Procurement Violations: Feds May Demand Hawaii Health Connector Repay Grant
Legislative Ambulance Chasers Dig In To Taxpayers' Deep Pockets
Repealing the Jones Act: Good for Energy, Great for America
DLNR Report Shows Major Increase in Aquarium Fish Populations
Developer to Head DLNR? Ige's Dumb Move
The Jones Act Risks Lives (again)
Chief Justice Delivers State of the Judiciary Address
House GOP: "Keep Hawaii's Heroes"
HB416: Retail Wheeling to Cut Electric Bills
Hawaii Ranks 50th in Payroll from Sole Proprietors, S-Corps, LLCs
Report: Hawaii Last Place for American Dream
Only Rep Kaniela Ing Supports Cutting Troop Levels in Hawaii
HNN: Tempers flared at a military meeting in Waikiki Tuesday night as Army leaders from the Pentagon invite the public to express how much of an impact a possible troop reduction in Hawaii could have.
After hearing from politician after politician about how much they need the military to stay, one woman's patience runs out.
“I want to hear a regular human being! Put somebody up there who didn't run for office and who didn't get elected!" she shouted.
As police surround that woman, Hawaiian sovereignty activists speak out saying she's with them and the officers have no jurisdiction in their Hawaiian Kingdom.
The Army is considering whether to reduce the numbers of soldiers stationed at two Oahu bases. Thirty other communities are facing the same circumstance. This comes after the 2011 Budget Control Act. The Army says these reductions are necessary to achieve the savings required. The Pentagon is studying what would happen if Schofield Barracks cut 16,000 employees and Fort Shafter cut 3,800 employees.
In the most severe scenario, the Army would take away nearly 20,000 soldiers and approximately 30,000 civilians who depend on the military. That's roughly five percent of Honolulu's total population.
People for military downsizing say cutting troops here in Hawaii would mean more affordable housing and less traffic.
"We need to focus on attrition, job attrition, land acquisition, clean up, and housing, affordable housing development," said State Rep. Kaniela Ing.
read ... Bye Bye Army
Wahiawa Community Speaks out on Military Cuts
HNN: Politicians dominated the first portion of Tuesday night's listening session in Waikiki, but this time, the community was quickly given the chance to sound off on the Army's possible plans to cut 16,000 positions at Schofield Barracks and 3,800 at Fort Shafter.
Many of those who spoke at the packed meeting at Leilehua High School pointed to the close ties between Wahiawa and Schofield.
"The military is not the military. The military now is our ohana. They are our family," said Wahiawa Middle School teacher Karen Leilani Paty. The comment drew loud applause from the audience.
Others talked about how the military is important part of the economy, and especially how the local economy would be devastated with the cuts.
"You guys drop out, we're not going to have a couple billion dollars drop out of the sky to keep food in our mouths," said one man. "It's really, really, really gonna hurt."
There were some who supported the cuts, with one woman saying that losing thousands of people would help reduce the strain on a heavily populated island. "I would welcome 20 to 40,000 fewer cars on our highways."
There were also some Native Hawaiians who voiced their displeasure with U.S. military presence in the islands.
"I don't want you here! Hey! Beat it!" said one young man, whose profanity-laced comments brought disapproval from the crowd.
"Why don't you take the Army, Air Force, Navy, all the military bases, and please get out of here and stop the illegal occupation of Hawaii?" asked Raymond Arancon.
But one of the first of the dozens of speakers tried to persuade the officials that the military should stay.
"Any negative input that goes to you, it's not from the Wahiawa community, and it's not from the majority of Hawaii citizens," said Walter Benavitz.
read ... Wahiawa
Panos: No Point Fighting Rail, Focus on Traffic
CB: Given Hawaii's political and decision-making reality, there's no point fighting rail. But we should fight for traffic congestion solutions.
read ... Panos
Maui Memorial Medical Center Faces Public/Private Partnership Or Bust
MT: ...the hospital has regularly melted down at least once every decade. But none of the meltdowns have been as severe or as potentially debilitating as the one that the 214-bed Maui Memorial Medical Center (MMMC) faces today....
read ... Partnership or Bust
Dope Doctor: I Don't Want to See my 'Patients'
HTH: In a Tuesday interview, DOH Branch Chief Peter Whiticar explained the rules regarding doctor-patient relationships were designed in part to prevent abuses in which patients might be prescribed marijuana in a single visit without regular follow-ups and ongoing care.
