New Website: The Real Hanabusa
Star-Adv Pushes to Eliminate Voter Registration, Open Doors to Massive Voter Fraud
SA: The current elections office has taken no position on the issue. In 2009, Kevin Cronin, then the office chief, observed that concerns about voter fraud, which is the issue most frequently raised by critics, are offset by provisions allowing any registered voter to challenge another's eligibility to vote, forcing a review. (Chaos at the polls)
The more acute consideration is logistical. Cronin said that election-day voter registration will "require establishing separate teams to register new voters at each polling place," with all the added recruitment and training that come with it.
SA: Hoku Shows Solar industry is a flash in the pan
SA: …the solar industry in its current form is a flash in the pan.
One industry leader describes the trend as a "race to the bottom." Hoku Corp., seen by many as a star around the time of its initial public offering several years ago, now has all the makings of an early casualty. In an effort to vertically integrate the business, one of its two subsidiaries, Hoku Materials, has stalled while trying to build a polysilicon plant in Idaho. Unfortunately, in the time it has taken to get bricks and mortar in place, photovoltaic prices have plummeted. Hoku is nearly out of cash and struggling to restructure.
Every emerging industry is destined to move toward consolidation, as a few strong players acquire and crowd out competing startups. However, in the solar industry the process is being accelerated by waning tax credits and a rapid drop in the price of solar panels. Inevitably, the cost to acquire a system will fall, and, as solar tax credits dwindle, margins will likely erode….
Hirono: Self Reliance is a Government Paycheck
Shapiro: Hirono is touting her self-reliance in the latest TV ad for her Senate campaign. Only in Hawaii politics would drawing a government check for three decades be passed off as self-reliance….
State sheriff deputies were told to back off their downtown anti-jaywalking campaign after some bigwig violators reportedly were irked….
Promoter: UH Stevie Wonder deposit money has been found
HNN: The local promoter who booked the now-canceled Stevie Wonder concert told Hawaii News Now late Friday afternoon that the University of Hawaii's deposit money has been located, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Bob Peyton said the $200,000 UH Athletic Department funds are now in the hands of the singer's management team.
"I'm confident that the deposit money is in the right place," Peyton said in an email to Hawaii News Now.
He claimed the money is not in the escrow account of the Epic-Talent agency in Miami, where UH originally wired the funds.
Peyton also claimed Wonder's managers now want the entire cost of the concert money up front.
They are asking for more money than the original amount, which was $730,000 for a fund raising show at UH and a second concert on Maui, plus travel costs, Peyton said.
"I have been told that I must guarantee the full amount within two business days they will play the show," Peyton said in an email.
Berg holds lone anti-rail stance at candidate forum
SA: City Councilman Tom Berg repeated his firm opposition to the city's $5.26 billion rail project even as three challengers to his seat staked positions in favor of the plan during a candidate forum Friday at Kroc Center Hawaii in Kapolei.
"It's a bait and switch … the biggest con job in the state, in the nation," Berg told an audience of about 75 people at the forum sponsored by the Kapolei Chamber of Commerce and the West Oahu Economic Development Association….
Pine said opponents of the rail project have not presented a viable alternative to solving West Oahu's traffic problems. "I believe in rail 100 percent. As a constitutionalist, I believe in the will of the people, and the people have spoken," she said, referring to the 2008 vote.
Speed dating style event for candidates and voters
KHON: …on the Republican ticket, former State Senator Fred Hemmings wants his old seat back.
The voters had a chance to see if there's a potential match.
"To hear their background, their family stories, I think that's important to me -- to get a better look at that," said Nancy Cullen of Kailua.
And topics ranged from anything to everything in between.
"I want to get away from the argument of how to increase taxes because we're falling into a trap. The real question we should all ask is how to cut spending," said Fred Hemmings, (R) State Senate Candidate.
Justice Reinvestment: Lifelong Criminal Let out, Disrupts Hawaii 5-0 Shoot
KHON: "Yeah we were filming a scene at Ala Moana Mall and we have two gentlemen who were rowdy and took a plant out of the ground and threw it at one of our background," said Val Morrison, crew member.
The crew jumped into action and chased after the suspects on foot across the street, to Ala Moana Beach Park.
"Restrained them until HPD came and uh now they're handling it and they know not to disrespect Five-0," Morrison said.
Honolulu Police arrested Joseph Tui for assault. The 31-year-old has been in trouble with the law before. Previous charges include theft, sex assault and burglary. Three years ago, Tui was also the victim of this incident that was captured on video surveillance. Three adult corrections officers at the Halawa Correctional Facility were seen assaulting Tui inside the prison. The officers were fired. Tui, who had been serving a 10-year-sentence for burglary, was just released less than two months ago.
Wahiawa General Hospital's fate could depend on whether Castle & Cooke gets zoning for Koa Ridge
PBN: The fate of Wahiawa General Hospital could depend on whether the Honolulu City Council grants Castle & Cooke the zoning it needs for a 578-acre Koa Ridge community in Waipio.
But nobody seems to want to talk about it.
After a decade-long battle, Castle & Cooke has received the state Land Use Commission’s approval to move ahead with the development, but it still needs rezoning of the agricultural land.
