HGEA: Unit 13 Contract Restores Lost ‘Step Movements’
Hawaii Among Worst States to Start New Business
Hawaii Campaign Finance: A-1 Challenge Awaits McCutcheon Ruling?
GMO bill Would Allow Activists to Sue Farmers
HTH: Bill 113, as it stands now, does prescribe penalties and allows residents to sue possible violators.
But beyond a registry required for exempted GMO crops, the legislation says little about how the county would ensure the law is being followed or investigate farms that may be ignoring it.
Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, who introduced the bill, said she is more concerned about getting a law passed than sorting out all those details now. A GMO ad hoc committee, if formed, could later make such recommendations for changes to the law if needed, she said.
“Step one is to get something in place that says no new GMO can come in,” Wille said.
“I’m trying to not set up a big regulation (system) of GMO.”
Nonetheless, she said she will propose amendments to her bill at the Tuesday council meeting to address that issue.
The amendments would allow the Planning Department to develop administrative rules for enforcement, Wille said, and copy language from the GMO coffee and taro ban from 2008.
The taro and coffee bill also raised questions about enforcement, which put much of the responsibility in the hands of police.
Police to Enforce: US Patent Pending for Genetically Modified Marijuana
read ... Adding teeth to GMO bill
Restricting GMO farming would hurt sustainability efforts
SA: Taking away biotechnology, a tool that can help farmers become viable and possibly make our islands sustainable, without understanding the industry, just doesn't make sense.
It doesn't make sense to insinuate that these farmers, who are your neighbors and friends, are growing things to hurt you and to hurt your community. GMO (genetically modified organism) products are vetted for over 10 years for health risk and allergens before they are approved for open-field growing.
Farming is one of the most difficult careers at which to succeed, to earn a profitable living. Hawaii County Bill 113 and Kauai County Bill 2491 would make it even tougher, and may even close some farm operations. If these bills pass, and in the future the counties of Hawaii and Kauai change their minds about the technology, it may be difficult to find farmers who are willing and able to bear the costs to restart or start up a farming operation. Our local dairy and poultry industries are examples of difficulties in regenerating diminished industries.
read ... Dean Okimoto
Kauai heading down a slippery slope
KGI: ...to mount a campaign to shut down the corn companies and put many people out of work particularly those on the Westside of Kauai is, to put it mildly, unconscionable! The anti-GMO movement recognized early on in their campaign that to further their agenda they would need to have a reason to apply pressure on the corn companies so they would leave Kauai.
Kauai is now embroiled with Bill 2491 that would further regulate farm operations by suggesting there is a health issue. I have been following the debate with great interest and I believe Councilman Hooser has caused a schism in the community by pandering to the anti-GMO movement. He certainly is not showing any kind of aloha to the folks on the Westside by this nonsense. Where is his aloha in all of this - that same spirit that used to thrive on Kauai? Is the councilman seriously trying to destroy the aloha spirit with his blinkered and tunnel-vision approach to this issue?
read ... Kauai heading down a slippery slope
Personal Freedom? Global Cooling Deniers Censor Letters to the Editor
ILind: As for letters on climate change, we do get plenty from those who deny global warming. And to say they “deny” it might be an understatement: Many say climate change is a hoax, a scheme by liberals to curtail personal freedom.
Before going into some detail about why these letters don’t make it into our pages, (LOL!) I’ll concede that, aside from my easily passing the Advanced Placement biology exam in high school, my science credentials are lacking. I’m no expert.... (Certainly not an expert in unintended irony!)
read ... Censorship Curtails Personal Freedom
Atheists Sling False Accusations Against Hawaii Church
CN: The atheists, Mitchell Kahle and Holly Huber, filed their suit, Kahle v. New Hope International Ministries, with Hawaii’s Circuit Court of the First Circuit under the state’s False Claims Act. The law allows whistleblowers with inside information to expose fraudulent billing by government contractors; however, the lawsuit fails to cite a single instance in which the churches submitted a false statement to defraud the government.
The motion to dismiss, filed on behalf of One Love Ministries and Calvary Chapel Central Oahu, explains that Kahle and Huber “have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted because they have not alleged and cannot allege that there were any false claims by One Love or Calvary Chapel. Because the existence of a false claim is a necessary element of a False Claims Act complaint, and because [Kahle’s and Huber’s] allegations, even if taken as true, demonstrate that no false claim exists (or can exist), their Complaint must be dismissed.”
The motion also explains that Hawaii’s False Claims Act requires that those bringing suit under the act be the original source of the information upon which they are filing suit and that the allegations be highly particular. The motion points out that Kahle and Huber do not meet either of these requirements.
AP: Churches have not cheated state, group says
read ... Atheists Sling False Accusations Against Hawaii Church
Tuna Longliners Face 40% Cuts because of Overfishing by Others
KHON: "Right now we are basically at a position where this international body the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission is going to be deciding the next sort of phase of the conservation and management for bigeye tuna," Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Enforcement Coordinator Eric Kingma said.
Kingma says even though Hawaii fishermen fish thousands of miles away from where the overfishing is happening, Hawaii is being targeted because we are part of the U.S. commission.
"There is proposals for the Hawaii longline fishery to take basically a 40-percent reduction on its current quota," Kingma said....
"Some 80-percent of what we produce here in Hawaii stays in Hawaii...."
If the regulations were put in place, the current quota of 3,763 metric tons caught limit would be reduced to 2,300 metric tons.
"I would expect that the market demand would continue. The market would be filled by imports possibly frozen fish most likely caught from other countries, and maybe not as high-quality that the consumer here in Hawaii has enjoyed for so many years," Martin said.
The U.S. has offered a counter-proposal to keep the longline quota where its at for Hawaii.
At negotiations in December is when they'll find out if the catch limits will be reduced
ILind: Story on fishing quota missed crucial perspective
read ... Do We Really Believe in Local Food?
UHWO Costs Balloon as School Fails to Make Money in Hawaii Real Estate
SA: With a multimillion-dollar land sale to the Roman Catholic Church gone sour, the University of Hawaii-West Oahu says it's moving away from the school's original concept of selling or leasing lands surrounding its Kapolei campus to pay for operations.
It instead will seek more public funds from the state Legislature next year. West Oahu Chancellor Rockne Freitas said the school is also looking at revenue bond financing — which typically is repaid with student tuition — along with additional money from the UH system and donations to help cover costs.
Without the extra funds, officials are considering capping enrollment, which ballooned by almost 19 percent to 2,403 students this fall from last year.
The West Oahu campus was built on about one-sixth of a 500-acre parcel donated by the former James Campbell Estate. The campus initially was supposed to be financed almost entirely with private funds by selling off more than half of the site for housing and other projects.
Those deals fell through with the collapse of the credit market, and the state put up $48 million in general obligation bonds in 2010 to pay for the first phase of construction.
read ... Only the State Could Lose Money on free Real Estate
Abercrombie Hides Travel Records Behind $1016
CB: We asked for records including itineraries for in-state and out-of-state travel, the purpose of the trip and who accompanied him, including his security detail. And, of course, any documents detailing costs and expenditures of public money in connection with the trips.
A week later, the governor’s office acknowledged it had received the request, even though the office got it the same day we sent it. Still, the law gives an agency 10 days to acknowledge a request.
Another week passed before we got the estimated bill — $1,016. The breakdown of the cost to provide the public records: 6.5 hours to find the records and 47 hours to then review and "segregate" them, which means blacking out information the governor’s office believes should be kept confidential. Plus $71 to copy 1,420 pages at 5 cents per page.
CB: Hawaii’s Public Records: High Fees Are Keeping Public Information Secret
MR: MuckRock News Requests Same Info
read ... The Governor’s Travel Records: Anatomy of a Public Records Request
Kailua Bike Share Only Gets 1-3 Riders Per Day, Now City Wants to Burn $11.9M
SA: The firm proposes starting bike-sharing in an area from Kapiolani Park through Chinatown. It would also include the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus.
It would provide up to 1,700 bikes at up to 180 stations, according to a Nelson/Nygaard report.
Such a program would cost up to $11.9 million to start, the report said. It would be financed with a mix of public grants, city transportation dollars and private sponsorships from companies, including those whose names would appear on the bikes and stations, said Shem Lawlor, a transit-oriented development planner for the city Department of Planning and Permitting. Some private developers are interested in purchasing the stations, Lawlor added.
Once it's running, the program would generate up to $4.7 million in user fees in its first year — enough to cover operating costs, Brennan said.
Caldwell said Chicago's program, launched in July with 4,000 bikes, has raised $5 million in advertising revenue.
It would not be Oahu's first bike-share program. A pilot program in Kailua that started in 2011 already pays for itself through user fees, state Department of Health officials say.
The Kailua program offers 12 bikes at two stations and cost $100,000 in Tobacco Settlement Special Funds to start, according to Bronwyn Sinclair, a department public education coordinator. It sees between 40 and 100 rides a month, according to the program's coordinator, and officials are evaluating how well it has worked.
read ... 1 to 3 per day
Could Better Civics Education in Hawaii Boost Young Voter Turnout?
CB: Corey Rosenlee, a self-described activist who teaches a 40-student Participation in a Democracy class and other social studies courses at Campbell, says few of his students start the semester literate in current events and the basic tenets of politics and government.
To help engage them in civic affairs, he posts news clippings on Facebook for his students to discuss in class and he encourages them to debate heated issues, including same-sex marriage and abortion. He also spearheaded a massive "field trip" to the state Capitol last month in which 500 students rallied lawmakers to fund air conditioning for the state’s hottest classrooms.
“They saw that their participation was creating news,” Rosenlee said, adding that he plans to take students to the Capitol again next semester to teach them how to testify and show them how a bill becomes law. In social studies “you want them to be out of the classroom.”
And every year after class sessions about political parties and elections, Rosenlee brings voter registration forms to class and encourages every student to fill them out. He usually ends up convincing one in every four students to sign up.
read ... Could Better Civics Education in Hawaii Boost Young Voter Turnout?
Michelle Bachman Opens Monument for Hawaii HS Senior
HNN: Brown's plans to visit the memorials in Washington were dashed at first. He went to the Lincoln Memorial and found it surrounded by barricades, saying it was closed. He tried to snap some photos, and then began to leave. But then a member of Congress intervened.
"We just heard a lot of commotion all of a sudden, so we turned around and we see the barricade was moved, and Michele Bachman was leading a group of people up to go see the Lincoln Memorial up close," he said.
U.S. Parks Police talked briefly with the Minnesota Republican congresswoman, but didn't take any action to stop the visitors, so the Browns went ahead and got their close-up look at Lincoln.
read ... Bachmann to the Rescue
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