Tulsi Gabbard to be Republican Cabinet Appointee?
Blue Planet, Skai Ventures Grab for Marijuana Licenses
Feds to Cut off Funds: Hawaii DoH Fails to Spend $33M Federal Water Grants, Illegally Pools Money with DoT
Study: Hawaii Is the 6th Worst State for Teachers
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted September 28, 2015
GMOs Not the Ugly Monster We Thought
KL: ...it’s big agricultural companies that have most of the stakes in the issue. Having jumped on the opportunity to produce up to four crops a year, their presence in the state has stirred a debate over biotechnology and farming practices.
Despite their negative portrayal, these businesses have the potential to advance Hawai‘i as a strong competitor in the burgeoning field of biotechnology. For this reason, it makes sense we embrace advances in agronomy and create an environment that encourages them....
According to Ania Wieczorek, graduate program chair at the Department of Tropical Plants and Soil Sciences, such fears are not only unfounded, but reflect a misunderstanding of contemporary agricultural technology. Wieczorek’s paper “Use of Biotechnology in Agriculture – Benefits and Risks” outlines the lack of chemical use as one of the most important advantages of GMO farming.
“When genetic engineering results in reduced pesticide dependence, we have less pesticide residues on foods, we reduce pesticide leaching into groundwater, and we minimize farm worker exposure to hazardous products.”
Genetic engineering allows seed companies to focus on less hazardous farming methods. According to Wieczorek and other experts, claims that seed companies are responsible for making people sick are speculations lacking hard evidence.
Unfortunately, many on the anti-GMO side refuse to consider the facts of the debate. Former Attorney General of Hawai‘i Margery Bronster will represent the agricultural producers challenging the ban.
“People were loud and rude: the level of discourse was very low,” Bronster said for West Hawaii Today, after speaking at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Departments in Agriculture in Keauhou. This seems to be a common theme.
When Kaua‘i mayor Bernard Carvalho explained why he vetoed Disclosure Pesticide Bill 24 in November 2013, he was heckled and rudely interrupted by an angry mob. Carvalho justified his veto with the “strong likelihood” that the bill would appropriate power from state and federal law to the county level. Seed companies argue that it is up to the state to enforce reports of pesticide use and other information.
Concerns about health and native ecosystems should always be taken into consideration when introducing any new technology. By looking at the facts, we can understand the benefits of seed companies play in Hawai‘i by introducing new jobs and opportunities for research that can contribute to Hawai‘i’s economy. Breaking down the wall of skepticism can lead us in the direction of new discoveries.
read ... Not the ugly monster we thought
Sweeps Force 90 Homeless to Accept Shelter
SA: ...where are the folks leaving Kakaako and Kapalama going?
An Aug. 3 census counted 293 people living on Kakaako makai sidewalks.
Since Sept. 8 dozens have been rousted from their camps along the sidewalks of four Kakaako makai blocks between Ala Moana Boulevard and Ilalo Street. The city Department of Facility Maintenance is scheduled to conduct enforcement of the sidewalk nuisance and stored property ordinances this week, also along the corridor between Ala Moana Boulevard and Ilalo Street.
Scott Morishige, the state’s homeless concerns coordinator, said that since Aug. 7 the Governor’s Leadership Team on Homelessness has placed 90 people from the Kakaako homeless area into shelters or more permanent housing. That’s about 30 percent of those living in the area, he said.
They have gone to the Institute for Human Services and Next Step shelters in urban Honolulu, as well as the Lighthouse Outreach shelter in Waipahu, the Kealahou West Oahu shelter in Kalaeloa and the U.S. Vets civic center shelter in Waianae.
“We’re continually, every week, seeing more people going into shelter due to the outreach that the service providers are doing in that area,” Morishige said.
read ... Sweeps Work
ACLU Upset Because City Does not Return Feces and Used Syringes to Homeless
CB: The plaintiffs, who are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and the law firm of Alston Hunt Floyd and Ing, argue that the city’s practice amounts to an infringement of their constitutional rights.
In 2012, a similar argument was successfully made before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a landmark case known as Lavan v. City of Los Angeles....
For their part, Honolulu city attorneys have been putting forth an argument that boils down to this: Lavan doesn’t apply here.
In court documents, the attorneys argue that the stored property and sidewalk nuisance ordinances are fundamentally different from L.A.’s “bag, tag and trash” ordinance.
Unlike LA’s statute, the two Honolulu statues have “built-in procedural safeguards that preserve the personal property owner’s possessory interest in the removed and stored property … and does not authorize summary dispossession and destruction of personal property,” the attorneys say....
At a Sept. 22 hearing, Ernest Nomura, deputy corporation counsel for the city, told the court that the rest of what gets discarded is trash, not “personal property.”
