NYT: Ige’s diffidence risks making things on Mauna Kea worse
Ige Fails to Clear Mauna Kea Protesters, Relies on 'Mutual Respect and Aloha'
Ige 'On National Stage' Faking It -- Touts 7 solar farms blocked by HECO, PUC
NYT: Obamacare Ruling May Have Just Killed State-Based Exchanges
Exposed: Attack on Ethics Director is All About Rail
HNN: The debate over whether votes by four Honolulu City Council members who voted in favor of rail transit should be nullified because of ethics violations heated up Wednesday, as Chuck Totto, head of the city Ethics Commission came under fire from his bosses for talking about the subject. Commissioners Thursday also partially muzzled Totto from talking to reporters with a strict new media policy.
After former Councilman Romy Cachola agreed to pay a $50,000 ethics fine last September for accepting fancy meals and golf from lobbyists including rail transit supporters and then failing to disclose the conflict, Totto told Hawaii News Now he was looking into whether Cachola's votes in favor of rail should be disqualified.
"Whether there are any unlawful gifts that required disclosure and the disclosure did not occur, making council members' votes null and void," Totto told HNN last Sept. 29.
Comments like that to reporters got Totto in hot water with his bosses on the Ethics Commission, who Wednesday questioned him why he answered reporters' questions on the subject....
read ... Its All About Rail
TMT crews fail to reach Mauna Kea summit Because Police not willing to clear path
KITV: It’s been a long haul for those for and against building what will be one of the world's largest telescopes on land held sacred by many Native Hawaiians, a divided image that has been making headlines since the beginning.
But on Wednesday, that divided image softened as both protesters and DLNR officers understood what the other had to do.
"I don't want to arrest anybody. I get Hawaiian just as much as most of you guys here. I just got to do what I'm supposed to do as my job,” said Lino Kamakau, one of the DLNR officers at the scene.
For those who call themselves the protectors, it was to keep the TMT crews off the mountain. For the police, it was to (pretend to try to) open the passageway to the public, something that proved to be unsuccessful – lines of protesters from the roadway went on for miles (because the police didn't try to prevent them from lining up)....
Protesters managed to put an end to the day’s work by blocking the road to the summit with several stonewalls (a few rocks in the road) that have been built about three miles up (because the police let them be built).
While most of them left for the day, some stayed overnight to stand guard. Those who were arrested are also expected to be back up on the mountain when they’re released.
According to the Governor’s office, crews will be working to clear the roadway on Thursday.
read ... Police Not Willing to do job because they support the protesters
Protesters Jubilant, Plan to Come Back Again and Again
SA: ...those who resisted the TMT were jubilant. But they also said they aren’t letting their guard down.
“We’re still up against a $1.4 billion monster,” said Kamahana Kealoha of Protect Sacred Mauna. “If they didn’t know we were a formidable force before, they sure do now.”
“This is only the beginning,” added Keouakupuapaikalaninui Ma‘ele, a longtime Hawaiian activist. “Tomorrow, when this goes over the air, we will get twice as many people.”
The TMT project had been on hold since the last time protesters clashed with police — on April 2, when 31 protesters were arrested for trying to block crews from reaching the summit.
The protesters, who regard Mauna Kea as a sacred place, and who call themselves protectors of the mountain, blocked the road leading to the summit from the Mauna Kea Visitors Information Station at the 9,200-foot elevation, as construction workers in Goodfellow Brothers Inc. vehicles drove up in the company of police.
One of those on the front lines was former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Moanikeala Akaka, who was one of those arrested April 2.....
Among those arrested Wednesday were Kaleikoa Ka‘eo, a UH Maui College Hawaiian language instructor, and Andre Perez, a Hawaiian activist and teaching assistant at UH-Manoa who was wearing a T-shirt that said, “Political Prisoner.”
“We have a human right to control our land. This is not American land,” Perez said as police took him away.
A number of state law-enforcement officers, some Native Hawaiian, appeared sympathetic with the protesters even as they made arrests. Emotions ran high.
When state conservation division Branch Chief Lino Kamakau and state DLNR First Deputy Kekoa Kaluhiwa announced that the caravan would turn around, they were moved to tears.
“Thank you for your respect this morning,” Kaluhiwa said. “We had the difficult task of being here today in the interest of public safety. I ask that if any hewa (guilt) has been put on any of these (officers) today, please let it go.”
Reality: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read ... Police not willing to do job
Let public know about misconduct by police officers
SA: ...Last week, the legal arguments reached the Hawaii Supreme Court, where SHOPO and the online media organization Civil Beat debated the role of the courts and the Legislature in balancing the public interest against the privacy rights of police officers.
Civil Beat wants access to the disciplinary records of 12 officers who were suspended for 20 days or more between 2003 and 2012, including one case in which an officer was suspended for 626 days for hindering a federal investigation.
SHOPO wants to keep those records closed, and cited the 1995 amendment to UIPA as justification....
read ... Police doing a job for the criminals
Two more HPD officers charged for game room attack
HNN: Two Honolulu Police Officers have been charged for covering up a game room attack by another officer.
Officer Nelson Tamayori and Reserve Officer Joe Becera are both accused of 'Misprision of Felony', meaning they knew about the crime but did not report it.
Becera is charged with an additional count for lying about the case....
police sources say Becera and Tamayori have already agreed to a guilty plea that will likely keep them out of jail.
read ... Two More
Demonstrators also protest against solar telescope construction atop Haleakala
HNN: Protests against construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea has refocused attention to the summit of Haleakala on Maui, where construction has been underway on the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.
Demonstrators gathered at the Central Maui Baseyard south of Kahului to mark a phase of the construction that was scheduled to begin Wednesday night. A wide load convoy was set to leave at 10 p.m. to deliver telescope equipment to the summit.
The equipment is large enough that the summit highway is closed to the public until 2 p.m. Thursday, as the trucks will be moving very slowly up the mountain....
Protesters have been unhappy that construction on the solar telescope atop Haleakala has continued, even though it is being challenged in a case before the Hawaii Supreme Court. It's not known when the high court will make its ruling.
read ... OHA shakedown
Peter Apo: Ticking Clock 18 Months until Federal Recognition is Dead
CB: ...Congress doesn’t seem to be inclined to extend Native American status to Hawaiians. The loss of Sen. Dan Inouye and the retirement of Sen. Dan Akaka signaled the end of an era and the shield of congressional protection they so brilliantly wielded on behalf Native Hawaiians is forever lowered.
Moving forward, some people say we are in a ticking-clock scenario. We have an alienated Congress so hopes for federal recognition for Hawaiians have had to shift toward the executive branch of government where President Barack Obama can exercise his executive authority through the Departments of Interior and the Department of Justice. He has just over 18 months until the end of his second term....
But this road is lined with political land mines. Last year when representatives of the U.S. Department of Interior came to the islands to engage in an exhaustive series of statewide public hearings on the question of federal recognition, they were embarrassingly and routinely insulted. This was an onerous beginning to an official executive branch-driven federal recognition foray.
Let’s now move to the most troubling aspect of this overall discussion. The dialogue has been mostly among Hawaiians. The rest of the Hawaii community seems to be in a muted state of curious observance. And, to listen to the Hawaiians-only bantering, it is fair to assume that some third-party observers are becoming convinced that Hawaiians are talking about Hawaiians-only nationhood.
So, what would qualify one to become a citizen of the Nation of Hawai’i? Is Hawaiian required? If yes, how is a “Hawaiian” defined?
Here’s where the discussion can get really bogged down. The word “Hawaiian” is not an ethnic Hawaiian word. The term was generally used under the Kingdom to describe any person who was a citizen from a place called Hawaii....
read ... Peter Apo
Ige in DC touting 7 solar farms blocked by HECO, PUC
PBN: Hawaii Gov. David Ige voiced his support on the national stage for the seven major solar energy farms being planned across Oahu that were put on hold by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission....
Ige, who has an electrical engineering background and studied renewable energy for a short time after getting his degree, said Tuesday at The Washington Post’s “Powering Cities” event that these projects will reduce energy costs for consumers.
“All [of these projects] will generate energy below what we pay to generate energy using oil,” he said. (Except for one problem--they aren't going to be built.)
An eighth project — SunEdison’s 20-megawatt solar farm in Central Oahu — was struck down by the PUC, mainly because the California-based company changed the configuration of the project....
read ... Its all fake
Anti-GMO Activist, Luxury Realtor Plan Cane Smoke Lawsuit
KITV: The number of cane fire complaints from nearby residents is also increasing (as anti_GMO activism increases and new arrivals conspire amongst themselves to drive HC&S out). In the first six months of 2015, there were 549 complaints, which is more than the 534 for all of 2014.
"Normally on a yearly basis we get about 500 complaints from Maui. This year, we saw a spike after the May 27 incident, so we reached that 500 amount already," said Keith Kawaoka with the Environmental Health Administration.
Over the past three years Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company has been fined by the state $15,000 for three separate cane burning incidents on Maui.
The May 27 incident, which affected Kihei residents and students at Kamali'i Elementary School, (staged mass hysteria, just like all the 'pesticide' school incidents) is still under investigation....
(When HC&S closes, the land will be transformed into a giant subdivision.)
read ... Scum
Bridging the Space Between Islands with a Ferry System Could Lower Costs
CB: An interisland ferry system and kamaaina discounts on air travel could stimulate economic activity, create jobs and lower prices — especially on the neighbor islands....
read ... Superferry
Oahu EMS workers to change schedule again--After Getting Huge Raise
KHON: Another schedule change for EMS workers looks to be right around the corner. But are the old issues resolved?
KHON were the first to tell you about the EMS staffing issues that led to ambulances being pulled off the road last year. because of the shortage of workers.
Some people had to work up to 16 hours to keep things running smoothly. The city then implemented a pilot program that changed shifts to 12 hours.
On Wednesday, we got word of another change....
Flashback: UPW Scores Massive Pay Hikes After Disrupting Honolulu Ambulance Service
read ... Two Faced
Hoffmann, Ruderman consider Big Island mayor’s run
HTH: As rumors swirl about who will and won’t be on the mayoral ticket in 2016, two Big Island figures have confirmed they are considering a run for county’s top post.
Former Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann and Puna Sen. Russell Ruderman say it could be months before they make a final decision. Candidate filings open Feb. 1, 2016.
(Note: Ruderman, an anti-GMO crackpot, is up for Senate reelection in 2016 so he would have to abandon his seat to run for mayor.)
read ... Hoffman vs Ruderman 2016
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