'Aha Ambush: 'Notice of Election' for Fake Indian Tribe to be Mailed out Today
East Oahu: 400 Testify Against Federal Takeover of Maunalua Bay
Solar Scammers Hustle Homeowners on Kauai
Ige Signs Marijuana Bill, Allows Four Others to become Law Without Signature
Ige Signs Rail Tax Hike
Time Warner to Sell Oceanic to Charter Communications
Hawaiian Electric proposes community solar pilot project
Government should not reward incompetence at Office of Elections
SA: by Sen Sam Slom and Rep Gene Ward -- The state Elections Commission just voted behind closed doors to give a $10,000 pay raise to chief election officer Scott Nago, who will now be paid $90,000.
Wait - what? Just last November, the commission grilled Nago about his role in the well-publicized election blunders that affected Puna voters during the August 2014 primary election. In the wake of Tropical Storm Iselle and damage to roads caused by severe weather, Puna residents were unsure how the upcoming primary election would be handled. Nago responded with a proclamation that the election would be postponed for the affected precincts and that it would be done by mail-in ballot. But just two days later, he reversed course and announced that the election would be done by in-person voting instead....
And let's not forget he was the head guy in charge during the 2012 general election, when Oahu voters arrived at polling places only to find long lines caused by a completely preventable shortage of paper ballots. About 51, or one-third, of Oahu's 142 precincts experienced ballot shortages, and the public was outraged with such lack of planning for such a simple matter....
With this in mind, the 2015 Legislature passed House Bill 15 to keep an eye on Nago. HB 15 was signed into law as Act 173 last month and makes the chief election officer an at-will employee and requiring a public hearing on the chief election officer's performance for purposes of deciding retention.
A wiser Elections Commission would have waited for this bill and a public hearing to take effect before rewarding his past behavior.
read ... Incompetence
Hawaii National Guard: there's been no request to respond to Mauna Kea
HNN: Hawai'i National Guard officials insist they have not been asked to respond to Mauna Kea and no planning is taking place to go to the mountain, but troops would mobilize immediately if requested by the governor.
A day after telling reporters he would activate the National Guard on Mauna Kea "if need be", Governor David Ige told a town hall crowd Tuesday night there is no official plan at this time.
"We are not planning for it. There have been no conversations about that, but we are also committed to providing safe access, so if 10,000 people want to get up to Mauna Kea that's a bad situation," said Ige....
There is local precedent. In 2001, the Guard was activated in Honolulu in anticipation of potential civil disobedience at the Asian Development Bank conference.
"A number of National Guard soldiers and airmen were mobilized at that particular time and were available to be used in the event that any protests may have turned violent," said Lt. Col Anthony.
Officials say it didn't, but troops were on the scene and on standby. Lt. Col Anthony says an act of violence is not needed to trigger to their response.
"The National Guard can assist civil authorities when the capacity of the civil authorities has been exceeded, that would normally be a trigger in which you would look to the Guard to supplement civil authorities," said Lt. Col Anthony.
Guard officials confirm troops did complete civil disturbance training over the weekend, but say it was a previously scheduled annual requirement and was not directly related to the ongoing situation on Mauna Kea.
read ... National Guard
Solar Schemers Would Score 23.6 cents per KWH Wholesale
HTH: An Ocean View community is rallying today to oppose a massive solar energy project in its neighborhood.
Residents of Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos say plans for about 30,000 solar panels on 26 lots is a bad fit for the subdivision and will cause deforestation, draw copper thieves and create the need for fences, barbed wire and lights.
Ranchos resident Ann Bosted said the community learned in June that Hawaii Electric Light Co. will build a substation in the subdivision to handle the electricity. The community also was surprised to learn the project had “come back to life” during a two-year hiatus period, and expanded from 18 lots, Bosted said.
Under the plan, Oahu-based Solar Hub LLC and SPI Solar — a global developer of large scale solar facilities — will develop a patchwork of 2-acre parcels, each with 1,172 panels. Solar Hub filed for permits to build the array in 2012 and contracted to sell the power to HELCO at 23.6 cents per kilowatt hour....
read ... Laughing all the way to the bank
Caldwell unveils plans for Ala Moana beach park
KITV: Work will start in August. It's slated to be finished by February. The price tag -- $637,000....
The next community meeting will be held this fall at McCoy Pavilion. The public is encouraged to offer suggestions on various improvements at Ala Moana Beach Park.
CB: No Unisex Bathrooms
read ... Ala Moana
Auto shops see increase in damage reportedly caused by rail work
KHON: There are 60 vehicle damage claims from both the cantilever and Kamehameha Highway. So far, 26 claims have been completed and closed with three paid, totaling $1,363.53.
“Yeah, we’ve seen some tires come in with the rims a little bit damaged and they have nail and screws in the tires,” said Leone Kamahele, operations manager for Midas.
According to Kamahele, the drivers claimed the damage was caused along Kamehameha Highway.
Experts say the road can also damage other parts of the vehicle, including shocks.
At Midas, fixing a tire with a simple patch will cost about $35. But for something more serious, like shocks and struts, it will cost at least $1,000.
“Hopefully it’s a temporary thing and they’ll fix it up and make it nicer,” Chew said.
HART says it will repave the roads once construction work is done.
Crews will begin repaving Farrington Highway in Waipahu in the first quarter of next year and Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City and Aiea a year from now....
read ... Good for Small Business
Another Police officer charged with abuse, investigations opened
KHON: Another Honolulu police officer is in trouble with the law.
Alan Ahn was arrested Monday, July 13, and charged on suspicion of abusing a family member. His bail was set at $1,000.
The 54-year-old has been with HPD for nine years....
read ... Another One
Soft on Crime: Convicted Killer Gets New Trial
SA: Derego was 17 when police said he and Robles fatally beat Charlys Ty Tang in a Times Super Market parking lot in the early morning hours of May 1, 2010. Tang died later that day in the Queen's Medical Center. It was his 41st birthday. Robles was 18 at the time of the beating.
Robles was already charged with murder when a state Family Court judge cleared the way for Derego to also be charged and tried for murder as an adult.
The teens had separate trials in state court.
Robles went to trial first and elected to have a judge, rather than a jury, decide his fate. He testified that he and Derego beat Tang after they caught a ride in Tang's taxi from Waikiki to Waipahu....
read ... Soft on Crime
Soft on Crime: Mental Case Released, Kills Neighbor on Kauai
Shendon Chandler-Taniguchi, a 21-year-old patient at Mahelona Medical Center, was released from family court after a court hearing on Dec. 1, 2011. A day after he was discharged, Chandler-Taniguchi stabbed his grandfather, Anthony Chandler, 83, and killed his neighbor Edita Padamada in Waimea Valley at 11 a.m.
Chandler-Taniguchi also attacked two neighbors.
Police attempted to stop Chandler-Taniguchi, who ignored the officer’s warnings and continued his attack, according to Kauai County reports. Chandler-Taniguchi then turned on the officer and was fatally shot when he attempted to flee the scene.
read ... Soft on Crime
Fatal Crash Prompts Marines To Change Osprey Flight Rules
BD: ...The Rolls-Royce AE 1107C engines on the Hawaii plane ingested dust or debris that left the right engine of the Hawaii Osprey too weak to keep the craft airborne — as it should have been able to do — after the left engine failed. One factor may have been that the landing was one of the several the aircraft made that day at the same dusty zone. The Osprey also was hovering “out of ground effect,” which requires more power than hovering where downwash reaches the ground quickly. Also, the aircraft had 22 Marines aboard and thus was heavily loaded....
read ... Fatal Crash Prompts Marines To Change Osprey Flight Rules
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