Ed Case Releases Survey Results: Why Voters Chose Case, Hirono

Nine Candidates File to Run in Honolulu Council Special Election

Abercrombie Pinata: Pave Mother Waldron, Close Kulani School, Big Cable, and Millions for Solar Scammers

Koa Ridge: Holdover Land Use Commissioner Not Disqualified

UH Professors: Deadline Approaching to Object to Political Use of Union Dues

VIDEO: Jana's Story: Life as an Underage Sex Trafficking Victim in Honolulu

Grabauskas on Iwi Ruling: Make no Bones About it, Delays will cost Money

SA: Daniel Grabauskas, executive director of the Hono­lulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, said HART may suspend rail construction activities that involve moving earth or digging, but will continue activities such as pouring concrete columns at sites where the foundations have already been dug.

"I certainly want to be respectful of the court's ruling and respectful of the decision that's been rendered. If there is some ground-disturbing activities that we had planned for that could be forgone, we may want to do that as a show of good faith to the court, but where there's not ground-disturbing activities, we're certainly going to continue," he said.

Grabauskas called the ruling "a temporary setback" for the project but added, "I make no bones about the fact that to the degree that delays result from this ruling, delays will cost money."

Grabauskas said all work on the archaeological survey is finished for those first two sections of guideway.

Survey work is still being done on the remaining two segments, and that work is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of next year, Grabauskas said. He said the city may add crews or take other steps to accelerate that work in the wake of Friday's ruling.

For the rail project segment from Aloha Stadium to Middle Street, five survey trenches have been excavated, and 35 more still need to be dug, he said. For the final segment from Middle Street to Ala Moana Center, 59 survey trenches have been completed, and 173 trenches still need to be excavated....

Kaleikini's suit argued state rules don't allow construction to begin until the legally required survey is completed to document historic properties or burial sites that might be affected by the rail line.

The Supreme Court noted that SHPD's rules "establish a sequential process under which an archaeological survey must precede the SHPD's concurrence in a project." That's because the SHPD review process is designed to identify significant or sensitive sites and then develop and execute plans to handle the impacts on the sites, the court ruled.

The court also concluded the rules define the "project area" for rail to mean the entire rail route, which "does not permit the SHPD to consider the rail project in four separate phases for the purposes of historic preservation review."

In a news conference after the ruling, Frankel said the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. has been trying for years to persuade SHPD to require that developers complete all of the required archaeological inventory surveys before the agency allows any development to proceed.

Instead, the agency has chose to "expedite" construction by allowing work to begin before the surveys are finished, and followed that pattern with the rail project, he said.

read ... Make No Bones?

Nago Decides to Stop Sabotaging Kawauchi

HTH: After a few rounds of finger-pointing and blunt criticism, the head of state elections and County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi appear ready to make up.

The two have agreed to a series of workshops with elections officials from each county with the goal of helping Hawaii County overcome its failures during the primary two weeks ago and transition to a smooth general election in November. No dates have been set, though Kawauchi has suggested sometime between Sept. 17-21.

State Chief Election Officer Scott Nago extended the olive branch in an email sent to Kawauchi on Thursday, in which he proposed the workshops and made an appeal for a more affable relationship.

“In the last couple of weeks, we have publicly expressed our difference of opinions on the implementation of the 2012 Primary Election in the County of Hawaii,” Nago wrote.

“… As we proceed toward the general election, I propose we commit to rebuild the partnership between our offices to pursue the implementation of a secure, open and honest general election for the voters.”

Kawauchi responded the same day and agreed to the workshops. She also noted the county plans to hold a meeting with elections staff and volunteers to discuss the problems that occurred on primary election day, Aug. 11, which saw more than a dozen polling places open late.

read ... No More Sabotage?

State eyes reopening prison

HTH: Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday released $248,177 dollars to plan for the possible reactivation of Kulani Correctional Facility.

Located at the end of Stainback Highway 20 miles south of Hilo, the Kulani facility was opened in 1946 as a work camp and later converted into a minimum-security prison. The last of its 123 male inmates, many of them sexual offenders, were transferred to other Hawaii prisons in September 2009.

The decision to close Kulani was made in mid-2009 by then-Gov. Linda Lingle as the state faced a $786 million deficit....

State Sen. Josh Green of Kona has been a proponent of reactivating Kulani and says he’s “hopeful” it could happen.

“People should serve their time, but it’s also good that families can remain intact and visit their family members. That contributes to people getting better,” he said. “Also, it’s jobs here, and anything we can do these days to keep jobs here is good.”

In November 2010, the 614-acre prison property was put under state Department of Defense control for use as a training camp for at-risk teens, called the Hawaii National Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe Academy-Kulani.

