Pearl Harbor, Civil Rights, and Hawaii Statehood
Oneula Beach Dec 7, 1941: Air Photos from Landing B-17 Flying Fortress
Sunday Morning: Ewa Battlefield Commemoration
Abercrombie Finds $844M, Wants to Spend it on Preschool Vouchers
Atheist Ethics vs Santa: Teachers, Students Cannot 'Believe', 'Make a Wish'
HART Rail Art Application Illegally Prepared by State Workers
Senator Schatz is Wrong about Wind Energy -- Part 2
Nene, Humpback, Green Sea Turtle Among Top 10 Conservation Successes
Hawaii Trial Court: Seawall No One Wants Belongs To State
Undoing the Past
574 Enrolled in $200M Hawaii Health Connector
KHON: The Hawaii Health Connector announced Friday that 574 people have enrolled in health insurance so far. This is up from the Connector's initial enrollment figure of 257 on November 15. (317 more people in 3 weeks = 105 per week = 15/day)
The announcement was made at a board of directors meeting held at the state capitol Friday. One of the main purposes of the meeting was to introduce Interim Executive Director Tom Matsuda to the BOD.
($200M / 574 = $348K per enrollee)
read ... 574 Enrolled
Roz Baker Interfering with Termination of JSABOM's Carbone
HNN: Dr. Michele Carbone, who heads the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, has survived two attempts by his boss to have him fired, prompting concerns that a lawmaker and hospital executives are interfering in UH affairs....
he also has the dubious distinction of having more complaints and grievances filed against him and his administrators than any other unit in UH's 10-campus system. Carbone has been the focus of 25 complaints in the last year and a half alone, representing about half the researchers and professors at the Cancer Center, according to Kristeen Hanselman, associate executive director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the union representing UH faculty statewide.
"The UH Manoa's Chancellor's office has needed to repeatedly involve itself in attempted resolution of these grievances, because the pattern is that Director Carbone's administration does not resolve them," Hanselman said....
Carbone has told people at the Cancer Center that UH Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple, Carbone's boss, tried to fire him, but Apple was unsuccessful.
Sources said at a meeting Monday of the Cancer Center Consortium, Apple laid out his reasons why Carbone should be terminated, saying mismanagement and overspending were Carbone's two biggest problems.
At that meeting, sources said, Carbone was defended by Maui State Sen. Roz Baker, who's a cancer survivor and longtime center supporter as well as some current and former hospital executives who serve on the consortium.
read ... UH Cancer Center director targeted for firing remains on job
Judge: Occupy Unlikely to Overturn Sidewalk Nuisance Law
SA: A federal judge has ordered the city to make notification changes in the enforcement of the city's sidewalk nuisance ordinance and directed the return of belongings seized from two members of the protest group (de)Occupy Honolulu.
U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi granted a preliminary injunction to Cathy "Sugar" Russell and Terry Anderson for violating their due-process and Fourth Amendment rights during a series of raids from July to September at (de)Occupy Honolulu's Thomas Square encampment.
However, Kobayashi also ruled that the plaintiffs are unlikely to prove that the sidewalk nuisance ordinance is unconstitutional on its face, and she did not prevent the city from continuing enforcement of the law.
"The city is very pleased with the court's decision," said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for the city....
Christopher Nova Smith, a representative of (de)Occupy Honolulu, described the ruling as a victory for the group that has occupied Thomas Square since fall 2011, protesting various government and private business practices....
Smith said (de)Occupy organizers are now spreading out to other parts of the city to inform the homeless of their rights under the law. He said they're also urging the homeless to take video of the seizures where possible to document potential abuses.
read ... Homelessness Industry
Cost Of Permits In Honolulu Could Be On The Rise
CB: Recently, the Department of Planning and Permitting submitted a bill to the Honolulu City Council that seeks to raise various permitting fees, such as those related to zoning, development plans and environmental impacts statements....
The city anticipates DPP can generate between $500,000 and $1 million new revenues if the new bill is passed.
All the changes are laid out in the text of Bill 70, which you can find here. The new fees are those that are underlined.
read ... Cost Of Development In Honolulu Could Be On The Rise
State DOH Focuses on ‘Partner Therapy’
MTVN: The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) has developed new informational materials available online for the treatment of patients with chlamydia or gonorrhea. The materials are part of a new effort to educate healthcare providers, patients, and the public about Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT) options now available in Hawaii.
Signed into law this year, the Hawaii EPT Law or Act 250-13 is an important public health measure to reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Hawaii’s new law enables patients diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea to deliver medication or a prescription to their partner(s) in situations where the partner is unlikely to seek medical treatment. This helps assure the patient does not get re-infected by their partner, because their partner also receives treatment quickly.
read ... Partner Therapy
Koko Head rifle range closed after reports of stray bullets
SA: The city is shutting down its rifle range at Koko Head to repair protective berms behind targets, following two reports of stray bullets.
The ranges at the Koko Head Shooting Complex will remain open to other weapons, including pistol, archery, skeet, and trap shooting.
read ... Koko Head
Save Hawaii's Egrets and Owls
HP: the federal government is proposing rule changes to make it permanent open season on cattle egrets and barn owls in Hawaii. While the birds were brought here on work visas, they are now being "terminated."
read ... Bird Killers
Kawika Crowley to Challenge Tulsi Gabbard in 2014
CB: Kawika Crowley — known as “The Smoking Guy” because of his advocacy for tobacco use — will be holding a sign-waving “marathon” Monday on Kamehameha Highway near HPU’s Windward campus.
His platform, according to a media advisory, includes legalization of marijuana in Hawaii, addressing the “stinking mess at DHHL" and the reduction of federal spending that has left us ”with a Federal Government that has become an addictive, morbid, Obese, Fat Ass Sow force-feeding us with her nipples, the size of Mauna Kea.”
read ... Kawika Crowley to Challenge Tulsi Gabbard in 2014
Nine Hawaii Legislators In D.C. for Annual Forum
CB: The agenda for the recent forum, held Dec. 4-6 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel near the National Zoo in Washington, represented a full slate of sessions on issues. They included education, transportation, elections, energy, immigration reform, the federal budget, international trade, health care, veterans affairs and climate action regulations.
Former Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-Utah) and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) were among the speakers.
The Hawaii legislators in attendance were Sens. Clarence Nishihara, Brian Taniguchi and Gil Keith Agaran, and Reps. Karen Awana, Isaac Choy, Ken Ito, Mark Nakashima, Gene Ward and Kyle Yamashita. Rep. Scott Nishimoto submitted paperwork to attend but ultimately did not go.
read ... Forum
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