Productivity and Innovation: Hawaii Stuck on ‘F’
1901: Territory of Hawaii Adopts First Income Tax in USA
Donna Kim: Ms Ruthless Beauty Queen
DK: State senate president Donna Mercado Kim aka "Ms. Ruthless Beauty Queen" for her overweening vanity and propensity for yelling at testifiers who displease her, has capped her rein over the most dysfunctional state senate ever, by flubbing her most important job - passing a balanced budget.
Ms Ruthless is running for the U.S. House where she'll be right at home with her friends in the GOP.
Kim voted against marriage equality and is courting the rightwing social conservatives, where she's being lauded by the Hawai'i Christian Coalition. This is part of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition and their mission is to pass laws against abortion, marriage equality and in favor of school prayer.
Kim also appointed a Monsanto lobbyist to the Water Commission nominating committee right after Monsanto was turned down on both Oahu and Maui for more water
read ... Daily KOS
Warner "Kimo" Sutton and Elwin Ahu hope to win the primary for lieutenant governor
SA: With most eyes on the Democratic race for lieutenant governor, the two Republican candidates vying for their party's nomination have much work ahead of them as they try to gain name recognition and get their messages out to voters in a historically blue state.
The contest pits Warner "Kimo" Sutton, a Honolulu renewable energy entrepreneur, against Elwin Ahu, a former Honolulu District Court judge and senior pastor with New Hope Metro. The winner would join the expected gubernatorial nominee James "Duke" Aiona, who served as lieutenant governor from 2002 to 2010 in the administration of Gov. Linda Lingle.
read ... Sutton vs Ahu
Hawaii's private doctors urged to help alleviate VA crisis
PBN: An audit by the Veterans Health Administration reveals that veterans in Honolulu experience the longest average wait time in the nation — 145 days — to get their first appointment with a primary care doctor.
HMA Executive Director Dr. Christopher Flanders told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the advocacy group voted this week, along with the American Medical Association, to ask the federal government to allow the use of private-practice health care providers to help alleviate the wait times. The HMA plans to create an online registry of 400 private-practice doctors willing to care for the veterans, he said.
read ... Hawaii's private doctors urged to help alleviate VA crisis
Parents' efforts lead Hawaii educators to tone down sex-ed program
HR: "Finally, biology has trumped social philosophy,” McDermott said.
The new curriculum acknowledges an elevated risk of disease from anal sex.
"You can't deliberately replace actual disease statistics and real facts about safe sex with political correctness," McDermott said. "Ironically, in their desire to ‘normalize’ homosexual lifestyles, they put those very students at risk by withholding these critical facts."
read ... Parents Efforts
While Building Kakaako, Abercrombie Signs Bill Claiming 3' Sea Level Rise Coming
SA: Gov. Neil Abercrombie Monday signed into law a measure authorizing more than $567,000 for fiscal 2014-15 to help a committee in researching and developing a report looking at areas of vulnerability and ways to adapt to anticipated problems.
The findings by the climate adaptation committee, looking at rising sea levels to 2050, is to be publicly available no later than Dec. 31, 2017.
House Bill 1714, a part of the state Democratic majority's legislative package, said sea levels are projected to rise a foot by 2050 and 3 feet by 2100....
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii said it supported the intent of the bill but wanted to make sure both public and private entities in the committee review climate change issues on "equal footing."
The bill calls for more than 14 county and state administrators to serve as members of the climate adaptation committee.
State Sen. Sam Slom, a Republican who was one of the few legislators voting against the bill, said he is leery of spending too much money on studies, particularly when there have been other studies on climate change, and he was doubtful that the committee would arrive at an "objective study."
Best Comment: "Maybe we could get the guys that always do the studies for the Natatorium and the Waimanalo Dump to do this study too."
read ... Do as we say, not as we do
Tranny: "Kakaako Developer has made every effort possible to embrace iwi kupuna issues"
HNN: In a meeting Tuesday, OIBC members said the State Historic Preservation Division removed the project from their oversight by not requiring the developer to conduct an archeological inventory study of historic artifacts.
"Given the intense scrutiny for Kakaako and we are within a couple of blocks where 600-plus kupuna iwi were disinterred at Kawaiahao Church, how could such a decision be made," said Jonathan Likeke Scheuer, the council's outgoing vice chair....
Susan Lebo, the state preservation division's lead archeologist for Oahu, said she initially required an AIS but backed off after the developer's consultant convinced her of the low potential of finding human remains.
A monitoring plan for iwi was put in place instead....
One of those developers -- Howard Hughes Corp. -- recently unearthed iwi at its Ward Industrial Center on Queen Street. But because it already has an AIS underway and is working with the Hawaiian community, no delays are expected.
"They have made every effort possible to embrace iwi kupuna issues," said Mr Hina Wong-Kalu, the Tranny Chairing Oahu Burial Council.
read ... Burial council blasts state
Sex-abuse victims deserve more time to come forward
SA: HB 2034 would remove the statute of limitations for criminal actions arising from sexual assault in the first and second degree and continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14. It acknowledges the severity of the crime by putting sexual violence on the same level as homicide, which also has no statute of limitations. It also would put Hawaii on par with the majority of states that have eliminated the statute of limitations for certain sex crimes.
SB 2687 would extend the period during which a survivor of child sexual abuse can bring a time-barred civil action against the perpetrator or the negligent entity owing a duty of care to the survivor of child sex abuse, including state entities that were previously exempt. Since 2012, when the window first opened, a number of survivors came forward to expose horrendous abuses. These survivors would have had no course of action without the window.
We also support the inclusion of lawsuits against state entities, as all survivors should have the opportunity for justice regardless of whether the entity that could have protect-ed them is private or public.
read ... Sex-abuse victims deserve more time to come forward
State Hospital faces class-action lawsuit, administrator retiring
HNN: A class-action lawsuit representing hundreds of State Hospital employees will be filed in the next several weeks, as the acting head of the troubled hospital announced he plans to retire after two decades there.
The class-action lawsuit will be filed on behalf of hundreds of front-line staff at the State Hospital, who work directly with the mentally ill.
Attorney Michael Green is representing them.
"Every week, there's somebody getting punched or kicked or their heads are getting slapped into the walls," Green said "This is really bad. It's like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
The lawsuit will seek financial damages from the state and changes in procedures, training and equipment for employees who are routinely getting attacked by the mentally ill patients at the hospital.
"I've got people in here that will never work again because of brain injuries. People that are getting more medication than the patients ever got in there," Green said.
read ... Class-Action
Ernie Martin Rebuilding Slush fund for Profitable NonProfits
KHON: in November 2012 voters approved a plan to give half of one percent of the budget every year to charity, which is about $5.3 million of taxpayer money for fiscal year 2015. However, in its latest budget the City Council added on more than $3.2 million of earmarks....
The City Council approved extra funding for non-profits, but it was $3 million more than expected.
"I believe something is out of whack here," said Kirk Caldwell, Honolulu Mayor.
"Well I think that is just the Mayor's position. I find that a little amusing," said Ernie Martin, Honolulu City Council Chair.
There are more than 70 organizations on the Council's list to get extra funding, many focus on the culture and arts.
2011: Resignation call after Audit reveals “ward heeler’s slush fund” overseen by Honolulu Councilman Ernie Martin
read ... They'll all be sign wavers this cycle
Will Anti-Aquarium Nuts Be Charged for Harassing Divers?
WHT: Hawaii County’s prosecuting attorney says his office has received a report on a May 8 incident in which one scuba diver allegedly ripped another diver’s breathing apparatus out of her mouth.
Mitch Roth said Monday his office did receive the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ investigation into the attack on Friday. He said it was being forwarded to the Kona office after being processed through his office’s intake procedures and he had not seen it yet himself.
Reports last month indicated DLNR intended to cite the fish collector — whom other media outlets have identified but West Hawaii Today has not, because he has not yet been charged with any crime or named by the DLNR — with reckless endangerment and Umberger with harassing a fisherman.
Who They Are: Anti-Aquarium Nuts Attack Big Isle Fisherman For Catching Delicious Tiger Shark
read ... Harassing a Fisherman
Budget Axe Hits UH Athletics
SA: The budget machete figures to get a workout as the University of Hawaii athletic department tries to pare approximately $4 million in requests from the budget it hopes to start the fiscal year with July 1.
The current fiscal year is projected to close June 30 with a $2 million deficit on spending of more than $30 million. UH has operated at a deficit for 10 of the past 12 years.
Athletic director Ben Jay said he hopes to rein in expenses so the 21-team department can start the next fiscal year with an operating budget of approximately $30 million.
Currently, Jay said, coaches and staff requests for FY 2015 are running about $34 million on the latest draft.
read ... More Budget Cuts
9% of Student Loans in Default Across Hawaii
CB: The percentage of University of Hawaii at Manoa borrowers who defaulted on their federal student loans within three years of when their payment schedule began in 2010 was slightly more than 4 percent — a heartening statistic considering the default rate for students across the country as a whole was nearly 15 percent. The default rate for Hawaii Pacific University students was also about 4 percent.
Overall, just 9 percent of Hawaii’s former college students — representing an array of public, nonprofit and for-profit institutions — defaulted on their loans three years after they went into repayment in 2010, the most recent year for which meaningful default datafrom the U.S. Department of Education is available.
But the statewide data masks grave disparities among individual campuses across Hawaii. These discrepancies offer a glimpse into which students are getting by after college — and which aren’t.
read ... Student Loan Default Rampant at Some Hawaii College Campuses
Retrial: Judge Rules Out Evidence Favorable to Deedy
AP: A key difference this time is that jurors will see only a limited portion of a bystander's cellphone video taken in the shooting's aftermath. Circuit Judge Karen Ahn ruled at a hearing Monday that jurors won't see the part showing Deedy rendering aid to Elderts.
During the first trial, the defense used the video to show jurors Deedy used his knife to help cut Elderts' shirt and rendered aid. He's heard on the video — amid Hawaiian music playing in the restaurant — imploring Elderts to breathe as police respond to the scene.
Deedy's new attorney, Thomas Otake, argued that footage shows the agent wasn't intoxicated, as the prosecution contends. Otake also said the video is of a better quality than the silent, choppy McDonald's surveillance footage.
Ahn ruled jurors can view the portion of the cellphone video that shows Deedy's interaction with officers arresting him.
Other rulings included barring details of Elderts' 2008 disorderly conduct conviction and not allowing the friend Deedy was with to testify that his agriculture research work involved koa trees. Ahn said Deedy's previous attorney violated her ruling not to mention the koa trees because he wanted to make Deedy's friend sound ''more local.''
read ... Lynch Mob
Big raises coming for Kenoi, top officials and County Council
WHT: Mayor Billy Kenoi will get a $22,848 raise next month, and top county managers and County Council members will also see pay hikes, under a plan advanced Tuesday by the county Salary Commission.
Kenoi’s raise, a 20.9 percent increase, will bring his annual salary to $132,000....
Managing Director Wally Lau would get a $15,056 raise to $119,00, and Deputy Managing Director Randy Kurohara would get a $16,000 raise to $115,000.
Council members would get an 8.3 percent raise, increasing their pay by $4,000 annually to $52,000. The council chairman would make $58,000 a year, up $6,000 annually, or 11.5 percent.
read ... Pay Hikes
Union Bosses Look forward to Extracting Dues From New Class of Workers
TN: Last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, guaranteeing overtime pay to employees —the vast majority of whom are women—who provide care in homes across the state. The organizing that led to the win was spearheaded by affiliates of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), which has said this new law, “will put millions of dollars in the pockets of immigrant women and women of color laboring as domestic workers.”
In her new book, Part of the Family? Nannies, Housekeepers, Caregivers and the Battle for Domestic Workers’ Rights (Ig Publishing), journalist Sheila Bapat explores how it came to be that an entire class of workers were excluded from basic labor protections. Through vivid storytelling and thorough research, Bapat exposes the working conditions and subjective practices that make policy change necessary. She explains what made victories possible in California, New York and Hawaii and what’s underway in Massachusetts, Illinois and other states where caregivers are organizing themselves and pushing lawmakers to recognize the value of their work.
read ... Dues
Hawaii has Fewest Muslims of Any State
HP: Illinois has the number three-highest population of Muslims in the U.S. Compared with the other 50 states and the District of Columbia. Texas has the most and Hawaii has the least.
But not zero: Honolulu Muslim Eye-Gouge Attacker Tied to Staten Island Jihadi
read ... Hawaii Ranks #50
Anti-GMO Hype Part of Pesticide Company Sales Scheme?
WHT: ...pesticide use is surging among U.S. corn farmers who are worried that some insects have become resistant to genetically modified versions of the crop.
That’s an unexpected reversal since one of the promises of engineered corn when it was introduced 17 years ago was its ability to kill pests. The use of soil insecticides for the crop plunged 90 percent through 2010, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Whether the return to pesticide use makes sense, or is simply spurred by a chemical industry marketing campaign, is at the center of one of the biggest debates in the corn belt this spring....
That view is driving up profit for pesticide makers like FMC Corp. and American Vanguard Corp. They’re marketing corn insecticides as a kind of insurance policy that costs $12 to $25 an acre. Root-eating larvae of the flying insect has historically cost U.S. farmers $1 billion in expenses and lost harvest, according to USDA estimates.
Some scientists are skeptical that a return to pesticide use is in the long-term interests of farmers. Soil insecticides don’t improve root health or yields when the corn is already producing its own insecticide, according to a paper by University of Illinois scientists published online April 25 by the Journal of Applied Entomology. Iowa State University researchers reached a similar conclusion last year.
Chemical insecticides are simply redundant, said Michael Gray, a University of Illinois entomologist.
“It’s pretty clear where the science and the scientific community is on this point,” Gray said. “It really does not add much.”
read ... Anti-GMO Hype Part of Pesticide Company Sales Scheme?
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