Zoning Board: Abercrombie's Supreme Court Pick Operating Illegal Enterprise for Over a Decade
Hawaii Obamacare Medicaid Applications–Even Less Than The Few
Full Text: Big Island Papaya Farmer Sues to Invalidate anti-GMO Ordinance
AG Decides to Claim Deficiencies, but no Criminal Activity in UH Project Management
In Face of Lawsuit, DOE Pushes Ahead with Overpriced Chevron Solar Deal
Hawaii urges residents to ‘tell a friend’ about Obamacare
The Real Stories Behind "The Descendants"
Rep. Beth Fukumoto named to National Future Majority Caucus Advisory Board
The Jones Act Strikes Oil
Hawaii Bar Assn: Enviro Activist Wilson 'unqualified' for Supreme Court
HNN: The Hawaii State Bar Association has given State Supreme Court nominee Michael Wilson an "unqualified" rating.
The local attorneys' organization does not release the reasons for its ratings of candidates for the bench or what the vote was of its board that makes the assessments.
Wilson, who's been a state judge for the last 13 years, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning for his confirmation hearing.
State Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the judiciary panel, said the bar association's rating matters "because it generally gives senators who want to vote ‘no' cover and a reason to vote ‘no.'"
There are a few senators who have expressed reservations about Wilson's appointment, Hee said.
Reached for comment late Wednesday, Gov. Neil Abercrombie's office released this statement: "Judge Michael Wilson was chosen from a list of six nominees selected by the Judicial Selection Committee. I share the Commission's confidence that Judge Wilson has the experience and leadership to serve as an effective Supreme Court Justice for the State of Hawaii."
SA: Legal hui slams circuit judge
Text, Details: Zoning Board: Abercrombie's Supreme Court Pick Operating Illegal Enterprise for Over a Decade
Background: Supreme Court Nominee Wilson's Written Opinions
read ... Abercrombie's Pick Unqualified
Bread Prices to Soar as State Forces Shutdown of Hawaii's Only Flour Mill
KHON: Bakeries and other companies here in Hawaii that rely on flour are bracing for what could be a major disruption in their local supply of the product....
A spokesperson for the State Department of Transportation told KHON 2 news that in the state’s efforts to improve its harbor operations it has been making changes to its leases as they come up for renewal.
In the case of the Pendleton Flour Mills operation, in order to renegotiate a lease on harbor property, the state is requiring the mill to take possession of its grain silos.
The state went on to say that this issue became a sticking point in the negotiations, and Pendleton, through its attorney, informed the state that it will not renew its lease that expires on March 31st. The state has given the company an extension to wind down operations.
If and when Pendleton Flour Mills winds down its operation by the end of the year Love’s Bakery, along with other bakeries and companies that rely on flour for its products will also be affected by that decision.
“May we see some price increase in your products?” KHON2 asked.
read ... Honolulu flour mill winding down operations
PUC: Abercrombie, Morita Meet, Discuss Price of Her Retention
PR: Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Wednesday afternoon dismissed a growing political controversy surrounding Hermina Morita's future as chairwoman of the Public Utilities Commission as "Internet chatter" and "speculation."
Two dozen state lawmakers and many in the environmental community have urged the governor to keep Morita, a former House lawmaker, after reports that he might not appoint her to another term.
Morita has met privately with Abercrombie in recent days to discuss her role.
Abercrombie said the state has to make progress toward alternative and renewable energy to reduce high electricity costs.
"We're in an energy policy crisis right now. We need a strong commission that's going to have and make its decisions in a timely way," the governor said.
Abercrombie said the "entire question here is, is can we move forward together? And when I'm satisfied that we are prepared to do that, then you'll see a definitive answer."
State Sen. David Ige, who is challenging Abercrombie in the Democratic primary, issued a statement Wednesday evening calling on the governor to reappoint Morita.
read ... Price to be Paid by Consumers
Congress May Investigate failed Hawaii Health Connector
AP: The U.S. Government Accountability Office accepted an initial request from a group of House Republicans seeking an audit on how $304 million in federal grants were spent on the Cover Oregon website, which has yet to enroll a single person online without special assistance.
The agency said due to similar requests from several members of Congress and congressional committees related to the rollout of online health care exchanges, it would broaden the investigation and issue several separate reports on its findings.
