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Tuesday, July 16, 2013
July 16, 2013 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 7:27 PM :: 3563 Views

CNBC: Hawaii Highest Cost of Living in USA

Federal Court Strikes Down Kauai Vacation Rental Rules

Lloyds’ List covers the Jones Act debate in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii and Puerto Rico

Council Res 13-158: Backup Ambulance Services for West Oahu

Honolulu: 5th Smartest City in USA

Gay Marriage: Censorship or Equal Rights for Lawmakers?

Ikaika Anderson forms Congressional Campaign Committee

VIDEO: Why Hawaii Shippers are Screaming About the Jones Act

Thought Control: Gay-Atheists Challenge Legislators Right to Meet with Pastors

CB: God and Hawaii politics have long been closely intertwined, testing the constitutional argument that church and state are separate.

Now, with the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings last month on same-sex marriage, Hawaii's often contentious battle between faith and government enters a new chapter. And it's got some state legislators already seeking counsel from faith groups.

Nothing wrong with that. But should that take place in a private meeting at the state Capitol?

read ... Just a Taste of the Censorship and Political Correctness that is to come

Gay Marriage: 18-7 in Senate, House Uncertain

PR: An internal vote count in the state Senate shows that roughly 18 senators would vote for gay marriage, sources say.

Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria confirmed the count, which was conducted after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that legally married gay couples are entitled to federal benefits.

House Majority Leader Scott Saiki said he is about two-thirds' of the way through his count in the House, where support for gay marriage is not as strong.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie is waiting to hear from House and Senate leadership on whether he should call a special session for lawmakers to consider a gay marriage bill. Otherwise, lawmakers would take up the issue when the next session opens in January.

Sources have said they doubt the House and Senate would initiate a special session, which would require two-thirds' support in each chamber, and would instead indicate to the governor that there are enough votes for gay marriage for the governor to call lawmakers back to the Capitol.

Sources say that some of the issues complicating a decision over a special session are the pending federal legal challenge by gay couples to the state's marriage law, complaints filed with the Democratic Party of Hawaii against 11 state House and Senate Democrats who proposed a constitutional amendment on traditional marriage, and Senate President Donna Mercado Kim's history of opposing gay marriage. Kim has been traveling since shortly after the Supreme Court ruling.

read ... A reason for GOP to Launch Legislative Campaigns Now

Whistleblower: Solar Scammers Flawed Bid to Cost DoE $284M

SA: A woman who says she was hired by the state Department of Education to manage its program to use solar and wind energy to cut electrical costs at all public schools says department officials wanted to award a potentially billion-dollar contract to a vendor whose bid was flawed and could wind up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars more than the other vendor's proposal.

Sarah McCann filed a whistle-blower lawsuit in state court Friday against schools Superintendent Kathryn Mata­yo­shi and the DOE. She contends she was fired in June for writing an audit critical of the preferred vendor's bid and for refusing a superior's order to destroy the report.

McCann says in her lawsuit that she was hired Nov. 4 to work with the department's Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Master Plan program. She said one of her responsibilities was to write the second-phase request for proposals to select a vendor. The first-phase RFP was to assess vendor qualifications.

PDF: McCann vs Matayoshi

LINK: McCann vs Matayoshi Exhibits D, E, F

CN: Auditor Says the Fix Was in

2008: Chevron Energy Solutions Expands into Hawaii (Follow the names and see how Chevron has bought into the local power structure.)

read ... Flawed bid would cost state $284M, whistle-blower says

Solar Co Tricks Consumers with Fake $5897.67 'Check'

SA:  The state Office of Consumer Protection has received numerous inquiries about the supposed rebates, but OCP Executive Director Bruce Kim said all he could say at this point is that his office is investigating.

Hawaii’s Better Business Bureau was also investigating the mailings when we contacted it last week.

On Monday the bureau issued a press release saying it too had received “numerous calls” about the “non-transparent offer making the rounds throughout the Hawaiian Islands.” The BBB described it as “a deceptive solicitation.”

According to the BBB, the letter is from “Federal Credit Union” in Scottsdale, Ariz. Calls to the local phone numbers on the $5,897.67 rebate vouchers are forwarded to a call center in Scottsdale, where representatives say they are with the National Rebate Center/Go Green Energy

read ... Energy rebate ‘check’ lures consumers into sales visit

Star-Adv: Feds Can Launch Akaka Tribe By Giving Money to DHHL Claimants

SA: Renewed mediation efforts would be the pono path here, perhaps in conjunction with a legislative directive to resurrect the administrative panel in agreed-to lieu of ending the prolonged legal battle. Lastly, the U.S. Interior Department in the Obama administration should exercise its clout on the state to bring an end to this stalemate and assure claims to deserving recipients while they are still alive....

"This is a political game with the state," lamented Big Island resident Herk Freitas, 66, a class-action plaintiff who the dismantled state panel had recommended receive $123,000 in claims.

read ... Akaka Tribe Coming

Borreca: Rail Leads to Promised Land of Kakaako

Borreca: Mollway is the second federal district judge in Hawaii to protest the current rail plan because it goes within 40 feet of the downtown federal building and there is a fear terrorists could detonate a bomb in a train going by the building.

Transit officials say in response that the elevated rail section near the Prince Kuhio building will be shielded. Unspoken is the architectural fear that the security plan will add to the hulking leviathan image of the train's station plans.

The Beretania Tunnel alternative offers a real response to bringing the train to UH-Manoa where increased transit ridership and fewer car trips would be a good idea.

There are two points against it.

First, it would likely add nearly a billion dollars to the project. With the project already coming in at more than $5 billion, a 20 percent increase is a serious liability.

And the current project is already going to chew up much of Dillingham Boulevard and Nimitz Highway before diving into the promised land of Kakaako, so adding Beretania Street to the hit list just increases the looming construction traffic nightmare.

The second reason, however, is not stated, but just as real. If the train doesn't go through Kakaako and end at Ala Moana, it obviates the need for the transit-oriented development festival planned for Kakaako.

read ... Exclaim

Rothenberg: Hawaii Senate a Race to Watch

Hawaii Senate. This race isn’t in jeopardy of falling into Republican hands. But U.S. Senate seats in Hawaii come open only every few decades, so the Democratic primary between Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and appointed Sen. Brian Schatz should be hard-fought. Schatz is the younger, establishment favorite. Hanabusa is the older favorite of the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s family. Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call rating: Currently Safe Democrat.

CB: From the Grave: Inouye Tweets for Hanabusa

PR: Harkin endorsement

read ... Rothenberg

Council Comes up With Yet Another Scheme to Help Homeless Stay on the Streets

SA: Setting up places where the homeless and others can take a shower, use a toilet and wash their clothes will be discussed by a City Council committee Thursday.

Councilman Joey Mana­han introduced Resolution 13-116, which calls on the Caldwell administration to look into hygiene centers...in downtown Hono­lulu, Waikiki or other places where the homeless congregate.

Locally, the Chinatown Business and Community Association joined with the River of Life Mission in November 2011 to provide a public toilet-only facility from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays during a 90-day pilot period.

Association founder and President Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock said the project cost $10,000 — half of which came from the city and the other half from the sale of T-shirts and private donations. The funding paid for a private security guard and a janitor, she said.

Toilet paper and soap were donated by River of Life.

More than 900 people used the facility, about 90 percent of them homeless, Shubert-Kwock said.

A hygiene facility in Chinatown would be a "win-win" for all parties, she said. "The money spent is worth it to keep our city clean and the needy served."

Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, said such facilities would be particularly beneficial....

MB: Urban Rest Stop comes under fire

URS: 28,000 Homeless People

read ... Helping them Stay on the Streets

Caldwell: Vacation rentals should have a higher tax rate

HM:  A proposal by Mayor Kirk Caldwell could result in higher property taxes for Oahu vacation rental owners.

In an appearance last week on Hawaii News Now’s “Sunrise,” Caldwell discussed possible strategies to pay for city worker raises. One of his suggestions is establishing a two-tier property tax system that would allow the city to increase the rate for owners of upscale properties in which they don’t live.

The mayor’s plan is included in one of several property tax bills the Honolulu City Council will hear on Wednesday. Bill 37 would adjust the real property tax rate for hotels and resorts to include transient vacation units, bed-and-breakfasts and time shares.

It’s a significant tax hike. Those properties that are currently taxed at the residential tax rate — $3.50 for $1,000 of net taxable property — would see the rate go up to $12.40. Caldwell says the change would affect only those who have high-end properties they don’t live in, so hypothetically the tax on a $1 million vacation home  would go from $3,500 to $12,400.

read .. Caldwell Tax Hike

Hawaii Supreme Court says hotel tip lawsuits can proceed

PBN: The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Monday that hotels or restaurants that apply a service charge for the sale of food or beverage services allegedly violate state law by not distributing the full service charge directly to its employees as tip income.

The high court’s opinion, answering a certified question from the U.S. District Court in Hawaii asking whether food and beverage employees could sue if a hotel failed to distribute the full service charge as well as disclose the practice to its customer, said the employees’ lawsuits against the companies can move forward.

KHON: Hawaii hotel workers could be in line for millions in tips

read ... Hawaii Supreme Court says hotel tip lawsuits can proceed

Luddite Lawyer Babbles about Pesticides at Waimea School

KGI: In less than three years, the three restricted-use pesticides have been detected in water or ambient air samples collected at the school, nestled among a checkerboard of agricultural lands farmed by bio-tech seed companies on Kauai’s Westside.

Thomas Matsuda of the state Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Branch points out that all three pesticides were detected at concentrations below screening levels developed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency or the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

read ... Attorney: Pesticides at WCMS violates federal law

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