Samoa Reporter Accidentally Admits Coverup: Missing Congressman Found "Convalescing in Utah"
Hearing Thursday on Motion to Dismiss Atheists’ Lawsuit
Christmas vacation: Obamas get trip to Hawaii, taxpayers get ‘jelly-of-the-month’ club
Abercrombie Appoints Patricia Kim Park to JSC
City Ambulance Contractor Turns Down 30-40% of Calls in Leeward Oahu
HSTA Joins AFL-CIO
Obama Vacation Circus:
Amount of Taxpayer Money Spent on Advertising Hawaii's Obamacare Exchange is "Proprietary"
HR: "In this contract award release $1.2 million was allocated to MVNP for market research, communication strategy and public relations to raise awareness about the Connector – this includes advertising. Further breakdown of the advertising budget is within the contractual relationship between the Connector and MVNP and contains proprietary information."
read ... Proprietary
New Director Takes Over Hawaii Health Connector, Immediately Crashes Website
SA: Eddy Conway, a 62-year-old systems administrator whose medical insurance ends when he retires Dec. 31, has been trying to enroll in coverage for the past 10 weeks through the state's online marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act.
Less than a week before the enrollment deadline to get coverage Jan. 1, the downtown Honolulu resident is scrambling to sign up on the Hawai‘i Health Connector website, which has been down for the past five days.
"It's now down to days. If I have a heart attack and go to Queen's (Medical Center) on Jan. 2, I have no insurance. There is behind me a tidal wave of people who also have not been served."
Consumers must enroll in a plan by Monday to ensure they have coverage as of Jan. 1.
A Hawai‘i Health Connector call center employee said Tuesday that the website crashed Friday, preventing many consumers from logging into their accounts and selecting health plans. Call center employees said they aren't able to do anything when the system is down and didn't know when the website would be working....
Tom Matsuda, who took over as the Connector's interim executive director last week, said in an emailed response to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the website has been taken down to add new enhancements and functions....
Matsuda said as of Saturday the Connector had enrolled 960 individuals and 47 employees....
Barry Abrahams, owner of Big Island restaurant Red Water Cafe in Waimea, has been trying since the first week of October to enroll his seven workers whose policies expire at year's end. So far, he has been able to sign up just one employee.
"After two months of almost daily phone calls or emails, we have been unsuccessful," he said. "None of the rest have even heard anything back. It has been extremely time-consuming. It's just ridiculous."
Individuals and small businesses can receive tax credits only if enrolling in a health plan on the Connector.
"We keep trying, hoping that it will all come together before the deadline," Abrahams said.
Matsuda said last week the Connector's goal is to sign up 50,000 people — 10,000 individuals and 40,000 small-business workers — by June 30 to be financially sustainable after $204.3 million in federal grants expire at the end of 2014.
read ... Scrambling
Abercrombie's Turtle Bay Deal Would Allow Two New Hotels, Give Developers $40M
SA: There's no agreement on price yet, but more details have emerged about the state's proposal to pay the owner of Turtle Bay Resort to protect part -- but not all -- of the North Shore property from development.
The potentially $40 million deal advocated by Gov. Neil Abercrombie would preserve nearly three-quarters of the land marked for resort expansion -- or 610 acres out of 852 acres -- and prevent the development of 750 homes.
However, two new oceanfront hotels with a combined 625 rooms would still be possible....
Stotesbury's letter said two new hotels would cost about $350 million and generate $12 million in annual state tax revenue. That revenue could be used to underwrite the cost of the easements, he suggested.
read ... $40M for This?
Juvenile justice needs reform
SA: The language is dry and bureaucratic, yet the core message in a new report on juvenile justice comes through with devastating clarity: Hawaii is failing to rehabilitate most offenders because it uses the wrong approach, relying on expensive incarceration even for those convicted of misdemeanors and failing to provide timely access to the drug and mental-health treatment these troubled youths desperately need....
The 56-bed HYCF on Oahu's Windward side was intended as a facility of last resort, reserved for the most violent and dangerous juvenile offenders who threaten public safety. But it's become a holding center for minors convicted of nonviolent misdemeanors — and they end up being held for nearly as long as those convicted of felonies.
