Nai Aupuni Candidate List Released
No Public Hearings Set for Federal Hawaiian Indian Tribe Rules
Indian Tribe for Hawaii? Grassroot Challenges Interior's End Run Around Congress
Full Text: OHA, DHHL, Politicians Comment on Proposed Federal Indian Tribe Rule
VIDEO: OHA Crying Over Mauna Kea Rent Money
GAO: Jones Act Ships Drive up Cost of US Food Aid
Online Travel Companies Pay $53.1M Hawaii Tax Judgment
Hawaii AG on Reapportionment: We Want to Count Everybody--But only in Texas
Panos: Why Rail Projects Don't Get Stopped
Hilo: Testimony Runs 10-1 Against NextEra
Many Hawaiians Angered as Feds Ignore Testimony Against Fake Indian Tribe
SA: ...some Native Hawaiians remained steadfast Tuesday in their opposition to federal government involvement in the process — interpreting the announcement as a disregard of the wishes of Native Hawaiians....
(UPDATE: The DoI claims written comments "overwhelmingly favored" the Federal rulemaking process. A cursory look at the published written comments shows this is not so. We contacted the DoI to see how they justified claiming "overwhelming" support and they pointed us to "page 1951" which apparently consists of a list of over 1,000 names submitted by CNHA. Did the Danner Sisters put your name on their list without permission? Find out HERE.)
Tuesday’s announcement by the Obama administration also angered many who testified last year during a series of island-by-island hearings on what relationship, if any, the federal government should have with a future Native Hawaiian government.
Hundreds of critics across the state not only rejected the question, but also objected to the hearings and the process — spurning federal involvement of any kind in re-establishing a Native Hawaiian government because of the illegal 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom.
The hearings and subsequent proposed rules are “totally wrong,” said Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, CEO of the Aloha First organization, which advocates for Hawaiian sovereignty. He argued against a relationship with the U.S. government in last year’s hearings.
“I don’t agree with any involvement of any kind, whether it’s the federal government or the state of Hawaii,” Kanahele said. “I cannot believe we’re being totally ignored. I gotta believe the powers that be in the state are trying every effort to suppress the national sovereignty of the Hawaiian people.”....
the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, which opposes federal recognition and the Native Hawaiian constitutional convention, or aha, being planned for next year, questioned the Obama administration’s motives for the new proposed rules.
“This is yet another attempt by the Department of the Interior to do an end run around Congress by assuming powers it simply does not have,” Keli‘i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute, said in a statement. “The Congress has clearly indicated that they — and not the DOI — have the power to recognize a Native Hawaiian government. On multiple occasions, they considered and decided not to pass the Akaka Bill, demonstrating that the constitutional concerns in the creation of a race-based government were real and unavoidable.”
Akina is one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to stop this fall’s election of delegates to next year’s convention.
“The timing of this proposed rule is troubling, as it comes during a constitutional challenge to an already disputed election and can be seen as an attempt to lend legitimacy to that effort,” Akina said. “The DOI was told in no uncertain terms that a large number of Native Hawaiians did not want federal involvement in their affairs. This proposed rule only serves to further confuse and politicize the issue.” ....
“It’s fantastic,” said Robin Danner, past president of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, who was just elected chairwoman of the Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homelands Assembly.
“It’s the news of a lifetime,” she said. “The federal government is recognizing that this is our kuleana for the Native Hawaiian people to decide, not the federal government, not the state government. There’s a doorway open to us if we want to have that relationship.”
read ... Many Angered
Even Supporters Admit 'Aha is All About Federal Recognition
SA: The Obama administration has opened a door to some form of federal recognition of Native Hawaiians but is leaving it up to the people whether to walk through it....
Under a new rulemaking process, Native Hawaiians can decide if they want to organize a government and in what form — and then decide whether to establish a government-to-government relationship with the United States.
Critics of the action question its timing, given that there is now a federal lawsuit challenging plans next year for an ‘aha, essentially a constitutional convention involving the election of delegates by Native Hawaiians.
And even supporters must concede that the Interior Department’s announcement seems pegged to the ‘aha....
Given the dwindling tenure of Hawaii-born Barack Obama in the White House, a president sympathetic to the cause of (creating a fake) Native Hawaiian self-determination (Indian Tribe) would need to act pretty soon.
