Temptation: Offered Millions, Catholics Reject Abercrombie's Attempt to Re-Write Curriculum
Bishop Silva: "Marriage has eroded because we have allowed so many things"
‘American Paranoia About Racism’ Nailed by Thai Dountman
HECO: Biodiesel Price Must be Competitive With Diesel
UH Manoa has New Trick to Justify Lack of Global Warming: Reverse Cause and Effect
Family Promise of Hawaii: 63 Churches Help Homeless Families Get off Streets
MRC Greenwood Shares 'Final Thoughts'
Rail Construction Could Re-Start Sept 16
SA: Construction on the largest public works project in Hawaii's history could resume as early as Sept. 16 now that Honolulu rail officials have the state archaeological survey approvals they need.
The State Historic Preservation Division this week gave its nod to the $5.26 billion rail project's archaeological inventory survey — an approximately 8,000-page report on the more than 420 trenches dug to find cultural sites and burials across the planned 20-mile route.
Officials with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation announced the approval Friday after receiving an Aug. 29 letter from Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairman William Aila Jr.
PBN: Hawaii Historic Preservation Division approves Honolulu rail surveys
read ... Rail Project
Farrington Principal Outraged by Atheist Lawsuit
RG: In his message last Sunday at New Hope Oahu, Cordeiro read from a letter he said was written by Catherine Payne, former principal of the high school where the church had met for years. Payne said that between New Hope’s donations to renovate the school’s auditorium and its members’ volunteer work to clean and secure the campus, if anything, the school “had been overcompensated” by New Hope, according to the letter. Payne’s letter also said the school had not charged the church for all the hours the church used the school.
Cordeiro said New Hope’s lawyers would soon file a motion asking the Hawaii attorney general to dismiss the suit.
The churches are expected to file an answer by Sept. 16. The churches’ lawyer, Erik Stanley, also called the lawsuit frivolous and said it should be dismissed.
“New Hope does not owe any money to the schools,” said Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom.
“The lawsuit is based on the idea that there was some type of a fraud on the part of the churches and somehow the government did not know,” he said. “The government knew what the church was doing and approved of it. That’s why I think this lawsuit is just intended to harass these churches.”
The letter from Payne, the former Farrington High School principal, stated that, “Every week we found on Monday our campus in a better condition than when we closed school of Friday.” Church members and volunteers scoured the bathrooms, picked up trash, mowed lawns or trimmed shrubs, if needed, installed lighting and audiovisual equipment in the auditorium that the school was free to use, and made other improvements to the campus, the letter said.
“While it is true we did not charge for all of the hours you were on our campus ... we did not charge you because your presence at those times benefitted us,” the letter said, referring to overnight security the church provided, which Payne said stopped weekend break-ins and vandalism at the school.
“I was outraged at the (lawsuit allegation) that we have been cheated out of monies that were owed,” she wrote.
read ... Motion to Dismiss
Bishop: Jesus was not crucified because he pleased everyone and said everything they wanted to hear
SA: Jesus Christ may have dined at the same table with prostitutes and tax collectors and embraced them in love, but he never condoned their behavior, says the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu's Bishop Larry Silva.
Interfaith groups who are rallying behind the passage of a marriage equality bill for Hawaii "espouse the gospel of inclusion" as something to be valued above all else, he said, but Jesus also called for society's outcasts to change their ways.
"I've gotten many emails chastising me for not doing what Jesus would do," Silva said in an interview, referring to the church's stance that homosexuality is a sin and lobbying against same-sex marriage. "But I think people forget that Jesus was not crucified because he pleased everyone and said everything they wanted to hear. He spoke the truth and it got him into trouble."
Silva's comments to the Star-Advertiser were in reference to his "urgent letter to all Catholics" in the state, which was published in the Hawaii Catholic Herald and which he asked to be included in parish bulletins. The letter called on believers to "mobilize to action" by contacting their legislators and reciting the rosary.
The letter can be read at www.catholichawaii.org, along with a homily explaining the diocese's stance on homosexuality to a Maui congregation Aug. 22. In his homily Silva said, "Jesus included prostitutes and tax collectors in his inner circle and loved them, but in no way did he condone or endorse prostitution or the exploitation of the vulnerable. His love for them called them to change their ways.
read ... Dioceses leader urges parishioners to mobilize against a gay-marriage bill
House Dems to meet with Abercrombie over gay marriage
SA: The private caucus is scheduled for Friday morning at the state Capitol.
PR: Caucus
read ... Bribery, Horse-trading, CIP
Obamacare: Insurers, Hospitals, Big Pharma Rake in Bucks
SA: Most investors expect insurance companies to enjoy greater enrollment, pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturers to fill more prescriptions, and hospitals to benefit from higher utilization. Jim Russell, senior equity strategist with the U.S. Bank Wealth Management Group, touts the health care industry as the best-performing sector in the first half of 2013....
...there was a one-year delay given on the mandate for employers of 50 or more to provide health insurance to workers. This move caused health care stocks to retreat across the board....
...the road to reform has been bumpy and painful.... there will be winners and losers....will the trifecta of increased access, reduced cost and truly improved care become a reality? That remains to be seen.
read ... Dr Ira Zunin
Homeless Woman Set to Return to Mainland Without State Help
CB: A homeless woman and her Pomeranian pooch are bound for the mainland, just not the way state Rep. John Mizuno envisioned.
He had planned to hold a press conference Friday morning to explain the middle-aged woman’s plight to the public and solicit donations for a one-way ticket that would take her back to her sister in New Jersey.
But at the last minute the woman's family backed out. They decided that the publicity would be embarrassing for the woman and their family, who have strong ties to Hawaii, and they said they'd come up with the money for her flight.
