County Services Should Be Paid For By Those Who Benefit
Ellison Removes Pro-Wind Signs from Lanai
Act 97: Abercrombie, Legislators Steal $24M/year from Non-Profits
SA: A 2009 survey by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation found that two-thirds of all money for Hawaii nonprofit groups comes from state and federal funds.
A new survey is planned this year, but so far Taketa is hearing anecdotally that "state and federal contributions are down significantly and it's getting worse and it's not being made up by private, charitable contributions. There's just not enough charitable dollars for that."
State legislators made the donation picture worse in 2011 by placing a $50,000 cap on itemized tax deductions that include charitable giving through 2015, said Lisa Maruyama, president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations.
While the passage of Act 97 will generate an estimated $24 million annually to the state, Maruyama said it's already hurting "organizations that rely heavily on individual donors. They're now hearing from donors that they may not give as much or they may not give at all."
The Hawai‘i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations will work to repeal Act 97 next session because "nonprofits have been hanging on for dear life during this down economy," Maruyama said. "They're going to hit a rock wall at some point."
DoE’s Latest Scheme to Mask Failure: Eliminate Hours and Grades
SA: Educators talk of learning units in terms of credit hours, but Hawaii’s public schools are poised to move — gradually — toward a new approach that would make the expression meaningless.
It’s the “hours” part that could fade away, if the model of proficiency-based education is fully embraced, as some hope it will be. The idea is that it matters far less how much “seat time” the student puts in determining the credit earned; it’s more based on the student proving that he or she understands the material — and they’ll get more than one shot at proving it.
“At first blush you think this is a good thing,” Bryant said. “It enables students to learn at their own pace.
“The concept seems good, from our point of view at HE‘E. But it’s in the details: How is this going to work for all students statewide?”
The draft language prescribes instead that the DOE “implement proficiency-based advancement of students based on applicable standards of academic achievement, character development and socio-emotional progress.” The average high school sophomore might still be 15, in other words, but the stronger students might be a bit closer to graduation while the struggling ones likely will be getting extra help to keep up or catch up.
Much of this long-term vision is intertwined with the national education reform initiative known as Race to the Top…
…there are so many other implications that remain in the misty future. For example, the conventional A-to-F grading system doesn’t fit as neatly in a system more concerned with passing mile markers. Grades tend to involve terms such as “Proficient” or “Highly Proficient,” and there can be a problem translating them into the four-point scale most colleges use in gauging admissions, said Jennifer McDermott of the Center for Educational Leadership, part of the University of Washington.
The center worked on the Oregon Proficiency Project, which rolled out three years ago. The project encountered some intense culture shock at the outset.
Example: In 2009 some of its students posted a Facebook open group titled “I Hate the Proficiency Scale.” Although it’s no longer active — complaints doubtlessly having moved off elsewhere — the early comments posted there are telling. In 2009 one student recoiled at the notion of a “Nearly Proficient” grade.
“What does this even mean?” the student wrote. “ You aren’t good enough to be OK?”
Reality:
Construction: New Day Like Old Day
Borreca: Abercrombie is still trying, but moving the amount of state construction from the usual to the exceptional is still an open question….
This week, while announcing the good news that the state closed the fiscal year with a $300 million balance, Abercrombie also said the state has spent about $331 million in new construction money during the year.
This is mostly from last year’s bond sale, which was snapped up at low interest rates….
Administration officials last week admitted that every month they can push maybe $40 million worth of construction out the door. That would be $480 million a year, much more than the $331 million approved last year.
This is just a truism in state government: There really isn’t a capacity to move more than about $350 million in real construction projects. Governors can claim that they authorized or approved more construction, but $350 million is about how much we can handle….
We looked for projects that were not mired in permitting delays or only in design and planning stages, but those that are ready to provide impact now,” he said in this year’s State of the State address.
What Abercrombie and the Legislature became mired in were outraged environmentalists and public activists who demanded that the state and counties follow the existing environmental protection laws.
On Friday, Abercrombie announced he was releasing $91 million in construction projects. There are many more steps before that released money actually translates into a government check written to a private construction company….
Abercrombie and the construction industry, however, are likely to find that the new day is much like the old day.
Newspapers Endorse Hannemann
Island Air: Hawaiian Air plans a suspicious coincidence
SA: Over the past 10 years, the competitive landscape within Hawaii has eroded into a massive portion of market share held by one service provider. This is dangerous. Without competition, travelers are captive to one airline, a monopoly.
