So now we read that Governor Lingle is taking off to the mainland for a conference and a week of vacation.

That bit of information ticked off one reader.

I think it’s either amusing or scary that now that the governor has cleared her desk of layoff letters, and apparently she hasn’t heard from the public employee unions lately, and with assurances (in an official news release) that there’s no reason for concern with a category 4 hurricane on the way, and legislators suggesting that it’s time to raid the hurricane relief fund . . .Linda’s leaving town for two weeks. All yrs, Duke!

Browsing campaign contributions to Mayor Mufi Hannemann, a nice $18,000 chunk of change from one group of related contributors caught my eye. Former Denver Mayor Welllington Webb, who now has his own consulting group, Webb Group International LLC, gave $6,000, as did his wife, Wilma. Adding another $6,000 was Artiesha Maes, a consultant for Webb’s company.

Webb, whose company specializes in working with cities to manage and promote large infrastructure projects, has made several trips to Honolulu to participate as a rail advocate in what has become the city’s annual rail transit symposium, most recently in June 2009.

A friend has chimed in on the Coach McMackin controvery:

That’s a fine post on McMackin and HI sports reporters. The day after his f speech, Bobby Curran on his AM 1420 sportstalk radio show verified your hunch. He said, on live radio, that if M had spoken only in front of HI reporters, they would have complied with his request not to report the f part of the story. I have long suspected that was the case (such lapdogs!), but it is good to have confirmation from an insider.

I didn’t hear Curran’s comment, so can’t confirm it.

A UH press release about a new mortgage assistance program aimed at retaining tenured faculty by helping them finance a home purchase got little notice last month.

The program, offered in cooperation with Bank of Hawaii, would allow qualified buyers to obtain a 2nd mortgage covering most of a required down payment. The 2nd mortgage would get a 2% rate reduction (with a minimum rate of 5%). Buyers would pay no points on the 2nd mortgage, and a reduction of .25% in points on the first mortgage. The reductions on the 2nd mortgage are possible because the university will provide financial backing.

Tenured faculty at UH Manoa will be given priority.
It’s an experimental program. We’ll have to wait and see whether it works.

Hey, Spam-loving Hawaii, check out Meda’s niece, Crystal Chesney-Thompson and her Haminal, in this fun little video during an appearance at the recent Comicon. She and Haminal were also featured in this nice Q&A from Girls Entertainment Network.