The US Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program started 10 years ago with 5 state quarters released per year and ends with Hawaii’s official quarter release tomorrow.

Hawaii’s quarter features Hawaiian monarch King Kamehameha I stretching his hand toward the eight major Hawaiian Islands. The inscription includes the state motto:
“UA MAU KE EA O KA ‘?INA I KA PONO,” meaning “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness”.

The design was picked out of an initial 400 entries along with four other designs that were considered by a special commission.

The four other designs considered were:

• “Hawaii – Diverse but Unified” an alternate design depicting the eight major Hawaiian Islands and King Kamehameha I
• “Aloha Spirit” featuring a traditional female hula dancer
• “Diamond Head” featuring the State’s iconic landmark
• “Surfing – Hawaii’s Gift to the World.”

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Both the Directors of the Hawaii Health Department, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, the Director of Hawaii Vital Statistics, Alvin Onaka, personally verified that the birth certificate they hold is genuine and is the original birth certificate.

Dr. Fukino says that “no state official, including Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, ever instructed that Obama’s certificate be handled any differently”.

Hawaii state law forbids the release of any birth certificate to anyone without a direct family tie.

Lawsuits challenging Obama’s citizenship in Ohio, Seattle and Philadelphia have all been dismissed.

Source:
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/31/state-declares-obama-birth-certificate-genuine-1/

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The judge cited the following cause for dismissing the suit:

In a 34-page memorandum and opinion, the judge said Berg’s allegations of harm were “too vague and too attenuated” to confer standing on him or any other voters.

Surrick ruled that Berg’s attempts to use certain laws to gain standing to pursue his claim that Obama was not a natural-born citizen were “frivolous and not worthy of discussion.”

The judge also said the harm Berg alleged did “not constitute an injury in fact” and Berg’s arguments to the contrary “ventured into the unreasonable.”

Obama was born in Hawaii to an American mother and a Kenyan father. His parents divorced and his mother later married an Indonesian man.

Conspiracy theories on whether Obama is a “natural-born citizen” are widely spreading across the internet, despite Obama posting a copy of his birth certificate online.

Politifact.com e-mailed a copy of said birth certificate to the Hawaii Department of Health, which maintains birth records, to ask if it was real.

“It’s a valid Hawaii state birth certificate,” said spokesman Janice Okubo.

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The deadline for taxpayers to update their addresses is Nov. 28.
Economic stimulus checks must be sent out by Dec. 31 by law.

The IRS said the remaining economic stimulus checks due to Hawaii residents average $633 and that the regular tax refund checks average $1,217.

For those still awaiting their economic stimulus checks, you can check the status online using the “Where’s my economic stimulus?” tool on the IRS Web site which is the quickest and easiest way for a taxpayer to check the status of a stimulus check and receive instructions on how to update his or her address. Taxpayers without internet access should call 1-866-234-2942.

Taxpayers can update their addresses to receive their regular refunds online using the “Where’s my refund check?” tool on the IRS Web site. The taxpayer must submit his or her social security number, filing status and amount of refund shown on their 2007 return. The tool will provide the status of their refund and in some cases provide instructions on how to resolve delivery problems.

Taxpayers checking on a refund over the phone will be given instructions on how to update their addresses. Taxpayers can access a telephone version of “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954.

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Hawaii ConCon

A Constitutional Convention (ConCon) is a gathering of delegates for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution. [wikipedia]

Hawaii has had two other ConCon’s in our history the first being to draw up Hawaii’s Constitution before coming a state.

In 1978 a convention was held with 74% of the voters approving the holding of a convention versus 26% opposing. OHA was formed because of this convention.

In 1986 and again in the 1998 Election, voters rejected a ConCon with No votes of over 50%.

1996 was close and Hawaii thought it would be having a ConCon, but the AFL-CIO stepped in and the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that blank (unanswered) and spoiled ballots counted as a No vote, so the No votes won.

Here is a short video with Bob Williams from Rutgers University with a short Primer on Constitutional Conventions. Via KGMB

You can also learn much more about ConCon’s by going to The Hawaii League of Womens Voters.

Ballot Question 1 - dubbed the Pakalolo Bill (Hawaii County)
Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance

In a nutshell this amendment to the County Ordinances would allow Adults (21 & over) the right to smoke and possess small amounts of Pakalolo / cannibis / marijuana for personal use on private property. It does not grant any rights to operate a vehicle under the influence, sell cannibis, the use of cannibis on public property nor the right to possess amounts greater than what is deamed as appropriate for adult personal use.