We've had a good working relationship with Hawaiian Airlines, the market- dominant player. It has sold seats on our aircraft as "Hawaiian Airlines" through a codeshare agreement. Now, it seems Hawaiian wants to take even more of the local market segment, currently 85 percent as reported in the Star-Advertiser. It has announced plans to acquire the same ATR aircraft we've researched and will bring on line next month. It has announced plans to fly to the same markets we fly.
It also announced a fare sale that lowers its fares to be in line with our lower fare structure. All during the week we had been planning to initiate our new business model.
Coincidence? I'll let you decide.
Promoter of failed Stevie Wonder concert facing bank foreclosure on Kailua home
ILind: The local promoter at the center of the University of Hawaii’s botched Stevie Wonder concert is facing the possible loss of his Kailua home after allegedly defaulting on a $654,500 mortgage loan. The financial woes of promoter Robert V. Peyton appear to date back to another failed concert at the UH Stan Sheriff Center in 2005.
A foreclosure lawsuit against Peyton and his wife, Marie T. Peyton, was filed on November 21, 2011 by Deutsche Bank ….
Peyton’s money woes appear to date back to 2005, when BPE Productions was promoting a pair of Mariah Carey concerts that were also to be held at Stan Sheriff Center in December of the same year. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported on November 14, 2005 that both concerts had been cancelled, citing a press release by Peyton….
Peyton cancelled another show featuring a group from Las Vegas planned for November 2008, this time a fundraising event for HUGS, a local nonprofit. Within months, Peyton and his wife were facing threats of foreclosure after falling behind on mortgage payments, court records show.
Interview with Attorney Clare Hanusz on the dismissal of the human trafficking case against Global Horizon defendants
DN: Here is the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint mentioned in the video. It’s quite long, but is good reading. Several Hawaii farms are mentioned in the complaint.
This case is different—it is a civil, not a criminal case, and alleges discrimination in employment as described in the complaint. It could result in payment of money damages to the affected workers.
Hawaii Co Mayoral Candidates Back Waste to Energy
WHT: About three months after Hawaii County ended a pilot project for hauling garbage to the west side, Mayor Billy Kenoi said he is now in favor of a waste-to-energy project to resolve the Big Island’s looming landfill crisis.
“My solution is that I believe we have to move to waste reduction, and I believe H-Power is our model,” he said Wednesday….
A similar $125.5 million waste-to-energy project proposed by former Mayor Harry Kim was killed by the Hawaii County Council in 2008 due to concerns over the cost. (Stupidly, Kim couldn’t figure that companies would build a WTE plant gratis in exchange for the contract to produce electricity and displace solid waste from landfill.)
Kenoi tempered his comments by saying the county has not made a decision on whether to pursue construction of an incinerator….
What to do with the county’s garbage has been a long-studied subject across several administrations. The county has already spent at least $2.9 million studying ways for handling its trash since 1990. Kim, who is running for mayor again, said he still supports waste-to-energy projects and would pursue it again if elected. County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, another main contender in the mayoral race, said he is open to all waste reduction technologies, including incineration.
Windscammers Plans for Hana are cause for concern
MN: The July 11 article on Bio-Logical Capital and its plans to buy Hana Ranch should strike fear into everyone who cares about Hana and the future of Maui.
What Bio-Logical says it is, and what it really is, are two totally different things. Its website waxes melodically on how it "invests for the long term and integrates sustainable, land-based businesses with ecological restoration and conservation." Yet, if you check that website for any Bio-Logical project that has done that, you'll find none.
Even more deceptive is Bio-Logical's statement to The Maui News, that it is "committed to making long-term investments in projects that heal land and communities through stewardship development." For an example of how Bio-Logical heals land and communities, let's look at what it wants to do to Molokai.
Maui County Candidates on Akaku Tuesday
MN: A candidate forum, featuring Maui County candidates in contested races in the Aug. 11 primary election, will be held 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and broadcast live on three Akaku: Maui Community Television channels.
The times for the individual forums follow:
· State Senate District 7 Democratic Primary, J. Kalani English and Barbara J. Haliniak; nonpartisan Kanohowailuku Helm; 6:04 p.m.
· State House District 9 Democratic Primary, Gil S. Coloma Keith-Agaran, Joe Pontanilla; 6:41 p.m.
· State House District 10 Democratic Primary, Edward H. Kaahui, Angus L. McKelvey; 7:07 p.m.
· State House District 11 Democratic Primary, Joseph Bertram III, Netra Halperin, Colin E. Hanlon, Kaniela Ing; 7:31 p.m.
· County Council Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu, Joseph G. Blackburn II, Lisa R. Gapero, Michael (Mike) Victorino; 8:17 p.m.