As part of its planned 5,000-home communty, Castle & Cooke donated 28 acres to the Wahiawa Hospital Association to build what could become the state’s largest medical complex.
If it is built, the new hospital would be just a few miles down the road from Wahiawa General, which the Wahiawa Hospital Association operates. Built in 1944, the nonprofit hospital is losing more than $2 million loss annually, has unfunded pension obligations and an infrastructure that would be hard to adapt to accommodate modern medical technology.
Wahiawa General could face a rocky future despite what happens to Koa Ridge. It has experienced financial difficulties for more than a decade because of its high percentage of Medicare and Medicaid patients and reductions in charitable funding.
In January, Wahiawa General asked the state for $1 million for emergency services, $750,000 for its residency program and $250,000 to repave its parking lot
City lifts moratorium on sewer hook-ups in Central Oahu
SA: The city said the interim solution will allow timely connections for the larger construction projects proposed in the area, including The Plaza assisted living development project in Pearl City and the planned redevelopment of the old Kam Drive-In site, as well as smaller projects and individual home connections.
(Hey this doesn’t have anything to do with the Mayoral debate does it?)
Duty Free Stores Funnel $3B to State
SA: Chinese visitors spend more than double what DFS' primary Japanese customers do, said Sharon Weiner, DFS spokeswoman. Typically, Chinese men are the consumers buying high-end watches, the priciest of which has sold for $142,300 at the DFS Galleria in Waikiki.
The company that once featured lower-priced souvenirs such as key chains, T-shirts and cellphone trinkets recently sold a one-of-a-kind crocodile Hermes bag with a diamond clasp for a jaw-dropping $191,200.
"We're seeing an increase in the numbers from China. ... Their spending is very, very impressive and very important to us and to the state," Weiner said. "People who leave China right now tend to be more affluent. One thing the Chinese like is that we can guarantee authenticity, and in China there are a lot of knock-offs. Hawaii is iconic to the Chinese. It's a very big deal for them to come here."
DFS recently opened two large stores in Hong Kong and Macau.
Over the past two years, the only duty-free retailer in Hawaii has invested roughly $55 million in improvements to the DFS Galleria and airports in Honolulu and Kahului.
The business, which has 770 employees, some of whom speak Chinese, Korean and Japanese, is required to pay concession fees that amount to 22 percent of duty-free sales by international travelers. To date, DFS has paid more than $3 billion in concession fees to the state.
"We've fluctuated very much with the Japanese economy," Miller said. "If tourists don't have disposable money to spend, it has an immediate impact on our business."
Hearst vs Time Warner Battle Blacks Out KITV, Mainland Stations
PBN: Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) blamed the blackout on Hearst Television, which "chose to black out their signals from Time Warner Cable customers rather than continue negotiations, and despite their CEO saying just two weeks earlier that broadcaster blackouts are unfair to consumers," Time Warner said in a statement on its website.
The cable company posted a message on the KITV channels telling viewers that the station's ownership "has forced us to stop carrying this channel."
Other cities affected by the blackout include Boston; Portland, Maine; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, Time Warner Cable said.
Biofuel Stocks: Food Prices Rise Again
FT: Is the world on the brink of another food crisis?
It has become a distressingly familiar question. With the price of agricultural staples such as corn, soyabeans and wheat soaring for the third summer in five years, the prospect of another price shock is once again becoming a prominent concern for investors and politicians alike….
Firstly, and most damagingly, it has the potential to cause social and political upheavals such as last year’s Arab spring.
But most analysts believe that this year’s price surge is not yet severe enough to bring about the overthrow of governments. While stocks of corn and soyabeans are very tight, particularly in the US, the situation is less extreme for wheat and rice, the food commodities that are staples for most of the world’s poorest people. In contrast, corn and soyabeans feed animals, produce ethanol or make cooking oil. (Corn and soybeans are used to produce biofuels, wheat and rice are not.)
While corn prices are trading above their 2008 peaks, and soyabeans this week surpassed the 2008 high to hit a new record, wheat and rice prices are not yet in record territory.
How Rail Screws the Poor
RM: As Los Angeles spends billions on light rail, transit use declines.
Electric vehicle drivers now have new, free place to charge up in town at Ala Moana Center
UH: Electric vehicle (EV) drivers now have a new place to “charge up” for free in town, as Volta Industries (Volta) and Central Pacific Bank, Cutter Mitsubishi and First Insurance power up two new EV charging stations today outside of Victoria’s Secret and Long's Drugs in the second level parking area at Ala Moana Center. The world’s largest outdoor shopping center welcomes more than 42 million shoppers a year, making it one of Hawaii’s most frequented destinations by visitors and island residents. These stations are part of the Volta Hawaii network, a community-sponsored, free-to-use EV charging network.
Pongamia: New Biofool scam Hits Hawaii
News Release: A California company has come up with a compelling twist on farmland investing for private clients and institutional investors focusing on real assets. This farmland investment model, however, is considerably more proactive in driving total returns than traditional “buy and hold” models. Since 2009, TerViva Inc. has been establishing acreage in Texas, Florida, Arizona and Hawaii in a tree crop called pongamia.