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Seven Myths About the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
OHA trustees, CEO promise to work together (for now), Possible Delay to Nation Building
SA: Office of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Kamana'opono Crabbe and the OHA trustees emerged from an all-day session of Hawaiian reconciliation and forgiveness Monday with what they called "one voice" traveling on "one path."
Crabbe still has his job and OHA will continue its nation-building efforts — although there might be a new timeline for Kana'iolowalu, the Native Hawaiian Roll Call project that OHA has pledged to support with $3.9 million.
The trustees spent more than 6 hours behind closed doors Monday, during which Crabbe and the trustees shed tears, wept and deliberated about recent events, Crabbe said.
"We recognized the gravity of the future of our people," Crabbe said afterward. "We have to think about the broader good of our people." (Translation: If we didn't work this out, OHA's Nation Building would be pau.)
Crabbe said he and the trustees want to make sure more people will participate in the nation-building process so the effort may see a delay.
read ... OHA trustees, CEO promise to work together
Crabbe: OHA May Delay Kanaiolowalu Roll
SA: ...there might be a new timeline for Kana‘iolowalu....Crabbe also indicated afterward that OHA may end up trying to delay the Native Hawaiian Roll process in order to allow more people to join in the nation-building process.
read ... Talks bring OHA back onto '1 path'
Office of Hawaiian Affairs Public Meeting May 29
HNN: "It was a really gut-wrenching discussion. I think we attempted to look at the overarching issues here and not to pinpoint a particular blame on one individual. I believe the message I would like to send to all our lahui is that if OHA can repair and move forward, examine our responsibilities both at the board of trustee level and at the administrative level, and see a common, unified effort to move forward, I truly believe that we will move forward with the building of our Native Hawaiian entity. That will never change," said Chair Colette Machado.
"At the time of the discussion, we had no idea that the level of hurt was so deep that we had to take it layer by layer, and I'm so proud that we had that opportunity today with Dr. Kamana'o Crabbe in ho'oponopono and there is a unifying effort to moving forward. Once we were able to release one another from our past transgressions and all of the pilikia that may have been caused either by intention or in addition to something that came through the side door. So to me I am blessed to have had that opportunity today and then we'll be moving forward, but looking seriously at some modifications or changes to the previous policy on building the Native Hawaiian entity," Machado said.
OHA has decided to hold a public meeting on May 29 for community feedback on how to best move forward with nation-building.
read ... Until the next blow-up
Crabbe Supporters Refused to Clear OHA Trustees' Room
AP: Before the meeting, members of the public urged the trustees to take public comments before rendering a decision on the fate of Crabbe. The trustees discussed several options, including postponing the private executive session to hear testimony. Ultimately they voted to clear the room.
Asked to leave, the crowd dawdled. Two school choirs sang songs. People who brought in a Hawaiian flag stayed put.
Crabbe dispersed the gathering by "humbly" asking for the privacy to discuss the personnel matter.
"We all know that the last few weeks have been very challenging for our community, based on my actions," he told the room. "Be patient with us. Allow us this time."
Dozens of people then filed into the concourse outside the chambers and began singing, strumming guitars and thwacking gourd drums.
read ... Meeting begins on letter about Kingdom of Hawaii
$25,000 for Crook Keanu Sai to Write Kerry Letter?
Public Question: Did OHA through Dr. Crabbe pay Dr. Keanu Sai $25,000 (of our, as in us the beneficiary, money) to do a legal brief--though Keanu Sai is not a lawyer and its illegal for a non-bar exam passer to give legal advice--and was Dr. Keanu Sai the one who really wrote the Dr. Crabbe letter and that's really the crust of the issue that Machado has?
read ... OHA Discuss (cached)
Russia Today: US Illegally Annexed Hawaii
RT: In 1993 President Bill Clinton signed a joint resolution of Congress in which he literally, “acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the U.S., and also recognizes that Native Hawaiians never they gave up their sovereign rights and national people.”
read ... Russia Today
8 Years Later: NELHA Solar Project Shuts Down After Producing Nothing but Tax Credits
PBN: Holaniku at Keahole Point on the Big Island, which was one of the first major utility-scale solar energy installations in Hawaii, has shut down after breaking ground about eight years ago, the project’s landlord confirmed to PBN.
Greg Barbour, executive director of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority in Kailua-Kona, which runs the Hawaii Ocean Science & Technology Park where Holaniku was located, said that its lease was recently terminated.
The four-acre utility-scale solar farm, which was spearheaded by Hawaii entrepreneur crony capitalist Darren Kimura, consisted of about 1,000 solar-thermal collectors with a total capacity of 2-megawatts (but it always consumed more electricity than it produced).
The project’s demise stemmed from Sopogy Inc. recently shutting down its operations.
The company, which was founded by Kimura about a decade ago, is currently in the middle of an insolvency proceeding under which its assets are being liquidated.
