Anger Boils in Puna as Nago Changes Election Three Times in Three Days
Kauai: Hundreds Demand Explanation for Massive Property Tax Hikes
2 PRP Candidates Win, 3 More Head to General
Incumbent Hawaii governor out in historic upset
It was 116 years ago today: The U.S. becomes a global power
Is Kauai Pro-GMO? Primary Election Results Suggest So
CB: Kauai County Councilmen Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa, the lone members to oppose the county’s controversial GMO disclosure bill last year, are now more popular than ever among voters.
They took the top two slots, respectively, in Saturday’s crowded primary race — the best either has ever done in any election.
The third-place finisher, first-time candidate Arryl Kaneshiro — another staunch supporter of the genetically engineered seed companies that provide many jobs on the island’s westside — followed closely behind.
read ... Nobody Wants anti-GMO Losers
Real Estate Interests Behind Anti-GMO Activism
KE: ...think about the consequences of your actions. Yeah, you promoted the hell out of yourself, but you also created a political climate that is giving Grove Farm a grip on the Council so they can rezone to their heart's content. But then, that might help your real estate buddies, right?
Eighth, be transparent. Who is funding the HAPA group you lead, and what is their agenda for the island? What is your relationship with Center for Food Safety, Earthjustice and Pesticide Action Network?
Ninth, be yourself. Like don't change Realtor to “entrepreneur” on your bio.
read ... Musings: Constructive Criticism
Hanabusa threatens to sue to block Friday's election
SA: "We're going to have to file something in court, because I feel that what's going on is really disenfranchising a lot of people," said Hanabusa, who is still discussing her legal strategy with counsel.
State Rep. Faye Hanohano, who represents the Puna region, also called for a delay in Friday's vote. Hanohano is trailing attorney Joy San Buenaventura after early returns.
Pat Saiki, the chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party, also urged the state Office of Elections to postpone voting.
SA: Our View: Voters deserve ethical, focused campaigning
read ... Sue?
Cam Cavasso: Schatz, Hanabusa So Similar
PR: Cavasso said:
Frankly, it doesn't really much matter to me which of them I'm running against. They're so similar in their stands and there's such a contrast between myself and them that I think it's a half dozen of one, six of another.
As for his game plan over the next three months, Cavasso ticked off a number of ares on which he will focus his energy. They include:
• Run hard.
• Communicate statewide.
• Make it clear the contrasts between us and share the need for balance in Hawaii and in the U.S. Senate, recognizing that there's a good chance that the U.S. Senate will have a Republican majority and that it's to Hawaii's advantage to have someone on both sides of the aisle in both houses.
• To run as a team with (Republican gubernatorial nominee) Duke Aiona and (GOP U.S. House nominee) Charles Djou and people running across the state.
• Work to bring balance both here in Hawaii and in Washington.
Cavasso added he is excited and optimistic about both the campaign.
We've got many, many challenges after going pretty much one direction the last 45 to 50 years and I'll be working to bring people together. I'll be working to reach out to Democrats, independents and Republicans
read ... Cavasso for Hawaii
Abercrombie Humiliated
WT: Neil Abercrombie, running for his second term as Hawaii governor with endorsements by President Obama and establishment Democrats, was not just defeated in the Saturday party primary, but gobsmacked. Routed. Vanquished. Humiliated. He lost to a state senator by 35 points. Who knew there were that many points out there?
Brian Schatz, the incumbent U.S. senator who was appointed by the governor to succeed the iconic Daniel Inouye in 2012, was locked in another race so close that the election can’t be decided until voters in a remote village isolated by Tropical Storm Iselle get to the polls that were kept open to enable them to cast a vote.
Mr. Abercrombie is unpopular — hugely, obviously — because he is regarded as confrontational, arrogant and eager to raise taxes, just what voters expect from many establishment candidates in both parties. The governor is acting like a true Democrat in what is shaping up, maybe, to be a very Republican year.
Borreca: Abercrombie his own worst Enemy
read ... Gob smacked
Hawaii Highest Homelessness of Any State
WaPo: States with high and low homeless rates are all over the country. The highest rates of homelessness among states are in Hawaii (465 per 100,000), followed by New York (399) and California (367).
The lowest homeless counts per capita come in Mississippi (81 per 100,000), Indiana (94) and Kansas (94)....
The worst in terms of homelessness is the District of Columbia with a rate of 1,133 per 100,000 people. Because D.C. is a metropolitan area, its count is far above states, which aren’t comparable in this scenario....
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides state-level estimations of homelessness every year and also collects data on many metropolitan areas.
read ... 465 per 100,000
Iselle’s toll: An estimated 148 homes damaged
HTH: “Representatives from the Office and Housing and Community Development have gone out with the National Guard and they did the preliminary assessment,” Kevin Dayton, a spokesman for Mayor Billy Kenoi, said Monday afternoon. “Two-hundred-sixty-eight damage reports have come back. There were 148 homes with some degree of damage, four businesses, and 116 reports of infrastructure damage. Those could be utility poles, damaged roads, downed power lines, any of that. This is preliminary; it’s not comprehensive. That’s not complete; obviously there’s way more than that. But that’s what’s been documented at this point.”
Asked about monetary damage estimates, Dayton replied: “I know there’s no comprehensive dollar calculation for the damage yet.”
Dayton said damaged homes in Kapoho Vacationland subdivision, and to a lesser extent, Pohoiki, are mostly due to ocean storm surge, while most of the structural damage reported elsewhere in lower Puna was caused by trees toppling onto buildings.
“We also know there’s a whole lot of scrap metal coming into the transfer stations,” he said. “People are basically picking up debris that was ripped off their roof to one degree or another and depositing it in the scrap metal bins. We know a lot of damage was done.”
KITV: Papaya, mac nut, flower farmers take brunt of storm
read ... 148 Homes
State to hold meeting on new Oahu FEMA flood maps
KITV: Persons living in these communities should review maps of specific areas that will have flood hazard designation changes, to determine if they may be affected.
Click here to download a PDF of the proposed flood map changes.
These map changes will take effect on Nov. 5, 2014, and could affect a property owner's requirement for federally mandated flood insurance and compliance with local floodplain management regulations. Flood program staff have sent out information meeting invitations to owners of properties that are likely to be moved into special flood high risk areas.
To check whether your specific property might be affected, watch a video tutorial on how to view the preliminary FIRM using the state’s Flood Hazard Assessment Tool at http://gis.hawaiinfip.org/fhat/FHAT_prelim_maps.mp4
Read ... State to hold meeting on new Oahu FEMA flood maps
City to announce new contract for EMS workers
KHON: Mayor Kirk Caldwell will announce a new contract for EMS workers on Tuesday.
Sources say the proposed contract would change the work schedule to 12-hour shifts so employees would work noon to midnight, or midnight to noon.
SA: Agreement reached on 12-hour shifts for paramedics, EMTs
read ... EMS Contract
Soft on Crime Policy Causes Death of Criminal
SA: Pickard has a record 22 convictions, beginning in 1985. Ten of them are felony convictions, including 8 for car theft.
Pickard and his passenger were parked in front of a Komo Mai Drive house, which neighbors describe as "a drug house."
After police in two unmarked police cars checked the licence plate of the black Honda sedan, they were told the car was stolen. Three officers approached the car on foot.
The suspect drove toward the officer who was approaching him from the front, striking the officer's vehicle, according to police.
After hitting the officer's car, the suspect then reversed the car toward two officers who were behind him, police said.
The two officers who had been behind the suspect's car approached the sides of the car with their handguns drawn. The officer on the driver's side of the stolen Honda fired "multiple shots" at the vehicle, according to HPD. Kealoha said the officer in front of the car also fired at the driver several times.
This was the third time police have fired at a suspect within the past month.
read ... About Someone Who Would be Alive Today if he had been in Prison Where he Belongs
Westfield State trustees at fault in Dobelle debacle
BG: ...I believe that Dobelle should be held accountable to the full extent of the law. But to say he is the only one to blame ignores the role of the university’s board of trustees. Their obligation is to act as stewards overseeing the financial stability of the organization in concert with its mission. Westfield’s trustees failed miserably in this regard.
Dobelle was hired by Westfield State after he had been fired as president of the University of Hawaii for you guessed it: “extravagant personal spending of university funds.” At the time of his termination, one University of Hawaii trustee was quoted as saying Dobelle “simply has no integrity and you cannot trust him.”
The fact that Westfield even hired Dobelle under these circumstances is astounding. But what is even more shocking is that the trustees failed to put into place the appropriate controls to monitor and prevent Dobelle from engaging in the same activity that got him fired from the University of Hawaii. Once the Westfield State trustees discovered the inappropriate activities, Dobelle should have been terminated for cause immediately. Instead, their actions (or rather lack thereof), helped to create the scandal which has beset the Westfield State campus for the past year....
read ... Westfield State trustees at fault in Dobelle debacle
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