Will Christians in Hawaii be Targeted Because of of their Religious Beliefs?
Marriage Evidence Disproves Empty Rhetoric of the Left
CNBC: Hawaii Is the Worst State for Business in the Country
Racially charged murder trial grips Hawaii
Got Land? DLNR Wants to Give You Money
Abercrombie Vetoes 3 Bills, 12 Become Law Without Signature
Hawaii DoH Finds New TB Test Supply, Restarts Testing
Obama Admin Spoons out Money to Hawaii Free Clinics
Sandwich Isles Communications: $12,371 per line annual subsidy
Senator Probes 'Corrupt' POW/MIA Program
Brouhaha over police raises just a pretext to raise taxes
Shapiro: It's hard to tell if they're trying to balance the budget or win an Oscar for best dramatic performance by tax-happy politicians.
The city's $2.16 billion budget for fiscal 2014 included $40 million for police pay raises on the mayor's and Council's belief that officers would get 4 percent a year — the sameamount won by the Hawaii Government Employees Association and United Public Workers.
The award of 4.2 percent was a bit more than expected, but do Caldwell and the Council expect us to believe that after absorbing 4 percent for the much larger HGEA and UPW, a 0.2 percent surprise for a smaller union creates a tax-raising emergency?
This isn't about paying police, but about creating an excuse for more taxes to pay for big looming expenses like the $5.26 billion rail project and rebuilding Oahu's substandard roads and sewers.
The mayor and Council majority can't admit they need higher taxes for these things because they campaigned for office on assurances that money was in place to cover the costs without big new tax hits, now euphemistically called "revenue enhancements."
Anybody paying attention knew this wasn't the case.
Property acquisition estimates for rail have jumped to more than $220 million and growing from $70 million, and construction surcharges on the delayed project have eaten deeply into its $1 billion contingency fund before any track has been laid.
read ... Exactly Right
Now That Rail is Approved, DOT Launches Road Projects
SA: A major rehabilitation project is anticipated to begin in a couple of months on the H-1 Freeway through one of the oldest and most congested sections of the freeway, between Middle Street and the vicinity of Ward Avenue.
Although this yearlong project will be done primarily at night, it will include lane closures and full closures of sections of the freeway. There will be traffic congestion and we ask for the public's patience.
Projects to resurface Vineyard Boulevard, Kalanianaole Highway on the east side, Kamehameha Highway near Mililani and portions of the Pali Highway are all in the design phase and scheduled to go out to bid either late this year or early next year. We are working to coordinate with our stakeholders and get the word out about the upcoming construction.
read ... Had to Create Demand
Obama to Federal Employees: Report Suspicious Behavior or Face Criminal Charges
McC: In an initiative aimed at rooting out future leakers and other security violators, President Barack Obama has ordered federal employees to report suspicious actions of their colleagues based on behavioral profiling techniques that are not scientifically proven to work, according to experts and government documents.
The techniques are a key pillar of the Insider Threat Program, an unprecedented government-wide crackdown under which millions of federal bureaucrats and contractors must watch out for “high-risk persons or behaviors” among co-workers. Those who fail to report them could face penalties, including criminal charges.
Obama mandated the program in an October 2011 executive order after Army Pfc. Bradley Manning downloaded hundreds of thousands of documents from a classified computer network and gave them to WikiLeaks, the anti-government secrecy group. The order covers virtually every federal department and agency, including the Peace Corps, the Department of Education and others not directly involved in national security.
Under the program, which is being implemented with little public attention, security investigations can be launched when government employees showing “indicators of insider threat behavior” are reported by co-workers, according to previously undisclosed administration documents obtained by McClatchy. Investigations also can be triggered when “suspicious user behavior” is detected by computer network monitoring and reported to “insider threat personnel.”
read ... Linchpin for Obama’s plan to predict future leakers unproven, isn’t likely to work, experts say
HECO: Secret Green Energy Deal Eliminates Need for Big Cable
CB: Hawaii energy officials are raising questions about a recent analysis by Hawaiian Electric Co. that says Oahu can meet state renewable energy goals without using undersea cables to tap neighbor island resources.
We “have no evidence that remotely supports that contention, and it is our current understanding that it is not economically feasible,” Richard Lim, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism....
McLeod did his own analysis for one of HECO’s energy scenarios which includes 600 megawatts of wind energy and 800 megawatts of solar energy. He said it would require 5,000 acres of solar panels and 120 new wind turbines standing 500 feet tall. Oahu currently has two wind farms on the North Shore.
HECO attributes the change in Oahu’s energy outlook to a recent call it issued for renewable energy projects on Oahu. The utility received 25 bids and is hoping that the PUC will approve five of them. The bids came in at a combined average of 16 cents per kilowatt hour without factoring in state tax credits, indicating that Oahu could supply large amounts of renewable energy to its grid at a cheaper cost than previously thought.
read ... Then End the Secrecy
DoT to Give $210M to Solar Scammers
PBN: The state Department of Transportation plans to spend $210 million on energy-saving projects at airports across Hawaii, according to a request for proposals issued by the state.
The project would be funded by bonds backed primarily by a guaranteed-savings plan.
The DOT said it is waiting for the results of an investment grade audit to determine the savings and qualifying projects and upon acceptance of the audit, which indicates that the projects are viable, it will negotiate with contractors to finalize the Energy Savings Performance Contract.
read ... Waste of Money
Teamsters ratify new OTS contract with 6.4 percent raise
HNN: The agreement, which calls for a wage freeze for the first 16 months but a 6.4 percent raise during the five-year period, was tentatively reached on Jun 30, which was the day the last five-year contract expired.
It followed several weeks of talks, according to OTS officials, and it covers some 1,400 bus drivers, clerical and maintenance members of Teamsters Local 996....