“Lavan is totally inapplicable here because … the city does not destroy personal property,” Nomura said. “But I don’t think anybody can disagree with it that it has every right to remove and discard what is obviously trash. … We’re not interested in dismantling homeless individuals’ personal property or removing their social security cards or trashing their personal identification or financial information. None of that is being destroyed by the city.”
In the court documents, the city cites examples of what it does discard:
“They include used syringes, garbage bags filled with trash, plastic bags filled with feces and urine, water bottles and soft drink bottles filled with urine, urine-soaked, bed bug ridden wet mattresses, scrap metal parts from bicycles, automobiles, air conditioning units, broken wicker baskets, broken milk crates, soiled with feces, moldy clothing, smashed corrugated boxes and box parts, soiled and ripped tarps, soiled carpet remnants, ripped plastic sheets, plastic containers filled with stagnant water.” (Solution: Drop this material off at ACLU HQ for the homeless to come pick up.)
read ... Find a Judge
It’s a Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Change the Honolulu City Charter
CB: An assessment of the controversial Honolulu Police Commission is up next for the panel looking at improving the structure of Oahu’s government....
read ... Charter
STARS Supports Families of Crime Victims
HTH: Towards the end of the annual Surviving to Thriving: Advocacy, Resources and Support (STARS) group luncheon on Saturday, people got up from their seats to light candles.
The candles were set on a table alongside a row of framed photos. Behind the table, more photos hung against a backdrop.
As people came forward for the candle lighting, some offered stories — a history behind the flickering flame and the faces frozen in time in the photographs. An officer killed on duty. A toddler killed by a drunk driver. Men and women, boys and girls, all taken too soon from those who loved them.
“It is important to remember these people,” Hawaii County prosecutor Mitch Roth said during his remarks at the luncheon. “They still mean something to us.”
STARS is a relatively new incarnation of a group first formed 21 years ago to provide a resource for those who’ve lost loved ones to homicide.
read ... STARS
Three More Inmates Escape Over Weekend
Solar Applicants Race to Beat Net Energy Metering Decision
SA: Hawaiian Electric Co. has given the green light to nearly 10,000 rooftop solar systems on Oahu this year, and still the rush of applicants outpaces what the utility can approve.
More than 2,000 solar system applications are awaiting HECO’s authorization as residents push to get connected before a solar incentive program changes.
“It was kind of a race to the finish line,” said Rich Taylor, project developer at PhotonWorks Engineering LLP, a Hawaii solar contractor.
The state Public Utilities Commission might rule in the next few weeks on a HECO proposal that would reduce the amount solar owners are credited for the excess energy their PV systems send to the grid, a system known as Net Energy Metering.
“There has been a surge in NEM applications due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of NEM,” said Leslie Cole-Brooks, executive director of Hawaii Solar Energy Association, an industry lobbying group. “Customers who want to install solar are trying to get their applications in.”
HECO has approved 9,673 solar system applications this year. Of those, 5,644 were submitted before the start of the year. The record year for approvals was 2013 when 14,629 applications were given the go-ahead.
read ... Race
Once a Hedge Fund Favorite, SunEdison Has a Long Climb Out of Its Current Hole
MF: Over the last few years, SunEdison has acquired wind companies and solar developers, and built its own organic growth business, growing until it became the world's biggest renewable energy developer. The company became a favorite of hedge fund billionaries, counting 10 such investors as of June 2015, according to Forbes.
But the stock has fallen 71.4% in the last three months, and investors have to be wondering what's going on -- and whether the company can recover.
Growth for the sake of growth
One of the reasons investors loved SunEdison so much is the company's incredible growth spree. In the past year, it bought First Wind, a $2 billion portfolio of wind projects from Invenergy, and residential solar company Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR), among other smaller deals.
The deals made SunEdison a growth machine, as you can see from the company's own projections below.
There's only one problem. SunEdison is losing money like crazy as it's built this growth engine. Legacy losses from the semiconductor business, operating expenses, acquisition costs, and debt costs are eating into the company's finances.
To make matters worse, SunEdison needs to fund these growth opportunities on top of paying for debt and operations costs. That money has to come from somewhere.
read ... Motley Fool
Regulations Force family business to shut 98 years after start
SA: Honda Tofu closed its doors Aug. 28 after 98 years as a family-run business in Wahiawa. Dennis and Dulcie Honda had hoped to make the centennial mark but fell short after the shop’s boiler did not pass an inspection last month.
read ... Regulations
Event unites kin of heroes killed on military duty
SA: ...The Viray family was among dozens of families attending the Sunday ceremony on Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day — a national day to honor those who died while serving in the military, and their families.
During the ceremony, family members laid boots adorned with American flags, lei and pictures of the deceased beneath the Columbia statue and gathered around a grassy island in the center of the cemetery to dedicate a “lei of remembrance” hundreds of feet long to their deceased loved ones.
The national day is named after the star on the service flag displayed by family members of those serving in the military. A gold star on the flag represents a family member who died while serving in the military....
read ... Event unites kin of heroes killed on military duty
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