Kana’iolowalu Roll Meetings “Tumultuous people, extreme displeasure at OHA’s new scheme”
Earth Day status report: Mafia Wind, FACE, and PRP Team Up to Grab More of Your Money
SA: Paul Gaynor (First Wind), Drew Astolfi (FACE) and John White (PRP) .... ask the Abercrombie administration and the Legislature to continue to partner with us to keep cleaner, cheaper power as the target for Hawaii's future. We offer to work together with HECO, the PUC, our government officials and the public to come up with creative ways to make this happen. Let's embrace as much renewables as possible and avoid driving over the energy cliff and losing $1.5 billion
read ... Earth Day status report
Abercrombie Donors Buy: "The right priorities... the right values... the right Governor"
PR: Announcer: Nothing has a greater long-term benefit for our keiki than early education… Pre-school.
Teacher: "When kids get an early start in learning, more stay in school, do better in school, and they're better prepared for life."
Governor Abercrombie: That's why President Obama has made early education a top priority. And so have I. If pre-school can make the difference between good and great for all our children, how can we say "NO".
Announcer: The right priorities... the right values... the right Governor.
Value Investment: Kakaako Developers give $850K to Abercrombie, Buy HCDA Board
Bonus: VIDEO: Looking Back at Neil Abercrombie 'Highlights' as Governor
read ... Riiiight
Now is not time to increase tax on hotel owners
SA: The Hawaii Tourism Authority foresees relatively rough going for the tourism industry the next few years. This year's market plateau signals the need for aggressive pricing in the leisure market, which is down domestically and is expected to slow internationally as well.
By 2016, hotel occupancy is forecast to drop on all islands, and hotels and resorts could be forced into a price war to recapture market share from a growing number of global competitors, according to the HTA's 2014 Industry Outlook.
This challenging environment is expected to persist through 2018, meaning that businesses that cater to the tourists who power our state's economy will be pressed to offer absolutely the best value for the buck.
Amid this forecast, it is difficult to justify raising real property taxes on Oahu's hotels and resorts, as Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell seeks to do.
read ... Now is not time to increase tax on hotel owners
Money Floods Campaign Coffers in CD1 Race
CB: State Senate President Donna Mercado Kim has former University of Hawaii football coach June Jones’ support in her bid this fall to replace U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in Congress.
Jones, who left the Warriors for Southern Methodist University six years ago, has given $1,000 to Kim’s campaign.
Not to be outdone when it comes to securing contributions from sports-minded donors, state Rep. Mark Takai has received $500 from UH Athletics Director Ben Jay.
read ... Money Floods Campaign Coffers in CD1 Race
Hawaii Tax Department Wants Help In Modernizing Computer System
CB: The Hawaii Department of Taxation has issued a request for proposal to overhaul its computer system and better manage the collection and accounting of state taxes.
The project, according to DOTAX, will be “a complete replacement of the state’s current tax system focused on facilitating and accelerating online filing, payment, collections, status reporting, refunds, and analytics.”
read ... DoTax
Hawaii Community Colleges Graduate Few
CB: Hawaii's community college students lag far behind the national average when it comes to timely graduations. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that fewer than 13 percent of the students who enrolled in one of Hawaii’s community colleges in 2009 graduated from their programs within three years, the benchmark typically used by the federal government to describe “on-time” graduation. The national graduation rate is 18 percent....
read ... Community College trap
Oahu ambulance units close due to overnight staff shortage
KHON: It’s the first time the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services Division has faced this problem: too many employees calling in sick.
EMS couldn’t talk on camera or by phone, but told KHON2 the unexpected staff shortage forced them to temporarily suspend service at four of its 22 units on Oahu.
The closures impacted the Waianae and Pawaa units from 11 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday. On Sunday, the Makiki and Waipio units were also affected.
The Makiki ambulance was one of two units closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. You might wonder why an ambulance unit in Honolulu would be closed. EMS says surrounding units in town helped cover the area.
EMS says the four units were strategically closed and that patient care was never jeopardized.
We wanted to know if EMS had a back-up plan. They said the American Medical Response, a private ambulance service, was on-call to provide help.
read ... Oahu ambulance units close due to overnight staff shortage
New Suits to be filed against Alleged Homosexual Child Molesters
NYT: Bryan Singer, the lawyer said, was demonstrably elsewhere, working on the first “X-Men” film, on the dates in question. “Between cellphone records, credit card receipts, and Bryan’s production schedule, we know that he was never in Hawaii during the alleged time period,” he wrote.
On Saturday, Mr. Herman said he was prepared to show otherwise.
“I’ve spent the last six months interviewing witnesses,” Mr. Herman said. Of the director, he added: “I have several witnesses who can place him there.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Singer’s lawyer challenged the veracity of any such witnesses, promising witnesses of his own to back up his client.
And in Hawaii, initial court orders in the case opened future hearings to what the court called “media blogging,” assuring minute-by-minute coverage.
read ... The New York Times
Star-Advertiser Owner Behind BC Oil Refinery Project
CN: Listening to David Black speak in Kelowna this week, it was hard not to get behind his idea of a made-in-B.C. oil refinery that would create thousands of jobs for the hard-done-by communities of Kitimat and Terrace, sparking the B.C. economy and bringing in millions, if not billions of dollars from China.
Black, who owns this newspaper and hundreds of others in communities around B.C., the Pacific Northwest and even Hawaii, spoke about the differences between refined oil and crude oil. He said refined oil and its products of gas, and diesel, would evaporate in an ocean spill, while crude oil would sink and damage coastal ecosystems beyond repair.
read ... News From Okanagan BC
Biofuel Dirtier than Gasoline--Study
AP: Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, a study shows, challenging the Obama administration’s conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change.
A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline.
While biofuels are better in the long run, the study says they won’t meet a standard set in a 2007 energy law to qualify as renewable fuel.
The conclusions deal a blow to what are known as cellulosic biofuels, which have received more than a billion dollars in federal support but have struggled to meet volume targets mandated by law. About half of the initial market in cellulosics is expected to be derived from corn residue.
read ... Study: Gas greener than corn in short term
Legislative Motion:
QUICK HITS: