Nisei WW2 Vets Honored at Missouri Memorial
More Opportunities to Raise Your Voice--Let the People Decide
Limbaugh: Hawaii Republicans Have to be Their Own Version of Liberal
Analysis: Hawaii Health Connector Signs up only 2% of Projections
Study: When it Comes to Climate Change, Hawaii Talks More than Most
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted November 11, 2013
Abercrombie May Sign Gay Marriage Bill Wednesday
HNN: The jubilation is expected to continue for same sex marriage supporters. The Senate already voted 20 to 4 backing the bill and the amendments aren't expected to change any minds in Tuesday's final vote. Then it goes to the Governor for final approval.
"We're on the cusp of becoming one of the states that is going to be recognizing marriage equity," said Blake Oshiro, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Neil Abercrombie.
The earliest the Governor would sign it into law is Wednesday morning. His office does not want it to turn into a public spectacle and security is a concern so it will likely be limited to about 200 invited guests.
"We're going to make it as broad as possible for all of the key advocates that have been working on this for a long time but at the same time we are going to be having some security measures to make sure that the event remains consistent with the celebratory mood of what the governor wants," said Oshiro.
Once it becomes law, gay couples could start getting married by December 2nd.
SA: Senate's floor session will be broadcast live on ‘Olelo Channel 55 and streamed online at olelo.org/live
KHON: While Your Family Waits in Philippines, Illegal Alien Homosexual to get Green Card After 'Marriage'
KHON: Same-sex marriage benefits still unclear
Borreca: Gays Use Child Effectively as Political Tool
SA: How Gay Marriage Affects Reciprocal Beneficiaries
read ... Hiding from the People
Ing: Bible is Wrong, Sign me up for Gay Lifestyle
Towleroad: "Some testifiers have spoken about this bill ushering in an onslaught of 'gay lifestyle'. And they challenged your committee members: 'Mr. Speaker - would you wish homosexuality upon your own kids?'
So I really thought about this. If the gay lifestyle they speak of pertains to the highly successful physicians, attorneys, economists, a world-renowned microbiologist and psychologist that we've seen testify - if this gay lifestyle pertains to the inspiringly committed couples who have been together for decades but are still viewed as strangers in the eyes of their government, if this gay lifestyle that they're referring to pertains to these brave people boldly standing in the face of hate to fight for equal rights for all - if that's what the gay agenda will bring - if that's how my gay children will be..then hey, sign me up. I'll take three. (Question: If gay is not a choice, how can Ing choose to be gay? Oooops.)
And please, don't write scripts for your kids to tell me that children need a mother and a father in order to be raised right!
HuffPo: Airhead Rep Kaniela Ing, a freshman lawmaker, explained how he came from a conservative Christian family that was taught that homosexuality was a sin. But, as he met gay people and became educated, he came to the conclusion that the Bible was in error in that regard because "being gay is not a choice."
read ... Mainland Homosexuals Ready to Turn Ing Gay
Mainland Homosexuals Target Jo Jordan in Primary
DK: She was appointed to her seat in 2011 and elected for the first time in 2012, so there isn't a very long money trail to follow. The limited information that is available though, is quite revealing.
She collected $37,514 during the 2012 Election cycle. According to both Project Vote Smart and Follow The Money, she received $250 and an endorsement of her candidacy from the National Rifle Association.
Another big backer of Rep. Jo Jordan is Big Tobacco. Altria, (formerly Phillip Morris) gave her $1,000, and R.J. Reynolds gave her $500. The "Friends of Marcus Oshiro" also donated $1000 to her.
I haven't been able to find a direct financial connection to Big Religion yet, but based on her record and that of her mentor, Rep Oshiro, it's pretty evident that one exists. After all, it's not every day that Brian Jones, the president of the anti-gay Hate Group, "National Organization for Marriage" offers his high praise to an openly gay Lesbian for her "integrity"
read ... Gays Must Obey
49-States: Study of Obamacare Exchanges Can Find Rates Everywhere Except Hawaii
MI: *Methodological Caveats: As of this writing, we have been unable to find data for Hawaii for datasets 1 and 2. Additionally, the average of 5 cheapest plans in Alabama ends up being more expensive than the second-cheapest silver plan (which is used to calculate subsidies). Thus, in Alabama, we assume, for the purposes of developing a net cost of insurance for the median individual, that the individual purchases the second-cheapest silver plan.
Heritage: 47 State Analysis!
Forbes: 49-State Analysis: Obamacare To Increase Individual-Market Premiums By Average Of 41%
read ... Still Secret?
Hawaii EBT Cards: Millions Spent in Las Vegas
KHON: Millions of dollars are spent out of state including a big chunk in Las Vegas.
Nearly 200,000 people in Hawaii rely on help from the federal government to feed their families and themselves, about a half-billion dollars a year in food, cash and other kinds of assistance all carried on a card known now as EBT.
KHON2 analyzed about a quarter-million Hawaii EBT card transactions covering a two-year period of off-island spending.
Hawaii welfare beneficiaries rung up more than $13 million abroad in food stamp purchases and cash-card debits over about two years -- in every state and just about every territory and commonwealth of the U.S.
The highest spending came in California with $3.7 million, Nevada and Washington state $1.2 million each, Oregon more than $900,000. More than a quarter million dollars was rung up as far east as New York, down south to Florida nearly $400,000 there, even the Virgin Islands saw more than $1,200 in spending by Hawaii's needy. Transactions popped up as far away as American Samoa ($12,080), Guam ($84,484) and elsewhere in the South Pacific.
read ... Your Tax Dollars at Work
50 Cheerleaders Suspended in Bullying Investigation
KITV: Athletic Director Bob Morikuni told them the school decided to suspend the whole team to ensure the safety of all students.
the investigation was prompted when school administrators noticed that some cheerleaders were allegedly engaging in internet activity that included name-calling and harassment against their peers.
read ... Investigation
UH Sticks Student Veterans With the Bill
CB: Veterans have discovered a costly hole in the GI Bill’s promise of a free education for those who have served in the military.
Hawaii is one of 29 states that require students to reside locally for a year before they become eligible for in-state tuition, which is $8,400 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The GI Bill covers the entire in-state tuition amount per academic year at public universities, and as much as $18,077 at private universities.
But out-of-state tuition at UH Manoa is $23,232, which means that vets on the GI Bill will need to find another $5,155 to pay for their education during the year when they are gaining residency.
Twenty-one states resolve this dilemma for veterans by waiving the residency requirement, but Hawaii does not
SA: Foreign students bring $108.5M to island economy
CB: Paying for Public Higher Education in Hawaii
read ... Overcharged
State Hospital employees Threatened with Termination for Talking to Media
HNN: ...The state said there's a 34 percent vacancy rate for para-medical assistants, meaning as of last week there were 19 openings for those key employees who can help subdue unruly patients. The state reported 11 percent of the hospital's key front-line positions, including doctors, nurses, psychiatric technicians and para-medical assistants, are unfilled....
The facility is also very close to its legal capacity of 202 patients -- at 197 patients last week -- roughly 25 more than what the state calls its "target census," Fridovich said.
"We've raised that concern with the department, the governor's aware. We've briefed legislators on it. And we're making attempts to try to move ahead with more long-term interventions that will alleviate that census crunch," Fridovich added.
Another staffer, psychiatric technician Ryan Oyama, said he has endured about 60 assaults during his nearly 11 years on the job at the State Hospital. He said he went back to work the day after a patient attacked him without warning a couple of years ago....
Oyama said the day after he and the other employees were interviewed on-camera by Hawaii News Now, his supervisor threatened him with termination for speaking out about problems there.
read ... Patient attacks leave State Hospital employees out of work for months, years
Solar Farm Surprise? HECO Won't Say Where It's Putting New Huge Energy Projects
CB: Hawaiian Electric Co. is hoping to fast-track nine solar farms on Oahu that could mean hundreds of thousands of solar panels stretching across areas equivalent to 40 Ala Moana Shopping Centers.
The power is expected to lower consumer electricity bills, in addition to moving Hawaii away from its dependency on oil-fired generators.
But where will all of these solar panels go?
HECO won’t say.
Who is going to develop them?
That’s proprietary too. And HECO even wants state regulators to exempt the projects from competitive bidding requirements....
Hawaii’s (so-called) Consumer Advocate, Jeff Ono, says information on projects and locations should be kept confidential. “There could be competitive advantages and disadvantages if that information were being disclosed upfront,” he said.
Meanwhile: KIUC Gets Solar 37% Cheaper than HECO
read ... Surprise
Conspiracists Demand Vote on Smart Meters
SA: A group of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative members wants to reverse a utility decision to charge $10.27 per month to customers who chose not to have a wireless smart meter installed at their home.
The group last week submitted a petition with 408 signatures to the KIUC's board of directors asking to have all 33,000 cooperative members vote on the matter. The group was responding to a decision by the Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 31 permitting the KIUC to charge the monthly fee to cover the costs of manually reading and servicing traditional electric meters.
The PUC also approved a one-time $50.64 charge for residential customers who had a smart meter installed but want to have it replaced with a traditional meter.
About 3,000 KIUC members have opted out of having a smart meter....
read ... Privacy concerns prompt petition over Kauai utility's fee for non-smart meters
Sierra Club Seeks Delay on Koa Ridge--Uses Rail as Justification
HNN: The Sierra Club wants the council to delay its vote in hopes of shifting the development closer to Honolulu's rail line to address the traffic concerns.
"Sierra Club has suggested to both to the city and the state that they do the hard work to identify properties that are owned by the state and the city along the rail route, and that the housing that's proposed for Koa Ridge go down alongside the rail line," explained Aalto.
"Being that this is fairly late in the vote, I would think that it would be very difficult, but not impossible," said Council Chairman Ernie Martin.
The full council is set to decide the project's fate at its meeting on November 13.
If the plan is approved, groundbreaking would be set for 2015. The Sierra Club does have a pending legal challenge against the project.
Sierra Club: Koa Ridge project sabotages our investment in rail
read ... All Development is Settled in the Courts
24 violate DHHL rules, review finds
SA: Former Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Commissioner Stuart Hanchett built a home on the 316-acre Kauai parcel he was leasing from DHHL even though residential use violates terms of the revocable permit program....
Another case detailed in the series involves a 105-acre Waimanalo parcel leased by brothers Nowlin and Weston Correa. Even though the commission in March 2009 voted unanimously to revoke the brothers' permit, the newspaper noted that the state took no action over the ensuing four-plus years to take back the ranching property, and the family continued to use it.
Two days after the Star-Advertiser asked about the case last week, the attorney general's office filed a lawsuit against the Correas, seeking return of the property.
read ... DHHL
Study Claims Homeless problem 'not worsening'
SA: In the past three years, the total number of homeless residents in Hawaii seeking help from publicly funded services has dropped slightly, indicating modest gains in the effort to curb homelessness across the state, a report released today shows.
The homeless families and individuals receiving that help are also logging shorter stays in shelters, and more of them are eventually finding permanent housing, according to the joint study by the University of Hawaii at Manoa and state Department of Human Services called the "Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawaii 2013."
The study has been conducted every year since 2006. The report provides more insights into Hawaii's homelessness problem — one of the worst in the nation, officials say — on top of the annual "point-in-time" counts taken to update the homeless population.
read ... Not Worsening
Gabbard Gets More Contributors from Florida than Hawaii
CB: Tulsi Gabbard's most recent campaign filing shows a candidate who has been traveling a lot and raising money throughout the country.
The filing, covering July 15 through Oct. 15, with the Federal Election Commission shows that Gabbard had three times as many donors on the mainland — 146 total — as compared with Hawaii. Dozens of donors listed addresses in California, Texas and New Jersey.
In fact, Gabbard's congressional campaign received more individual donations from people living in Florida than from donors living in Hawaii during the recent reporting period. Fifty-one denizens of the Sunshine State gave to the 2nd Congressional District representative versus 47 from the Aloha State.
The mainland generosity added up to $135,928 in donations as compared with $53,760 from the islands — a greater than 2-to-1 margin
read ... Bought n Paid For
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