“We’re not suggesting any doctors are doing anything illegal at this point. … We want to ensure this is not a one-time encounter but actually an ongoing relationship … a relationship in which the physician has an ongoing responsibility for assessment, care and treatment of a patient’s debilitating condition with respect to medical use of marijuana,” he said.
But according to Hawi physician Dr. James Berg, who told officials Wednesday he had been involved with the medical marijuana program for 12 years, such a requirement relating to doctor-patient relationships would be an example of overreaching by the Health Department.
“I think it is the duty of the state Board of Medical Examiners to define a proper relationship between a doctor and a patient, and to define when a doctor is acting fraudulently in his practice,” he said. “It shouldn’t be left up to the Department of Health to determine how a doctor practices medicine. That’s why we have the state board of examiners. … I believe the DOH is overstepping its boundary in defining a bona fide relationship on the practice of medicine.”
The doctor added he would be required to track down medical records for each of his medical marijuana patients, perform a physical for them and schedule a follow-up appointment at least once during the year, regardless of the patient’s medical condition.
“Why would I want a 'patient' to travel across an island to pay me money to tell me they’re doing really excellent with their 'medicine' ....
read ... Duck
NextEra: Jury Out on Big Cable--15 Years to Lower Rates 20%
IM: Representative Romy M. Cachola asked, “What’s the percentage of rooftop PV are you willing to allow?” After a nonsensical reply Cachola repeated his question and added if “there’s a limit to the number of PV, rooftop PV that you’re going to allow?”
Alan Oshima said “It’s not what we’ll allow, it’s what we think the market will bear.”
Senator Sam Slom asked about the proposed inter-island cable.
Eric Gleason asserted, “In terms of the cable, in our minds at least the jury’s out to whether a cable between Oahu and Maui Island is in the public interest. We’ve said based on the analysis we’ve done, suggests that it is. They’ve done some analysis that suggests that it isn’t. We don’t have the benefit of all that analysis. It’s not our top priority quite frankly. We got a lot of things to focus on in this merger. But I think in due course, the Commission has a proceeding underway.”
read ... HECO and NextEra dodged questions at the Legislature
Council's widened sit-lie ban sent to the mayor for signing
SA: Mayor Kirk Caldwell said he will likely sign a measure that will add four downtown and Chinatown pedestrian malls to the list of places where people cannot sit or lie.
The Honolulu City Council voted 6-2 on Wednesday to give final approval to Bill 62, which expands the sit-lie prohibition to include Fort Street Mall and Union Mall in downtown Honolulu, and Kekaulike Mall and Sun Yat-sen Mall (parallel to College Walk, Diamond Head side of Nuuanu Stream) in Chinatown. The ban would run from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. at each site.
It would be seven days a week at Kekaulike, but weekdays only for the other three.
The ban is similar to those in place in Waikiki 24 hours a day and in 15 other specified business districts, including downtown and Chinatown, from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Considered a petty misdemeanor, a violation would be punishable by up to a month in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.
SA: Curing social ills requires teamwork
read ... Sit - Lie
Kauai Court Releases Mental Patient, 2 Dead, Three Wounded
SA: One day after Shendon Chandler-Taniguchi was released from the psychiatric ward of a Kauai hospital in 2011, he went on a deadly rampage in a quiet Waimea Valley neighborhood — using a large knife to stab his grandfather, fatally injure a neighbor and wound two others before police ended the attacks by shooting him to death.
His family and the injured survivors have been trying ever since to find out why a Family Court judge released the 21-year-old, who had been taken from the home on Menehune Road and committed for treatment after police were called for assistance just 10 days before.
Autopsy results showed that when Chandler-Taniguchi died he had lower than prescription levels of bupropion and hydroxybupropion for treatment of depression in his system — indicating he hadn't recently taken his medication.
read ... Soft on Mental Illness
Pineapple lands could be traded for OCCC prison site
HNN: A new proposal being floated at the State Legislature would have Dole Food Company trade thousands of acres of former pineapple land for the Oahu Community Correctional Center site in Kalihi, in a deal that could provide the state money to build a badly needed new prison.
Dole has listed a parcel of more than 15,000 acres of former pineapple fields between Wahiawa and the North Shore for sale for about $185 million.
Under a proposed land swap, Dole would give the state that land which the state would (talk endlessly about) use(ing) to rent to farmers.
"The idea here is to get more ag lands so we can provide farmers long-term leases, so that they can make the investments possible to have really a long-term future in ag," said Wahiawa State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, who was finding co-sponsors for the bill Wednesday that would provide $500,000 for the state to investigate a land swap.
In exchange for receiving the old pineapple land, the state would give Dole the 11-acre OCCC site in Kalihi, which is right along the rail transit line. (11 ac minus demolition and enviro remediation costs is going to be worth $185M??? Really?)
SA: Public Safety Department shifts top prison staff
read ... Pineapple lands could be traded for OCCC prison site
City of Honolulu Hiring Practices: Not Everyone Gets a Fair Shot
CB: Every year, more than 200 people are awarded city jobs, some carrying six-figure salaries, without having to compete for the positions. That’s because they are hired under a category called “personal services contracts,” which are supposed to be reserved for temporary hires needed on an emergency basis or for positions that are hard to fill through normal recruitment.
The jobs aren’t supposed to last for more than a year, according to the city charter.
But a review of 10 years of government records by Civil Beat found that the vast majority of people hired through personal services contracts have had their positions renewed year after year.
read ... Fair Shot?
Climate of Corruption in Hawaii Prisons
CB: In a "climate of corruption," dozens of Hawaii prison guards regularly abuse their sick leave, making their workplaces more expensive — and more dangerous.
read ... Corruption
HPD officer’s sex assault case dropped
KHON: The felony case involving an officer accused of sexual assault, has been dropped and cannot be brought up again in the future
Two weeks ago, officer Kramer Aoki was arraigned on third degree assault charges, and pled not guilty....
His police powers had been stripped and Aoki will continue to work on desk duty because HPD’s administrative investigation is ongoing.
read ... Dropped
CSC Proposes Two Bills
CSC: For the 2015 legislative session, the Commission has submitted one measure to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House for introduction. Senate Bill 452 and House Bill 175 seeks to amend HRS §11-334(a)(4) to require supplemental reports to be filed by candidate committees on January 31st regardless of whether it is an election year or not. This comports with present practice as well as conforms this requirement with noncandidate committees. This proposal has been submitted for consideration multiple times but continues to get deferred by the State legislature.
read ... CSC
Ka Leo: Obama's Community college proposal shortsighted
KL: Obama’s community college proposal is idealistic and impractical. The plan is too expensive for the U.S. to afford, and the expenses of free community college will tax America’s middle class. Instead, Obama’s plan should be restricted to those who demonstrate financial need.
CB: Free Comm College Will go State by State
read ... Ka Leo: Obama's Community college proposal shortsighted
Bill would create UH Athletics Board of Governors
HNN: Would it be oversight or interference? House Bill 539 would create a board of governors to oversee the UH Manoa athletics department (because all those other UH boards do such a Wonder-ful job).
HB 539 would create the seven-person board to oversee, maintain and operate the athletics department--including the appointment, retention and termination of the AD. The board would consist of three members of the Board of Regents, a coach at UH Manoa, and appointees from the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate President.
"This particular entity or department called athletics should be separate, run by a separate board of governors, where we can have some say or control over that particular entity that we're funding" said State Representative Isaac Choy, who drafted the bill.
read ... Another Board, Just What UH Needs
Temp Injunction in UPW lawsuit over trash collection
SA: The city's plan to eliminate garbage service for 181 condominiums, apartments and other multifamily properties and nonprofit organizations has been halted temporarily by a state judge.
The service was slated to end Saturday. But Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order that prevents the city from implementing the plan until there is an outcome to the lawsuit filed by United Public Workers, the union that represents the refuse workers.
The UPW sought the delay.
The union argues that ending front-loader service is unconstitutional because it essentially calls for the privatization of a service that is "customarily and historically performed by civil servants," the lawsuit says.
The union also says the move violates a 1998 agreement it has with the city that requires modifications to a contract that deals with public collection of trash at multifamily properties, condominiums and nonprofit organizations to be negotiated.
read ... UPW Sue
After 18 Years, Hawaii Co Division Chief Finally Going to Lose $1 million/year Side-Business
HTH: A lucrative side contract held by a county employee will end this year, after Mayor Billy Kenoi’s administration decided the county should buy its own pumping truck and bring the operation in-house.
The move comes 18 years after Kamaaina Pumping, owned by a Department of Public Works division chief, first got the contract to pump the county’s 2,053 drywells, which collect debris and runoff from roadways.
The company has held the contract through allegations of bid-rigging and two unsuccessful attempts by Kenoi to change the county ethics code to ban employees from holding county contracts within their own departments.
“We really should have done this sooner,” Kenoi said Wednesday. “We’re looking at significant cost savings over time.”
A 2009 county audit said the county would save money by bringing the operation in-house. The entire operation, including a new truck and two full-time employees, would run the county about $500,000 annually, said former Auditor Colleen Schrandt in her report.
The 115-page report warned that Public Works is ripe for misappropriation and malfeasance because of inadequate controls over its $27.5 million highway fund.
The drywell contract has run from about $700,000 per year to a high in 2008 of $1.3 million. Most recently, it has been extended year-to-year and will now lapse at the end of this year.
read ... 18 Years
Jones Act Strangles Puerto Rico
IBD: What Biden should have done was promise the Caribbean nations a legislative initiative to let U.S. oil companies sell their oil abroad, something that has been prohibited since the oil shocks of the 1970s.
That would make the U.S. a reliable and trusted energy supplier and end a lot of headaches for the region. For good measure, Biden should join his old colleague, Sen. John McCain, in repealing the Jones Act, which keeps foreign ships from competing in U.S. ports.
The Jones Act has strangled Puerto Rico economically and kept Caribbean ships from our ports. Repeal could create an economically flourishing region, with Puerto Rico a bright potential Hong Kong of the region.
read ... Puerto Rico
ExxonMobil Against Jones Act
AM: ExxonMobil also criticized the Jones Act, which requires that goods shipped between US ports be carried on US-flagged vessels featuring US crews. The measure has made it "extremely difficult and costly" to transport crude from the Gulf coast to other coastal states, especially along the eastern seaboard, Cohen said. It costs three times as much to hire a vessel to send crude from the Texas coast to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on a Jones Act tanker than to send the crude to be refined in Canada, he said. ExxonMobil has found that it makes more economic sense to ship crude to Canada, refine it there and then re-import it to the east coast, he said.
read ... Against Jones Act
McCain Helps Guam on Military Buildup, Jones Act
GPDN: Calvo said his upcoming trip to Washington would also include a proposed meeting with Arizona Sen. John McCain.
McCain is considered key to congressional support of funding for the military buildup on Guam.
McCain also recently proposed repealing the Jones Act.
Some of Guam's business and local government officials have previously blamed shipping industry restrictions under the Jones Act for the high cost of shipping consumer goods to Guam.
The Jones Act forbids foreign-owned and foreign-built ships from transporting goods between ports within the United States.
read ... Help
Mazie Hirono Co-sponsors Rand Paul 'Audit the Fed' Bill
TB: Of the 30 cosponsors to Paul’s bill, 29 are Republicans, and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) is the only Democrat.
read ... The Blaze
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