OHA Reopens Akaka Tribal Roll, Announces Plan for ‘Governing Documents’
Hawaii’s schools aren’t the best, so what’s with pay raises, shorter class schedules?
Ige Slams Abercrombie over Pension Tax Hypocrisy, Morita Appointment
Full Text: Souki Reprimands Hanohano—conduct “intimidating, disruptive”
Abercrombie Appoints Rep Wooley Director of Office of Environmental Quality Control
Pine: 50,000 Solar Panels for Kahe Point?
Council Candidate Iwasa Speaks out Against Sign-Waving
UH Manoa to host veterans conference
Accusers: Wilson A Drunk, Harasses Women—Defended by Crooked Lawyers
HNN: …Wilson said during a three-hour interview with the lawyers' group's board of directors, attorneys didn't spend much time asking about his 13 years as a circuit court judge. Instead he claimed they spent more time asking him about anonymous, vague allegations involving his personal life, all of which he denied…. (The idea is to discredit all opposition by focusing media attention on the unsubstantiated claims.)
Wilson told senators he rarely drinks alcohol and he tried to learn more about the public drunkenness charge….
He also denied an allegation that he sexually harassed a Miss Universe contestant 14 years ago, a charge that senators had been unable to substantiate back in 2000 when Wilson was first confirmed to the bench….
No one spoke against Wilson at the hearing but many of the 95 people who submitted testimony in support of Wilson were lawyers upset with their own Bar Association's actions. …
State Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the judiciary committee, said his office received a phone call Thursday morning from a woman who said Wilson was "incompetent and lazy" when he represented her in a sexual harassment case in 1992. The woman, who now lives on the mainland, gave her name and number to Hee and claimed Wilson missed deadlines and lost evidence in the case so she went to another attorney who later won her case, Hee said.
Hee did ask him if he had "mistreated" people as a judge or as chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources….
Wilson declined to answer Hawaii News Now's questions about whether the Bar Association panel asked him about mistreating his circuit court law clerks. Wilson said he would not comment further than what he had told senators….
(Not one word about the public and fully documented ruling by the Honolulu Zoning Board that Wilson owns an illegal vacation rental.)
read … Drunken Sexual harasser?
Wilson Co-Owns Illegal TVR With Former Law Partner, Girlfriend
CB: …If anything, the second half of Wilson's hearing, which took place after lunch, was even more "frickin' surreal" than the first.
Hawaii Sen. Mike Gabbard commented how 'surreal' the hearing on Judge Mike Wilson was.
It began with Hee hearing from Judith Pavey, Wilson's former girlfriend and later law firm partner. Pavey talked mostly about opposition from Chris Godwin, identified as a former IRS investigator who had complained about a North Shore oceanfront vacation rental part-owned by Pavey, Wilson, Pavey's husband Kali Watson and other friends.
Godwin, whose testimony was the only written opposition to Wilson's nomination, wrote that the rental was being operated illegally. Pavey, however, countered that she had done her best to comply with county permits and that the real problem was Godwin, who she accused of spying on the rental at night and at one point turned off the water. Only a three-year temporary restraining order against Godwin settled the matter, she said.
Pavey then strongly defended Wilson's nomination, as did others following her testimony. Pavey and others expressed shame at what the bar had done, with some saying they wished they could quit.
"Greg Markham is not speaking for me," said Pavey, who used the words "shocked," "flabbergasted" and "embarrassed" to describe her reaction to the bar association rating.
Hee informed Pavey that he received a call just that morning from a woman who said she had hired Wilson to handle a sexual harassment case when he worked with Pavey. The woman, said Hee, who gave her name and phone number to his office, accused Wilson of being "incompetent" and "lazy," and even of losing evidence. The woman later switched attorneys. Pavey said she could not recall the case and doubted that such allegations were true.
read … Nothing to see here, just move along
KITV Full Cover-up Mode: Co-Conspirator ‘Clears Up’ Illegal TVR
KITV: Allegations of harassing a Miss Universe contestant, public drunkenness and involvement in an illegal rental on the North Shore.
Those are among the things that threatened to derail the nominee as he faced the Senate Judiciary committee.
Judge Wilson took the thorny issues straight on.
"There has been no complaint filed against me. I have never been arrested. I have never been publically intoxicated that I have been aware of," said Judge Wilson.
Wilson testified that he felt the process by which the bar association rated him not qualified to serve on the high bench, was unfair.
He said the pageant contestant even wrote a letter clarifying the situation….
A long list of former partners and close friends testified on his character.
One of whom cleared up Wilson’s interest in the North Shore vacation rental .
"I had a transient accommodation tax number, and I was the one handling the money for the hui. Mike did not have anything to do with this," said former law partner Judith Pavey. (Duh, okey dokey.)
Reality: Zoning Board: Abercrombie's Supreme Court Pick Operating Illegal Enterprise for Over a Decade
SA: Hee said the Senate, in an abundance of caution, would wait until later this month to take the vote, enough time for people to come forward and potentially substantiate rumors about Wilson's character.
Read … A really pathetic cover-up
Wooley Looks Over Wreckage of Anti-GMO Idiots’ Dreams
AP: The chairwoman of the Hawaii House Agriculture Committee said Thursday she intends to fight for a bill that would establish a task force to study genetically modified foods.
