Kaka‘ako enforcement continues next week
Honolulu Police, Parents Discuss 'Drug Proofing Your Kids'
Hee Crony Loses Support of other Kamehameha Schools trustees
SA: Kamehameha trustee Janeen-Ann Olds has lost the support of her colleagues as she seeks another term on the Board of Trustees of Kamehameha Schools.
On Friday the four other trustees of Kamehameha Schools asked the Probate Court to deny Olds’ petition to serve six more years on the board in light of a recent scandal involving her company, Sandwich Isles Communications, and its parent company, Waimana Enterprises. Her term is up Jan. 31.
Earlier this year the companies’ founder, Al Hee, was indicted for tax fraud after federal prosecutors accused him of skimming $4 million from Waimana Enterprises to pay for personal expenses such as college tuition for his children, jewelry, massages and travel.
Olds, who serves as CEO of Sandwich Isles and was formerly general counsel to Waimana, was not charged in the affair, but her fellow trustees told the court the situation was “negatively impacting Kamehameha Schools’ reputation and hindering and will continue to hinder our ability to move forward.”
There “are significant concerns raised regarding Ms. Olds’ management, background, expertise, reputation, credibility, integrity and leadership, all of which are core criteria for selection of a trustee of the estate,” the trustees wrote in a letter to the court and signed by Robert Nobriga, Corbett Kalama, Micah Kane and Lance Wilhelm....
Olds is also facing criticism from the Hawaiian Homes Commission. Sandwich Isles was required to pay the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands a minimum of 0.5 percent of its profits from its homeland operations for job training and education programs for Native Hawaiians. The company never paid, and in questioning in front of the Hawaiian Homes Commission last month, Hee said the company never made any profits.
The Kamehameha trustees previously provided tepid support for Olds, but in their letter to the court Friday, they said they changed their minds after meeting with prominent alumni and community leaders as well as Olds herself.
We “sought additional details from Ms. Olds directly regarding her involvement as general counsel, president and chief executive officer of Waimana Enterprises and Sandwich Isles Communications that might provide additional insight about her qualities and characteristics and address community concerns,” the trustees wrote. “Ms. Olds responded and defended her management of SIC and role as general counsel of WEI. Her responses did not reflect well on her leadership attributes and did not adequately address the concerns raised by the Kamehameha Schools community.”...
Flashback 2005: Sandwich Isles Communications: Political Connections Pay Off
read ... Kamehameha Schools trustees withdraw support for colleague
FTA Helping HART Squeeze More Rail Tax Money out of Legislature
SA: ...HART is obligated under the contract to finish by Jan. 31, 2020. Rail officials now say the project is on course to finish sometime in 2021.
Last week HART’s executive director, Dan Grabauskas, said the local rail agency would work with the Federal Transit Administration in the coming months to agree to a new deadline so that the city would not be in breach of contract. (Dog.)
In a statement Tuesday those FTA officials said they’re working with HART on the project’s latest challenges. But they didn’t say whether they’re open to an extended deadline — or whether the project could be in jeopardy of having to return any of $1.55 billion in federal dollars to be used to build it under a 2012 FTA funding deal. (Pony.)
“FTA is working closely with HART to address changes to the Honolulu Rail Project budget and schedule,” the statement read. “We have requested an updated cost, scope and schedule from HART and will need to evaluate that information in order to determine next steps.” (Dog n Pony Show)
Of the $1.55 billion, HART officials say they’ve received $806 million and that an additional $250 million has already been appropriated by Congress. If the city defaults, the federal government “may” demand its money back, according to the funding deal, officially known as the Full Funding Grant Agreement.
The agreement allows federal transit officials to waive a breach of contract and extend the deadline “if there is an unavoidable delay in achieving the operational goals of the project resulting from an event or circumstance beyond the control” of the city.
They could also consider an extension if “it’s in the best interest of the government or the success of the project,” the deal states.
The FTA has been a lot more blunt about what might happen if the city tries to make changes to the rail route or number of stations. It would hold the city in breach for such changes, and if they weren’t fixed, “repayment of the federal funds would be required,” FTA acting Administrator Therese McMillan said in an April 3 letter to Grabauskas.
She sent it during this year’s legislative session, as state lawmakers considered authorizing a rail tax extension....
read ... Outcome of rail delay remains unclear
Pretending to be Frugal, HART Board Again Delays Ansaldo Delay Claim
SA: The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board’s Finance and Project Oversight committees deferred approving the $8.7 million Ansaldo claim during their joint meeting Thursday. The group first looked at the deal for approval in July, but instead of approving it, they’ve repeatedly opted to scrutinize whether the costs are justified.
“It’s not something that we should allow anyone to feel that because there’s this money that we’re somehow going to roll over or cave in,” board member Colleen Hanabusa said after the joint meeting Thursday. Ansaldo officials did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
In 2011 Ansaldo won a $1.4 billion contract — the largest in state history — to design, build, operate and maintain Oahu’s elevated rail project. The contract doesn’t include the elevated guideway or stations. (Every penny of this would be unnecessary if a busway were being built.)