“We also have to make sure the needs of the Department of Defense and Department of Land and Natural Resources are met, because they’re also using that land right now and we have to respect them, as well,” Schwartz said. “We’re gonna have to do meetings with them. We’re gonna have to help them out and make sure that they find an adequate relocation site and work with them to make sure that everyone is on board to whatever the final decision comes to.”

One possibility brought up in past discussions about the possibility of Kulani reopening is moving the Guard’s youth academy to the recently renovated Keaukaha Military Reservation.

“I have little doubt that a group of us will come together with the support of a grant-in-aid for resources to help them relocate or continue their program, because they do great stuff,” Green said. “There should be no casualties in this program.”

Related: Abercrombie Pinata: Pave Mother Waldron, Close Kulani School, Big Cable, and Millions for Kalaeloa Solar

read ... Kulani

Abercrombie Works on Plan to Release More Lunatics

KHON: Concerned, because the hospital has experienced a 33% increase in admissions since last year. The DOH requested help, so the Governor formed the Special Action Team, which includes 30 state leaders.

Currently, one-third of the patients at the state hospital have been charged with crimes, but are unfit to stand trial. But officials say, this is not a prison.

"And we really are responsible as a psychiatric institution for facilitating community integration, facilitating treatment in the least-restrictive setting," said Mark Fridovich, state hospital administrator.

But security here is tight. And the state has spent more than $5 million on a telecommunications and security system that includes 15 monitors and 345 cameras. Still, the hospital reported one escape this year, and four last year.

"Security doesn't guarantee anything but we use it pretty well to help make the hospital safer and safer," Fridovich said.

Programs on the 114-acre property, include aquaponics, pet therapy and a vegetable garden.

"It's a work simulation program where they're able to practice behaviors that will help them return to the community," said Tiffany Kawaguchi, chief of rehabilitation.

More than half of the patients who are discharged, will return and be readmitted. The Governor's group, wants to bring those numbers down and ensure all mental health patients across the state receive the right kind of services.

read … Just Like Justice Reinvestment

Former regents, current faculty lament loss of confidence in UH leadership

HNN: "There's going to be a massive loss of confidence," said UH Botany Professor David Duffy, who's been teaching at the university for 15 years. "It's going to be a long time, I think, before we trust the administration."

Duffy said he doesn't have to go far to see "unfairness" at UH, since the front doors of the plant science building where he works have been broken and unusable for more than a year. But he noted the UH Athletics Department managed to quickly get scammed out of $200,000 in the failed Stevie Wonder concert.

"It's very hard for me to spend 20 bucks. It has to go through a couple of layers of sign off, and I have to justify it. And yet, somehow the system and athletics can lose $200,000," Duffy said.

Kristeen Hanselman, associate executive director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the union that represents nearly 4,000 UH faculty across the state, said recent events have "created a lack of trust and confidence in UH and its administrators."

Hanselman worried the "loss of confidence and respect" for UH and its administrators will lead to more scrutiny by state legislators, which could lead to a loss of autonomy and independence throughout the university system.

The union also posted this statement on its web site: "UHPA is very concerned that the decisions made by President Greenwood and the Board of Regents, including the transfer of Mr. [Jim] Donovan to another job will encourage legislative scrutiny of all UH funding creating significant uncertainty for our students and faculty. This situation is a grave distraction illustrating a failure to assert responsibility and leadership at the highest levels at UH." ….

Four former UH regents said the reputations of UH, Greenwood, other administrators and the regents who oversee all of them have been damaged by the concert fiasco. The former regents asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution or because they still have business with the UH.

"There's no doubt that the university and the regents and the whole governance structure have been damaged by this," said one regent who held leadership roles on the board in the last twenty years.

A second regent who served in the last ten years said of Greenwood, "When you have a leader who people can't trust, her effectiveness goes away. It seems like she's digging herself into a hole."

The former regents told Hawaii News Now they are concerned that alumni and UH sports boosters will pull back on contributions of time and money because of the problems this summer.

A third former regent pointed out that most of the current 15 regents have a maximum of two years on the board, and "it takes two years to figure out what's really going on at UH. Most of the regents have never been in a university environment. Some of them are kind of clueless."

A fourth regent was critical of regents Chair Eric Martinson, who read a statement proclaiming the board's "strong support" for Greenwood and Apple after both of them apologized to the regents for not performing well in the Stevie Wonder blunder aftermath during a seven-and-a-half hour closed-door executive session Wednesday.

"That looked more like media spin than anything else," the fourth regent said about Martinson's statement. The regents admonished Apple and Greenwood during the private session, sources said.

