Full Text: UH Presidential Selection Committee final report
How Second Amendment Bills Did in Hawaii Legislature
HART 3 Month Take--Another $61.7M from Taxpayers
So You Want A Stable Funding Source?
Clayton Hee to Run for Lieutenant Governor?
Borreca: Sen. Clayton Hee, who has also served both in the Senate and the state House and as an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, is reported to be mulling over both running for re-election or running for lieutenant governor.
While Hee, the sometimes fiery Judiciary Committee chairman, has a looming general-election battle against conservative GOP state Rep. Richard Fale, he has been rumored to be exploring a race against Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui.
Hee has run unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor and Congress, so he knows that there would be a lot of risk in waiting so late to start a statewide campaign for LG.
The lure for Hee is that Tsutsui has so far run an extremely low-profile campaign and assumed his current position only after former Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz was named by Abercrombie to fill the remaining two years of U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's term.
Time is running out for Hee to say if he is all in for either race, but with more than $400,000 in his campaign treasury, he can make a strong impact.
(If elected LG, Hee would be the Presumptive Dem Nominee for Governor in 2018.)
read ... Hee for LG?
Ige Needles Abercrombie over Kakaako Development
SA: Both Abercrombie and Ige mentioned the minimum-wage increase and the state financing for an agreement to preserve land at Turtle Bay Resort as successes of this year's legislative session. But Ige dropped a dig at Abercrombie, who has embraced the rapid redevelopment of Kakaako.
Lawmakers approved a bill, signed into law by the governor last week, that will reduce the governor's power over appointments to the Hawaii Community Development Authority and essentially freeze building height limits and expand public-notice requirements on Kakaako high-rise projects.
"I don't hear anyone talking about the fact that we need more multimillion-dollar luxury condos. But that's what's being built," Ige said. "And I don't hear anyone saying we ought to raise building heights. It makes me wonder."
Democrats, meanwhile, could soon have a new party leader. Tony Gill, an attorney and former chairman of the Oahu Democrats, is campaigning for state party chairman.
read ... Dem Conventions
Larry Ellison Buys Abercrombie Monday
PR: Gov. Neil Abercrombie is going to California for a Monday fundraiser at the San Francisco home of Larry Ellison, the billionaire Oracle founder who owns most of Lanai.
Ellison is holding the evening event with Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce.com, according to an invitation.
A VIP roundtable is priced at $6,000. The reception is $2,500. A guest is $1,000.
read ... Highest Bidder
Gabbard looks the dupe as sole Dem on bipartisan trip
Shapiro: ...it was questionable judgment to do so by serving as a fig leaf that allowed Republicans to call their junket bipartisan when it was actually shunned by Democrats.
Productive bipartisanship is a good thing that we need more of, but this trip wasn't intended to promote bipartisan cooperation and Gabbard came off looking like a rube who got played....
Background: Tulsi Gabbard Helps Republicans Shadow Obama in Asia
read ... Gabbard looks the dupe as sole Dem on bipartisan trip
Grants, tax credit benefit for-profit entities
SA: Saddled with a lower state revenue forecast, state lawmakers said a polite "no" this session to tax relief for the poor and the elderly, tax credits for hotel construction or renovation, and tax breaks on manufacturing equipment.
For one private concern, though, the answer was "yes."
Pacific Marine, which owns Pacific Shipyards International, the state's largest private ship repair company, and subsidiaries Navatek Ltd. and Navatek Boat Builders did remarkably well at the Legislature.
The only new tax credit approved during the session would go to investors who help maritime tenants being relocated because of the new Kapalama Container Terminal at Honolulu Harbor, an incentive that was initially written for -- and would still largely benefit -- Pacific Shipyards International, which is being forced to move to other piers.
Investors could claim a tax credit equal to 50 percent of a tenant's capital infrastructure costs up to a maximum $2.5 million a year in costs through 2019. The state Department of Taxation estimates that the tax credit could cost the state $1.2 million a year per tenant....
"In the past, Sen. Inouye helped Navatek with these kinds of issues," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully). "Now that he is unable to do so, the Legislature felt that there was a public purpose in providing this assistance."
read ... Grants, tax credit benefit for-profit entities
Maui region health official says layoffs, cuts possible
MN: A projected $15 million shortfall will force Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital administrators to consider cutting patient services or laying off employees next fiscal year, said Wesley Lo, Maui region chief executive officer of Hawaii Health System Corp.
"Everything is on the table," he said Friday. "We're looking at all things. There is no sacred cow."
HHSC administrators, who oversee the state's mostly rural and Neighbor Island hospitals, sought $150 million from state lawmakers this year, but they were granted $102 million, or about two-thirds of what they requested.
read ... HHSC Cuts
School Nonprofit Drives 'Teach Lessons for Life'
SA: any of our schools engage in projects that expand learning opportunities while encouraging students to be community-minded.
One example is the annual Laulima Toy Drive organized by Maemae Elementary third-graders. For this project, charity literally begins at home where students do chores for allowance. They later combine their earnings and collectively decide on a budget to purchase toys and games for needy children. Time management and budgeting are crucial at this stage for youngsters.
