Kenoi Signs Anti-GMO Bill 113, Pledges to Force Ag into 'New Directions'
Federal safety inspectors investigating violence at Hawaii State Hospital
2013 Honolulu City Lights Opening Night
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UHERO Asia-Pacific Forecast: Pacific Rim Will Edge Forward After Weak 2013
Pearl Harbor Day
Dozens of Big Island Farmers Face $1000/day Fines, Effective Immediately
HTH: ...farmers will be required to sign up for a registry with the county Department of Research and Development at the cost of $100 a year. Violators could be fined $1,000 a day for each violation.
Several agriculture organizations opposed the bill, along with some University of Hawaii scientists, who said it would restrict or stop genetic research on the isle and limit choices for farmers.
Opponents of the bill said they were disappointed and surprised Kenoi signed it.
“We have not heard anything reassuring I can tell farmers and ranchers on how this won’t impact them,” said Lorie Farrell, a coordinator with the pro-GMO group Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United.
It’s unclear, she said, if any agriculture groups or farmers would challenge the law in court.
Papaya farmers also remained steadfast against it, even with the exemption.
“It will impact us in a very negative way right now,” said Ross Sibucao, president of the Hawaii Papaya Industry Association.
Sibucao said the bill leads to uncertainty about the future of the papaya industry and might deter customers from buying their products.
Another papaya grower, Michael Madamba, said he thinks the bill prevents any new farmers from growing transgenic papaya.
“The future, younger generation of farmers who want to grow papaya, they are totally restricted,” he said.
(Meanwhile there is no 'registry' for farmers to sign....)
read ... Relief and surprise as mayor signs GMO ban
'Bizarre' Anti-GMO 'Babes' Attack Allies
PR: One of the problems with the Babes' approach, insiders say, is that they count donations from lobbyists who not only represent biotech companies, but have dozens of other clients. Lobbyists such as John Radcliffe, George "Red" Morris and Bob Toyofuku represent a range of diverse interests, for example, so there is no way to describe their donations to lawmakers strictly as "GMO money."
The Babes' approach leads to bizarre arguments. The Babes' claim, for instance, that they are surprised to see state Rep. Scott Nishimoto on their House list of offenders. Nishimoto is vice chairman of the House Finance Committee, which passed an admittedly flawed GMO labeling bill unamended last session. Nishimoto also voted for the bill on the House floor.
Nishimoto's offense: He accepted a $250 donation from Morris in June.
In fact, of the 12 House lawmakers on the Babes' list for accepting "GMO money" since March, all but one -- state Rep. Bob McDermott -- voted for the GMO labeling bill, which stalled in the state Senate.
read ... Boobs
Mufi for Congress? Council? Governor?
CB: It's been rumored for months that Mufi Hannemann is considering a return to politics, either in a run for his old Honolulu City Council seat or the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Colleen Hanabusa.
Now the talk is that the former Honolulu mayor may have settled on Congress, a seat that he has sought unsuccessfully three times. The difference this time is that there is a large — and perhaps growing — field in the CD1 hunt.
In that scenario, a candidate with as little as 20 percent of the Democratic primary vote could prevail. That candidate, the thinking goes, could be Mufi.
Hannemann did not return my call Thursday. But I spoke with lots of politically akamai folks who say chatter about Hannemann jumping into the race has only intensified in recent days.
The safer route for him might be to seek Breene Harimoto's District 8 Council seat, as Harimoto is considering a run for David Ige's Aiea-Pearl City state Senate seat. That would position Hannemann for a future run for his old mayoral gig, or to run for governor in 2018 or Congress at some later date.
But he may take another shot at Neil Abercrombie in the 2014 race for governor; Ige is already running against the unpopular incumbent in the Democratic primary.
read ... Mufi?
PLDC Redux: Abolish the HCDA?
SA: ...this week's action is more than just "thumbs up" for development. It marks an open declaration by the Hawaii Community Development Authority that it need not be accountable.
On Wednesday the HCDA approved a second project that will construct in total more than 1,000 apartment units, some smaller than 400 square feet on the 3.4-acre site of the old Honolulu Advertiser building.
Instead of open space between the two buildings, two 10-story parking garages will make alleys out of the space between the 400-foot condos.
Technically the project is being called "workforce housing," but in honesty, it should be called "places to stay for less than three-quarters of a million dollars."
The workforce designation is important for a couple of reasons. First, Gov. Neil Abercrombie will be able to put on his work boots and say he believes in Honolulu's working families by supporting projects like this. And developers will be able to use the legal definition of "workforce housing" to put up buildings that are taller, denser, with less open space and are less energy efficient than if they were built with traditional guidelines....
Saiki said with each HCDA decision approving another project filled with exemptions and variances, more legislators are considering it to be "an example of a state agency that believes it (is) above the law."
The problem, according to Saiki, is that with HCDA's often-used ability to grant exemptions and variances to its own planning rules, the public has no basis to trust the agency.
"It is not required to follow its own rules," Saiki said, adding that he was told one project was going to be held up because the HCDA had not processed all its paperwork, only to have the authority give its approval 24 hours later.
Saiki's warning that "if the governor is not going to step in, the Legislature needs to," means 2014 could be the year for a new sort of change in Kakaako.
read ... Legislature mulls options to control a rogue HCDA
HCDA: Kewalo Site for retail food center and wedding hall?
SA: Kewalo Basin small boat harbor has become a magnet for dining and retail development plans, attracting two bids in recent months for an Italian seafood restaurant and a wedding hall. Now a third proposal, which includes a food hall concept, has been floated.
A Japanese firm, Shindai Co. Ltd., is seeking to establish a retail and dining complex on the Diamond Head side of the harbor and integrate the facility with another Japanese company's vision to establish a wedding hall with a restaurant, and bar, along with a parking garage.
The board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency that owns the harbor, decided Wednesday to negotiate a potential lease and development plan with Shindai through its local affiliate, Hinamari Hawaii Inc.
Shindai is proposing to co-develop the site with the prospective wedding/restaurant developer, Goodluck Corp. and its partner Take and Give Needs Co., under a 25-year land lease with HCDA....
"We're totally against this project," Mike De Rego, a charter fishing boat operator, told the HCDA board.
read ... HCDA out of Control
Art Director Sabotaged by Own Staff?
KITV: Laird Smith said staff was aware of the problem weeks before the exhibit, but failed to tell her.
But she says staff did however, contact the artist's son.
"There are documents to prove there was correspondence with the heir of the photograph and they made him sign some documents, but I, as director was not made aware of it, so there was withholding of critical information," said Laird Smith.
All of the items were said to be destroyed, but they aren’t yet.
Laid Smith says there are state rules about how that is to happen.
"We have been coordinating with the comptroller's office and the AG's office it is under lock and key," said Laird Smith.
The foundation has also been under fire for insensitivity when it comes to Native Hawaiian art and artists,
We discovered a second floor exhibit mistakenly identifies former OHA trustee Kamaki Kanahele as a woman.
It also incorrectly describes what he is wearing as a Mother Hubbard muu muu.
Read ... State foundation director points to dysfunction in office
Monk Seal Killings: Local Justice or a Federal Case?
CB: Last year, a man on Molokai confessed to killing an endangered Hawaiian monk seal — and nothing happened.
He didn't just whisper it to a friend or post it on Facebook. He told a New York Times Magazine reporter that he hit an 8-year-old bull in the head with a rock out of anger and under peer pressure. Millions of people read the story in the May 8 edition titled "Who's Killing The Monk Seals?"...
read ... A Federal Case?
Star-Adv: Don't Cull Sharks
SA: An unprecedented spike in shark bites over the past two years has galvanized calls for a hunt, but state officials are correct to quell talk of a cull for now in favor of a more 'scientific' (read eco-faddist) approach that emphasizes heightened human awareness and marine research tracking tiger sharks' movement.
HR: Captain pleads guilty to trying to sell shark fins
read ... Avoid overreaction on sharks
Homosexual resists Extradition in Waikiki Saw Murder
SA: The U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force took Suitt into custody Monday at his mother's home in Coronado.
Suitt was indicted by an Oahu grand jury Nov. 26 on a second-degree murder charge. His indictment and other supporting court documents were sealed because authorities thought he may have fled the islands, the Honolulu prosecutor's office said. Bail was set at $5 million because he was considered a flight risk.
Police believe Suitt killed (his boyfriend) Gonzales, 34, and put parts of his body in a bag found Sept. 15 by a couple looking for recyclables.
A Waianae couple found his torso and an arm in the bag, and police later told them the lower half of the body was in another part of the ravine.
KGI: First same-sex marriages held at 5th Circuit
read ... Another Waikiki Gay Murder
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