Stop Rail Now Gets Another Day in Court

Intermediate Court of Appeals to Hear Arguments in Rail Ballot Case

Press Release: In a surprise move, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals has agreed to hear oral arguments in Stop Rail Now’s case against the Honolulu City Clerk in the matter of the number of signatures required to place an ordinance question on the ballot.

The hearing will be held this Monday, September 22, at 10:00 AM on the second floor of the Supreme Court Building, behind the King Kamehameha statue, and is open to the public.

At issue is whether the Charter requires ten percent of the registered voters as the City Clerk contends or ten percent of those who voted in the last mayoral election, as Stop Rail Now contends.

Earle A. Partington, Stop Rail Now’s attorney, believes that the quick response by the appeals court to the appeal shows that the judges believe that the case has sufficient merit to be taken seriously.

The Hawaii State Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) is the second highest court of the Hawaii State Judiciary and shares jurisdiction over appeals from lower courts with the Hawaii State Supreme Court. While the supreme court reviews cases over the formulation of law, the ICA reviews cases for errors.

PHOTO CAPITON: Attorney for Stop Rail Now, Earle Partington refiled an appeal on Monday, September 15 to the Hawaii State Supreme Court in order to get the rail question on the ballot.

"This is all tied up on the transit authority, a steel on steel rail," said Stop Rail Now's attorney Earle Partington. "We are just asking for a straight up or down vote on rail. What the city council passed is nothing close to that."

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Parade Celebrates Aloha

The annual Aloha Festivals Floral Parade made it triumphant return as it paraded through Ala Moana Blvd. and into Waikiki this morning. The annual parade was in jeopardy of being canceled this year after funding fell short. However in a last ditch campaign to secure funds and a sponsor, the parade organizers managed to get the funding and once again hold the parade today.

The parade and festival is in its 62nd year. This years parade was like many others from years past in that it featured about a dozen colorful floral floats, "Pa'u" rider mounted units and several bands from around the island. Parade goers were treated to another spectacle of color, fun, and music, suitable for the entire family, tourists and many shutterbugs (including myself) along the route. A good time was had by all!





More photos can be viewed at this link: Aloha Festivals Parade



All photographs and content on this page and blog, Copyright 2008 Melvin Ah Ching Productions.

Rail is Too Ugly & Too Expensive

Dr. Panos Prevedouros talks about the costly rail system that is being proposed for Honolulu. The rail will cost more than $6 billion to build, will be a visual blight upon our city with its ugly, 30 to 120 foot high structures and will not alleviate traffic congestion. Watch this video and learn more why rail is not a good idea for Honolulu.

Vote Panos Prevedouros for Mayor of Honolulu.

Take a Moment to Remember

Today is the anniversary of the terrible tragedy that struck our nation on September 11, 2001. Be sure to take some time out today to remember those people who lost their lives in this terrible act of terrorism and be thankful that we still live in the greatest and most free country on the planet today. God Bless America!

Links to September 11 information and sites:

• September 11 Attacks - Wikipedia
• The September 11 Digital Archive
• September 11 A Nation Remembers - Time Magazine
• Patriot Day 2008 - The White House
• Patriot Day Proclamation from Governor Linda Lingle
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JibJab - Hip Hoppin' Mayoral Candidates

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Check it out! It's Mufi, Ann and Panos in the hood. I guess they all needed a break from this past week's debate which Panos actually won! Yeah Panos! Go Panos!

Mayoral Forum on September 16

BTW, there will be a mayoral forum next Tuesday, September 16 at the Ala Wai Golf Course Club House. The forum starts at 7:00 pm and goes to 9:00 that night. It will be in the Diamond Head Meeting Room on the 2nd floor.

It is unknown if all of the major mayoral candidates will be there. I am quite sure Dr. Prevedouros will be there and perhaps Councilmember Ann Kobayashi. Both she and Dr. Prevedouros have been known to attend most of the forums they are invited to. Mayor Mufi Hannemann's appearance is questionable. He did not show up at a Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board forum that was held late last month.

Next Tuesday's forum is being sponsored by 6 neighborhood boards in the McCully, Manoa, Waikiki, Diamond Head and Kapahulu areas.

The Time for Panos is Now

The time to vote for Dr. Panos Prevedouros as the next mayor for the City & County of Honolulu is today. The voting process has already begun with both mail-in and walk-in absentee voting taking place now to a few days before the official primary election day of September 20.

Dr. Panos Prevedouros is a long shot newbie to the political process but I am sure if elected he will do good job for the city as he brings in a fresh new perspective and approach into changing things for the better.

Voting for Dr. Prevedouros is our best chance to stop Honolulu's massively expensive railroad project. The $6.4 billion proposal to build a fixed rail system through most of Honolulu will be disruptively expensive for all taxpayers, property owners and businesses as funding for this system will severely eat into our incomes from now until forever. Dr. Prevedouros stated in the Honolulu Advertiser's Elections Guide:

"Elevated rail costing well over six billion is a political plot, not a transportation plan. Rail is a black hole of heavy taxes. Traffic congestion and carbon footprint with rail in 2030 will be far worse than they are today. I will replace the rail program with effective, affordable solutions including a high occupancy expressway, bus rapid transit, underpasses and intelligent traffic lights."

While I am not the biggest supporter of BRT or toll lanes, I fully support ending the expensive rail project before anything is built. We must save our tax money to use to fix various infrastructure like roads and sewers vs. building a "choo choo train".

Dr. Prevedouros is not a one-issue candidate as he vows to take on the city's infrastructure problems from an engineering point of view. He cites examples of engineers who have been political leaders:

"Do you need it, can you afford it, can you maintain it. No, no and no. Politicians talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Oahu needs an engineer. Tucson, Arizona has a great mayor who is an engineer. Johnny Wilson, a civil engineer, was Honolulu mayor for many years. Professor Prevedouros wants to fix Oahu's problems: Congested traffic, aging sewers, leaky water pipes, dilapidated roads."

For these reasons and many others, I again urge support through your vote for Dr. Panos Prevedouros. You can learn more about Dr. Prevedouros by visiting his website and blog where numerous articles and links to more information are published.

Don't forget to vote... by absentee now or by going to the polls on September 20. Make your mark for Dr. Panos Prevdouros for real change that we can afford.



The time to Dump Mufi is now. Vote Panos Prevedouros for Mayor!

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