Of course, Tuesday’s announcement was only the start of another round of what surely will be a rancorous discussion....
The rule adapts some of the facets of the so-called Akaka Bill, the long-contested and ultimately failed legislation to enact federal recognition through Congress....
Weighing various population data, the Interior Department “concludes that it is reasonable to expect that a ratification referendum among the Native Hawaiian community in Hawaii would have a turnout somewhere in the range between 60,000 and 100,000, although a figure outside that range is possible.” (Clue: Only 95,000 are on the Roll.)
The governing document must provide for periodic elections, and for the protection of the rights of Hawaiian Homes Commission Act beneficiaries — those of 50 percent Hawaiian ancestry who are eligible for a homestead. (Translation: They plan to subsume DHHL into the Tribe.)
read ... rancorous discussion
Hawaii PUC ruling cuts off federal subsidies to Criminal Hee's Company
SA: The Monday ruling by the PUC — which rejects Sandwich Isles’ bid to be recertified to continue receiving federal subsidies in January — means the telecom company could be facing financial losses of about $13.6 million through March.
This includes federal subsidies that were suspended by the Federal Communications Commission beginning in June.
In their ruling, commissioners said it would be “premature” to certify Sandwich Isles and its wireless arm, Pa Makani, given ongoing federal and state reviews of the companies’ finances.
There “remains uncertainty as to whether all federal high-cost support provided to SIC and Pa Makani was used and will be used only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is intended,” according to the decision, signed by PUC Chairman Randy Iwase and commissioners Mike Champley and Lorraine Akiba.
Sandwich Isles can reapply for PUC certification for the second quarter of 2016.
In June the FCC stopped funneling about $1.3 million to the company monthly while it conducts investigations into whether millions of dollars of company money that Hee used for personal expenses— such as paying for his children’s college tuition and getting twice-weekly, two-hour massages —came from federal ratepayer funds. ...
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which signed an exclusive contract with Sandwich Isles, has been tight-lipped about any contingency plans if Sandwich Isles were to go under. (Prediction: HawaiianTel will buy SIC's assets at auction for $1.)
DHHL spokeswoman Paula Aila would say only that the department is seeking “specialized legal expertise” about its contract with Sandwich Isles.
Hawaiian Homes Commissioner Pua Chin said that most conversations about Sandwich Isles are being carried out in private, executive sessions, which are not open to the public.
read ... Sandwich Isles faces $13M loss after PUC ruling cuts off federal subsidies
HMSA 50% Obamacare Rate hike is #1 in USA
SA: Kissel testified that nearly 40,000 Hawaii residents have enrolled in Obamacare,but the insurer needed 70,000 to generate the $12 million a year it required to be self-sufficient.
Gov. David Ige announced in May the administration would shut down Hawaii’s exchange, shift operations to the state and rely on the federal healthcare.gov website to re-enroll existing members for 2016. He acknowledged at the time that Hawaii was out of compliance with the ACA because of its low enrollment and at risk of losing $1 billion in Medicaid funds if the situation wasn’t remedied.
The Connector has committed or spent roughly $140 million of $205 million in federal grants awarded to establish the exchange, which has struggled since its launch in October 2013 to meet enrollment targets, provide satisfactory service and raise enough money to be self-sustaining.
In his testimony, Kissel said a “lack of planning, unclear business processes and utterly inadequate program management” were to blame for “both excessive spending and delays in delivering these important services to the people who needed them most in our state.” ...
Among the successes of the ACA, Kissel said, Hawaii has made significant progress in reducing its uninsured population, which is down to 3 percent from 10 percent prior to Obamacare.
But that has come at a cost. The Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state’s largest health insurer, is boosting premiums by nearly 50 percent for members who purchased coverage on the exchange. HMSA’s proposed monthly premiums for individuals who purchased coverage through the Connector will rise to an average $413.81.
That’s the highest rate increase among the states, Kissel said.
“When the Affordable Care Act policies were introduced, the insurance companies experienced a lot of negative selection,” he told the committee. “The sickest people enrolled first.”
read ... Terminal Failure
Anti-GMO Activists, Anti-Telescope Activists, Kauai Democrats Team up to Train Candidates
KE: ...Speaking of super sketchy schools, HAPA — the group led by intermittent Kauai Councilman, fulltime anti-GMO activist and frequent spreader of mistruths Gary Hooser — has launched the Kuleana Academy. Its aim is to help people learn how to campaign and run for office, which is actually kind of funny, considering how many times Gary's been defeated — a losing pattern his son, Dylan, is now repeating.
Since HAPA tries to pretend it's a nonprofit 501(c)(3) instead of a political advocacy group, its website claims “H.A.P.A.'s Kuleana Academy is not an electoral activity; it is a non-partisan educational program.”
So why are participants required to attend six “progressive values retreats” with a decidedly partisan emphasis? As in:
• Environmental (Development) • Labor (Diversified Economy) • Hawaiian/Cultural (Sovereignty) • GMO/Pesticides/Agriculture (Food Security) • Civil Rights/Equality (Healthcare, Education) • Economic Justice (Cost of Living, Affordable Housing)
You just know the Republicans are going to sign up....
Check out its partners: Center for Food Safety, Hawaii SEED, Maui Tomorrow, KAHEA, Life of the Land and Local 5, among others. Nope, no partisanship there.
And who do you suppose is the contact person for this non-partisan (wink, wink) training program? None other than Aria Juliet Castillo, communications director for the Young Democrats of Kauai.
Some of the other requirements:
Participant shall participate in political party caucus and conventions on county/ state level; participant shall fundraise a minimum of $1000 to contribute to the program (cannot contribute personal funds); participant shall write and submit to any Hawaii news publications one letter to the editor or oped piece on any topic each month of program.
HAPA, as an alleged 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is prohibited from participating in political campaigns. So it's signing up lackeys to do that work instead, while pretending its offerings are non-partisan and a-political.
It's yet another example of Gary's questionable ethics, and the way he loves to fudge.
Just think: For a mere $9,000 — plus another grand in fundraising — you, too, can be personally indoctrinated by Gary Hooser, Ashley Lukens, Walter Ritte and the rest of the demagogues....
read ... 100% Anti-Everything
Mauna Kea: Not A Sacred Place, But A Precious Resource
CB: I am a Native Hawaiian, born and raised in Hilo, with a degrees in Archaeology (Pacific and Asia) and Law (University of Hawaii, ’82) and I have served as a former docent for two years at Iolani Palace. I wholeheartedly support the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Mauna Kea is not a sacred place of worship. Professor Bill Chang acknowledges the fact that it is not sacred. To him, Mauna Kea is sacred just as “even the family pet is sacred.” Mauna Kea is precious to me personally, but more as a unique and valuable resource.
I enjoy taking friends and family to the Mauna Kea visitor center, at the 9,200 foot level, so they can learn about how the ancient Hawaiians used astronomy to navigate to and from our island chain and about how we use the observatories to understand the mysteries of the universe.
The ancient Hawaiians saw no contradiction in exploiting Mauna Kea for its resources. They mined and exported the uniquely hardened basalt formed when molten lava erupted on the summit during the last ice age when the mountain was covered with a thick layer of ice. The ancient Hawaiians created observatories on the upper slopes and placed rocks to mark the rise and setting of the constellations so that they could refine their calendars and navigational astronomy.
The monarchs of the Kingdom of Hawaii embraced science and technology. Kamehameha used western weaponry to conquer the islands, and Kalakaua built the first residence west of the Mississippi powered by electricity.
Our leaders were forward thinkers. Hewahewa and Kaahumanu overthrew the oppressive kapu system that kept women from having meals with men and put to death those who failed to see an alii’s entourage passing by.
read ... Mauna Kea: Not A Sacred Place, But A Precious Resource
Carlisle: Court Will Soon Let Lawyers Work for Weed
SA: The state Supreme Court took swift action to reverse a ruling that would have barred Hawaii lawyers from helping to establish medical marijuana dispensaries even though dispensaries will be legal starting on July 15.
A formal opinion issued last month by the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court concluded that Hawaii lawyers may not “provide legal services to facilitate the establishment and operation of a medical marijuana business” because selling pot is still a federal crime.
The ruling drew a quick negative response from about two dozen local attorneys, including former Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and former state Attorney General David Louie, who are representing companies vying for one of eight licenses to open pot dispensaries.
The Supreme Court began a process Friday to change the Disciplinary Board’s ruling. The court is proposing the rule state that lawyers “may counsel or assist a client regarding conduct expressly permitted by Hawaii law, provided that the lawyer counsels the client about the legal consequences, under other applicable law, of the client’s proposed course of conduct.”
The court will take three weeks of public testimony before making a final decision on the rule change.
“The problem has been properly managed, and therefore this is now pretty much a nonissue,” Carlisle, a longtime city prosecutor, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “All of the indications are that we will be proceeding in a fashion where we can uphold all of the deadlines and move forward with medicinal marijuana being available in Hawaii.”
read ... Will Work for Weed
Why Can’t the State Make Developers Keep Their Promises?
CB: A Honolulu jury recently awarded $27 million to Ewa homeowners who say they were misled by a developer who planned to build a marina near their homes and delivered a lagoon instead....
Earlier this year, Thielen introduced Senate Bill 511 to give the LUC more enforcement powers. But while a version of her proposal passed the Senate, it never got a hearing in the House.
Rep. Ryan Yamane, who leads the House Committee on Water and Land, didn’t schedule a hearing for the bill because he already deferred a similar measure, House Bill 1169.
House spokeswoman Carolyn Tanaka said Yamane deferred that measure because there was a lot of opposition at a hearing Feb. 13.
A look at the written testimony finds support from the state Office of Planning, the Land Use Commission, the Office of Environmental Quality Control and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The sole piece of critical written testimony came from the Land Use Research Foundation, an advocacy group for developers that criticized the proposal as inconsistent with the intent of the Land Use Commission....
Totally Related: How A&B Wins Big From Environmental Litigation
read ... Promises
Former DOE official sues department--Claims She Was Fired for Supporting Ige
HNN: The former head of the Department of Education's civil rights office has sued her former bosses, alleging that the DOE suppressed civil rights investigations, improperly shredded important documents and mishandled the department's policy for reporting child abuse....
Kitsu was suspended last year and was fired earlier this month.She alleged that she was retaliated against because she supported Gov. David Ige's campaign. She said Ige in the past has been critical of her boss Kathryn Matayoshi, a supporter of former Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
According to Kitsu's lawsuit, Matayoshi removed her office from a number of civil rights cases and outsourced several investigations to private law firms and investigators. Among those cases was an age and race discrimination suit by 71-year-old Big Island resident James Johnson, who applied for more than 60 job openings and was rejected each time....
Kitsu said she has was never disciplined nor reprimanded during her first two decades as a state employee. That changed in December 2013 when she was named Deputy Treasurer of Ige's election campaign. Within weeks, she said she was suspended and placed under investigation by the DOE.
Kitsu said she never campaigned on state time or on state property but said her superiors often voiced their support other elected officials in the office.
Her lawsuit also alleged that the DOE office resembled a hostile workplace, where Matayoshi, her executive assistant Presley Pang and Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe and Assistant Superintendent Stephen Schatz often uttered profanities in front of staff.
She asked the department to investigate their alleged behavior but nothing was done....
read ... Retaliation
NextEra faces opposition on the Big Island
IM: Yesterday 250 people showed up in Hilo to attend the Public Utilities Commission’s forth Public Listening Session.
Like the previous three in Maui, Lana`i and Moloka`i, NextEra’s “silent majority” has yet to appear.
A total of 36 people testified: 29 were against the proposed merger, 4 waffled in the middle, leaving just 3 to speak in favor of the merger.
Tonight the Public Utilities Commission’s fifth of seven Public Listening Sessions is being held in Kona. The two remaining sessions will be held on Kauai and then Oahu.
read ... NextEra faces opposition on the Big Island
Homeless Manslaughter and Mayhem
Statewide Pesticide Sales
KE: ...Though it's often claimed that Kauai is the Islands' hellhole of agricultural pesticide use,state disclosure reports tell a very different picture.
A total of 906,891 pounds of restricted use pesticides were sold statewide in 2014. Hawaii County reported total RUP sales of 138,632 pounds, Maui County 334,097 pounds and Oahu 418,213 pounds, while Kauai reported just 15,949 pounds.
The total does not include RUPs applied for structural pest control or termite treatment, because for some odd reason, the anti-GMO and anti-ag groups have not called for those companies to disclose their pesticide use.