Seventy-two percent of the youths sent to HYCF in fiscal year 2013 were incarcerated for property, drug, status or other nonviolent offenses. They remained at HYCF an average of seven months, only six weeks less than the average time for felony offenders. And although overall commitments to HYCF have fallen 41 percent over the past decade, youths are staying longer: The average commitment time is up 188 percent since 2004....
About 80 percent of youth involved in Hawaii's juvenile justice system abuse drugs or alcohol, the report emphasized, yet there is only one residential substance-abuse facility in Hawaii. Left untreated in juveniles, substance abuse becomes a long-term scourge on society, leading to joblessness, homelessness and higher crime rates as young offenders grow up unrehabilitated.
Prohibiting misdemeanor placements at HYCF would force the state to use the facility as originally intended and free up resources for local jurisdictions, to expand treatment programs and provide better sentencing and supervision options for the family court judges and probation officers who oversee these offenders.
HYCF costs $199,000 per bed, per year —taxpayers' money that could be better spent, for all but the most dangerous offenders.
Incarceration clearly isn't working: 75 percent of youths face new charges within three years of leaving HYCF.
read ... Justice?
How Will Hawaii Police Its Police? Lawmakers and Lawsuit Shape the Future
CB: In 2010, Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha told state lawmakers that one of his officers was suspended for 626 days.
Beyond that, Kealoha gave little information. No name. No date. No detail. Just a four-word sentence on a piece of paper.
“Hindered a federal investigation.”
The brief record of disciplinary action is all that county police departments are required to publicly reveal about misconduct by officers who are suspended.
But now the conversation seems to be changing, and how best to police Hawaii’s law enforcement officers looks to be a major talking point in 2014....
Civil Beat on Tuesday asked a Circuit Court judge to rule in a case seeking records of 12 officers suspended for serious issues. A hearing has been set on the motion for summary judgment for Jan. 21 before Judge Karl Sakamoto.
The public has been prevented from knowing much about police misconduct since 1995, when the Hawaii Legislature sided with the politically influential statewide police union, the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) and allowed many disciplinary records to be withheld. The only glimpse comes in the annual summaries to the Legislature, where Kealoha mentioned the long suspension of his officer for interfering in a federal investigation. The reports list how many officers were suspended or fired for breaking department rules.
read ... Police?
Retaliation: Supreme Court Slaps Dowm Hannemann Admin for Blacklisting Stagehands
ILind: A scathing opinion issued by the Hawaii Supreme Court at the end of last week blasted Honolulu officials for blacklisting two veteran professional stagehands in August 2007 following a run-in with then-Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s older brother, Nephi.
The incident happened during a rehearsal for a benefit concert in which a performance by the mayor was to be featured.
The opinion provides an unusually candid and unflattering behind the scenes look at the Hannemann administration, and comes at an awkward time for the former mayor, who is rumored to be preparing to take another plunge into politics in 2014.
The court’s decision came in a lawsuit brought by Eric Minton and Richard Stanley, professional stagehands with nearly 75 years of experience between them, not to mention many rave reviews from prior clients. Named as defendants, along with the city, are Sidney Quintal, former director of the Department of Enterprise Services, and John Fuhrmann, who was in charge of daily operations at the city-owned facilities.
The men were barred from working in city facilities, and the city told groups or promoters who wanted to hire them to find other stagehands to do their jobs.
The court ruled the blacklisting violated the men’s constitutional rights, found they had not been provided due process, and ruled that the evidence properly demonstrated the city’s action had resulted in the loss of a significant part of their incomes.
The court called the city’s action “particularly egregious” because it effectively destroyed the men’s livelihoods by banning them for life from the premier entertainment venues, Blaisdell Center and the Waikiki Shell, without any intention of providing due process.
read ... Mufi
How Sen. Daniel Inouye Defended the Hawaiian Flag
CB: It was the Union Jack that some mainlanders found troubling in Hawaii’s early history as a state. One Maryland flag manufacturer said in 1967 that it would be better to remove the symbol, and re-design the Hawaiian flag to “steer away from any aspects of British colonialism,” according to a wire story published in the Honolulu Advertiserthat year.
Here’s how Sen. Dan Inouye — still a relative newcomer in Congress — responded: “Our flag has flown proudly over the Islands as the flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the State of Hawaii. It is a very precious part of our heritage and may it ever be so.”
You can find more on the history of the Hawaiian flag in this 1925 New York Times article.
ILind: History: Origin of the Hawaiian Flag
read ... How Sen. Daniel Inouye Defended the Hawaiian Flag
Full Text: KIUC Stupidity Tax
KGI: “The KIUC Board of Directors voted to charge fees to those who choose not to use the standard smart meter,” the ballot reads. “The fees, including a $10.27 monthly charge, were approved by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and cover the additional costs of installing and reading older meters. This ballot allows members to approve or reject the board action. A YES vote supports the board decision. It means that only those who choose not to have a smart meter will pay the additional charges. A NO vote overturns the board decision. It could result in all members paying the costs of installing and reading the old meters.”
(This is significant because the 3000 morons who believe smart meters cause cancer are mostly the same people who have been anti-Superferry and anti-GMO protesters. Kauai will now vote on making them pay for one of their psychoses.)
read ... Will Kauai Vote to Tax its Idiots?
Permanent rules restrict state's solar tax credits
SA: A temporary change in state tax policy put in place a year ago that limits the ability of homeowners and businesses to claim multiple tax credits for solar systems has been made permanent.
The temporary administrative rules were an attempt by state Department of Taxation officials to provide clarity and uniformity to the tax credit program and to reduce the amount of tax revenue being lost as the value of credits being claimed soared.
When the rules were announced last fall, there was a consensus among policymakers and industry officials that the state Legislature would probably pass a law during the spring session ratcheting down the tax credits over a multiyear period, thereby making the administrative rules no longer necessary.
However, the bill failed after House and Senate conferees in the last days of the session could not reach agreement on how rapidly to reduce the credit, which stands at 35 percent.
The Department of Taxation adopted the new rules Monday after holding a public hearing on the matter Nov. 25. The new rules were sent to Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who has 10 days to sign them into law or they automatically go into effect. The temporary rules would have expired in May if the Tax Department had not opted to make them permanent.
Background: Why Stop at $500K? DoTAX Quietly Multiplies Hawaii Solar Tax Credit
read ... Permanent rules restrict state's solar tax credits
HECO Demands Kahuku Windfarm be Exempted from Competitive Bidding
PBN: The planned 24-megawatt Na Pua Makani wind farm on Oahu’s North Shore is expected to save Hawaiian Electric Co.millions of dollars in total avoided fuel costs during the 20-year term of a power purchase agreement, the state’s largest electric utility recently said in an application regarding the project sent to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.
The application seeks to get a waiver from the competitive bidding process and the approval of a power purchase agreement between HECO and Champlin Hawaii Wind Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Santa Barbara-based Champlin, the developer of the wind farm....
The Kahuku wind project, which includes 232 acres owned by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and 345 acres owned by Malaekahana Hui West, a private landowner, will lease land from these landowners.
Glick: Hawaii is currently beyond 15 percent renewable and 15 percent in efficiency and will be in excess of its 2015 goals.
read ... Hawaiian Electric says planned Oahu wind farm will save millions
Disabled Military Retirees Not Exempt from Pension Cuts in Budget Deal
FB: A provision cutting the pensions of military retirees in the bipartisan budget deal that the Senate will vote on this week does not exempt disabled veterans, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Disabled retirees were previously thought to be exempt from the changes to military retiree pay, which could cost servicemembers up to $124,000 over a 20-year period.
The Free Beacon previously reported that military retirees under the age of 62 would receive 1 percentage point less in their annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in the plan crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D., Wash.).
The section of the U.S. code that has been altered also applies to disabled servicemembers, many of whom have been wounded in combat.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, called the change “unthinkable” ....
read ... Not Exempt
U.S. hospital admissions weakest in a decade
R: U.S. hospital admissions in November were the weakest in more than a decade, under pressure from a change in reimbursement rules for Medicare patients and confusion tied to the problem-ridden rollout of Obamacare, according to a survey by Citi Research.
New billing rules for the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled require hospitals to treat patient stays lasting less than "two midnights" as an outpatient visit.
"In addition, it is reasonable to conclude that the cumulative impact of changing physician employment and payment models is beginning to play a role, as well as the paralyzing effect of the impotent Obamacare rollout," Citi analyst Gary Taylor said in a report.
Hospital inpatient admissions in November fell to their weakest level in more than a decade, based on responses to the bank's monthly survey of 98 hospitals, Taylor said.
In October and November combined, admissions were down 4 to 5 percent from a year ago, which will likely weigh on hospital operators' fourth-quarter earnings and 2014 forecasts, he said.
read ... Admissions
Geothermal energy pool may expand
HTH: ...underground heat sources may extend far beyond Pele’s reach into areas separated by millennia from the hot spot that created the Hawaiian Islands, at least one scientist believes.
And if accessible, they could expand the use of geothermal energy to dormant parts of the isle as well as possibly Maui and Oahu, said Donald Thomas, director of the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes....
So far, research has been limited to the Kilauea summit and its East Rift Zone.
Thomas said researchers are using the volcanically-active area to collect data with which to compare other parts of the islands.
Later, sensors are also planned to be placed on Hualalai and Mauna Kea before moving onto Maui and Oahu.
On Mauna Kea, Thomas said the researchers will look for a rift zone that is believed to cut through land owned by Parker Ranch and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands.
read ... Geothermal
Chicago Fierce Battle for Site of Obama Library
NYT: suitors from Mr. Obama’s home and adopted states — and even New York, where he lived for two years as an undergraduate — are expressing interest in landing the library. But it is Chicago where the competition is most fierce.
read ... Obama’s Library, Advisers’ Dream
Waipahu School was warned of cooling practices in September
SA: Health inspectors cited Waipahu Elementary on Sept. 18 for failing to properly reheat food, according to Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo. The violation also had to do with preparing pasta noodles.
The inspection was part of a routine visit that health officials conduct once a semester.
Okubo said the school’s cafeteria staff was told how to correct the situation and instructed to follow proper time and temperature controls.
Less than three months later, more than 30 children and two adults fell ill after eating lunches prepared in the school’s cafeteria. Some 25 students were taken to area hospitals after experiencing dizziness, nausea and vomiting, and feeling clammy and sweaty.
read ... Warned
DHHL threatens to evict charity
KHON: A Waimanalo charity that helps disabled children may be kicked off of its property.
The Manawalea Riding Center's landlord is the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which has been cracking down on lease violations.
"One of the first letters is that I had is that if I'm not in compliance in X amount of days, I'll be evicted," said Ben Char, the riding center's president.
Since 1995, Char has leased two acres of agricultural land in Waimanalo from the DHHL. There, he operates a therapeutic horse riding center that serves more than 1,200 autistic, wheel chair-bound and other severely disabled children and adults each year.
But earlier this year, the DHHL threatened to evict Manawalea alleging it improperly stored construction equipment and erected illegal structures.
read ... DHHL threatens to evict charity
While Thousands of Filipinos Wait to Immigrate Legally, Illegal Immigration activist to speak at UH-Manoa graduation
SA: Jose Antonio Vargas revealed in a New York Times essay two years ago that he has been living in the U.S. illegally since he was brought from the Philippines as a child to live with his grandparents.
He grew up in California where teachers and school administrators helped him gain college admission, a driver's license and employment. He later landed a job at The Washington Post
read ... Line Jumper Lionized
Boylan Quits Island Insights, Blames Micromanagement
SA: Boylan notified President and CEO Leslie Wilcox "that I would not be back after the holidays," he told TheBuzz, because "I've been uncomfortable with the change in the management of the show."
He praised Producers Joy Chong and Colette Fox, "both of them are terrific to work with," adding he had been impressed with veteran journalists Treena Shapiro and Suzanne Roig, who are recent PBS Hawaii hires.
"I just find presently that morale around the show has been low, and I think it's primarily become a bit micromanaged," he said.
read ... Micromanagement
5 Judges Petition for Retention
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