Hawaii: Tech Still Receiving Massive Business Tax Subsidies
After Lying, Caldwell Admin Finally Admits Waikiki Flooding is Purely Due to City's own Incompetence
Telescope Case Goes Before Supreme Court Aug 27
Ige Leadership Big Announcement: 28 Shelter Spaces Open Up
Rep McDermott and Darryl Vincent Discuss Veteran Homelessness in Hawaii
Hope Street: New Teacher Leadership Growth in Hawaii
Planned Parenthood Baby Parts Buyer Wants “Another 50 Livers/Week”
Leftover Inouye Cronies Dysfunctional, Weak
Cataluna: ...Why else would Council Chairman Ernie Martin hire Peter Boylan, a former newspaper reporter who suddenly is being called a “political operative” even though his last two jobs were running Colleen Hanabusa’s losing campaign and serving in Mayor Billy Kenoi’s office while Kenoi was busy running his political career into the ground? Boylan’s most impressive credential is that he served as Inouye’s press secretary in the last years of the senator’s life. He brings no expertise in solving homelessness to this job, but he does bring essence of Inouye.
Why else would NextEra hire Jennifer Sabas to try to right their sinking attempt to buy Hawaiian Electric? The hope is that Sabas can wield some Inouye-like jedi mind tricks and change the minds of the governor, the consumer advocate and the long list of others who think it’s a bad deal. Hard to imagine NextEra pursuing the local utility in the Inouye era if the senator didn’t give them his blessing.
Then there’s Colleen Hanabusa, who was recently appointed to the boards of both Hawaii Gas Co. and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. Hanabusa has political credibility all her own, but she has made the most of her connection to Inouye....
If he were still with us, would there be protests about the Maui Daniel K. Inouye telescope? It was named for him posthumously, yes, but it’s difficult to imagine he’d let things get to this point.
Inouye would find the second $5 billion to extend rail if it suited him.
If Inouye were alive, David Ige would know better what to do and how to do it. Ige might not have even run for governor if Inouye had a different plan....
The paternal Inouye made things too easy for us. Now we’re on our own, and despite those with overblown ambition, there’s no heir apparent. Without him there’s dysfunction.
read ... Coattail riders are confident but they are not Dan Inouye
LNG: Ige Nukes Hawaii--How Much Damage?
Morita: ...Ige dropped a nuclear bomb in the first 15 minutes of the Summit by announcing his no LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) edict. Now with numerous planning efforts in limbo because of this announcement, public and private stakeholders that have invested significant time and resources to help Hawaii reach its aggressive clean energy goals are owed an explanation and transparency on how he came upon this conclusion.
This dictatorial pronouncement, I don’t know of any other way to describe it, defied the painstakingly and analytical efforts by numerous parties seeking solutions to accelerate clean energy transformation affordably by maximizing cost-effective renewable resources with more flexible and efficient fossil generation through this transition. The announcement was certainly contradictory to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission inclinations (see page 6-10) which, ironically, was cited numerous times in the merger docket by State agencies and other parties for its thoroughness and thoughtfulness in laying out a pathway for Hawaii’s energy vision.
Did the Governor and his advisors ever consider what this pronouncement will do to the business climate at a time when the entire energy (including all fuels) infrastructure will require significant investments to upgrade aging facilities and to meet environmental compliance?
The Governor’s pronouncement, which appears to have no basis in technology or economic analysis, just damaged Hawaii’s credibility in energy and financial markets. The big question now is how big and deep is the damage?
read ... Mina Morita Energy Dynamics
Rate Hikes Coming: Solar Scammers Cheered by Ige's Rejection of LNG
CB: “Governor Ige yesterday gave us guidance and direction, and that’s what leaders do,” Datta said. “So what did he actually say. He didn’t say ‘no new fuels.’ He didn’t say ‘no LNG.’ He said, ‘We’re not going to bring in this new fuel and use it to power the old power plants. That’s not going to happen in my term, in my tenure.’”
Datta (an Omidyar operative) said LNG could indeed be the transitional fuel Hawaii needs as it moves toward 100 percent renewable energy, but it should not be a crutch.
He encouraged the public to scrutinize the contracts the companies will sign to bring LNG to Hawaii by looking at the volume, how much the volume is going to change, whether the volume is locked in and who will pay for scaling it down as planned.
He said it’s also important to look at the companies’ plans for how they plan to use LNG.
He underscored a point others have made, including Jeff Mikulina of Blue Planet Foundation, that bringing LNG to Hawaii effectively exports environmental damage to other communities because of the process by which it’s pulled from the ground.
“We need to be transparent about the unintended consequences of LNG,” Datta said....
read ... Rate Hikes Coming
PUC Faces Oct 1 Deadline to Kill Off Hee's Scam Company
SA: It’s better late than never. The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the finances of Sandwich Isles Communications and its parent company, Waimana Enterprises, following the tax fraud conviction of its founder, Albert Hee.
And Hawaii’s consumer advocate, Jeff Ono, has recommended that the state Public Utilities Commission delay ruling on whether to recertify Sandwich Isles and Pa Makani, an affliate. Recertification is required in order to receive federal subsidies — $242 million of which has been funneled to Sandwich Isles since 2003. The deadline for certifying Sandwich Isles is Oct. 1.
The FCC in 2013 slashed the subsidies of Sandwich Isles, which provides telecommunications service to Hawaiian Homelands, when it concluded some of the company’s expenses were “grossly excessive and unreasonable.” However, it was the Internal Revenue Service that brought to light Hee’s failure to report as income millions of dollars that he used from Waimana for personal expenses, including $92,000 for massages.
read ... Better Late than Never?
AG files campaign reporting violation charges against Kauai Rep Tokioka
- KHON: Under the terms of a plea agreement, Tokioka has agreed to enter a guilty or no contest plea, pay one thousand dollars ($1,000) to the Crime Victim Compensation Fund in lieu of a fine, and publish an apology on his campaign Facebook page, in exchange for the State not objecting to his motion for a deferred acceptance of his plea.
- AG: News Release
- KGI: AG Charges Tokioka--"The charge comes after a nearly year-long investigation that included the unusual step of asking the lawmaker to take a lie detector test, which Tokioka agreed to take."
- SA: Kristin Izumi-Nitao, executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission, said she is “pleased that the Department of the Attorney General is ensuring that our campaign finance laws are being enforced.”
- ILind: Kauai rep moves to settle charges of filing inaccurate or incomplete campaign reports
- June 28, 2015: State Attorney General Asks Five Legislators to Take Lie Detector, Four Refuse "...Collins speculated that the attorney general’s office may not be going after Tokioka, but instead gathering information for a larger prosecution involving other lawmakers and campaign contributors...."
What the state is looking for in a Maui hospital private partner
PBN: While we may not see details of the hospitals' proposals, the state and Maui Region of the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. has outlined what it hopes for in a potential partner online.
The Maui Region’s Partnership Proposal Packet asks for details as to how the applicant plans to address employee satisfaction and engagement, and inquires about the inner workings of operations....
The state is also looking to compare the existing HPH and Kaiser employee benefit packages to its own benefit packages, according to HHSC Maui Region CEO Wesley Lo.
Applicants are asked to provide items such as a wait-list reduction strategy, an outline of planned initial operating support requests, and financial stability documentation.
“Do you anticipate expanding or contracting medical services in Maui County?” the packet asks, and, “How do you approach capital expenditures?”
When asked how transparent the selection process would be, Lo said some proprietary and confidential information in proposals would be honored during deliberation....
Lo said the state hopes to make a selection by the end of September....
MN: Hospital suitors each make their case
read ... Partner
Slow Section 8 Inspections Blamed for Lack of Subsidized Units, Homelessness
CB: ... Lilla is among 689 people in Maui County who have Section 8 vouchers, but haven’t yet found a place to rent....
In Hawaii, the average voucher is about $1,000....
Property managers say the program would be more effective if it could minimize the time it takes to inspect apartments for eligibility as Section 8 housing and ensure that the first month’s rent is paid more quickly.
On Kauai, officials say inspections are typically completed within three days, but in Honolulu, it can take up to 10 days for an inspection even to be scheduled. By that time, the unit might well be rented to someone else. (Yes, but they have to keep up with their shows on Hulu.)
A July 2015 federal study found that rental subsidies were the most beneficial tool for helping homeless families compared with other intervention techniques.
MN: Maui Council forgives $4M loan that built homeless facility
read ... Section 8
Anti-GMO Leader Peddles 'Chemtrails' Conspiracy Theory
KE: In following up on Terry Lilley's claim that military jets were dumping chemicals on school children in Kapaa, I asked Capt. Bruce Hay, commander at PMRF, to shed some light on the aircraft that were seen and their activities....
What, no “brown chemicals?” Not even any chem trails? No super secret mission to poison Kauai kids? Just boring instrument approach training in old, smokey planes? ....
read ... Musings: Fact and Fiction
Hawaii DLNR Official Hired, Fired Gay Virginia Shooter
HNN: ...Dan Dennison, senior communications director for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, was the news director of the station from 2011 to 2013 and also hired and fired Flanagan during his tenure. In a live interview on Hawaii News Now Sunrise, he said Flanagan, who was hired in 2012, was terminated in 2013, largely for performance issues.
“He had a level of a long series of complaints against coworkers nearly from the beginning of employment at the TV station,” Dennison said. “That really had nothing to do with his termination, and after a lot of investigation both internally and externally, all of these allegations were deemed to be unfounded. And they were largely under along racial lines, and we did a thorough investigation and could find no evidence that anyone had racially discriminated against this man.”
Although Dennison said he couldn’t share complete details about the incident, he added that Flanagan’s termination was one of the toughest he’s ever been involved in, so much so that police had to escort Flanagan out of the building because he wouldn’t leave on his own free will....
DM: Shooter Manifesto "He goes on to say that he has faced both racial and sexual discrimination as a black, gay man and that he was just waiting to explode."
read ... Termination
Air Force Worried about N Korean Missiles Hitting Hawaii, Deploys B-2 Bombers to Guam
AFT: The Air Force will send three B-2 bombers to Guam as part of a normal rotation to bolster ally South Korea, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Monday....
"Certainly they have a missile that can reach Hawaii or U.S. facilities in the Pacific, so that's what we're most worried about," he said. "I think it's something we have to pay a lot of attention to and we do every single day."
Meanwhile: Why Did China Amass Tanks at the North Korean Border?
read ... Norks
Jones Act Lobby Gets Panicky over Puerto Rico
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