Rail staff say the delay claim would cover the approximately nine-month delay in 2012 that barred Ansaldo from starting work, when rival Bombardier challenged the award of that contract in court. The city awarded Ansaldo the contract in March 2011, and Ansaldo expected to start work the following month, but the Bombardier challenge kept work from starting until January 2012, according to HART documents.
read ... HART board defers $8.7M delay claim approval
Hawaii Supreme Court Seeks Input on Whether to Let Lawyers Sell Weed
CB: The Hawaii Supreme Court is seeking public input on whether to amend its rules to allow attorneys to help clients who are applying for high-stakes licenses to run medical marijuana dispensaries. October 16 is the dead-line....
PDF: Announcement
read ... Lotta Wanna-be Dope Dealers
More Marijuana Cronies Come out of Woodwork
SA: “The other reason it has to be done quickly is because there’s an immense amount of work that has to be put into one of these applications. Some of them exceed 1,000 pages in length,” said Carlisle, who represents the Wellness Group, a local consortium interested in vying for a dispensary license. “The goal of all of this is to establish a regulated statewide dispensary system for medical marijuana to ensure safe and legal access to pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for qualifying patients.”
Medical marijuana promoters estimate dispensaries in Hawaii could create a lucrative new market with up to 800 jobs and $65 million a year in sales.
Scott Williams, executive director of Hawaiian Cannabis Consulting, which is helping at least two groups apply for dispensaries on Oahu and Hawaii island, said his Honolulu attorney abruptly dropped them last week following the board’s ruling.
“It impacts everything that we’re doing right now,” he said. “We’re talking about a significant business structure, and it requires legal advice to ensure it’s set up properly. It’s extremely bad timing and puts people at risk.”
Bill Jarvis, chief executive officer of Kona Wellness, formed to compete for a dispensary license next year, said the ruling is a major setback for Hawaii’s medical marijuana program.
“This is just one of the many contradictions we see at both the state and federal levels,” said Jarvis, also CEO of cellphone provider Mobi PCS. “It does become a pretty tricky landscape quickly. Without having legal help, I don’t think it’s a very good place for someone to be. There’s going to be enough challenges making this industry a clean, respectable, crime-free industry. It is the responsible thing for the state to change that ruling.”
read ... Crime Free?
New Mental Hospital Needed Because of Homeless
SA: ...it’s easy to root for the Kaneohe campus’ updated plan unveiled Tuesday that aims to increase overall capacity to 516 beds from 178, a move needed to deal with the sharp increase in people being committed to the complex.
Not so easily forthcoming, however, will be the $160 million for a new 144-bed, maximum-security facility envisioned at the core of the campus overhaul....
Arrests of mentally ill homeless have contributed to the State Hospital’s overcrowding because detainees often arrive in court unfit to proceed and are sent there for assessment. More capacity is needed to enable appropriate treatment more readily for those who urgently need it.... (Maybe we should just dedicate all the marijuana tax money to build this.)
Four months ago, there was much buzz about another portion of the HSH complex: a proposal to replace the deteriorated Bishop Building with a new 150-bed skilled-nursing, long-term care home under a public-private partnership.
Work on that needs to continue apace. About 50 beds would be set aside for patients discharged from HSH who have complex, long-term care needs, freeing up crucial space at the over-capacity hospital; the 100 other beds would be open to the community for those in need of complex care.
Plans to overhaul the State Hospital have languished for at least a decade. A critical mass of need has been reached, and state Health Director Virginia Pressler calls it the department’s “No. 1 priority.”
read ... State hospital clearly needs new facilities
Kauai Homeless Camp clearing
KGI: They told us we had two or three weeks to leave,” Brett, who didn’t want to give his last name, told The Garden Island. “I don’t know where I’m going to go. It’s a shame, though, because this is such a beautiful forest.”
The number of homeless people living in the forest fluctuates, Brett said, between only himself and about 15 to 20 people. It is spread out, and each person makes a space for themselves. Outside of Brett’s tent, for instance, he’s hung wooden carvings in the trees and made a marker at the entrance with an upside-down paper cup tied to a stick.
It’s also exclusive.
“You don’t just bring anybody here,” Brett said. “That’s how we do it. Like, only once in a while I’ll help someone out and bring them here to stay for a while.” ....
“We’re not all drug addicts out here,” Brett said....
According to The Kauai County Real Property Assessment Division’s website, the owner of the property is the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation....
read ... Camp clearing
Anaergia charges HECO and MECO with "unlawful and wrongful behavior" after $0.26 per KWH rejected
IM: The County has worked out a deal with Anaergia, “a global leader in offering sustainable solutions for the generation of renewable energy and the conversion of waste to resources.”
Anaergia will “finance, construct, own and operate a resource recovery facility to process solid waste, recover recyclables, and generate renewable energy in the form of biogas.”