GAO spokesman Charles Young said just which states will be included with Oregon will be determined as the investigation goes forward. But 14 states and the District of Columbia opted to create their own exchanges and accepted federal funding to do so.
Republicans have been stepping up their attacks on troubled health exchanges during this election year, but Rep. Greg. Walden, R-Ore., said it was a non-partisan issue.
He noted Oregon Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley made their own requests for the GAO to investigate a day after the Republicans — Walden, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan, and Reps. Joe Pitts and Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania — filed theirs last month....
Sen. Brian 'Sheep' Schatz, D-Hawaii, called the investigation a political stunt....
Other questions raised by the Republican request, crafted in consultation with the GAO, include:
— What capability does the federal government have to reclaim those funds if Oregon abandons the state-run exchange and joins the federal one?
— What other costs has Oregon incurred because of the website's failure?
— Did Cover Oregon's status as a state organization play a role in its failure?
— What steps could federal agencies have taken to assure state and federal oversight of projects like this in the future.
The Wyden-Merkley request asks more questions:
— How were the federal funds used, including job creation, public and private contractors, software developers, and consumer education?
— What efforts to enroll people outside the website have been successful, and what can be done to expand enrollment ahead of the March 31 deadline?
— If taxpayer funds were mismanaged, can the federal government reclaim grant funds from contractors?
— Was there anything in the Affordable Care Act that Cover Oregon did not respond to in its creation?
— What can Oregon do to most quickly and efficiently overcome Cover Oregon's problems and enroll more people?
read ... Schatz tries, fails to run interference
After 23 Years, State Senate Investigates Mental Hospital
KITV: The committee is sending subpoenas to Lynn Fallin, deputy director for behavioral health and Bill Elliott, the state hospital's acting administrator, both of whom sat in the front row as committee co-chairs explained what they plan to investigate Wednesday.
"We expect, as we've discussed, that the questions may range widely about the full scope of safety at the hospital," said State Sen. Josh Green, an emergency room doctor and co-chair of the special panel. ...
Senators fear the mental hospital has failed to live up to federal settlements in 1991, 1996 and 2003 that guaranteed the state would not use excessive overtime or lots of agency employees to maintain proper staffing levels.
read ... 2014-1991 = 23 years
Civil Disobedience: Heroic Big Island Farmers Refusing to Register GMO Crops
KITV: Big Island Farmer Delan "Rusty" Perry says he resisted planting genetically modified plants at first, but after the Ring Spot Virus decimated papaya crops, he changed his mind.
"You learn something in agriculture. Things change and you best learn how to change with it," said Perry.
But in recent years, he says he's watched and worried as vandals attacked GMO crops -- chopping down hundreds of trees, including what would have been the college fund for one farmer's kids.
"It was all cut down like this, as low as this," said Erlinda Bernardo, a Big Island farmer. "We were just kind of worried what would happen to the other farmers.
Now, Perry says he is refusing to register his business under a new law, even as that deadline hits.
Just this week, another farmer sued the county saying revealing his location could lead to vandalism and jeopardize growing techniques "that give him a competitive advantage in the marketplace."
The law requires farmers to say who they are, what they grow, and where.
"You're always at risk of people that want to steal it, destroy it or just damage it for the hell of it," said Perry.
Read ... Civil Disobedience
Pro and Con GMO regulation bills fail in Legislature
HNN: Several measures to regulate genetically modified foods were introduced this session, including one to overturn new county restrictions or bans on Kaua'i and Hawai'i Island.
"The counties want to intercede themselves into these things and they have a right to do so, but they don't have the agencies of government within their counties to handle things. If they had the agencies within their own counties that took care of agriculture -- they could monitor, they could do whatever -- then by all means go ahead, but they don't. They don't have the resources to do it. They don't have the expertise," explained Senator Clarence Nishihara.
Nishihara, who chairs the Senate Agriculture committee, admits he didn't even schedule a hearing for his bill to prevent counties from enacting laws limiting rights to "modern farming", like bio-engineering, because he says he knew it didn't have the support it needed to pass through the three committees it was referred to.
"Any one of the three, if they decide not to hear it or they vote it down, then the bill can't move forward anyway because it has to be total agreement. It's pointless to hold a hearing on a bill if it wasn't going to go anywhere and everyone's going to be all huhu when they come out -- what's the point?"
