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Monday, July 20, 2015
July 20, 2015 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:29 PM :: 3695 Views

OHA Trustee to Use Trust Funds to Sell Marijuana?

Jones Act Squeezes Mainland Cattle Industry

Mauna Kea: National Guard was Called out Last Time 'Landlord Came to Collect Rent'

SA: If the governor uses the National Guard in the showdown atop Mauna Kea, things could get ugly, past activists say....

Gov. George Ari­yo­shi activated the Hawaii Army National Guard in 1978 because Hawaiian protesters threatened to close the Hawaii island airport to dramatize the fact that the airport was built on Hawaiian homelands without any compensation.

"We were landlords who had come to collect the rent," recalled Moani­keala Akaka, a Hawaiian activist from Hilo who would go on to become an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee.

The improper transfer of lands from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has been identified as a problem in the post-statehood era. Not only was homestead land used to build portions of Hilo Airport, but also Molo­kai Airport and Wai­mea-Kohala Airport.

read ... Not Forgotten

TMT protesters cling to discredited legal defense

ILind: ...During an initial appearance April 28 in Hilo District Court, Oahu attorney Dexter Kaiama, representing seven of the defendants, said he planned to argue that the Hawaiian Kingdom still lawfully exists and that the United States doesn’t have jurisdiction over the matter.

I’m not sure I should mention this here, but…the whole “Kingdom still exists” defense is definitely a loser. Really. In the end, at least in terms of legal strategy, it would probably be better for these defendants to say nothing than to pursue the “we don’t have to follow your laws because we’re Hawaiians” defense.

The lawyer referred to in the story is Dexter Kaimi, who practices on Oahu. He’s been associated with Keanu Sai, the main purveyor of “the Kingdom still exists” theory, and has relied on Sai’s historical theories in other cases. As far as I can tell, the argument has not prevailed in any of them.

That’s no surprise, since it has been previously rejected in some detail by the Hawaii Supreme Court and by the federal courts (see my 2014 post, “Hawaii Supreme Court rejects sovereignty defense“).

I wonder just when a licensed attorney who has apparently built a law practice by spinning these long discredited legal theories (without any success) exceeds the boundaries of providing a vigorous defense and instead violates the rules of the legal profession?....

CB: Ian Lind: The ‘Kingdom Defense’ is a Dead End for Mauna Kea Protesters

read ... TMT protesters cling to discredited legal defense

Violence near Oahu homeless areas appears to be on the rise

HNN: Honolulu police are investigating another stabbing near a known homeless area for the second weekend in a row.

On Saturday, police responded to Old Stadium Park just before 6 p.m. where a 22-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in his back and upper torso, according to Emergency Medical Services officials.

He was rushed to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

On Saturday, July 11, a man in his 50s was critically stabbed multiple times in the back at the Kapalama Canal homeless area in Kalihi around 2 a.m. A 22-year-old man was identified as a suspect, but no arrest has been made in that attempted murder investigation.

Then on Sunday, July 12, police arrested a 16-year-old homeless girl for allegedly assaulting and robbing a woman, in her 50s, of her purse as she was exiting a car in the area.

Also, it was about three weeks ago when an area state lawmaker was assaulted....

read ... Bum Fights

Defense Attorney Hopes to Score Settlement on Haleck Case

CB: ...Cameras mounted on the Tasers used to shock Haleck don’t show him acting violently or threatening any of the officers. He just didn’t seem to be complying with their orders to get out of the street and onto a sidewalk.

Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz, who represents the Haleck family, says there was no reason for the officers to deploy their Tasers, much less exert the amount of force they did based on the circumstances. Haleck had also been pepper-sprayed....

read ... Score

Hilo Pioneers Nationwide Scheme: Food stamp use soars at farmers markets

HTH: ...The Hilo Farmers Market has been accepting EBT since 1998, when it was the first market in the entire country to test and implement a central EBT system.

“Our little Hilo market,” Hilo manager Keith De La Cruz said.

Instead of going vendor-by-vendor to use their SNAP benefits, customers first go to De La Cruz’s office with their EBT cards and swipe them to receive paper scrip “dollars” valid only at the Hilo market.

“It makes it really easy to handle,” De La Cruz said. “It’s easy to carry, versus tokens.” Customers can get a refund on their card for any funds not used.

About 50 percent of the market’s more than 200 vendors currently accept SNAP, De La Cruz said....

Best Comment: "The use of food stamps(EBT) at these markets is a scam.  First they use their EBT card to buy farmers market money. Then they use this money to buy anything they want, not just food, from any vendor at the market. They could buy a used lawnmower if they wanted to.  At the end of the day the vendors then exchange the farmers market money for real money at the market office. It is illegal conversion!  No oversight as to what they actually are buying, instead of when they use their card at a regular grocery store."

read ... Food stamp use soars at farmers markets

HSTA Teacher Evades Evaluation

CB: This year — the first that the state’s Educator Effectiveness System impacts teacher pay — Ellsworth received a subpar rating because of her incomplete evaluation. She appealed the rating. And she won.

The DOE says Ellsworth won her appeal because of a procedural error in how her school handled the review, not because of her detailed objections to the system itself. But Ellsworth is still hoping her experience makes a larger statement to teachers.

“It really was a personal action against the system,” Ellsworth said. “It was intentional, and I really hoped it would inspire others to stand up not just for this, but for anything in education they think is wrong.”

read ... Above Evaluation

Bill eases way to add units to home lots

SA: A proposal to make it easier for Oahu's residential property owners to set up a second dwelling on their lots might become reality soon.

Bill 20, if it moves out of the City Council Zoning and Permitting Committee on Thursday, would be positioned for a final vote of the full Council in August.

Proponents of expanding the number of accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs, say they are the quickest and simplest way to create more residential units to help meet the island's housing crunch. Experts say Oahu needs 24,000 new homes in the coming years.

Opponents, however, say the additional units will overburden traditional neighborhoods and make it easier for illegal vacation rentals to proliferate.

Bill 20 is a key component of Mayor Kirk Caldwell's Islandwide Housing Initiative....

read ... Ohana Units

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