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Wednesday, May 4, 2016
May 4, 2016 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:38 PM :: 3808 Views

Disgusting: Another Massive Recall of Hawaii Organic Food Infested with Listeria

Experimental Drugs for Terminal Patients? Ige Vetoes SB2181

Time For Fake Indian Tribe Running Out, Abercrombie Says

ILind: The former governor said the waning days of the Obama administration offer a last, best chance for real progress….

“Time is running out,” the long-time island politician told a small private gathering last week. I was able to speak at length with Abercrombie on Monday about his critical viewpoint.

“From a political standpoint, they’ve got to do it now,” he said, referring to negotiating terms of a realistic and practical form of sovereignty fake Indian Tribe.

The alternative, which he sees as increasingly likely, will be to see sovereignty Fed-Rec proponents simply “drifting into oblivion.”

In his view, certain sovereignty activists are largely to blame for missing, or actively rejecting, repeated opportunities over the years.

“Someone steps forward to throw sand in the gears every time,” Abercrombie said of some of the vocal activists. “The last thing they seem to want is to actually reach a real political solution.”…

“If they don’t get this settled before Obama leaves office, it’s over.”

LINK: Countdown until Obama is OUT OF OFFICE

read … It's Over

‘Rare Move’ Keeps Jeff Stone’s Millions in Play

WHT: A state purchase of 8,000 acres at Kapua Bay may still get to move ahead sooner rather than later.

In a rare move, the Senate Committee on Water, Land and Agriculture has agreed to resurrect a bill directing the Department of Land and Natural Resources to lay the groundwork for purchase of the pristine and historically significant stretch of South Kona makai lands. A week after the original version of Senate Bill 3071 lay dead owing to a dispute over language, the committee will take up the provision — watered down and packaged as a resolution — at 11 a.m. today, the day before the legislative session officially winds up.

The resolution encourages DLNR to determine the current assessed value of the land and whether the owners, The Resort Group, are willing sellers, said Sen. Kai Kahele, who fought to have the essential provisions of the bill brought back. The resolution lacks the $500,000 appropriation originally requested by DLNR to get the ball rolling, and it is non-binding.

But it keeps the process moving ahead, Kahele said….

Reality: Busted Trying to Sneak Jeff Stone a Few Million, Senators Settle for Resolution Instead

read … Last ditch effort for Kapua lands

Legislators Send $13.7B Budget Bill to Ige

SA: House and Senate lawmakers gave their final approval to a new, $13.7 billion budget for next year as well as bills to ease jail overcrowding, collect taxes from vacation rental operators, allow an industrial hemp pilot project and permit Alexander & Baldwin to continue using Maui stream water — but not without some spirited debate on the floors of the Senate and House on Tuesday.

Those bills, and dozens of others, will now be sent to Gov. David Ige for decision-making.

The spending plan approved by lawmakers Tuesday authorizes the departments to spend $390 million more than the state will collect in taxes and other revenues next year, but that includes a large deposit of $150 million into the state’s rainy day, or budget reserve, fund.

Lawmakers also agreed to authorize a prepayment of an extra $80 million for future health care benefits for public workers and retirees to more rapidly pay down the unfunded liabilities for public employees’ retirement health care.

The budget debate featured a bitter exchange between Rep. Bob McDermott and some House Democrats over plans to build a new high school on Maui.

McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said Campbell High School in his district is far more overcrowded than schools on Maui, and pointed out that the new budget included only $12 million for a new classroom building at Campbell. Ige had requested $30 million for the project.

McDermott said he is “beyond angry” and “resigned to the fact that we’re going to have a disaster on our hands in two years (because of school overcrowding) and all I can say is, ‘I told you so.’” …

read … I Told You So

Thinking Big Thoughtlessly

Cataluna: …Oahu’s rail is the biggest, costliest example of thinking big without paying attention to specifically how the grandeur is going to be achieved. The first cars are here, designed in a color palette to reflect a sunny Hawaii day, but on the bricks-and-mortar level, no one has figured out the whole flood plain, electric pole, how-to-pay-for-it basics.

There are many examples of this ends-overshadow-the-means approach in Hawaii. The Honolulu Zoo should be a world-class attraction in the crown jewel of Hawaii’s tourism industry – yet the boss’s office seems to have a revolving door, and many exhibits are shut down for lack of repair.

Waikiki Natatorium? That’s a horrible example of the potential of a higher purpose with no practical way to make it happen.

Kakaako is becoming a gleaming metropolis while not much attention has been given to the bricks-and-mortar of the aging sewage system underneath all the rising towers.

The list goes on. There’s a crucial balance to be struck between vaulted dreams and the drudgery of practicality, feasibility and possibility….

read … The list goes on

Hawaii County GE Tax Hike Loses 7-2

HTH: Facing a June 30 deadline to have an unpopular ordinance in place or lose the opportunity to do so, the County Council Finance Committee voted 8-1 Tuesday to postpone a bill indefinitely that would raise the general excise tax by one-half percent.

The committee, composed of all nine members of the council, was poised to vote 7-2 against Bill 165, a surcharge on the tax for transportation improvements, when council members on the losing end of the vote opted to postpone the bill instead. They noted if it doesn’t come up on the next committee agenda in two weeks, it will be too late to meet a state-imposed deadline, allowing the bill to die.

Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, one of the two supporters, summed it up this way: “In an election year, who the hell wants to raise taxes.”

Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, who is term-limited and not running for re-election, was the other yes vote….

Opponents say Hawaii Island’s cost of living is already too high, there’s a shortage of affordable homes and young people are leaving the island and moving to the mainland, where the cost of living is lower. Those opposed to the tax say it is regressive, which means it hurts poor people more than the well-off.

“An increase to our general excise tax is an increase to our cost of living as well as the cost of doing business,” said Tanya Power, a Realtor testifying from Kona.

“You have to live within our means,” said Toby Hazel, testifying from Pahoa. “This need for more and more money is an addiction. Heal yourselves.”

Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan was the sole no vote on the postponement. He wanted the council to vote the bill down outright, to send a clear message of opposition.

read … Tax Hike Dead

Hawaii Republican leaders respond to shakeup in the race for the White House

KITV: … The Ted Cruz Hawaii Campaign chairman would not say who he will vote for now. But other Republican leaders have a warning for voters.

"I think Donald Trump is somebody who is extraordinarily dangerous, he is a demagogue, he is offensive, and he really does not have the qualifications or fitness to be our nation's next president," said Republican and former U.S. Congressman Charles Djou.

"I think if you are a true sincere conservative, if you are a true sincere American, you have to be frightened by Donald Trump,” Djou said.

Trump got 42 percent of the vote, while Cruz had 33 percent in Hawaii's Republican presidential caucus back in March. Cruz got seven of the 19 delegates and his Hawaii Campaign Chairman Willes Lee is one of them.

"We are still looking forward to going to Cleveland. We'll make sure that we have a Republican nominee who will beat Clinton this fall," Lee said.

Hawaii Republican Party Chair Fritz Rohlfing says he will support Trump if he challenges Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the election.

"I think Hillary Clinton would be a disaster for the United States of America,” said Rohlfing.

“It's very likely Donald Trump will be the nominee and yes, I think he'll mount a strong campaign and I think it's very possible he could win," Rohlfing said.

Rohlfing believes the Republican Party will unite coming out of the Republican National Convention in July. But Lee said he fears Republicans just won’t come out to vote. Djou said no matter what, he will not vote for Trump ….

read … Trump 

Hawaii Teacher: Why Most Of Us Ignore Our Union

CB: The Hawaii State Teachers Association recently held its annual convention, where elected representatives discussed what issues they want to board of the union to consider for the following year….

Why are teachers so uninvolved in their union?

The easiest explanation would be that people are upset with the leadership and decisions that have been made.

In some cases that is true; I recall a former colleague telling me that she would never help the union again after the strike in 2001. She felt she had hurt her students, and that the union had betrayed her for making her do that….

Teaching has one of the highest turnover rates of any profession. On top of the retiring Baby Boomer generation, a phenomenon soon to hit all areas of the job market, up to 17 percent of teachers leave the profession in the first five years….

With teachers constantly quitting, how can we gain the necessary seniority and leadership infrastructure to truly have a political system?….

In the current political climate, this is critical. The Supreme Court just released its split decision in the case of Friedrichs vs. the California Teachers Association, which means the case will be retried.

If the plaintiff is successful, all the non-members of HSTA paying fair-share dues will no longer pay them. In a profession where most of us are scraping by paycheck to paycheck, like most of the state, union dues will look like an unnecessary expense, and the union budget will be significantly cut…..

read … Ignore HSTA

Mainland Eco-Lawyers Find New Way to Shut Down Agriculture on Kauai

CB: Earthjustice, a (mis-named) U.S. nonprofit environmental law firm, notified Hawaii’s Agribusiness Development Corporation on Tuesday that it will sue the agency for allegedly allowing pesticides and chemicals to contaminate a 40-mile-long drainage ditch system on the Mana Plain of Kauai’s west side.

The ADC, a division of the Department of Agriculture, leases thousands of acres there to seed companies. Earthjustice, in alliance with several community groups, said that the genetically-engineered crops grown on the lands, on the west side of Kauai, require intensive applications of chemicals and pesticides that run off into drainage ditches, flowing through communities and into the ocean near the Mana Plain.

For decades, the drainage system used for this land was monitored by the Department of Health under a Clean Water Act permit; but last August, ADC decided not to renew its permit, according to the statement. The Clean Water Act requires a permit from those who intend to discharge harmful chemicals into state waters and wetlands….

read … Eco-Phonies Flacking for the Tourism Industry and Real Estate interests

State seeks applicants for ethics commission executive director

KHON: The Hawaii State Ethics Commission is accepting applications for the position of executive director of the commission.

Leslie Kondo, who served as executive director for five years, was recently appointed and confirmed as state auditor. His term commenced on May 1….

PDF: APPLICATION INFORMATION FOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION

read … State seeks applicants

Trannies Push to Get into your Daughter’s Locker Room

KITV: …Mr Hina Wong-Kalu (tranny from corrupt charter school which was forcibly shut down by the CSC) addressed the board, outlining what they sought in the petition--which over 5400 people from around the world and Hawaii had signed.

“Calling on your leadership and calling upon the Department of Education to ensure that respect and protection is afforded to all of our students within our public education system, especially with regards to our transgender students,” said Mr Wong-Kalu.

DOE officials say after six month they have finally come up with a set of guidelines to deal with the issues. They are now being reviewed by the State Attorney General.

Mr Wong-Kalu and her his group were pushing for guidelines in place by this graduation season (which is why, over the last few days, they deployed the story about the tranny from Kahuku HS who claims he wanted to play dressup as a female at his graduation.)  The DOE says it will be closer to the beginning of next school year….

Gay Media: Our Trannies want to Play with Your Daughters

read … Tranny takeover

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