Rasmussen Poll: Ige 40, Aiona 39, Mufi 14
Meet the California Oilman Behind Brian Schatz
USA Today: Make Less Than $122K? You're Uncomfortable in Hawaii
Timing Isn't Everything, It's the Only Thing
Djou vs Takai on Akaka Tribe
SA: "The early tentative moves by the Department of Interior are wrong, in my opinion," Djou said. "It should be an act of Congress. I think if Native Hawaiian recognition were done by a bureaucratic regulation, it would cheapen Native Hawaiian recognition and make it very easily reversible because any administration then, in the future, could easily yank it back.
"That's not good for long-term stability of the Native Hawaiian people or the people of Hawaii, so the way to do it is do it the right way and the right way is an act of Congress followed by a plebiscite of the people." ...
He said only a Republican in the delegation would be able to speak to members of the GOP majority in the House — and potentially a GOP majority in the Senate — and work to win over conservative votes.
"I submit I'm the only one who can be that voice," he said. "If Hawaii elects yet another entire 100 percent Democrat delegation, they will get as far as they've gotten in the past with Sen. Akaka himself in the Congress trying to pass this, which is nowhere." ...
Takai, who has represented the Halawa-Aiea-Newtown district in the state House for 20 years, said he supports the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission in its efforts. At the congressional level, his greatest concern is ensuring that federal benefits to Native Hawaiians continue.
He said he would support any effort at recognition that is backed by a majority of Native Hawaiians.
"I believe the Native Hawaiian community needs to work together and reach a consensus and I will support whatever consensus is reached," Takai said. "If there's any federal issues that need to be worked on, I will work to make sure that they're implemented effectively and efficiently.
"The biggest concern that I have is the benefits to the Native Hawaiian community and we're going to make sure that especially the federal benefits continue."
read ... Rivals differ on strategies for Native Hawaiians
Bills would benefit the city, but also help the homeless
Shapiro: A rule of good management is to never let anybody get comfortable in a bad situation.
It's damaging to the group and to the individual....
Homeless advocates cry that the sit-lie law and ban on public toileting criminalize homelessness, but that's nonsense.
The bills reasonably discourage behavior that is antisocial, threatens our economy and is a public health hazard.
It shouldn't need to be said that it's not OK to pass out drunk on the sidewalk, harass visitors and relieve yourself as you please in Hawaii's tourism center.
Connie Mitchell, a homelessness authority with the Institute for Human Services, told the Council, "Most reasonable people would agree that homelessness is not best addressed by allowing homeless people to take up semi-permanent residence on city sidewalks and in other public spaces.
"That's a bad approach — bad for neighborhoods, bad for residents and business in the area," she said. "Most of all, it's ultimately bad for the homeless themselves."
read ... Win-win
Doctors Flee Hawaii As Pay is Cut
SA: Despite being "very busy," taking just two days off the entire year, the fledgling surgeon earned about $100,000, or less than $80,000 after taxes. On the mainland, he said, surgeons can make anywhere between $400,000 and $600,000 a year.
After evaluating reimbursements, Nguyen realized he is not on par with his mainland counterparts.
For instance, if someone cuts multiple tendons in the hand, a common injury, isle doctors get paid to fix one tendon, while mainland counterparts would be paid to fix all tendons, he said.
"And then on top of that, the rate is lower," he said, citing another example of doctors here being paid $400 to $800 less than on the mainland to fix a broken hip. To fix carpal tunnel syndrome, mainland surgeons can get paid between $600 and $800. Hawaii doctors average roughly half that, he said....
Many local physicians who went into the practice of medicine to take care of patients are feeling the burnout of essentially being forced to become "bookkeepers" just to get paid for their services and keep their practices afloat. The situation has grown so burdensome that many are retiring early or leaving the profession, contributing to a statewide shortage of 700 doctors, a number that is expected to double by 2020 as the population ages and more providers leave the workforce.
"Physicians are really despondent. They just feel really defeated and feel there's nothing they can do. They're not happy with work anymore," said Rasmussen, 52, who grew up on a farm and drives an 11-year-old minivan. "I've been robbed of that part of medicine that I really enjoy, which is connecting with my patients and being able to help them."
Medicine is being depersonalized, threatening the doctor-patient relationship, Rasmussen contends, because "if I don't have volume, I can't pay my bills."
read ... Cause of Doctor Shortage
Common Core, RTTT: Foundation for Better Schools?
SA: Major changes in Hawaii's public schools over the past five years are a source of exhilaration in some quarters and consternation in others. Now, as Hawaii's Race to the Top funding winds down, leaders of several charitable foundations that have bolstered the federal initiative with local support take stock, delighted with what they hail as significant improvements.
The consensus of the five executives who met Wednesday with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser's editorial board: Hawaii's public schools have made remarkable progress overall, and individual schools are generally much better than they're given credit for; the statewide Department of Education has made notable strides in "knowledge management," including data collection and analysis; and there's a huge need for professional and leadership development to sustain the positive momentum.
The group applauded the implementation of Common Core standards, a new evaluation system for teachers and the advent of the appointed school board as big positives for the public schools, in conjunction with Race to the Top. They cited Hawaii students' historic gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card, among other indicators, as evidence that island children are directly benefiting from better instruction.
Read: Without Abercrombie, Education Reform a Political Orphan
read ... Foundation to be Undermined?
MECO: $700M Undersea Cable Worth Only $60-175M
MN: In its Sept. 9, 2013, submission to the Public Utilities Commission, the department said its economic analysis demonstrated that an undersea cable between Oahu and Maui was "unequivocally in the public interest." Among several benefits, including increased use of renewable resources and greater power system efficiencies, the department maintained that conservatively Oahu and Maui power ratepayers would see an overall savings of up to $423 million from 2020 to 2050. The department said Oahu and Maui electricity consumers could see a reduction of 0.6 cent per kilowatt hour in power rates attributed to the undersea cable.
Maui Electric said that its analysis of the benefits of an undersea cable ... showed a net present value from $60 million to $175 million, "which is significantly less than the estimated costs to design, construct, operate and maintain an undersea cable," MECO said. (Net present value is a standard means to convert future dollars into current year dollars, given the difference in real buying power, according to MECO. The range of $60 million to $175 million reflects savings, or the "price to beat," without consideration of the costs of the cable.)
MECO officials have estimated that the cost to build the undersea cable ranges from $700 million to $1.5 billion.
read ... Bye Bye Big Cable
Police shootings prompt questions
SA: In back-to-back cases a week apart, drivers in their 50s were killed in close range by multiple shots from July 24 to Aug. 6.
In each case, the Honolulu Police Department called the slain men murder suspects. The shooters — police officers — were stopping a threat, they said.
Chesney-Lind and other Honolulu criminology experts are decrying the killings, questioning the police version of events, and calling for more information, openness and accountability from HPD.
When shootings have occurred, top HPD officials have routinely defended the actions of officers — even before internal investigations have begun....
In an op-ed piece in the Star-Advertiser on Aug. 17, David Johnson, a UH professor of sociology, said Honolulu police have shot and killed eight people in the last five years (or 1.6 per year), which is, per capita, about double the national average of "justifiable killings" by police.
In 11 years — from 2004 to 2014 — Honolulu police shot and killed 13 people, an average of a little over one a year. This year, two were killed in eight months....
read ... Questions
Star-Adv: Council should back mayor's affordable housing plan
SA: Mayor Kirk Caldwell last week unveiled a broad initiative that seeks to boost the inventory of dwellings within reach of Oahu's workforce, a population increasingly abandoned by the private development industry. In the short term, according to his projections, the plan would yield an increase of 4,000 truly affordable units.
What Caldwell proposes in his "islandwide housing strategy" is upping the ante on affordable housing for developers who want building permits for projects of 10 units or more. He suggests, rightly, that the focus be placed on providing units affordable to the class that needs it the most: households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). On Oahu, that's up to $76,650 for a family of four.
Additionally, he would insist on those units remaining affordable for much longer than they are now. The presentation the mayor gave puts the minimum at 60 years, though he left the door open to lowering that term. The point is that this is the only way Oahu can accumulate enough affordable units that will stick around long enough to address a shortage that's growing worse by the year.
For decades, the city has required developers seeking a zoning change for at least 10 units to commit 30 percent of units at an affordable range. This unilateral agreement defined that term: At least 10 percent had to be priced for the 80 percent of AMI group, the other 20 percent could be priced for those earning 120 percent of AMI.
The problem is twofold: This just isn't enough for the lower-income group, and in Honolulu's service-based economy, that's where the need is.
Also, the units must remain affordable for at least 10 years, but that's not nearly long enough
read ... Council should back mayor's housing plan
Kauai: Luxury Resort Owner Continues to Harass Dairy Farm
KGI: Hawaii Dairy Farms’ revised plan for 578 acres in Mahaulepu continues to cause a stink for one South Shore resort and a number of local residents.
In response to HDF’s revised Waste Management Plan (dated July 23 and prepared by Group 70 International), Lisa Woods Munger, an attorney representing Kawailoa Development, LLP in a lawsuit against HDF, wrote to the Sina Pruder, chief of the Department of Health’s Wastewater Branch, urging her to reject it....
Kawailoa owns the nearby Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa and the Poipu Bay Golf Course.... (Their efforts are supported by the Sierra Club and Surfrider.)
Hennessey, who has called the lawsuit an “insidious attack on local food,” said that if development cannot coexist with agriculture, Kauai’s farmers, local food industry and, ultimately, families will be the “victims of unfettered growth.”
read ... Protesting for Profit
As Lava Approaches, Puna Insurance is Cancelled
BIVN: Puna Community Medical Center will be without insurance as of November 3, after being told its current provider will not renew their policy.
In a letter dated September 11, Honolulu-based Dongbu Insurance notified PCMC of their intention not to renew two policies, liability and workers’ comp. The company cited Hawaii Revised Statutes 431:10C-111.5 as their legal grounds to do so.
The reason for the liability non-renewal, as stated in the letter, is “due to property located in Lava zone 2″. Dongbu has provided the insurance for PCMC since the medical center’s beginning, nearly six years ago. Big Island Video News obtained a photo of the letter and we have included it below.
WHT: Event draws hundreds as lava advances on Pahoa
read ... Cancelled
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