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Saturday, July 26, 2014
July 26, 2014 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 7:26 PM :: 4275 Views

Why I'm Encouraging Everyone to Vote for Dr. Keli'i Akina for OHA

Hawaii Family Forum Publishes Updated Primary Voter Guide

Retiree Healthcare: Hawaii's $3.5B Magic Trick

General Fund Loses $180M in Year

HART Receives $49.5 M GET Revenue, Buys Embossed Column

Grassroot Institute & Hawaii Family Advocates: Defending Religious Freedom

Department of the Interior to Meet with Hawaiians in Las Vegas

Statewide Locations: In Person Early Walk-In Voting Begins Monday

GOP incumbent faces rare primary fight after voting for Gay Marriage

SA: State Rep. Cynthia Thielen was first elected to her Windward Oahu district in 1990 and has been there ever since.

So popular is Thielen, she hasn't faced a challenger from either party since 2002, when Demo­crat Avis Jervis could muster only 21 percent of the vote against the well-liked Republican.

But during the recent special session on same-sex marriage, as both sides galvanized and protests echoed out from the state Capitol courtyard, many noticed when Thielen cast the lone GOP vote in either chamber supporting the bill.

Among those opponents who testified and lobbied lawmakers against passing the measure was Joan Hood, a pastor with the Pacific Realm-International Pentecostal Holiness Church who says the futile effort spurred her to become a first-time candidate.

"It's not about the issue; it's about the process of the special session," says Hood, who was among the throngs calling for a popular vote on the marriage issue. "I'm upset that she disregarded the voice of the people, after it was obvious that when the people showed up, the issue mattered to them."

Related: Star-Adv Endorses Tsutsui, Sutton

read ... GOP incumbent faces rare primary fight

Leadership: Arakawa says he believes GMOs not harmful

MN: Mayor Alan Arakawa said at a Maui Chamber of Commerce luncheon Friday that he, personally, believes genetically modified organisms are not harmful.

"As someone who was brought up on a farm and as someone who has had to deal with the agricultural industry all my life, analyzing all the data we have up to this point . . . all the people that are knowledgeable in this field that I respect, I know, there seems to be a preponderance of evidence that there is no evidence of anything wrong with using GMOs," Arakawa said in response to a question from the audience at the luncheon.

About 100 people - including elected officials, small-business owners and employees of sponsor Alexander & Baldwin - attended the meeting held at the Kahili Golf Course in Waikapu.

Arakawa made clear that in his capacity as mayor, though, his role was only to facilitate discussion and to provide the public with as much information as possible. His administration has put up information on GMOs, Monsanto, studies, reports and other items on the county website at www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?nid=1966.

The seed companies warned earlier this month that the passage of the initiative could lead to the loss of more than 500 jobs. If that's the case, the SHAKA Movement said in its statement that "the same state and federal job programs that assisted workers when pineapple, sugar cane and even the Molokai Hotel shut down can be utilized if needed."

...the SHAKA Movement would be willing to help biotech workers find other jobs, possibly in "ecotourism and small farm sustainable agriculture," should the initiative pass.... (More empty promises from empty people.  Just like the antis were willing to pay to defend Kauai County.)

read ... Arakawa says he believes GMOs not harmful

Hi Tech Wannabees Still Angry About HSDC Self-Dealing

PBN: The general partners of early-stage investment fund mbloom and the president of the Hawaii State Development Corporation addressed questions from the local tech community regarding conflict of interest in a town hall meeting at Box Jelly in Kakaako on Thursday night.

The speakers, Karl Fooks, president of the HSDC and general partners of mbloom, Arben Kryeziu and Nick Bicanic, blamed themselves for poor communication, and the crowd demanded answers on mbloom's investment process and disclosure.  (The crowd wants taxpayer money for themselves.)

Maui-based mbloom has been a topic of discussion in the tech community after it announced its first two investments, Flikdate and Ozolio. Controversy arose when the it was revealed that the two companies were founded by the general partners of mbloom.  (Incest is best.)

Fooks explained mbloom’s investment process and clarified that the state’s involvement is not a subsidy or a free ride to private investors.  (Know them by what they deny.)

He said, “Our criteria was to find entrepreneurs who were No. 1, committed to building Hawaii as an innovation hub (is one of us), No. 2 could attract private capital in meaningful amounts that could give us scale in the different activities we wanted to support (is already rich) and No. 3 were willing to work with HSDC and address some of the issues we have a public agency and a state investment (is one of us).” 

Translation: They wanted to find a rich insider and give money to him. 

read ... State clarifies process for mbloom investments but does not disclose names

NZ Company Takes 44% Ownership of OHA's Pet Geothermal Scheme

GH: Subsidiary company Eastland Hawaii Inc. also took over a 44.35 percent voting interest in the Hu'ena LLLP partnership, which is trying to obtain rights to develop a 25MW geothermal power plant in Hawaii.

A revised request for proposal (RFP) is due to be released in October and EGL is still looking to make a potential $5m to $10m investment in the plant.

read ... Gisborne Herald

Coming Soon to Hawaii: Legal Pot Drives Increase in Denver Homeless

DP: "Of the new kids we're seeing, the majority are saying they're here because of the weed. They're traveling through. It is very unfortunate," said Kendall Rames, deputy director of Urban Peak, a nonprofit that provides food, shelter and other services to young people in Denver and Colorado Springs.

Younger visitors to Father Woody's Haven of Hope, which serves people age 18 and older, typically are more demanding and difficult than their elders, director Melinda Paterson said. "Typically, they have an attitude. But we are really strict here. We treat you with respect, ... and if they are not respectful, we ask them to leave," she said.

Part of the Plan: Berkeley Plans to Give Free Marijuana to the Poor

read ... About What They Are Planning for Hawaii

Eight Illegals Flown to Hawaii for Release

CB: Eight unaccompanied minors were sent to the U.S. Immigration Court in Honolulu earlier this year, part of a huge spike in child migration to the U.S.

The juveniles were among more than 30,000 children placed with sponsors throughout the nation from Jan. 1 to June 7, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Office of Refugee Settlement in the Department of Health and Human Services....

Hanusz said to her knowledge, the unaccompanied children came from Central America and were being reunited with relatives in Hawaii. Immigration officials did not say whether the children had legal representation, and members of the attorneys group indicated they would be willing to take cases pro bono....

Federal data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University reveals 46 children have undergone or are currently in the midst of deportation proceedings in Hawaii since October 2004.

read ... Illegals in Hawaii

Does Hawaii have too many nonprofits?

PBN: According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, in 2009 there were about 7,800 nonprofit organizations in the state of Hawaii. With so many nonprofits doing so many different services for the community, it’s hard to say if a few could do the job of many.

“One of the main characteristics that’s shared in the nonprofit sector in Hawaii, is an extreme level of isolation and fragmentation,” said Kelvin Taketa, president and CEO of Hawaii Community Foundation, at a PBN nonprofit panel held earlier in July. This raises the question: is it a good idea for some of these organizations to merge?

(Answer: No.  If there were fewer non-profits, there would be less justification for the staff.)

read ... Profitable Non-profits

Recyclers Refuse to Take Glass

SA: Until last month Josh Hancock's Chinatown restaurant, along with two other businesses, routinely filled two 50-gallon barrels with nondeposit wine and liquor bottles for weekly recycling pickup.

Now the bottles get tossed in the trash.

"It's like throwing rubbish out the window," said Hancock, co-owner of Downbeat Diner and Lounge in Chinatown, adding that the switch leaves him feeling guilty about letting go of a basic green-minded routine.

Companies on Oahu such as Reyn­olds Recycling are refusing to accept liquor bottles, pickle jars and other nondeposit glass from the public.

The decision to turn away heavier glass recyclables was touched off by a decision from Mayor Kirk Caldwell's administration to cut the reimbursement to recyclers for such glass containers in half, to 4.5 cents a pound from 9 cents a pound, starting July 1.

Deposit glass containers — consumers pay 6 cents per container at the point of purchase — are still being accepted by recyclers.

read ... Recyclers

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