The Jones Act Pays Off — in Politics
CB: A review of the last 13 election cycles shows that at least one politician from Hawaii has been among Congress’ top 20 recipients of maritime industry campaign donations in every election but one in the last quarter century, according to data organized by the Center for Responsive Politics. (The center’s data goes back to 1989.)....
All are pursuing a well-worn fundraising path. From the 1990 election cycle until his death in 2012, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye took in a total of $302,650 from sea transport, making him 13th highest among all members of Congress. The 14th slot went to Rep.-turned-Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who brought in $295,970. (Abercrombie brought in hundreds of thousands more from Jones Act-friendly unions and their allies.)
Over the course of her much shorter political career, Hanabusa received $209,800 from sea transport, including enough to make her ninth among all recipients running for Congress in the 2014 election cycle....
The new fundraising star, though, is Schatz. In the 2014 election cycle, he led all of Congress in donations from the industry, taking in $149,000....
Sen. Mazie Hirono, who has received $169,335 over the course of her career from sea transport interests, declined Civil Beat’s request for an interview....
Takai brought in $74,850 from sea transport in the run-up to his 2014 race, making maritime money the third-largest source of direct and indirect campaign support for him....
Gabbard, who didn’t face a competitive election, received $38,900 from sea transport in 2014, far less than Schatz, Hanabusa or Takai. Overall, Gabbard has received $54,150 during her two congressional elections....
read ... Jones Act Pays Off
Peter Carlisle: Dropping a Dime on Ethics Scofflaws
CB: To all the potential whistleblowers out there: There are places to turn, and a law to protect you.
read ... Drop a Dime
Making a Deal on Rail Without All the Answers?
CB: Voters are opposed, big questions remain unanswered, but lawmakers move ever closer to a compromise funding rail for years into the future. Time to hit the brakes....With only four days remaining to work out a compromise before the May 1 legislative deadline for fiscal bills....
read ... Deal?
Contractors' Complaints could delay the system's opening, HART says
SA: Honolulu's rail project faces a new challenge against its construction bid process, and the officials overseeing the project say this latest bid protest could create a ripple effect that might delay the project's completion and opening.
The latest protest comes from Nan Inc., which in March had submitted the second-lowest bid to build three West Oahu stations, at Leeward Community College, Waipahu and West Loch, for $85.1 million.
The lowest bid, from Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., was $78.9 million. Nan is arguing that Hawaiian Dredging's bid should be ineligible.
In a March 9 letter to rail officials, Nan asserts that Hawaiian Dredging, in crafting its low bid, did not list properly licensed subcontractors, and that its estimated costs for compensation in the event of a delay were "unreasonable, unrealistic and false."
Earlier this month Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Dan Grabauskas rejected Nan's protest. On April 20, Nan appealed to the state's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
The DCCA has 45 days from that filing to respond.... (Really good question nobody is asking: Why can't DCCA respond without taking all 45 days?)
Nan filed a protest last year when HART canceled its previous bid to build nine West Oahu stations, which included the three in the bid now at issue, when all of the bids came in significantly over budget. Nan eventually opted to cancel that protest.
Rail officials have said that they learned in talks with construction firms after last year's bids came in too low that "time compression" helped drive up the bids. In other words, giving the firms more time to build the stations would help to drive down the bid costs.
read ... Complaints
HGEA reaches new tentative agreement for more than 14,000 white-collar workers, supervisors
HNN: Voting will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday for Units 3 and 4, which includes several kinds of school workers, 911 operators and police dispatchers, building inspectors, clerks and secretaries, harbor agents, court bailiffs and many others....
HGEA has been in the process of negotiating annual raises of about 4 percent a year for Units 3 and 4.
CB: HGEA Units 3 and 4 were in the process of voting on a two-year deal that let members choose if they wanted a step increase or a $1,500 bonus on July 1 followed by a $600 payment the following year.
LINK: HGEA News Release
read ... Agreement
Telescope: NPR Finds a Religion it Can Look Up To
Here is an NPR story on a group of Hawaiians who are camped out atop Mauna Kea, the dominant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Claiming an allegiance to the pagan gods and goddesses said to inhabit the area, the leaders of this group do not understand why there has to be a 14th astronomical observatory on this peak.
Although there’s been local media reports about this controversy – which has erupted six years after construction was approved by the Office for Hawaiian Affairs – National Public Radio appears to have been the only national medium that has reported on the fracas.
The bottom line: Notice the lack of snark here and the respect paid to the beliefs of the devotees.
Related: Telescope Case: Dangerous Expansion of Religious Rights?
read ... Religion
State Website Hacked, Telescope Site DNS Attack
HNN: The official website of the Hawaii state government was allegedly hacked by an online group opposed to construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. A Hawaii Community Affairs official confirms the telescope's website was hacked as well.