The research and development project (would have) sold electricity it generated to Hawaii Electric Light Co.’s grid (if it ever produced any).
Reality: Panos: Sopogy's Demise is a Huge Victory for Honest Engineering and the Taxpayer
read ... The Beginning of the End
Ivy League dean with Hawaii roots never considered for UH president
HNN: Jeanette Takamura has been the dean of the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City since 2001, the first woman to hold that post.
Last July, Cayetano sent a letter to the UH Board of Regents, recommending Takamura as the next UH president.
Cayetano said since Takamura was born and raised in Hawaii, attended public schools here and holds undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Hawaii, she'd bring a deep understanding of Hawaii to the UH president's job.
Takamura also served as deputy health director in the Cayetano administration and in 1997 went to Washington, D.C. to join President Clinton's administration as the second assistant secretary for aging in the Department of Health and Human Services.
But Takamura was never contacted by the Board of Regents in their search for the next UH president.
When Cayetano sent UH Regents Chair John Holzman an email last week asking what happened, Holzman said the board office was "significantly understaffed" when it received his letter last July, the same day a selection committee recommended David Lassner serve as interim president.
Holzman wrote to Cayetano: "Somehow the letter fell through the cracks, and it was not acknowledged. I apologize."
But Cayetano said he called the regents office several weeks after sending the letter recommending Takamura and was told by a staffer that the regents received the letter and it would be forwarded to the search committee.
"I suggest that the letter was mishandled because of 'negligence' rather than the Board of Regents was 'understaffed,'" Cayetano wrote back in an email to Holzman he provided to Hawaii News Now.
"A highly qualified candidate was nominated and not considered because of incompetence," Cayetano told HNN in an email.
In a statement, UH said, "Former Governor Cayetano's letter was received on July 23, 2013, and the Board office acknowledged its receipt when he called to inquire about the letter, about a week later.
Just Like: Johnsrud Explains how Regents Manipulated Presidential Selection Process to keep her Out
read ... Ivy League dean with Hawaii roots never considered for UH president
CDC slams UH biolab
HNN: The Center for Disease Control is threatening to suspend the University of Hawaii medical school's ability to conduct research on highly contagious diseases.
A recent CDC inspection uncovered 30 safety infractions. The Atlanta-based center also found that infighting among staffers undermined the UH biosafety lab's readiness in case of a real bioterror attack.
"This is a lack of management and lack of leadership. It's got to be changed," said state Sen. Sam Slom, R-Hawaii Kai, who was part of the Senate Special Investigative Committee that looked into UH mismanagement.
"This is the same lab that's been shutdown before. It's had continuing problems."
That shutdown occurred in 2012 when the lab had to make improvements to retain its certification.
The CDC, which conducted a site visit in March and issued its findings last Monday, said the UH failed to implement a number of new safety regulations that the CDC began requiring a year ago.
"There are 30 specific demands that have to be met in a week but I don't know if the university is capable of doing that," said Slom.
read ... Lassner is on the Job!
Matayoshi: Teacher, Principal Evaluations Will Reap Dividends
SA: There's no question that this has been a difficult year for educators, particularly with respect to our new staff evaluation systems: the Educator Effectiveness System (EES) and the Comprehensive Evaluation System for School Administrators (CESSA). There is an increased burden on adults, and we are working to address this. But we believe these systems will reap big educational dividends for our students and we have the professional capacity and skills to make these improvements.
Large-scale transformational work requires all of us — both in and outside of the Department of Education — to work together. When the conversation devolves into finger-pointing rather than problem-solving, it creates a divisive environment that pits educators against each other.
Educators' voices matter. We have taken several steps to build informal support and new ways for school administrators and teachers to provide real, constructive feedback that can be used.
read ... Matayoshi
Star-Adv: Financial Disclosure Bill Should be Signed
SA: Financial information that's disclosed about people involved in government decision-making becomes far more useful when it is open to the public than when it's filed away where only the staff in a single office can get to it.
That was the thinking behind Senate Bill 2682, which would make public financial disclosure forms from members of 15 additional state boards and commissions. These are disclosures filed with the state Ethics Commission, but the commission has kept them confidential up to this point.
Some objections to this requirement — including one from UH Regent John Dean, who has said he would resign if it is enacted — already have emerged, and likely more will follow. Some worry the availability of this information will compromise their privacy.
That is undoubtedly a sacrifice those in public service are asked to make. However, even if it dissuades some from volunteering for public boards, the interest of improving public trust in government must be the paramount concern.
read ... Disclosure bill should be signed
Hawaii State Hospital plagued with security issues
KHON: A Windward Oahu facility that houses hundreds of often violent mentally ill patients has had to answer to lawmakers lately, but not all the problems are happening on the inside.
Not all people who live at Hawaii State Hospital are being watched 24-7.