Maemae Principal Lenn Uyeda says the project produced hundreds of gifts during the past Christmas season for children at Kalihi Uka and Kalihi Waena schools, an example of students helping their neighbors. At the end of the project, teachers reflected with the students about their experience: how hard they worked, how to budget their money, and most important, how good it felt to give for a good cause. The children experienced the value of giving and expecting nothing in return, while employing economic and financial strategies. These types of fundraising projects provide valuable learning opportunities for students.
I commend state Sen. Jill Tokuda for recognizing the educational value of such activities when she introduced Senate Bill 2423. That bill died this session, but schools do not deserve being mischaracterized.
(BTW: After reading about this bill that failed, be sure to check out what's not failing in the next article.)
Earlier this month, the Star-Advertiser suggested charitable activities in schools could be "efforts to get around the State Ethics Code" and might use "students for private business purposes" ("Set boundaries for fundraising by public schools," Our View, Star- Advertiser, April 1).
Both Maemae and Pauoa Elementary participate each year in the Jump Rope for Heart (JRFH) event....
read ... School activities teach lessons for life
Honolulu Polyamory 'Church' Has Been Pushing Pono Choices for Decade
SA: The Pono Choices Culturally Responsive Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Prevention Program is similar to a curriculum that our denomination, the Unitarian Universalist Association, produced in collabora- tion with the United Church of Christ over a decade ago called OWL, which stands for Our Whole Lives (www.uua.org/re/owl).
Background: Unitarian Cluster: One Gay Groom is Roommate of Another's Gay Groom
Totally Irrelevant: Beyond Marriage The Confession: Hawaii Gay marriage advocates let the polyamorous cat out of the bag
read ... Don't let Pono Choices be derailed
One Liberal Elite Lawyer sends Kid to Public School, gets article in Star-Adv
SA: Attorney Clare Hanusz was surprised by the reaction after she was quoted briefly at the tail end of a newspaper story reporting annual tuition increases at Hawaii private schools. Hanusz' son attends one of the three Oahu private schools that will charge $20,000 or more starting next school year, and she explained that he'll be switching to public school because she and her husband, a college professor, are confident the middle-schooler still will receive a good education. Financially, the decision frees the family to travel and save for college.
read ... One Liberal Elite Lawyer sends Kid to Public School, gets article in Star-Adv
Senate president requests inquiry into HawCC student fees
HTH: Complaints from Hawaii Community College students alleging misuse of student fees spurred state Senate President Donna Mercado Kim to request a review by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.
For years, HawCC and University of Hawaii at Hilo students had shared facilities and recreation services. Students on both campuses paid fees to cover those services, with HawCC students paying $67 a semester in fees for access, including a $19 news publication fee, an $18 student activity fee, an $18 student government fee, a $7 Campus Center fee, and a $5 recreation fee.
In January 2013, the agreement between the campuses’ student organizations was dissolved, according to Jason Cifra, HawCC’s vice chancellor for student affairs.
“We saw that we were sending a lot of money to UH-Hilo, but we didn’t know how much usage our students were getting out of it,” he said.
read ... Senate president requests inquiry into HawCC student fees
Panel in place to fill lead position at UH-MC
MN: The search to replace longtime University of Hawaii Maui College Chancellor Clyde Sakamoto has begun as a 17-member, all-Maui Chancellor Search Advisory Committee has been formed
read ... UH-MC
Soft on Crime: Two 20 year sentences = Out after 3 Years
HTH: An Ocean View man who shot and killed a Milolii man he accused of trying to steal marijuana from his yard in 2009 has been paroled to Oregon.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority granted the supervised release for Kevin C. Metcalfe at a hearing Thursday at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo.
The decision was prompted by the Oregon authorities’ acceptance of Metcalfe’s application via an interstate compact, Hawaii Parole Board Chairman Bert Matsuoka said.
Metcalfe’s release date has not yet been set. His travel itinerary is to be set by the parole office, and his family must come up with the airfare to Oregon, Matsuoka said.
Metcalfe had been serving two concurrent 20-year terms in Arizona for manslaughter. He was transferred to HCCC on March 19. He had come back to the Big Island for a work furlough program, which ultimately was not feasible because he was accepted to Oregon, Matsuoka said.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority denied Metcalfe parole at a Dec. 20, 2013, hearing, saying Metcalfe should consider a work furlough program such as the one offered at HCCC. He became eligible for another hearing in February.
read ... Soft on Crime
TOD Pitch: Report says Honolulu most expensive urban area in USA
PBN: Honolulu's housing market is becoming even more expensive, and recruiters say that the high cost of living here is a major hurdle in attracting employees.
And now, figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis show that Honolulu is the most expensive metro area to live in the United States, while Hawaii ranks as the second most-expensive state.
Yesterday: Ca-Ching! BIA, Realtors Line Up Behind TOD
read ... Report says Honolulu most expensive urban area
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