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Thursday, September 19, 2013
September 19, 2013 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:53 PM :: 4878 Views

Full Text: Hawaii Mormon Church Letter focuses on Religious Exemption

Reports Raise Question of Waianae Sludge Permit Violation

NOAA Marine Sanctuary Business Advisory Council Forming

Smart Business Hawaii Banquet Friday

Barking Sands: Most Sophisticated Test Yet Knocks Missile out of Space

UHERO: The Unintended Consequences of Affordable Housing Policy

Hanabusa Threatens to Scale back Campaign

PR: There are two possible outcomes following our September 30 fundraising deadline:

In one scenario, we do not meet our fundraising goal and are forced to scale back the crucial investments in our field operation that we need to win.

In the other scenario, hundreds of people step up to contribute....

read ... Scale back

Gay Marriage Lawsuit Waits on Special Session

SA: ...attorney John D’Amato is representing plaintiffs Nata­sha Jackson and Janin Kleid, who were denied a marriage license, and Gary Bradley, who has a male partner.

Jackson and Kleid claim the state violated their due process and equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment when they were denied a marriage license by the Health Department....

D’Amato filed a motion Wednesday requesting an extension of the filing deadline for his clients’ opening briefs to Nov. 22 because of an Oct. 28 special session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to consider a bill on same-sex marriage....

If passed as proposed, the marriage equity bill would take effect Nov. 18, and the same-sex marriage case will become moot. If it doesn’t pass, briefings will continue, and the plaintiffs will await a decision by the 9th Circuit.  A decision is expected by late next year, according to D’Amato....

Very Related: Abe: Shame on ACLU for Abandoning First Amendment rights

read ... Lawsuit

Protest march Sat 10AM planned to demand art mural be uncovered

KITV: Nanette Napoleon just discovered the art mural saga runs deeper.  Not only is the mural at the Hawaii Convention Center hidden from view, but now, so is the plaque with the artist's name.

"I think it’s glued with silicon or something. Unbelievable," said Napoleon....

Napoleon fears the screws holding the cloak may have damaged the piece.

"Look at this. They have drilled into this," she gestured.

Pulling back the corner exposed wood secured into the wall.

"They have done this to a state building. This is vandalism as far as I am concerned," Napoleon.

She's organizing a protest demanding that the HTA --free the mural.  Napoleon is calling for the community to turn out on Saturday at 10 a.m. and to bring signs and wear black.

Leaders in the art community are rallying for action.

"I think that cloak needs to come down. It is OK to walk in and say this artwork offends me. It's not okay to cover it up,” said Stephan Jost, director of the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Yost hopes a costly legal battle can be avoided and that the community can begin a conversation about whether Hawaiian culture is respected.

The attorney for artist Hans Ladislaus met with the HTA and state lawyers late Wednesday afternoon

He said  after meeting for an hour and a half, a tentative settlement had been reached, but he said that details would not be released until Thursday.

Related: Bones at the Convention Center: Mark Twain vs Mike McCartney

read ... Protest march planned to demand art mural be uncovered

Mural: Leftist Pines for Days of Political Correctness 'Seminars'

DN:  ‘Way back in the ‘80s, racism, oppression, domestic violence, and related concepts such as white privilege were more often discussed in community settings (that is, outside of sociology or psychology courses in universities), it seems. A classic reference is Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh, dating from 1989 or so. It has nothing to do with murals, but remember, I’m speaking generally....

Sometimes I wonder if the many workshops and all the trainings of the 1980s and 1990s were for naught. (Haha!)

As I said, it’s possible that the “hydraulic theory” is not originally mine. I attended many workshops years ago and co-lead a men's group. Perhaps someone else originated this model. I’ve found it useful....

read ... Back to the Reeducation Camp for You!

HIOSH Kicks Feds out Just in Time for Rail, Kakaako

SA: HIOSH's progress gives it back oversight of the manufacturing sector; its agreement with OSHA targets resumption over accommodations/food service by the end of fiscal 2014, and over the remainder of general industry by fiscal 2015.

It has ongoing responsibility to enforce health and safety laws for Hawaii's construction, transportation and warehousing industries.

With the expected boom in construction, this oversight will be vital. (Just like SHPDA.)  Just this week, construction of Oahu's rail project resumed in East Kapolei after a 13-month delay due to court-mandated additional studies. Heavy building is expected to move in earnest to make up for the lost time, with sites to be worked on simultaneously, so vigilance is needed to ensure safety.

Also underway are at least two housing towers in Kakaako — one at the former News Building on South Street, one off Halekauwila Street — with many more tower projects for the district advancing through the approvals process.

read ... Don't want the Feds Interfering with Money Making Operations

Did Top UH Executive Falsify Resume?

CB: One of the highest-paid administrators at the University of Hawaii is being investigated for lying on her resume, UH officials confirmed Wednesday. If true, such a deception would be illegal.

Karen Ehrhorn makes about $142,500 as the director of administrative services for the university’s Institute for Astronomy. The salary appears to be higher than any employee in a similar executive role at UH.

Her job involves managing the institute’s finances and advising the director on budget matters.

When Ehrhorn was hired in 2008, she was paid $43,392 more than her predecessor, a sharp increase that may have been due in part to a credential she doesn't have.

Ehrhorn’s resume, provided to Civil Beat by university officials, says that she’s a certified public accountant, or CPA. The resume even notes that she passed her CPA exam on her first sitting, which is quite a feat considering that less than 50 percent of applicants pass the exam on their first try these days.

In early 2008, just before Ehrhorn was hired, one Institute for Astronomy official who helped hire her explicitly cited Ehron's supposed accounting license as a key qualification, internal email correspondence shows.

But searching for Ehrhorn in the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs licensing databasereveals that her CPA license expired in 1985. She was originally issued the license in 1974.

That could mean Ehrhorn, whose position is funded by taxpayer dollars, is breaking the law.

read ... Another Day in the UH

UH Electric Bill $35M -- $2500 per Student

KHON: Right now, UH spends $35 million a year for electricity, which comes out to a cost of $2,500 per student.

Plans are in the works to renovate some of the 70 main buildings and create a more environmentally sound and energy-efficient campus.

“We’re gonna use some of our own resources. We’ve been using some of our tuition and special fund accounts, hold over accounts. Now, admittedly, we’ve gone close to draining those,” UH Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple said.

Officials say improvements have to be made because some of the buildings could eventually lead to hazardous conditions like in 2007, when parts of Edmondson Hall went up in smoke after the building had an electrical malfunction. UH said the building was not able to meet the electrical needs for the science labs being held there.

read ... UH Manoa buildings slated for major upgrades

Geothermal: Hydrogen Sulfide is Just Like Viagra

HTH: (On an IDG speaking tour in Hilo) Eru said the Maori trust takes health and environmental impacts seriously but noted that one of its wells has been releasing steam and gas unabated.

She said sheep continue to graze next to it without any problems.

“As I say, the proof is in the pudding, and the sheep are still alive,” Eru said.

Additionally, she joked that hydrogen sulfide, a gas released by geothermal activity, can have the same effect as Viagra.

Reality: Geothermal: How to Divide Hawaiians from their Money

read ... Sandwich Profits

Maui Resident Successful Appeal Against $3000 Solar Study Fee

CB: When I applied to Maui Electric Co. for permission to install solar, they demanded that I pay a fee of $3,000 in order for me to get their approval to put PV solar panels on my roof. After a long period of waiting for them to approve my project, I finally gave up and decided to take them to the Hawaii PUC commission by appeal.

Those greedy people could not justify their position and had to grant my appeal. It was the first ever successful challenge of their attempt to get an exorbitant gate-opening fee for no supportable reason.

read ... Appeal

No Joke: Superfund Money Is Available for Honolulu Molasses Spill

CB: While the company has said that it will pay for all costs associated with the spill, response and cleanup — which will likely include significant amounts of environmental restoration — Schatz’s Washington D.C. press secretary, Julie McClain, said the dedication of Superfund money is a backup plan to make sure the government’s efforts aren’t stymied.

“This is important because the agencies don’t have to worry about how they will pay to take actions needed in real time,” McClain said in an email. “We understand that Matson has acknowledged responsibility for the spill. With their goodwill, it may not be necessary to tap into (Superfund) funding at all. However, the availability of the (Superfund) money gives the responding agencies confidence to proceed knowing that they have a source of funding available.”

