Congress Appropriates $250M for Rail -- Delegation, Mayor Keep Silent Until Ige Agrees not to Veto Rail Tax Hike
Full Text: Federal Court Slaps Down Maui Anti-GMO Ordinance
Ige Signs Bill: OHA Brainwashing Mandatory for Boards, Commissions
TMT Delay Worsens Hawaii's Perception as Worst State for Business
Video: A Fiscal Cliff for Hawaii?
Kakaako: Rep. Tom Brower Purposefully Provoked Attack to create incident
SA: The sister of the 17-year-old said Brower was asked five times to stop recording video. "He usually walks away, but this time he was laughing at my cousin," Passion Totoa, 23, said.
Totoa said she heard her 14-year-old cousin say, "You're going to laugh at me?"
She said she then ran over and saw the two boys punching Brower and asked, "Why you guys beating him up?" They responded, "Because he's laughing at us," Totoa said....
Totoa said that when Brower laughed at the boys, it was hurtful.
"It's not funny," she said. "It's bad enough we're out here. It's not what we choose."
Totoa said Brower dropped his camera when he ran....
Brower made national headlines in 2013 by waging a one-man campaign against vagrancy, using a sledgehammer to demolish stolen and abandoned shopping carts that homeless people used to carry their belongings.
While many residents supported Brower's efforts over the course of several weeks, homeless advocates called for legislative leaders to discipline him....
After speaking with the boys, Mac Schwenke, vice president of Adult Friends for Youth, said, "They did say that he (Brower) was teasing the kids. It wasn't just taking photos; he was actually teasing them."
"He was laughing at them, kind of degrading them," he said. "They said don't video." ...
Kathryn Xian, executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, said the organization "is looking into filing a formal complaint with the Ethics Commission" or some other venue against Brower.
"We feel that his conduct is unbecoming of a lawmaker," she said, adding that he has destroyed property and taunted and provoked these homeless teens.... She said Brower's "only reason for provoking and taunting them was to get them to react violently."
Best Comments: "I would guess he did provoke them into punching him. He's a politician with an agenda. He has brought more attention to this issue by taking a few punches than if he had posted the footage on facebook. He accomplished EXACTLY what he wanted to and it was even more than he hoped when they beat him up. Not only did it get the public and government talking about this issue but it made the homeless look way worse in the eyes of the public. So I don't think he was surprised that he got beat up, I think he knew that might happen."
"It seems like he could have partially done it to provoke the exact reaction that is coming out."
read ... Same old Brower
City Set to Award Sand Island Homeless Contract
SA: On Thursday the city will award a contract to operate the Hale Mauliola modular housing pilot project in Sand Island, said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, Mayor Kirk Caldwell's spokesman. Broder Van Dyke said the city also plans to award the contract for a community assistance program that will reach out to mentally ill homeless residents and those from the Federated States of Micronesia....
SA: Brower incident should build support for a homeless safe zone like the one planned at Sand Island
read ... Contract
Oral Arguments Set for TMT Hawaii Supreme Court Case
BIVN: The Hawaii Supreme Court has set a date for oral arguments in the case challenging the state-awarded permit to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. Arguments will be heard on Thursday, August 27, 2015 , at 8:45 a.m. in the Supreme Court Courtroom in Honolulu....
read ... Doomed--Only Question is How
Ing: OHA Brainwashing Would have Prevented TMT Dispute
SA: ...OHA, at its own expense, must now come up with new training to be offered twice a year to members of panels that include the state Land Use Commission, Board of Land and Natural Resources, Commission on Water Resource Management, Environmental Council, Agribusiness Development Corp., Board of Agriculture, Legacy Land Conservation Commission, Natural Area Reserve Systems Commission, Hawaii Historic Places Review Board and Board of Health.
In a statement, state Rep. Kaniela Ing, chairman of the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, seemed to reference Native Hawaiian protests over the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea in praising the new training by OHA.
"Harmony among a diverse population and a strong respect for our host culture is what gives Hawaii its reputation of a place of aloha," Ing said. "Some recent controversies have called into question our state's commitment to Native Hawaiian issues. This measure takes basic steps to ensure that the next generation of public servants will be more knowledgeable of the historical and cultural context of the place for which they are tasked to make decisions. After all, Native Hawaiian issues are everyone's issues, and everyone's issues are Native Hawaiian issues."....
Reality: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read ... Brainwash
WaPo Tries to Write about Telescope Protests, Gets it all Wrong
WaPo: (Lets just skip to the comments) ... wow, someone did not check their facts before writing this...can't believe it was in the Washington Post!!! This article is riddled with misinformation.
"A proposal to install a revolutionary $1.4 billion telescope at Mauna Kea’s summit has led to a bitter standoff..."
-more like it was approved after 7 years of open hearings, it's not a "proposal"
"...Gov. David Ige (D) to postpone construction for two months"
-actually, the Governor only postponed it for a short time. The TMT postponed it for almost 2 months because they wanted assurance from the Governor that their employees would be safe. There are police up here now.
"he [Ige] acknowledged that the state and the scientists who work on the mountaintop “have not done right by a very special place.”"
-yeah, no - he did not say the scientists who work on the mountain have not done it right.
"Ever since 1968, when the first plans for a telescope on the rocky mountaintop were announced, construction there has been met with fierce opposition"
-um, no...the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce asked astronomers to build on Maunakea to boost the economy after a horrific tsunami. There was no opposition at the time.
Okay, I'll stop here, I just can't...
A few corrections: TMT will be 180ft tall but several existing observatories are 150ft and taller. Is that "far larger than anything else"?. While there are shrines and burials on the mountain, there are none on the proposed construction site. While there are endangered species on the lower forest areas of the mountain, there are none in the summit or anywhere near the proposed site.
Reality: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read ... Ignorance from WaPo
The Myth of Hawaii’s Illegal Annexation
CB: ...At the moment, some trusted authorities in Hawaii are promulgating a counterfactual narrative that is proving to be detrimental to social cohesion.
This is the counterfactual narrative: Hawaii was not actually annexed in 1898, and the Kingdom of Hawaii is still in effect and illegally occupied. The upshot: Ethnic native Hawaiians are the only “legitimate” inhabitants of Hawaii, and so should be given more privilege in public discourse....
You can find a lengthy and in-depth analysis here, but the gist is that none of the arguments that Hawaiian sovereignty advocates typically deploy are strong or probably valid....
read ... Mythbuster
Police shield can't cover up bad-cop behavior
SA: Once again, the power of video has given the public a rare, needed glimpse into misconduct by police.
The surveillance video is not new; it is the one taken in September in an alleged illegal game room, where plainclothes officer Vincent Morre was seen kicking, hitting, then throwing a chair at bystanders. He pleaded guilty in federal court to basically misusing his police powers and will be sentenced in August.
The new fallout from that incident is the attempted cover-up by two colleagues....
read ... Cover Up
Taser Video Shows Final Minutes Before Meth User Died in Police Custody
SA: A man who died after being shot with an electric stun gun by Honolulu police was acutely intoxicated by methamphetamine at the time of the mid-March incident, the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office said.
Sheldon Haleck, 38, of Kapolei died of multiple metabolic and cardiac complications, the medical examiner said Tuesday....
read ... VIDEO
Enviro Court's Reach 'Endless' -- Lets Start by Banning Sunscreen
MT: A person may drive past the beach and encounter a truly awful odor–aerosol sunscreen. This writer has been angry at the inventor of the product for a long time and now there may be a way to end it. For the air, the reefs and Hawaii, there’s a little hope....
The next step for the Environmental Courts is to accomplish something. While their jurisdiction is statewide and the possibilities are endless, we can only hope that these new Courts will take the smell away.
Reality: Environmentalism is a Religion
read ... Theocracy
Enviro Idiocy: Plastic Bag Bans Sends Stores Back to Murdering Trees
KHON: Oahu residents, get your plastic bags from stores while you can, because starting Wednesday, they’ll be gone.
Businesses will only be allowed to pass out biodegradable plastic bags, paper bags, or reusable bags.
Honolulu is the last county in the state to make the transition.
If any stores are caught giving away plastic bags, they could face a fine starting at $100 a day.
Suddenly Paper is OK? "Four legs good, two legs better."
Remember: Environmentalism is a Religion
read ... Tree Huggers become Tree Choppers
Milk Price Controls Destroyed Hawaii Dairy Farms, Last Farmer to rely on Price Supports is Quitting
SA: The state Department of Agriculture, bowing to pressure from Meadow Gold Dairies, unanimously approved Tuesday a waiver that reduces the price the processor will pay the last locally-owned dairy for producing milk.
Cloverleaf Dairy owner Ed Boteilho Jr. said he was essentially forced by Meadow Gold, the state’s only milk processor, to petition the state to allow the family-run farm to sell their milk at less than the government-imposed minimum price, originally designed to protect local farmers....
KHON: An Article of Incomprehension
read ... Price Controls Kill Businesses
Omidyar Won't Buy Last Dairy
HNN: Boteilho said he offered his dairy operation and cows for sale “as is” at a price of $4 million and the Ulupono Initiative funded by billionaire Pierre Omidyar began due diligence as it planned to purchase the operation last fall.
Boteilho said Ulupono offered him $1 million less than his asking price and wanted him to complete expensive repairs and cleanup so he says the deal fell through earlier this year.
Ulupono Initiative Director of Communications Amy Hennessey confirmed the organization will not be purchasing Cloverleaf Dairy.
“Unfortunately we were unable to come to mutually agreeable terms, but we wish Ed Boteilho and his family the very best. We will continue to seek opportunities to support and expand our local dairy industry to help improve the supply of fresh local milk for Hawaii's families,” Hennessey said.
On Dec. 30, 2014, the board approved a similar request by Boteilho's competitor, Big Island Dairy, to sell its milk to Meadow Gold at lower prices than those officially allowed by the state. That dairy is owned by an Idaho-based dairy that purchased the operation in 2012....
read ... Out of Business
Prosecutors take too long on goat theft trial; charges dismissed
SA: A state judge on Tuesday dismissed the criminal case against two men accused of stealing 23 goats from a Kahuku farm because the state took too long to take the men to trial.
Shannon Chun, 25, of Mililani, and Sherwin Mitchell, 25, of Waianae, had been charged with theft of livestock after Honolulu police arrested them on Sept. 25, 2013, for the theft of the 23 goats from Kahuku Goats farm one week earlier.
Deputy Prosecutor Lawrence Sousie admitted in court that the state did take too long to take the men to trial, but he asked Circuit Judge Colette Garibaldi for the opportunity to recharge the case.
Garibaldi denied Sousie’s request because she said she has other more serious cases on her calender awaiting trial. She noted that theft of livestock is a non-violent crime and although it is a felony, class C is the lowest felony on the books. She also questioned how committed the state was in prosecuting the case since Sousie is the third prosecutor the state assigned to the case.
read ... Prosecutors Drop Ball Again
Japanese, Canadians Top Buyers
PBN: The Japanese lead the way when it comes to foreign buyers of Hawaii residential real estate so far in 2015, with 90 purchases totaling $70.2 million, according to statistics provided to PBN by Title Guaranty....
Canadians followed the Japanese with 55 purchases totaling $52.4 million. The remaining top five foreign buyers included purchasers from Hong Kong (13 sales, $11.6 million), China (8 sales, $6.5 million) and Singapore (5 purchases, $9.6 million).
read ... List of Buyers
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