Hawai'i briefs

Advertiser Staff

Lingle address to air live Jan. 21

Gov. Linda Lingle will give her first State of the State address Jan. 21 at 10 a.m. in the House chamber of the State Capitol.

The speech will be broadcast live by KGMB, KHNL, KHON, KITV and 'Olelo, which will broadcast it on cable channel 53. KHET will play the address on a delayed basis at 11 p.m. that day. 'Olelo officials said it may re-run the speech later.

Lingle tried to schedule the speech for 6:30 p.m. to allow more people to view the address in its entirety on live television. But after securing commitments with the four television networks, the plan was nixed when proposed to legislative leaders.

Tax revenues increase 4.4 percent

State tax revenues through the first half of the fiscal year were up 4.4 percent over the same period the previous year, tax officials reported Thursday.

Through December, the state collected just less than $1.6 billion in taxes for the state's general fund. December's tax take alone jumped 34.3 percent over December 2001, which was when Hawai'i started feeling the full impact of 9/11. Revenues from the state's excise and use taxes, which reflect business activity, ballooned by 38 percent, but part of that included collections for November, which ended on a weekend, the Department of Taxation said.