Hawaii insurance firms launch campaign to counter misperceptions about Obamacare
Hawaii GOP Takes on Obamacare: "Make DC Listen"
PJ: Obamacare Wedding Tax (You're better off divorced and living together)
Feds Indict “United Samoan Organization” Prison gang
UH Med School Releases Hawaiian-Pacific Health Study
Abercrombie Appoints Kido, Lau to Staff Positions
Council backs off water board takeover
SA: Several Council members indicated that instead of seeking to change the governing structure of the semiautonomous water board, they were more inclined to support an audit of the agency.
A resolution calling for city Auditor Edwin Young to review the board is to be heard by a second Council committee today.
The Council Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee deferred Resolution 13-177, which would have asked voters in the 2014 election whether they wanted amend the City Charter to require that the water board's annual budgets and ability to condemn land be subjected to the Council's "review and approval."
read ... Chicken Out
Lerner's out at IRS, but Hawaii tea parties still want answers
HR: The Honolulu Tea Party and Hawaii Tea Party on Maui were targeted by the IRS for additional scrutiny over the last two years, and joined a federal lawsuit filed by in May by the American Center for Law and Justice in Washington, D.C., on behalf of nearly two dozen conservative groups across the country.
The 29-page lawsuit names the U.S. attorney general, Treasury secretary and IRS — including Lerner and other top officials — as defendants.
The ACLJ said the IRS harassment tactics were used in other offices, including at the headquarters in Washington. The organization obtained letters that show Lerner was personally involved in sending “invasive questionnaires” to 15 of their clients in March 2012, nine months after she said she learned about the scheme and pledged to stop it
read ... TEA Party
Kauai Wants 'Day of Peace' from Anti-GMO Thugs
KGI: Some speak of the division on Kauai over Bill 2491. That division, they say, is weakening the Aloha spirit. It’s eating away at the very core of this island’s heart. A day when we all can just get along, as one man said, would be nice.
Best Comments: Hopefully some of the bill supporters will attend so they learn not to shout vulgarities and display derogatory gestures to people--including minors (two being my nephews)--the bullies in this game are the radical antiGMO extremists and their agenda to shut down legitimate business without proof; but, with plenty of antiscience, antilogic innuendo and conjecture in support a bill with a unilateral approach that doesn't respect all the stakeholders.
Related: Kauai MMA Fighter Leading Protests Threatens to "grab" Seed Farmers
read ... A day of peace sounds pretty good
Maui News: Big Cable Savings 'Peanuts', Energy Developers Love Hawaii's High Rates
MN: In a Maui News story this past Monday about the cable, an official involved in the project was quoted as saying the cable had the potential to save Maui residents $100 to $170 per year over 40 years. That figure is peanuts. If it would save $100 to $170 PER MONTH, then the cable option would bring Hawaii's energy prices closer to those on the Mainland.
Hawaii has the most expensive electricity in the United States. One would think that with all our renewable resources - solar, wind and geothermal - tremendous gains in actually REDUCING the price of electricity here should be right around the corner. And we're not talking about $10 per month, either.
We are afraid that energy developers view our current rates as a baseline - a very high one that they just love. They think residents should be grateful for any relief from the rates fossil fuel has created.
The state and the Public Utilities Commission should not buy that argument.
read ... A short flash of common sense before idiocy returns
How HCDA Closes off Community Participation
SA: ...there are serious problems, not only with the proposed project but, more fundamentally, with the way HCDA does business. Its appointed board is mandated to oversee development in Kakaako; to do that, it works closely with developers. But HCDA also serves as judge and jury when it's time to decide whether the very same projects that it has already helped design should be built.
The authority is run by a board with close business, social and political ties to the leading bankers, property and construction executives in town. That's a natural alliance, but a formidable network for individual condo owners without such connections.
Until late August, neither the developer nor HCDA bothered to ask people in the neighborhood if they had concerns about the project. But it's easy to understand why nearby residents are worried: they fear that the block, with four high-rises a short distance apart, will eventually resemble a complex of shadowed, congested military barracks or a federal penitentiary — not at all the cozy "live, work and play" community pictured by HCDA in its promotional material for Kakaako.
Oddly, the procedural rules written by HCDA don't require public discussion until a project is just a few months from startup. The law requires an impact assessment for the district as a whole, which was done three years ago, but not for individual projects, as is usual for proposals outside HCDA jurisdiction.
But state law does require HCDA to "engage the community" by posting project plans, hearing notices and "any other information that the public may find useful so that it may meaningfully participate in the authority's decision-making processes."
Apparently, HCDA feels that five weeks, or even the three months until decision-making, is plenty of time for concerned citizens to review thousands of pages of statutes, rules and studies, plus reams of news reports and related correspondence — not to mention consulting experts on issues like traffic congestion, sewer and water, schools, noise abatement and health and safety matters.
read ... HCDA
AG denounces Aid in Dying ad
HNN: The nationwide non-profit created the ad that asserts that Hawaii has an open process that allows aid in dying, a practice that's legal in four states.
"What they're saying is false, misleading and deceptive," state Attorney General David Louie said.
He calls it assisted suicide and promises if a Hawaii patient follows through, the physician could be charged under Hawaii's manslaughter statute, and under the statute that addresses the improper issuing of prescription drugs.
"Relieving of pain, that's a legitimate medical purpose," Louie said. "But killing somebody to ostensibly relieve pain, that's not legitimate.
Tucker said the U.S. Supreme Court ruled aid in dying can be a "legitimate medical practice." She said Hawaii law states that it's a crime to "cause" a suicide.
"If it got to trial the possibility of a jury convicting a physician who is prescribing medication so that a dying patient can achieve a peaceful death is virtually nil," she said.
Louie said her assertions are untrue.
"Not only is it pushing the boundaries, it's crossing the boundaries. This is illegal activity in Hawaii. There's no question about it," he said.
Background: Meet the Insurance Executive Behind Assisted Suicide in Hawaii
read ... OK, Now lets round them up
Makaha Elementary School teachers and staff have unique way to combat Absenteeism
KITV: Every day, Makaha Elementary waits for its students to show up to class, but there are so many no shows that the school has found itself near the top of the chronic absentee list in Hawaii. Students at Makaha Elementary miss an average of 18 school days each year.
"It's common sense if they're not here, they’re not able to learn,” said Cecile Lamar, vice principal at Makaha Elementary School.
A national study reveals chronic absenteeism to be more prevalent among children from low income households. Lamar says 80 percent of the schools kids are living in poverty.
"Economic impact in our community has been great so there’s a lot of families struggling,” said Lamar.
But poverty is just one of many issues the school faces. Some kids don't want to go to school, others have to stay home to take care of their siblings. Some parents, just don't have the time.
“When parents are working two to three jobs just to make ends meet, sometimes it’s difficult to schedule in things or find ways to get their kids to school, get them ready for school and get them healthy,” said Lamar….
So now some teachers are making house calls on their own time to catch up with students who were absent. Other staff members are known to pick up and drop off kids from their houses when their parents can't. Teachers say communication is critical in solving this problem.
Read … Makaha Elementary
Riviere, Blocking Solution to Turtle Worship Traffic, Tossed off Commission by DoT
KITV: Rep. Richard Fale has agreed to fill Riviere's position on the task force, but even he remains at odds with the DOT about the sudden dismissal.
"I think it would have been good for the community to have him onboard," Fale told KITV4. "So, in the interests of the community, I think it was maybe not a good idea to drop Gil from the task force."
Riviere's removal comes as the task force prepares to vote Wednesday evening on a DOT proposal to erect concrete barricades at Laniakea to improve traffic. The barriers would bar cars from parking on the unpaved parking lot, which forces pedestrians eager to view sea turtles to cross busy Kamehameha Highway.
Riviere is not in support of the plan, while Fale sees it as the only viable short-term solution.
Antya Miller, a task force member and executive director of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, was hoping Riviere would remain on the task force, but supports the placement of concrete barriers at Laniakea as a temporary fix to the hellacious traffic.
"It's either that or no short-term relief for the next five to seven years, however long it takes us," she said.
In 2009, state lawmakers appropriated $1.7 million to study traffic alternatives at Laniakea after $1.2 million in funding two years earlier was allowed to lapse. Riviere has been a vocal critic of the DOT for the painstakingly slow process.
Read … Gil Riviere
After Two Years of ‘Consultations’ MECO Suggests Rolling Blackouts as Power Line Alternative
MN: A power distribution control system that could shut down appliances or lower air-conditioning thermostats for participating customers to meet power demands during peak periods, a battery storage system and smaller fuel-powered generation units have been thrown into the mix of options as Maui Electric Co. considers alternatives to a proposed 69-kilovolt transmission line in South Maui.
Earlier this month, Mayor Alan Arakawa, a frequent critic of MECO, applauded the utility's change in direction regarding the installation of a proposed transmission line from the Maalaea power plant to a Kamalii substation. Utility officials brought up the new alternatives at community meetings about the proposed transmission lines earlier this month.
The utility has been holding public meetings on the utility line for the past two years, which it said was needed to meet the energy needs of a growing South Maui community. The region had the third highest energy load, or 23 percent of the island's total energy use as of April, MECO officials said in late August.
read … And They’re Interested, LOL!
US Territories Squeezed by Obamacare, EPA
ST: At the opening of the meeting, Calvo and Inos shared their mutual concerns about the applicability of certain federal mandates on the territories. The Affordable Care Act is a good example of one of those mandates that Calvo pointed out is easily applicable in the states but much more complicated for the territories.
One of the issues of the ACA is the Medicaid cap. Under the ACA, more funds were made available to increase the cap. However, because of the matching requirement, Guam and the CNMI do not necessarily have enough fiscal resources to provide matching funds in order to avail of the increased cap on Medicaid.
Other federal mandates that have proven to be heavily burdensome against much more frail island economies include stipulated orders and stringent requirements imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and federal laws like the Clean Water and Clean Air acts.
“Over time, the applicability of certain federal mandates to the territories often end up being extreme economic and financial challenges on the fragile economies of island governments,” said Inos. “These issues surrounding federal mandates have also been a topic of discussion in Hawaii and American Samoa. We simply don’t have the financial ability to support some of these mandates.”
Meanwhile: Civil Beat Threatens DoE Cuts Unless Obamacare Survives
read … Saipan Tribune
Whale Worship Industry Worried about Delisting Proposal
MN: The Hawaii Fisherman's Alliance for Conservation and Tradition argues that they are no longer endangered and that they should be delisted to "maintain the integrity of the Endangered Species Act." Their president, Phil Fernandez of the Big Island, says the whales are "fully recovered."
The group argues that federal law and the international whaling commission will continue to provide the humpbacks with plenty of protection, and continuing to have them on the Endangered Species List is a redundancy and "should be reserved for other species that are threatened with extinction."
Greg Kaufman of the Pacific Whale Foundation said of the effort to delist the whales: "We're well on our way to full recovery . . . but in sum of what we know, it's premature." (For instance, Pacific Whale boats could run over a bunch of whales and kill them. Its possible.)
read ... A bunch of excuses
Kauai Charter Proposal to Rearrange Council
KGI: If the proposal goes through as it is, it would go to a ballot and voters would have the ultimate say in the 2014 elections.
In past elections, Kauai voters rejected three times a Charter Amendment to change council elections into districting. Each time, the amendment represented a hybrid proposal, and each time it got closer to approval, according to Kalaheo resident Jonathan Jay.
Jay said the simplest way to get an answer from Kauai residents would be to ask, “Do you want districts for Kauai?”
He said he voted for districting in the past, but admitted he didn’t like the hybrid proposal, and supported seven different districts.
“If you want a clean understanding, ask a simple ‘yes or no’ question,” he said.
read … Carving up the Voting Map
Dope 'Minister' to Plead Guilt to being Dope Pusher
SA: Hawaii island cannabis advocate Roger Christie is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to marijuana trafficking, charges that have kept him behind bars for more than three years awaiting trial.
Christie’s wife, Sherryanne, is also scheduled to plead guilty, the two having reached a plea agreement in the case.
The Christies had been scheduled for trial next month. Details of their agreement have not been made public, but the two are expected to withdraw their not-guilty pleas and instead plead guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Puglisi, according to the federal court calendar.
They would be sentenced at a later date. It is not clear how much more time Roger Christie would have to serve in prison since he would be credited for the nearly 31⁄4 years he has already spent in custody at the federal detention center.
read ... About two more dope dealers
10 priors, 20 years, already out: Man who took news cameraman hostage arrested again
KHON: Ulysses Kim, 48, was arrested in Waipahu on Monday for auto theft, terroristic threatening, and a firearms violation.
In Aug. 1992, Kim took a television cameraman hostage on Round Top Drive in Makiki while on the run from police....
He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1994. He was later released then arrested again in 2007 for failing a drug test. He was also arrested last year for breaking into a car.
Kim has 10 previous convictions.
read ... Abolish the Parole Board
Thief Threatens Victims, Gets Early Release
HNN: 21-year-old Noah Perkins might be leaving Halawa prison after serving just eight months thanks to a recent ruling by an appellate court earlier.
Back in 2011, Perkins pleaded guilty to burglary and terroristic threatening charges and as part of a deal in which he was supposed to write a letter of apology to his victims.
Instead, what the victims got were threats.
"Let me start this letter by saying that I'm not sorry for what I did to your family ... but I have to write this letter because I was told by the judge," Perkins said.
"Let me tell you that I knew that you're full of s**t and that I'm not feeling sorry for you at all."
According to an arrest warrant, Perkins stole a television and a gaming console from a Hawaii Kai family that taken him in.
He was also accused of threatening his father and brother and taking another gaming console from them.
read ... Soft on Crime
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