September 11, 2013 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

“I think the governor knew of what the challenges were so hopefully he did his homework before he called the session,” said Rep. Mark Nakashima, D-Hamakua, Hilo.

Nakashima said he has heard from both sides of the issue stating they have the votes they need.

“Sometimes you have to pull the trigger to see who is right,” he said. “In this case, it probably would be important to really know in advance what the numbers are before you kind of move ahead on it.”...

Rep. Clift Tsuji, D-Hilo, was the most critical of the decision, noting that even four or five days may not be enough to settle the debate.

“It’s like a two-minute offense … going for the touchdown and throwing a Hail Mary,” he said, using a football analogy....

Rep. Richard Onishi said he has received close to 100 emails a day on the issue, including many form emails which are identical....

As far as the task force is concerned, the issue is in the hands of the Legislature.

Its chairman, Avi Soifer, dean of the University of Hawaii’s William S. Richardson School of Law, said the group has formed but isn’t scheduling a meeting until it sees what comes out of the special session.

“We are kind of waiting to go if we need to,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s much for us to do at this point.”

NA: Hawaii Governor Pressing for Legalization of Gay "Marriage"

read ... Lawmakers react to gay marriage special session

Council to vote on Massive Property Tax Hike for Elderly

SA: The City Council will vote today on a proposal to establish a new tax classification for houses and condominiums valued at $1 million or more, allowing the city to tax them at a higher rate than other residential parcels.

Bill 42, however, would shift into a new "Residential A" class only those properties that do not have home exemptions....The $1 million threshold, which was first proposed by the Caldwell administration,...

Lowell Kalapa, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, submitted written testimony questioning the fairness of assigning a higher tax rate to properties valued at $1 million or more "when the kind and amount of demand for city services is or will be the same." Kalapa said the bill could also discourage developers from creating homes in that category when the profits from the sale of those properties are sometimes used to help subsidize affordable units.

Also up for a final vote today is Bill 40, which would repeal multiple exemptions for homeowners 65 or older that increase as they get older....

read ... Tax Hike

Kauai Council defers Anti-GMO Bill 2491, again

KGI: More than 12 hours into a committee meeting, the Kauai County Council opted Monday to defer — for the second time — a bill that would allow the county to regulate pesticide use and genetically modified organisms on the island.

The council’s Economic Development (Agriculture) Committee will resume discussion on Bill 2491 on Sept. 27, when members will likely introduce several amendments that were floated this week.

Had it been up to Councilman Ross Kagawa, the committee would have cut to the chase and voted Monday....

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said the council should work on bringing the island back together by amending the bill in a way that achieves protection without unintended consequences. As-is, Bill 2491 would cut the farmable land at Kauai Coffee — the only non-GMO company that would be affected — by 50 percent, according to Yukimura.

read ... Council defers Bill 2491, again

Delegation Stories Differ on How Much Pork Hawaii getting

CB: On Monday at 5:27 a.m., U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono issued a press release announcing more than $21 million was coming our way from the U.S. Department of Transportation. It includes $10,522,090 for “runway rehabilitation” at Honolulu International Airport.

Then, at 6:45 a.m., U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz issued a press release announcing more than $23 million was coming our way from DOT. It includes $10,522,090 for “runway pavement rehab” at HNL.

Then, at 1:54 p.m., U.S. Reps. Colleen Hanabusa issued a press release announcing that she and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard were announcing that more than $17 million was coming our way from the DOT. It includes $10,522,090 for “Phase II of the runway rehabilitation project at Honolulu International Airport.”

read ... Can't Figure

Is Hawaii Living Up to the Rhetoric on Clean Energy?

CB: ...Hawaii's cost per kilowatt hour "is probably the highest anywhere in the developed world, certainly in the United States — in some instances 40-plus cents a kilowatt hour."....

grumblings within Hawaii's clean energy sector that there is a lack of leadership and no clear vision for Hawaii's energy future.

In 2010, as Abercrombie campaigned for governor, he pledged to create an Independent Hawaii Energy Authority that would lead the state’s transition to renewable energy. But the new state agency never materialized....

Abercrombie’s overarching vision — connecting the islands’ electric grids via underseas cables — has come into question in recent months.

Hawaiian Electric Co.’s five-year energy plan, released in July, concluded that Oahu could affordably meet its own energy needs without tapping neighbor island resources. The state energy office quickly retorted that the office had “no evidence that remotely supports that contention.”

CB: Throwing Away Geothermal Energy on the Big Island

read ... Is Hawaii Living Up to the Rhetoric on Clean Energy?

Once-troubled: The Big Island's Na Wai Ola earns 364 of 400 points for student achievement

SA: A Hawaii island school that four years ago was close to losing its charter amid financial troubles and lagging test scores was recognized Tuesday as one of the state's top-performing public schools.

Na Wai Ola, formerly Waters of Life, was among 14 schools awarded more than $1 million in prizes for academic performance on a new accountability system the state Department of Education is calling Strive HI.

read ... Turn Around

Star-Adv: School AC Not Worth $1B

SA: The prospect of air conditioning in every classroom probably sounds dreamy to them.

The reality is that fulfilling such a promise would cost an estimated $1 billion. A rally planned for Sept. 26, led by students and teachers, surely will garner public sympathy, but the reality is there is nowhere near the money in state coffers

read ... But Look at Next Story

Political Insiders Get $200M for Seawater AC Scheme

SA: A company seeking to develop what would be Hawaii's second seawater air-conditioning project said it has received letters of intent from some of Waikiki's biggest hotels and other businesses interested in the electrical savings promised by the plan.

Kaiuli Energy has received authorization from the state to issue $200 million in special-purpose revenue bonds for the project that could replace conventional air-conditioning systems in an area stretching from Kakaako to Waikiki by 2018.

Potential customers that have signed letters of intent include the Hawai‘i Convention Center, Royal Hawaiian Resort, Royal Hawaiian Center, Sheraton Waikiki, Westin Moana Surfrider, Sheraton Waikiki and the Hilton Hawaiian Village, said Darryl Nakamoto, a partner in Kaiuli Energy.

With roughly 40 percent of a typical hotel electrical bill going to run conventional air-conditioning systems, using naturally chilled deep seawater could produce significant cost savings for hoteliers, Nakamoto said in a panel discussion at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit.

read ... About What's Worth Spending on

What Kickstarting Classrooms Says About Hawaii Schools

CB: Mrs. Romero really needs eight cushions so that her elementary school pupils don't have to sit on the cold, hard tile at her feet during reading time.

Rather than do it the old-fashioned way, by turning to her Parent Teacher Association in search of donations, she is reaching out directly to the public via a crowdfunding campaign.

On the Donors Choose website, she explains why anyone who wants to should help to satisfy her students' needs. "Upper elementary classes are not set up to have students seated on the floor," she wrote as part of her plea.

read ... Kickstart

Lawsuit claiming rape filed against former HPD officer

KHON: The suit alleges Todd Dickerson raped a woman while on duty in September of 2011.

According to court documents filed Monday the woman was raped at a Kailua parking structure.

read ... Another Day in the HPD

MMMC faces lawsuit by registered nurses

MN: Simonds said the four nurses had worked their way up to be case managers, who coordinate medical care for patients to make sure a team approach is used.

They were discriminated against and harassed by their supervisor, a registered nurse who is Caucasian and who held the position of case manager director from approximately 2005 through July, the lawsuit alleges. On one occasion at lunch, she allegedly told the plaintiffs' Caucasian co-worker that "she should not sit with the 'backstabbing Filipinos,' referring to plaintiffs and other Filipino workers," according to the lawsuit.

Bates, who still works at the Wailuku hospital, was denied promotions, vacation requests and special assignments and suffered intimidation, threats and unfair performance evaluations, according to the lawsuit.

The four nurses went to hospital managers, including Chief Executive Officer Wesley Lo and the hospital's director of clinical operations, many times starting in 2008 to notify them of the discrimination and the complaints, the lawsuit says.

"Neither . . . took effective corrective action to stop the discrimination," according to the lawsuit.

When Bates filed a grievance, Lo found against her, and her union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, didn't take the grievance to arbitration, Simons said. He said another grievance Bates filed in 2012 has been pending for more than a year....

read ... Lawsuit

Sovereignty Mortgage Scammer Attacks McKinley Statue to Advance His Scam

KITV: A century-old bronze statue of President William McKinley is making waves in some circles in the native Hawaiian community.

"What you have depicted on that scroll in his right hand, is not correct," said Keanu Sai, a lecturer at Windward Community College.

McKinley is holding a treaty of annexation. But Sai says that's historically inaccurate.... (This false claim is the cornerstone of Sai's current mortgage scam.)

read ... More Censorship or just a Criminal trying to make a buck?

Koa Ridge Meeting Violates Sunshine Law?

ILind: The delayed public notice left Wong suspicious that council members, including committee chairman Ikaika Anderson, provided lots of notice to the developer and little to the public in order to disadvantage the expected opposition.

“So what about the Sunshine Law?” she asked.

State law requires most meetings of public board, commissions, and other bodies be open to the public, and further requires the public to be notified “at least six calendar days before the meeting.”

How does the three-day notice in this instance meet the six-day requirement spelled out in the law?

read ... Koa Ridge

Waianae company accused of illegally dumping before

HNN: The company at the center of the Waianae dumping controversy has been accused of illegally dumping materials by other property owners on the Leeward Coast.

Hawaii News Now has learned that one of the lawsuits filed last year by a Waianae couple alleges that SER Trucking and several other companies dumped hazardous materials at their 6.5-acre parcel, prompting federal and state inquiries.

Another lawsuit filed in 1993 alleges that a company linked to SER, Silva's Equipment Rental, unloaded 11,000 cubic yards of fill on their 2.5 acre parcel without their permission, prompting the city to threaten the landowner with fines of up to $1,000 a day....

The 2012 lawsuit -- filed by John and Charmaine Smith -- says that parts of their Waianae property were elevated by as much 30 feet due to illegal dumping. Materials included rubble from construction sites, oil barrels and fuel, and even a transformer.

The 2012 lawsuit is still pending but the 1993 suit was settled out of court, with the landowners receiving a undisclosed payment....

read ... Dumping

Age 18-21? Marijuana Legal, Tobacco Illegal

HTH: The legal age to buy tobacco products on Hawaii Island would increase from 18 to 21 under a bill set to be discussed next month by the County Council.

If passed by the council and signed by the mayor, the new law would take effect July 1, with a grandfather period for those older than 18 when the law takes effect, according to a draft copy of the bill obtained by West Hawaii Today. Retailers selling to underage customers would be subject to a $500 fine for the first offense and from $500 to $2,000 for subsequent offenses.

The bill is supported by the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii....

read ... Get Something Else to Smoke, Kid

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