Ige: "I Did Look at Pension Tax as an Option"
Keoki Kerr: "It Clearly Wasn't David Ige's Night"
Health Care: Ige’s Epic Disaster
Hawaii CON Limits Patients' Access to Life-Saving Exams
No Long-Term Gains from Universal Preschool
Ana: Big Island Schools Closed Friday, Governor Issues Emergency Proclamation
Djou Has More than Double the Money Takai Has
SA: Takai raised about $480,000 in the period from July 21 through Sept. 30, compared to $371,000 raised by Djou. Takai has raised $1.2 million over the two-year election cycle, but also carries a campaign debt of about $55,000. Djou has raised about $853,000 for the cycle and has about $15,000 in debt.
But Djou has only spent a fraction of the amount raised and still has $626,000 in cash on hand for the stretch run of the campaign.
"Our strong financial position is a direct reflection of the hard work of my all-volunteer campaign team and the strength of our message -- that we must lower Hawaii's high cost of living, create jobs and take care of the next generation, but we can do that only if we elect someone who can work with both Democrats and the Republican majority in Congress," Djou said in a news release. "While I am honored to file such a strong financial report, the only true report that matters is the support of Hawaii's voters on election day."
Takai, who had to spend heavily in the August primary to emerge from a crowded field of seven candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for Congress, has used about $976,000 this campaign cycle and headed into October with about $244,000 in cash on hand.
read ... Burnt out Democrat
Jones Act Money Flows to Takai
CB: Takai supports keeping the Jones Act to preserve jobs, many of them unionized, while Djou wants an exemption for Hawaii from its requirement that ships be built in the U.S.
The top brass for Matson Navigation, the biggest cargo shipping company in Hawaii, has given Takai’s campaign several thousand dollars. And the company’s PAC, based in Oakland, donated $2,500.
Add to that $7,500 from the Masters, Mates and Pilots PAC, $1,000 from Florida-based Crowley Maritime Corporation’s PAC and over $15,000 from top officials at Navatek, a shipbuilding research company in Honolulu.
read ... Jones Act
GE Tax Hike: Ige, Hannemann Busted
SA: Former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona on Wednesday night challenged his opponents for governor on taxes, claiming that former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and state Sen. David Ige would be more inclined to raise taxes because they both supported a general-excise tax surcharge for the Honolulu rail project.
Hannemann had urged the state Legislature to approve the surcharge and Ige voted in 2005 to give the city the authority to levy the tax. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has said the rail surcharge, which is set to expire in 2022, should be permanent.
"But the bottom line is this: every single one of you in this room, if you remain on Oahu, you and your children and your grandchildren, you're going to be responsible for that GET tax that was imposed by the rail project," Aiona, the Republican, said at town hall style debate sponsored by Hawaii News Now and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Kakaako.
Ige, the Democrat, said he has been a strong supporter of rail but would not commit to a potential extension of the rail surcharge beyond its scheduled expiration. An extension could help stabilize rail finances and eventually expand the rail line to UH and other areas. "We need to see the implementation," he said. "We need to hold the (rail administrators) feet to the fire, to make sure that they give us an efficient and effective system. And then we can look at what expansion (is needed), because I'm confident that it will be a success."
Aiona said rail is a city, not a state project, and that city and rail administrators had vowed that rail would come in on time and on budget. "Now they want to extend this?" he said. "This is what I'm talking about. This is the kind of leadership you're going to have if you vote the same way. You're going to have a leadership that's going to look to -- without any second thought about it -- `Yeah, let's just raise the GET tax.'"
read ... Gubernatorial candidates talk about taxes during debate
Big Bucks Going Into Preschool Ballot Initiative
CB: The “Yes on 4″ campaign is being spearheaded by Good Beginnings Alliance, a children’s advocacy group whose political committee has been collecting and spending lots of cash to ramp up support for the ballot question. The group sent out a press release today touting support for Question No. 4 from the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Bank of Hawaii, First Insurance Company of Hawaii and Hawaii Electric — not exactly the names that first come to mind when thinking about early childhood education.
A recent Civil Beat poll revealed that Hawaii voters are largely divided on the issue, with 45 percent of respondents saying they oppose the amendment and 40 percent of them saying they support it.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association is one of the most vocal groups to oppose the initiative, but the union recently terminated its political campaign — despite already spending at least $142,000 — because of a funding mechanism that put it at risk of violating campaign spending law.
Unlike Good Beginnings Alliance, which has already been airing two ads, HSTA has had to yank all its advertising off the airwaves. Civil Beat reported on that snafu last week.
Meanwhile, Good Beginnings Alliance’s campaign is alive and well. It’s already spent at least $234,000 airing TV ads, according to recently filed Federal Communications reports, and secured public endorsements from a range of well-known community organizations.
One of them, of course, is Kamehameha Schools — the largest preschool operator in the state. According to the most recent campaign finance filings, which reflect data through the primary election, the schools had contributed $500,000 to the “Yes on 4″ campaign. The next filings are expected to reveal another slew of contributions.
read ... Big Bucks
Pflueger shows no remorse for Kauai dam breach
HR: Pflueger was sentenced to 7 months in prison on a reckless endangerment charge for causing the deaths of Aurora, Alan, Rowan and four others. Pflueger did not apologize but rather blamed the victims and many others for the breach of his dam. Pflueger, 88, has already begun serving time in prison on the island of Kauai. He was taken into custody immediately.
read ... Pflueger
Kauai Anti-GMO Tax Hike Pushed
KE: It's odd that Kauai Councilman Tim Bynum wants to eliminate the ag tax subsidy for seed companies when it accounts for just $500,000 of the $8.5 million in annual ag subsidies countywide.
In other words, that particular subsidy is small potatoes, but removing it could have serious unforeseen consequences, as a number of Councilmember were astute enough to observe.
Tim thinks it's reasonable to charge seed operations market value taxes because the landowners are making good money off those leases. But Tim and his co-supporter Councilman Gary Hooser never bothered to determine how much folks are paying for ranching and diversified ag leases in order to compare.
Nor did they check to see how many of the multi-million-dollar TVRs on ag lands have ag dedications, which means taxpayers are also subsidizing those lucrative operations. It seems no one is being scrutinized but the seed companies.
read ... Musings: Unforeseen Consequences
Hawaii agriculture needs support, not 'Plant Police'
SA: On Maui, on the voter initiative about genetically engineered organisms: Vote no.
This measure is problematic in many ways.
First, it's extraordinarily ill-conceived. The nearly incomprehensible language reflects that.
Second, it makes assumptions that are not supported by facts while ignoring the countless studies already performed.
Third, it's misguided in that the moratorium does not clearly address pesticide use in any way, conflicting with core arguments made by its introducers.
Fourth, enforcement is near impossible....
Have we reached a point where we think it's a good idea to fine or jail farmers for responsibly growing legal crops? Do we want a world where plant-police stomp through our yards and fields to bust us for what's legally growing there? Let's hope not.
read ... Maui Vote No
Electricity bills decline for most isle customers--Thanks to Fracking
SA: The bill for a typical household using 600 kilowatt-hours will be $213.91, down $5.05 from September, according to Hawaiian Electric Co., the state's largest utility provider with service to Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island.
More than half of a household's typical monthly electric bill pays for fuel and power purchased from independent renewable and conventional power producers, HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg said.
Oil fell 1.2 percent in New York Wednesday to $80.84, the lowest in two years....
read ... Thanks to Fracking
Attorney Asked Gang Leader to Write Out Witness List
SA: Defense attorney Marcus Sierra visited the U.S. Attorney's Office on Wednesday after the restaurant turned over the 2-inch binder. He said it contained his cross-examination notes of prosecution witnesses, grand jury transcripts and a handwritten witness list that he had asked his client, Tineimalo Adkins, to write up....
Adkins was found guilty Friday of leading a brutal assault by USO Family prison gang members on a fellow inmate at Halawa Correctional Facility.
The court previously issued a protective order that said attorneys can show copies of witness material to their clients, but cannot give their clients copies.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake filed a motion Tuesday about the binder, saying witnesses testified during the trial about their fear of retaliation by USO Family members.
The motion said prosecutors learned Tuesday that the binder was found by an employee at Alakea Delicatessen and contained what was believed to be Adkins' handwriting and confidential grand jury transcripts....
Defense attorney Victor Bakke, who represents another defendant in the prison gang case, said he was concerned the binder contains information about his client, Opherro Jones, who never testified and pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge.
He said some people on public witness lists had their names blacked out.
