i L i n d . n e t

We’ve taken the opportunity to slip away for the weekend.

I won’t say where we are, yet. But here’s a clue. We drove past this building and the faded lettering caught my eye: “Cec Heftel for Governor”. A message that dates back more than two decades. You can click on the photo to see a larger version.

I’ll try to drop another clue tomorrow.

In the meantime, we’ll try to enjoy a weekend without a schedule (except to get up early and write this, of course).

Let’s see. I notice that the Department of Transportation is asking to extend its current short-term contract for harbor tug boat services necessary for docking the Superferry in Kahului harbor. DOT is asking for a nonbid extension through September 30, 2008 in order to allow time to put a longer-term contract out to bid. The original contract, which would have expired at the end of March, was for $350,000. It was amended in April at a new cost of $700,000, which was boosted by another amendment in May, which brought the estimated cost to $750,000. With the requested extension through September, the cost of tug services in Kahului, including the Superferry’s afternoon runs, will rise to $1.6 million.

Attorney David Kimo Frankel has challenged Sen. Jill Tokuda over statements she made about SB 2646, the important agricultural lands bill, during a recent PBS Hawaii “Island Insights” program. In an email yesterday to Tokuda, which was copied to several other legislators and to Gov. Lingle, Frankel characterizes certain of Tokuda’s claims about the bill as “not accurate”, and then spells out chapter and verse the legal basis for his criticism.

Frankel concludes:

You and Dean have made a good argument that the State should be assisting farmers. Our dispute is whether this aid should be packaged with a huge financial bonanza for the largest landowners in the state. This aid will facilitate inappropriate development, locking the public out of the process, and diminishing homerule.

Doug Carlson had some choice words on his Hawaii Energy Options blog for Gov. Lingle’s selection of a new set of wheels, a gas slurping 12 miles per gallon luxury SUV. The Star-Bulletin reported on the new SUV lease yesterday, and that story has drawn a ton of comments.

Flooding in Iowa forced postponement of the state’s Democratic convention last week. Dems have rescheduled until next week.

And check out this General Election Tracker, which pulls together projections from different sources for an overall view of the current state of the electorate.