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Sunday, December 22, 2019
December 22, 2019 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:30 PM :: 2302 Views

Ed Case Innovative Approach to Jones Act Reform

Hawaii 'Ghost Guns' Already Illegal

HUD: West Coast is Source of Growth in Homelessness

Hawaii: State Tax Changes for 2020

Ninety-One Hours in a Work Week?

Mauna Kea Showdown Set for Dec 26

SA: … Since July, the protest has immobilized the state officials who assert their intention to enforce the legal permit to build TMT, but have not done so. The entire conflict has been mismanaged by the administration from the start. There is no reason to believe that Thursday’s declaration — the state law-enforcement operation is now in temporary stand-down mode — signals a real end to any of that.

The leaders of the kia‘i (“protectors”) at Puu Huluhulu at Mauna Kea’s base have responded to Ige’s announcement on Thursday by signaling they will not go on hiatus, for Christmas or ever. If anything, the decision to set the deadline — at a time when families are on holiday or winter break from school and thus have more time for a visit to the mauna — has all but assured a showdown on Thursday.

There really is no choice for the governor other than to follow through on his pledge to have those blocking the access road, a public route, arrested and removed. To announce a deadline and then fail to enforce it is to yield all credibility….

It is crucial that the road be opened for the near term because the state has a duty to provide safe passage to those using the road legitimately, to reach observatories and other operational facilities at the summit.

And in the not-too-distant future, the state also must assure access to the TMT observatory construction site, fulfilling its commitment to an invaluable project that has earned its permit to proceed….

Background: Timeline: Hawaii County Council Abandons TMT--Ige Abandons Mauna Kea—Confusion Reigns 

Big Q: Do you support the state’s stand-down on Mauna Kea, but with a Dec. 26 deadline for protesters? – 94% ‘Yes Clear area already’

Borreca: Will anti-TMT translate into a solidifying cause?  That has not yet happened.

read … Gov. David Ige’s deadline on TMT

Revolving Door: Brandi Higa leaves KITV to join Caldwell’s office

SA: … Brandi Higa has left her job as KITV sports director to join Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s office as an information specialist.

Her last day with KITV was Friday. Higa starts with the city Jan. 2, and will report to public information officer Alex Zannes.

“I’ve been looking for a while to expand my career,” Higa told the Star-Advertiser on Saturday. “I’m very grateful for this opportunity to join such a passionate hard-working team.”

Higa’s hiring comes days after news of City and County of Honolulu communications director Andrew Pereira’s departure from the mayor’s office. His last day with the city is Dec. 31. Pereira will be joining Honolulu public relations firm CommPac as a vice president, starting Jan. 2. …

And Around and Around They go: Revolving Door: Andrew Pereira leaving City for 'new opportunity in private sector'

read … Brandi Higa leaves KITV to join Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s office

Green New Deal: Trump Mocks Hirono, Airplane Ban

SA: … President Donald Trump tried out a fresh line of rhetoric today when he dubbed Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono “nasty, nasty, horrible” and “not the smartest person on the planet.”

Trump spoke of Hirono at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Fla., while critiquing Democratic environmental policies during a lengthy, grievance-filled speech. He didn’t mention the lawmaker by name — but Hawaii’s other senator, Brian Schatz, is a man.

Hirono was in favor of the Democratic “Green New Deal” and then “they informed her that that doesn’t include airplanes” and she realized she could never get to Hawaii again ….

Background: Green New Deal: Kamala Harris Endorses Socialist Plan to Ban Air Travel and Cows

read … Trump dubs Sen. Mazie Hirono ‘not the smartest’ in speech

More Homeless Mayhem: High court reverses manslaughter conviction

HNN:  … Prosecutors had alleged the Wollaston died after Udo kicked her several times during an early morning scuffle on Bishop Street.

But a defense expert, pathologist James Navin, argued that Wollaston was drunk at the time and may have suffered a heart attack.

In their ruling, the Supreme Court said that prosecutors in their closing arguments improperly discredited Navin’s testimony by citing his role in some of Hawaii’s most notorious murder trials — including the Baby Cyrus case.

Back in 2008, 23-month-old Cyrus Belt was thrown onto the H-1 from a pedestrian bridge by a drugged out neighbor Matthew Higa.

The high court said linking Navin’s role as Higa’s medical expert case violated Udo’s right to a fair trial….

Prior to her conviction, Udo’s bail has been set at $500,000, which Udo could not afford. But her former attorney Myles Breiner said the bail amount will likely be lowered, paving the way for her release….

read … High court reverses manslaughter conviction in death of homeless woman

Sovereignty Activists Cause Homelessness—Then Pretend to Have Solution

TGI: For hundreds of people (everybody) on Kauai it is illegal to sleep at night (in a closed park) for 10 months out of the year.

