Hearing Set for Assisted Suicide Bill
Honolulu GOP: Assisted Suicide Corrupts Practice of Medicine
Vacation Rental Home Is "Public Accommodation" -- Lesbians are Mandatory
VIDEO: Heritage hosts Jones Act panel
Republican Bills on the Move in the Legislature
State should speed up responses to information requests
Report: State of Computer Science Education in Hawaii
Trump v Hawaii: More Challengers Seek to Join Case
Elections: 145 Candidates Pull Papers
Did Hawaii Fail to Report Schizo Patient to Federal Gun Database?
KREM: …Court documents said Anne Carpenter was diagnosed with schizophrenia in Hawaii several years ago but when police arrested her (in Spokane, WA) she had a concealed carry permit.
…Carpenter is charged with murder and attempted murder. Police could not tell KREM 2 if the gun used in the shooting was obtained legally because it is part of the ongoing investigation. Court documents said, "Carpenter did have a valid concealed carry permit."
“Here in Spokane we will do state background checks, we'll check state records, we'll check the local records here in Spokane County and we'll also check with the federal databases and we'll use DSHS to verify a number of the other things that are specific to Washington state law,” Spokane Police Officer Ben Green said.
Mental health checks are included in that process. In the case of Carpenter, a family member told police Anne was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the Queens Medical Center in Oahu, Hawaii shortly before she moved to Spokane in 2013. Family also said she was treated and put on antipsychotic medication and at one point was put into a mental health treatment facility in Hawaii.
Despite her history of mental illness, she was able to get a concealed carry permit. KREM 2 asked Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich why someone's mental health history does not always come up on a background check.
"If you're flagged and diagnosed with a mental health issue, we need to make sure that everybody's doing their part to make sure that we are protecting the citizens from somebody that shouldn't own a firearm," Knezovich explained. …
"This is not about the firearm, this is about a mental health system that is broken, needs to be fixed,….”
(Reality: The mentally ill are being exploited to create excuses to restrict constitutional rights. They need to be forcibly incarcerated in lunatic asylums.)
read … Fix Hawaii Reporting?
Honolulu police say there have been more than a dozen social media posts since January threatening violence at Oahu schools
CB: …The event addressed the more than dozen incidents threatening violence at Oahu schools since January 1. Further threats were made across the state in the wake of a February 14 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school that killed 17 people and wounded many others.
HPD Deputy Chief John McCarthy said his department has made two arrests, identified a couple of potential perpetrators and downgraded at least one other threat in the last two days….
SA: Bluffs from students will lead to harsh punishments
read … Hawaii Schools Chief: Threats Against Schools ‘Aren’t Taken Lightly’
Coco Palms Grifters Move Homeless Camp to State Land
KGI: …On Friday, a chicken wire fence was constructed at the western entrance to keep out trespassers.
There were no law enforcement officers present. There were no security guards. But some people had already returned.
Chuck Hanie, who had been living on the land for just over a year, and his daughter Mahealani Hanie-Grace, were present during the sweep and Mahealani Hanie-Grace was the only person arrested.
By Thursday evening, the Hanies had moved to an enclave, believed to be state land, across the river on the other side of the property adjacent to their hale.
Several others were with them….
Property claimant Noa Mau-Espirito said the Kanaka Maoli aren’t planning on going away.
“We only got ejected from a small portion of the land we’re occupying,” he said…..
Mau-Espirito and Charles Hepa have filed an appeal on the ejectment with the State Supreme Court and a quiet title proceeding against Coco Palms Hui. Their criminal cases have been dropped, but according to Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar, they could still face charges….
Related:
read … Unwilling to enforce
Hospitals Exploit Homeless to Rake in Millions from Taxpayers
SA: State officials are hoping to revive a short-lived community paramedicine program to prevent unnecessary 911 calls and reduce health care expenditures.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee passed Senate Bill 2374 on Friday. The measure appropriates $1.5 million to establish a three-year pilot program targeting high-risk, frequent 911 callers, many of whom are homeless, to connect them with primary care or mental health services. The bill still must be approved by the Legislature.
Frequent callers often use emergency services for chronic diseases, which could be better managed in a doctor’s office, or may be living in rural communities where it’s difficult to access services.
At the Queen’s Medical Center, which sees most of Oahu’s high-volume users, there are more than 600 unnecessary ambulance visits during an average three-month period. Those visits result in costs of more than $600,000 quarterly, or $2.4 million annually, according to a December 2016 legislative report. More than 1,500 Queen’s emergency room visits and annual costs of more than $12 million are attributed to frequent callers with non-emergencies.
“This population is totally overwhelming the ERs,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, former head of Honolulu Emergency Medical Services. “They’re mostly on Medicaid and that’s a state insurance cost, so it’s all getting passed onto the taxpayers.”…
The city tried to address the issue in 2012 when it created a community paramedicine pilot project, which ended due to inadequate funding.
At the time, Honolulu EMS deployed community paramedics to reach out to the top 50 callers who on average make 1,600 calls a year to 911. They connected with the “hyperusers” once a week at home, at shelters or in parks to guide them to social and medical support. In 2012, the direct cost for the top 50 callers was estimated at $2.6 million, not including hospitalizations.
The top five people transported by ambulance last year called 54 to 194 times, according to EMS. All but one was homeless. An ambulance ride alone costs about $1,127 and emergency room charges can range from $1,000 to $5,000 depending what tests are run. That puts the cost of a non-emergency transport for the top caller at $218,638 a year…. (Ca-ching!)
read … State looks to revive medical program for homeless
Homeless man suffers from alleged police abuse
SA: …Samuel Ingall told his sisters that one of the officers recorded a video of what happened, she said.
Her brother told her he’s not sure why they treated him that way but suspects it may be because he was with a police officer’s daughter, Ingall said….
He does drugs….
Ingall said she respects Ballard for “not sweeping it under the rug.”…
read … Homeless man suffers from alleged police abuse
Bill would allow Drunks to drive Buses and Fire Trucks
HNN: …When it comes to losing your license to a DUI, the current state law allows companies to vouch for their employees, keeping them on the job and still able to drive company cars while at work.
Representative Henry Aquino is pushing a bill at the State Capitol after he says first responder organizations asked for the measure.
The current statute covers employees that work up to 12 hour shifts pending the employer provides a sworn statement and a permit.
Aquino's bill would extend the law to cover all workers over any shift.
"There is a process already in place, this would just expand it to folks that don't work a traditional schedule," Aquino said.
The measure has support from the Hawaii Firefighters Association and the Department of Transportation.
The bill passing with amendments this week. It now heads to a third reading.…
Best Comment: “Is Representative Henry Aquino will be responsible for the potential deaths resulting from this measure?”
read … Bill to allow workers with DUI to drive at work
Good News: Hawaii Technology Development Corp.'s revenue stream in jeopardy
HNN: …The state currently gives around $1 million to the HTDC….
Robbie Melton, executive director for the Hawaii Technology Development Corp., told Pacific Business News the agency received a letter from the University of Hawaii in late January in which the university said it would be taking over the leases at the Manoa Innovation Center starting in July.
The university, which is the landowner of the building, has allowed HTDC to collect lease revenue from building’s tenants as part of a 25-year lease, which ended in 2015.
HTDC has been leasing the building from UH month-to-month since 2015….
Melton said rent revenue generated from the Manoa Innovation Center funds half of HTDC staff’s salary and all of its discretionary program funding. (ie giving away money to fake ‘tech’ entrepreneurs)
The agency is hoping a bill at the Legislature would extend its lease and allow it to continue to collect revenue from the center for another 11 years.
Senate Bill 48 would transfer title, control, custody and management authority of the land under the MIC from the University of Hawaii to HTDC and would return the land to the university in 2029.
UH, which opposes the bill, said in submitted testimony that it has offered HTDC to remain at center rent free, paying only applicable common-area maintenance fees.
The university has also informed the building’s tenants that it intends to allow existing tenants to remain at the center under their existing terms and conditions.
read … Hawaii Technology Development Corp.'s revenue stream in jeopardy
SB3092: More timely decisions by Office of Information Practices
HTH: …A bill in the state Legislature aims to improve the efficiency of the state’s Office of Information Practices sixfold.
Senate Bill 3092 would, if passed, require the Office of Information Practices to resolve public complaints regarding public information noncompliance within six months of receiving the complaint.
The bill would provide a welcome relief to complainants to the Office of Information Practices, which can take more than three years to process a single complaint.
According to a report by Honolulu Civil Beat, Hawaii is the worst state in the nation for providing timely decisions regarding open records issues. While the majority of states are able to respond to all complaints within six months, Hawaii’s longest response times can reach nearly 1,400 days, or 3.8 years…..
Related: Report: Delays at OIP Are Staggering
read … Bill calls for more timely decisions by Office of Information Practices
Tulsi Gabbard Panders to anti-Pesticide Ignorance (again)
KGI: …Gabbard said industrial agri-businesses must be held accountable “for putting profits over the health and safety of the American people and our planet.” (Or the tourism industry.)…
(Anti-GMO activism drives customers to shop at the Down to Earth ‘natural’ foods markets owned by Gabbard’s Hare Krishna cult.)
read … Pandering Again
Would a disaster cripple shipping to Hawaii? State officials disagree
HNN: …With more than five miles of linear docking space and 200 acres of cargo storage, Honolulu Harbor is by far the most expansive port in the state.
And a new report written from the state's deputy adjutant general said a lack of equipment to get it up and running after a disaster could cripple the state
In fact, the report claims the government has no heavy salvage or dredging equipment. Without it, any port damage would result in a loss of mass importation for up to one month.
That's a conclusion, though, that not everyone agrees with.
"If you're talking about container ships, that's probably correct," said Darrell Young, deputy director of the Harbors Division. "But in the event of such an incident, we would probably be reverting to tug and barge operations as well as what we call roll-on and roll-off or container and roll-off type operations."
Some 98 percent of good coming into Hawaii arrive on cargo ships….
Related: False Missile Alert: Report Calls for Major changes at HI-EMA
read … Would a disaster cripple shipping to Hawaii? State officials disagree
Land Board approves public shooting range
WHT: …The Board of Land and Natural Resources voted Friday to approve an area of land on Hawaii Island as a public shooting range for the purpose of supporting the state’s Hunter Safety program.
Hunters have long sought an established area on Hawaii Island for practicing hunting safety measures. Known as mile marker 16 or “Morita Camp” on Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as Saddle Road, the relatively remote, yet accessible area is considered a favorable place for people to improve marksmanship and practice the safe and responsible use of firearms.
Under Hawaii Administrative Rules, the BLNR can designate an area where activities related to target archery and firearms practice may be conducted…..
read …Land Board approves public shooting range
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