Full Text: DoE Report Takes Pono Choices ‘Off the Shelf’
OHA Trustee: Hawaiian Nation "an attention-grabbing public policy issue"
Video: OHA Trustees to go 'Full Speed Ahead' with Tribal Roll
Video: Proud Hawaiians, Loyal Americans
WaPo: Abercrombie is 'Schatz's Biggest Headache'
Revolution of ‘54? Inequality Increases Since Statehood
130th troops wrap-up mission as lead engineer element in Afghanistan
55% of Maui anti-GMO Signatures Worthless, but Petition on Ballot Anyway
Ethics: City Employee Processes Dozens of Permits for His Own Contracting Company
Thai workers get multimillion-dollar EEOC settlement
Military families file lawsuit; say housing project made them sick
UHERO: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Watershed Management
Brother of OHA Crony Trisha Watson Diverts UH Scholarship to Bookie
HNN: 34-year old Dodge Watson pleaded guilty to one count identity theft in district court Friday morning. (If the Akaka Bill had passed, he could claim 'sovereign immunity'.)
Watson is a former UH Foundation employee who used his access as a scholarship administrator to settle a $2000 gambling debt with his bookie.
"He created a scholarship at his job at the UH and basically diverted the money from the scholarship to pay off his gambling debt" said his attorney Eric Seitz.
Seitz said it was a one-time offense.... (But immediately contradicting this) Prosecutors agreed not to charge Watson with money laundering and running an internet gambling business in exchange for the plea....
Watson will be sentenced September 15. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, with a $250,000 fine. (He'll get probation and manini fine.) Seitz said Watson will repay (has not yet repaid) the money he took from the school.
The UH Foundation sent this statement to Hawaii News Now:
"UHF was contacted by federal agencies conducting an investigation into illegal gambling. During the course of their investigation, the agency had found a UHF check for $2,000. The Foundation immediately launched an internal review. The results of the investigation determined that $2,000 had been embezzled and verified that this was an isolated incident. The employee involved in the transaction was terminated....
(OHA crony) Trisha Watson, Dodge Watson's older sister, also issued this statement to Hawaii News Now:
"Today some information came to light about a personal situation that our family has been dealing with over the past few months. (That's how long we have been keeping this hidden from the public.)
Over the last decade, (He's been doing this for a looonnnng time.) my younger brother, unbeknownst to my family, (You believe this, don't you?) developed a gambling problem. ... Any statements that have been made that may be perceived as an effort to minimize or otherwise justify his behavior are not reflective of our unified position as a family.
(Translation: Now that this is public, we will stop trying to use our political influence to get him off and focus on using it to get him probation.)
read ... Just another Tribal Leader
Health Connector Board to lack Quorum as Rats Flee Sinking Ship
SA: Almost half of the board of directors for the Hawaii Health Connector will change at the end of the month, leaving uncertain the future of the state's troubled health insurance exchange.
The terms of at least four of the 14 board members will end June 30. They include Faye Kurren, president and chief executive officer of Hawaii Dental Service; Jennifer Diesman, vice president of government relations for the Hawaii Medical Service Association; Clementina Ceria-Ulep, associate professor at the University of Hawaii School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene; and Gwen Rulona, director of education and legislation at United Food and Commercial Workers Local 480.
Robert Hirokawa, CEO of the Hawaii Primary Care Association, resigned in March, and Joan Danieley, vice president of health plan service and administration for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, will be required to step down upon approval of Senate Bill 2470, which removes insurance company representatives from the board. Sherry Menor-McNamara, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, also stepped down as board chairwoman this month.
The bill, currently awaiting Gov. Neil Abercrombie's signature, requires members appointed to the board to have experience in the health industry and to address issues including boosting enrollment among the uninsured, getting more health plans to participate on the Connector and making the Connector sustainable without the need for continued state funds. The bill also mandates state officials to be ex officio nonvoting members....
