Flags to Fly at Half-Staff for Sgt Drew M Scobie
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How They Voted: House Rejects Religious Freedom Restoration Act
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Budget: Kalbert Young Talks to Grassroot Institute
Abercrombie Appoints Dr. Linda Rosen Director, Department of Health
Supreme Court: Lower Courts too Dismissive of Pro-Se Litigants
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HPU Prof. Distributes Land to the Landless
Internet Tax Freedom Act Celebrates Sweet 16
Ninth Circuit Confirms Right to Carry Arms in Public
Comcast merger sparks calls for government intervention
Housing First Funding Depends on Sale of City-Owned Apartments
SA: "The take-away message is that Housing First programs must be funded with a long-term commitment to providing continuity for the clients," said Lori Tsuhako, administrator for the DHS Homeless Programs Office. "Year-to-year funding negatively impacts the program's retention rate."
Tsuhako said the Housing First appropriation could be aligned with a state Department of Health Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant, which provides federal funds for intensive support services that help clients remain stability. Tsuhako's office expects to secure a new Housing First contract at the end of March with services and program alignment beginning about mid-2014.
Kippen said obtaining such funding is critical given that an earlier multimillion-dollar city commitment to Housing First was put on hold in January after the collapse of a $142 million deal to lease 12 city rental complexes. "No sale, no proceeds. No proceeds, no program," Kippen said.
Tsuhako said whichever agency is selected to implement the next phase of Housing First will be required to coordinate and maintain clients served through the pilot program.
read ... Housing First Program clients mistakenly ordered to leave
'I don't plan on going back'--A Housing First Story
SA: "I've lived in jail a good 30 years of my life, on and off," Higuchi said. "But I've been out of the court system for seven or eight years, and I don't plan on going back."
Higuchi smiles shyly as she recounts a recent conversation with a sheriff she knew from before.
"I ran into him in my building, and he asked me, ‘Did anyone tell you that they are proud of you lately?'" she said. "I was so happy to hear him say, ‘I am.'"
Related: Mental Health: Can Reform Solve Hawaii’s Homeless, Prison and Unfunded Liability Problems?
read ... Housing First
HB2533: Legislation Would Revive Partial Public Funding Program
CB: The House Judiciary Committee today passed a bill that would “revive Hawaii’s old partial public funding program for elections, which was originally implemented in 1980 by a mandate from citizens during the Constitutional Convention.”...
House Bill 2533, which would create a citizen-funding option for state House elections, now awaits a hearing in Finance. A similar bill died in conference committee during the 2013 session....
SA: Make it easier to seek office
read ... Legislation Would Revive Partial Public Funding Program
Congressional Candidates to Meet With Trannies Today
CB: ...at 10 a.m., the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii will host the first candidates’ forum for the 1st Congressional District.
It takes place in the Kaakako Room at Ward Warehouse. The forum will be broadcast live on ‘Olelo Channel 54 and later rebroadcast.
Convicted thief, Michael 'Bitchbear' Golojuch, Jr., GLBT Caucus chair, said, “With such a crowded field it is forum’s like this that will help Democrats make informed decisions when it comes time for them to vote in the Primary.”
read ... Bow Before Your Gay Lords
Kim "Saddened' by Manahan's CD1 Challenge
SA: ...Kim, for whom Manahan worked as a staff aide for a year, said she was informed of his candidacy via an email sent to his supporters and the media Friday morning.
A supporter of Manahan's political career through the years, Kim said she considers herself a mentor to him. While she wishes him well, she said "it's sad" he did not give her advance notice of his intentions given their past relationship. "I guess that's today's politics."
Manahan said he considers Kim a friend and that "I did learn a lot from her, for sure." But he stressed that he had worked or is working with nearly all the other candidates in the race and that he chose to give none of them advance notice....
read ... Sadness
2012 Killer Out after a Few Months, Already Violating Parole
HTH: ...In a plea agreement with prosecutors, the 50-year-old Schuster pleaded guilty on Sept. 6 to the fatal stabbing of 30-year-old Joshua Trickel on July 22, 2012, at Schuster’s Pua Street home. The deal was struck at the request of Trickel’s mother, Leslie Peters, and one of Trickel’s sisters.
