November 8, 2011 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Other TSA screeners refer to the man and woman as the Mexicutioners, because employees say they are responsible for the great majority of the arrests of illegal aliens at Honolulu International Airport, most of them from Mexico.

(Yup. They’re complaining that some TSA agents catch too many illegals. You read it here.)

in Honolulu, TSA officers also accused one behavior detection officer of using inside information from a friend at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to repeatedly stop people suspected of carrying large amounts of cash through Honolulu airport, possibly as part of the drug trade.

They said one TSA screener was responsible for seizing as much as $1 million in undeclared cash on various passengers, until his contact at DEA moved out of town.

(Yup. They’re complaining about the TSA catching drug smugglers. Amazing.)

read … No kidding

Honolulu: Maoist Lynch Mob Demands Federal Agent’s Head

Two groups, Hawaii Peace & Justice and World Can't Wait (Maoist front group), are planning a march this afternoon from Old Stadium Park to the Honolulu Convention Center "calling for justice" for Kollin Elderts, who was shot and killed early Saturday morning in Waikiki allegedly by an off-duty federal agent in town for this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The groups do not have a permit for their march, said organizer (Maoist) Carolyn Hadfield. She had no estimate on how many marchers are expected to participate.

"This is an emergency march called by both World Can't Wait and Hawaii Peace & Justice," she said (neglecting to mention the Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party). "We're calling for justice for Kollin Elderts. All of the facts about the case are being covered up and concealed by the Honolulu Police Department, the U.S. State Department and won't be revealed until after APEC."

The march will begin at 4 p.m. today at Old Stadium Park in Moiliili and proceed ewa on King Street to McCully Street, down McCully to Kapiolani Boulevard

(Mao Zedong murdered 70M Chinese people.)

read … APEC protesters plan march to convention center this afternoon

Conflicting Stories Told About Waikiki Shooting

Deedy and his companions told police that that he acted in self defense after the victim, Kollin K. Elderts, 23, threatened him with a knife and promised to “gut” him with the weapon, according to sources.

But Michael Green, a prominent local attorney representing Elderts’ family, said Deedy shot Elderts after a verbal altercation between the two inside McDonald’s Restaurant on Kuhio Avenue escalated into physical violence and culminated with a fatal gunshot to Elderts’ chest.

“There was a knife recovered but my client didn’t have a knife,” Green said. “They can check it for fingerprints.”

According to sources, Deedy said Elderts accosted him in McDonalds after the two had been involved in an earlier altercation at a nearby bar.

Deedy said he pulled his weapon after Elderts threatened him with a knife and said he was going to “gut” Deedy with it, according to sources.

Elderts refused to drop the weapon and was shot, according to the defendant’s version of events.

AP: Agent charged in killing was in Hawaii for APEC
CB: I'm Mad That an APEC Cop Killed a Local (Rush to judgment.)
CB: Neighbor: Agent Not 'the Kind of Guy Who Goes Around Killing People'
SA: Federal agent is free on bail as details of shooting emerge

read … Waikiki

Hawaiian Telcom complains of union coercion

Hawaiian Telcom has filed a federal complaint against the union representing its employees for allegedly intimidating workers who might decide to cross the picket line in the event of a strike against the company.

The complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Friday said the IBEW 1357, in an item posted on its website, "unlawfully threatened and coerced employees ... who exercise their rights to cross a picket line."

The Hawaiian Telcom complaint said the posting constituted an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act.

read … IBEW APEC Ready

Honolulu Convention Center Loses nearly $4M a year

In 2004, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which is in charge of the convention center, reported that the center made $7.5 million but cost $11.2 million to operate.

read … Hawai'i Convention Center was a good idea after all

HMC lender extends financing until Nov. 10

The lender for bankrupt Hawaii Medical Center agreed to extend financing for ongoing operations through Nov. 10 — the deadline for which a buyer is required to sign a letter of intent to purchase one, or both, of HMC's hospitals in Liliha and Ewa.

MidCap Financial has been funding operations of the money-losing hospitals since June, but is now requiring a buyer be secured or the hospitals closed.

There are at least half a dozen potential buyers that are seriously considering the assets and at least one has put down the required $250,000 deposit, according to Maria Kostylo, HMC's CEO.

PBN: Funding of Hawaii Medical Center hospitals will continue until Thursday

SA: Medical center has until Thursday to find new owner

Sen Espero: Open Letter to Governor - Saving Hawaii Medical Center

read … HMC

Hawaii’s Act 48 – New Foreclosure Law Flounders

“New Law Flounders!” That was the headline in last week’s Honolulu Star Advertiser. Here’s the back story: When Senate Bill 651 was signed into Act 48 on May 5, 2011, Hawai‘i legislators thought they were taking a powerful and effective step in helping homeowners to deal with their banks.

The 101 page bill was intended to force lenders to make better efforts at negotiating loan modifications with borrowers through a mediation program overseen by the state’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).

Act 48 reformed and redefined the foreclosure process in Hawaii. This law sets up a MFDR (Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution) mediation process that is now apart of the non-judicial foreclosure process. Here’s the problem: If the banks do not use the non-judicial foreclosure process, there is no mediation required.

So, if the bank does not pursue non-judicial foreclosure parts I or II (there are two styles of non-judicial foreclosure in Hawai‘i) what do the banks do? They file a judicial foreclosure. This is in the Kaua‘i civil court system. The local lenders have always pursued their foreclosure in the court system, so this is nothing new.

However, last week alone, 20 new cases were filed on Kaua‘i. What does this mean? The majority of these new judicial foreclosures are the result of the mainland foreclosing banks, cancelling their former non-judicial proceedings, only to start them over in our Kaua‘i courts.

read … Act 48 Flop

Hawaii hotels rode high in September

Hawaii's hotel industry saw both occupancy and room rates rise in September from the same month a year earlier.

Hawaii's hotels were 74.5 percent full in September, up from 70.6 percent in September 2010, according to a report released by industry consultant Hospitality Advisors. The statewide average daily room rate rose to $172.20 from $160.50 a year earlier.

The rise in rates boosted revenue per available room, a key industry measure of profitability, to $128.60 in September from $113.31 a year earlier.

The improvement in the hotel numbers was consistent with an earlier report showing visitor arrivals and spending rose by 4 percent and 20 percent, respectively, in September.

Through the first nine months of the year, the state's hotel industry generated $2.14 billion in revenue, up 13 percent from the same period in 2010, and 21 percent higher than the cyclical low of $1.77 billion during the first nine months of 2009.

read … Food for the Corporatist Entity

Hawaii's Watershed Moment: Killing Trees to Save Water

As Hawaii residents struggle to feed their families, the Governor of Hawaii has just announced a new $110 million war on invasive species, spending $11 million per year to weed the forests of “undesirable” plants and animals, including food resources, over the next ten years.

The alleged excuse for this war is to protect our water resources. According to one study at UH, the nonnative strawberry guava tree uses 27% more water than native o'hia, although strangely not mentioned is that strawberry guava is highly drought resistant, making it suitable for our increasingly drought prone islands. Nevertheless, selling off of the fear of water loss, it is now being stated that all nonnative plants consume more water than native plants.

It may not be logical or scientific. But it is the best public relations that the people promoting this war could come up with, and the Governor bought it.

read … Watershed

Gun dealer convicted of fraud conspiracy, income tax evasion

Ong owns Magnum Firearms in Kakaako, which has long provided firearms and related products and services to the military, state and local law enforcement agencies and consumers.

The government says Ong conspired with convicted tax protester Royal LaMarr Hardy and Hawaii island lawyer Paul Sulla to evade paying taxes and stop filing individual income tax returns since 1994.

The prosecution said Ong set up sham trusts into which he diverted his earnings to evade paying income taxes. The government says Ong controlled the trusts and used money from the accounts to pay for personal expenses, including buying luxury cars and real estate.

Ong said he relied on the advice of Sulla, to whom he was referred by Hardy, and that because of his limited education, he did not know he was breaking the law. He said he just wanted to set up the trusts to benefit the Hawaii Baptist Foundation, his alma mater, Hawaii Baptist Academy, and Olivet Baptist Church.

His lawyer, Robert Fricke, said Ong has since paid all the income taxes he owes, including interest and penalties.

read … Another Tax Scam

Kauai Hydro outreach efforts under way

Community member Charlie Conden was the most vocal of the small group, readily expressing support for the projects and qualifying questions and concerns posed to KIUC by other community members.

“I call them opposers, the people who just oppose everything,” he said. “We have to wait and see what is the plan. These existing (hydropower) sites, has anybody dug in and found anything wrong with them? I mean, to me, I’ve seen a bunch of them, and they all seem kind of benign to me. They just take some water out and put it back in the stream. There’s no farmers in between, up in the hills.

“… I hear, you know, about getting the whole community involved but, to me, it’s like what’s the plan, you know?” he said, before adding he was glad the co-op is using FERC.

Huff said, “It’s very clear to us the state holds complete control and power over water rights and water resources, pretty much anything to do with water, so we’re working with them —- all the state agencies, actually, because whether KIUC moves forward through the FERC process or not, what is very clear is that the state permits that will be involved with each project will still be in place.

“FERC is simply another layer,” she said. “It doesn’t replace or change anything we will be doing with the state.”

read … Kauai Hydro

End the council gas stipend, says Yagong

Every month, most Hawaii County Council members receive enough gas money to send them around the circumference of the entire island more than 12 times.

The $600 monthly stipend, paid whether the councilor uses that much gas or not, works out to 2,824 miles a month for cars averaging 20 miles to the gallon. Council members have the option of the stipend or receiving 55 cents per mile by itemizing their miles.

Council Chairman Dominic Yagong wants to put a stop to the flat-rate stipend and is sponsoring a resolution to that effect on the Nov. 16 council agenda.

read … Yagong

Circuit Court denies county motion Against Affordable Housing Project

… an order handed down Monday by 3rd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance denying the county's motion to stay arbitration proceedings while it appeals to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals her earlier decision ordering parties into arbitration toward a settlement regarding the $40 million Kamakoa at Waikoloa project.

Strance, in handing down her decision Monday, said she denied the county's motion because it is not entitled to an automatic stay during an appeal and it remains unclear whether the county will prevail in its case before the Intermediate Court of Appeals. An order to stay at this time in the 3rd Circuit would be "speculative," she noted.

She also noted a stay of proceedings might be better filed in the appeals court because that court understands its time frame and the merits of the case.

The court-ordered arbitration came down about 17 months after the Hawaii County filed suit against UniDev in July 2009, alleging fraud, intentional misrepresentations and negligence in UniDev's inability to proceed with the Kamakoa at Waikoloa affordable housing project. Hawaii County picked UniDev for the project in 2005.

Strance in December ordered the parties into court-ordered arbitration headed by former civil litigation attorney and former U.S. Attorney Dan Bent of Honolulu. Arbitration proceedings are slated to begin June 13, 2012.

Background: Waikoloa Workforce Housing CEO: How Hawaii County officials sabotaged affordable housing project

read … UniDev