· County Council Kahului, Alan (Al) Fukuyama, Don S. Guzman, Erin R. McLaughlin; 8:54 p.m.
Interview: Former Miss Hawaii Lauren Cheape seeks elected office in state House of Representatives
WT: Forget everything you’ve ever learned about politics and candidates. Lauren Cheape is this year’s biggest game changer and the most promising candidate the Republican Party has seen yet.
Always upbeat, never without a brilliant smile on her face and full of eloquent and inspiring speech, the former Miss Hawaii 2011 Lauren Cheape is running for the office of state representative in Hawaii’s 45th district (Mililani, Schofield, Kunia) and is a symbol of America’s newest generation of capable, young leaders answering the call to service.
From a background that includes more than a century of family-owned business, service in government and prolific volunteerism, Cheape is truly the epitome of a legacy of all-American, hardworking, humble, down-to-earth values.
Clayton Hee Thrilled Over Latest Chance for Akaka Tribe to Exploit Hawaiians
News Release: “The signing of this legislation signifies an important stage in the long journey towards justice and self-determination for the people of the first nation of these islands,” said Sen. Clayton Hee, author of the measure which established the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. “The people of Hawaii and, in particular, the native Hawaiian people have the opportunity and privilege to move forward together toward self-determination with a renewed sense of optimism for our future together as one.”
Homosexual Molester Coaches Boys in Wahiawa Again
SA: Rames agreed to plead no contest to third-degree sex assault charges, which each carry a maximum five-year prison term….
Toni Schwartz, the Department of Public Safety's public information officer, said Rames was released before completing the sex offender treatment program in prison. Under state law, prisoners cannot be kept beyond their terms even if they have not completed their prison programs….
The Wahiawa Soccer Club is run by Jed Tom, a Wahiawa resident and Rames' longtime friend.
Rames officiated one match …. Rames acknowledged officiating, but noted that the gym was full of the children's parents.
Tom said they did not disclose Rames' role in the club or his criminal background.
"We didn't come out and tell everybody," he said. "That's not the purpose."
State flags Kihei mall project over groups' concerns
SA: The state Office of Planning is raising questions about a proposed development of two shopping centers and an employee housing project in south Maui following complaints by two groups on the Valley Isle.
State Office of Planning Director Jesse Souki said the land in Kihei was reclassified in 1995 from agricultural to urban on a proposal to develop a 123-lot commercial and light industrial subdivision.
"This new use was not accounted for in 1995, and consequently, the conditions imposed in 1995 may not reflect the impacts to issues of statewide concern caused by the new use," Souki said.
Souki said he's not taking sides but believes a Land Use Commission hearing would help to clarify the dispute.
A separate meeting is expected to take place in late August before the state Land Use Commission to review conditions imposed on the site when it was reclassified from agricultural to urban use in 1995….
Hotel Would Bring Back Original Haleiwa
SA: Oahu's original resort, Haleiwa had four hotels: the 1898 Seaside Inn, the 1899 Haleiwa Hotel, the Fujita and the Doi, the first two before Waikiki's Moana Hotel of 1901.
Today these small country inns are no more. Twenty years of Haleiwa Town and city sustainable community planning include a "country inn," but the daunting process of hearings, permits and historic-design rules discourage investment. Nothing has been built for more than 10 years in Haleiwa's commercial district.
Haleiwa Beach Park is a sadly neglected historic 1930s jewel. Its crumbled sea wall, a dangerous eyesore, remains unrepaired. Restrooms are so bad that residents use Jameson's By the Sea restaurant across the street. This once-magnificent park, on the state Register of Historic Places, deteriorates while the haole koa bushes across Kamehameha Highway suddenly became the focus of a "Save Haleiwa Beach Park" group. Everyone drove past these bushes for decades.
'Real Hawaii' shows trouble in paradise
NJ: Peppered among the palms of Paradise are the homeless, gathered in groups of twos and threes along Kalakaua Avenue (The Strip) at Waikiki Beach. Elsewhere on Oahu are the Occupy Wall Street groups….
Hawaii has the third-highest ratio of homeless to the general population in the U.S., the numbers swelled by migrants from the U.S. mainland….
The liberation of Guam and how the Pacific War still speaks to us today
WT: when I was growing up it was not uncommon for me and my friends to find the rusty remains of crashed Japanese aircraft lost in the jungle or even an occasional Type 95 tank, gutted out yet still in the same place it had been destroyed after so many years.
It’s a strange sensation to see the metal skeleton of a foreign fighter plane overrun by vines and to put one’s fingers through one of the bullet holes that brought the plane down….