But Democratic Rep. Jessica Wooley said she thinks SB 2454 doesn't include enough meaningful regulation. She says she would like to see labeling of genetically modified foods because many people want to know whether their groceries include those ingredients….
A bill (HB 174) that would require labeling of genetically modified foods passed the House last year but has since been ignored in the Senate. A Senate measure (SB 2521) that would require labeling of genetically modified food and seeds made its way only partway through committee. It then languished, and was never sent to the Senate floor for a vote.
One major Senate obstacle to genetically modified food labeling is Wooley's counterpart there: Sen. Clarence Nishihara, the Agriculture Committee chairman. His committee this year declined to consider a Senate measure (SB 3084) that would have required retailers to label genetically modified food….
Meanwhile: Abercrombie Appoints Rep Wooley Director of Office of Environmental Quality Control
read … Hawaii modified food bills battered
Election funding bill raises some concerns as measure passes first reading in Hawaii Senate
WHT: Rep. Cindy Evans, D-Kohala, North Kona, voted in favor of House Bill 2533 on Tuesday, with reservations.
“I had some concerns regarding the bill. First, it’s a bill just for representatives. Why did they do the representatives and not the Senate?” she said.
That’s one reason Rep. Bob McDermott of Oahu voted against the legislation.
“It targets representatives, not the senate or governor or any of the bigger offices,” he said. “If it was across the board and made for an even playing field for everybody, and that was the goal, I could support something like that, but that’s living in fantasy land and you’re never going to get there.”
(9-11 conspiracy theorist) Noelie Rodriguez, a professor of sociology (thanks to a lawsuit) at Hawaii Community College, said the bill is a step in the right direction.
“Secondly, if you have a limited appropriation amount in the fund for a program like this what happens when the funds run out and you have people applying for the money and qualifying for it and you don’t have the money?” she said. “Third, is the timing of this during the election. So if they’re applying for matching funds, if you don’t have the staff and the check to turn money around quickly then it in fact impacts the election. If we’re not supporting enough staff to process payments, then it’s flawed from the beginning.”
McDermott said he voted against the bill because he doesn’t think “people should be forced to support candidates with their tax dollars that they fundamentally disagree with.”
“Let people run on their ideas, let them raise their own money and work hard and do it,” McDermott added.
The bill passed its first reading in the state Senate Thursday and was referred to the Senate’s Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means committees.
read … Flawed Program
Tax payment backlog
HNN: It usually takes about two weeks to process a tax payment. But businesses and individual taxpayers now complain that the state is taking five to six weeks.
"You can look at it like a symptom of they got so much money and they're overtaxing us so much that it's taking longer to do it," said state Sen. Sam Slom, R-Hawaii Kai.
"The Department of Tax has been a troubled department."
Tom Yamachika, interim president of the nonprofit Tax Foundation of Hawaii, said the problem is partly due to staffing shortages.
Many of the department employees have retired in recent months and the department hasn't been able to train their replacements fast enough.
"There's a tremendous vacancy rate at the Department of Taxation," he said.
read … Tax payment backlog
Prison Guards Punch Kids, Costs State $180K
CB: …The lawsuit blames the state for failing to properly train and supervise the youth correctional officers involved in the incidents, which took place in the early 2000s.
One of the officers was convicted of assaulting one of the teens, but the others maintain that the force used was reasonable and necessary.
The $180,000 settlement is one of 14 claims totaling just over $983,000 that the Legislature is considering whether to approve. The appropriations bill crossed over to the Senate after the House unanimously signed off on it Tuesday.
It took until 2013 for all the parties to reach an agreement. The plaintiffs in the case are four of the kids (or their guardians) who were apparently mistreated. The defendants include five correctional officers, the State of Hawaii, the Department of Human Services and the state Office of Youth Services.
PDF: Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility lawsuit
read … Prison Guards Punch Kids, Costs State $180K
Hawaiian-Language Education Bills Advance
CB: Last week, the House passed House Bill 1551, which would create an Office of Hawaiian Studies in the Department of Education….the legislative body also passed another proposal by Rep. Karen Awana on Tuesday to create a task force to study the possibility of establishing a Hawaiian immersion school in West Oahu…..
read … Native Hawaiian Lobbying Is Paying Dividends at Hawaii's Legislature
VA Bumps Up Home Loan Limits
HM: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has revised and increased the VA loan limit for Honolulu by almost $100,000 — to $721,050 — after a surprising reduction was announced a few months ago.
This means qualified active-duty service members and veterans can afford more expensive houses, thus expanding their pool of properties to choose from.
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, commended the VA for raising the loan limit.
“The VA’s decision to increase the cap on the home loan guaranty program better fits the real cost of a single-family home in Hawaii, and is welcome news for thousands of veterans and their families who otherwise would be unable to utilize the benefit they earned,” Gabbard, a veteran, said in a statement.
Honolulu’s 2014 VA loan limit was initially set at $625,500 based on new government calculations. That was a dramatic drop from the 2013 limit of $750,000.
read … Bump Up
Legislative Motion:
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