Gay Marriage Bill Violates First Amendment
Anti-Aquarium Nuts Attack Big Isle Fisherman For Catching Delicious Tiger Shark
Former HI House candidate sentenced in $1.5 million ponzi scheme
State says LNG is Hawaii’s next energy source
$340K in Fines: Hawaii Wins Back OSHA Job After Unicold Raid
Event Celebrates Military Volunteers at Hawaii Schools
Nine Schools Receive Adjustments to Strive HI Performance System Results
Par Petroleum Announces $200M Stock Deal to Fund Tesoro Buy
Fraudster on PR Blitz as HELCO Geothermal Decision Looms
PBN: A contract to develop a 50-megawatt geothermal project on the Big Island, which some say could cost up to $200 million, is expected to be awarded soon by Hawaii Electric Light Co., Pacific Business News has learned.
At least six companies are said to be in the running to develop the project, including Huena Power, formed by Innovations Development Group, a Native Hawaiian renewable-energy development firm founded in 1998 by convicted fraudster Roberta Cabral....
Huena Power, which says it already has invested a several million dollars in preparation for this development contract, including a television commercial blitz featuring community leaders, brought in some heavy hitters from New Zealand to help it gain some momentum.
Maori Chief Tawhiri Morehu and Maori Trust Attorney Sandra Eru were in Honolulu on Friday to share their experiences with geothermal energy, which supplies about 14 percent of the power in New Zealand....
Reality: Geothermal: How to Divide Hawaiians from their Money
read ... Contract award expected soon for 50MW geothermal project
"Intervenors" Good for interisland cable process
SA: ...there are also good reasons to revisit the idea and recheck the state's assumptions. For instance, a recent document filed by Hawaiian Electric Co. before the Public Utilities Commission indicated that the power utility's own green-energy commitments could be met without the cable being built.
Further, the sale of Lanai to billionaire Larry Ellison and changes ordered by the PUC in the bidding process for renewable energy projects may change the overall calculus for the interisland cable, and that prompted the commission to open a new investigation.
This is a healthy development. We're talking about an enterprise with an estimated price tag of $1 billion. Even if the cable project were to start with a Maui-to-Oahu leg, as has been proposed, it makes abundantly good sense to take second and third looks at it.
That's why what has emerged from the PUC is a smart decision: The commission is allowing seven community, environmental and industry groups to be "intervenors" in its investigation, giving them greater say in whether the cable gets built....
Life of the Land's Henry Curtis said the process will provide understanding of the cable project in all its aspects. We agree. Embarking on such a project without such a full inquiry might be done more quickly, but at risks of expensive missteps the state can scarcely afford.
read ... New look wise for interisland cable
Abercrombie Conspires With Senate Democrats
PR: The caucus had been scheduled before the governor on Monday announced the Oct. 28 special session. Sources say the scope of a religious exemption in the draft gay marriage bill was among the issues discussed.
Internal vote counts have shown that as many as 20 of the 25 senators support
Best Comment: "If the purpose of the Governor's bill is to achieve 'Marriage Equality,' he is addressing the wrong issue. Marriage as it exists today applies equally to all people."
read ... Changing the Family
3 charter schools’ ‘priority’ status is lifted
SA: Steve Hirakami, school director at Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science, said he challenged his school’s initial rating.
“I found our school in the bottom 5 percent of all schools in Hawaii. I’ve never considered our school a low-performing school. Our test scores have always been sufficient,” Hirakami said, adding that the school has met reading proficiency targets the past six years.
After learning of the trigger, he said he pulled the school’s graduation rates for the past three years: 94 percent, 61 percent and 68 percent last year.
“I’m really glad we’re not labeled at the bottom anymore, but this caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety and negativity. We lost some enrollment at the beginning of the year; it really affected morale among the teachers,” Hirakami said.
But he said now the school can focus on improving its graduation rate.
“When you have a small graduating class (34 students last year), every kid amounts to 3 or 4 percentage points. And in Pahoa, there are socioeconomic issues where some students say they can’t afford to stay in school and need to work instead,” Hirakami said. “But now we can forge ahead and focus on the deficiency.”
read ... Charters
43% of Big Isle Homeless are Mentally Ill
HTH: The increase in the homeless population, especially along Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona, has captured the attention of both the County Council and the Police Commission.
The unsheltered chronic homeless population in Hawaii County rose 13.7 percent between 2010 and 2012, according to the state’s most recent point-in-time count.
Chronic homeless, who have substance abuse or mental or physical illness or disability and who have been homeless for at least a year or have had four homeless episodes in the past three years, comprise 43 percent of the county’s homeless, according to the study.
Reality: Mental Health: Can Reform Solve Hawaii’s Homeless, Prison and Unfunded Liability Problems?
read ... They need to be forced into shelters
City Council panel signs off on Koa Ridge rezoning plan
SA: The City Council Zoning and Planning Committee on Thursday night backed Bill 48, a rezoning measure that allows Castle & Cooke Hawai‘i to build up to 3,500 housing units, a commercial area, a hospital and possibly an inn between Waipio and Mililani.
The Koa Ridge project is planned for 576 acres of former pineapple land directly north of Ka Uka Boulevard now being farmed by Aloun Farms. The bill will go to the full Council for the second of three required votes.
The 5-0 approval came Thursday just before 11 p.m. after nearly five hours of testimony and debate.
Council members Ann Kobayashi and Ron Menor voted “yes” with reservations. The others voting yes were Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson and members Breene Harimoto and Kymberly Pine.
read ... Koa Ridge
Unpaid Volunteers Keep UH Athletic Department Rolling
WB: • The coaches who began working even before they were officially on the payroll because athletic schedules aren't synchronized to HR's timetable.
• The graduate assistants who paid for their own school textbooks.
• The athletic trainers, equipment workers, and media-relations folks who are caught in the athletic department's new no-overtime-pay mandate. They have been told to hold their work to no more than eight hours each day and 40 hours each week. Last week, the football team practiced on Sunday. By Thursday, the day the team was to depart for the Oregon State game, the support staff was reaching the 40-hour limit. (In fact, the staff already exceeded it.) Told they would not receive overtime pay, they kept working, and haven't had a day off since.
• The doctors, surgeons and nurses who volunteer their services and pay their own way to road games.
• The owner of a paint company who attends every UH football game, home and away. Before each game, he is helping to prepare the locker rooms. After games, he is collecting laundry and helping to pack the uniforms and equipment. He pays his own way, too.
• The same people who work in the athletic department all week are the ones working crowd control and assisting with introductions and other on-field events during football games at Aloha Stadium. They do this as part of the helping-each-other loyalty that is the fabric of the Aloha Spirit. They are not paid for working the games.
• The fans who pay for championship bracelets for the softball team, and the ones who contribute the post-match dinners for the volleyball teams.
ILind: Trying to decipher the “audacious” plan for UH athletics
read ... Anonymous donors
HPD Lieutenant Trail Delayed: Officer Unavailable to Testify
SA: Lt. Colin Wong, a 27-year HPD veteran, appeared at Honolulu District Court on Friday for trial, when Deputy Prosecutor Anne Clarkin requested a continuance because the arresting police officer, David Yomes, could not appear in court to testify due to sickness.
Per diem District Judge Philip Doi granted the continuance.
A new trial date was set for Sept. 27.
On March 30, Wong was arrested at about 2:30 a.m. on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant. The arrest came after he allegedly hit a parked car near the Modern Honolulu Hotel in Waikiki. Media reported he was off-duty at the time.
read ... Covering
Former officer, ex-girlfriend clash over claims in pot case
SA: A debate on who led a pakalolo operation delays sentencing for Athena Sui Lee....
read ... Another Day in the HPD
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