Pros to this issue claim that the law would:

• Free up police to pursue more dangerous types of crimes
• Free up jails space
• Allow the courts to run more efficiently and clear up court dockets
• Save taxpayers money by the above reasons and help funding for other matters

Some Cons to this amendment include:

• More drivers on the road under the influence of Marijuana
• Your son/daughter comes home with a bag, because his friends Ohana smokes it all the time
• Being subjected to the neighbors smoke drifting into your house and your failing a drug test from their second hand smoke
• Young children exposed to the second hand smoke and getting contact highs
• More teenagers exposed to the drug because of it’s easier availability

Although deemed to be for medical purposes there wasn’t very much verbiage related to “Medical Use” in the proposed bill.

To learn more about this amendment go to Project Peaceful Sky.

Other Hawaii counties have other amendments and issues on their ballots. Voters should take the time to search out and understand what they are voting on.

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“Senator Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life,” Gibbs said in a statement. “Along with his mother and his grandfather, she raised him in Hawaii from the time he was born until the moment he left for college.”

Critics were very critical about his earlier vacation and wondered if he could really afford to take the time away from this close race for the presidency. Barack Obama’s reason was that he “wanted to spend some time with his grandmother while he still could.”

The current plan is for Barack to fly to Hawaii and spend Thursday and Friday with his grandma and fling back to resume his campaign on Saturday although this could change.

Michelle Obama will hold events scheduled in Akron and Columbus, Ohio in Barack’s absence.

Here is a video covering the story from Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

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Dean Schneider who owned the homestead has another lot that is untouched by lava that he may be able to camp at.

Since the volcano started erupting on Jan. 3, 1983 it has destroyed almost 70 homes and other structures in the Royal Gardens subdivision. Kalapana Gardens subdivision and Kapaahu homestead were wiped off the map. The lava destroyed 189 buildings valued at an estimated $61 million.

Twenty-two people died, many from entering restricted areas.

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A newspaper reporter in Tonga reported that buildings in the capital city, Nuku’alofa, shook for about two minutes during the quake.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

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Disney is coming to Hawaii!

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo shared plans for its future resort Oct. 16, 2008, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Construction of the Disney Vacation Club Resort Hawaii is supposed to begin on Nov 13th and the opening is planned for 2011. The resort will be located in west Oahu’s Ko Olina Resort & Marina.

The resort will include 350 hotel rooms and 480 vacation villas, for Disney Vacation Club timeshare members. Featuring 8,000 square feet of convention and banquet space, an 18,000 square-foot spa, two restaurants, a kids club and a wedding lawn. Outdoor features will include an inland saltwater lagoon, a quiet pool complete with a water park with slides, rapids and waterfalls. The resort will be located along one of the crescent lagoons on the Ko Olina shoreline.

Disney Parks & Resorts first announced the project in October 2007, after purchasing the 21-acre Ko Olina property the resort will occupy. The Hawaii Disney Vacation Club Resort will be the largest of three Disney Vacation Club properties, and the first to combine hotel and timeshare offerings. The family oriented Disney Vacation Club claims more than 350,000 members worldwide.

“We ask our Disney Vacation club family members all the time, ‘Where do you think you would like your next home?’ And every time, Hawaii always stacks up in the Top 5,” said Djuan Rivers, vice president of Disney Vacation Club Resort Hawaii.

Jeff Stone, President of The Resort Group and master developer of Ko Olina, has been working closely with Disney on the land acquisition and project.

“Ko Olina means ‘place of joy,’ and I can’t imagine a more perfect fit here than a Disney resort that will bring joy to people from around the world,” Stone said. “For many years, it has been our vision to continue to expand Ko Olina as a premier vacation destination for families and business travelers, and this new Disney resort hotel is making that vision a wonderful reality.”

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The Keiki Care Plan is a collaboration between the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and state Department of Human Services. The department announced Wednesday it would not fund the Keiki Care Program after Nov. 1.

“This is another blow to folks already struggling,” said state Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland, who helped pass the enabling legislation.

The Keiki Care Plan was started to fill a ‘gap group’ of children who were not eligible for Medicaid and did not have a health care plan.

Approximately 85% of the 2,000 children had insurance before this program through HMSA’s Childrens Plan which is available to purchase for $55 a month.

“Since these children already had insurance, they were never a ‘gap group’ that needed state funding for HMSA to cover them,” said Linda Smith, Governor Lingle’s senior policy advisor.

HMSA says that it will continue the program through the end of the year.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is urging HMSA to continue the program by offering these ‘gap group’ children who are ineligible for Medicaid the Keiki Care Plan for $25.50 a month.

“If HMSA agrees to this request, the only change from the current Keiki Care Plan would be that parents, not the state, would share the premiums with HMSA,” Koller said. “That way, families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, or are ineligible for any reason, could receive basic health insurance for their children at a more affordable cost.”

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