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No Special Election: Green to appoint Nakashima’s HD1 successor, Dems to submit choices
HTH: … Because there will be no living candidate on the ballot for the House District 1 seat for either the primary election on Saturday, Aug. 10, or the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, it will be up to Gov. Josh Green to appoint Nakashima’s successor.
“The governor has two appointments he has to make — one to fill the remaining unexpired term, and one to fill the next term that begins on general election day 2024,” Scott Nago, state elections chief, said Friday….
(TRANSLATION: No Special Election to fill next term.)
According to law, Nakashima’s successor must be a Democrat. The Hawaii Democratic Party will submit a list of three individuals to the governor, who will select one….
Kusch said two names already have been brought up for a possible successor, but declined to disclose those names, saying he didn’t “want to create an unfair playing field or to taint or intimidate anybody during the process.”
Kusch said he would email District 1 Democrats to inform them about the process and to seek additional names for possible candidates….
Nakashima underwent a kidney transplant last year and had been in a wheelchair since….
read … Green to appoint Nakashima’s successor, Dems to submit choices
Who Needs Elections? Democrats Squabble over Who to Appoint for SD22
Shapiro: … The party’s list included Gates, Eli and Cross Makani Crabbe, Gates’ office manager, who is running in a crowded primary for the House seat Gates is leaving.
Green complained the party didn’t give him the option to appoint an interim senator not running in the primary. He said his higher obligation under the state Constitution is to ensure fair elections by letting voters decide without his thumb on the scale.
Senate President Ron Kouchi objected, however, and demanded Green follow the law. The governor said if he’s forced to make an appointment on July 30 he’ll name Crabbe, which would keep the Senate race level but potentially influence the House election….
A governor once could choose whomever he or she wished as interim legislator, as long as the appointee was from the same political party as the departed lawmaker. But when Linda Lingle was elected Hawaii’s first Republican governor in 40 years, the Democratic Legislature, which included Green, passed laws to handcuff her — including the rule that interim legislators come from a party-supplied list. Green ended up handcuffing himself.
In another irony, Kouchi was among the first beneficiaries of the change, in a situation similar to today’s. He joined the Senate in 2010 when Lingle named him from the party’s list shortly before his primary against John Yamane for a Kauai seat vacated by Gary Hooser.
Kouchi’s objections to Green’s move are as much about Senate politics as the law.
In the factionalized Senate it’s always challenging for leaders to keep control. Shimabukuro was a Kouchi supporter and sought to hand him a like-minded successor. Green’s refusal to play ball likely has a bit to do with the Kouchi group’s bullying of his appointees last session….
read … David Shapiro: District 22 Senate drama is turning Shakespearean
Kill a Monk Seal Pup? DLNR Coverup Shields Public Employees from ‘2-minute-hate’ they unleash on others
A247: … Why did the Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources not begin an internal investigation of the incident until almost a month after the incident, after Freedom of Information Act requests from Envirowatch founder Carroll Cox forced the identities of the dog owners into the open, one of whom was Division of State Parks interpretive technician Lesley MacPherson?
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Office of General Counsel on June 20, 2024 announced that nine days earlier it had assessed a combined penalty of $20,000 against Macpherson, 61, and former Waialua firefighter James Armstrong Lyman, 74, “in the case of an attack by unleashed dogs causing the death of a Hawaiian monk seal pup.” ..
The victim pup “was born to a seal known as RN58 or Luana,” Hawaiʻi Public Radio detailed. “She was seen with her mother for the first time on May 23, 2024 on Oʻahu’s North Shore and reported to be a dog attack victim that same evening.”…
read … $20,000 fine for fatal dog attack on endangered Hawaiian monk seal - Animals 24-7
New lab-test authorization is harmful to HMSA members
SA: … As of July 1, HMSA members have been burdened with a new authorization form for all lab tests. HMSA has partnered with Avalon, a corporation that can deny claims after lab tests have been performed, resulting in unexpected charges for patients. While HMSA claims this policy will save money, the reality is that the increased documentation load on clinics and the hefty fees paid to Avalon will cost the people of Hawaii both in dollars — and perhaps even in lives….
read … Column: New lab-test authorization is harmful to HMSA members
Hawaii County Morgue Overflowing with Bodies
HTH: … HBMC’s morgue, which is in the basement of the main hospital building that was constructed in 1984, “was originally built to accommodate 16 bodies.”
“As of Monday, July 8, we had 24 bodies, four of which were HBMC’s and 19 of which could be transferred to the county,” she said. “Our occupancy rates average 175% to 230% capacity. We average around 20 to 25 bodies, and have gone to as high as 30 to 35 bodies. HPD consistently accounts for over 60% to 70% of the bodies held in the HBMC morgue.”
Cabatu said some bodies remain there for extended periods of time.
“The ‘oldest’ body currently in the morgue entered on Jan. 26, 2024,” she said. “In the past, we have stored bodies for well over seven months, and sometimes over a year, depending upon the HPD case.
“Another past situation involved us storing ‘bones from the Wailuku River’ in our morgue for well over two years.”
Cabatu said that ongoing problems with the morgue cooling system has HBMC looking to effect a “temporary intervention” by replacing “the overworked refrigeration coils.”
“This requires a couple of days and as such the morgue should be ideally emptied or census greatly reduced. HPD has capacity in their reefer in Kona (Community Hospital),” she said. “We are asking them to transfer the ‘County of Hawaii bodies’ to help make the repairs possible.”…
read … Hospital morgue overcapacity: Hawaii County urged to build its own facility
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