Capitol Watch: Dec. 27

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Reading time: 10 minutes.

Welcome to Capitol Watch. There’s a new governor, new leadership at the Legislature and other government branches, and Civil Beat is reporting on all of it.

5:21 p.m. Shave Ice!

“At 4:15 the motorcade screeched to a halt in front of the ‘Island Snow’ shave ice parlor in Kailua, a couple miles from the Obamas rental. POTUS and more than a dozen adults and young kids, among them Sasha and Malia, were already at the counter when your pool was ushered in through a back door.

“‘Once you’ve ordered, go back!’ said POTUS to the giddy kids. He wore beige khaki shorts, a black polo shirt and black rubber flip flops.

“Sasha got a yellow and red shave ice cup while Malia got a tropical blue one. Hard to gather the orders with such exotic flavors as ‘lolo lilikai’ and ‘godzilla grape’. POTUS turned back to the pool and said: ‘You guys having one? Last chance!’ To which a shameless AFP photographer (who shall remain anonymous) replied: ‘Are you buying?’. ‘I’m buying’, insisted POTUS, but your pool was too busy tinkering with their Blackberries, mikes and cameras to take him to his offer and silently declined. POTUS paid for the whole order in cash and left a banknote (value unknown) in the tip jar.

“POTUS ordered a ‘melona, cherry and lemon lime’ shave ice cup, and tasted it in front of your pool. ‘It’s really good’, he said.

“He then got Pete Souza to take group photos with the beaming young clerks. ‘Thank you guys!’, POTUS said, before exiting at 4:23. Your pool then got to see him and his party enjoying their ice on the parking of the parlor, whose access was blocked by Secret Service agents. Motorcade rolled again and hit the rental at 4:40.” —Tangi Quéméner, Agence France-Presse

4:32 p.m. House Rules

With the governor’s of state Rep. Maile Shimabukuro to fill a state Senate vacancy, the 18 dissidents who want to replace Calvin Say lose a vote. At present, Say still has the support of 25 members, one short of the required 26.

Whoever is appointed to fill Shimabukuro’s Waianae Coast seat in the House, then, will no doubt be under tremendous pressure to show their allegiance early on. It’s also possible that a House rep might be picked to fill the soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat of Russell Kokubun.

stipulate that, “unless sooner removed by a majority vote of the House,” a sitting speaker and vice speaker hold their seats until the day before a new session starts — in 2011, Jan. 18. The rules further state:

If the office of Speaker becomes vacant, the Vice Speaker shall serve as acting Speaker until a successor Speaker is duly elected by the House. Any vacancy in the office of Speaker and Vice Speaker shall be filled by election by the House.

That’s where things — if they get that far — become interesting.

For one, there currently is no vice speaker because Mike Magaoay lost his bid for the state Senate. For another, the election would include the chamber’s eight Republicans, who would love nothing more than a little power in the Democrat-dominated Legislature.

4:11 p.m. FLOTUS Doesn’t Shoot Hoops

“Per White House, POTUS played basketball indoors with the same party with which he bowled earlier on, i.e., Sasha, Malia and members of the Whitaker, Nesbitt, Ramos and Titcomb families. We don’t know which members, and FLOTUS was not among them…At 4:03 we’re motorcading out of the Marine base.” —Tangi Quéméner, Agence France-Presse

4:05 p.m. POTUS Shoots Hoops

“At 3:30, as the pool was moving from the club house by bus to another holding location, we learned that POTUS and his party were now playing basketball, still on the Marine base.” —Tangi Quéméner, Agence France-Presse

2:19 p.m. Bowling With Barack

“Motorcade left the rental at 1:29 p.m. and headed back into the Marine base. POTUS is bowling with his daughters at the local alley on the base. At 1:40, pool holding at the golf’s club house.” —Tangi Quéméner, Agence France-Presse

1:08 p.m. Abercrombie Gone Viral

Hawaii’s governor may be lying low in Hana over the holidays and inaccessible to most of the planet, but he’s all over the national — and even international — media for his recent vow to quash the Barack Obama birth certificate conspiracy theory. While the governor has been largely under wraps for local media, he returned one national reporter’s call at 11:30 p.m for a birther story.

Although the story was reported as early as Dec. 23 by the Los Angeles Times, it keeps popping up, including on CNN — his first on-camera comments on the matter, according to reporter Ed Henry. The interview appears to have been conducted Christmas Eve outside Aloha Stadium.

Abercrombie told CNN that he asked his attorney general and the state’s Health Department director to look at what legal avenues they can follow to release more documentation of Obama’s birth in Honolulu in 1961.

“As quick as we can we will,” Abercrombie said. “This is a transparent state in terms of our communication with one another. This is the Aloha State. We care for each other, we look out for each other, we’re family.”

12:43 p.m. Tough Assignment for D.C. Press

Lacking news about the president — he went to church! he’s wearing tan slacks! — the White House press pool is looking for stories where it can.

Consider in The Washington Post, which calls Hawaii the “Winter White House” and the Moana Surfrider “this island’s version of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.” (That’s where more than three dozen White House staffers and journalists are shacking up.)

“Sometimes it’s long hours, but it’s Hawaii,” the Post quotes Ed Henry, a CNN White House correspondent, adding, “The atmosphere is ideal for relaxing, at least compared with being in Washington. The president isn’t wearing a suit, so neither is almost anyone else.”

11:52 a.m. Olelo Needs A Home

A mini-studio used by at the Capitol must find new digs. That’s because Clayton Hee wants the space, located in Room 414, to hold Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. (Hee’s office is just down the hall in Room 407.)

Cynthia Thielen told Civil Beat that she and Gene Ward are working with Calvin Say to find another space for Olelo. The studio is used by legislators and community members to share their views on bills and other important issues.

“We don’t want to shut out this good public service, so people can find out a little more about what going on in this building.” said Thielen.

House Spokeswoman Thelma Dreyer said a decision has not been made regarding the studio’s possible relocation. “It’s still under consideration,” she said.

10:06 a.m. POTUS, FLOTUS Work Out

“After their workout, POTUS and FLOTUS were on the move at 9:36. Menacing clouds still hovering but it’s no longer raining. Just after exiting the Marine base, we saw a family of four standing on the roadside, their two young kids waving small US flags. Uneventful motorcade. At 9:45, pool holding in nearby house.” —Tangi Quéméner, Agence France-Presse

9:44 a.m. Oshiro ‘Legislator of the Year’

The Hawaii House Blog that Marcus Oshiro has received, courtesy of Friends of the Library of Hawaii, a Legislator of the Year Award “for his support and commitment to Hawaii public libraries.”

Oshiro will accept the award in a Jan. 12 ceremony at Washington Place.

The first person to receive the Legislator of the Year Award was Neil Abercrombie, when he was a state senator in 1985.

8:45 a.m. POTUS Pool: ‘It’s raining on and off’

“POTUS left his rental at 8:01 AM Hawaii time. It’s raining on and off. Heavy clouds crowning the mountains. Uneventful motorcade to the Marine base where POTUS and FLOTUS are working out. At 8:10, your pool is holding at the usual McDonald’s.” —Tangi Quéméner, Agence France-Presse

Excerpts from the POTUS Pool

President Obama‘s low-key Kailua Christmas, which continues until next Sunday, has been well covered by the media, of course, so most folks have been kept abreast of his golf outings, gym workouts and the like.

The Hawaii coverage of the president is indicative of our celebrity-obsessed times in a 24-7 news cycle. Civil Beat, which is on the White House press office pool distribution list, shares some chronological highlights over the long holiday weekend. Enjoy, voyeurs:

Friday, Dec. 24, 9:29 a.m. “Motorcade arrived at 8:13 a.m. Pool was kept away and pulled into the base McDonald’s before arriving at the gym and without seeing POTUS….Pool is holding at the aforementioned base McDonald’s.” —B.J. Reyes, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Saturday, Dec. 25, 3:15 p.m. “Since an 11:15 a.m. call time at the Westin in Waikiki, pool has been holding at our beachfront pool-hold rental near the first family’s compound. Pool is also taking in a little NBA basketball: the LA/Miami game.” —Carol Lee, POLITICO

Saturday, Dec. 25, 4:26 p.m. “President Obama is greeting service men and women during their Christmas dinner on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii…The visit was unannounced but POTUS dropped by the same mess hall on the same base around the same time of day for the last two Christmases, so it was hardly a surprise.” —Carol Lee, POLITICO

Saturday, Dec. 25, 5:45 p.m. “POTUS moved down the table, encountering a hulking, tall — taller than POTUS — man wearing a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt. ‘We’ve gotta get you on the court,’ POTUS exclaimed. ‘Where’s Reggie,’ he added, looking around for Love. Reggie shouted out from his perch nearby. ‘I will not get an elbow in the lip if we play with this guy,’ POTUS said.”

“POTUS then made his way to the other side of the dining hall, past the soft-serve ice cream machine, and the pool, although he never glanced at the pool.” —Carol Lee, POLITICO

Sunday, Dec. 26, 8:51 a.m. “Pool, following POTUS, left the vacation rental @ 7:53 a.m. so POTUS could work out at Marine Corps Base. Few onlookers on the short ride except a big Hawaiian man in a navy blue pick up truck with surfboards hanging out the back. Pool holding at McDonald’s.” —Jared Favole, dowjones.com

Sunday, Dec. 26, 11:37 a.m. “P.S. Malia, the name of POTUS’s eldest daughter, means Mary when translated from Hawaiian, according to the pool bus driver and another Hawaiian native.” —Jared Favole, dowjones.com

Sunday, Dec. 26, 12:01 p.m. “Service still going on…Songs sung: ‘Joy To The World,’ ‘Angels We Have Heard On High’…there were a few parishioners in uniform and the rest were dressed in khakis, summer dresses of varying colors, polo shirts and — of course — Hawaiian button-ups.” —Jared Favole, dowjones.com

Sunday, Dec. 26, 2:05 p.m. “Full name of chapel is St. Michael’s Chapel, White House press officers say. However, that name was no where on the chapel…” —Jared Favole, dowjones.com

Catch up on our previous coverage:

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