The statewide sales report is in addition to the much more specific monthly RUP use reports that are voluntarily disclosed under the Kauai Agricultural Good Neighbor Program.
Chlorine, which is used to treat drinking water and wastewater, accounted for 459,936 pounds of the statewide total, or slightly more than half. Some 8,508 pounds of chlorine were purchased on Kauai.
Statewide sales of chlorpyrifos were reported at 7,279 pounds, with Kauai accounting for 1,300 pounds of that total. As for atrazine, some 55,103 pounds were purchased statewide last year, with Kauai accounting for 1,138 pounds of that total. And Kauai accounted for just 856 pounds of the 15,706 pounds of paraquat sold statewide.
In short, far fewer agricultural RUPs are being bought, and ostensibly applied, on Kauai than any other island. Yet it is here that folks are raising the loudest — and still undocumented — claims of birth defects, asthma and cancer.
If ag pesticides actually are harming human health, wouldn't it make sense that the other islands, which have much greater use, would be suffering proportionately more health problems than Kauai? They also have people living in close proximity to agriculture.
Or is it just that Kauai has been the squeakiest wheel, in keeping with Vandana Shiva's exhortations that the fight to rid the Islands of the seed companies must start here?...
read ... Musings: Statewide Pesticide Sales
Faculty salaries at Hawaii colleges and universities
PBN: Faculty members at the University of Hawaii at Manoa are the top earners, according to a new data compilation by Pacific Business News.
PBN examined the latest U.S. Department of Education data and compiled a list of nonprofit colleges and universities, ranked by average faculty salary.
The average salary of all full-time instructional faculty member in Hawaii was $5,940 per month.
That translates to $56,430 per year, when the monthly figure is multiplied by 9.5 months, a typical U.S. college session.
CB: UH Prof: I'm Smarter than You
read ... Salaries
IHS program helps 550 people on the verge of losing housing
HNN: "Anyone who is at risk of being homeless that is currently in an apartment or housing can call IHS directly. We do have a full housing office that can help prevent your homeless situation," said director of community relations for the Institute of Human Services Kimo Carvalho.
Carvalho says over the past year the city funded Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program has helped 550 people.
"In many of these cases a lot of clients are two or three months back due in rent. Sometimes they've received an eviction notice but they are in a place. We want to leverage that opportunity to make sure we can keep them in a unit," said Carvalho.
Sometimes IHS will help a tenant with rent money. Case workers will often work directly with the landlord to negotiate more affordable lease. Carvalho says each situation is different.
read ... IHS program helps people on the verge of losing housing
It begins: Product laced with marijuana extract sickens several teens
HNN: Several high school students were treated at local hospitals over the weekend after eating fruit products that were laced with a marijuana extract.
The Hawaii Heart Foundation learned about the incidents from a health care professional and posted an alert on its Facebook page.
The product appears to be from a company called Shaka Organics Hawaii.
A video posted to Instagram shows the product in various flavors as well as the list of ingredients, which included 250 milligrams of cannabis extract.
Sources say several of the teens had to be treated at the hospital.
"Vomiting, hallucinations and such, and it was reported that they had been eating these fruit roll ups," explained Pamela Foster of Hawaii Heart Foundation. "Of course my concern is, if a young child saw this sitting around."
"If you're dealing with extract, you're dealing with what they call concentrate which in our old days we called hash," said attorney Jack Schweigert.
read ... Just Like Colorado
Former Honolulu police officer gets 4-year probation
HNN: With tears in his eyes, the former Honolulu police officer begged the judge to give him another chance. Last year, Cappo physically abused his ex-girlfriend who said it’s been on more than one occasion. At the time, Cappo was a Honolulu police officer.
“I remember the night in March like it just happened. I remember begging the responding police officer to believe me and thinking they wouldn't because, as Danson put it, he was an officer and his father was an officer and no one would believe me because I have no power like he did,” said Christine Cabuse.
Cabuse fought back tears as she told the judge that at first she was afraid to ask for help.
“More importantly, he used his authority as a police officer and used his weapon to discourage me from getting the help that I needed,” said Cabuse. “I stand here and plead with you. I put my life and trust in your hands that you will do the right thing.”
HNN: DV advocates criticize sentence for former HPD Officer convicted of abuse
read ... Probation
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