In addition to helping the woman, Mizuno intended to highlight the greater need for the “return-to-home” program. The voluntary program aims to reunite homeless people with their relatives on the mainland by using taxpayer money to pay for the flights.
KITV: Controversial homeless program to buy plane tickets hits a snag
read ... Return to Family
HCF, Gerbode Give $10K Cash to 9-11 Truthers' Funder
PBN: The Hawaii Community Foundation, in partnership with the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, has given a total of $40,000 to four Hawaii nonprofit leaders as part of its annual Hookele Awards, which give nonprofit leaders the chance to renew themselves and avoid potential burnout.
Nancy Aleck, CEO of Hawaii People’s Fund (Funder of 9-11 trooothers); Nalani Fujimori Kaina, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii; Carol Yotsuda, executive director of Garden Island Arts Council; and Kenneth Zeri, president and chief professional officer of Hospice Hawaii each received $10,000.
read ... Profitable Non-Profits
State Attacks Micronesians Again in Futile Grab for Federal Money
HNN: The state pays millions of dollars a year to help Micronesians living in Hawaii.
It’s the result of an agreement that was signed by the federal government. Where is the federal money to help pay for it?
About one percent of Hawaii’s population is from Micronesia....
However between 2004 and 2010, Hawaii spent more than $52 million on public assistance benefits through the Department of Human Services alone.
Money also goes to the education of Micronesian students here.
read ... State wants more federal funds to pay for Micronesians
State Capitol Roof Job Botched
KITV: A $4.5 million roofing job at the state capitol isn't exactly going perfectly and the contractor is working to make sure there aren't more problems over the long weekend.
A construction project to fix a leaking roof at the state capitol is actually creating a leaking roof. But the contractor says there is another side to this roofing story.
Lawmakers often get flooded with requests. But some on the fourth floor of the state capitol have been swamped with soggy ceiling tiles, some that have caved in and even broken some gifts.
"Unfortunately it's broken and we had a couple other damaged items here," said Representative John Mizuno, (D) House Vice Speaker, as he held a broken vase that was on the desk beneath the collapsed ceiling.
Representative Mizuno was one of at least four lawmakers whose offices sustained damage over the long Admissions Day weekend....
Construction workers with subcontractor Beachside Roofing are replacing the 20 year old roof on the 5th floor of the capitol. However the old roof has a foam padding in between layers that has been saturated over time. When they tear out the old material it exposes cracks and then the water from the foam leaks out down into the offices. It happened on the Friday no one was working below to notice and got worse over the weekend.
"That was a disaster. That was catastrophic for tile here. The water pooled and you had a bunch of fall ins," said Rep. Mizuno. "The general contractor takes the hit too as well as the subcontractor but taxpayers lose too so this hurts everyone. We just have to be a lot more akamai about doing business and planning ahead."
Now before this extended Labor Day weekend general contractor Kaikor Construction says it is not tearing out anymore roof. It's only sealing exposed areas. The hope is when lawmakers come in on Tuesday they won't see a mess like this again....
read ... Foam Roof
Wahiawa General Hospital pays $451,428 in improper billing suit
KITV: According to the Justice Department, the Central Oahu hospital incorrectly billed the Medicare, TRICARE and state Medicaid programs for services provided by resident doctors without the proper level of supervision required by federal law.
Those faulty claims were alleged to have taken place between April 2008 and March 2011 by resident doctors in the Family Practice Residency Program.
The claims indicate that the hospital did not provide adequate documentation of the required supervision by the program's teaching faculty, where the coding of services performed could not be confirmed by the doctors' entries in the patients' medical records.
The claims in this suit were born of a whistleblower lawsuit by a doctor working at the Physicians Center of Mililani, an out-patient clinic operated by Wahiawa General.
read ... How to Fund Your Hospital
Councilmember Ann Kobayashi fined $500 for ethics violation
SA: City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi has agreed to pay a $500 fine for not disclosing her role as a director for six credit union subsidiaries when she introduced and voted for a bill that would have affected credit unions, the city Ethics Commission said Friday.
But Kobayashi said she is unhappy with the commission's handling of the case because she had made public her interest with the Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union subsidiaries in an annual financial disclosure filed several months before the vote in question. In addition, she said, the bill for which she is being penalized would not have benefited credit unions but actually would have allowed them fewer exemptions and possibly increase their taxes.... (Meanwhile at HART ....)
At issue is Bill 41 (2012), a measure that would have allowed credit unions an unspecified percentage exemption from property taxes owed to the city. Kobayashi introduced the bill and voted for it on first reading on April 25, 2012. Kobayashi was an unpaid director of the Credit Union Service Organization of Hawaii, an umbrella group of six wholly owned subsidiaries of Aloha Pacific.
(Translation: This is retaliation by pro-rail faction)
LINK: Adv Opinion
read ... Councilmember Ann Kobayashi fined $500 for ethics violation
Difficulties paying Expenses: Zanzabar Closes
SA: Today, many facets of the club are severely worn or outdated, according to Boersema (top advisor to Abercrombie). "The club is badly in need of a major renovation if it is to remain competitive," he said, noting that sales dropped this year and created difficulties paying expenses.
Renovating again was considered, but Boersema said a new long-term lease required to justify a large investment could not be arranged with the building's owner.
Zanzabar is the third late-night gathering spot to close at Waikiki Trade Center in the past few years. The Black Diamond nightclub closed about two years ago, followed by The Shack, a sports bar, last year. At one time, the concentration of entertainment establishments in the building staying open till 4 a.m. raised concerns from the Honolulu Police Department and Honolulu Liquor Commission due to a relatively high occurrence of fights between patrons.
2011: Governor’s New Communications director Is Chairman Of Unity House, Owner of Troubled Nightclub, Gambling Advocate
read ... What Abercrombie's Key Advisors Have Been doing
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