Angry Aloha
Slom: Legislators Should Override 'Financial Disclosure' Veto
Report: 65% of Rooftop Solar Owned by Finance Companies
Ige: Interior Hearings on Sovereignty are Premature Because Hawaiians Lack Consensus
SA: Abercrombie and Ige both said they support the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, which has collected names for participation in a new Hawaiian government, but Ige said the U.S. Department of the Interior's hearings in Hawaii on sovereignty are premature, since Hawaiians have not yet reached consensus about how to proceed.
In a significant shift in position, Abercrombie said he has spoken with Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin about using a Vermont law that requires the labeling of genetically modified organisms in food by July 2016 as a potential model for Hawaii. Ige, who, like Abercrombie, has said that the federal government should preferably oversee GMO labeling, told reporters earlier this month that he would consider the Vermont law for Hawaii.
read ... Akaka Tribe Becomes Campaign Issue
Ige Questions Akaka Tribe Rush, Health Connector
KHON: Take the Hawaii Health Connector, designed to enroll people without health care coverage.
Ige told Abercrombie that “you know we had an explicit exemption from the federal law, because the pre-paid health program in Hawaii that we developed over 30 years really should be the model for providing universal coverage for all of our people.” ....
The State Department of Interior hearings on Hawaiian sovereignty also came up during the debate.
“Sovereignty is something that I think cannot be rushed,” Ige said. “It’s something that will impact each and every resident in our community.”
Abercrombie said that “from my political career, I’ve been supportive of it in every single instance where I’ve had the responsibility and the jurisdiction.”
read ... Abercrombie vs Ige
Waianae Hawaiians Say No No No No No to Federal Akaka Tribe Scheme
KITV: "The Department of Justice investigates crime right? A crime has been committed against my people," said Native Hawaiian De Mont R.D. Conner.
The crowd not only had comments over the wrongs they want made right, some had questions about the federal government being a part of the native Hawaiian government.
"Why do we need your federal recognition to know who we are and identify who we are?" asked Native Hawaiian Sam Kama.
"We are sovereign and independent. How does the Dept. of Interior come here and dictate federal recognition under Indian law?" asked Native Hawaiian Kilikina Kekumano.
The very vocal crowd was passionate about the plight of native Hawaiians and protective of Hawaiian self-governance.
"We have a government. Our government is established. We just need everyone of you to take responsibility and take care of each person in front, left, right and behind you. We also need to stand united," said Native Hawaiian Lillian Wakinekona.
On Tuesday night, Native Hawaiians stood together with tough talk for the federal government.
"Everybody make you guys scared yeah? You should be scared," joked Native Hawaiian Black Ho'ohuli.
But intimidating the federal government was no laughing matter. To make sure things did not get out of hand, police and security were stationed not only around the meeting room, but also outside the building and even around the Nanaikapono Elementary School grounds.
So far, there hasn't been much vocal support in favor of Hawaiian self-governing being under federal laws. On this night, some speakers wanted to make sure the federal government knew exactly how a number of Native Hawaiians felt about the proposals.
"My answer to every single question is no, no, no, no, no. This is a belligerent occupation. Go home, leave us alone and give us our assets back," stated Native Hawaiian B. Kamahana Kealoha.
Public meetings will continue Wednesday in Kaneohe.
SA: Suh told the Star-Advertiser that many of the comments have been nuanced and reflect "many different types of issues."
read ... NO NO NO NO NO
Con-Con Needed to Abolish OHA?
CB: ...issues that were addressed during the 1978 convention continue to divide the state today.
One example is the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), which was created to ensure the betterment of the Hawaiian community. During this past legislative session, OHA proposed to develop its land in Kakaako for residential development as a way to increase revenue.
A great deal of written testimony was submitted by members of the Hawaiian community in support of OHA’s proposal, and testifiers waited outside packed rooms to support OHA. This seemed ironic in light of the results of the 1978 convention because OHA’s proposal to develop the land conflicts with the environmental protection rights that were advanced in 1978.
The office’s proposal does seem consistent with current environmental laws but it undermines the greater intent of the Constitutional Convention to ensure that Hawaii’s natural beauty is protected for future generations.
Building condos along the ocean would be disappointing, considering the work by delegates at the Constitutional Convention to put in place laws to ensure this consensus.
If the laws of the constitution are supposed to correlate with the progress of society, then actions are needed to protect this progress.
The laws are being followed accordingly, but their intent is being forgotten today.
Perhaps, another Constitutional Convention or “Con Con” needs to convene to recognize a new consensus of values.
Background: OHA driving Hawaiians out of Hawaii
read ... Abolish OHA
Abercrombie Donors Get 10-day turnaround on PUC Decision
IM: On June 10, 2014 Robert King, President of Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, wrote an email to PUC Chair Hermina Morita.
We are still waiting for a PUC decision on docket 2013-0397.
Is it possible to get this on the agenda this week?
HELCO is ready to order biodiesel from us. I have fuel and will meet parity pricing with petroleum.
I will be shutting the Big Island Biodiesel plant down next week because we have too much inventory of biodiesel and are now out of storage space.
We are in a bind. We started working on this agreement in May 2013. Next month is not good enough.
We need to move fuel now, Please help if you can.
On June 20, 2014 the PUC approved the contract with a few amendments.
Related: CBS News nails Abercrombie for multi-million dollar Earmarks to campaign contributors
read ... It Pays to Play
Financial disclosure bill should come off the governor’s veto list
ILind: Disclosure and transparency have never been high on this governor’s priority list, political rhetoric aside. If he does veto this bill, well, you can’t say it’s not like Neil. We all recall his ill-advised lawsuit which attempted to block timely disclosure the names of judicial nominees. He has a track record of bristling at required openness.
But a veto of this disclosure bill, just a month before the primary election, will again put this governor at direct odds with many progressive Democrats, reminding us of his unfortunate bias against open government. That same edge of intransigence is behind some of Abercrombie’s high negatives among voters. And if this election remains as close as polls have indicated, this could end up being a decisive political liability.
read ... Financial disclosure bill should come off the governor’s veto list
PRP Campaign: "This is how its Done Now"
ILind: “I think what you see overall is a modern political campaign coming to Hawaii,” says retired professor and political commentator Neal Milner.
“The morality aside, the thing worked,” he said. “And the fact is that it worked against a pretty formidable guy, arguably as good a campaigner as anybody here.”
“This was not a bunch of outliers,” Milner said, referring to PRP’s mainland consultants. “They were tied into this new campaign technology. This is how it’s done now.”
Milner believes the starkly negative campaign that drew the most public attention with its allegations of corruption was successful, at least in part, because it was intimately tied to a sophisticated and similarly well-funded “ground game” that put canvassers in the field going door to door in areas where rail would have its greatest impact. Using sophisticated campaign tools, this effort sought to educate voters, shift voter perceptions toward a more favorable view of Honolulu’s rail project, and track individual voters for future follow-up and election day mobilization.
read ... Only the Rubes Refuse to Go Negative
HSTA DoE Revisions to Teacher Evaluations 'Just the First Step'
HSTA: Since it was rolled out statewide this past school year, a joint committee of teachers and administrators from the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) and the state Department of Education (DOE) have worked to gather stakeholder feedback and discuss collaborative ways to improve the system.
Taking their feedback into consideration, the DOE recently announced a list of recommended changes to the EES. While there still is a lot of room for improvement, this is a work in progress and we cannot expect to create a perfect system overnight.
The DOE's announcement of recommendations is just the first step in addressing significant concerns and improving a system that is meant to enhance the practice of teaching and benefit student learning.
read ... Just the First Step
Sit-lie ban sought for all of Oahu
SA: With the Honolulu City Council scheduled to hear bills Thursday that make it illegal to sit and lie on sidewalks in two parts of Honolulu, Councilman Ikaika Anderson said he will press to have colleagues consider a third proposal that imposes the same prohibition throughout Oahu.
Anderson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he also is introducing a separate bill that makes it illegal to urinate or defecate on public sidewalks islandwide.
Because they are not on the posted agenda for Thursday's special Council meeting, both of Anderson's new bills need a "supermajority" of six votes from the nine-member Council to even be heard.
read ... Sit-lie ban sought for all of Oahu
Explain $5M spent on Zipper Lane
SA: By the time the PM Zipper Lane construction was suspended last year, the state had spent about $5 million toward this touted nonsolution, which involves heavy barrier-transfer vehicles moving concrete lane dividers along a steel connector to reallocate or "contraflow" traffic lanes so that more cars flow in the busier direction.
Even now, after the state has moved on to a different approach, the Zipper concept has yet to be officially scrapped because the Federal Highway Administration, which is funding 80 percent of the estimated $82.1 million cost of the overall project, has not signed off on the state's new plan; final approvals are expected within weeks.
Ewa-bound drivers have endured disruptions related to this work for more than a year. The Department of Transportation owes Oahu motorists and taxpayers much more information about the evolution of the PM Contraflow Project to ensure that similar avoidable and costly delays don't occur in the future. DOT must disclose exactly how much was spent pursuing the Zipper Lane, and how much of that money was spent after that option's flaws were obvious.
The "design and build" process rightly instills some flexibility into construction, allowing the contractor and the state to adapt to better solutions as work proceeds. But a plan that evolves so substantially from the original vision highlights the need for greater due diligence on the part of the state.
read ... Explain $5M spent on Zipper Lane
Legislators seek state hospital system's plan to stay afloat
SA: Senate Bill 3064 would have allowed for HHSC facilities to partner with or be purchased by a local nonprofit provider while also prohibiting any decrease in services for at least five years. It also would have continued the state's financial support and protected workers' negotiated benefits.
Belatti said various models of privatization have emerged in recent years that merit further study, including a public-private partnership and a management agreement model with a local partner that includes an option to buy.
The management agreement option emerged late in session this year and needed further vetting, she said.
The House Health Committee is holding a series of statewide public informational briefings on the Hawaii Health Systems Corp.’s financial operations and sustainability plans:
>> When: Wednesday, 9 a.m.
>> Where: State Capitol, Room 325 The first meeting is on Oahu, with additional meetings scheduled for Kauai on Monday and other islands in July and August.
read ... State Hospital System Plan?
Another OCCC guard admits to selling ice--Remains Employed
HNN: A veteran corrections officer at Oahu Community Correctional Center has been arrested and charged by federal authorities with selling crystal methamphetamine....
On June 17, corrections officer Warren Ray Rivera, Jr., who's worked at OCCC for nearly ten years, was arrested by federal agents.
He's been charged with dealing crystal meth to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration officer, but he is not suspected of dealing drugs at OCCC.
A DEA affidavit said Rivera admitted to selling two ounces of methamphetamine worth $2,600 to an undercover officer in Aiea April 9 and confessed to dealing another four ounces of the drug for $5,800 on April 21.
On June 16, the DEA said Rivera brought eight ounces of crystal meth to a Waipahu rendezvous point where he admitted he planned to sell the drugs for $11,200, the DEA said in court papers. He made the confessions after a DEA agent arrested him in Waipahu. ...
Rivera remains employed by the prisons department, according to a Public Safety spokeswoman. She said she could not disclose any potential discipline until it had been determined and all appeals by the employee had been exhausted.
read ... Veteran OCCC guard admits to selling ice
Another Alleged Homosexual Child Molester Arrested in Honolulu
LAT: Ronald "Chad" Williams was arrested June 21 in Honolulu after the victim, who is now an adult, reported the abuse to detectives, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department.
Authorities, however, are concerned there may be additional victims.
Williams was the director of San Marcos Christian camp in the 5700 block of Stagecoach Road in Santa Barbara when the alleged abuse occurred during the summer of 2005.
Williams was working at the camp between May 2005 and June 2006.
The victim told authorities he was 10 and 11 years old when Williams molested him, sheriff's officials said. They were alone at the camp when the alleged abuse occurred.
Soon after, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Williams, who had been living in Hawaii for several years.
N: Child Molestation: Another Hollywood Homosexual Gets Lucky in Hawaii
read ... About another Homosexual Child Molester
BoE Chair Horner to Develop Lot Across from Jefferson Elem School
PBN: Former First Hawaiian Bank CEO Don Horner, who is considering building a commercial retail center on a parcel of land he owns in Waikiki across from the Honolulu Zoo, also is looking into developing a low-rise residential two-bedroom apartment building on the site.
Horner, who is still a member of the board of directors at the state’s largest bank and is also chairman of the Hawaii Board of Education, told PBN via email that the 13,461-square-foot vacant lot at the corner of Kapahulu and Kuhio avenues was purchased by his Malu Investment I LLC two years ago from a Japanese real estate firm as a long-term family investment.
“My sons and I are hopeful to make a final decision by year-end and plan to commence construction sometime in 2015....”
Totally Unrelated: Group Organizes to Save Jefferson School
read ... Conflict of Interest?
HC&S faces $1.3M fine from state
MN: Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. faces 400 state air quality and reporting violations and a $1.3 million fine, stemming from incidents at the plantation's Puunene Mill from 2009 to 2013, the state Department of Health reported Tuesday.
Nolan Hirai, manager of the Clean Air Branch, which issued the Notice and Finding of Violation and Order on June 18, told The Maui News on Tuesday that most of the alleged violations for excess emissions and reporting stem from the mill's wet scrubbers, which reduce particulate material going up the smokestacks.
Based on HC&S semiannual reports and additional information, the Clean Air Branch determined that the wet scrubbers at times were "not operating within the required operating range," which may have resulted in visible emissions from the smokestacks exceeding opacity standards, he said.
PDF: Notice of Violation
read ... HC&S faces $1.3M fine from state
After all the Talk, Only One School Gets AC
CB: Despite recent efforts to cool down Hawaii’s most sweltering classrooms, just one school has gotten the go-ahead to install campus-wide air conditioning since that campaign intensified nearly a year ago.
Hickam Elementary at the Air Force Base is joining 12 other public schools statewide that already have central AC, according to Department of Education data. An additional school — Kihei’s Lokelani Intermediate — is undergoing final construction to install AC, a project that started in 2008.
When those projects are completed, about 5 percent of the state’s regular public schools will have central cooling.
“There needs to be a greater urgency,” said Corey Rosenlee, a grassroots organizer and teacher at Campbell High School, where class sizes often reach 40 students and temperatures can rise to the mid-90s. “We’re baking our children.”
read ... Baking Children
NCAA Continues Investigation of UH Athletic Programs
SA: The NCAA has re-interviewed two former University of Hawaii men's basketball staff members in the past several days -- a sign its three-month inquiry into the program may not conclude this month after all.
Former assistant coach Scott Fisher and former director of operations Chris McMillian were interviewed by phone since last week, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser was told.
Meanwhile, the UH Board of Regents Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics has postponed its scheduled briefing on "NCAA compliance matters relating to UH-Manoa athletics." The briefing was to have taken place Thursday in executive session.
It will be rescheduled for "late July or August," a spokesman said.
read ... Ex-hoops staffers interviewed again
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