Solar Scam: DoE Overpays $612M for Athletic Supporter?
Neil Abercrombie Conspiracy Theory Claims Inouye Letter Conspiracy
On-Going Need to Examine Who Pays for County Government
University of Hawaii Pres gets Sweet Deal to Leave Early
Abercrombie v Ige: Senate on 'Road to Chaos'
Borreca: Ige appears now to be both running WAM and his campaign to become governor. This will get complicated really fast.
Democratic senators, who asked not to be named, worry the 2014 legislative session will have a new twist with Abercrombie submitting his budget to the person who wants to put him out of office.
Any governor campaigns by larding the budget with campaign goodies. Fulfilling campaign promises via the budget is one of the most powerful advantages of incumbency. Letting your primary opponent in on deciding how to craft the final budget is bound to raise an eyebrow or two.
"There are going to be things in the budget because it is an election year. How will they decide what will be included?" said one Democrat.
"I would say it will be a little uncomfortable," said another senator....
If Ige were to draft a state budget that upsets both Abercrombie and Abercrombie loyalists in the Senate, it would be the road to chaos.
What it does, said another senator, is create "two executive branches."...
The Senate is not one happy family; it is a group of factions, all looking for power. Ige's position as WAM chairman helped balance out the various groups.
"There is a gentle, delicate balance between the factions. If Ige left, it could force major changes in the Senate," said one senator....
Or as one Senate veteran explained: "If we alienate each other or the fifth floor (administration), it is going to be just too crazy for words."
read ... Abercrombie Pushing to Dump Ige as WAM Chair
Obamacare Bottom Line Still Being Negotiated--Secret 'til October 1
SA: Just around the corner lurks the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly called the ACA or "Obamacare," so naturally people want to know from Ito how much they'll be paying for health insurance in the near future.
At the earliest, people won't see that bottom line until Oct. 1, when the Hawaii Health Connector, like other online insurance marketplaces developed in states nationwide, is due to open for business under the new federal law. And that will spell things out for individuals and small businesses that are eligible for the online exchange, not for people who get their insurance as most now do, through their employer.
Employer groups are still in discussions with insurance carriers about pricing for benefit packages under the new rules, which may hinge more directly on factors such as the age of the workers....
Ito did have some actuarial estimates to share. A 35-year-old individual on average would pay a $329 monthly premium....
read ... Just the Beginning of the Price You'll Pay
Ruling Sets Stage for October Hearing in DHHL Suit
SA: A state judge presiding over a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has ruled that plaintiffs who waited years for homestead leases can be treated as a group in determining damages, effectively eliminating the possibility that as many as 2,700 separate trials will be held.
The recent ruling by Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall is being hailed by one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys as the most significant development in the case since the court in 2009 determined the state failed to meet its trust obligation by not issuing leases in a timely fashion....
Johnston said many plaintiffs likely would have determined that the potential damages in their own situations would not justify pursuing a lawsuit....
The state had argued unsuccessfully that the plaintiffs should not be treated as a class in the damages phase because of the wide variety of facts involving many of the cases and the need to screen those using the court-approved rules.
“We believed and still believe that there are too many individual differing circumstances that need to be taken into account in order to make the determination for a huge number of these individuals as to what appropriate damages are,” Attorney General David Louie said in an interview last week.
He downplayed the notion that the state was arguing for 2,700 trials.
“I don’t think anybody was realistically going to hold 2,700 separate trials on anything,” Louie said.
But while the facts in some cases will be undisputed, the court still must determine how the disputed ones will be decided, he added.
“Some of these claims may need to be resolved with individual trials,” Louie said.
The October trial will not deal with individual claims. Instead, it will determine the rental values to be used to calculate out-of-pocket expenses the eligible plaintiffs can claim for damages, based on their wait for a homestead.
While the long waits accounted for the main breaches alleged in the lawsuit, others — including lost applications and the awarding of homestead lots that were uninhabitable — still must be decided, creating even more uncertainty on how long the case will last.
read ... DHHL
UH is sweet on salaries and studies, but not sports
Shapiro: » UH regents agreed to pay outgoing President M.R.C. Greenwood $24,470 a month as a part-time medical school professor, but said she won't be paid for the six months a year she'll spend on the mainland. I hope they're not paying for both of her houses.
» UH is spending $224,000 for yet another outside study of the $200,000 Stevie Wonder concert scam. By my math, all the money blown on consultants could have covered both the concert loss and the athletic department's $1.8 million annual deficit.
» After an ethics ruling, UH athletic director Ben Jay said he'll trim $2.5 million in free tickets handed out each year for Rainbow Warrior sports events. I wonder if state legislators who exempt themselves from ethics rules still get freebies.
read ... Shapiro
No Joke: Al Gore endorses Schatz for Senate
SA: "And we're going to need Brian's strong, outspoken leadership in Congress for many more years to get the job done," Gore said in a statement (given to reporters by his masseuse).
He also cited Schatz's work with House and Senate lawmakers on carbon-pricing legislation, which would require large polluters to pay a fee based on the amount of pollution released into the environment. The fee could be used to help offset energy costs for low-income consumers and reduce the federal budget deficit.
Al Gore sold out to Big Oil for $500M. The Hawaii DoE sold out to Big Oil BY GIVING AWAY $612M.
read ... One Sellout Endorses Another
Espero to tout experience in primary candidacy for U.S. House seat
SA: Espero first ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature as a Republican, a party he aligned with at the time because he thought the GOP was stronger on military issues. He was chosen by Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi to manage the city's neighborhood board system in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was appointed as a Democrat by Gov. Ben Cayetano to fill a House vacancy in 1999 and was elected to the House in 2000. He was elected to the Senate in 2002.
Espero has worked in property management for D.R. Horton-Schuler Division and the Ewa by Gentry Community Association.
May 24, 2013: Report: Espero Expects to Announce Congressional Candidacy
read ... Espero
Star-Adv: Don't Let Homeless get too Comfortable on the Street
SA: A proposal before the City Council to consider "hygiene centers" — perhaps they're better understood as service centers — is generating some enthusiasm as well as apprehension in the community, and both reactions are justified.
The centers are generally envisioned as a public space for people to use restrooms and showers, as well as gain social and health services. The danger of directing too much energy and resources toward such projects is that they could distract policymakers from the core mission of getting people housed and on the road back to stable living conditions.
The city administration indicated last week that it wants to remain focused on its Housing First initiative, which at the outset targets the needs of the chronically homeless. That is the right first step, given that this most vulnerable population, beset with a mix of mental-illness and substance-abuse problems, quickly deteriorates on the street and causes a strain on the social safety net.....
Some from the medical community have suggested that the University of Hawaii medical school's mobile clinics serving the homeless could be stationed at the centers on a set schedule, and that sounds like an effective way to coordinate services.
However, city and state officials must take care to keep such stopgap measures from simply making life on the streets more comfortable.
Drew Astolfi is state director of the nonprofit Faith Action for Community Equity, which concentrates on issues of housing and poverty. His preference is for the city to pursue policies encouraging development of very low-cost, single-room occupancy (SRO) apartments that are paired with services — permanent housing, not accommodations to the street.
He doesn't object to the centers but doesn't want them to overtake the agenda.
"We don't want to be a society that's comfortable with a permanent homeless class, which is where I think this could end up," he said.
read ... FACE
Caldwell to sign bills banning smoking at beaches, parks
SA: Honolulu City Council members unanimously passed bills 25 and 28 on July 10. The bans take effect Jan. 1.
Penalties range from $100 for a first violation to $500 for three or more violations.
The bill signing will be held at 11 a.m. at Kuhio Beach on Kalakaua Avenue next to the Duke Kahanamoku Statue.
Supporters who spoke out at the City Council meeting said the bills would help the environment and make public recreational spaces healthier for beach and park-users.
Opponents contend the bills encroach on people’s rights, and some have said they plan to exploit a loophole in the law that permits smoking in state waters along the shoreline.
The bills were initially scheduled to take effect upon the mayor’s approval, but the Council pushed back the enforcement date to allow time for public education and for signs to be put up.
read ... Marijuana OK
Challenges could not slow down Molokai activist Larry Helm
SA: A tribute to Helm will be held Saturday at St. Damien Catholic Church in Kaunakakai. Visitation will be from 8 to 10:45 a.m., with eulogy and Mass following until noon. Burial will follow at the Kanakaloloa Veteran Cemetery in Hoolehua.
read ... Challenges could not slow down Molokai activist
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