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Auditor Looks at Workers Comp Medical Fee Review Process
Hanabusa Alone Still Talking about Akaka Tribe
Civil Beat asked members of Hawaii's Congressional delegation about their reflections on 2013 and resolutions for 2014. Only Hanabusa mentioned the Akaka Tribe. These are her comments:
CB: Hanabusa: What we were hoping to accomplish was the issue of federal recognition, at least getting it moved along, but there were all different kinds of issues associated with that. I was very disappointed....
Hanabusa: We have to stay the course (in seeking federal recognition for Native Hawaiians) until we hear otherwise. We need to hear from the White House before we can chart the next steps. There are three ways you can achieve federal recognition: One is through Congress, the other is what you're hearing about now, which is executive orders; and then the third is judicial, which in my opinion would require the state to take some kind of action. I think that whatever the course may be, it's going to be something that the entire delegation pools behind... We have to hear from all the players, primarily the executive branch. It's in their court....
MORE >>> Star-Adv: Delegation 3-1: Only Hanabusa Mentions Akaka Tribe
read ... Hawaii's Congressional Delegation: Letdowns and New Year's Resolutions
Plan B? City Scrambles After Ernie Martin Wrecks Housing Deal
SA: ... after Honolulu Affordable Housing Partners issued the city a default notice on Dec. 10, the Caldwell administration gave the group and two other top bidders until 4 p.m. Christmas Eve to indicate whether they are still interested in and able to complete the transaction....
William Rice, a managing partner for the purchasing group, said in the default notice that two resolutions introduced by Council Chairman Ernie Martin to either rescind or postpone the sale constituted a breach of the purchase agreement.
Martin introduced the resolutions after he and several colleagues expressed unhappiness about the details of the deal, and the way the administration decided how the sale's $36 million in proceeds would be spent in particular.
Rice said the actions "undermined and made it impossible" for the consortium to obtain the financing necessary for the sale, at least not by a March 31 deadline stipulated in an ordinance approving the sale. Additionally, Rice said the partnership has spent $4 million to close the sale. He suggested the city could not only be liable for that amount, but possibly an additional $2 million in damages.
The Council chose to shelve the two resolutions but also refused to support a new resolution offered by the administration reaffirming support for the sale and extending the closing deadline indefinitely.
Caldwell has also warned that it has already programmed $30 million in proceeds into the current year's $2 billion operating budget, and that a collapse of the deal could leave his administration scrambling to make up the shortfall....
Councilman Breene Harimoto, who argued against the resolutions nullifying or delaying the sale, said he is most worried about what liability the city could incur if the deal falls through....
Additionally, he said, the city is operating the 12 complexes at a monthly loss of $500,000, a situation that will continue until they are sold. Some of the buildings involved are also in dire need of improvements and "the buyer was willing to pump its own money" toward renovations and repairs, Harimoto said.
A portion of Caldwell's Housing First initiative was also expected to be funded from some of the proceeds of the sale.
Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, who has long raised concerns about the agreement with Rice's group, said she's puzzled why the administration chose only to seek out the interest of two losing bidders when there were seven bidders in all and other potential buyers who did not submit proposals due to stringent requirements that were later changed to accommodate Hawaii Affordable Housing Partners....
Chuck Wathen, a partner in one of the two losing groups contacted, told the Star-Advertiser that his group submitted a response to the city on Tuesday.
read ... Contingency plans for city housing sale highlight concerns
Flooded With Mentally Ill, Hawaii Prisons Seek More funding
CB: Earlier this year, Hawaii Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai declared that his agency had a crisis on its hands.
Mark Davis, an inmate with a history of mental illness, had just been found dead inside a holding unit at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi.
He was the third inmate to die at the jail in two months. A 76-year-old man had been murdered by his cellmate, and a 19-year-old had hung himself.
Sakai was most worried about how DPS was caring for its inmate population, particularly those suffering from mental illnesses.
It’s been a growing concern for the department, and one that Sakai hopes can be lessened in the coming year with more resources and better staffing.
“There’s a lot more mental health inmates in our system,” Sakai told Civil Beat last week. “It’s not a new problem. It reflects the kind of population that we’ve been getting over the past several years.”...
DPS Health Care Administrator Wes Mun said one way to gauge the mental health dilemma is the high number of suicides and attempted suicides in correctional facilities.
So far there have been six suicides and 27 attempted suicides this year, he said. In 2012, there were only four suicides and 10 attempted suicides.
The lower numbers were similar in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, there was one death and 17 attempts. In 2011, there were three deaths and 16 attempts.
“A lot of the clients that used to be in the adult mental health division are coming to us,” Mun said. “We’re becoming the new community health center.”
DPS has asked the state for more money in Fiscal Year 2015 to help respond to the spike in suicide attempts and other mental health issues encountered in Hawaii’s correctional facilities.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie appears to be listening. He added nearly $5 million to DPS’s nearly $250 million budget in the state’s supplemental spending plan for FY 2015 that was released earlier this month.
Of that, nearly $520,000 will go toward hiring 20 more correctional officers to help with suicide and hospital watches at OCCC and Halawa Correctional Facility in Aiea.
Another $808,000 has been budgeted to hire 21 more staffers to bolster mental health services at Hawaii’s correctional facilities, mainly Halawa and the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua.
read ... Throwing More Money at the Same Failed System
Schatz Among Top 5 Senators Vulnerable in 2014 Primaries
NJ: The only Democrat on our list, Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii faces a primary challenge from Democratic Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who had also hoped to be appointed to the seat at the end of last year when the late Sen. Daniel Inouye died. An October robo-poll showed the race neck and neck, as did a poll this summer—and a poll from EMILY's List (which is backing Hanabusa) over the summer showed the congresswoman up. But Schatz also pulled ahead in fundraising during the third quarter, bringing in $678,000 to Hanabusa's $441,000. Expect a hard-fought race.
read ... National Journal
Army’s ‘Pacific Pathways’ initiative sets up turf battle with Marines
WaPo: As the Obama administration winds down the Army-centric war in Afghanistan, Pentagon leaders are seeking to place the Air Force, Navy and Marines in dominant roles to counter threats in the Asia-Pacific region, which they have deemed to be the nation’s next big national security challenge.
Fearful that the new strategy will cut its share of the defense budget, the Army is launching an ambitious campaign to transform itself and assert its relevance in the Pacific. And that, in turn, is drawing the Army into a fight. With the Marines.
read ... Army’s ‘Pacific Pathways’ initiative sets up turf battle with Marines
Oceanographer Debunks Fukushima Conspiracy Mongers
(Attention anti-GMO activists. Facts are intruding on another of your deeply held beliefs....)
DSN: On March 11th, 2011 the Tōhoku earthquake and resulting tsunami wreaked havoc on Japan. It also resulted in the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl ... it has also led to some wild speculation on the widespread dangers of Fukushima radiation on the internet. Posts with titles like “Holy Fukushima – Radiation From Japan Is Already Killing North Americans” and ”28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima” (which Southern Fried Science has already thoroughly debunked ) keep popping up on my facebook feed from well-meaning friends.
I’m here to tell you that these posts are just plain garbage. While there are terrible things that happened around the Fukushima Power Plant in Japan; Alaska, Hawaii and the West Coast aren’t in any danger. These posts were meant to scare people (and possibly written by terrified authors). They did just that, but there is a severe lack of facts in these posts.
ILind: Oceanographer debunks wildest Fukushima radiation fears
read ... True facts about Ocean Radiation and the Fukushima Disaster
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