As one reader said when forwarding this story to me, “It had to come to this…”

A web publisher in California is outsourcing local news coverage of the Pasadena City Council to two reporters in India, who will watch the official proceedings via a web broadcast and then file reports. Whether they will also be pursuing sources via long distance and somehow filling in the political background remains to be seen.

Why not just outsource the City Council to India? It would bypass all the local petty politics and perhaps its members could look “objectively” at Pasadena issues. Then the outsourced reporters could more easily get behind the scenes and report more fully. And their reports would be more important, since there wouldn’t be any other access to news.

So what’s up with Ed Case? Im told the now former congressman sat in on a recent Democratic Party meeting, and many of you probably received his May Day email labeled as coming from the Case for Senate campaign committee. Here’s part of his message:

What I’m most asked is what’s next for me (a question for which I’m grateful, considering the alternative.) Certainly the challenges on which I focused – public confidence in government, constructive change, longterm solutions, mainstream representation in a less polarized government, transition and others – aren’t going away, and I do hope to contribute in further elective office, although it’s still a little early for exactly what and when. I welcome your own advice!

In the coming months I’ll be offering further thoughts here, including how we might provide voters a much broader choice of candidates in ’08, and asking for your further support. As always, your own questions and suggestions are most welcome.

One rumor repeated to me by a Dem Party insider has Case taking aim at Mayor Hannemann in next year’s election. The non-partisan race would bypass a Democratic primary, which might prove an advantage for Case. On the other hand, he’s shown little previous interest in local governance and it might be difficult to convince voters that he’s passionate about getting Honolulu right. At the same time, Mufi has done a creditable job as mayor. I wasn’t a fan to begin with, but I have to admire the way he’s taken on the bad news part of the job directly and bull his way through some of the city’s hard realities.

Much of this, of course, depends on whether Dan Inouye, who was first elected to the Senate in 1962, seeks re-election next year. Most observers expect Inouye to run, barring health issues. But it’s always hard to look ahead that far in politics.

Speaking of politics, I’ve been reading stories from last month when Alaska Senator Ted Stevens became the longest serving GOP member of the U.S. Senate. All of those stories, like this one, credit the strong friendship between Stevens, Sen. Dan Inouye, and W.V. Senator Robert Byrd.

Stevens two closest friends are Democrats; Sens. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Stevens credits Byrd with showing him how to use the process to Alaska’s advantage.

“They said this is how you do it. You find a reason and you offer amendments, so we got into the habit of earmarks and that’s why people call me king of pork. But our projects are not in the budget. We have a situation where we have 241 villages. None of them had water and sewer,” Stevens said.

So these holders of the tradition of civility in the Senate, which has been under attack for some time, have shown how bi-partisan friendships can bring home the bacon.

Finally, it’s time for another look at our Kaaawa morning dogs, including at least a couple of dogs we have recently met, like “Bat Girl”, shown here. Actually, there are more than the usual number of dogs today. Just click on her photo for more.