Issues such as gambling, health insurance regulation, long-term care, death with dignity, the bottle bill, the hurricane fund and others will be discussed at the Building Owners and Managers Association's annual Legislative Report Card luncheon tomorrow from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Mauna Kea ballroom. Building group to host
luncheon on legislative issuesA panel of speakers will include lawmakers Sen. Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai), Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae), Rep. Charles Djou (R, Kaneohe) and Rep. Ed Case (D, Manoa), who also is running for governor. Also speaking are Tax Foundation of Hawaii President Lowell Kalapa and Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle.
Campaign spending talk
Campaign Spending Commission Executive Director Robert Watada will speak at the dinner meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers, describing how campaign spending bills passed this year will affect fund raising for political candidates.The dinner meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Tree Tops Restaurant at Paradise Park in Manoa.
Pendleton joins think tank
Rep. David Pendleton (R, Kailua) has joined the Legislative Advisory Board of the Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit think tank located in Chicago.Pendleton will advise the nonpartisan public policy research group on articles and documents to include PolicyBot, an Internet database of more than 7,500 documents.
GOP House candidates
The Hawaii Republican Party has announced several GOP candidates committed to run for the state House in the fall.They include:
>> High-tech business owner Brad Sakamoto, who will run in Moanalua and Salt Lake.
>> Board of Water Supply engineer Gary Ishikawa, who is a candidate for the Mililani seat.
>> Former Kauai County Councilman Nelson Secretario, for the North Kauai and Kapaa seat.
>> Nanakuli Neighborhood Board member Karen Awana, for the Nanakuli seat.
>> Mortgage broker Lynn Finnegan, who will run for the Foster Village seat being vacated by Republican state Rep. Bob McDermott, who is running for Congress.
>> Businessman Sam Moku, who will run in Kaneohe.
>> Public school teacher Corrine Ching will be campaigning for the Alewa Heights, Nuuanu and Liliha seat.
>> Community activist Pam Smith will run against House Republican Minority Leader Chief of Staff Lori Gorospe in the newly created Ewa Beach seat.
Aiea town meeting set
A town meeting will be held in Aiea from 7 to 8:30 p.m. May 28 at the Aiea Public Library to give residents a legislative update.Sens. David Ige, Donna Mercado Kim and Norman Sakamoto and Reps. Blake Oshiro and Mark Takai will update the community on legislative issues and then open up the meeting to a question-and-answer session.
Burns documentary rerun
An encore presentation of the documentary about one-time Hawaii governor "John A. Burns: The Man and His Times" will air on May 26 at 7 p.m. and run again May 27 at 8 a.m. on KHON Fox2.
Hale starts re-election bid
HILO >> Helene Hale, the incumbent representative of the 4th District of the state House of Representatives, has announced her candidacy for re-election.Bill Eger, a fellow Democrat, earlier announced his intention to seek the same seat.
The 4th District, which used to include both the Puna and Kau districts south of Hilo, has now been limited to the lower Puna area by the recent legislative reapportionment.
Hale said she is particularly concerned about the economic downturn following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
She said she is proud of accomplishments in the recent legislative session, including funding for planned Kikala-Keokea village, which will provide a new home with a traditional lifestyle for Kalapana village residents whose homes were destroyed by lava around 1990.
Eger charged that there is much more work yet to be done.
Health care, adequate highways and transportation, water development, school support, public safety and environmental protection are items needing urgent attention, he said.
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