Grassroot Report: How to Fix Hawaii's Housing Crisis
Lawsuit Dismissed: State’s 10% Rail Tax Skim Stands
Maui Budget: Mayor Arakawa Says No Property Tax Rate Increase Necessary
Sanders: No Federal Interference with Native Hawaiians
Hawaii's Good Friday Holiday - What's Up With That?
Prince Kuhio’s Fight to Americanize Hawaii
Prince Kuhio: The bridge from Kingdom to State
Cataluna: Billy Kenoi was last one Left in Old Boys Political Bullpen
Cataluna: …There is no one else in the political bullpen. There is no up-and-comer in Hawaii who can move, inspire, challenge, lead, entertain and make you believe like Kenoi. David Ige can barely keep people awake when he speaks. Kirk Caldwell sounds like he’s rehearsed too much in front of a mirror. Mark Takai, Mazie Hirono, Brian Schatz … none of them can make you laugh until you cry and, in the next moment, spit a string of statistics and quotes from Maya Angelou and Kamehameha without notes and with perfect inflection. Kenoi’s back story of a Kalapana childhood with lau hala mat floors and hand-me-down football shoes beats Tulsi Gabbard’s vague personal history in measures of transparency and hard knocks.
Billy Kenoi can stand in front of any audience, both hands gesturing wildly, and make them believe in dreams: “No such thing as ‘no can.’ Always can. The only thing you gotta figure out is HOW can. Because ALWAYS can. … Any obstacle, hurdle or barrier is just meant to go over, around or through.” With this as his theme, Mayor Kenoi has seen Hawaii island through a lava crisis, dengue crisis, hurricane crises and now this crisis of his credibility.
Borreca: “Nobody can equal him in giving speeches,” says Hilo ward-heeler George Yokoyama
Old Boy:
read … Last Old Boy Standing
Ethics Board, Stacked with Cronies, Finally Decides hear Kenoi complaint
HTH: Mayor Billy Kenoi will face an ethics complaint, in addition to criminal charges, for charging personal expenses to a county credit card.
After initially deferring a petition from Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland, the Hawaii County Board of Ethics has agreed to hear his complaint against the mayor at its May 10 meeting, according to a letter he received from the board. The letter was copied to Kenoi’s attorneys.
Hyland alleges Kenoi violated the county’s ethics code by using his purchasing card, known as a pCard, for noncounty expenses that included trips to two Honolulu hostess bars.
The board initially deferred the petition last May while the state Attorney General’s Office investigated Kenoi’s spending habits….
According to the county ethics code, penalties can include suspension or removal from office, in addition to unspecified remedies.
Hyland said he’s glad to see the complaint resurrected but wasn’t confident the board would rule against Kenoi, especially as he nears the end of his term in December.
“I think they will just shush the whole thing again,” he said.
Kenoi likely won’t feel much heat from the County Council following the charges.
Several council members said Thursday they don’t think the council should consider reprimanding the county’s chief executive or asking him to resign while the matter goes through court….
read … Ethics Board to hear Kenoi complaint
DoE Shysters to Grill Mentally Disabled Girl Raped again and again at Multiple DoE Campuses
HNN: …The girl is mentally disabled with the cognitive abilities of a third grader. Prior to going to McKinley, she attended the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind, where she was also sexually assaulted by other students.
According to her lawsuit, McKinley teachers were aware of the problem but did nothing about it. When questioned about the incidents, one teacher, Rickey Price, said he never reported them to the principal and vice principal, and did not tell her mother.
The Department of Education declined comment. But in their court papers, their attorneys said the sex was not only consensual but that the girl had sought it out.
Disability rights advocates question that legal strategy.
"I don't think you can have consent in a situation like that and I think the law generally would presume that a person with severe disabilities is not in a position to give consent," said Louis Erteschik, executive director of the Hawaii Disability Rights Center.
We're told that the DOE wants to now depose the girl, a move her mother says will traumatize her again….
read … Attack the Victim
Kame'eleihiwa: Hillary Will Give us our Fake Indian Tribe
CB: …Earlier this month, Hillary released a groundbreaking statement in support of the Native Hawaiian community’s ongoing work toward self-determination and nationhood: “I commend President Obama’s leadership in working with Native Hawaiians on the opportunity to establish a government-to-government relationship with the United States,” she confirmed. Hillary’s unequivocal statement underscores what we have always known: We can count on Hillary to stand with our community no matter what.
This is an important statement for the Native Hawaiian community, especially as we wrestle with our future paths and consider the ratification of a constitution. As we continue to have to defend our community programs at the national level, it is more critical than ever that we have a champion like Hillary in our corner….
read … Fake Indian Tribe
Beth Fukumoto: "Start acting like a [expletive] Republican."
NBC: "Start acting like a [expletive] Republican."
These words came at me fast and loud on the House floor last week. They came out of the mouth of a fellow Republican who has concerns that I'm not truly Republican because my tone or stature is not oppositional enough. He's not alone in his concern, either.
Beginning back in 2012, my first year as an elected official, accusations that I'm not a "real Republican" have buzzed around me. Accusations based not on practical policy initiatives, or even my record of votes, but on assumed definitions of the accepted style with which a Republican behaves. Unfortunately, I have only seen those definitions narrow with time….
Rest of the Story: Report: Rep Fukumoto Will Quit Republican Party
read … A Column Titled ‘Despite Current Environment, the Republican Party Is Worth Saving’
Horner: HART Revenue Plan Outdated
PBN: …“A critical characteristic of the city and county’s rail construction plan is the uniquely conservative capital funding sourcing,” Horner told PBN in an email. “The FFGA [Full Funding Grant Agreement] plan calls for a combination of federal funding and state G.E.T. revenues which is projected to provide for a debt-free rail system.”
The rail's operational cost were also not addressed in the article. Horner said for the first full year of service in 2024 these are projected to be under 25 percent of the city’s total transportation operations and maintenance budget.
“The City and HART are working together to further reduce rail operating costs by utilizing new synergies with TheBus and other City services including the introduction of a systemwide Smartcard,” Horner said. “So, far 40 positions have been eliminated from the planned staffing levels”….
The chair added the FFGA calls for a 65 percent subsidy, or $71 million for the first full year of rail operations and maintenance.
HART and the city’s Department of Transportation Services have awarded a $31 million contract to design, build, operate and maintain a new smart card pass system to INIT Innovations in Transportation, Inc. earlier this week.
Horner also added HART’s current revenue plan is outdated as it was based on assumptions of ridership and fare-box pricing established in 2010-2011.
“The City and HART are working together to revalidate these numbers in order to refresh and update the projected overall operating costs,” he said.
NYT: Hawaii Struggles to Keep Rail Project From Becoming a Boondoggle
read … HART
HB2740: Sen Roz Baker rewriting bill to allow HMSA Medical Care delays
SA: …A bill approved by a key Senate committee Tuesday would allow the Hawaii Medical Service Association to continue its controversial new policy of requiring doctors to get pre-authorization from a mainland company before ordering imaging tests for patients.
House Bill 2740 as approved by the state House would have prohibited health insurers from requiring pre-authorization that causes “undue delays” in patient care, and would have made the insurance company legally responsible if any patient injuries were caused by pre-authorization delays.
However, Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Chairwoman Ros-alyn Baker announced Tuesday she is rewriting the bill so that HMSA’s pre-authorization process can continue.
The new draft will specify that “nothing in this measure shall be construed to prohibit use of pre-authorization for medical treatment and services, or conflict with current contracts,” Baker said….
read … Senator to alter bill to give HMSA a pass
The Dark Side Of Renewable Energy
CB: …Kauai’s remarkable progress towards eliminating greenhouse gas emissions is shifting costs from the wealthiest to the lowest-income families….
…as more people oversize their rooftop systems, the smaller the base of paying customers is getting, and the higher that rates have to rise to cover the fixed overhead—which, correspondingly, makes the return on investment from those solar panels better and better….
The declining revenue base caused by rooftop solar has caused rates to rise by as much as 20 percent in some places. And the only families stuck footing the difference are those who can’t afford the upfront cost of solar or those who don’t own their own home.
Because of rooftop solar, a rate structure that was naturally progressive is becoming regressive: Low-income families are subsidizing the grid for those with oversized PV systems….
read … The Dark Side Of Renewable Energy
Next Round of HC&S Worker Layoffs Announced
MN: …Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. will lay off another approximately 65 employees on April 22, company officials said Thursday.
The announcement continues the company's plan to gradually lay off most its 675 workers by the end of the year. As sugar operations come to a close, only 15 employees are expected to remain. …
read … Next group of worker layoffs announced
Kauai Anti-GMO Leader Busted for Alcohol
KE: Dustin Barca , the anti-GMO activist and defeated Kauai mayoral candidate, was arrested Tuesday night for driving under the influence and having an open container in his car.
But he didn't get charged with DWI because his breath test was reportedly just within the legal limits.
Drinking while driving. Gee, such a great role model for the keiki.
So often it seems the same people who are loudly proclaiming we're being poisoned by pesticides and GMOs are engaged themselves in unhealthy habits. Dustin was observed smoking cigarettes, and now drinking while driving. And his anti-GMO cronies, Gary Hooser, Fern Rosensteil and Malia Chun, are packing a lot of extra weight, which is a well-documented health risk.
Is it too much to ask that they work on their own issues before telling the rest of us how to live and what to worry about?
read … Musings: Poisons and Toxins
Revolving Door: Keoki Kerr Leaving HNN TV for HSTA Job
SA: Longtime broadcast news reporter Keoki Kerr will leave Hawaii News Now April 8, for a position with the Hawaii State Teachers Association.
Kerr is to become a communications specialist with the teachers’ union, handling internal and external communications, a position vacated by Teri Tanaka last year….
Hawaii News Now News Director Mark Platte lauded Kerr’s “stellar work” on stories relating to problems at the Hawaii State Hospital, among other coverage.
HSTA President Corey Rosenlee welcomed Kerr, in a statement, noting his “reputation as a fair and accurate reporter on issues that impact our community, combined with his personal commitment to building volunteers, mentoring young people and coordinating community events will be valuable to our organization.”
read … Revolving Door
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