While legislative hearings focus on worker safety and alleged mismanagement issues, patients on hospital-approved outings sometimes slip away.
Then there are those recently discharged and living under conditional release crossing paths with the nearby community.
“I raped my mother and I shot somebody,” one patient openly admitted to KHON2.
“I think that having a separate hangout area might be better than connecting it with the college,” said Windward Community College student Inez Reid.
read ... Plagued
Kauai: Alleged Child Molester Daisy Chain Wins Mistrial
KGI: The mistrial motion came Friday after cross-examination of Marvin Acklin, a forensic psychologist called upon to testify to his opinion on the state’s child sex assault psychology expert Diane Gerard. She had presented studies and conclusions as evidence in support of why the victim delayed reporting the alleged crimes until she was 16 years old.
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lisa Arin asked Acklin if his testimony could be biased because his “own son is charged with sexually assaulting a child?” The question referred to Kaleb Acklin, of Honolulu, who is awaiting jury trial this September for an alleged sexual assault of a minor in 2011....
The defense should have been aware that Acklin was in a position of possible conflict, Arin said. Acklin has extensive court experience and he should have disclosed the possible conflict to the defense prior to offering testimony....
read ... Accused Molester Walks
Suit: DHS Negligence in returning boy who died to his parents
MN: The grandmother and sister of a 4-year-old boy who was killed two years ago are suing the state and its Department of Human Services, alleging negligence by the agency in returning the child to his parents' custody despite acts of violence beginning shortly after his birth.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in 2nd Circuit Court, also alleges that Child Welfare Services failed to protect Zion McKeown and didn't fully investigate or take action on reports of neglect and abuse inflicted on the child by his parents.
Zion died in the early-morning hours of May 30, 2012, after he was taken to the Maui Memorial Medical Center emergency room the night before by his father, Kyle McKeown, and the father's live-in girlfriend, Grace Lee-Nakamoto. The boy had been living with his father and Lee-Nakamoto at a Wailuku apartment complex.
Preliminary autopsy findings showed injuries to his abdomen were most likely caused by "someone stomping on him while he was lying on the ground," according to a court affidavit. Zion also had numerous bruises and abrasions to his arms, legs, face, back, chest, neck and the back of his head that had been caused just before his death, the lawsuit says.
DN: New lawsuit in death of 4-year-old Maui boy raises old questions about DHS mishandling of abuse cases
read ... Lawsuit
Charter schools get pass on sunshine law
HTH: The Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science Governing Board frustrated some parents last week when it relocated a closed-door meeting with a teacher accused of abusing students without announcing the new location.
But did it break the law?
Likely not, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
While the state’s sunshine law requires public boards to announce the location of their meetings, lawmakers have granted public charter schools, like HAAS, an exemption from the law.
The state only requires the schools post meeting notices and agendas six days prior to the meeting. Meeting minutes must be made available within 30 days.
read ... Sunshine?
Former UH Coach Tomey Passes On Run as Hannemann’s LG
CB: Dick Tomey, head coach of the University of Hawaii football team from 1977 until 1986, has decided not to run for lieutenant governor of Hawaii.
Tomey, who has a Kahala home, pulled papers last week as a Hawaii Independent Party candidate. Had he won the primary, he would likely have been Mufi Hannemann's running mate in the general election.
But Tomey changed his mind after learning he might have difficulties getting his candidacy certified by the state. He has a California driver’s license and voted in that state’s election in 2008.
read ... Former UH Coach Tomey Passes On Run as Hannemann’s LG
Kauai Police Chief Perry for Council
KE: Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry is seeking a brave new beginning, filing papers to run for the County County. The Chief, of course, is no stranger to politics, having already tasted its bitter medicine during his seven years at the helm of KPD — a position that isn't supposed to be politicized, but on Kauai, invariably is.
But if the Chief is elected, which seems quite likely, given his general popularity, he'll be able to engage his longtime political foe — the soon-to-be-re-elected Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., — on more equal footing. As it is, under the ruling handed down by former Councilman and now Circuit Court Judge Randal Valenciano, the mayor has authority over the chief — a decision still under appeal.
You may recall that issue went to court after the mayor, in a heavy-handed move, suspended the chief without pay for seven days in 2012, citing insubordination. Perry was then placed on paid leave, along with Assistant Chiefs Roy Asher and Ale Quibilan, pending an investigation of a complaint by Officer Darla Abbatiello-Higa.
At the time, Deputy Chief Mike Contrades was in training off-island, so Assistant Chief Mark Begley was put in charge, assisted by his captain, Hank Barriga.
And then, in classic Kauai fashion, things really fell apart. While the department was essentially leaderless, Officer Chris Calio shot and killed Richard “Dickie” Louis, who was unarmed and standing on his rooftop, while a team of some 50 to 60 cops were trying to arrest him. This resulted in Louis' family filing a wrongful death suit against the county.
read ... New Beginnings
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