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Monday, June 22, 2020
June 22, 2020 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 7:36 PM :: 3015 Views

HB2500 Legislators poised to exceed state debt limit to avoid making cuts

Two Years Later: Kauai Mayor signs fifteenth supplementary emergency proclamation

Hawaii Legislators Announce Plan to use CARES Funds

COVID Impact on Micronesia

Hawaii Anti-Gun Bills Scheduled for Hearing

COVID Count: Four new cases out of 629 tests

Lawyer known for “sovereignty defenses” barred from future foreclosure assistance

ILind: … Attorney Dexter Kaiama, known for defending clients based on theories of Hawaiian sovereignty, has been permanently barred from providing “legal services or any other assistance” to any homeowner whose property is facing actual or threatened foreclosure.

On June 4, 2020, Circuit Court Judge James H. Ashford approved the Final Judgement and Stipulated Permanent Injunction in favor of the State Office of Consumer Protection on all counts that were included in a civil lawsuit alleging Kaiama had been part of a foreclosure defense scheme that violated the state’s Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act (Chapter 480E HRS).

“Without admitting to any wrongdoing, in order to resolve the pending action Defendant is willing to consent to the entry of judgment against him on the terms set forth below,” the judgement states.

The permanent injunction prohibits Kaiama, along with any agents or other persons “acting in concert with him,” from providing legal services or other assistance to any “distressed property owner,” offering advice regarding any foreclosure lawsuit, appearing in court on behalf of such a property owner or assisting them in filing documents “pro se.”

The judgement specifically provides that “[n]othing herein settles or resolves the claims former clients may have for restitution….”

Kaiama also waived ” all right to assert any defense he may have to the validity or enforceability of this judgment.”…

The Office of Consumer Protection alleged Kaiama acted together with sovereignty activist David Keanu Sai in this foreclosure defense scheme….

2011: Sovereignty Mortgage Scammer Keanu Sai at it again with help from Legislators, Maui Council, University

2019: With Help from Maui Council, Convicted Sovereignty Scammer Keanu Sai Launches ‘Hawaiian Kingdom’ Bond Sales

read … Lawyer known for “sovereignty defenses” barred from future foreclosure assistance

Ige reportedly close to announcing testing protocol, loosened quarantine based on Alaska Model

SA: … Gov. David Ige’s administration is poised to adopt a COVID-19 testing protocol similar to one being used by Alaska, and is expected to announce as early as this week that at least some travelers will be allowed to bypass Hawaii’s two-week quarantine requirement this summer if they provide proof of a recent negative test for the new coronavirus….

Anderson said in an interview that Ige has been talking with Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy for weeks about the situation there, and Hawaii officials have been monitoring the Alaska protocol and the infection trend in that state “very carefully.”…

Travelers who refuse to be tested or cannot prove that they took a test are still subject to quarantine. Anderson said about one-third of travelers to Alaska have been providing proof of a recent test, and about one-third agree to be tested at the airport and isolate until they receive the test results.

The rest of the travelers simply agree to remain in quarantine for two weeks, he said….

About 6,000 people per day are currently arriving in Alaska, and “we have not seen a spike in our cases since we opened this up,” ….

State officials have also considered establishing a “travel bubble” that would relax travel restrictions between Hawaii and Alaska. But that possibility will depend on whether Alaska can keep the disease under control as the state reopens and relaxes its quarantine, he said.

“We’re concerned that opening up their borders is going to result in their seeing more cases, and in fact they’ve admitted that’s going to happen, that will happen, it’s just a question of degree,” Anderson said. Alaska, like Hawaii, is relying heavily on strategies that depend on personal responsibility, such as social distancing, masks and hand washing, he said….

HNN: Ige told HNN that the state is learning from Alaska’s mistakes

SA: Plan for opening trans-Pacific travel to come this week

Related: Coronavirus Restrictions: Hawaii vs Alaska

read … Ige reportedly close to announcing testing protocol, loosened quarantine

Hawaii Currently Fastest Spreading COVID in USA

BHR: … Hawaii has the highest COVID-19 reproduction rate and Washington, D.C., has the lowest, according to rt.live, a website that calculates the rate at which the virus is spreading.

Measured by the average number of people who become sick from an infectious person, the site tracks the effective reproduction rate (Rt) of COVID-19 infections. If the value is less than one, the spread of the disease is slowing. The higher the Rt number, the worse the spread.  Editor's note: This list contains ties and is based on data last updated June 21.

11 states with fastest spread of COVID-19 

#1. Hawaii — 1.60….

read … Becker’s Hospital Review

SB2629 Carbon Credits: House Committee Hearing Gut-and-Replace Legislation

IM: … The Hawai`i State Senate proposed a carbon offset bill for governmental employees who take an airplane trip.

The Hawai`i State House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection proposes to gut and replace SB 2629 with meaningless content. The hearing is scheduled for today.

The legislature further finds that coal power, as one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, has no role in Hawaii's clean energy future.”

But chopping down trees on Hawai`i island to generate electricity produces greater greenhouse and other toxic pollution per unit of electricity produced, and the Legislature has never addressed this.

The proposed bill then lays out when it is all about. Three months after coal use has ended in this State, coal use will be banned. But there is a kicker. The law will not go into effect until 17 years after that.

All coal burning shall cease on December 31, 2022 ... This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.”….

(Translation: This is a defect set up to take the bill to Conference Committee and then write the real bill there in secret.)

IM: Hawai`i Environmental Groups Strongly Support Gut-and-Replace Legislation

SB 2629: Text, Status 

read … Hawai`i House Committee Hearing Gut-and-Replace Legislation

Convicted Anal Rapist of Child Gets Lucky at Supreme Court

CB: … As nationwide protests over police use of force and racism continue, the Hawaii Supreme Court is cracking down on another questionable police practice: interrogation tactics like lying to suspects in order to elicit a confession.

Although the high court stopped short of saying police could never lie to suspects during interrogations, a new opinion reins in a practice that previously had generally been allowed. Now, lying to suspects during interrogation can amount to unlawful coercion.

The ruling, issued Thursday, overturns the conviction and 40-year sentence imposed on then-23-year-old Mustafa Baker, who was accused of brutally beating and raping an underage runaway girl in a public bathroom on New Year’s Eve 2012. The high court remanded the case to the Circuit Court for a new trial, saying “the tactics used by the interrogating police officer were so coercive” that Mustafa’s eventual confession could not be construed as voluntary….

Baker eventually told the detective that he did have sex with the girl. His confession was a key part of the prosecution’s case even though Baker’s cousin — identified in court records only as GK because he was a minor — testified at trial that he was the one who beat the girl with a bottle and sexually assaulted her.

(Translation: I’m a minor so I’ll take the easy time to save my uncle.)

The ruling is a welcome change, said Brook Hart, a long-time criminal defense lawyer who was (ahem) formerly Wilson’s law partner. (uh-huh)

In a separate dissenting opinion, Justice Paula Nakayama said there was nothing illegal about what the police did.

“The Majority’s exaggeration and misconstrual of the implications of Detective Tokita’s statements create the specter of coercion where there is none,” Nakayama wrote. “Furthermore, the Majority’s references to extra-jurisdictional and scholarly debate over interrogation techniques does not overcome the obvious problem that many of the ‘tactics’ Detective Tokita supposedly employed have never been prohibited by the courts or the Legislature of this State.”

Anal Rape: hi-intermediate-court-of-appeals/1876066.html

read … Hawaii’s Highest Court Is Pushing Back On How Police Interrogate Suspects

Police transparency bill being considered in Hawaii

KITV: … a bill that stalled in conference committees last year is getting renewed attention.

HB 285 would require police officers' names and histories to be make public if they are suspended.

Right now, that information is only released if an officer is actually fired….

HB285: Text, Status

read … Police transparency bill being considered in Hawaii

How 12 Teens Who’d Never Met Before Organized Honolulu’s Black Lives Matter Protest

CB: … The rally, led by students from Radford High and other local schools, drew nearly 10,000 people, surprising even its organizers….

read … How 12 Teens Who’d Never Met Before Organized Honolulu’s Black Lives Matter Protest

Three more people test positive for COVID-19 at Hale Nani; senior facilities are concerned

KITV: … Hale Nani says all residents and staff were tested on June 16 and 17. "Approximately 600 tests were conducted. Of those tested (including those tested prior to the full facility testing), there were 12 positives for COVID-19: seven residents and five staff. All residents and staff of the units that had residents test positive during this first round of testing were re-tested June 20. That testing resulted in an additional two residents and one non-direct care staff testing positive. The total number of residents who have tested positive since the beginning of the outbreak (June 12) is nine residents and six staff members. There will also be a second round of all facility and staff testing this week," the facility said in a statement….

read … Three more people test positive for COVID-19 at Hale Nani; senior facilities are concerned

With thousands out of work, scammers are targeting the unemployment system

HNN: … Last week, Ray Boland of Kaneohe received a letter from the state Labor Department, telling him he’s eligible for unemployment benefits of up to $263 a week for a total of 39 weeks.

The problem is, Boland is still working at his federal job and did not file an unemployment claim. He said someone else had filed a bogus claim using his personal information….

“Now because of the fraud, there’s probably an extra step where they’re sending letters to people to validate that they actually are filing for unemployment,” she said.

Boland said he immediately reported the bogus claim online with the Labor Department. He also checked his credit, which was unaffected.

He thinks the scammers were able to file the false claim by using his personal information, which compromised several years ago by a data breach….

Background: Nigerian Princes Apply for Hawaii Unemployment

read … With thousands out of work, scammers are targeting the unemployment system

COVID Cuts: Hawaii's only halfway house for women is closing

HNN: … The only halfway house in Hawaii for women is closing. The YWCA says the Correctional Work Furlough and Halfway House Program for women inmates on O'ahu is shutting its doors at the end of the month.

The six women currently in the program, housed at Fernhurst in Makiki, will return to the Women's Community Correctional Center.

The Department of Public Safety ended the program because of what it says are "significant financial uncertainties" to the state budget brought on by the coronavirus….

(Translation: We can cut this without affecting any public employees.)

read … Hawaii's only halfway house for women is closing

Hawaii’s Cesspool Problem Continues To Bubble Up As EPA Cracks Down

CB: … the biggest offender in the state, according to EPA records, may be Kamehameha Schools, which is still conducting an audit that began in 2018 to see how many of its 500 properties on Hawaii island contain LCCs.

Final results of the audit are not due until December of this year. Kamehameha has said it found three large capacity cesspools among its holdings on Oahu and that remediation has begun. Kamehameha said none of its properties on Maui, Molokai and Kauai have LCCs….

LCCs, she said, were banned in 2005. Though they represent the largest cesspools in Hawaii, Miller said the state, overall, has the highest rate of cesspool use in the country, with 88,000 spread out among the islands.

She said the agency has “some pending investigations.”…

The Hawaii Legislature acted in 2017 to require replacement of all cesspools in the state by 2050….

read … Hawaii’s Cesspool Problem Continues To Bubble Up As EPA Cracks Down

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