the founding of this country."

Kilauea has once again started to show activity, after a month of rapid calm and relative stillness.

The USGS has recently put out their daily report monitoring the volcano, and have noted smoke emerging from one of the previously active fissures.

Fissure 8, which was explosive during Kilauea’s last eruption, has been spotted fuming over the last few days.

The report has not mentioned the composition of the fumes, but lava activity from within the fissures is likely what caused it.

The volcano didn’t start slowing down its eruptions until August. P?hoa in the Puna District was especially affected, leaving residents in a constant state of uncertainty.

And of course, the government failed to provide sufficient relief.

It’s no secret that the government – more specifically – FEMA, often fails to act adequately or quickly enough when disaster strikes. FEMA has been cited in on-the-ground reports to turn community help away when people bring food, citing ridiculous regulations. Yet some of the food they provided after Hurricane Matthew was allegedly mal-nourishing and didn’t meet basic calorie requirements. To make matters worse, a year after the hurricane, the crumbling infrastructure still needed repair and families still needed help – yet FEMA froze the Matthew fund, to send those monies to other, more pressing hurricane relief efforts.

On behalf of the people of the State of Hawaii , we decry, disown and condemn the public remarks of our elected U.S. Senator , Mazie Hirono , regarding Federal Judge Bret Kavanaugh and his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court . Her public remarks are a disgrace to the people of Hawaii and do not represent our sentiments towards Judge Kavanaugh or President Trump . We collectively call upon Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee leader Senator Chuck Grassley , to immediately remove Senator Hirono from her position on the Senate Judiciary Committee and further , to censure her for her intemperate remarks and clear disdain for United States Constitution and Congressional processes . We collectively declare that Senator Hirono's remarks and behaviors bring great shame to the State of Hawaii whom she was elected to represent

Travelers anxious to visit the newly reopened Hawaii Volcanoes National Park can take advantage of two new tours being offered by KapohoKine Adventures, the company announced Sept. 24.

“Expect to see a dramatically different Kilauea Caldera that now showcases a new, massive 1,000-plus-foot-deep crater that just recently held a lava lake,” the company said in a news release. “The anticipation of what will be discovered will vary daily as the park continues to reopen in phases based on infrastructure conditions.”

A national park in Hawaii has reopened after being closed for more than four months because of Kilauea volcano’s latest eruption, which caused widespread damage to park infrastructure and dramatically changed its landscape.

Months after eruptions at the Big Island's Kilauea volcano forced the record-long closure of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the popular tourist destination will reopen Saturday without one key element — lava.

Back in April, a massive lava lake continued to boil and bubble at the park until eruptions beginning in May emptied the lake entirely of its molten rock. Now, all that remains is a large, gaping hole.

"Beginning in May, 2018, the lava lake that existed inside Halema‘uma‘u crater disappeared and lava flows from Pu?u ???? crater have ceased," the park warned on its website. "There is no molten lava or lava glow to see anywhere in or out of the park."

For the last decade, a cauldron stewed inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

A giant lake of churning lava, over 500 feet across and hundreds of feet deep, drew visitors from around the planet to the lake's eerie red glow, visible at night as the sun set beyond Hawaii's Big Island. Just in April, the burgeoning lava lake overflowed its banks and spilled onto the floor of the volcano's summit.

But over four months later, the scorching lake is gone. Following an onslaught of volcanic quaking and explosions this summer, it drained, completely.

A Hawaii cat sanctuary that's home to 600 feral felines has become a full-blown tourist attraction known as the 'Fur Seasons'.

Kathy 'Kat' Carroll had the idea to open the sanctuary after she moved to the small island of Lanai in 2001 and was shocked to find hundreds of homeless and starving cats roaming the island.

Nearly two decades later, those cats are living a much easier life enjoying regular meals, massages and more than enough attention thanks to Lanai Cat Sanctuary.

HAWAII was once under the fiery influence of the Kilauea volcano, which spouted metric tonnes of lava across the Big Island. Recently, Kilauea has calmed down, allowing evacuation notices to be rescinded, but what is it doing now?

Portions of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will reopen next week.

On Friday, park officials said reopened portions including the Kilauea Visitor Center, the Kilauea Iki Overlook, and a stretch of the Crater Rim Trail between Volcano House and the Kilauea Military Camp.

The park closed in May amid explosive eruptions at Kilauea's summit.

But in recent weeks, those eruptions have quieted — though officials haven't said whether they believe they've stopped entirely.

The advisory also warns military activities linked to the bloody conflict in Syria have been ramped across Iran's airspace.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington are running high following Donald Trump’s controversial decision to pull out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal re-introduce economic sanctions last month.

Flight Service Bureau, which provides safety information on airspace to airlines, said "without seeming alarmist", the deteriorating relationship between the US and Iran must be taken into account when planning flights in Iran's airspace.

A series of small collapses produced episodes of visible brown plume throughout the day on Saturday, as scientists continue to monitor Kilauea Volcano.

Jaggar Museum, one of the busiest locations at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, will not reopen after sustaining severe structural damage from tens of thousands of earthquakes that occurred May through August.

There’s the A Course, which is a basic package of three handguns and 36 shots for $79. The C Course is the most popular, Pang said. It’s like a combo meal for gun enthusiasts: three handguns, three rifles and 55 rounds for $149. The super-sized option features more exotic fare, including a 9-millimeter Uzi.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is on track to reopen several areas later this month after closing in May because of the Kilauea volcano eruption, park officials said.

The National Park Service is planning to reopen several trails, roads and popular sites at the Big Island park on Sept. 22, including the Kilauea Visitor Center, the Kilauea Iki Overlook, and a stretch of the Crater Rim Trail between Volcano House and the Kilauea Military Camp, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Saturday.

"I think some of our most popular areas and most-driven roads will be open again," said Ben Hayes, the park's director of interpretation.

Project timelines and estimated costs for emergency repairs to Kuhio Highway from the April 2018 flooding will be reassessed following the recent flooding due to remnants of Tropical Cyclone Lane. The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) estimated the repairs would be completed in October at a cost of $80 million.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is still closed, but the superintendent has set a goal of reopening some closed areas by September 22.

A National Park Service geomorphology team began evaluating the stability of areas damaged or potentially weakened by earthquakes. Results will determine where it will be safe for visitors to go.

HAWAII has recently drawn the short straw with natural disasters, as hurricane season enters off the back of a major volcanic eruption. As Kilauea hits its lowest activity in recent years, has it stopped erupting?