Schuster was originally charged with second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, as well as third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. Two glass pipes and a zip-lock bag, all containing methamphetamine residue, were found in Schuster’s home.
Schuster, a registered nurse, could have received a 20-year prison sentence for the manslaughter conviction. He had been incarcerated for 15 months before his release on Sept. 6.
Peters had a change of heart during the course of the case. In August 2012, she told the Tribune-Herald that she hoped Schuster “spends the rest of his life in prison.” ....
Daniel Schuster appeared Tuesday before Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara. According to the minutes of the hearing, Schuster — whose terms of probation include drug testing — tested positive for methamphetamine on Jan. 28 and admitted to using the drug on Jan. 24.
Schuster’s probation officer also told the court that Schuster tested positive for meth on Feb. 5. Schuster waived his rights to a hearing and admitted to meth use while on probation, the minutes state.
Hara sentenced Schuster to four days in jail, stayed, and ordered him to appear Thursday morning for a HOPE probation warning hearing.
read ... Soft on Crime
Court considers Hu Honua liens
HTH: An initial court hearing was held Friday on two of the mechanics’ and materialmans’ liens filed in connection with the Hu Honua Bioenergy power plant under construction at Pepeekeo....
Six lien applications have been filed, to date, naming Hu Honua, and five of those are still active.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 7 ordered the state’s Clean Air Branch to modify or reissue an air-pollution permit for Hu Honua. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy ruled the Clean Air Branch failed to take into consideration pollutants that would be generated by the start-up, shutdown or malfunction of the plant, which would generate electricity from eucalyptus trees and other plant matter.
read ... Hu Honua
HECO cleared to pursue negotiations to buy what passes as low-cost PV power
SA: The three projects are among nine that HECO wants to put on the fast track to allow developers to take advantage of federal tax credits that are due to expire at the end of 2016.
The state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday cleared HECO to move forward with plans to buy power from the three projects with a total generating capacity of 33 megawatts.
The power would be priced below a levelized price of 17 cents a kilowatt hour over the 20-year term of the agreement, according to the PUC. (This is not cheap.) That compares with the approximately 22.5 cents per kilowatt hour HECO pays to generate electricity from oil at current prices.
HECO told the PUC it expects the solar projects to reduce its generation costs by $3.1 million a year, or $62.5 million over the 20-year period.
read ... "Low" cost Keeping Electric Bills High
What is Renewable Energy?
IM: It is easy to understand the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) law.
“Each electric utility company that sells electricity for consumption in the State shall establish a renewable portfolio standard of …Fifteen per cent of its net electricity sales by December 31, 2015 …Forty per cent of its net electricity sales by December 31, 2030.” (HRS 269-92)
The complexity of RPS is defining what actually can be counted as renewable energy.
The issue is not simple....
Renewable Energy is not a scientific term, it is a political term.
Renewable Energy is a man-made definition....
Since the start of the year 2000 Hawaii has had multiple definitions of what renewable energy means.
The definitions have been changed in five different Legislative Sessions: 2001 (HB 173 CD1, Act 272), 2004 (SB 2474 HD2, Act 95), 2006 (SB 3185 CD1, Act 162), 2009 (HB 1464 CD1, Act 155) and 2011 (SB 1346 SD2, Act 10)....
read ... What is Renewable Energy?
String of OIP opinions require court settlements involving state or counties to be public
ILind: When a settlement in the lawsuit alleging churches have for years underpaid for use of Department of Education facilities by millions of dollars, details of the settlement were not publicly available....
Related: Atheist Scores $200K from New Hope Lawsuit Settlement
read ... String of OIP opinions require court settlements involving state or counties to be public
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