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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 28 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition (familiarly knownasthe Malfunction Junction News Edition or Snooze Junction News Edition), Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Honolulu News Edition of Continental Newstime
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* State Government News Briefs ... Governor David Y. Ige, faced with a deadline of July 9, under the State Constitution, to either sign or veto bills passed by the state legislature, he has expressed intent to veto 20 bills. He must also, 35 days after adjournment by lawmakers—which counted out to June 24—notify lawmakers of such intent to veto, and in at least two instances the Governor has cited violation of federal law as grounds for voiding legislation. Regarding House Bill 290, which concerns the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, he indicated that to authorize qualifying patients or out-of-state patients to transport medical cannabis between the islands for their personal use "may lead travelers, acting in reliance on this provision, to erroneously believe they are immune from federal prosecution." Indeed, he points out, "Both the airspace and certain areas of water fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government." Then, referring to House Bill 323, which envisioned re-classifying certain former military vehicles as special-interest vehicles, Ige asserted that the change would cause collectors of pre-1995 Humvees, Pinzgauers, Kaiser Jeep M715s, and DUKW's (Ducks) to operate pre-1968 vehicles on the public roads in violation of Federal Motor Safety Standards and would register, for roadway operation, motor vehicles that do not pass auto-emission standards. In addition, House Bill 748 is subject to veto, the Governor says, because the state's existing law on civil-asset forfeiture offers safeguards that prevent the potential abuses the bill mentions. By vetoing this bill, the Governor opposes efforts to divert forfeiture proceeds from state and local law-enforcement agencies to the state General Fund. Also, the aim of this bill was to end civil-asset forfeiture in cases of both petty and serious misdemeanor, the Governor holding, "Civil-asset forfeiture is an effective and critical law-enforcement tool that prevents the economic benefits of committing a crime from outweighing consequential criminal penalties and punishment." Next, the Ige Administration views House Bill 1276, while "well-intentioned," as a measure that operates to micro-manage public education. After all, the Governor notes, "Some of the items to be considered are the establishment of collaborative teacher-preparation time, the placement of classroom desks to facilitate group learning, and the rotation of principals among the public schools." Rejecting the "one-size-fits-all" tendency, the Governor insists, for one thing, that "planning and learning time are matters better left to the Board of Education, as they fit squarely within its statutory and constitutional authority." Likewise, Ige has threatened to veto Senate Bill 301, which seeks to eliminate deductions by real-estate investment trusts (REIT's) for dividends paid, the Governor observing that the bill has potential to discourage businesses from investing in Hawaii, nurturing stable economic growth, and creating jobs. He raised the specter, as well, of the measure reducing state revenue, including the general excise, property, and income taxes. Speaking of state-government revenue, Neal Miyahira, Administrator of the Budget, Program Planning and Management Division at the Department of Budget and Finance, has received the nod to move up to the position of Director effective July 1, contingent on confirmation by the Hawaii Senate. Meantime, Governor Ige has signed, into law, bills pertaining to fuel-cell electric vehicles (SB 661), gender identification (HB 1165 and HB 664), gun-violence protective orders (SB 1466), the earned-income disregard program (SB 330), kupuna care (five bills), and, among others, homelessness and mental health (three bills). Earlier, he had signed bills concerning such matters as International Yoga Day, restitution for the victims of crime, and claims against the state. Other bills that have passed this legislative session include measures exempting post-secondary students from immunization requirements if they attend only on-line classes or participate in distance learning, under certain conditions; providing burial grants for qualifying Filipino-American WWII veterans to furnish funeral and burial services and transportation of their remains to the Philippines, subject to certain conditions; entitling special-needs or disabled voters to receive ballots by electronic transmission; clarifying what pedestrians in crosswalks are required to do when the countdown timer is operating; requiring restaurants selling beverage-included children's meals to make the default beverage a healthy choice; and increasing tele-health care access.
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* City and County Government News Briefs ... The Council of the City and County of Honolulu plans to meet in the Council Chamber beginning at 10 AM on July 3, to approve the Minutes of its 11th and 12th Sessions and to enter into the Council Journal Mayor Kirk Caldwell's veto of Bill 85 pertaining to short-term vacation rentals. The Council is also set to take up an Agenda including the Second Reading of a measure providing a real-property exemption for properties connected to and utilizing a cold seawater-based district cooling system for air conditioning; the Third Reading of a bill authorizing the City to permit car-sharing organizations to reserve certain on-street parking stalls and to delete all references to unreserved metered-parking stalls; the First Reading of a bill establishing design and construction regulations, consistent with the State Energy Conservation Code, for residential and commercial buildings; the First Reading of a bill requiring the City and County Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency to monitor and report yearly on Oahu visitor-industry eco-tourism policies for reducing solid waste, use of water and fossil fuel, while fostering cleaner energy and multi-modal transportation; the First Reading of a bill creating a supplemental permit to park in loading zones and bus stops within a Transportation Management Special Improvement District; adoption of Resolution 19-141 authorizing the Director of Budget and Fiscal Services to issue general-obligation bonds up to, and including, $500,000,000, to finance the Honolulu Rail Transit Project; adoption of Resolution 19-144 authorizing the lease of City property to Hawaii Homeless Healthcare Hui for housing and services for special-needs groups; adoption of Resolution 19-136 for the relocation of the Oahu Community Correctional Center; adoption of Resolution 19-139 for expansion of the Women's Community Correctional Center; and, among other matters, adoption of Resolution 19-145 calling on the Caldwell Administration to acknowledge the concerns of community members regarding the Ala Wai Flood Risk Management Project and to consider other options.
* School District News Briefs ... Assistant Superintendent Dann Carlson reports that more Hawaii State Department of Education schools are participating in the Seamless Summer Option this year, so the state's most-vulnerable students, 18 years of age and younger, continue to receive free or reduced-price lunches without interruption in the interval between school-years. This summer, except for Independence Day at this point, 71 public schools will be serving USDA-funded meals during scheduled periods it behooves parents and guardians to verify. In addition, the Board of Education, with Catherine Payne presiding, is scheduled to hold its next General Business Meeting on July 19, starting at 1:30 PM, in Room 404 of the Queen Liliuokalani Building (1390 Miller Street), to receive a report on the 2017-2020 Department of Education and Board of Education Joint Strategic Plan implementation, which focuses on appointments to leadership, and to take action on election of a Board Vice-Chair. Further, the Board is due to appoint members to such panels as the Student Achievement Committee and the Finance and Infrastructure Committee, to nominate an individual to the State Public Charter School Commission, and to act on a request from the Hawaii State Public Library System to expedite land acquisition for a new Waikaloa public library.
* Weather... The National Weather Service reports hazardous weather conditions, with a high surf advisory until 6 PM. The forecast for today calls for isolated showers before 10 AM, with mostly-sunny skies, a daily high temperature about 89 degrees Fahrenheit, east-southeast wind of 13 to 16 miles per hour and gusts as high as 22 miles per hour. There is a 20-percent chance of precipitation anticipated.
* Sports ... The University of Hawaii announces that, in football, the Rainbow Warriors are scheduled to host the University of Arizona on August 24 at 7:30 PM; to play Oregon State at home on September 7; to visit the University of Washington on September 14 for a 4:30 PM game; to entertain the University of Central Arkansas on September 21; to invade the University of Nevada-Las Vegas on September 28; and to go on the road to battle Boise State on October 12.
Media Consolidation and the Threat to the First Amendment (Condensed) By Lee Snyder
In years past, television news reporting differed from today. The job remains to verbally and visually, if possible, report on an event. Think of Kennedy’s assassination coverage, Apollo 11’s moon landing, President Nixon’s impeachment proceedings, the September 11th attacks. All were reported by the networks avoiding the purposeful interjection of corporate or personal opinion. The Big Three—CBS, NBC, and ABC—news divisions proudly retained their autonomy from constant corporate pressures. Reporters were presumed to be the unbiased eyes and ears of the public. When an opinion was expressed it was clearly marked as “editorial comment” limited to the one delivering the opinion.
First, let’s understand that “media” is a plural word referring to various media forms—newspaper, on-line information centers, radio, among them. Television is just one medium among the lot. Making any encompassing comment with reference to the media is likely incorrect based simply on the numerous types of media and the extensive number of outlets and voices within each form. So, to say “the media got that wrong” requires confirming the statement through an impossible checklist of media members.
The trend toward fewer independent media outlets: These media giants are gobbling up independent television stations at an overwhelming rate, to the point that very few independents still exist. These same groups now devour each other as Fox sells to Disney, which sells to Sinclair and . . . it’s all too confusing to make sense. It’s called media consolidation. It means the news and information you receive comes from fewer managing sources, from sources that are all, or nearly all, the same.
Consider a country whose media outlets are in the hands of those in political power. Understand how easily a media mogul could interpret your news in a way that serves their own financial or political needs. Under this tight fist, truth is what the government says it is. Lies can be disseminated as fact and the population remains as content and controlled as the powerful desire. Domestic problems attributed to the government could be blamed on dissenters, self-styled patriots, religious groups, unions, or intellectuals silencing opposition. Factual sources like the sciences can be dismissed as having agendas to alter truths. We have seen this in the Soviet Eastern Bloc, Mao’s China, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hitler’s Germany.
The pain for our democracy comes when portions of the media are controlled by all-encompassing conglomerates with news outlets that dominate competitors simply by their size. The Big Lie repeated and expanded hides the truth behind further claims that the media are liars, enemies of the people—phrases used by oppressive regimes when the truth cannot be silenced until the final claim of treason is wielded against their opponents.
The presumed profit motive behind owning as many TV stations as a company, corporation or individual can, becomes less apparent when stations are instructed to follow the corporate line word-for-word, as was evidenced by a viral on-line video showing Sinclair Media stations parroting the same “editorial opinion.” In a shameful display of spineless independence, the news anchors read their scripted corporate message forsaking any sense of public duty ascribed to their positions.
Our Founding Fathers created a constitutional form of government with three equal branches—each in a position to check the other. Guaranteed free speech by the Constitution’s First Amendment, the media inform and give the people a voice when their government may not be listening. It is our responsibility as free people to see to it that the news is the truth. Objective, and therefore, honest reporting is the foundation of that truth.
Question Time with Public Officials
The American public expects public officials to deal with, rather than dodge, difficult public-policy problems, to be transparent in their public-policy positions, and to state their views confidently, thoughtfully and boldly. One week was allowed to finalize the response, by E-mail, of each of the Presidential candidates listed below.
The Continental News Service had announced its intention to publish results of this multi-respondent poll in its on-line newspapers over the course of time, and these newspapers include its Washington D.C. News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Would you, Senator/Representative/Governor, support legislation, or even sponsor legislation, ending all federal government grants to Planned Parenthood if it was conducted in an even-handed and non-discriminatory manner; that is, likewise ending all federal and federally-subsidized state grants to faith-based and all other non-profit groups, whatever their specific tax-code classification?
__ Yes. Uncheck "No Comment." My reasoning is ________________________________________________________________________________.
__ No. Uncheck "No Comment." My reasoning is _________________________________________________________________________________.
X No Comment. Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
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VOLUME VI NUMBER 1 JULY 1, 2019
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
Continental Features/Continental News Service
"The newspaper-feature super-channel"