MN: A decade ago, Molasses spill in Kahului Harbor received little fanfare

read ... Now You Know What the Hype is About

Hawaii Health Connector Expects Rush Before Christmas

AP: "We're expecting there will be a big uptake on October 1 and again at the end of the year because people wait until the last minute," said Michael Marchand, spokesman for the Washington Healthplanfinder, that state's Obamacare exchange. "We'll probably also see a big wave in March - 'last call' to buy insurance (for 2014) or be penalized."

Hawaii's exchange, the Hawaii Health Connector, expects a similar pre-Christmas rush. "Given the past patterns of enrollment with other federal programs, consumers tend to wait until the month before the plan benefit period - January 2014 - to enroll and make payment," said Executive Director Coral Andrews, adding that "enrollment numbers at the end of December will" indicate whether Obamacare is working in the president's birth state.

A W-shaped chart would mimic how people have bought health insurance before Obamacare.

read ... Obamacare customers may show up in fits and starts

Non-Profit Homeless for Three Years After Tax Hike

HNN: Hawaiian Hope used to operate its Internet cafe in a building on North King Street. It catered to teenagers and kids.

"So all the activities in town going on during First Fridays, in Kalihi we had the First Fridays for the kids," Curtis Kropar said.

There were movie nights and pizza nights.  Kropar said kids had a place to go. But today the space is empty. After the landlord's property tax went up, he stopped renting to non-profits. Hawaiian Hope was out of a home. For three years the Internet cafe has searched in vain for new space.

read ... Tax Hike

Global Warmers Ignored as They Urge Retreat from Hawaii Shorelines

EE: Sea-level rise is a significant factor in the major shoreline change underway in Hawaii, where 52 to 72 percent of beaches on the chain of islands have eroded over the past century, a recent study has found.

The more than 7 million tourists who flock to Hawaii's beaches each year are part of an array of contributors to erosion. In addition to the influx of visitors, developments along the coasts continue to provoke shoreline changes.

To capture the breadth of erosion's causes and to propose solutions, scientists have isolated differing rates of sea-level rise as the prime contributor to coastal erosion in the islands of Maui and Oahu.

In partnership with the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources, researchers at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaii published a report in the journal Global and Planetary Change urging residents and officials in coastal zones to target sea-level rise impacts in their programs and long-term planning.

The rate of coastal erosion was 78 percent in Maui, while some sections were closer to 90 percent. 

(If you are worried, I will buy your ocean front Hawaii real estate for 10% of assessed land value.  Since Algore has 'consensus' that your property will soon be submerged and worthless, my offer is certainly the best you can hope for.)

read ... Scientists urge shoreline retreat from Hawaii's eroding beaches

Worthless Anti-GMO Activists cost county

KGI: While the county has not yet tallied all of the costs related to the event, Tokioka said overtime pay to manage the two-hour road closure on Sept. 8 cost $5,627 — $4,602.26 for KPD officers and another $1,024.95 for Public Works Department personnel....

On July 31, more than 1,000 people turned out for a public hearing on the bill at the Kauai Veterans Center. With 53 KPD officers on duty for a total of 175 hours throughout the long day, the county spent more than $20,000 in overtime pay, according to Tokioka.

Another $2,500 of police overtime was incurred for council proceedings on Aug. 5 at the Historic County Building relating to Bill 2491, she said.

The Kauai County Council’s Economic Development (Agriculture) Committee is set to resume discussion on Bill 2491 Sept. 27, when members are expected to introduce several amendments.

AM: GMO protestors claim to have uncovered odd Sturgeon/Papaya mutant

read ... Ignorance is Expensive

Hawaii's last living Medal of Honor hero is hailed by Congress

SA: "Under the leadership of Sgt. Kellogg, a small unit from Company G was evacuating a fallen comrade when the unit came under enemy fire from the surrounding jungle. What he did is the stuff of legends," Gabbard said.

"After an enemy soldier hurled a hand grenade at the Marines, Sgt. Kellogg quickly forced the grenade into the mud, threw himself over the grenade and absorbed the full effects of its detonation with his body, saving his unit," she said. "Although suffering multiple injuries to his chest and his right shoulder, Sgt. Kellogg continued to direct his men until all reached safety."

read ... Honor

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