Anaergia and Maui Electric failed to reach agreement and a deal fell though. Among the issues is that MECO is looking for electricity in the 11-12 cents per kilowatt-hour range while Anaergia is looking to sell electricity in the 24-26 cents per kilowatt-hour range with a yearly price escalator of 1.5 percent.
Anaergia proposed at first that the biogas would come from growing bioenergy crops with wastewater. Later they suggested supplementing it with biogas produced from a proposed Anaergia Integrated Conversion Project at the Central Maui Landfill. This would lower the price to 22 cents per kilowatt hour.
read ... "unlawful and wrongful behavior"
Not very tax friendly
MN: In an explanation of its reasoning about Hawaii, Kiplinger cites that our top personal income tax bracket (11 percent) is among the highest in the country.
The company also notes that our 4 percent general excise tax is imposed "on virtually all transactions."
It also goes on to list our other taxes - sin taxes like $3.20 on every pack of cigarettes and $5.98 per gallon of liquor; GET taxes on vehicle sales as well as registration of those vehicles based on gross weight.
In any event, the list of our different taxes is pretty impressive if not depressing. Oh, and it also mentions our high cost of living....
Background: Kiplinger: Hawaii 4th Least Tax Friendly State
read ... Not very tax friendly
Hawaii retirement health care is a bargain
MW: Hawaii is celebrated as a retirement dream destination, not as a bargain. Yet when it comes to one aspect of retiree health care, Hawaii is about 25% cheaper than Florida, according to an analysis by HealthView Services....
The projected monthly total of Medicare Part B, Part D drug coverage, and supplemental insurance will average $469 from age 65 to 85 in Hawaii, versus $634 in Florida, with a projected lifetime difference of $40,000 between the two states. “For the average American who’s trying to live on Social Security, it makes a big difference,” said Ron Mastrogiovanni, founder and CEO of HealthView Services. Even the affluent, he said, “don’t want to spend more money than they have to.”
read ... Bargain
Enviros Ask Court to Kill Off Hawaii Tuna Fleet
AP: ...Bradley Oliphant, a U.S. Justice Department attorney who argued on behalf of the fisheries service, said the agency carefully studied the environmental effects of the quota transfer. He said the arrangement meets the requirements of U.S. fisheries and environmental laws.
The 26-member nation Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, which regulates fishing from east and southeast Asia to waters around Hawaii, set a limit of about 3,500 metric tons for Hawaii longline fishermen this year. That's about 7 percent less than last year.
The National Marine Fisheries Service enforces these limits in the U.S. This year, the Hawaii fishery reached its annual limit in August, several months earlier than in the past.
The agency has also proposed rules that would allow Hawaii longline fishermen to bring in more bigeye tuna by shifting some of their catch to territorial fleets, which do not face the same limits from the commission.
In exchange, the Hawaii longline fleet would pay the territories money to support the development of local fisheries....
Hawaii longline fishermen — who string long lines in the ocean from which they run shorter lines with baited hooks —account for only 1.6 percent of the bigeye caught in this region.
read ... Tuna Quota
UH Manoa Researchers Predict Sharp Drops in Sea Level Next Year
HNN: More coastal inundations one year, with barren exposed reefs the next. That’s what could happen to islands in parts of the Pacific according to the research done by a pair of UH Manoa scientists.
It’s not a far stretch, because it’s already happening.
"We learned from folks in Samoa is they've experienced in the past extreme drops in sea level. They actually have a name for it, taimasa" said Matthew Widlansky, Postdoctoral Fellow at UH Manoa.
A photo of a coastal area in Samoa shows a stretch of ocean bottom completely exposed during an extreme low tide. Conditions like this can kill coral, chase away fish, and upset the balance of the ecosystem.
It’s all due to El Nino.
"The trade winds have been weaker than normal this year, and water that's usually piled up in the west near Guam for example, has sloshed back to the east" said Widlansky.
(B-b-but what about the polar bears?)
read ... Blasphemers!
BLNR approves Turtle Bay Development deal
HNN: The $45 million acquisition involves roughly 635 acres. 569 acres will be set aside for a conservation easement. The deal also includes a fee simple purchase by the state of 53 acres at Kawela Bay. The land will be leased back to the resort for existing commercial activities for 65 years for $480 a year.
"This is probably the most valuable land certainly on our property, and possibly the entire North Shore. It's a jewel and it will never be developed," said Drew Stotesbury, CEO of Turtle Bay Resort.
The state will plans to come up with $35 million through transient accommodations tax revenues and funds from the land conservation fund to reimburse the state general fund for the debt service on reimbursable general obligation bonds. The city will add $7.5 million and the group Trust for Public Land will contribute $2.5 million.
Turtle Bay Resort has downsized its development plans. Under the deal, the company will be allowed to build two hotels with 625 rooms total and up to 100 resort residential homes.
read ... BLNR approves Turtle Bay conservation deal
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