Telescope Protesters Agree to Remove Tent from Mountain
Report Finds Hawaii’s Obamacare Exchange Wasted At Least $11 Million
US Navy, Coast Guard Sinking Under Weight of US Shipbuilders
Federal Funds for Road Building? Hawaii Dead Last
'Smart Growth' Causes Hawaii Losses in Affordable Housing
Economic Freedom of the World: US Ranks 16th
TMT controversy Could Cost Big Island $30M/Year and 275 Jobs
HTH: A University of Hawaii economist offered a positive outlook for the Big Island’s economic future during a Thursday presentation, but cautioned that events on Mauna Kea could harm that forecast....
Cuts within the medical sector also could dampen the economic outlook, he said....
Last year during his forum, Suyderhoud discussed the potential economic impact of the June 27 lava flow and Tropical Storm Iselle....
Suyderhoud presented data detailing the financial impact that Mauna Kea astronomy has on the community, citing a 2012 UH study that found the $59 million spent annually by the observatories created $92 million in economic activity, $28 million in local income, and 806 local jobs.
He used this data as a base to determine what would happen if observatories were added, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope, or decommissioned.
“The absence of the TMT would likely mean $20 million per year less in local spending, $10 million per year less in local incomes, and the absence of 275 jobs that would otherwise be there,” Suyderhoud said.
During a question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation, he was asked how the TMT controversy could impact the state as a whole.
“The other part of the story is the reputational impact on the state,” Suyderhoud said, to murmurs of assent from attendees. “People made commitments based on their understanding of the rules and jumped through hoops.”
Ultimately, he said, “How it will play out (on the mountain) is unknown.”
The other economic unknown facing the island is in the medical sector. The good news, Suyderhoud said, was the expansion of Kaiser Permanente and the strong reputation of the Hilo Medical Center for quality and safety.
But with revenues not staying in line with costs at the medical center and within the Hawaii Health System Corporation, particularly as the state must increase funding for retirement benefits, the financial side of health care is struggling in the face of “draconian” cuts, as Suyderhoud described it.
“It has been clear for years that the business model for state hospital facilities has not been sustainable,” Suyderhoud said. “If further cuts are necessary, the damage to individuals, families and the economy will be even greater.”
read ... Fallout
KIUC on Track for 50% Renewable
SA: David Bissell, president and chief executive officer of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, knows all about two of the Garden Island’s great resources — the sun and the rain.
Both, as harnessed by solar photovoltaic cells and hydroelectric generators, are close to pushing the electric utility to its goal of 50 percent renewable energy, ahead of its 2023 goal date....
The co-op has just signed a power purchase agreement with SolarCity to develop a 13-megawatt “daylight to night” system, complete with battery storage, funneling solar power to the grid when it’s most in demand, when the sun doesn’t shine.
KIUC, which bought the utility from Kauai Electric Co. in 2002, seems to have weathered some early challenges making the transition to a co-op, including some protests over “smart meters” being installed in homes. But now 93 percent have them, Bissell said, and the smart grid has enabled rates that flex depending on the time of electricity use....
SA: PUC: NextEra and HEI execs must answer questions
read ... The president of Kauai’s cooperatively owned electric utility is clear-headed about balancing renewable energy goals with lower rates
DoE: Some Schools 90% Proficient--Others 0%
SA: ...the wide disparity among individual schools is both eye-opening and frustrating. Proficiency levels here exceeded 90 percent for certain grades and subjects at some elementary schools — a terrific accomplishment, surely — but some smaller schools saw zero proficiency in some grades. A widening achievement gap has many rightly worried.
Granted, Hawaii’s public-school system comprises a huge diversity of students across a wide spectrum of socio-economic situations. Still, such a wide swing among the school system’s SBA results is alarming.
The state will be releasing more detailed school-level data next month, and such specifics will be crucial to inform targeted help to struggling schools and their students....
read ... Disparity
Pay Scale: Real estate brokers and lifeguards are No. 1 in Hawaii
PBN: So many jobs here in Honolulu were ranked in the top five for average pay among their counterparts across the nation, according to the data, which we analyzed for the Sept. 11 cover story on What People Earn. A total of 68 fields were ranked in the top five, including 16 jobs in the top spot, against all other markets.
But a second column tells a different story. When Hawaii’s cost of living is factored in, the average pay in nearly every one of the 415 fields listed drops, and so do the rankings — down to a total of just 11 jobs in the top five of their fields.
Only two fields — real estate brokers and lifeguards — held on to their No. 1 rankings.
Dozens of fields sink to the bottom — dead last among 106 markets — when the price of housing, energy, gas, food and just about anything else here, is factored in. And CEOs — who had the sixth-highest pay in Honolulu — saw their pay rank plummet to second-lowest in the nation, behind Ogden, Utah, when adjusted for Hawaii’s cost of living....
Ten of the 20 highest-paying jobs in Honolulu are in the medical field. But average pay for a family physician drops from second-highest in the nation to 37th when the cost of living kicks in.
read ... Price of paradise, precisely
Gifts Given to Honolulu Officials Remain Under Wraps
CB: Ethics rules require state officials to file mandatory gift disclosure forms every year. That’s not the case for the City and County of Honolulu.
In fact, Honolulu Ethics Commission Executive Director Chuck Totto says it’s been more than a decade since the city ethics law required officials to publicly disclose the gifts they’ve received.
“The city used to have that requirement, but in 2002 the law was changed,” Totto said. “There is no legal requirement that any city official maintain the records of gifts that they receive, which is different from the state.”
Honolulu enacted a $200 cap on gifts in 2002. Under that law, city officials cannot receive more than $200 worth of gifts from a single source in a given year.
The requirement to disclose gifts was removed from the ethics code at that time, based on the assumption that no one would self-report a violation, Totto said.
Now, officials are allowed to accept gifts worth up to $200 so long as the donor doesn’t have an interest in city business that can be influenced by the recipient.
But Totto said city officials might still receive gifts under $200 that could result in ethics violations.
He said the test in such circumstances is whether “a reasonable member of the public would believe that the gift was meant to influence or reward the city employee for doing their work.”
The lack of mandatory gift reporting creates a significant blind spot, since it makes it nearly impossible to track who might be trying to influence the city’s top officials.
Ill-gotten gifts have embroiled several current and former city council members in a scandal that threatens to undermine dozens of votes they took on critical measures, including those related to Honolulu’s $6 billion rail project.
Former Councilman Romy Cachola agreed to pay a $50,000 fine to the Ethics Commission last September after it was discovered that he had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from lobbyists with ties to developers and labor unions but failed to disclose the gifts before voting on measures the lobbyists had an interest in.
But he has said he’s not the only council member who was not reporting gifts from lobbyists....
CB: Extend Hawaii Lobbying Laws to the Executive Branch
read ... Under Wraps
Anti-Dairy Protesters Make Fools of Themselves Again
KE: ...foes of the Mahaulepu dairy have decided that the best defense is an unrelenting offense. By jumping the gun, and presenting a petition opposing the dairy to Gov. Ige before the EIS has been completed, they've shown they have absolutely no intention of even considering the EIS that they demanded.
So what does it prove, that Friends of Mahaulepu were able to gather 3,300 signatures from their fellow naysayers? I mean, other than it's easy to get people to oppose something before they have all the facts, which they can't possibly, given the absence of the EIS.
It also proves that the Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation of Kauai, both of which supported the petition drive, can't be bothered with gathering the facts, or waiting for studies, before taking an opposing stand.
Is it any surprise that all three groups lack credibility?
read ... Lack Credibility
5 million gallon oil plume beneath Pearl Harbor
HNN: For decades, leaks from Pearl Harbor's fuel tanks and other sources have been collecting beneath the ground near the naval base's Halawa gate.
Hawaii News Now has obtained records issued by the Navy that indicate that the subsurface oil plume there now contains more than 5 million gallons of fuel.
That's roughly half the volume of Alaska's Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and nearly 200 times the size of last year's leak at the Navy's Red Hill underground fuel facility....
One of the leaks is well documented. In 2007, a tank at the base lost nearly 360,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
The Navy deployed oil containment booms and dug more than a dozen monitoring wells and collection trenches. None of the diesel reached the shoreline.
The Pearl Harbor plume is mostly bunker fuel, which is a heavy, tar-like substance that's used by ships. It also contains weathered jet fuel and diesel.
Because bunker fuel is so heavy, the state Health Department doesn't think the oil is moving and won't seep into the water soon.
read ... Hawaii's own oil field Eureka!
Hawaii’s uninsured population on decline, Census Bureau finds
PBN: The number of people in Hawaii without health insurance is on the decline, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
The percent of the Hawaii population with no health insurance coverage was 5.3 percent in 2014, less than 6.7 percent of the population in 2013.
Hawaii tied with D.C. for the third lowest percentage of uninsured residents in the nation....
PBN: Hawaii unemployment rate drops to 3.5%
read ... Uninsured
Hawaii one of only Three States With Increasing Prison Population
S: The country’s prison population fell by 1 percent during 2014, a decrease of about 15,400 people, according to new numbers released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
...the three states that saw the biggest increases in their prison population—North Dakota jumped by 9 percent, Nebraska by 8.3 percent, and Hawaii by 4.2 percent—are small ones, where it doesn’t take much to move the needle by a lot....
read ... Slate
Star-Adv: Caldwell Homeless Plan Similar to Seattle Tent City Nightmare
SA: ...Seattle Mayor Ed Murray in June proposed three tent cities on three city sites that each would accommodate no more than 100 homeless people.
Murray said in a statement that the tent cities — he calls them “permitted encampment sites” — would address “our worst housing affordability crisis in decades.”
The mayor has proposed another four tent cities that, after the first three go up, could accommodate a total of another 227 of Seattle’s homeless.
“Permitted encampments are not a permanent solution to the crisis of homelessness we are experiencing in Seattle,” Murray said in June. “These encampments will provide a safer community environment than sleeping under a highway overpass or on a park bench.”
The Seattle mayor’s idea is similar to Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s plan to build, beginning next month, a homeless shelter on Sand Island out of shipping containers. Like Seattle’s tent cities, the Sand Island Hale Mauliola project would provide security and on-site social services.
In Seattle the tent cities will be operated by two organizations that already run other tent cities: SHARE and Nickelsville. Both organizations serve as examples of how encampments operate on private, government and church-owned land in Seattle. (SHARE is featured in the article below.)
The Nickelsville tent city sits on a private hillside that offers a spectacular view of Safeco Field, home to the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners pro sports teams....
SHARE in action: Homeless tent cities: Seattle’s decade-long nightmare coming to Honolulu?
read ... Shake Down Operation
"Seriously disturbed and dangerous" homeless people roaming Wailuku
MN: ...Longtime residents and merchants have been asking the county and other agencies for years to help move homeless people out of Wailuku town but have instead seen the problem escalate. Residents have been threatened, and workers do not feel safe walking around at night without any police presence, they said.
"My customers are scared to come down Market Street," said Richard Dan, who owns five retail stores on the street, including Cash for Gold. "They (homeless people) are threatening people and some are aggressive. . . . I lost an employee because they were too scared to walk to their car. We now walk our employees to their cars.
"Wailuku merchants are client-based. If my employees are scared, how do I get customers in?"
Wailuku resident Susan Halas said homelessness has become so prevalent that she finds herself "stepping over bodies." She said there are more "seriously disturbed and dangerous" people roaming Wailuku than in years past and she believes there is an "immediate safety concern."
"We need live bodies on the street to deter some of the aggressive violent homeless that seem to have taken our town over," Halas said....
Wailuku resident Gerald Kimura voiced his concern about the amount of homeless people coming from the Mainland, which he believes comprises the vast majority of the town's homeless population. He found it "offensive" that his taxpayer money was being used to help outsiders, who are "taking advantage of the aloha spirit."
read ... Wailuku
City sweeps second area in Kakaako Makai After More Homeless Refuse Shelter
KITV: ...The whole operation took an hour and a half.
Most of the people had cleared out their belongings. Some left what was clearly trash.
"We will store to the extent that we are not going to store garbage. We are not going to store perishables. We can store canned food, we have in the past. We can store other items of value like stoves and cookware. We don't throw those things away," said City Director of Facilities Maintenance Ross Sasamura,
Several people say the enforcement action was long overdue. Security is an issue for UH medical schools students and staff.
One woman told KITV she had to call 911 to deal with a fight that broke out among the campers just two nights ago.
Larry Russo says he deals with the homeless every time he surfs at Point Panic. He wanted to see a quick sweep.
"I think it's good. It's real good, but I think they’re wasting too much money by taking too much time," said Russo....
One man felt bad for his homeless friend who didn't heed the repeated warnings about the pending sweep and then had a family crisis.
"His father was having triple bypass today and he didn't care about the moving. He just grabbed what he needed," said Steve Young.
(Question: Have you noticed how the homeless always have a story like this to tell reporters? Do you believe these stories?)
The demolition and sweep of the illegal structures comes after weeks of outreach by social service workers trying to get the trust of those living in the streets.
"Right now you see people with Mental Health Kokua shirts. You have
Waikiki Health, Kalihi-Palama Heath. They have been working really hard. They have been out here working every single day to speak to the individuals and encouraging them to get into shelter. We have transportation. If you want it, you will get it," said Jun Yang with the Office of Housing.
But Yang said sadly two families with young children refused shelter, even though there was space available for them.
The city maintains the plan it calls "compassionate disruption," does not violate the constitutional rights of the homeless.
"We have withstood the challenge several times previous to this so it’s not something we are unfamiliar with,” Sasamura said.
SA: City, undeterred by a court challenge, plans another sweep of the area next week
read ... City sweeps second area in Kakaako Makai
Honolulu Plans Modular Housing for Homeless in Waianae (Almost oceanfront)
CB: The city is proposing to build a new modular housing development in Waianae for up to 90 homeless people.
On Friday, Mayor Kirk Caldwell will be unveiling a blueprint for the plan, which calls for the city to purchase a 1.1-acre land next to Maluhia Lutheran Church and install 16 to 20 modular units by the next summer to house homeless families with children.
The plan will be presented at the next board meetings of the Waianae Coast and Nanakuli-Maili neighborhood boards....
read ... Modular
Lawsuit alleging misconduct in Maui’s Liquor Control Dept. returns to court
KHON: Former liquor control officer Justin Dobbs says he complained to management, his union and the mayor’s office.
He says he saw supervisors and other staff of the liquor control department allegedly getting free drinks, food, and physical contact from workers or patrons at the businesses they regulate.
He says they also saw underage girls working at hostess bars and let it go.
“I explained the prostitution. I explained the free food. I explained the bribes that coming into the office. They took notes but never questioned me after that or investigated any sooner,” Dobbs said. “I also want the people of Maui to know what the Department of Liquor is doing, and I witnessed it first-hand.”
Dobbs says he was fired soon after raising the complaints, and he filed a whistleblower lawsuit in 2012.
The county says Dobbs was fired for demanding a discount at a popular bar and restaurant, and for allegations of workplace violence and threats.
In its court filings, the county says “Dobbs has not unveiled any material to support his claim that he was fired for any other reason than his own poor performance.”
read ... Whistleblower
Breene Harimoto: "I Tell Everyone I Will Be Back"
SA: His diagnosis of pancreatic cancer this summer came as a shock. “My world shattered,” he said. In June he had been feeling tired and didn’t have much of an appetite. When his wife finally persuaded him to see his physician, he could tell by the doctor’s reaction that it was serious. He was admitted to the hospital that day.
Harimoto, 61, is home resting before starting a round of chemotherapy next week. He has had two surgeries to remove the cancer, and both went well. His baby grandson visits often, and he stays in touch with his Senate staff. He has lost weight, “and I was skinny to begin with,” he said, but he’s trying to eat. Despite the seriousness of his condition, he’s certain that he has more work, more public service, calling to him. “I’m anxious to get back. I tell everyone I will be back. I have every confidence in my faith.”
read ... Harimoto
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