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Three weeks until the city budget is due, while the City Council proposes a slew of new resolutions. The mess at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill is still getting cleaned up, and transit officials cross their fingers for good news on rail funding. Civil Beat is tracking all of it, and reporting from the inside.

Council Clash Over Rush Limbaugh Comment

2:57 p.m.

A council committee unanimously backed a request for an apology from conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

The City Council unanimously moved forward with a urging Limbaugh to apologize for mocking Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The vote followed a heated debate which included a proposal from Tom Berg to ban the Washington Redskins from playing in the Pro Bowl. Read the full story here.

Mick Withdraws Nomination to Lead Neighborhood Commission

2:28 p.m.
The mayor is looking for a new executive secretary for the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission, after Bryan Mick requested his nomination be removed.

“I knew there would be some, but I didn’t anticipate the level of response that was coming in with written testimony,” Mick told Civil Beat. “I didn’t want to be responsible for forcing a giant mess down here. Honestly, I think I would have had the votes. I think it would have been close but I didn’t want to put everyone through that. The administration was very supportive but they were also supportive of my decision (to withdraw).”

Mick said he’ll continue working in his role as the “number two” person for the commission. One City Council aide told Civil Beat Mick’s nomination was “torpedoed” by District 1 City Council member Tom Berg.

“We’re not sure what happened,” the council aide said. “(Mick) wrote an e-mail saying he withdrew his nomination. It was after all this dirt started coming out about him.”

submitted in opposition to Mick’s nomination included complaints that he seemed “disinterested” in neighborhood boards’ problems, failed to respond to residents in a timely manner, and didn’t have experience as a neighborhood board member.

In a to the City Council, Mayor Peter Carlisle wrote: “Bryan Mick has asked that his nomination as Executive Secretary to the Neighborhood Commission be withdrawn and I am respecting his request. A new nomination to the position … will be forthcoming.”

Mayor Picks “Phenomenal” Corp Counsel, Okinaga Says

1:14 p.m.
Honolulu Corporation Counsel Carrie Okinaga is testifying on her own behalf, requesting confirmation to stay in her role as the city’s top lawyer for the next five months.

“The mayor has named a phenomenal person,” Okinaga told City Council members of her replacement.

She declined to name her replacement, but referred to the person as “he,” and assured council members that the transition would be smooth.

Okinaga said she would work as corporation counsel through June, then leave the job to spend more time with her family.

City Council Raises Concerns About Hexavalent Chromium

11:53 a.m.
City Council members are raising questions about the level of hexavalent chromium — a probable carcinogen also known as chromium 6 — in Honolulu’s water supply.

It comes after a controversial study found Honolulu had a relatively high level of chromium in its drinking water. Officials blasted the study as “irresponsible” in scope. The Health Department responded with testing, and an announcement that total chromium levels — not just the carcinogenic chromium 6 — were well below federal standards.

“Leather tanning, textiles, metal plating, wood preservation, those kinds of industries don’t exist in large quantities, if at all on this island,” said Mike Miyahira of the State Department of Health’s Safe Drinking Water Branch. “Those would be the major contributors to these contaminates.”

A Board of Water Supply official told the City Council he believes it’s important not to rush to create new regulations because complying with stricter treatment standards could cost the city billions of dollars.

“It would probably be in the billions,” said Wayne Hashiro, a Board of Water Supply manager and chief engineer. “Taking the water from our sources, taking it down to a central plant and we would have to do reverse osmosis or distillation to get the chromium out. … Taking it down to these levels would be a couple billion dollars. That would be just the capital cost. The operation cost would be something different.”

Council members expressed concern about waiting for other cities, states or the federal government to determine what’s safe.

“We need to be focused on the health and well being of our residents,” Council member Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo said. “Being proactive is paramount.”

“There’s a saying that you can’t rush science,” Miyahira said. “You really can’t rush this stuff, really because it has such a wide-ranging economic impact.”

Water Conservation Alert Extended

10:50 a.m.
City work crews are reassembling near the site of a sewage spill that kept emergency workers busy with repairs over the weekend.

They’re responding to a sewer force main that broke Friday, and sent thousands of gallons of sewage into the canal near Pearl Harbor’s bike path. A back-up system subsequently broke on Saturday. City officials said in a statement that signs are posted near the site of the spill to warn swimmers to to stay out of the water.

City officials are also planning to extend a water conservation alert for residents and businesses from Red Hill to Pearl City. Department of Environmental Services spokesman Markus Owens told Civil Beat in an e-mail that the city would officially extend the conservation alert “in the next hour or so.”

State Lawmakers Look to Restrict Landfill Construction

10:36 a.m.
State lawmakers are considering a flurry of bills that would make it more difficult for the city to build new — or expand existing — landfills.

Senators Mike Gabbard and Maile Shimabukuro introduced , which would freeze the construction or expansion of any solid waste landfills after August 1, 2011. Also signing their support: Senators Donovan Dela Cruz, Donna Mercado Kim, Clarence Nishihara, Pohai Ryan and Glenn Wakai.

Shimabukuro, Dela Cruz, Nishihara and Ryan also teamed up to introduce , which would prohibit landfills in counties that have populations exceeding 500,000 from accepting municipal solid waste, effective July 2012.

Gabbard‘s would require public approval from residents within a one-mile radius of a proposed new landfill or the expansion of an existing landfill.

All three proposals will be discussed in hearings on Thursday, Feb. 10.

Rainy Weather Could Make Things Messier at Waimanalo Gulch

8:52 a.m.
A rainy forecast doesn’t bode well for continuing clean-up efforts at Waimanalo Gulch. In the weeks after the landfill spill that sent medical waste and other garbage into the ocean, city officials said dry, sunny weather was a major part of preventing catastrophe as they worked to make repairs.

Heavy rains pounded Oahu Sunday night, with more wet weather on the way. City Council members will get an update on the latest at the landfill at this morning’s Committee on Public Works & Sustainability meeting. Check back for more from that agenda item later today.

Catch Up on Inside Honolulu

Feb. 4, 2011: City zoo could get giant bats; State wants city’s rail funds; Homeless assistance programs get a boost from the feds.

Feb. 3, 2011: Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa ratchets up fight against landfill; FTA to announce New Starts funding any day.

Feb. 2, 2011: Landfill hearing gets heated; Tom Berg wants to meet fellow tea partier Michelle Bachman; City Council asks Rush Limbaugh to apologize; Rail lawsuits start trickling in.

Feb. 1, 2011: Bulky item pick-up to start again; Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz introduces bill that would create development exceptions for rail; Tom Berg invites anti-rail groups into his office to discuss next steps in rail opposition.