FULL TEXT: Mollway Letter Blasts Rail for Skipping UH Campus
Stop Rail Files Final Reply to FTA
Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Hawaii Reapportionment Plan
Hirono Team Organizing Schatz Campaign Against Hanabusa
Ed Case: 'I won't be a candidate'
Audit: Kahoolawe Money Gone After 18 years Without a Plan
Health Dep't Harasses Farmers for 'Fugitive Dust'
GAO: Hawaii COFA Cost Estimates 'Inaccurate'
Prop. 8 proponents ask Calif. Supreme Court to uphold rule of law
Sunny Hawaii is home to hottest Democratic primary
Race of jury and attorneys examined in Deedy trial
McDonald's customer testifies he didn't feel threatened by Elderts
Articles: Weaknesses in Compact Impact Reporting, says GAO Official
Protests Heard as Council moves mayor’s property tax proposals forward
KITV: Among the mayor's proposals is Bill 42, which would assess a higher property tax rate for homes costing $1 million or more, as long as the homes are not occupied by owners. According to public records, 316 homes and condominiums with values of $1 million or more have been sold on Oahu through the first six months of the year. In 2012, that number stood at 573....
The mayor is also seeking council approval to curtail property tax exemptions for certain nonprofit groups and corporations, while adding the word transient to the "Hotel and Resort" class. Such language would allow the city to tax bed and breakfast homes and short-term rentals at a higher rate.
Although only a handful of people testified about the mayor's proposals during a council hearing Wednesday, those who did stood in opposition.
read ... Tax Hikes
Rep. Cabanilla on Junket to Azerbaijan, Sen. English to Spain
CB: Gift disclosure statements filed last month by two state lawmakers revealed an unexpected and intriguing donor from half a world away: The Republic of Azerbaijan.
The thriving oil-fueled nation just north of Iran flew Reps. Rida Cabanilla and Mark Takai halfway across the world for the U.S.-Azerbaijan Convention in May....
Azerbaijan spent a total of nearly $8,000 on airfare, food, lodging and more for Cabanilla and Takai for a visit that lasted just a few days — the most expensive gift reported by any member of the Legislature in the past year.
Other legislators’ disclosure statements showed foreign trips as well, but less pricey ones. For instance, Sen. J. Kalani 'Powdernose' English went to Spain thanks to the Club de Madrid, a trip valued at $1,700. And Senate President Donna Mercado Kim went on a $3,000 trip to attend a summit in China that was paid for by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
read ... Azerbaijani Aloha Sends Hawaii Lawmakers Across Planet on Pricey Trip
Broken Trustee Represents Anti-GMO activists
KGI: Attorneys Kyle Smith and Gerard Jervis, who represent the Kauai’s Westside community in an ongoing lawsuit against Pioneer Hi-Bred International, have compiled a list of chemicals used by the company.
They will disclose the information during a public meeting beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at Waimea Canyon Middle School.
Smith said he will also talk about the health risks associated with many of the chemicals used, the recent air quality study at WCMS and County Bill 2491 related to pesticides and genetically modified organisms.
read ... Crooks and Liars
Borreca: Nice Guy Ige Needs Cash Infusion
Borreca: Nothing cries out for a challenger like an unpopular governor approaching a free ride to a second term.
So it was likely that someone would run against Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie — but David Ige?
His decision to leave what would have been a safe reelection next year at first seems irrational, but as one friend in the state Senate said, "David doesn't jump into the pool until he knows how deep it is."
After announcing that he would challenge Abercrombie in the August 2014 Democratic primary, the state Capitol became the impromptu base for the David Ige fan club. Legislators, former legislators and businessmen all said Ige was one of their favorites.
At 56, Ige has served in the House and Senate since being appointed in 1985 by former Gov. George Ariyoshi to filled Arnold Morgado's House seat.
I remember going over to Hawaiian Telephone to interview the young engineer immediately after the announcement. I thought, "What a nice guy; how is he going to last in Hawaii politics?"....
"I am not running against Gov. Abercrombie; this is a natural extension of public service. I think the state can be better and the state can do better," Ige said in an interview.
"When I meet with people, what comes through loud and clear is that obviously there is restlessness in the community; there is a feeling that government is not listening. People don't have a sense they get good value in state government."
...Ige will need a mammoth cash infusion.
"I have every confidence the voter in Hawaii cannot be bought," Ige said. "Since announcing, I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people offering to help."
Ige may get some union endorsements, but Abercrombie is already doing well to get most of the major labor nods. Also, ethnic voting helps somewhat....
read ... Borreca
Mainland Gays Push Special Session for Same Sex 'Marriage'
HNN: "We're hopeful. We believe it should happen now. To make us wait until January is cruel and unusual punishment to the LGBT couples and the children who do not have the protections that they would have now that DOMA has fallen," said convicted thief Michael 'Bitchbear' Golojuch, Jr., GLBT Caucus Chair of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i....
"As Governor Abercrombie has elaborated that needs to be thoroughly reviewed and then we can determine what action would be warranted," said Louise Kim McCoy, Communications Director for Governor Abercrombie.
Senator Sam Slom says same sex marriage isn't a critical issue and doesn't think a special session is appropriate.
"If you want to have a special session than have it on something special and that is really important to Hawaii – about our jobs, about our economy, about the taxes, about the roads, about our healthcare – all of these things. Same sex marriage may be very important to those people who have been lobbying for it for years, but it is not a key issue for the legislature and can wait it's time til next year. There was nothing in the Supreme Court rulings that dictated that this state or any other state should rush to judgment and have a special session in that issue," explained Sen. Slom.
Representative Chris Lee believes marriage equality is inevitable and says a special session is the right direction to take.
"I think it's something that's moving ahead across the nation with a majority of support from virtually everybody – particularly younger generations. I think here in Hawai'i in particular where this debate started so many years ago, we're a state that embraces aloha and diversity – these are things that are important to us – and there's no reason to continue discriminating against anybody. Folks who enter into civil unions here in Hawai'i are accrued state benefits, but at this point don't get the federal benefits, tax status and a number of other things which they would get if we changed the word civil union to the word marriage," said Rep. Lee.
If a special session isn't called, both sides agree you can expect to see a same sex marriage bill introduced next January.
read ... Hawai'i lawmakers consider special session for same sex marriage
Hanabusa Raises $500K
PR: U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa raised $500,000 in the past quarter for her Democratic primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, her campaign said today.
Her campaign said the donations reflect six weeks of fundraising since she announced she was would run against Schatz in May. Seventy-five percent of the donations came from Hawaii, her campaign said.
Hanabusa also had $248,600 in her House account at the end of the first quarter that she can use for her Senate campaign.
Politico: Sunny Hawaii is home to hottest Democratic primary
Reality: www.TheRealHanabusa.com
read ... Q2 - Hanabusa
Prosecution raises race as issue in Deedy trial in Gratuitous Effort to Sway Jury
HNN: Prosecutor Janice Futa questioned U. S. Special Agent Ben Finkelstein about warning Christopher Deedy not to be "lulled into a false sense of security" in Hawaii.
Deedy and Finkelstein were in Hawaii in 2011 to provide security for the APEC summit "There are some people who dislike the federal government and dislike mainlanders," Finkelstein recalled telling Deedy.
He said he told Deedy that "locals" sometimes refer to caucasians as "F---- Haoles."
Pressed by the prosecutor he said he likened the term to "the 'N' word."
HNN: Race of jury and attorneys examined in Deedy trial
read ... Jury Manipulation
Political Machinations Behind Maui Post Office Investigation
MN: If they are hoping to find some nefarious scheming in the direction of the funds, well, that borders on the ridiculous. A project of that size is impossible to hide. Plus, council members were not only advised in advance about the project, documents show their input was sought. And they agreed the post office should be knocked down.
It makes us wonder if some political ambitions are overriding reason. There is a mayoral election next year and that is the only possible reason we see for keeping this particular pot boiling.
Regardless, a formal investigation is a waste of time and money.
read ... Waste of Time and Money
Greenwood’s pay to be $293K in med school faculty post
HNN: The University of Hawaii Board of Regents will vote next week on a proposal to pay outgoing UH President MRC Greenwood nearly $300,000 a year for a tenured faculty post after she completes a year-long leave without pay, Hawaii News Now has learned.
An agenda for next Thursday's regents' meeting calls for the board to approve Greenwood's "leave without pay – personal reasons" from Sept. 1, 2013 to Aug. 31, 2014. The agenda item said she would then become a professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at a monthly rate of $24,470 a month. That comes out to $293,640 a year, roughly 61 percent of her current president's salary of $475,008 annually. She is also paid a $5,000-a-month housing allowance as president.
Greenwood's contract said she "shall be granted tenure as a faculty member in the appropriate field of study and expertise and in the appropriate school within the university, upon appointment…" Greenwood is an expert in diabetes and obesity.
By getting a job at the UH medical school, Greenwood is assured a relatively high salary, since she must be paid commensurate with other professors in the school. Most UH medical faculty are medical doctors whose median pay is $129,367. The highest paid med school professor at UH takes home $344,880, according to salary research by the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the faculty union....
Greenwood's $293,640 pay would be nearly double the 75th percentile of UH medical school salaries, which is $157,755, according to UHPA research.
read ... Greenwood
TheBus Secret Stability
SA: Roger Morton is happy to show off the 21-acre Oahu Transit Services bus complex near Middle Street, recently expanded to position bus transfers near the planned Dillingham rail station.
Part of the tour almost certainly stops in the bus drivers' break room, where about a dozen were waiting over the break in their split shift. One or two were on the stairs, playing guitar and serenading passers-by. There's not much turnover on the job.
"They stay for life," said Morton, 62, born in Toronto but a Honolulu resident since 1967. "I'll tell you a little factoid you won't believe: I'm the eighth general manager since 1898," which is when the original company, Honolulu Rapid Transit, first incorporated.
"Talk about stability!" he added.
read ... Guitar
139 Miles of Roadway Repaved in 6 mos
SA: Six months after announcing an ambitious push to fix the city streets in most need of repair, Mayor Kirk Caldwell says work remains on course to repave 300 lane miles of degraded road on Oahu this year.
Road crews have repaved 139 lane miles across the island since Jan. 1, according to a June 30 Department of Design and Construction report the Star-Advertiser obtained.
The city has 25 repaving projects totaling $200 million that are either in progress or about to start, Caldwell told the City Council in a Wednesday letter — part of his administration's second quarterly update on the repaving project. Twenty of those projects were initiated after he took office, Caldwell stated.
"We're close to 150. It takes a while to ramp everything up, I mean, it's really ramping up," Caldwell added in an interview Wednesday. "We have some major contracts that are ready to be put out to bid that are large, significant amounts of lane miles. Everyone has assured me we'll be on target."
That 300 lane-mile target is part of a larger goal to repave 1,500 of the city's more than 3,500 lane miles during the next five years, while applying slurry-seal to streets in moderate condition so they will last longer.
read ... Sustainable?
Honolulu Getting Younger
G: Honolulu County also isn’t aging to the same degree as the rest of the country, but for reasons different than D.C. and others on this list.
Honolulu’s median age dropped 0.6 years between 2010 and 2012, the largest decrease among the most populous U.S. counties.
Eugene Tian, chief economist for the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, attributes the decline to international migration. The Census Bureau estimates the county’s net international migration was 7,670 from 2011 to 2012, while domestic migration declined by 3,471. Tian said a high percentage of the new residents from abroad were younger, falling into the 20-to-34 age bracket, which increased by nearly 19,000 over the two-year period.
read ... Governing
Alaska AG's office looking at proposed shipping merger
AP: The state is looking at whether the proposed merger of two shipping companies would constitute a monopoly in southeast Alaska and violate antitrust laws, the attorney general's office said.
The office is studying the proposed purchase of Northland Services by Lynden Inc., the parent company of Alaska Marine Lines. Northland Services is a tug and barge carrier providing service between Alaska, Seattle and Hawaii.
read ... Alaska Hawaii
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