A measure to require labelling on genetically modified foods has also failed to move on, which doesn't surprise University of Hawai'i at Manoa political science professor Colin Moore.
"I think if we weren't moving into an election year you might have seen more movement on this issue. I think there's a bit of fatigue here after the Special Session when gay marriage was passed. I think there's probably a perception from some legislators that's as controversial as they want this time," Moore explained, adding the reverse is true as well. "Sometimes there are bills that are politically popular that make it through because legislators want to show their constituents that they gave this to them."
read ... No Labeling
SB622: Environmental Court passes Senate
SA: ...while a full-scale environmental court may prove to be the final solution, creating one now is not the way to start the process.
Senate Bill 632 has passed the Senate and is in the House for consideration. The current draft would establish environmental courts within each circuit, leaving the details of structure and administrative rules to the state Supreme Court and the chief justice.
But the jurisdictional framework is in the bill, and it's broad, running the gamut of environmental laws, from the conservation and resources laws of Title 12 to disparate topics such as historic preservation and noise regulations. In most places where this has been tried, the tried-and-true approach has been to start with a fairly narrow scope and build from there.
In its testimony, the state Judiciary has staked out a position defending its ability to handle environmental lawsuits. The Judiciary "already has in place processes to ensure consistency in all cases," said Elizabeth Zack, the high court's staff attorney, in written testimony to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor.
"Furthermore," she added, "if any party in an environmental case is dissatisfied with the outcome in circuit courts, that party has a remedy by way of appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme Court."
Bolstering that argument, various environmental lawyers have told the Star-Advertiser privately that they don't see a real problem with the capacity of judges parsing the technical aspects of environmental laws....
Feb 21, 2014: Does Hawaii Need An "Environmental Court?"
Aug 21, 2012: Enviros win 90% in Hawaii Supreme Court
read ... Court reforms must start small
Declining Economy May Turn $844M Surplus into Deficit
CB: The Hawaii House money committee trimmed Gov. Neil Abercrombie's executive budget request by $53 million Wednesday in light of a dramatic downgrade that's expected in the state financial forecast.
Finance Chair Sylvia Luke said she and her colleagues believe the Council on Revenues will further reduce the rate at which Hawaii’s economy is expected to grow in 2014 when it meets Tuesday.
The council already dropped its forecast for state general fund tax revenues from 4.1 percent to 3.3 percent at its last meeting in January. Luke said the council may cut this rate down to 2 percent or even 1 percent next week.
Hawaii tax collections over the past three months are down $10 million from the same period last year, Luke said.
Abercrombie has touted a record $844 million carryover balance for 2013. It’s money his administration hopes to use to ramp up his early childhood education initiatives and pay down a $24 billion hole in the state’s health and retirement pension systems.
If the council were to downgrade the revenue forecast to 2 percent, the carryover would be $690 million for 2014 and $216 million for 2015, Luke said. If it dropped to 1 percent, it would be $643 million for 2014 and $103 million for 2015.
“That’s something everyone in this committee should be very uncomfortable with,” she said.
To put it in perspective, the state had a $720 million surplus in 2007, Luke said in a news release after the meeting. But starting in October 2008 the economy entered a deep recession and Hawaii was faced with a $2.1 billion deficit over three years....
SA: State tempers tourism forecast
read ... Reality bites Abercrombie
Hawaii advances bill requiring Internet sales tax
AP: The state House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that would require online retailers to collect taxes and pay them to the state.
It also would make third-party referral websites like Amazon.com that connect customers with sellers to collect some taxes or face a penalty.
"It is our responsibility to adapt as times change, markets change, trends change," said Rep. Kyle Yamashita, a Democrat who represents Makawao and Wailuku. "As we know, the Internet is becoming more and more popular. And we have to figure out, how do we maintain our revenues?" ...
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii supported the measure.
Some Republicans opposed the measure, saying it would punish consumers.
Rep. Gene Ward, R-Hawaii Kai, said Hawaii residents import nearly everything they eat and shouldn't have to pay more taxes to get what they need.
"Right now, people are still struggling from the recession," Ward said. "People are still trying to make ends meet."
Rep. Bob McDermott, another Honolulu Republican, agreed.