Laws prohibiting unpermitted camping are enforced by county park rangers during frequent early morning raids at public spaces and ignored by prosecuting attorneys, who refuse to pursue cases against people whose only crime is not living in a house (doing meth)….

Joseph Kaneapua, who lives at Salt Pond with his family, has been cited six times in the past month for not having a camping permit or refusing to take down his tent during park-maintenance days. ...

Kaneapua’s four children were left to fend for themselves on Dec. 11, when Kaneapua was arrested for having his tent up during Salt Pond Beach Park’s scheduled maintenance hours. His son shook him awake at 5 a.m., saying, “Daddy! Police are outside!”

Kamuela Gomes got arrested that morning at Salt Pond as well. He was also cited a half dozen times since mid-November for the same reasons. Gomes has no prior convictions either, but has been in and out of court on a regular basis in the past four years, challenging the legal rights of large-scale real estate developers in the state appellate court.

Gomes said he and hundreds of other Native Hawaiians on Kauai without an American-style home wouldn’t be living on the beach if their land hadn’t been stolen from them, an opinion that is gaining increasing support from international political activists and experts.

United Nations Independent Expert Alfred-Maurice de Zayas sent an open letter last year to the Hawaii State Judiciary, calling for an end to “the wrongful taking of private lands” in the Hawaiian Islands, which he described as “a nation-state that is under a strange form of occupation by the United States resulting from an illegal military occupation and a fraudulent annexation.”

Reality: Homeless ‘Man’ found guilty 2 years after crash that killed 19-year-old Kauai woman

Reality: So-called "United Nations Independent Expert" Alfred-Maurice de Zayas is a well-known anti-Semite.  (See link: http://bit.ly/2SiEGbG) De Zayas is associated with convicted felon David 'Keanu' Sai whose fake mortgage relief scams have cost dozens of Hawaii residents their homes -- thus literally causing homelessness. 

read … ‘Where am I gonna go’

How Trump is filling the liberal 9th Circuit with conservatives

P: … A bastion of liberalism in the federal judiciary is slowly turning rightward, threatening Democratic court challenges on everything from abortion to who gets a green card.

The Senate confirmation of Lawrence VanDyke and Patrick Bumatay to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this month brought to nine the number of appointments President Donald Trump has made to the 29-member bench that serves as the last stop for nearly all legal complaints lodged in nine Western states. Democratic-appointed judges now hold a three-seat majority, compared with 11 at the start of Trump's presidency.

If the trend continues, it represents a major shift in the liberal wing of the judiciary, meaning lawsuits for progressive causes won’t find a friendly ear as easily as they have. The circuit has been the go-to venue for activist state attorneys eager to freeze Trump policies on health care, immigration and other social issues. It ruled against Trump's weakening of Obamacare's contraceptive mandate, as well as multiple versions of his travel ban.

It's now weighing the administration's overhaul of the federal family planning program, the "public charge" rule that denies green cards for individuals who participate in programs like Medicaid — and it could take up the "conscience rule" allowing health providers to opt out of providing care on religious or moral grounds. With Congress largely gridlocked, the rules often are the only way to change policies, even if they're often challenged in court. And transforming the judiciary to make it more sympathetic to such an agenda could be one of the enduring victories of Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that will far outlast their time in office.

Trump has called the 9th Circuit “a complete and total disaster" and a "big thorn in our side," and some congressional Republicans still threaten to break up its jurisdiction. But its changing ideological makeup could wind up giving states like California less legal elbow room to challenge Trump policies and go their own way in areas like reproductive rights and LGBTQ issues….

SFG: Trump has installed 187 judges to the federal bench.

read … How Trump is filling the liberal 9th Circuit with conservatives

Group shows interest in opening new Ookala dairy (after tourism industry chased last dairy out)

HTH: … Although Big Island Dairy has “satisfactorily completed” all closure requirements set forth in an agreement with the state Department of Health, others have shown interest in the Ookala property for future dairy operations.

Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter confirmed on Friday an October meeting between “several people who want to open up a dairy in Ookala” and the community (TVR owners) group Kupale Ookala, “so the people interested in opening the dairy would understand what their concerns would be.”…

According to Poindexter, those interested in bringing another dairy to Ookala spoke about bringing in a smaller breed of cow, and said they would not use an effluent pond or a controlled animal feeding operation. Instead the cows would graze and be brought in for milking.

“We were very clear in the meeting, no matter the scenario you present, this is not the place for a dairy,” …

read ... Group shows interest in opening new Ookala dairy

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