Who’s in, who’s out. Who knows. The last-minute flurry to beat the filing deadline this election season left many voters even more disenchanted with Hawaii politics. Consider the dust-up on deadline day: City Councilwoman Anne Kobayashi’s 11th-hour decision to run for mayor left her council seat wide open; out of left field (and all the way from Arkansas) comes ex-councilman Duke Bainum, who rented a condo the day of the deadline to meet residency requirements; then House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell decides to dump his House seat to challenge Bainum for the council seat.

But when the dust did settle, the city clerk ruled Caldwell ineligible because he did not properly withdraw from running for his House seat in time — that means he will lose his House seat and the ability to run for Council. Questions continue over who meets requirements and who doesn’t, including questions surrounding the state’s own elections officer and his failure to register to vote (until recently), which is a requirement of his job. 

Rep. Caldwell will join us Wednesday to take your questions on the elections mess and more.  He’ll be with us online live from noon to 1 p.m.

To join the conversation, watch for the new posting that will go up at noon Wednesday and post your questions directly. Or if you can’t make the session live that hour you can send your questions in advance to me at jmbelding@honoluluadvertiser.com

See you Wednesday, with Rep. Kirk Caldwell.

Hawaii’s real estate market has many folks on edge these days — and with good cause. There’s no doubt the overall economy has been hit hard by the subprime lending fiasco. With foreclosures on the rise and values heading downward, it’s difficult to decide exactly what to do in today’s real estate market: Buy, sell, who knows?

Joining us live today from noon to 1 p.m. will be Chason Ishii — Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties top executive. He’ll answer your questions on Hawaii’s real estate market as well as on national trends in the industry.

So get those questions ready. Just a quick reminder of our Hot Seat ground rules: Please keep your questions concise and on point so that we can get to as many questions as possible; and keep it civil, no personal attacks please.

Ready? Just hit the comment button below, and let’s chat.

There’s no doubt the economy has been hit hard by the subprime lending fiasco. With foreclosures on the rise and values heading downward, it’s difficult to decide exactly what to do in today’s real estate market: Buy, sell, who knows?

Get those questions ready. Joining us live Wednesday (July 30) will be Chason Ishii — Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties top executive.
Chason will answer your questions live from noon to 1 p.m.

To join the conversation, watch for the new posting that will go up Wednesday at noon and post your questions there.

If you can’t make the noon session, you can e-mail your questions in advance to me at jmbelding@honoluluadvertiser.com and I’ll post them for you. See you at noon, with Coldwell Banker’s Chason Ishii.

As director of the state’s Creative Industries Division, Georja Skinner oversees the state’s film office and its arts and culture branch. She is also responsible for the Creative Academies — a partnership between state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College and Department of Education modeled after STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Academies, with a focus on digital media, animation, game development, and similar areas.

As director of the state’s Creative Industries Division, Georja Skinner oversees the state’s film office and its arts and culture branch. She is also responsible for the Creative Academies — a partnership between state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College and Department of Education modeled after STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Academies, with a focus on digital media, animation, game development, and similar areas.

Georja will answer your questions live today from noon to 1 p.m. To join the conversation, watch for the new posting that will go up at noon and post your questions there. If you can’t make the noon session, you can e-mail your questions in advance to me at jmbelding@honoluluadvertiser.com and I’ll post them for you. See you at noon, with Georja Skinner, on The Hot Seat.