SA: Concert debacle increases UH faculty's doubts over competence of leadership

read … Greenwood the Great

LUC Votes Unanimously to Reopen Kihei Mall Issue

MN: The state Land Use Commission (LUC) voted unanimously today in a show cause motion hearing to reopen the file and further examine the status of the disputed use of the Pi'ilani Promenade and Maui Outlets property, two proposed malls in Kihei.

Six of the nine-member body heard testimony, reviewed the file and voted to further examine the issue in a full-blown evidentiary hearing. A quorum is five of the nine members.

The well-attended hearing took place at the Royal Lahaina Resort in the Maui Ballroom.

read ... Kihei Mall

Poll Opened 10 Minutes Late in Puna

HTH: Hope Cermelj, a nonpartisan candidate who garnered 35 votes in the Aug. 11 primary to nonpartisan opponent Moke Stephens’ 32 votes, needed 344 votes — 10 percent of the total cast for the office — in order to face off against Hanohano in the Nov. 6 general election. Hanohano had 3,371 votes.

Cermelj, who is representing herself, filed a hand-written petition with the court. It was accepted and granted a case number, she said. Now she’s serving papers against County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi and state Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago. She’s hoping the court will grant oral arguments, although it is not required to do so.

Although two of the three Puna polling places where she was a candidate opened on time and the third opened just 10 minutes late, Cermelj said she witnessed at least five people being turned away and not allowed to vote. The customary practice when a voter is not listed in the poll book is to allow him or her to vote a provisional ballot, she said.

read ... 10 Minutes to the Supreme Court

Occupy Protests vs HELCO Rate Hike

HTH: Supporters of the Occupy movement in Hilo hold illuminated signs Thursday night on Highway 11 across from Prince Kuhio Plaza “to express their outrage over the abusive hikes and business practices of the state’s utility monopoly.”

read ... Occupy pranks HELCO

Gore Climate 'Reality' training for 11-year old

GL: UH Lab School student Chris Pascua, 11, was among the youngest attendees at this week's North American Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training in San Francisco.

The program — as well as The Climate Reality Project — was developed by former U.S. vice president and Nobel Peace prize winner Al Gore. Chris was one of about 1,000 participants selected from throughout the globe to participate in the three-day training session this week.

He was nominated by the Blue Planet Foundation, which helped sponsor his trip. Blue Planet was impressed by Chris's remarkable ability to engage an audience when he spoke at a youth energy rally at the state Capitol last year.

read ... Brainwashing

Pflueger's Ka Loko manslaughter trial pushed back again

SA: The manslaughter trial for 86-year-old retired car dealer James Pflue­ger over the 2006 Ka Loko dam breach that had been set for Oct. 1 has been postponed again, this time until next year at the earliest.

Pflueger is charged with recklessly causing the deaths of seven people when the dam broke and sent hundreds of millions of gallons of water from the Ka Loko reservoir toward Kauai's North Shore, sweeping the seven to their deaths.

On the day before a hearing Thursday on a request by Pflue­ger to dismiss the charges, his lawyers and the state attorney general's office filed an agreement postponing the trial and the dismissal hearing.

The trial was postponed pending a status conference before Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano in the first week of March to reset the trial date, according to the stipulation.

The lawyers also agreed to postpone the dismissal hearing without setting a new date.

Pflueger's lawyer, David Min­kin, and Deputy Attorney General Vince Kane­moto declined to comment on reasons for the postponements.

Pflueger, however, is scheduled to go on trial in February in federal court on tax charges of conspiracy, filing false returns and setting up a Swiss bank account to avoid reporting money from a California land sale.

read ... Running down the clock

HGEA Backing Kollar for Kauai prosecutor

KGI: Across Hardy Street, Justin Kollar, candidate for the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, had a bunch of his supporters sign-waving ahead of the political forum coordinated by the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce.

“I went across the street, hoping someone would come and help,” Olsen said. “At first, people kept telling me I need to talk to so and so, but in the end, we had enough people to help serve and care for the people in need.”

Joining Olsen, Gerald Ako of the HGEA said the organization normally pays a visit to an organization to help so this was nothing new.

Becky Komaki, the creator of the ono West Kaua‘i Methodist Church malasadas, was joined by Priscilla Badua, also of the West Kaua‘i Methodist Church and a longtime helper at the Waimea Town Celebration, Dale Shimomura and Keith Aoki exchanged their signs for serving spoons for the task at hand.

read ... HGEA trades signs for spoons to help feed people

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·         PR: Senator Akaka, Ex-Im Bank Director Host Exporter Forum for Hawaii Small Businesses

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