October 8, 2009 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, October 8, 2009

October 8, 2009 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:32 PM :: 14089 Views

UHPA rejects contract seeking pay cut

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly has voted 86.2 percent to reject the university's final contract offer of a 5 percent pay cut....The results were expected since union officials recommended that the state's two-year offer be rejected. (315 yes to 1,968 no votes)

(Team Chaos 2010 is very pleased) Furloughs vs Layoffs: The union no-solution strategy

Hawaii CC: Pay cuts will not be enough

But even if a 5 percent cut were applied across the college's annual payroll of $15 million, the college would still be left searching for almost $1 million in savings, said Mike Leialoha, vice chancellor for administrative affairs....

(And the leader of Team Chaos 2010 at UH??? Engineered choice: How to pick a Greenwood , Executive compensation at UC: MRC Greenwood and the $871 million dollar secret , MRC Greenwood and "A Powerful Coterie of larcenous. . . ." (UH's next system President?)

Hooser says raid of hurricane fund could restore lost teaching days

As Lingle closes in on an HGEA settlement, Mayors are stalling and in the Legislature Hooser is seeking to sabotage the settlement with this scam. Team Chaos 2010 is very pleased.

KGI: Tough decision, Senator eyes hurricane fund for education shortfall

He said the hurricane fund was created after ‘Iniki because private insurance companies left and property owners had nowhere to turn. Now, he said, “everyone” has private insurance available to them, so “the purpose for the fund is no longer a valid purpose.” (That lie was just as "true" last session so why didn't Hooser propose the elimination of the fund when he had a chance.)

He said the $180 million is not designed to rebuild public infrastructure, that private insurers will cover home- and business owners, and emergency aid would come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (Wrong. Local and State government have primary responsibility for disaster relief. What part of "Katrina" does Hooser not understand?)

“We have to do something. The damage to students, to learning, to test scores, to child care issues, are here-and-now problems,” he said. “We have the funds available to deal with them in the short term and we should do that, because it’s just unacceptable to take 17 days away from our kids.”

(So why did the DoE CHOOSE to take these days all out of instructional time? In order to help clowns like Hooser try to pull this scam.)

(The one upside of this is if these clowns get together for a special session, they will be responsible for the outcome. The downside is that few challengers are emerging to face them in 2010.)

Hawaii lawmakers look for ways to ease school furlough impact (Tax increase)

At a joint hearing of the state House and Senate Education Committees yesterday, lawmakers questioned education officials about ways schools could add instructional days back to the calendar.

One suggestion was converting teacher planning and professional development days to instructional days — which could reduce "Furlough Fridays" by as much as six.

Education and union officials also told Legislators they'd be willing to reopen the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract and reduce the furlough days if lawmakers were to come up with more money for schools.

"There is a growing sentiment that this is something we should seriously consider," said Rep. Roy Takumi, chairman of the House Education Committee. "There are options that we could exercise that I would be open to."

Meanwhile, Rep. Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa), asked education officials for an accounting of programs and state and district level positions that were cut from the DOE budget.

"At the school level, principals as well as teachers feel that before you actually went to the furlough option that there were other things that could have been looked at," Finnegan said.

Hamamoto ~~pointed out that~~ claimed central administration of the state Department of Education makes up just 5 percent of the DOE budget.

(This is why the DoE placed all 17 days on instructional days. To create a political excuse for tax increases. Duh.)

From Japan, Mayor says 'hogwash' to governor's criticism

"Any talk of 'mayors not being in sync' with what's been progressing is total hogwash," wrote Honolulu's Mufi Hannemann, the Big Island's Billy Kenoi, Maui's Charmaine Tavares and Kaua'i's Bernard Carvalho Jr. "We are intimately involved and have been in constant discussions with the governor's staff and with the key officials of the HGEA.

"We understand there are still some delicate issues to be resolved between the employers and HGEA, but none that should be considered deal-breakers. We're anxious to conclude the contract talks and expect to reach a decision soon."

Hannemann, Kenoi, and Tavares are traveling out of state but are being updated by staff.

SB: Mayors rebut Lingle's complaints (More of the same mayoral foot-dragging)

(Stalling mayors--four more players on Team Chaos 2010)

Garcia warns colleagues of tax cut cost (Mufi campaign scam)

"I caution the members, in the rush to try to come up with tax relief ... be careful," Councilman Nestor Garcia told members of the Budget Committee during a hearing yesterday.

"We have had no real discussion on expenses. ... If we start giving away, in the interest of tax relief, when I propose cuts in services and programs, I want support."

(So while Mayors are stalling on County responsibilities and HGEA negotiations, on Oahu, they are cutting taxes??? Well, not quite. They are separating homeowners rates from other rates in order to make it easier to raise other property taxes.)

ADV: Core services must survive budget-cutting

This is a welcome development, but one that comes with a cautionary note: In uncertain times, assigning new duties to the counties could put their core functions at risk....To that end, Lingle has requested a meeting with the Hawaii State Association of Counties to discuss ways of sharing governmental burdens. (Advertiser, just doing its part for Team Chaos 2010)

HPD test-fixing alleged

In a Circuit Court lawsuit filed yesterday against the City and County of Honolulu, Sgt. Deeann Koanui said she faced retaliation and harassment after she complained last year about falsified written test scores of five recruits and the altering of two recruits' physical fitness tests.

In the lawsuit, Koanui alleged that her supervisor, Maj. Susan Ballard, later "ordered that the recruit test results be shredded, thereby destroying evidence that would have corroborated that the test scores had been changed under her command."

New law prohibits employment discrimination (sic) based on credit history

Effective July 1, 2009, it is illegal for an employer to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or discharge from employment or otherwise to discriminate against any individual because of the individual’s credit history or credit report, a news release said Monday. (Hawaii will become a hotbed of embezzlement.)

Hawai‘i becomes the first state to include protections (for deadbeats) against discrimination (sic) on the basis of credit history or credit report (ie their poor choices to welch on their debts) in its civil rights fair employment laws. Washington state has a similar prohibition in its consumer protection law, and several other states are considering legislation like that passed by the Hawai‘i Legislature.

Federal workers in Alaska, Hawaii to lose cost of living pay

HONOLULU - About 50,000 federal workers in Hawaii, Alaska and U.S. territories will lose cost of living adjustments in their paychecks but will gain higher retirement pay in the bargain. (Had to go to an Alaska paper to get this story straight. BTW Just wait until the Obama debts start juicing the inflation rate. Boy will this ever be regretted.)

Abercrombie's Guam pork deal stricken from bill (still manages to waste lots of money)

The final language in the Defense Bill requires that Guam contractors advertise and recruit U.S. workers under oversight from the U.S. Department of Labor before any foreign workers can be hired. (But they won't want the jobs because...)

Abercrombie also wanted to bring construction wages up to the level of many U.S. labor markets. Guam business interests fought that off, but Abercrombie won approval for a requirement that the Guam wage rates cannot be kept artificially low by including low wage foreign workers in calculations. Guam’s current prevailing wages are lower than all 50 states, yet the cost of living is nearly equal to Hawaii’s.

(Abercrombie continues to spin every ounce of pork as if it were his, but he is in fact one of the least respected members of Congress and this nonsense is solely for the credulous among Hawaii voters)

SB: Congress reaches deal over retirement pay for federal workers' in Hawaii (Abercrombie gets credit for something he just latched on to from his writers at SB.)

ADV: Abercrombie's Guam provisions could be boost for Isle construction industry (No, they won't. Pay is too low to interest anyone.)

Key phrase buried at bottom of this campaign commercial: "For example, one measure would have required that 70 percent of the construction jobs be given to American workers and that they be paid wages comparable to those in Hawaii, which are almost twice as high as Guam's. That didn't make it...."

But these requirements may still be enough to benefit Abercrombie's contributor...READ:

Follow the money: $10B Guam pork project benefits Abercrombie contributor

Anti-American-war protest vs Stryker and other live-fire training Saturday

Warmongers from the mis-named Malu Aina "Peace" Center will do their part on behalf of al-Qaeda's war on civilization Saturday starting at 9AM. As usual they will be pretending that Depleted Uranium is dangerous radiation source when in fact it is a radiation shield. Some fools and elected officials (sorry, redundant) may actually believe them.

Here are a couple of really good articles on the subject:

Council denounces depleted uranium

Bananas More Radioactive than Depleted Uranium

Depleted Uranium: Radioactive Propaganda

The Depleted Uranium Scam

Superferry Update: A rat, a coward, and thin-skinned pseudo intellectuals

and if you don't know what this has to do with the Superferry, you better read this---> Antonio Gramsci Reading List

Honolulu Council to debate sidewalk sleeping today

DATE:        Thursday October 8, 2009
TIME:         9:00am
PLACE:      City Hall – 2nd floor, Council Committee Room
ISSUE:       The Honolulu City Council's Executive Matters and Legal Affairs committee will hear Bill 69 (09). This bill would ban sleeping on public sidewalks.

Hawaii Co. Council votes against mandatory vaccinations

The day after the state received its first batch of H1N1 flu vaccine, a Hawaii County Council committee Tuesday advanced a resolution opposing mandatory vaccination of the populace.

She said constituents are concerned that the federal Model State Emergency Health Powers Act repeals long-standing federal exemptions from mandatory vaccinations.

The act gives public health officials the power to vaccinate all Americans over 6 months old in an emergency, such as the Level 6 flu pandemic declared by the World Health Organization on June 11.

New water line raising concerns

Kailua-Kona resident Mark Jernigan (GOP former HD 6 Rep) has filed a lawsuit against the Water Board regarding the project and has spent thousands of dollars in attorney fees. He left Tuesday's meeting with many unanswered questions and vowed to continue fighting against the planned condemnation of several acres of his land.

Water Supply issued Sept. 21 a Notice to Proceed to CTS Earthmoving. Project manager Nick Schmaltz expected construction on phase 1 to begin Oct. 15 and last six months.

Kauai joins Maui: Plastic bags to be banned

LIHU‘E — After a two-week delay to huddle with the county attorney and revise the wording to ease enforcement, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday morning passed an ordinance that will outlaw single-use plastic checkout bags from the island’s retail establishments despite objections from some members of the business community....

The bill, soon to be signed into law by Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., will go into effect on Jan. 11, 2011 — the same day a similar ban will take effect on Maui.

"In California, bag manufacturers successfully sued Oakland and Manhattan Beach after those cities banned plastic bags. The bag makers complained that officials didn't prepare a report detailing the environmental impact, such as the increased use of paper sacks."

What? Kauai has no EIS???? Call in the surfers!!! Block the harbor to prevent the first shipment of paper bags!!!!

US Senate Passes Resolution Recognizing Father Damien's Canonization to Statehood

“Several priests took turns coming to Molokai to offer spiritual aid for three months at time, but Damien chose to never leave, instead sacrificing his own life for those with Hansen’s disease,” said Senator Inouye. “He worked tirelessly and continuously to turn this remote island into a colony of hope. He offered encouragement and spiritual guidance to those who were less able to help themselves. His spirit of sacrifice is eternal and his ascension to sainthood will cement his legacy.”

“Everyone in Hawai‘i, regardless of age, knows of Father Damien. His story is one of selfless devotion to those afflicted with Hansen’s disease. I’m honored to be among those who will be at the Vatican on Sunday when Pope Benedict XVI declares Father Damien a saint,” said Senator Akaka.

Schofield Stryker brigade will return to Iraq

Schofield Barracks 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat team is returning to Iraq next summer, about 16 months after its last deployment.

About 4,300 soldiers and 322 light-wheeled, 19-ton Stryker combat vehicles are expected to deploy, Army officials said today. In February, about 3,600 25th Division soldiers and 300 Stryker vehicles returned home after spending 15 months in the war zone.

They are part of the three brigades and one armored cavalry regiment with 15,000 soldiers that the Pentagon said will be sent to Iraq next year.