“We didn’t get as much as we wanted” due to continued slow economic growth, Downey said. However, the Teamsters maintained their same medical benefits, and that was their top priority, she added.
All union employees will remain covered under the Teamsters Health and Welfare plan through a 100 percent employer contribution of $895 a month, according to an OTS statement.
read ... Teamsters ratify new OTS contract with 6.4 percent raise
Soft on Crime Parole Board Prepares to let Dirty Alleged Killer Cop Walk
HNN: "Jenaro Torres is a cold-blooded murderer who deserves to stay in jail where he will not harm another life," she said.
The parole board will issue a decision within two weeks but it said any ruling will be based on sentencing guidelines for assault cases, not murder.
"I know there is a lot of emotion by the family with regard to the letters and their remembrances of their loves ones," said Bert Matsuoka, chairman of the Hawaii Paroling Authority.
"But the murder charge was overturned and is now an assault case and this is how the board is going to have to look at it."
SB 2007: Torres found guilty of 1992 murder
read ... Soft on Crime
After 4.5 mos of Paid Leave, Liquor Commission Considers Firing Director
SA: The Honolulu Liquor Commission is scheduled to discuss Administrator Gregory I. Nishioka's employment status later this month.
Nishioka has been on paid administrative leave since Feb. 28 after public disclosure of ethical violations as a private attorney, and the commission will review the situation in executive session July 18.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell's spokesman, Jesse Broder Van Dyke, said Nishioka did not tell the commission or the administration about signing an agreement to leave the practice of law after a petition was filed against him by the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
read ... City liquor agency will review absent administrator July 18
Mainland Homosexuals Put Hawaii on Target List
R: Activists will focus efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in four U.S. states this year and next, hoping to capitalize on political momentum following Supreme Court victories for gay rights, the Freedom to Marry advocacy group said on Tuesday.
The group is targeting Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey, where legislative measures to legalize same-sex marriage have failed, and Oregon, where there is a drive to put a gay marriage initiative on the ballot in November....
Freedom to Marry also said it is targeting at least six more states to pass same-sex marriage in 2015 and 2016 that may include Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
PR: DePledge Mocks Idea that Gay Marriage is Unsuitable for Children
AP: Minn. gay marriage operative takes national job
Bay Area: More of the Same
read ... Delusions of Grandeur
Hawaii Next Battleground for Anti-GMO Industry
CB: It has become clear Hawaii is the next battle ground for the anti-GMO industry.
Having been involved in this area of science and public policy for over a decade I recognize the all-too-familiar scare tactics in this campaign. The people who protest GMO's have genuine fear but the reasons for their fear are not real.
The science of genetic modification is complex and the average person, politician, activist and even journalist is not able to differentiate between the real science and the prolific pseudo-science that is designed, not to educate, but to generate fear.
read ... Hype Attack
Usual Suspects Make Desultory Effort to Kick Navy off UHM Campus
CB: When the University of Hawaii signed a contract with the military five years ago allowing the U.S. Navy to develop a controversial research lab within UH, a key stipulation was that the results would be publicly available.
But the university and Navy have disclosed few details about the research conducted over the course of the contract. And UH officials appear poised to sign off on a new agreement that would seal the deal on another five years before the public gets a chance to chime in.
The current five-year contract, which was approved by the UH Board of Regents in 2007 and finalized with the Navy’s Sea Systems Command in 2008, expires July 14.
read ... Just going thru the motions
Giraffe Farmer Denies Trying to get Governor Drunk
CB: Every year at this time, public officials from the governor on down are required to report gifts valued at more than $200 received over the past year. These disclosures can be revealing, sometimes funny, sometimes boring, and occasionally suspect.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, for example, received a bottle of Goldeneye Vineyards Anderson Valley Pinot Noir wine, 2005 vintage, valued at $250.
The donor is identified as Chris Racine. According to business registration records, Racine is owner of Mauna Kea Broadcasting, which operates KLEI-TV on the Kona side of the Big Island. Last year, according to published accounts, Racine proposed a giraffe farm on 60-acres of land in West Oahu.
read ... No Giraffes Either
Japan Doubts Obama's 'Pivot to Asia'
NYT: Japan sounded the alarm Tuesday (Monday in Hawaii) on rising security threats in Northeast Asia, warning in a government report of a potential military confrontation with China over maritime disputes, as well as a North Korean weapons program that appeared intent on producing longer-range nuclear missiles.
Japan’s annual defense paper, the first since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December, also raised concerns that budget cuts in the United States and a range of other distractions would hinder Washington’s much-touted “pivot to Asia” — a strategic reorienting of U.S. interests from Europe and the Middle East toward East Asia.
“In its defense strategic guidance, the U.S. presented policies emphasizing a rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region,” the report drawn up by Japan’s Defense Ministry said. “But how its harsh financial situation will impact efforts to translate these policies into reality attracts attention.”
read ... Obama
BLNR, DLNR Positions Filled
EH:At this Friday's meeting of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources,the Kaua`i seat, which has been vacant for a year, will be filled byinterim appointee Shawn Smith. Smith is the general manager of real estatecompany Falko Partners, LLC. Also, after more than three years without one, the state Department ofLand and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) will soonhave an administrator. Frazer McGilvray, senior director for coral reefs,fisheries and food security at Conservation International, will become thenew DAR head on August 26, according to staff.
Read ... www.environment-hawaii.org.
Audio: Palin considering Senate run in Alaska in 2014?
HotAir: Via SarahNet, something newsy from today’s Hannity radio show. The key bit comes from 9:34 to 11:19, or, if you prefer, NewsBusters has a partial transcript. My sense after listening to this is that she’s giving an answer similar to the one Allen West gave when he was asked recently if he’d primary Rubio in 2016.
read ... Hot Air
QUICK HITS: