In the news

Facing the reality of budget cuts and limited funding, strengthening the collaboration between civilian and military service providers is key to ensuring that domestic violence victims receive the help they need, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said Thursday. Hirono, speaking after holding a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing at the state...

A U.S. Senate Committee hearing was convened today to focus on domestic violence involving the military stationed in Hawai’i.  HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports. (Top Photo) Senator Mazie Hirono presided over the hearing. (Bottom Photo) Nanci Kriedman, CEO of the Domestic Violence Center and Marci Lopes. executive director of the...

More than $3.5 million in grant awards will be given to the University of Hawaii for its Sea Grant College Program and for Asia-Pacific research and scholarships, Sen. Mazie Hirono announced Friday. … “Investments in the University of Hawaii’s research and programming are integral to giving students more opportunities, gaining...

Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Hawaii stands out for having a relatively small gender pay gap and for its long history of electing women to high office. (Rebecca Breyer/AP) The pay gap between men and women remains wide. Elected officials are still overwhelmingly male. Progress in reversing those deficits has been...

There are a few ways to get more money. You can work a lot of hours, maybe get a second job. You can try your luck at gambling (but since gambling is illegal in Hawaii — and besides the odds being stacked against you, we don’t recommend this one). You can borrow money, but that, too, ends up costing more than it was probably worth. Or,...

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard from both sides of the network neutrality debate Wednesday in a hearing on the implications of the FCC's efforts to restore network neutrality rules — deadline for comment on that effort was Sept. 15). Sen. Richard Blumenthal raised the specter of ISP's suppressing speech, while Sen. Ted...

This report in Roll Call says that a group of 16 female U.S. senators have written “a scathing letter” to Roger Goodell about the National Football League’s handling of violence against women. The senators include Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. “It is long past time for the NFL to institute a real zero-tolerance...

President Barack Obama signed a Public Assistance Disaster Declaration for Tropical Storm Iselle today in Washington D.C. The White House reported that President Barack Obama “has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Hawaii and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by Tropical...

Maui Family Support Services, Inc. is one of 24 grant recipients included in a $24 million appropriation for programs and institutions of higher education that serve Native Hawaiian communities. The private nonprofit organization on Maui will receive $650,700 in federal funds from the Native Hawaiian Education Program, according to information...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared Hawaii County a disaster area based on damage to crops by Tropical Storm Iselle, Secretary Thomas Vilsack said Wednesday. Vilsack, in a letter, said the declaration, which “makes farm operators (in the county) … eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the FSA, provided...

The U.S. Congress is set to reconvene this week, but it’s doubtful that members will get much done before returning home soon to campaign for re-election. Then it’s lame-duck time until the new Congress is sworn in in early January. Regardless, Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii is asking folks to petition Congress to pass the...

High-ranking U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials from Washington, D.C., and Hawaii on Monday heard directly from island veterans about their long list of frustrations that include delays and the high cost of getting VA medical treatment on Oahu. Seven VA officials — all wearing dark business suits and, in one case, a dress Army...

Hawaii veterans complained to U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono on Tuesday about the reams of bureaucracy that often prevent them from getting timely access to health care and other services. Among their concerns were the long waits to be seen by Veterans Affairs doctors, troubles traveling from the neighbor islands and an overall sense that their needs are...

Veterans are telling U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono they face a shortage of doctors on Maui, Molokai and the Big Island. They told Hirono at a Tuesday hearing on Oahu that they face problems getting medical treatment across the islands. Vietnam veteran Victor Croft calls the Veterans Affairs problems "a train wreck in slow motion." He says veterans have...

Veterans told U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono they face a shortage of doctors on Maui, Molokai and the Big Island, which has contributed to the long wait times they endured seeking medical treatment across the isolated island chain. Vietnam veteran Victor Craft called the Veterans Affairs problems a "train wreck in slow motion" at a Tuesday hearing on Oahu...

The “Hawaii on the Hill” initiative last week, which aimed to showcase the 50th state to Washington, D.C., exceeded expectations, according to Sherry Menor-McNamara, the President of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii. The two-day event kicked off with a reception dinner at Google's Washington headquarters for the Hawaii...

“The party was such a big hit the cops were called because we had too many people,” an aide to Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, told HOH about the overwhelming response to the Aloha State’s July 23 taste-around. The inaugural event was packed during our visit, with waves of people — all wearing complimentary purple-flowered...

Looks like we missed a great party in D.C. Roll Call has this report on U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono’s Hawaii on the Hill event yesterday that welcomed about three dozen Hawaii businesses and vendors to the U.S. Capitol. Excerpt: “The party was such a big hit the cops were called because we had too many...

Nine members of Congress from Connecticut to Alaska converged on South Texas on Friday to see for themselves the federal facilities where unaccompanied Central American immigrant children are being held. Participants described their two-city tour as moving and enlightening. Led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske,...

The weather in Washington at the end of this week has been unseasonably perfect, so allow us to commend the members of Congress who are visiting the U.S.-Mexico border where the highs in South Texas are above 100 degrees. The Loop will famously call out lawmakers for taxpayer-funded luxury codels, but we’ll gladly give credit too when they...