September 11, 2009 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, September 11, 2009

September 11, 2009 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:40 PM :: 6968 Views

Grief for Hawaii victim of 9/11 'closer to surface' on anniversary

A bill this year written by state Rep. John Mizuno established Sept. 11 as "Patriot Day" in Hawai'i, in honor of the victims of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia and the crash of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. The measure echoes a similar federal measure passed by Congress via joint resolution in 2001.

President Obama has also declared Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

In conjunction with an earlier Obama proclamation, Gov. Linda Lingle has ordered state flags to fly at half-staff and has encouraged residents to follow suit at their homes and businesses.

In addition, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann will lead a remembrance ceremony in honor of 9/11 victims today from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. at Tamarind Park. The event also will honor Hawa'i's first-responders, including the Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services.

Lingle seeks ways to cut expenses after tax revenue collections drop 5%

State tax collections have declined by 5 percent through the first two months of the new fiscal year, worse than the 1.5 percent drop estimated by the state Council on Revenues.

"The lower actual revenue collections also re-emphasizes that we cannot put off making tough, realistic decisions needed to close the budget shortfall," Lingle said. "Every month that goes by without a resolution means the state will fall deeper and deeper in the hole, and the amount of savings we will need to make up the difference will only get bigger."

Lingle said she would work toward a negotiated settlement with unions rather than wait for a binding arbitration decision in December. The governor's staff said she is meeting with union leaders this week.

PDF: Preliminary tax report: August 2009

UHERO: Construction industry has yet to hit bottom

Residential building permits are now projected to fall 44 percent, 10 percentage points lower than its March forecast; and it has pushed back by a year its forecast for a surge in federal and state infrastructure spending.

Year-to-date nonresidential construction permits, valued at $811 million, are 24 percent lower than the same time last year.

The projection for inflation in construction costs has been lowered to 1 percent for 2009 and 2010, and the study's forecast for construction jobs also has been lowered to minus 14 percent, lower than the 10 percent drop forecast in its March report.

Workers' comp costs cut again: Hawaii employers likely to get 4.1% premium break

"This is the largest workers' compensation insurance rate decline of any state in the nation, except possibly those states that have enacted major statutory reforms," said J.P. Schmidt, the state insurance commissioner.

"These lower rates show that Hawai'i's employers are effectively providing a safer workplace for our workers," he said.

Over the past four years, Schmidt has approved decreases of 19.3 percent, 18.2 percent, 12.3 percent and 11.6 percent in loss costs as evidence continued to show a significant reduction in claims.

Suit filed over 'unilateral' move to fill justice post (Democrat power grab)

In the suit, Bickerton claims that Sakamoto improperly decided on her own to begin the replacement process for Ronald Moon, who is due to retire on his 70th birthday, Sept. 4, 2010.

An announcement of the vacancy was posted on the Judiciary's Web site Tuesday and newspaper advertisements are set to begin running Sunday.

The Web posting and the ads state that anyone wishing to nominate a candidate for the job must submit the name to the commission by Sept. 21.

(All of these maneuvers exist solely for the purpose of delaying the replacement for Moon until after the next Governor is sworn in. It is a Democrat trick designed to create chaos so that a Democrat Governor--not Lingle--will name Moon's replacement.)

Sandwich Isles asks FCC to overturn ruling that rejects aid for new undersea cable

"NECA's action leaves Sandwich Isles no practical means of recovering the ... lease cost in the near term, and puts in jeopardy its ability to make scheduled lease payments, ultimately undermining the bank financing," the company said. (So sad.)

It also questioned the relationship between Sandwich Isles and the cable's owner, Paniolo Cable Co.

According to NECA, Paniolo Cable is owned by Blue Ivory LLC, which in turn "is held by" trusts set up in the names of the children of Sandwich Isles founder and President Albert Hee.

"Under Sandwich Isles' proposal, today's ratepayers would essentially be paying for a level of service that might never be provided during the length of the lease," NECA said.

(Wow. Somebody in the FCC has finally put their foot down on this scam.)

Entertainer Bumatai sentenced in tax case

Bumatai pleaded guilty to five counts of willful failure to file his annual returns for 2002 through 2006....

SB: Comedian admits tax delinquency

'Career criminal' indicted on charges of assaulting, murdering Kalihi teen

(Defense lawyer) Wilkerson, who asserted earlier this week that police may have tampered with evidence in the Ahn case, found it significant today that authorities have now included the third-degree sex assault charge against his client.

"That implies that they don't have DNA evidence" Wilkerson said.

The third-degree charge usually involves fondling or other sexual contact that wouldn't be expected to produce DNA evidence, Wilkerson indicated.

He repeated his claim that evidence may have been tampered with but again declined to be specific about the allegation.

"It's my understanding that the prosecutor's office is investigating problems with the evidence," he said.

Jim Fulton, executive assistant to Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, declined to to comment on Wilkerson's statement.

Kamehameha must renew sense of trust

In the letter, dated Sept. 6, Chun draws a distinction that's difficult to appreciate, given the seriousness of the allegation. The school uses one approach, Chun said, when the law requires schools to report "abuse or neglect in the home." There's another practice that applied when the 12-year-old student, a boarder, reported being raped by two male students over the course of a weekend.

In the latter category — "serious offenses between students here on campus" — the school's first response is to "immediately protect" the students, keeping them safe, gathering information, he said.

Nowhere does Chun explain why that protective act couldn't have happened in tandem with a police report.

Atheist Lobby: Exclude religion from discrimination laws

Federal laws prohibiting discrimination are designed to protect persons within certain categories that include race, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, and religion (or creed).

In recent years, sexual orientation has been added to some federal, state and local anti-discrimination laws. Most of these categories seem obvious, but why protect religion?

Religion, like politics, is pure ideology, which at its best promotes social fellowship and civic well-being, but at its worst teaches malice toward outsiders and damnation of nonadherents. (And what does Atheism teach? Based on the track record of Atheist regimes over the last Century, we must conclude that Atheism teaches mass murder.)

SB: Public option should not kill deal

However, Obama said he is flexible on that most contentious issue and invited alternative ideas to the public plan, such as nonprofit cooperatives favored by fiscally conservative Democrats. Such cooperatives would receive federal backing to begin operation.

Some liberal Democrats have vowed to vote against any bill that lacks the public option favored by Abercrombie. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to insist on a public plan, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., says it could be dropped from the bill.

(This entire editorial is a plea by the Obamabot editors of the SB to get Mazie Hirono to drop out of the "Public Option or Nothing" leftist group and line up with Neil so Obama can rescue his package.)