Connector officials said at a meeting Friday that they are requesting approval from Abercrombie to extend the terms for Rulona and Ceria-Ulep until Oct. 1 to keep quorum within the board, which is seeking nominations to fill the upcoming vacancies. The governor appoints members who are subject to approval by the Senate.
Meanwhile, Connector officials haven't said how they plan to operate the exchange once $204.3 million in federal funds ends this year or how they plan to increase enrollment, which totaled just over 10,000 as of Friday.
read ... About Abercrombie's Mess
Abercrombie vs. Ige Debates Set
HM: The two candidates in the Democratic primary for governor, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and his challenger Sen. David Ige, have agreed to appear together on Island Insights on PBS Hawaii on July 3, according to Shane Peters, communications director for Abercrombie’s campaign.
Earlier this week, the candidates announced they’d participate in a public debate, hosted by the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, on June 24 at the Manoa Grand Ballroom. The forum will be moderated by Hawaii News Now’s Howard Dicus, but you’ll have to cough up some cash to see it. Tickets are $35 for HJCC members and partner organizations and $45 for general admission and includes lunch.
So far, no other TV debates are scheduled, but, Peters says Abercrombie and Ige have agreed to at least one other broadcast debate.
11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., June 24, Japanese Cultural Center, Manoa Grand Ballroom, hjcc.org.
read ... Neil Abercrombie vs. David Ige on PBS Hawaii
$250 million Honolulu rail funding passed in U.S. Senate committee
KITV: The U.S. Senate committee on Appropriations has passed a bill that includes $250 million in funding for Honolulu rail....
The bill also approves a program that sends $9 million to Hawaii every year to improve the quality of the state's public housing.
It also provides $10 million for a program that supports the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
PBN: Oahu gets first look at rail-related TOD
read ... Mo Money
Weakling Obama Inspires China to Patrol Guam
PNC: A report released last month by the Congressional Research Service [CRS] states that "China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has increased activities in waters around Guam."
According to the report, the increased Naval activity is believed to be spurred by Beijing's suspicions that Guam's military buildup may be directed at China.
The CRS report is entitled "Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments." It discusses major developments and policy issues related to the defense buildup on Guam.
Link: READ CRS report, "Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments" HERE
read ... Price of Weakness
Usual Suspects Protest Against Military on Kauai
KGI: “God only knows what they’re going to do at RIMPAC,” said Gordon LaBedz of the Surfrider Foundation Kauai Chapter, one of five organizations that make up the coalition. “The whole thing is just a nightmare when you think we’re trying to get world peace.”
Kip Goodwin of Kauai Alliance for Peace and Justice says preparing for war will only encourage more war....
Speakers will include Koohan Paik, a Hawaiian filmmaker and co-author of “The Superferry Chronicles” and an expert (SIC!) on the U.S. Military in Polynesia and the North Pacific; marine biologist and coral expert Katherine Muzik, who will talk about the affects of sonar on marine life; and Juan Wilson of the Kauai Sierra Club.
Best Comments: Those who have achieved contact with their inner higher intelligence will never be understood by the brainwashed media-controlled masses who fight to remain asleep and ignorant....why waste money on guns when we can spend it on pot?....I said it once, I will say it again. Next after the seed companies the naysayers are going after the Base PMRF. This is their first step, oh yeah they only want awareness just like they only wanted disclosure. Here we go again....Vote "NO" to the charter amendment. Vote no to Hooiser, Bynum and Yukimura. We need to change the course of Kauai, we are in treacherous water and headed toward the reef....Professional activists picking fights with those that protect them. Worse than a snake oil quack....Don't tell Kip Goodwin; but, they'll be practice firing smart meters. It's the Navy's latest deadly force weapon!....
read ... The Comments
Anti-GMO Tax Cheat Gary Hoosier Launches New 'Progressive' Organization
KE: It wasn't prescience, but political predictability, that prompted me to previously proclaim that Kauai County Councilman Gary Hooser was using the anti-GMO movement to position himself as the head of an organization.
And sure enough, shortly after he filed for re-election, Gary announced he is president of a newly formed nonprofit — Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, or HAPA — and immediately began soliciting donations.
Which means he's created a new funnel for mainland money, and it will be years before we can see who is supporting this group's agenda and activities. Once again, transparency and disclosure are for the "other guys."
Though Gary claims the group's board of directors is “diverse,” a quick look at the like-minded line-up proves otherwise: Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff, Andrea Brower, Aria Juliet Castillo, Lorilani Keohokalole-Torio, Josh Mori, Malia Chun (Councilman Mason Chock's sister), Bart Dame (who I know only from the extremely vicious and ugly hate messages he sent me), Laura Harrelson, Bianca Kai Isaki, Ikaika Hussey, Maui publicist Katie McMillan, Josh Mori, Karen Shishido, Cade Watanabe and good old Walter Ritte Jr.
In catering to the non-thinking/group-think set, HAPA has helpfully boiled down its mission to three bumper stickers: Take Back Government; People over Profits, and Think Global, Act Local.
Of course, Gary doesn't mean we should also take back our government from him. Just "the other guys."
read ... Precisely as Predicted
Backers, foes sound off on expanded Waikiki project
SA: A proposal from PACREP 2 LLC, the Los Angeles-based developer of the planned Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach luxury tower, to expand the project with an adjacent Ritz-Carlton second tower drew mixed reviews at a Friday permit hearing.
PACREP needs a Waikiki special district permit to move forward on its plan to develop a new 39-story, 350-foot resort mixed-use tower on a nearly 2.6-acre lot at 2139 Kuhio Ave.
City Department of Planning and Permitting Director George Atta is not expected to issue a decision until July 14....
Critics, who have included some members of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, nearby condominiums and Unite Here Local 5, have objected to 2139 Kuhio for many of the same reasons that they panned the 2121 Kuhio Avenue project. They say that this new tower also creates too much density, does not guarantee hotel jobs and does not offer enough parking. Despite modifications, some also say that the new plan violates Waikiki guidelines, which protect views and limit heights. Local 5, which previously filed a civil lawsuit against 2121 Kuhio, testified against this latest project.
read ... More Development
State Historic Preservation Blocked from Kunia?
KITV: ...a cultural watchdog group points to what it says are 60 cultural sites including a heiau, and burial mounds that the state has identified in the area.
There are at least two dozen that have been designated for preservation according to Wahine O Kunia.
"These are ancient sites we have been trying to make aware of its significance and its not to be touched," said Sheila Valdez.
Wahine O Kunia has been knocking on doors trying to get some agency to check on reports that bones were unearthed during construction in the area.
"It was brought to our attention that bones were found and dug up while they were doing the infrastructure of the area and according to specific people the bones were hidden after they were dug it up," said Valdez.
But the state office charged with historic preservation says it hasn't been able get access to check out the complaints.
"We have been trying for months , quite literally months, to get some federal agency, or state agency or county agency to step up and say this is our responsibility, our kuleana, but and so far we haven't got there, and we keep asking, and trying to find out what's going on and if something is going on find on solution. We have not been able to get our foot through the door," said Alan Downer, administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division.
A security guard is now posted checking the ID's of everyone who comes in to the area.
And Valdez said she and staff members of a federal agency were denied access recently....
Read ... Kunia
Taxi Cos Upset at arrival of Lyft
HNN: It's a cashless community. Drivers are paid through the app, on average 20 percent less than cabs cost.
EcoCab owner David Jung says Lyft gets a free ride from regulators. Jung said, "I don't understand why the taxi has to be regulated by the City whereas the Lyft gets to regulate itself. We're objecting to it because it's not a level playing field and we believe ultimately it is to the detriment of the consumer."
Taxis must carry commercial insurance, undergo calibration checks every year, and drivers have to pass physical and points of interest tests.
EcoCab contracts with Uber Taxi, a similar app. Jung says, "Leveraging technology to benefit the community is great. Just don't do it at the expense of safety."
read ... Free Ride?
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