Slom: Governor Should Seek Jones Act Exemption
Hawaii Obamacare Cost Tops Nation -- $23K Per Enrollee
Parks Service Announces Hearings on Honouliuli Gulch Internment Site
Aiea Mom Selected as 2014 National Young Mother of the Year
Motion for Injunction Filed against Kakaako Condo Tower 801B
CB: The HCDA Kakaako board didn’t issue a decision on the Royal Capital Plaza apartment association’s petition on Wednesday. The group went ahead and filed a motion for declaratory and preliminary injunctive relief that day, claiming numerous violations of the HCDA’s rules.
The group initially took the issue to court back in March. Residents of One Waterfront Towers in Kakaako are also suing the HCDA over the approval of a project known as The Collection
read ... Kakaako File Motion Against 801 South St. Tower B
Developers: Bulldoze Aloha Stadium, Build Condos
Star-Adv Editorial: ...it is encouraging that the comprehensive review underway into the future of Aloha Stadium seems to be considering relocating the facility as a serious option, which would clear the way for workforce housing to be built in a central location within easy access of Oahu's rail-transit line. Aloha Stadium is slated to be transit stop No. 9 on the Kapolei-to-Ala Moana rail line, which is projected to be fully operational by 2019. If workforce housing is built at the stadium's Halawa site, residents would have an easy daily commute by train to downtown Honolulu or Leeward Oahu....
read ... A future without Aloha Stadium
Commission Rejects Most Hawaii Charter School Applicants
CB: School administrators who have been working hard to secure permission to found four charter schools watched Thursday as their projects were rejected. A fifth school may soon join them.
Over the past few months, six prospective Hawaii public charter schools sought approval from state commissioners to move forward with their plans to develop alternative, publicly funded places of learning.
But the state’s eight-member Charter School Commission denied four of the applications on Thursday for reasons ranging from insufficient planning to failure to integrate Hawaii’s culture into the learning model. These schools would be brand-new and for now exist in concept only.
Representatives from some of the schools attended a packed meeting Thursday in the Hawaii Department of Education building in Honolulu, some of them in tears as they criticized the newly developed evaluation process and questioned its fairness.
The evaluations “convinced us we were incompetent, incapable, unskilled and totally naive,” said Sheila Buyukacar, who hoped to become a top administrator at IMAG Academy, a K-12 charter school in Waipahu that would have focused on community service. The school's request was denied Thursday. “We even started to doubt ourselves,” she said.
read ... Commission Rejects Most Hawaii Charter School Applicants
Legislators Conceal Hawaiian Electric Stock Ownership
IM: ...On his financial disclosure forms, Marcus Oshiro did not mention his ownership of HEI stock valued at over $100,000.
Another name that popped up was Senator Malama Solomon. Technically her shares are worth less than $5,000 and therefore did not report the ownership.
But her mother owns over 8,000 shares. Solomon has been very active on energy legislation and expanding geothermal.
The other two names were Calvin Say who owns marginally more than $5,000 in stock but did not report it on his disclosure form, and House Speaker Souki who properly disclosed his stock ownership.
read ... Fireworks at HEI Annual Shareholder Meeting
GMO Labeling Would Drive up Food Costs
SA: Q: What about GMOs? Do you think Hawaii should go the way of Vermont, which last month moved to require the labeling of GMO foods?
A: It's the cost, as was often spoken to in testimony. A small state like Hawaii, if we were to try to enforce that, it would be cost-prohibitive. It's why the first movement toward labeling happened in California, because if you get a market like California, you can move the market nationally. But Hawaii is such a pocket market that we would be hard pressed....
Then you need to define terms, too, because once a product is processed, you can't find the (DNA) marker that would tell you whether it was genetically modified anyway. ... I'm not a geneticist, but this is what I've been told, so it becomes exceedingly difficult for a small state like Hawaii to weigh in on labeling.
read ... Scott Enright
Catholic League Calls for Veto of SB2687
CL: Bill Donohue wrote to Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie today urging him to veto S.B. 2687, a bill that would suspend the statute of limitations for cases involving the sexual abuse of minors. To read it, click here.
PR: `Ludicrous'
read ... Catholic League
Hawaii Tourism Director Advocates for Funding, Policy Changes Before U.S. Congress
CB: Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Mike McCartney urged U.S. senators Thursday to reestablish the Kona Airport as an international port of entry and expand the Visa Waiver program, along with other steps to help boost Hawaii’s tourism industry.... McCartney’s other requests included creating federal tax credits for new hotels to help Hawaii compete with Mexico and the Caribbean; supporting federal funding for airports and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and reestablishing the Brand USA program....
read ... Tourism In Congress
Can Mufi do What Fasi Couldn't?
Boylan: In 1994, Fasi created something called the Best Party and ran a third time for Hawaii’s highest office. The Democrats put up Ben Cayetano; the Republicans, Pat Saiki.
Cayetano won with 35.8 percent of the vote. Fasi, on the basis of a devoted personal following, ran second with 30 percent. Saiki finished third with 28.6 percent.
This year Hannemann is betting that he can do what Fasi couldn’t, that his base of supporters is rabid enough to carry him past the candidates running under the more traditional Democratic and Republican labels – and he’s undoubtedly carrying around some polling numbers that indicate he can do it.
Should he, that would make for a most amazing story.
read ... Seasons Of The Political Year
Pohakuloa: Nuts Should not go Bonkers
Bob Jones: The “Oh, no!” drums started beating the moment U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa disclosed that the Department of Defense wants to do some major upgrades to the Pohakuloa live-fire military training range between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island – now called by its Chamber of Commerce (but not many residents) “the Island of Hawaii.”
The upgrades will ruin it. It will hurt birds and plants. It will disrespect Native Hawaiian culture.
I say it’s a wee bit premature to go bonkers. After all, we are talking about either 108,000 or 113,000 acres (measurements differ) of OK and not-so-OK lava land that been used for live-fire training since World War II, when the Marines were encamped on nearby Parker Ranch land....
PTA is a one-of-a-kind training area for all the soldiers and Marines we periodically send into combat?
That’s the real balance that must be sought – not those intellectual exercises you see in editorials and columns about “cultural assets.”
This is a real-time decision to be made.
Do you want the military here or not?
read ... The Pohakuloa Battle Heats Up
Bus riders tired of homeless sleeping on benches
HNN: "It's disgusting," bus rider Catherin Porter said.
She catches the bus regularly. She is fed up with homeless people who block the benches at the bus stops she uses.
"They defecate. They go 'shishi.' They spit. They have no respect for anybody," she said.
There are about 3,800 bus stops on Oahu, and no city ordinance that makes it illegal to sleep at them.
"It's an ongoing battle. You can get them out, but they'll find a way to come back," city Transportation Department Director Mike Formby said.
The city cleans a bus stop three times a month at a cost of about $200 dollars per cleaning. Emergency cleanups cost taxpayers more. That's what happened at a bus stop on South King street where a homeless man refused to budge. The city recently took away the bench. When he left, he left behind a mess.
"This weekend we had to call a crew in to clean up human excrement and vomit," Formby said.
That cost taxpayers about $250 dollars. And now no riders will have a bench to sit on. A bill that died at the legislature this year would have made it illegal to obstruct a bus stop....
read ... Bus riders tired of homeless sleeping on benches
Criminal Complains that his fellow Criminals are in Prison, Wants 'Wellness Center' Spa instead
SA: A solution is staring us in the face. In 2012 all legislators (except one senator) voted for House Bill 2848, HD3, SD2, CD1, which was signed by the governor into law on June 15, 2012, as Act 117. This act directed the Department of Public Safety to work together with Ohana Ho‘opakele and other restorative justice groups to plan for a puuhonua, or wellness center. The Department of Public Safety has not done this.
PDF: Dedman Criminal Transcript
read ... Criminal Ralph Palikapu Dedman
FAA declares Alaska-Hawaii-Oregon drone test ranges "operational"
OL: Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska teamed in a successful application to the Federal Aviation Administration to host airspace ranges for unmanned aerial vehicles. And now the agency says the first drone flights in the program have begun in Alaska, where researchers are using the aircraft to survey populations of caribou, reindeer, musk ox and bear.
Oregon, home to three government-designated test ranges for unmanned aerial vehicles, will see first flights this summer.
Last month, the FAA said the North Dakota test range was the first of six in the nation ready to begin testing the management of pilotless aircraft. The Alaska announcement marks the second such announcement, but the first actual flights.
read ... Drone Test Range
Indicted Waste Management Co Runs Hawaii Co Dump Fined $350K
BIN: The Department of Health has assessed Hawaii County more than $350,000 in penalties for permit violations relating to the operation of the county’s two solid waste landfills dating back to early 2013.
State health officials said the county failed to cover solid waste deposited in the Hilo landfill for approximately 28 days between Jan. 1 and May 31, 2013.
WHT: West Hawaii landfill operator indicted
KHON: DOH discovered unpermitted storage of approximately 800-1,000 tons of scrap metal and appliances
read ... Solid Waste
Embattled Big Island doctor has medical license revoked
KITV: The vote was seven in favor with one abstention,' said Danny Takanishi, chairman of the medical board
read ... Revoked
Honolulu Building Dep't Cracks Down on Kunia Structures
SA: ...the core issue of whether the structures are homes isn't being addressed by the DPP, which governs zoning and building codes but claims that a 2-year-old state law has hindered its enforcement ability.
DPP inspectors issued most of the citations because the buildings don't conform to what was approved for construction via building permit.
In four instances, two-story wooden structures -- some possibly as big as 1,800 square feet with decks -- were built when permits called for two shipping containers bridged by a roof.
Two violations were issued for the enclosing of what was supposed to be an unenclosed ground floor below an elevated single-level building. And one two-story structure was built with no permit....
read ... Kunia Houses
Animal Liberation Nuts Harass Fair
SA: An animal rights group is raising objections to a performing bear show scheduled to run for three weeks at the upcoming 50th State Fair.
Cathy Goeggel, president of Animal Rights Hawaii, described A Grizzly Experience as a tawdry traveling show that exploits animals and subjects them to cruel long-distance travel....
Osborn said A Grizzly Experience is an educational show that allows people to get up close and personal with one of North America's top predators. It teaches audience members how to be safe in bear country, he said.
"We're not a circus act in no way, shape or form," he said.
The bears will perform and be on exhibit at the Aloha Stadium fair May 23-June 8. Featured will be three bears: Tonk, a 9-year-old, 600-pound grizzly, along with two smaller bears: 250-pound Yogi, 3, and Maggie, 1.
An import permit allowing the bears into the state was approved April 2 by Scott Enright, chairman of the state Board of Agriculture.
This will be the second time a bear show has appeared at the 50th State Fair. In 2000 a show by a different operator participated in the fair without incident.
Donna Smith, vice president of EK Fernandez Inc., the fair's operator, said animal activists always object to animal acts. But EK Fernandez, she said, only deals with reputable outfits that abide by government rules and regulations.
read ... Animal Liberation Nuts Harass Fair
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