"I haven't had one person come into my office and say, 'Please, whatever you do this session, tax my online purchases,'" McDermott said.
House lawmakers passed the bill 42-9. It now moves to the Senate.
read ... Internet Tax
Election Year: Neil 'Pension Tax' Abercrombie vows to fight to ease taxes for kupuna (LOL!)
SA: Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Wednesday that he will not give up on tax relief for seniors even though state lawmakers have shown little interest in the idea this session.
The governor, who had proposed an unpopular pension tax in 2011, called for tax relief for seniors in his State of the State address in January. The governor will continue pushing for bills that would offer income tax exemptions for about 25,000 low- to middle-income seniors at a cost of about $5 million a year and would double a refundable food and excise tax credit for about 110,000 low- to middle-income seniors, a cost of about $7 million a year.
But the House and Senate have not moved the governor's bills, and key lawmakers have said they are inclined to consider tax relief for seniors next year.
"You'll have to ask the Ways and Means chairman why he thinks it's a good idea not to give tax relief to seniors," Abercrombie said of state Sen. David Ige, his rival in the Democratic primary. "There's obviously some kind of political agenda operating there." (...he said, staring intently at the mirror.)
Ige (D, Pearl Harbor-Pearl City-Aiea), chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, declined to advance the governor's food and excise tax credit for seniors. Instead, he moved a bill that would potentially expand the tax credit to cover more low-income residents, who often face the greatest burden from the general excise tax.
"The general perception was that they would prefer broader-based tax credits than tax credits focused purely on seniors," said Ige, who had fought Abercrombie's pension tax in 2011.
read ... ROTFLOL!
Competing Hawaii minimum wage cross over to House, Senate
PBN: House Bill 2580 would raise the minimum wage to $10 by 2018. Also included in the bill is a measure that provides for annual increases in the tip credit, to $1, if the gross amount an employee earns from wages and tips is at least 250 per cent of the poverty level. This means that restaurant owners can pay their servers $1 less than the minimum wage if they make enough tip money....
Senate Bill 2609, which crossed over to the House, would raise the minimum wage to $10.10, which is the new minimum wage for federal contract workers under an executive order signed by President Barack Obama last month.
The House also passed H.B. 2529, which calls for greater oversight of the Hawaii Health Connector. It reduces the board of directors from 15 to 10 members, creates several advisory groups and a legislative oversight committee to review the financial and operational plans of the Connector, the state’s online health insurance exchange. It also establishes a sustainability fee.
read ... Minimum Wage
SB2131: In State Tuition for Veterans Makes Crossover
AP: Sam Slom, the Senate’s only Republican representing Hawaii Kai and Kalama Valley, voted against SB2531, which would create a state-level position to help prevent and treat falls by elderly people.
“I think I’m going to go no on this bill,” he said on the floor. “The idea of a fall coordinator, I was getting a little woozy.”
Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland, a Democrat representing Nuuanu and Dowsett Highlands, replied falls are a leading cause of hospitalization and fatalities in Hawaii. The bill states every five hours in Hawaii, an elderly person is hospitalized with injuries resulting from a fall, costing the state $65 million in hospital costs each year. The measure succeeded.
Bills that could affect veterans made it through the Senate, including a SB2131, a measure to provide in-state tuition rates for U.S. veterans at the University of Hawaii, and SB2603, which would allow bonds to be issued for a long-term care facility. The Senate also passed bills that would ban flavored tobacco products and establish an environmental court.
Among the few bills the Senate did not send to the House were three that would have affected development in Honolulu’s up-and-coming Kakaako neighborhood.
Other bills covered a spectrum of issues. The House passed HB2116, which would forbid the state from sentencing juvenile offenders to life in prison without parole. The House also passed HB14, which would make kindergarten mandatory, and SB2424, which would set aside money to install air conditioners in schools.
read ... Legislators advance measures
Busted by Campaign Spending Comm, Activist Leads Rally for 'Clean Elections' Bill
HTH: “In 2008, Hawaii became the ninth state in the country to implement a comprehensive public funding (clean elections) program. A program was created for the Hawaii Island County Council elections beginning with the 2010 elections,” said spokesman Justin Avery of the sponsoring Global H.O.P.E. (Hawaii Organization for Peace and the Environment)
“That program was successful, with the majority of winning county council members financed by the program,” said Avery. “House Bill 2533 is currently making its way through the Hawaii State Legislature. It would create a clean election program for state representatives.”
Avery, 2008: ‘Clean Elections’ activist nailed by Campaign Spending Commission
Sept 20, 2013: 'Clean Elections' Advocates Nailed by Campaign Spending Commission (again)
read ... Sign-waving in support of ‘clean elections’ bill is Friday
Obama Budget Hikes Airline Fee AGAIN
BIN: ...the budget also includes yet another hike in the Aviation Passenger Security Fee, from $5.60 per trip – raised from $2.50 during December’s budget negotiations – to $6.
Gabbard and the rest of Hawaii’s congressional delegation continue to (pretend to) seek an exemption for residents in Hawaii and Alaska from the increases which they say affects residents of those states disproportionately.
read ... Tax Hike
Another $200K Hawaii disability Fraudster Busted
AP: A Honolulu man is expected to plead guilty to defrauding the state out of more than $200,000 by collecting disability payments for his dead mother.
Steven Splater is scheduled to change his plea Wednesday in federal court. A federal indictment alleges he collected his mother's disability benefits even though she died in 2000.
He had pleaded not guilty after he was arrested in the parking lot of his Salt Lake apartment building in January.
SA: Man, 58, collected late mother's disability checks for 11 years
read ... Another One
Rail: Million dollar fence being taken down 3 years after going up
HNN: A $1.1 million fence is being taken down just three years after it was put up. Some are calling it a waste of taxpayer money, but the State says there was a good reason.
The three miles of fencing on Kamehameha Highway stretches about from Aloha Stadium in Aiea to the Home Depot in Pearl City. When the fence went up it had a decorative mesh as well, but about three years down the road it's disappearing to make way for rail construction.
"Perhaps we needed a little bit better planning so taxpayer money could be spent wisely," said John Cho, Da Motor Sports Owner on Kamehameha Highway.
read ... More Waste
Luxury Resort Developer Pierre Omidyar Buys Ritz Carlton on Maui, Rebrands as 'Montage'
PBN: Richard Holtzman, the former head of Kukuiula Development Co., a 1,000-acre luxury residential community on Kauai’s South Shore, is back in Hawaii to manage the newly rebranded Montage Kapalua Bay luxury hotel on Maui, which is Montage Hotels & Resorts’ first property in Hawaii.
Last year, the California-based hotel management company bought the membership/ownership interest of KB Employees LLC, which managed The Residences at Kapalua Bay.
The property was formerly branded the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay.
Montage Hotels & Resorts said in Augustthat Montage Kapalua Bay will undergo a multi-million dollar “improvement program” starting in the fall.
The company’s plans include offering 56 Montage branded residences for sale, and introducing a 50-room all-suite Montage hotel.
Hawaii entrepreneur and innovator Pierre Omidyar, who founded eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Honolulu Civil Beat, is an investor in Montage Hotels & Resorts.
As Explained: Pierre Omidyar: The Secret Empire of a Resort Developer
HNN: Omidyar Funds Protest Group in Ukraine
read ... Resort Developer
Suspected gambling machines to get a day in court
HNN: More than 180 suspected illegal gambling machines on Oahu have been seized in raids that began in September 2012. The distributor of those machines will finally get a court to rule on whether or not they are illegal.
"We're within the law," said Tracy Yoshimura of PJY Enterprises. "We're not committing any crimes. That's the important thing for us." ...
He contends that they are legal, and pointed out that the company has 484 user accounts, which currently hold more than $1.2 million in coupons.
Yoshimura also said he received approval from the Honolulu Liquor Commission to distribute the machines.
"For the next 12 months we went to the commission for an additional 40 approvals, all of which were public hearings again, and at none of those hearings did anyone from prosecutors, attorney general's, HPD (Honolulu Police Department), show up to voice any type of opposition doing that," he said.
Last week, Federal Judge Leslie Kobayashi dismissed a motion from Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, who had asked the court to rule that the machines are illegal gambling machines. Instead, the question of whether or not they are legal will go to trial.
Background: Lawsuit: Hawaii Gambling Machine Contract Guaranteed ‘No problem from Vice-Squad’
read ... Day in Court
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