Claims of a cyber-attack in support of the “We Are Mauna Kea” movement came as the University of Hawaii Board of Regents listened to several hours of emotional testimony in Hilo on Sunday.
In its blog, "Operation Green Rights", an organization tied to the cyber attacker known as "Anonymous" claims it shutdown the two sites.
The site appeared to be back up and running at 2:30 Sunday afternoon. But Hawaii News Now noticed it was down since around noon. On the online group's blog, they posted screen shots of the downed website, plus a message that read, "Nothing will ever justify the destruction of the ecosystems; filthy money can never replace them.
read ... Anti-Science Hackers
There's No 'Hawaiian View' on the Thirty Meter Telescope
ICT: Ancient Hawaiian religious beliefs were not as impressive from a historical viewpoint as our ancestors’ real-world application of the science of astronomy — not by a long shot. Every culture has superstitious beliefs, but not every culture discovered America and brought back sweet potatoes in the first millennium. Not every culture conquered the vast Pacific Ocean.
It was science, not the irrational fear of pagan deities and inanimate objects, that brought Polynesians to Hawaii....
read ...Indian Country Today
Anti-Telescope Lies About Water Pollution Debunked
CB: One of the most frequently voiced concerns is whether the telescope construction could pollute the aquifer. TMT spokeswoman Sandra Dawson maintains that there’s no way that anything that goes into the ground near the planned telescope can get into the aquifer.
“It can’t happen,” Dawson said. “It’s a physical thing, it’s not an opinion thing.” ...
the study concluded that the impact would be “less than significant” because the TMT is designed to lower that risk.
That double-walled septic tank will collect all the water, wastewater and chemicals used so they can be trucked off the mountain, Dawson said.
Reality: Sacred? Protest Leaders Demand $50M Yearly Rent for Telescope Site
read ... Debunk
Rent subsidies fall short for isle vets
SA: Anthony Lee, a 54-year-old homeless veteran, was issued a federal rental housing subsidy in December, but the former Marine and his wife are still living at the Next Step homeless shelter in Kakaako.
More than 40 veterans, including Lee, have been in limbo because they haven't been able to use their Housing Choice vouchers, which would cover all or most of their rent, due to the lack of affordable housing in Honolulu.
"Affordable housing is a big problem," said Lee, who became homeless in April 2014 after his wife became disabled and the family's income dropped. "At one point we thought we had a unit, but it fell through. There's a lot of competition for available units. Sometimes landlords don't treat veterans fairly."
The Lees have finally found a unit that fits their budget, and if it passes inspection this week, they will be on their way to leaving homelessness behind....
Since 2008, HUD-VASH has housed about 400 veterans through its Housing Choice voucher program, Russo said. However, the community needs to make more housing units available, she said.
A studio, for instance, must rent for no more than about $1,100 per month, including utilities, in order for a voucher to be used.
read ... Free Rent
The Price of a Place Called Home in Hawaii
CB: Keopu Reelitz hopes to buy a home near her ancestors, but as housing prices rise, her dream slips further away.
read ... Home
Chaperones taken aback by advice
SA: The ethics panel's guidance on free travel puts trips at risk, teachers worry....
ILind: Ethics ruling on free trips for teacher-chaperones deserves better media coverage
read ... Travel
Lawmakers push for ban of plastic microbeads in personal care products
KHON: There’s a proposal in the State Legislature that could ban something you probably have in your home.
Lawmakers are pushing to ban the manufacture and sale of personal care products that contain synthetic plastic microbeads, saying they’re harmful to marine life, possibly even carcinogenic.
And environmental groups take it one step further, saying these popular products could lead to cancer.
Facial scrubs, body wash, even toothpaste — check the labels of these popular products and, chances are, that exfoliating scrub you’re using contains the plastic polyethylene.
“Across the nation, there are products like these that are causing environmental damage,” said State Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua, Waimanalo).
Lee is pushing to have products with the plastic microbeads banned in Hawaii. According to the representative, the state’s sewage waste treatment facilities can’t filter out plastic microbeads out of the wastewater because of their size. So they often end up in the ocean.
HB621: Text, Status
read ... Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Star-Adv: Third Trial for Deedy 'A Travesty'
SA: It's a travesty that Christopher Deedy could stand trial for a third time in the killing of Kollin Elderts.
Defense lawyers persuasively argued that a third trial would violate legal prohibitions against the government continually taking a defendant to trial until it gets a conviction and violate Deedy's constitutional rights against double jeopardy. But Circuit Judge Karen Ahn ruled Friday that the federal agent will be tried on manslaughter and gun charges. Ahn herself instructed Deedy's original jury that evidence in the case did not support a manslaughter charge; it came back with a hung jury on a murder charge. She reversed herself in the second trial, but he still wasn't convicted; that jury acquitted Deedy of murder and could not reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge.
It's important to sympathize with victims, but the accused have rights, too. Deedy's are being trampled.
read ... Deedy
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