Ige Still Has No Answers For His HHSC Fiscal Crisis
UH Manoa Grad Students: No Confidence in Lassner, BoR
Free Markets and Jones Act Reform at Union Meeting?
What 20 years of research on cannabis use has taught us
Am Samoa: Faleomavaega Coming Home 'Soon'?
New director takes over Hawaii’s troubled Obamacare exchange
Academics Defend HOPE Probation
Military Leaving Hawaii because Schatz, Hirono are Useless Weaklings
SA: The Army 2020 Force Structure Realignment Report examines potential impacts from downsizing at 30 installations, including in Hawaii. It spelled out the possible loss of up to 19,800 soldiers and civilian workers on Oahu. Counting their 30,035 family members, that would be about 5 percent of Honolulu's population.
That's the worst-case scenario, though, and such severe cuts in Hawaii would be illogical given the ongoing U.S. pivot toward Asia. However, politics sometimes trumps military strategy and even national security when it comes to defense cuts that affect local economies. Hawaii is more vulnerable without Inouye in charge.
The sensible community response in this uncertain environment is not to abandon valid criticism of past military practices, such as live-fire training at Makua, nor is it to downplay the immediate economic consequences of a major Army pullout, as the military's harshest critics here do.
The balanced response is to support the military's presence most fervently where the national security mission and community support align.
(Translation: B-bye to 5% of Population.)
read ... Not Dan, Never Will be Dan
Gabbard Lied About Waikiki Surfing Video
CB: The point of our recent Tulsi Gabbard piece on surfing with Yahoo News instead of attending a U.S. Senate hearing on problems at the VA is one that Gabbard’s supporters are conveniently sidestepping:
She was scheduled to go to the hearing. She didn’t show up. Sen. Mazie Hirono’s staff told reporters they had expected her, wanted her to be there, and had no idea where she was.
We called her office to check. It took four days to even get a response. First we were told she’d been at another meeting. Then an official statement from her press secretary said “an earlier commitment ran very late.”
At no time did anyone tell the truth: She was doing an interview with a national news crew that involved surfing at Waikiki and it just ran long. That came only after Civil Beat pointed out to her office that the video and social media showed the Yahoo footage was shot at the same time the hearing was going on.
read ... When asked where she was, her office didn't tell the truth
Aiona Only Candidate to Veto Gay Marriage
PR: Hannemann, meanwhile, continued to clarify his position on marriage equality. He had said on Sunday during a forum at New Hope Leeward’s Kapolei campus that one of the reasons he could no longer remain a Democrat was because he believes in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.
He has said he would not have called a special session, like Gov. Neil Abercrombie did last year, and would have instead allowed voters to decide the issue through a constitutional amendment.
Asked on Tuesday whether he would have signed the marriage equality bill had he been governor, Hannemann said he would have let the bill become law without his signature.
Aiona, who also believes marriage equality should have gone before voters, said he would not have signed the bill into law.
Ige said he would have signed marriage equality into law, but he would not have called a special session.
read ... VETO
9th Circuit Forces Gay Marriage on Two More States, Hawaii Ruling is Next
AP: A unanimous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has struck down Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage. The panel also reversed an earlier ruling upholding a ban in Nevada; the full opinion is online here. The court indicated it’ll issue a separate ruling later on an issue regarding Hawaii law.
read ... Judges Bow to God of Political Correctness
UH-Manoa to be $31M in the red
SA: The school brings in about $130 million in net tuition each year, after scholarships and tuition waviers are taken out.
The overspending began in 2012, when the campus incurred a $2.6 million deficit under then-Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw.
UH-Manoa had started that year with a $21 million surplus in tuition revenue but was instructed by UH system administration to spend down some of its reserves for fear that the state might view the surplus as too healthy, said Kathy Cutshaw, Manoa's vice chancellor for administration, finance and operations. Tuition revenues were subsequently spent on faculty salary restorations, student laboratory space and information technology upgrades.
The shortfall swelled to $17 million and then $26 million in the following two years under then-Chancellor Tom Apple. Those shortfalls were covered by university reserves.
Utility costs ran over budget by a combined $13 million in those years. Among other added costs, the campus also paid out $6.4 million for 3 percent faculty salary increases that it had expected the state to cover, and suffered a $7 million cut from the Legislature, in fiscal 2014.
read ... UH-Manoa to be $31M in the red
Civil Beat Tries, Fails to Cover Up Ige's GE Tax Hike
CB: The senator said the idea to increase the GET by 1 percent for two years came from Senate colleagues. (Great. Name them so we can blame them.) Given that the total revenue from the GET in fiscal year 2014 was $2.8 billion, a 1 percent increase would bring in a lot of cash to state coffers. (Yup, about $700M/year from your pocket)
Ige told Civil Beat he personally opposed the idea (he means proposed, not opposed) but sought to move it forward in his committee. He said the request for a hearing came from “a majority of members.” (Yet oddly the majority then voted against it, lol!) But Ige did not take a headcount, and it turned out that he did not have the necessary votes. The measure died.
(Ige does Kerry: The majority was for the tax hike before they were against it. I was against it before I was for it.)
Ige does not deny that he himself voted to move the GET bill out of committee. (Kinda difficult to lie about that since it is right there on the legislative website.)
“I did vote to move it out, but of course — I’m the chair of the committee, right?” he said. “Most people would say, ‘I’m just not going to hear it. I’m not going to deal with it. I’m going to shut it down, irrespective of what the feeling of the organization is.’ (Yep, but not Ige. He wants tax hikes to have every possible chance.)That’s not me. I’m about collaboration. I’m about giving everybody the opportunity (to really stick it to you taxpayers).”
Quick IQ Test: Do you buy Ige's story?
Reality: Ige Pushed $791M GE Tax Hike in Face of Protests
read ... Propaganda
Dems, Republicans View CD1 Race Very Differently
RC: Hawaii’s 1st District. Republican Charles Djou was elected to Congress under some quirky circumstances but lost re-election in a regular general election several months later. He is in a one-on-one matchup with Democrat Mark Takai, but some Republicans see a legitimate path to victory for Djou once again. That’s backed up by a mid-September poll for Honolulu Civil Beatwhich showed the Republican leading Takai, 46 percent to 42 percent. Democrats aren’t particularly worried. The Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call rates the race as Democrat Favored for now.
read ... Different
Voter Registration Down from 2012
HTH: Some 856 Hawaii County residents have been added to the voter rolls since the Aug. 9 primary election, a statistic expected to grow as registrations continue trickling in following Monday’s voter registration deadline.
As of Tuesday, Hawaii County’s voter rolls contained 105,179 names, according to county Elections Administrator Pat Nakamoto. That’s a 4.1 percent increase compared to the 2010 General Election, the last nonpresidential election year.
Statewide, about 705,300 people have registered to vote in the General Election, said Michael Sunouchi, an elections specialist for the City and County of Honolulu, which tallies the state numbers. That’s a 2.1 percent increase from the 2010 General Election, when 690,748 voters were registered.
There were 104,323 registered voters in Hawaii County in 2012 and 705,668 statewide.
Sunouchi noted mail-in registration had to be postmarked by Monday, so he’s expecting the numbers to grow throughout the week.
read ... Registration
Homelessness? At Last Minute Honolulu Councilmembers Chicken Out on Broader Sit-Lie Bill
SA: The author of a bill that would ban sitting and lying on sidewalks in Oahu business districts outside Waikiki — scheduled for a final vote Wednesday — says he wants to pull the measure back for further work.
Councilman Ron Menor said the latest draft of Bill 48 contains too many areas that either are not truly business districts or otherwise might not be affected by sidewalk dwellers.
Menor, an attorney, said he and city attorneys say those factors could result in the bill not being able to pass constitutional muster.
"I want to draft a bill that is narrowly focused on commercial and business areas where obstruction of public sidewalks is a problem," Menor told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday....
At least three "floor draft" versions of the bill were expected to be introduced Wednesday — from Council members Kobayashi, Stanley Chang and Carol Fukunaga.
At the September committee meeting, city Managing Director Ember Shinn and city attorneys told committee members they should urge business owners who want the ban in their neighborhoods to submit testimony.
Shinn said Waikiki business interests showed up at Honolulu Hale to provide "strong, anecdotal evidence" about how their businesses were being affected adversely by street dwellers impeding access to their stores.
City attorneys said they expect any sit-lie laws to be challenged, Shinn said.
SA: Homeless man arrested for allegedly threatening woman on bus
read ... Just When you thought sanity had broken out ...
Protesters Demanding Money for OHA Disrupt Hawaii telescope groundbreaking
AP: Protesters disrupted a planned groundbreaking and Hawaiian blessing ceremony Tuesday for the construction of one of the world's largest telescopes near the summit of the Big Island's Mauna Kea.
The groundbreaking for the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope was being shown via live webcast because of limited access to the construction site in an area at 14,000 feet elevation with arctic-like conditions.
It was more than an hour after the event was scheduled to begin when the webcast host, astronomer Robert Hurt, said the caravan of buses carrying attendees up the mountain "hit a snag" and would be delayed. He later said the delay was due to a group of people blocking access to the site.
The webcast later showed protesters yelling amid attempts to start the blessing.
read ... Pay Me or I'll Protest
$1M a Year Not Enough for OHA
HTH: “It’s a new generation of telescopes and a much bigger step than previously seen,” he said.
It will also will be the first to provide more than the $1 nominal annual rent.
The project will pay $300,000 annually for its first three years. That amount will increase gradually until it reaches $1.08 million after 11 years.
Eighty percent of that amount will go to the Office of Mauna Kea Management. The rest will go to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
TMT has also pledged $1 million a year to benefit science and technology education on Hawaii Island.
read ... Greedy OHA
Anti-GMO Activists Admit: $85K Fine for Knowingly Growing GM Papaya in Backyard
HNN: Former State Attorney General Michael Lilly said of the proposed moratorium, "The law is very poorly written."
Lilly is featured in ads warning about legal consequences.
As he explains it, "Any citizen of Maui county that grows 3 papaya plants could be fined 85 thousand dollars and go to prison for a year."
Lukens counters, by saying "The language of the moratorium says you have to be knowingly propagating genetically engineered crops to be fined."
read ... Agreement
Public meetings can once again be constructive
SA: Today, too many public meetings are combat zones, formulaic and orchestrated productions by project proponents on the one hand and well-organized opposition testimonial campaigns on the other. Neither of these are bad in and of themselves but many members of the public remain frustrated that their input is not taken seriously. They have lost faith in any kind of public engagement and seemingly with government itself. Many businesses are also disillusioned. They feel victimized by the perceived tyranny of the minority that comes out for a meeting.
read ... Combat Zones
New Enviro Regs May Soak Honolulu for $3.5B
CB: The city of Honolulu is seeking to pay a California law firm experienced in fighting environmental regulations $900,000 in an effort to avoid having to comply with stricter environmental controls at three sewage treatment plants on Oahu that discharge waste into the ocean.
The Honolulu City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to approve the expense, which is much higher than a March projection by the city that pegged legal costs at $100,000.
Earlier this year, the state Department of Health issued new permit requirements for the city’s Kailua and Honouliuli wastewater treatment plants that put new restrictions on the release of pollutants, including nutrients and some cancer-causing chemicals, into the ocean. The health department is in the process of issuing similar requirements for the city’s Sand Island plant....
Years of litigation culminated in a 2010 consent decree that required the city to spend about $3.5 billion to improve wastewater pipes and upgrade its Sand Island and Honouliuli wastewater treatment plants to “secondary treatment.”
The cost of the “secondary treatment” upgrades is pegged at $1.2 billion.
A number of local scientists and engineers have said that the new permit requirements may require even more advanced treatment and have criticized the requirements as unnecessary and based on state water quality standards that weren’t meant to be applied to deep ocean depths.
read ... City Seeks to Hire Law Firm to Avoid New Sewage Plant Regulations
Kauai Council Tinkers With Tax Rates After Sticking it to Homeowners
KGI: The Kauai County Council will make final decisions on three of eight measures that seek relief for county taxpayers who saw noticeable increases on their real property tax bills this year.
One of those measures, Bill 2554 ... would provide relief for properties that saw increases of $250 or more.
read ... Council to decide tax fate
After Closing US Fisheries, Obama Bribes Foreign Countries With $90M Tuna Payout
RA: The agreement with the United States was secured in the final minutes of a three-day negotiating session in Hawaii.
Under the agreement, the 17 Forum Fisheries nations will receive US$90 million from the United States government and its tuna industry in 2015.
read ... $90M Access?
Ian Lind: Jihadi Makes Sense
Ilind: "What’s so unusual is that he was given time to explain why he is there in Syria. And you know what? He makes sense....He’s passionate, well-spoken, articulate. We need to carefully look at what men like this are saying, what turns them anti-American."
(Anything is OK as long as it is against America.)
read ... Don't Lose Your Head
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