CNBC: Hawaii ranks 49th for Business Friendliness
Hawaii Dead Last for ‘Pass Through’ Business Employment
HECO to Build 50MW Peaker Plant to Balance Erratic Alternative Energy
Waikiki Homeless Outreach Begins Nov 3
Schatz Proposes 66% Tax Rate for Self-Employed
Hawaii health officials: No automatic Ebola-related quarantine
Abercrombie Appoints Five to Boards and Commissions
1st Annual Hawaii School Empowerment Conference
Awkward Ige Gave Opening on Pension Tax
SA: Ige, the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, inadvertently gave Republicans an opening on the pension tax issue when he awkwardly said at a debate this month sponsored by Hawaii News Now and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he had considered a pension tax and a general-excise tax increase to help close a projected budget deficit in 2011.
Ige surgically used the pension tax as a political weapon against Abercrombie during the Democratic primary. But now the issue is being turned against him.
Some political analysts contended Ige would be more vulnerable for his backing of a general-ex- cise tax increase in 2011, an option that would have had far broader economic consequences for the state than a pension tax. While the American Comeback Committee, the super PAC tied to the Republican Governors Association, has criticized Ige on the GET in ads, the pension tax attack has had more bite.
"A pension tax is another example of a harmful policy that Sen. Ige supported before he changed his position, much like raising the burdensome general-excise tax that makes the cost of living worse for nearly everyone," Ted Kwong, a communications adviser for the Hawaii Republican Party, said in an email. "Senator Ige's propensity for flip-flopping and the fact that he would even consider these ideas shows that he simply cannot be trusted on the issue of raising taxes."
Aiona has said that, unlike Lingle, he would have met with parents who held a sit-in at Lingle's offices at the state Capitol in 2010....
In May 2010, during Aiona's unsuccessful run for governor, he did publicly urge Lingle, the school board, the department and the teachers union to reach a compromise and end teacher furloughs. Aiona, as acting governor while Lingle was traveling, also signed a law in June 2010 backed by parents that mandated a 180-day school year, a response to furloughs....
The Aiona campaign has responded with ads in which Aiona and educators refute the impression he created Furlough Fridays.
read ... Debunking Attack on Aiona
Education Institute of Hawaii on School Empowerment
SA: School empowerment recognizes the uniqueness of each school community and understands that one size rarely fits all.
For each principal, school empowerment means more than just greater control over financial and staffing decisions. It also means engaging the entire school community — teachers, parents, librarians, cafeteria workers, custodians, everyone who see the students daily — in meaningful discussions about spending, staffing, and curricular and instructional decisions....
Empowerment and accountability must go hand-in-hand and be properly aligned. For example, it would not be fair (or effective) to hold school-level personnel accountable for results without first empowering them to achieve the desired results.
The timing for school empowerment is good. Each of Hawaii's four gubernatorial candidates has talked favorably about it, and the new governor will fill vacancies on the school board as they occur.
read ... School Empowerment
GMO initiative would be bad law
SA: ...the impulse to rein in the agribusinesses falters because the focus has been too broad. The proposed Maui charter amendment for a "temporary moratorium" in particular represents a blunt instrument, one that could do more harm than good as it is now configured.
Maui County voters should reject this amendment — which is called a moratorium but will ultimately play out as an outright ban — on the grounds that it's bad law.
Genetic techniques have been part of farming for centuries, although now traits of the crops can be changed more directly through the lab. Much of the produce is familiar to shoppers — the seedless watermelon, the virus-free papaya, to name two. Such items now are being demonized in the marketplace without scientific evidence that the produce — what we consume, rather than how it's grown — is materially different....
KE: Musings: Critical Thinking
read ... Bad Law
As Lava Threatens to Cut Off Geothermal Plant, HELCO Issues RFP
IM: The Puna Lava Flow is about to cross Pahoa Village Road,cutting Pahoa into two sections.
On October 27, 2014 HELCO issued its Geothermal RFP Addendum No. 1 (Best and Final Offer).
Geothermal producers must be able to sell electricity at or below 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Extra points in the evaluation process will go to projects that come in at or below 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.
read ... Puna Geo Dreams Dashed
Goldman Sachs Behind Scheme to Soak Local Investors With Subprime Green Energy Bonds
PBN: Goldman Sachs, one of the top investment banks in the world, and Citigroup, one of the largest bank holding companies in the United States, are the leading managers for the bond sale for a $150 million program that would expand the installation of solar energy systems and other clean energy devices for Hawaii consumers.
The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said Wednesday that its Green Energy Market Securitization program, or GEMS, initially will focus on investments in photovoltaic systems and other technologies that support PV interconnection, such as energy storage, advanced inverters and monitoring devices.
The state plans to price the $150 million of bonds next week.
Local investors will be able to place orders during a special retail order period, with the bonds being issued in minimum denominations of $5,000 and multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof, the state said.
read ... Subprime Loans
Recent payouts, losses cost UH nearly $1.8 million
KHON: Could the University of Hawaii’s latest move, firing men’s basketball head coach Gib Arnold, cost the school more in the long run?
UH will pay Arnold $344,000 for the final year of his contract, which was set to expire in June 2015. He will remain officially employed until Jan. 26, but will not be coaching.
It’s another six-figure payout for the University of Hawaii, one that the UH Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman said was made “in the best interests of the athletics program and the school.”
In January, the university self-reported a violation to the NCAA. Sources say assistant coach Brandyn Akana submitted an altered document that was to be used for admission purposes. Arnold and Akana were relieved of coaching duties “without cause.” ...
Three months ago, UH announced a $100,000 payout to former Chancellor Tom Apple.
Two years ago, the school lost $200,000, after the Stevie Wonder concert scam.
In December of 2011, former football coach Greg McMackin resigned and accepted a $600,000 buyout.
The school also paid former basketball coach Bob Nash $240,000, and former athletics director Herman Frazier more than $312,000.
These events cost the school nearly $1.8 million....
read ... More Money
Homeless Dude, Lawyers Working on New Loophole
SA: Michael Natividad, the man cited, used his cellphone to record the incident on video. In the video, two officers tell him he is being cited because "the bench is part of the sidewalk." ...
New laws come with a learning curve "and the sit-lie law is no exception," HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said in an email. "In this case, a citation should not have been issued because the sit-lie law does allow for someone to sit on a public bench on a public sidewalk. This was recently clarified with the officers."
But that doesn't mean Natividad, 40, was within his rights to sit on the bench, located along the makai sidewalk between Uluniu and Liliuokalani avenues, at 3:30 a.m., Yu said.
Police consider the bench as part of Kuhio Beach Park, so Natividad could have been cited for violating the city's park closure ordinance, she said. "The bench in the video appears to be within a park area."
In fact, Natividad told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, he's actually received three park closure citations for sitting on the same bench on three other nights in recent weeks.
The court hearing for the first of the citations is Thursday. Natividad said he plans to contest all of the citations.....
Natividad said he cannot work because (drumroll please) he has been diagnosed with sciatic nerve damage in his back (clash cymbals).
His disability payments are not enough to pay for a monthly rental, but he has a membership at a nearby fitness club, giving him access to the restrooms and showers there.
Yu said police have issued 26 citations and 295 warnings for sit-lie violations since the law went into effect. No one has been arrested.
A bill now moving through the City Council would expand the sit-lie ordinance to business districts throughout Oahu, but only from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Since Oct. 8, officers have also issued four citations for people who have violated the new Waikiki urination-defecation law. One person was arrested due to a felony drug charge.
read ... Keeping the Homeless on Display as Social Commentary
Kauai Bus Shelters Cost Over $50K Each
KGI: Initially, six shelters, total cost of about $310,000, will be erected in Waimea, next to Ishihara Market; Hanapepe, next to the armory; Lawai, across from the post office; Hanamaulu near Laukona Road; Kapahi, across the Menehune Food Mart and Kilauea, next to the Menehune Food Mart.
The remaining bus shelters will be constructed over the next few years as funding becomes available....
The Transportation Agency listed the costs of the different shelters, including the Kapahi shelter at $55,100, the Waimea shelter at $55,100, Hanapepe at $37,100, Lawai at $55,100, Hanamaulu near Laukona at $58,000, and Kilauea at $50,200.
Completed bus shelters and costs include: Hanalaulu, $28,560; Kealia, $59,889; Kapaa, $29,468; Kilauea, $37,500 and Princeville, $68,550.
read ... A Small House
Lava Flow News:
Campaign News:
QUICK HITS: