Aiona: Johanson Defection Solidifies Imbalance of State Government
168 Candidates File for Neighborhood Board Elections
Auditor: State Policies Create Barrier to Glass Recycling
DHS Gives Medicaid Doctors Six-Month Reprieve from 48% Pay Cut
West Coast Port Slowdowns Worsen: ILWU, PMA Blame Each Other
Councilmembers Scheme to Extend GE Tax Override
SA: ...Ernie Martin and new Council Transportation Chairman Joey Manahan expect to be "more assertive in bringing the leadership that's guiding HART before the Council to be more forthright in their representations." Martin said. "Let's put it this way: The honeymoon is over. It's inevitable that we're going to do rail, but I think the general public's concern is to, wherever we can, curb some of that cost."
After the Council gave the project the crucial votes to advance it, "we haven't been as assertive with respect to rail," he said.
Martin said he wants more answers from HART officials before committing to support extending the 0.5 percent Oahu surcharge on the state general excise tax beyond 2022. The surcharge is supposed to provide the bulk of the money for rail's construction. He noted that Ige, when he was chairman of the state Senate's Ways and Means Committee, was always "icy" to extending the surcharge.
Caldwell applauded Martin for devoting much of his speech to his support for rail. The mayor said he will leave it to HART Chief Executive Officer Daniel Grabauskas to lead the charge to extend the surcharge. Caldwell said most major systems have a dedicated funding source that pay for construction, operations and maintenance.
"Any mass transit project needs to be subsidized," he said. "Mass transit is about … transportation equality and social equality. A dedicated funding source would help make sure the system is maintained and operated, and segments are added up to UH, up through Kalaeloa and other areas in the future."
Manahan and other Council members said they expect to see HART officials more often before the Budget and Transportation committees this year.
"I would imagine we'll have some discussions," Manahan said.
Both Manahan and Councilman Brandon Elefante said they support more scrutiny of HART but are also inclined to back extending the surcharge beyond 2022.
Councilman Ikaika Anderson said he might support legislation putting an actual dollar amount cap on how much the surcharge can raise and require it to end when that is reached, regardless of when....
read ... Conspiracy
6% of Hawaii Will Owe Tax Fine for Not Buying Insurance
PBN: For 2014, the fine is the greater of $95 per adult or 1 percent of household income above the threshold for filing taxes. In 2015, the fine rises to the greater of 2 percent of household income, or $325. In 2016, government figures project an average of $1,100 per fine.
Feb. 15th is the final deadline for open enrollment.
read ... Thanks, Obama
Oil Price Drops 50%, MECO oh-so-generously Decides not to Hike Rates
PBN: Maui Electric Co. is not going to raise its base rate because it recognizes that its customers are already in a challenging high electricity environment, according to a public filing this week. Maui's base rate is 37.82 cents per kilowatt hour, versus Oahu's at 34.62 cents per kilowatt hour. The average for Maui county, including Molokai and Lanai, is 43.53 cents per kilowatt hour.
The subsidiary of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Electric Co. said that it continues to move forward with actions to increase customer options and reduce costs, such as taking steps to integrate more rooftop solar photovoltaic systems, acquire lower-cost utility-scale renewable energy resources, switch fuel from oil to liquefied natural gas, achieve operational efficiencies in existing power plans and deactivate or decommission older, high-cost power plants, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday
SA: Low gas prices could save Americans up to $75B in 2015
read ... No mention of oil price drop
Maui County energy commissioner steps down, may take job as NextEra consultant
MN: ...Blogger and Life of the Land Executive Director Henry Curtis reported Wednesday that McLeod "had been hired" by NextEra, but in a phone interview Friday, McLeod said he was in discussions with NextEra about a job as a consultant.
He said the energy giant's takeover of Hawaiian Electric, including its Maui and Big Island subsidiaries, would "present an amazing opportunity."
"I'm hoping to be part of the team that advises" NextEra, he said.
But until such a job is secure, possibly in a couple of weeks, McLeod said he would be working as a private consultant.
In early December, NextEra and Hawaiian Electric announced a $2.6 billion merger, or $4.3 billion with NextEra's assumption of HEI debt.
As Maui's energy commissioner, McLeod has been among those questioning the feasibility of a proposed 112-mile, 2,100-foot-deep cable between Maui and Oahu, a project expected to cost from $700 million to $1 billion. (As a NextEra employee, this Big Cable critic would be silent.) A year ago, NextEra was among companies eager to install the interisland cable, seen as a way to help stabilize the state's power grid and to connect power-hungry Oahu with firm, geothermal energy on the Big Island. The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission continues to study the matter....
read ... NextEra
California firm's $90M North Shore Oahu wind farm approved
PBN: The $90 million Na Pua Makani wind farm being built by California's Champlin Hawaii Holdings LLC on public and private lands on Oahu's North Shore has been approved by Hawaii regulators this week, according to a public filing.
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission said it has approved a 20-year power purchase agreement between Hawaiian Electric Co. and Champlin for the 24-megawatt wind farm, to be located near First Wind's 30-megawatt Kahuku Wind farm.
The PUC also approved HECO's request to forgo the competitive bidding process for the planned project, which is expected to begin construction in the third quarter of this year and be operational by the end of 2015 or in early 2016.
The PUC noted that it is deferring a decision on HECO's request to build 69-kilovolt power lines above ground that would connect to the project until an interconnection study is completed.
Champlin President Michael Cutbirth previously told PBN that once the wind farm is operating, it could cut HECO's per-kilowatt hour cost of electricity by half compared to current rates.
Cutbirth noted that the project won't have a battery storage system, mainly because he feels that this type of technology isn't advanced enough for wind projects.
The nearby Kahuku Wind project, which was out of service for 18 months after its battery storage facility caught fire, went back to full capacity in February 2014.
read ... Big Wind
Puna Evacuation Could be Used to Pave Way for Mobil Home Parks in Hawaii
SA: A new community-needs assessment, though, lays bare the potential need to help relocate hundreds of families and their pets, livestock and belongings should the lava advance and force evacuations.
Residents' honest accounting of where they might end up and what they might leave behind highlights how important it is to address the issue now, before the need for new housing grows more urgent.
There's an opportunity to forge innovative solutions, zoning that would allow quick construction of modular homes or mobile-home parks, so that longstanding communities that have to move out of the lava's path could stick together elsewhere.
If this type of emergency housing were to work in lower Puna, it could be tried in high-needs areas, such as among Oahu's homeless population.
PDF: Puna Community Needs Survey
read ... Plan Now
Maui Council Elect New Committees, Leadership
Honolulu Council to Tackle TVRs
CB: Anderson is asking that council members, Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration and constituents submit proposals to his office by February 2 for addressing the problem.
“This has been a very complex issue for many years,” said Anderson. “If this was an easy issue to solve, we would have solved it a long time ago.” ...
Most changes to DPP’s authority to enforce rules relating to vacation rentals require an amendment to the city’s Land Use Ordinance. The Caldwell administration can submit a bill to the council — the most direct way of making changes — or the council can pass a resolution instructing DPP to submit a bill.
Anderson said he was open to all proposals. “The only thing that is clear is that there is no solid, definitive answer on how to solve this problem,” he said.
SA: Bankruptcy filings decline
read ... No Answers
Marijuana Doctor Faces Corruption Charges, Loses License--Gets Free Ride from KITV
ILind: In November 2013, the Medical Board of California revoked Dr. Susott’s Physician and Surgeon Certificate based on an investigation conducted by the state. In its decision, the Medical Board found Susott had engaged in unprofessional conduct, gross negligence, and repeated negligent acts during two days of examining nations in an International Cannabis and Hemp Expo back in 2010.
A second set of charges involved unprofessional conduct, aiding and abetting unlicensed practice, dishonest/corrupt acts, false statements, and false advertising related to medical marijuana referrals he made based on medical “examinations” conducted on California patients while he was resident in Hawaii. The exams were supposedly conducted via Skype. It’s well documented findings have nothing to do with Susott’s “position on the legalization of marijuana,” as he told KITV.
The medical board’s decision, with detailed findings, can be read here.
As to other allegations involving Dr. Susott, I would recommend looking at Malia Zimmerman’s story (“Hawaii doctor accused of fraud, elderly and child abuse, under investigation by RICO; He calls allegations against him a ‘litany of lies’“) which appeared in the Hawaii Reporter on October 30, 2014.
Meanwhile: Panel to advise 2017 start for pot dispensary licenses
read ... Interview with local doctor sidestepped troubling issues regarding his past
Kauai Anti-Diary Activists Invoke Public Trust Doctrine? Really?
KE: Invoking the Hawaii Public Trust Doctrine for projects involving water use is becoming de riguer among those who are pursuing various anti-something agendas.
Most recently, we see it being touted by Friends of Mahaulepu in an petition to Gov. Ige warning there's a “big problem” on Kauai because someone wants to start a dairy and is voluntarily doing an EIS to address community concerns.
Uh, what was the problem again?
The group bizarrely believes that it's a violation of the trust doctrine for Grove Farm to provide Hawaii Dairy Farms with water from Waita Reservoir. As The Garden Island reports:
“It’s not really theirs to sell,” [group leader Bridget] Hammerquist said of the water from Waita.
Bridget is woefully misinformed, and TGI, sadly, perpetuates her ignorance with its regurgitative reporting....
read ... Musings: Doctrinaire
Some lawmakers disagree with complete fireworks ban
KHON: Honolulu police issued 62 citations for fireworks-related violations between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1. The violations vary from aerial fireworks to consumer fireworks.
The Honolulu Fire Department is talking again about a complete ban on fireworks. “We think the solution is to eliminate this,” said battalion chief Terry Seelig, “to not have the opportunity to hurt themselves.”
Right now, Oahu residents can only purchase firecrackers with a permit, or buy novelty items like “poppers” without a permit.
The intent of the fireworks ban is to promote public safety, but despite the law, fireworks-related injuries increased from last year.
“That’s because they aren’t the other fountains and sparklers,” said Honolulu City Council member Ann Kobayashi, “so people put their firecrackers together and make these illegal bombs and that’s what’s really dangerous.”
Councilmembers Kobayashi and Ikaika Anderson introduced Bill 5, which would amend the ban and bring back limited items like sparklers and fountains.
“I’ve never supported a complete ban on fireworks. We already have a very limited amount of legal fireworks that consumers can purchase. Firecrackers are all that’s legal,” said Anderson.
KHON: HFD pushes for complete fireworks ban as injuries increase
read ... Some lawmakers disagree with complete fireworks ban
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