Hawaii #1 Again--Average Home Price $904K
Message to Caldwell: Taking votes out of context is easy, serving your country is NOT
Will Democrats Move Against Caldwell for Backing Republican Council Candidate?
Full Text: Ige Announces 10-Point ‘Biosecurity’ Plan
2016-2017 LifeSmarts Hawaii Competition
NYT Hawaii Polling: Clinton Leads 51-25, Schatz Leads 81-19
NYT: Forecast for Hawaii's 4 electoral votes in the presidential election and for its Senate seat….
read … Schatz Expected to win
Hawaii Democrats Tangle Over ‘Mind Raping Mafia Hit’
CB: …The platform, meanwhile, is said to have been violated because Kent does not support “the rights of native Hawaiians and the preservation of native Hawaiian culture.” Kent’s behavior, the complaint explains, “is the antithesis of aloha.”
Leimomi Khan, chair of the Hawaiian Affairs Caucus, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday….
A second complaint against Kent was lodged Aug. 26. It was also delivered to the Oahu County Committee.
It argues Kent should be expelled because she has violated party bylaws that say a Democrat cannot actively support or promote a political party or candidate other than the Democratic Party and its candidates. The complaint includes a link to a YouTube video in which Kent explained why she could never support Clinton and is instead backing the Green Party’s Stein.
The video, “Stop Mind Raping Me Into Voting For Hillary Clinton,” was posted Aug. 15 and included this comment from Kent: “Please stop telling me that I have to vote for Hillary Clinton. If she can’t beat a reality star with a spray tan who thinks Mexicans are rapists on her own then she probably shouldn't be president of the United States.” ….
A streak of complaints against Democratic Party members began even before the primary election.
One charges that former Gov. Ben Cayetano, former party chair Walter Heen and current Council member Ann Kobayashi — all Democrats — are violating party rules by supporting Charles Djou, who is running against Caldwell for mayor. Djou, though he is in a nonpartisan contest, previously served in Congress and in the Legislature under the GOP banner.
A letter, authored by David Mulinix and six others was sent to the Oahu County Committee, citing the party’s own constitution: “Every member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii shall support candidates who are members of the Party and request the Party’s support in the general, special or nonpartisan elections.”
The letter expresses worry that the top Dems’ endorsement of Djou led to “Djou taking thousands of Democratic Party votes away from Kirk Caldwell.”….
On the other hand, Mulinix is also unhappy that some Democrats have filed complaints against Kent. He also supported Sanders.
He called the complaint against her “a vendetta, a mafia hit.” …
Meanwhile in Manoa: Is the term "radical Islam" politically correct?
read … Don't Laugh. You allow these people to rule over you.
HPD Chief Keschultzaloha: “I Know Nothing”
HNN: Honolulu's Police Chief Louis Kealoha faced heated questioning Wednesday about allegations of police misconduct and several high-profile incidents in which officers found guilty of abuse of power were never punished…. LINK: VIDEO
Loretta Sheehan, the newest commissioner, was the only member of the civilian oversight committee to question Kealoha regarding multiple media reports about a culture of leniency when it comes to disciplining his officers, even in cases when the commission has found wrong doing….
Chief Kealoha was also grilled about the ongoing federal investigation into allegations of public corruption and civil rights violations by him and his Deputy Prosecutor wife, Katherine Kealoha.
This comes one day after Hawaii News Now reported that target letters are now going out to current and former police officers. The letters are from the federal prosecutor and are a key indicator that there are multiple suspects who could be offered deals to testify against the Kealohas.
"We've become aware in the last couple of days of a number of officers receiving target letters from the Department of Justice informing them that the Department of Justice has substantial evidence that they have engaged in criminal activity and they should retain lawyers. Have any of those officers been ROPA'd?" asked Sheehan, inquiring whether their police powers have been removed.
"We have not received any word of any of our officers receiving target letters. We have a policy that requires them that in the event that there's going to be any legal action taken against them in their duties, that they notify us. We have not been notified of any officers receiving target letters," replied Kealoha.
"Chief, you're sitting here saying you've received absolutely no notifications that anyone has received a target letter?" asked Sheehan.
"We have received zero," Kealoha responded.
"How about a subject letter?" Sheehan asked.
"We haven't received anything," Kealoha answered.
"Have you asked?" questioned Sheehan.
"Why would I ask? It's none of my -- I didn't received anything. Oh you know what, I take that back. We actually did that this morning. And checked out through who might have received target letters -- and I don't understand subject letters -- but I know the target letters. We haven't received anything and we did ask this morning," Kealoha answered.
But Chief Kealoha could not respond to Commissioner Sheehan's inquiries about whether officers who do receive target letters should have their police powers removed, or ROPA'd.
"When do we know that someone should be ROPA'd at the Honolulu Police Department?" asked Sheehan.
"Well, basically it's when we feel they can't go on duty. They can't go on the road. So we take away their police powers," Kealoha said.
"Have you made any decision about what you're going to do if you receive a target letter?" asked Sheehan.
"For me? I haven't approached that yet," Kealoha answered.
Hawaii News Now was told there is no clear policy on when an officer should have his police powers removed because of an ongoing investigation.
The next Police Commission meeting is scheduled for September 21, 2016….
read … Grilled
OHA Spends $294K of Trust Money on Voter ID Survey to Help Incumbents
CB: The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has retained the services of Honolulu-based Stryker Weiner & Yokota. The $293,969 contract is for a two-year period….
The survey results showed that the agency may have its work cut out for it.
About one-third of those surveyed said the agency was “ineffective, poorly managed, or corrupt.” Slightly fewer agreed that OHA does not “help or represent the Hawaiian people effectively.”…
A quasi-governmental agency that has sometimes received negative press has hired a major public relations firm to improve how people think of it….
OHA also had the lowest favorability rating as compared with five other prominent Hawaiian organizations, including the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center, Kamehameha Schools and even the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands….
Kelii Akina, head of the conservative Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and a candidate for a seat on the OHA board, was not happy with the survey.
He said he believes Lindsey, who is up for re-election, has used the data to advocate for the kinds of “bread and butter” issues — education, health, housing and jobs — that Lindsey includes as part of his platform listed in an OHA primary election guide.
“As a candidate for trustee-at-large, I am outraged that an incumbent running for re-election has had access to crucial voter survey data paid for by public funds,” he said. “It is clear from the OHA voter guide that that information was used to craft political positions to win votes.”
According to OHA, the survey was paid for through trust funds, which come from ceded land revenue (This is a standard OHA argument against any effort to apply State Ethics laws to OHA. It doesn’t hold water.) ….
The PR firm is also handling communications for OHA as it searches for a new communications manager. Garett Kamemoto left the agency last week to go to work for the Hawaii Community Development Authority….
At the meeting, Trustee Rowena Akana, who has been on OHA’s board since 1990, said the agency had conducted many such surveys over the years.
She called the latest survey “a waste of money and that no one will tell OHA’s story but OHA.”
read … Can Spending Six Figures On PR Solve OHA’s Image Problem?
Students not Fooled by Politicians: Scoff At Promises Of Air Conditioning
CB: After nine years in sweltering classrooms, students are understandably cynical about all the talk of heat relief….
read … Smarter than the Adults
Eco Confab: High Priests Arrive for Conclave of the State Religion
IM: Lawyers and judges were present. At one session there were four of the five Justices on the Hawai`i Supreme Court: Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, and Associate Justices Sabrina McKenna, Richard Pollack, and Michael Wilson. All of the judges served on panels.
John Seabright and John Cruden addressed a crowd of judges, lawyers, and law students.
John Michael Seabright is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii….
Richardson Law School was represented by Dean Avi Soifer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Denise Antolini, and the Director of the Environmental Law Law Program, David Forman….
About a dozen legislators attended the Vaka Canoe Arrival ceremony, or visited the displays on the ground floor. They included Senators J. Kalani English, WillEspero, Mike Gabbard, and Donna Mercado Kim; and Representatives Lynn DeCoite, Kaniela Ing, Jarrett Keohokalole, Joy San Buenaventura, and RyanYamane.
Senator Russell Ruderman attended sessions one day. Representatives Nicole Lowen and Della Au Belatti may have been there….
read … It’s a Religion
Beware the Extremists
KE: We hear a lot — and it's usually scathing — about “industrial agriculture.”
But as author Miriam Horn, who works for the Environmental Defense Fund, points out in a piece for PBS NewsHour, some of these “Big Ag” folks are at the forefront of conservation and sustainability….
…We must move away from the "big is bad, pesticides equal poison, GMOs only benefit the chem companies" mode of thinking. If we are to feed more people — and if Hawaii has a prayer of attaining any degree of food self-sufficiency — we have to evaluate all tools and choose the best option for each situation.
Beware the extremists — those who see everything in black in white, who tell you that various forms of agriculture cannot co-exist, who proclaim this is healthy and that is toxic. They're either woefully misinformed, or have some financial incentive (like Center for Food Safety and Hawaii SEED) in maintaining their dug-in position….
PBS: Column: When industrial-scale farming is the sustainable path
read … Musings: Beware the Extremists
Hilarious: Dolphinville Erupts at NOAA Rules
WHT: Upwards of 100 stakeholders gathered at the Konawaena High School Cafeteria to hear a presentation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which proposed a rule under the Marine Mammal Protection Act that would create a 50-yard buffer zone for swimmers, vessels or flying objects approaching Hawaiian spinner dolphins. The rule would extend two nautical miles outward from any island coastline….
The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session as well as time for public comments. While the reactions varied, one element to the debate was universal: passion.
“You come to our home to tell us what your plans are with the pretense of wanting to hear our views,” said Lanny Sinkin, an elder of Dolphinville, which is a (never-before-heard-of) community of people in Hawaii who interact with dolphins in nature more or less religiously. “You gather support from state of Hawaii agencies like the (DLNR), who are more ignorant of dolphin behavior than you are. They expressed their support … for eliminating swim-with-dolphin activities before you even held your first meeting.” ….
“The dolphins choose the moment, not the humans,” said Tim Bates, who opened the comment portion of the evening. “To think that the humans can swim with the dolphins is a bit egocentric.”
But while avid swimmers and small businesses with vested economic interests in swim-with-dolphin activities may have more up-close experience with the practice, none of them produced conclusive scientific proof to support their claims, only anecdotal evidence.
Kathleen Clark, a former employee in the aqua-tourism industry, challenged the legitimacy of those claims, saying she has witnessed boats harass pods of dolphins that are trying to flee up and down the coast for hours on end.
“I hear a lot of people anthropomorphize these animals and saying they like to swim with people,” she said. “I feel like that is kind of wrong. Who are you to speak for them and say that they like to swim with you?”
One concern underlying all the discussion Wednesday night was the potential economic impact the rule might have on industry in Hawaii. Several in attendance earn a living off of dolphin tours…..
Best Comment: “I attended the meeting last night and was amazed at the cult-like atmosphere of the "Dolphinville" crowd - they seemed like they had all taken a bus in from the same mental institution. They all appear to believe that the dolphins exist solely for them to exploit, blathering about their personal "spiritual experiences" while at the same time talking about how their dolphin-exploitation industry brings a "million dollars a year” to Kona.”
The Asylum: Dolphinville.com
WHT: Photos from Hearing
read … Dolphinville
Taxpayers Tithe $20K per battery system—Eco-Scammers Want More from Legislature
SA: …HECO said there are two self-supply systems on Oahu that have been installed and turned on, with 20 more approved for installation.
San Francisco-based Sunrun Inc. installed the first self-supply system on Oahu in May.
The system included two Tesla Motors Powerwall batteries linked to a solar system.
The company said the typical system with two Powerwalls and 28 panels would cost homeowners $40,000 without tax incentives and roughly $20,000 after the credits. Homeowners can lease the system with no down payment and pay Sunrun 19 cents a kilowatt-hour for 20 years.
Solar industry leaders said it is important to create an incentive program for batteries because grid-supply might run out before self-supply takes off….
PDF: Enviros Denounce Biodiesel
read … Tithe
Stripping the PC Hype out of Attack on HPD
SA: … Fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement and the Obama administration‘s Justice Department activities involving selected police departments, these attacks have become not only fashionable, but politically correct.
Here in Honolulu, the Star-Advertiser recently did an “expose” about misconduct at the Honolulu Police Department (“Crossing the Line,” Aug. 21-23), and published an article with a predicable left slant from a University of Hawaii professor of sociology (“Police misconduct will continue as long as we do nothing about it,” Island Voices, Aug. 28).
Factors offered as reasons misconduct exists at HPD include a “blue code of silence,” union protection, a work environment that invites misconduct, favoritism shown to police defendants by the court system through deferrals and no contest pleas, and a flawed complaint system that requires complainants to submit their grievances in writing.
Taken together, these factors present quite an indictment; but viewed separately, without the PC hype, a different picture emerges.
Is HPD different from any other job — sociology class notwithstanding — where its members are at a high risk of being injured or killed in the line of duty, and now are subjected to added scrutiny and media attack that, at least on the mainland, is racially motivated? ….
read … PC Hype
How Hawaii Homosexual Child Molesters Avoid Sex Offender Registry
CB: The registry only lists those convicted. It does not alert you to those who were accused but there was a settlement by the church or the school….
This year, a plaintiff identified in court documents only as “MM” sued St. Andrews School and alleged a female teacher had sex with a female student.
A Catholic priest the Los Angeles Times identified as accused of abusing at least 50 children in New York, Chicago and Seattle moved to Hawaii in 2013 when the church settled. His name was removed from the Honolulu telephone book after the Times tried to contact him.
In 2014, a lawsuit accused a former Hawaii Preparatory Academy male teacher living in Waimea of sexually abusing two male students during the 1970s and early 80s. The case was settled, so that former teacher is not on the state’s sex offender registry.
A former Punahou music teacher was accused of sexual abuse of a non-Punahou student although allegedly on school grounds, but the school settled and the man still lives and teaches music privately here. He’s not on the registry.
A former Punahou teacher convicted of exchanging sexual emails with students at a mainland school was required to register. His name is public — Richard Neal Willetts.
This month, Alexander Aipolani Jr. was charged with failure to register after his conviction for sex assault on a person under age 14 and his 10-year prison term.
West Hawaii Today has reported that court documents show St. Anthony Church and Damien Memorial School had 21 sexual abuse complaints from the 1950s through the mid-80s.
read … Lots of Homosexual Child Molesters
Outreach workers struggle to help homeless who turn them away
HNN: During her time on the streets, outreach workers stopped by to offer help -- and shelter -- at least twice a week. They estimate it took more than 400 of those conversations for her to finally say yes….
Over the past year, service providers have connected hundreds of the people who wanted housing with a place to live. But as the push continues to get people off the streets, outreach workers are finding that those who remain unsheltered appear to be the hardest to house.
"A year ago you could walk up to people and go, 'Do you want help?' 'They go yeah, where's it at?'" said Justin Phillips, outreach manager for the Institute for Human Services. "Today it's not that way. These are folks who have been longtime homeless folks. They know where the services are at. They have chosen not to go that route."
The reasons why people turn down assistance vary.
Phillips says some people have become acclimated to living on the street. "Others include folks who are substance abuse dependent," he said. "And then we have a lot of severely mentally ill folks who don't even know about services." …
Of the 1,850 unsheltered homeless in the islands, nearly 1 in 3 have had encounters with outreach workers dating back to 2005.
And a full 10 percent of the 3,370 homeless in shelters have intake records dating back more than decade. (One hundred people had records dating back to 1999.)
Some of those chronically homeless people may have fallen in and out of homelessness over the years. Others may have turned down help consistently, or accepted limited help.
IHS officials said it takes at least two years -- with an average of 45 in-depth encounters a year -- to convince someone who's considered "resistant" to finally accept services….
Phillips believes consistency is crucial to convincing people who turn down help that there's a better life. He's says it's also important to dispel myths.
"You have to have an ID to get into shelter. That's not true," he said. "So that's part of our job as outreach workers to let them know the truth." ….
HNN: 'Someone Stayed Overnight' -- Emergency supplies stolen from Leeward Oahu volunteers
read … Homeless Refuse Shelter
A Decade Later, Kauai May Finally Get Drug Treatment Center
KGI: the Adolescent Treatment & Healing Center project will offer residential treatment, day treatment, intensive outpatient and outpatient treatment programs to kids between the ages of 12 and 17….
During a Kauai County Council meeting Wednesday, Hooser, along with council members KipuKai Kuali’i, Mel Rapozo, Mason Chock, Arryl Kaneshiro and Ross Kagawa, voted to approve $5 million in Capital Improvement Project funds from the state Legislature.
“This is something that is long overdue,” said Mel Rapozo, council chair.
Councilman Ross Kagawa agreed.
“We need to try our best to take care of our children; we cannot send them to Hilo or Oahu and expect them to take care of a Kauai problem,” he said.
Currently, kids in drug treatment programs are taken off-island. By opening a center on Kauai, the children will be able to remain on island and close to their families….
Koki estimates the center will be open in 2017.
Flashback 2007: Office of Hawaiian Affairs Blocks Kauai Drug Treatment Facility
read … Adolescent center moves ahead
AP: Foreign Workers Without Visas Trapped on Hawaii Fishing Boats
AP: Around 700 undocumented foreign workers, mostly from impoverished Southeast Asian and Pacific Island nations, work on Hawaii's commercial fishing fleet, the country's fifth-highest grossing fishery. They catch prized ahi tuna, mahimahi and other seafood at some of the country's finest restaurants, markets and hotels. They do not have visas and cannot enter the country, staying confined to their boats for sometimes years at a time — all with the blessing of high-ranking federal lawmakers and officials. An Associated Press investigation found instances of human trafficking, active tuberculosis and low food supplies….
The workers are mostly experienced fishermen from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and the tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati. They are not permitted to fly into Hawaii because they do not have visas. Instead, they are hopscotched thousands of miles by plane through several countries until reaching Pacific island nations, Panama or even Mexico. From there, they are put on boats for the long trip to Honolulu….
The fishermen earn anywhere from $350 a month up to around $1,500 a month, depending on their boat and the bonuses they may be given. Most take home $500 to $600 a month. They work shifts as long as 22 hours with few breaks, and are typically at sea three weeks each month. Some salaries break down to as little as 70 cents an hour; for many boat owners, bait and ice cost more than crew salaries. The fishermen catch about $110 million worth of seafood annually….
Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard monitor the use of foreign labor in Hawaii's commercial fishing fleet, made up of about 140 boats. The federal agencies have no authority to set wages, but they do intervene when fishermen say their salaries are late or complain about other problems. The U.S. Attorney's office says the system is legal.
A loophole in federal regulations pushed by lawmakers including late Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye allows foreign men to work on the fleet. Fishermen were initially allowed to fly to Hawaii, but that ended after the Sept. 11 attacks….
VIDEO: Hawaiian Seafood Caught by Exploited Fishermen
read … Inouye System
Tighten rules for asset forfeiture
SA: …Just last session, lawmakers proposed a measure that would forbid property from being forfeited unless there is a conviction. However, the measure failed, having had formidable opposition from county police departments and prosecutor’s offices.
Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, in testimony, told lawmakers that “current forfeiture laws are used to immediately and effectively disrupt the infrastructure of criminal activity.” He also claimed that Hawaii hadn’t suffered from the abuses reported in other states.
During the coming session, lawmakers will have to champion reform of civil forfeitures that forces law enforcement officers to seize property based on much more than just loose connections to criminal activity. After all, innocent until proven guilty should apply to one’s property as well….
SA: Use asset forfeiture against DUI convicts
read … Forfeiture
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