Hawaii 3rd Highest Unemployment Rate for Mentally Ill Persons
The Sky Fell last month, but almost nobody noticed
Hawaii is so convinced it can lower recidivism, it’s already spending the money it thinks it’ll save
WaPo: Hawaii, where 75 percent of youths released from the state’s juvenile correctional facility are sentenced or convicted again within three years, is trying to crack down on recidivism.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a bill Thursday aimed at reducing the state’s juvenile facility population by over half in five years. HB2490 calls for justice system officials to write “reentry plans” before juveniles are released from correctional facilities and revises probation requirements.
Should the plan successfully lower recidivism rates, Hawaii could save an estimated $11 million, the governor’s office said. The state is already betting on it, investing $1.26 million from its anticipated savings in “proven programs” like mental health and substance abuse treatment.
read ... Deficit Spending
Abercrombie Tries to Dodge Question About Hawaiian Kingdom
CB: The governor, for example, answered a question about whether the Hawaiian Kingdom still exists. He initially tried to dodge the question — as Ige did — but Joaquin persisted. No, Abercrombie said, Hawaii is not still a kingdom....
Ige underscored a key platform of his campaign: that the governor may have a lot of ideas, but he doesn’t think things through....
...it also served to show Ige as a more level-headed politician than Abercrombie....
Senile? Abercrombie doesn't remember Paul Brewbaker
read ... Two Cowards don't want to Admit Hawaii is a State
Waihee Discusses Issues Surrounding Native Hawaiian Government Meetings
HNN: Recently there have been some issues regarding timing, specifically that the native Hawaiian community haven't been given much notice as to when the meetings will be held and sometimes only given a week to organize.
NBC: Native Hawaiians to Federal Government: Give Us Back Our Kingdom
read ... Waihee Discusses Issues Surrounding Native Hawaiian Government Meetings
Star-Adv: Nearly Unanimous Rejection of Akaka Tribe Not Good Enough for Us
SA: On the whole, though, the series was a highly enlightening if incomplete measure of sentiment about sovereignty. The only way to gain certainty about what Hawaiians want in a relationship with the U.S. government is to ask them more definitively.
Before any final decisions are made, the community should have extensive discussions about their legal options, and then conduct a plebiscite that reaches the broadest Native Hawaiian electorate possible. Perhaps this can be done when the Hawaiians' nation-building convention ('aha) is held, as is planned for later this fall. In any case, the issue deserves a vote....
But before tossing away the federal recognition option -- whether delivered by legislation such as the so-called "Akaka Bill," or by the proposed administrative route -- Hawaiians need a clear reading of community will.
And that's something best delivered in the polling booth of a plebiscite.
(Native Hawaiians finally achieve unanimity on something and the Star-Adv says it wants a re-count. And by the way a State-sponsored election for Hawaiians only would violate the Rice decision.)
read ... More Excuses to Save Akaka Tribe
Leading Democrat Candidate for CD1 Rejects Gay 'Marriage'
CB: State Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, who has long been the frontrunner among the seven Democrats vying for U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s seat, was alone on two important issues during the first televised debate. She doesn’t support gay marriage and she thinks Hawaii should be granted an exemption from Obamacare. That solitude may help her in such a crowded field
read ... Nobody wants gay marriage
Kauai Anti-GMO Charter petition likely to die
KGI: Kauai County Councilman Mel Rapozo says it is unlikely that he will support receiving Kauai Rising’s proposed charter amendment, meaning the measure may be headed for defeat and would not appear on the November ballot.
“I haven’t read the attorney’s opinion but I believe that it is an initiative being pushed through as a charter amendment,” he wrote in an email Thursday. “At this point, I cannot support that.”
Here’s why Rapozo’s vote is crucial either way: On Wednesday, a six-member council voted 3-3 to receive the proposal, aimed at regulating the island’s genetically modified crop industry. Rapozo missed the meeting, and the split vote means it will be taken up by the full seven-member council July 23, when Rapozo could cast the deciding vote.
KE: Musings: Getting It Right
read ... Good News
Don’t ‘Superferry” GMOs
MN: Listen up citizens of Maui County: We, along with our fellows throughout Hawai'i, sat idly by and allowed a few environmentalists and self-appointed arbiters of the public good to run the Superferry out of Hawai'i. We may never have another opportunity for interisland ferry service again because of their actions.
Don't let it happen again.
MN: Science and Fact: Not Hearsay
read ... Some Wisdom
Abercrombie's Homeless Czar Vanishes
SA: Ige, sharpening his theme about a lack of execution, tweaked Abercrombie for his 2011 appointment of a homeless czar and a 90-day action plan on homelessness. The state senator said state, county and federal agencies have to work together to address the problem, which the governor contends is now happening.
"It's not something that you appoint a czar and suddenly 90 days later it disappears," Ige said. "It's something that will take sustained effort."
read ... AWOL
HNN: Homeless in Hawaii
HNN: Last week, we brought you a hopeful story of Hawaii's interagency council on homelessness starting to put together its first comprehensive plan of figuring out who the homeless are and what they need the most.
Hale o Malama is the state's plan to create a coordinated intake and assessment for our homeless. They are putting names into databases to make sure everyone is entered into the system and the worst cases get the first priority.
Not everyone has the same needs. Some visit emergency rooms again and again, costing the state a fortune. Others just need temporary housing and a plan to get permanent housing.
But finding out exactly who these people are and getting them into a system that can help should be job one.
read ... Homeless in Hawaii
Espero: Disappointed about governor's veto of harbor security bill
HR: Senator Will Espero, chair of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, said he was disappointed about Governor Neil Abercrombie’s veto of SB2589, relating to the transfer of harbor police from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Public Safety- a bill he introduced.
“I am disappointed the governor chose to veto SB2589, which transfers harbor police to the Department of Public Safety. It appears he listened to government bureaucrats more interested in protecting the status quo rather than making positive changes to the state’s law enforcement authority.
read ... governor's veto of harbor security bill
Young Guns: Meet Honolulu's New Generation of Gun Owners
HM: Despite Hawaii’s strict firearm laws, gun culture is not only alive in the Islands, but thriving. Firearm registrations have increased by nearly 450 percent over the past 14 years, according to the state attorney general’s office. Nearly 23,000 firearm permits were processed by the state last year alone. “Whenever there is talk about limiting availability, it drives the sale of guns,”says Harvey Gerwig, president and director of the Hawaii Rifle Association. So who are these gun-toting Honolulu residents? The state doesn’t collect demographic data, but anecdotally shop owners say a large portion of their business comes from younger, first-time owners. We set out to find the new generation of Honolulu gun owners. These are their stories.
read ... Young Guns
United Airlines Ground Workers in Hawaii Vote for Concessions to Keep Jobs
WSJ: United Continental Holdings Inc., which on Monday said it would outsource about 635 baggage and customer-service jobs at 12 airports to vendors to save money, on Thursday reached a different solution with 236 employees working at three airports in Hawaii. The workers there voted to accept concessions to keep their jobs.
The International Association of Machinists union, which represents United airport workers, said the employees at Kona, Lihue and Kahului airports in Hawaii "overwhelming" voted to accept the givebacks, easily reaching the required two-thirds majority called for in the labor contract. The employees agreed to reduced wage rates, suspension of company-matching contributions to their 401(k) plans and scheduling flexibility, the union said.
read ... Concessions
Campaign News:
QUICK HITS: