OHA Chaos: Machado, Crabbe Dueling Statements (full text)
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted May 12, 2014
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! -- Takes on Organic Food
Hawaii #22 Per Capita Income Tax $922
Report: Hawaii State of Preschool 2013
SBH Conference: Working for a Better Hawaii Business Climate
37% More Homeless Refusing Shelter
SA: This year's study centered around a one-night count of sheltered homeless on the night of Jan. 22 and unsheltered homeless for the seven nights that followed.
The key findings:
- The overall count was 4,712, up 3.4 percent from 2013 and 29.5 percent from 2009.
- The unsheltered homeless count was 1,633, up 11.5 percent from 2013 and 36.9 percent from 2009.
- The sheltered homeless count was 3,079, actually a 0.4 percent decrease from the 3,091 from 2013 and a 25.9 percent increase from 2009.
For purposes of the study, sheltered homeless include those staying in emergency, transitional or safe-haven-type programs.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell's top lieutenants are expected to use the findings as ammunition in their battle to keep full funding alive for his Housing First initiative when the City Council Budget Committee meets to make its final recommendations for the upcoming 2015 city budget.
read ... Soaring
Poll: Schatz 49% - Hanabusa 34%
HuffPo: Forty-nine percent of respondents told Public Policy Polling that they'd vote for Schatz, while only 34 percent said they'd pick Hanabusa. Fifty-five percent of those polled said they approved of the job Schatz is doing as senator.
Earlier this year, polling had showed a much smaller margin between the two candidates. Some of Schatz's gains could be attributed to a bump from President Barack Obama, who endorsed the senator in March.
While there aren't many significant policy differences between Schatz and Hanabusa, the former has picked up endorsements from progressive groups like MoveOn.org, the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters as well as Democracy for America. Hanabusa, for her part, has the backing of EMILY's List, a group that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights.
PPP's poll reached 606 likely Hawaii Democratic primary voters from May 9 to 11 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
PR: Bump
read ... Schatz Opens Wide Lead Over Colleen Hanabusa
Hulu Lindsey Joins Dan Ahuna: Trustees Now 7-2
HNN: Immediately following Dr. Crabbe's press conference Monday morning, Trustee Carmen Hulu Lindsey sent a letter to Chair Machado asking her name be removed from the rescind request.
"I have attended the many community town hall meetings OHA has held throughout the islands and heard the concerns articulated in Dr. Crabbe's letters expressed by several people. While those questions may be troubling and difficult to address, it is precisely because they are so that I now believe Dr. Crabbe demonstrated courage and integrity in moving those concerns forward to try to get the clarity we need," Lindsey wrote.
read ... 2 Down ...
Machado: Crabbe Undercuts Nation Building
SA: In a phone call Monday, Machado said Crabbe had plenty of opportunity to tell all five trustees about the letter on their five-day trip to Washington or to inform the full board at its May 1 meeting. Instead, she said, he asked her to stay after a trustee breakfast Friday and then handed the letter only to her.
"I was caught off guard," Machado recalled. "I reserved my composure. I didn't want to get into a scrap with him."
Machado described her reaction to the letter as "dumbfounded and stunned" because it appeared to undercut OHA's policy of working toward nation building....
In another email to Crabbe, she asked him to cancel his Monday morning news conference. But he replied that he would move forward to provide "clarity."....
Crabbe said he didn't believe his actions would undermine nation-building efforts.
"Currently the board proposed a policy, and we'll continue to move forward. The board took a position. My role is to implement that position, we are moving forward," he said.
Despite the conflict, he added, "I am certain that the board and I stand firmly together in our commitment to do all that we appropriately can to re-establish a Hawaiian nation."....
read ... Undercut
Hawaii State Task Force Recommends Jones Act Exemption
Fix Oahu: This is a very informative article written by Michael Hansen, Hawaii Shippers Council. Debate in The U.S. over the Jones Act is very lively these days. For example, on April 25th, Mark Perry, a University of Michigan-Flint business professor wrote: Want energy independence? Waive the Jones Act.
To which a pro-Jones Act shippers lobby quickly responded: Missing the mark on the Jones Act. In my opinion, the Jones Act, hurts all U.S. island and non-contiguous regions. At a minimum, non-contiguous U.S. states and territories, and the LNG trade must be exempted from Jones Act immediately!
read ... Panos Prevedouros
Concerned Veterans of Oahu: Inefficient VA system should not be tolerated any longer
SA: Based on my and others' experience, the application process for seeking service connected to disability benefits is outrageous. The burden of proof should be upon the Department of Veterans Affairs — but applications are denied and dismissed using the excuse of lack of evidence from the veteran.
Veterans must try again, or they simply become frustrated and give up. Could this be a factor in the high suicide rate of veterans? Does this seem like an efficient system, where more funds are expended in more review boards to deal with resubmittals?
The application and review process has discouraged too many veterans who need the services promised them.
Hawaii's review system is so overworked that applications are being handled by other service centers on the mainland and even the Philippines. How then can Hawaii veterans make their case by meeting with a review board that is thousands of miles away?
read ... Inefficient VA system should not be tolerated any longer
Sanctimonious Dive Tour Operators Harass Aquarium Collectors--Get Payback
HNN: "This man needs to be arrested. I think this man needs to be arrested immediately for attempted murder," said Rene Umberger, coral reef consultant and scuba diver dive tour operator.
"I honestly thought he was coming back for a second attack," said Umberger. "I got up on the boat and I said oh my God, someone just tried to kill me underwater."
I was so excited! We've got them now after all those stalking dives, finally we provoked a reaction which will make us look like victims instead of harassers! Did you get it all on video?
UKDM: Rene Umberger claims she was attacked last week by another diver while underwater off the coast of Kona, Hawaii
read ... Payback
Dive Tour Operators Admit Repeatedly Harassing Aquarium Fish Collector
HTH: Umberger said she recognized the boat as one that had been filmed by West Hawaii residents off the South Kona coast. She said she thought the collectors “were used to” being filmed.
She said she has not yet been cited.
Another West Hawaii dive instructor was cited for harassing a fisherman in 2011, after she reported he was allegedly anchoring his boat on coral off the Kohala coast. That diver also provided photos of the incident. The charges against her were later withdrawn at court. No record of that fish collector being prosecuted could be located Monday.
read ... Tourism Industry Attacking Aquarium Collectors
Maui Anti-GMO Group Illegally Posts Voter Information Online for Every Voter in Maui County
CB: Members of a nonprofit organization known as the SHAKA Movement have launched a campaign to pay people $5 for each signature collected in support of a citizens initiative. Bruce Douglass, spokesman for the organization, said that the money is intended as a reward and an incentive for the group's 500 existing volunteers. If the organization gathers 8,500 valid signatures, voters on Maui will be able to decide in November whether to temporarily ban genetically engineered agriculture on Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
As part of their effort to ensure that all the signatures are valid, the organization also posted the names and addresses of Maui County’s registered voters online, prompting the state Office of Elections to ask them to remove the information....
Mark Sheehan, a board member of the SHAKA Movement, said that the organization has collected a total of 14,000 signatures so far.
“We want to make sure that there's no basis for risking all the work that we've done so far just because we fall short,” Sheehan said. “We’re just making one final push.”
But the organization’s growing aggressiveness in obtaining signatures has grabbed the attention of some state and county officials.
Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said that the mayor’s office received complaints on Monday after the SHAKA Movement posted the names and addresses of all Maui County registered voters.
Hawaii law only allows registered voters’ names, districts and registration statuses to be published publicly.
The state Office of Elections asked the SHAKA Movement to take down the voter information on Monday after receiving calls from a Maui County official and Sen. Rosalyn Baker from Maui.
Douglass said that the names and addresses of registered voters were never intended to be public and that the link to the information was provided just to volunteers. In response to concerns, the group took down the information.
Maui County attorneys also reviewed the practice of paying people to gather signatures, but found that it is legal, Antone said.
Rex Quidilla, spokesman for the Office of Elections, said that from his perspective, it's not common to pay people to gather signatures in Hawaii, compared with the mainland.
read ... Desperation $5
Bill to Add 'Precautionary Principle' to Hawaii Co Charter Fails 1-8
HTH: Bill 254 would add the “precautionary principle” to the county charter. This means, if an action is to be taken that could cause harm to the people or environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action is not harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful will be on the organization or agency proposing the action.
The amendment would require applicants for zoning or other land use changes to provide full disclosure of factors that could affect the public health, safety and welfare, cultural resources or the public trust natural resources doctrine. The County Council or administrative agency would have the affirmative duty to protect resources by the precautionary principle.
Bill sponsor Ford said recent court sanctions against the county show that something is “running amok here and amiss.”
“I’m doing this because the public says we are not doing enough to protect them,” Ford said.
Assistant Corporation Counsel Kathy Garson said the county has to adhere to laws as continually refined by courts.
“You’re obligated already to apply public trust principles,” said Garson.
A handful of testifiers who attended the meeting were primarily in favor of the amendment.
“This asks that decision-makers anticipate harm before it occurs,” said Joy Cash. “In simple terms … better safe than sorry. Look before you leap.”
Testifier Larry Gehring didn’t see it that way.
“This is a back-door attempt to give more importance to the GMO bill,” said Gehring, referring to a recent bill the council passed requiring registration and some limitations on production of genetically modified crops.
Ford was the only yes in a 1-8 vote, so the bill proceeds to the council with a negative recommendation.
Quick IQ Test: Apply the 'Precautionary Principle' to itself.
read ... Anti-GMO FAIL
Monsanto to Donate Land for Internment Camp Memorial
SA: Honouliuli camp accommodated 320 internees and nearly 4,000 POWs from Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, Japan, and Italy. It closed in 1945 for civilian internees and may have been used into 1946 for prisoners, according to the study.
Part of what makes preserving Honouliuli feasible, in the NPS proposal, is availability: Monsanto Hawaii executives have said the company plans to donate the land for the Honouliuli center.
"Through it, we are able to more fully understand the abrogation of civil liberties that occurred in the U.S. and its territories," according to the report.
read ... Internment camp project worthwhile
UH Perfessers Sign Petition Say Military Leader 'Incapable of Thinking'
SA: An online petition imploring the University of Hawaii Board of Regents to reject a retired Army officer in the running to be the next UH president had garnered more than 350 signatures by Monday evening.
Organizers behind the petition and an accompanying letter being circulated among faculty argue that retired Lt. Gen. Frank Wiercinski is not qualified to lead the 10-campus UH system given his exclusively military background. They plan to deliver the petition and letter at Thursday's monthly meeting of the board.
"This letter is directed at the Board of Regents. I don't appreciate having a candidate like this put forward as if he is viable," said English professor Cynthia Franklin, who has worked at UH-Manoa for the last 20 years and helped craft the letter.
In addition to his decades-long military career, Franklin said she was "even more concerned that he had absolutely no background in public education. … His lack of qualifications was compounded by the fact that he didn't seem capable of thinking outside the military box."
(If Franklin were capable of thinking, she would then point out that the selection process has been rigged to result in the appointment of Lassner and that her role as protester is part of a very predictable drama. But she didn't seem capable of thinking outside the anti-military box....)
read ... Clowns in the BoR's Lassner Circus
Blue Zone: HMSA Grabs for Control of Your Life
MN: The "Blue Zone" experiment will ask for small adjustments (tweaks) in people's lives. For example:
* Schools - They may be asked to tell students they can't drink soda or eat between classes. Gold estimates this may save a student from 500 unnecessary calories per day.
* Supermarkets - They may be asked to establish one "Blue Zone" checkout line where no candy is displayed. If children don't see the candy next to the cash register, they won't nag mom and dad to buy it for them.
* Parents - They may be tasked with forming "walking school buses." Particularly where roads are not too busy, a walking school bus would have parents walking to school with their children rather than putting them on a bus. Both parents and students get exercise from the walk.
All these small "tweaks" will add up to a big difference in physical condition. If it is successful on Kauai, HMSA wants to bring it to the whole state.
Currently, a small city in Minnesota - Albert Lee - is experimenting with "Blue Zones," as are three cities in California. The entire state of Iowa is also testing them.
read ... Blue Zone
Stover investigation prompts transparency concerns in complaint process
HNN: Twenty-seven complaints later Big Island dentist and oral surgeon Dr. John Stover will never again see patients in Hawaii. Now the focus turns to exposing holes in the dental investigative process.
The John Stover case has revealed two troubling issues with complaints, one investigations take a long time several years in some cases and two there is a lack of transparency once a doctor is punished....
Lopez says there have even been efforts to reduce transparency of dentists and doctors, although the Department has resisted those efforts. The DCCA's website server is also very old. Lopez wants to budget money to make it more user friendly, but that likely won't be within a couple years.
Lawmakers we spoke with say they plan to work on legislation that would require investigations be completed in 120 days.
read ... Transparency
Paramedics forced to work 16-hour days; union balks at shift changes
HNN: The city is routinely forcing paramedics and emergency medical technicians to work 16-hour shifts because of chronic staffing shortages that could be solved by changing shift lengths, a proposal which the medics' union has fought for at least two years, sources said.
Every day, as many as ten paramedics and EMTs are being forced to work back-to-back shifts of up to 16 hours on city ambulances, a situation that the man who oversees the service describes as "completely unacceptable."
Mark Rigg, director of the city's Emergency Services Department, said city EMS suffers from a 15 percent vacancy rate, with 30 paramedic and EMT posts unfilled out of 220 funded positions....
In recent years, city EMS officials instituted one controversial measure to try to combat the staffing shortage: limiting the number of paramedics and EMTs who can take vacation to just ten people a day, reducing that number from a previous 13-people-a-day vacation limit. Ambulance employees said some co-workers use some their 21 sick days a year for vacation time that has been denied by managers because of the vacation limits.
Meanwhile: Over $5 Billion and Counting for Obamacare Websites
read ... 16 Hour days
After 9 Years, City Reopens Section 8 Housing Applications
SA: After nine years the city is opening up the waitlist on its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program from Thursday through May 21, the Department of Community Services announced Monday.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell, in a news release, said a new online application system will make it easier for needy families to apply. "We recognize the need for rental assistance is great, and that families are anxious to apply," the mayor said.
The city closed its waitlist May 27, 2005, when more than 10,000 families had applied. There are now only 564 applicants remaining on that list, city Community Services Director Pam Witty-Oakland said, and she expects 70 percent of them to receive their vouchers in the coming weeks.
read ... Waiting List
Campaigning, Schatz Signs on to Tourism Industry Wish List
» The INVITE Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and endorsed by the U.S. Travel Association, Airports Council International-North America and American Society of Travel Agents, is a legislative effort aiming to improve entry by expanding the Global Entry program to enable U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process international travelers faster.
» The NATIVE Act would make tribes and tribal organizations eligible for inclusion in national tourism promotion efforts, like Brand USA. It also would provide Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native and American Indian communities with access to resources and technical assistance needed to build sustainable recreational travel and tourism infrastructure and capacity, spur economic development and create jobs.
» The Explore America Act, which is supported by the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, would potentially provide Preserve America Communities like Maui County, Kauai County and Honolulu's Chinatown additional funding for heritage tourism and preservation.
WHAT ELSE DOES HAWAII NEED?
In addition to expanding programs like visa waiver and reauthorizing Brand USA, Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Mike McCartney also asked the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to consider further measures that would shore up tourism across the isles and increase Hawaii's percentage of international arrivals. McCartney sought federal support for:
» Kona Airport re-established as a second international port of entry.
» Expansion of border pre-clearance authorization for major international markets like Japan.
» Allocation of federal funding for airport improvements for Hawaii's airports.
» Creation of federal tax credits for destination developments and upgrades.
» More money for tourism workforce and career development.
» Hawaii designated as a meetings, convention and incentive destination.
» Sustained support for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its programs in Hawaii.
» Development of a public awareness campaign to educate Americans about the benefits of tourism.
read ... Campaign Rhetoric
A Moment for the Late R.J. Rummel, Who Documented the Murderous Nature of Government
Reason: It's horrifying that it's both possible and necessary to parse different kinds of mass slaughter by governments. But the fact is that hundreds of millions of people have been murdered by states because of their membership in ethnic groups, religious beliefs, opposition to the regime of the moment, expediency, or for sheer bloody-mindedness. The term "democide," encompassing all killing by a state (including politicide, genocide and mass murder), was coined by Prof. R.J. Rummel, who died March 2.
read ... A Moment for the Late R.J. Rummel
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