"There were a lot of other people who could have been potential witnesses who were never called," he said. "This was all confidential information given to this attorney. This is not good when you're dealing with gang affiliations."
Sierra said: "I seriously doubt that this had anything to do with someone trying to hurt somebody."
read ... Uh Huh
Will HPD Release Cachola Tapes, Report?
CB: ...news organizations have asked that he release the now-finished investigative report on the Sept. 8 incident at Kuni Restaurant. We’ve also asked for all the surveillance video, not just the short clip leaked to the media. And we’ve requested the tape — or at least a transcript — of the 911 call that brought police to the scene that night.
The state Office of Information Practices made clear in a 1999 opinion that police reports are subject to disclosure under the state public records law once an investigation is closed and court proceedings are complete. Both are over and done with in this case.
It’s time that the police department let the public in on its secrets. The public needs to be absolutely confident that Sgt. Darren Cachola was not treated differently because he is a police officer....
read ... Transparency?
Homeless Would Rather Risk Hurricane than Accept Shelter
KHON: Pastor Thomas Couch of House of Angels Ministries, the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center and several other organizations on the Leeward Coast will canvas homeless camps in coming days with information on possible shelters if they are needed.
"Nanakuli High School for the Nanakuli people, Maili people. Waianae rec center where the basketball court is. Red Cross constantly stocks these places and opens the doors," Couch said.
He told homeless about Tropical Storm Iselle. Not all of them abandoned camp. He expects the same this time.
"I just going try stick it out," Rosa said.
HTH: Ana expected to pass to southwest of Big Isle
read ... Stay Homeless
Parents to DOE: Why Aren’t We Being Told Sooner About Possible Child Abductions?
CB: A recent incident on Maui has many parents concerned that the Department of Education is days late in letting families know there might be someone bothering children near their schools.
read ... Abductions
Crazy Ideas About Drugs
MW: She writes that we should legalize all drugs. Not just marijuana, but also end the “war on heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and all the other nastier stuff.”
Why?
She says: “The war has fueled gang wars in our cities and enriched the foreign criminal cartels. It has created a vile class system, turning millions of poor and working-class Americans into felons.”
That may be true, but focusing on that ignores the harm hard drugs do to users and to the victims of drug-related crimes.
Harrop believes that by busting drug peddlers we just create more business for other traffickers. That’s like saying by busting armed robbers we’re just creating less competition for other robbers.
The legalize-all-drugs advocacy fits in nicely with the libertarian view of the world, but notice that Americans have consistently failed to swarm to the Libertarian Party.
read ... The People Don't Want This
Judge to hear case against Hawaii on Pohakuloa
WHT: Circuit Judge Gary Chang will hear arguments in the case Thursday at 3 p.m.
The complaint filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation says the state didn't make the U.S. military abide by its lease for the land on Hawaii's Big Island....
The lease conditions require that the military take steps to remove or deactivate ammunition and trash. But the lawsuit says those steps were not taken.
read ... Pohakuloa
State to lead pesticide study
KGI: The Office of Economic Development and the state Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that they will jointly fund a process to examine possible health and environmental impacts associated with the use of pesticides applied to genetically modified agricultural products.
The DOA will lead the effort and has allowed the county to facilitate the process through funding and collaboration, said Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.
“As I have been saying all along, the most effective way to address these important issues is through the State of Hawaii’s existing regulatory structure by involving a wide array of knowledgeable stakeholders and focusing on facts and data that are necessary to make sound decisions,” he said in a release.
read ... Pesticide
UberX, Lyft Rerouted to Hawaii Legislature
CB: Hawaii lawmakers tried to learn more Wednesday about Lyft and UberX, two popular ride-sharing services that have been transporting people in and around Honolulu since June to the chagrin of taxi drivers who say they are skirting the law and creating unfair competition.
State regulators believe the companies — both of which are rapidly growing Silicon Valley mobile tech startups — need to stop providing their ride-sharing services in Hawaii until they come into compliance with the law.
It’s unclear what exactly that entails though because their services are so new and the state has not kept pace. It could mean getting a license with the county if they are exempt from the Public Utilities Commission’s oversight like taxicabs. Or it could mean getting a state permit if they are considered a “transportation network company.”
read ... Uber Lyft
Campaign News:
QUICK HITS: