The hidden story of the third Thanksgiving: 1623--giving thanks for freedom
Council presents finalists for appointments to Board of Regents
3,000 DUI cases in jeopardy following state Supreme Court ruling
HNN: Some 3,000 pending DUI cases are in jeopardy following a state Supreme Court ruling.
The court ruled that Hawaii drivers pulled over for drunk driving weren't given the chance to properly consent to field sobriety, blood or urine tests.
The ruling means blood, urine or breath evidence collected in about 3,000 pending DUI cases will now be thrown out. It will be up to prosecutors to determine if enough evidence remains in those cases to move forward.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving called the ruling a blow to its efforts to curb DUIs, and said the ruling couldn't have come at a worse time -- right before the holidays….
Under a 2011 state law, it's crime for drivers pulled over for drunk driving to refuse to be tested. The penalty for refusing: Up to 30 days in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Suspects learn about the law when they fill out a consent form at the time of their arrest. The crux of the message: Take a test or face the consequences.
The state Supreme Court said that amounts to coercion, and violates search and seizure laws….
read … Jeopardy
Nai Aupuni: If Your Address Changed in Last 10 years, You Didn’t Get a Ballot
MN: …as the election nears its deadline, concerns are being raised statewide about the legitimacy and wisdom of the process. Though Ritte’s name officially remains on the ballot, he announced his withdrawal from the race three weeks ago, and joins others in urging a boycott of the election.
“It’s rigged, it’s not pono, it’s divisive as hell,” said Ritte of the process. He questions both the validity of Na`i Aupuni to be leading the effort as well as what he calls a “set up” convention and a “continuation of the political powers.”….
In 2011, the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission was formed through Hawaii state law Act 195 with the goal of enrolling 200,000 Native Hawaiians for the organization of a sovereign entity. However, they were only able to register less than a quarter of that, through $4 million in funding from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). In 2013, Act 77 allowed the Roll Commission to transfer names from other lists, including OHA’s registry.
That’s where things get sticky for those who question the legitimacy of the election.
Shane Pale is one of the organizers of a movement called Protest Na`i Aupuni. Born and raised on Molokai and now living on Oahu, Pale said a lack of community awareness and education about the process is only one of his concerns, according to a press release from the Protest Na`i Aupuni organization.
Protestnaiaupuni.com claims that the consent of individuals who were added to the Roll from other lists following Act 77 was not obtained before inclusion in the Roll, and many of them were not aware their named had been added to the list.
“…Act 77 allowed them to use names from other Hawaiian lists to validate Na`i Aupuni, and that’s very disrespectful of Hawaiians, especially our kupuna,” said Pale in the release. “A lot of the people on that list have passed away.”
Others on the list who have been mailed election ballots have no knowledge of the election, he explained. In addition, the Roll itself represents just a small portion of the more than half a million Native Hawaiians nationwide, meaning the process is excluding over 80 percent of the population, according to Pale.
A representative of the Roll Commission acknowledged that some of the information from the Roll may be outdated, and some registered voters may not have received ballots at all if their address has changed over the decade the list has been collected.
According to the Roll Commission, just under 3,000 Molokai residents are registered to vote….
Ritte warned that federal recognition could mean the end of ceded lands for Native Hawaiians.
“The only things that’s missing for [the U.S. government] to grab all those ceded lands is a governing entity,” he said. “We’re going to create the mechanism to allow the U.S. to get clear title, they’re going to strike a deal over the ceded land, and this entity can strike that deal.”….
read … Nai Aupuni
PUC: Time to Kill Rooftop Solar
IM: The Honolulu Star Advertiser has a lead story today in which Public Utilities Chair Randy Iwase asserts that utility-scale renewables are preferred over rooftop solar.
“No place to plug in: The demise of the island solar power industry is foreseen via a state cap on rooftop systems.”
“The PUC decided to halt new rooftop solar installations to prevent damage to the grid and allow other renewable energy sources – such as wind and geothermal – to catch up with residential.”
“PUC Chairman Randy Iwase said the cap was necessary because Hawaii needs a variety of renewable energy resources to achieve its goal of 100 percent renewable electric power by 2045, and that problems with HECO’s old grid leave little space for all resources to connect.”
“Iwase said he wanted to see more community solar, community wind farms, utility-scale battery storage, hydrogen fuel cells and geothermal development.”
read … HEI Shareholders are Nervous
Homeless enforcement delays continue at 2 Kakaako parks
HNN: …Andre Betito, general manager at 1-800-GOT-JUNK, says his company has submitted a bid for the work, but hasn't yet heard back.
"We would love to start the contract," he said. "We were told it was an emergency contract where they needed the bids sent out right away."
Betito also said terms of the deal recently changed.
"The first bid asked us to record and document every item taken from beginning to end of the project, over the six month project. Now the new scope does not ask us to record or film. They'll have a third party who will film while we do it," he said.
When Hawaii News Now asked the state about the hold-up, officials from the Hawaii Community Development Authority sent this statement:
"We are in talks with some potential vendors, including 1-800 Got Junk, about the project. We are still working out policy and procedures with the governor's leadership team, but hope to move forward soon."
Meantime, outreach workers continue to go to the parks several times a week trying to convince homeless people to move into shelters….
Background: Full Text: ACLU Wins Order Defending Homeless’ Trash
read … Delays
DHHL: DNA tests won't be required to prove ethnicity
HNN: …The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands said it won't require Hawaiians to take a DNA test to prove their ethnicity.
The clarification comes after the department proposed new rules to allow DNA testing, setting off concern among some homesteaders.
"There is this mistrust about how this information could be used. One homesteader told me could they use it to send out to other medical facilities," said Native Hawaiian attorney Lehua Kinilau.
"They're generally leery of the department's history."
Hokulei Lindsey, DHHL's administrative rules officer, said the misconception "has to do with whether it's a blood quantum test or an ethnicity test."
"But once there's an understanding that it's very narrowly drafted to be a parent-child testing then the reaction has been positive."
Related: DHHL to Consult Beneficiaries on Proposed Rule Changes
read … DHHL DNA
Dengue Growth Slows
HTH: The illnesses began between Sept. 11 and Nov. 17, according to the state Department of Health, which noted 88 cases involve Hawaii residents.
Melissa Viray, state deputy epidemiologist, said spraying and mosquito surveys will continue during the Thanksgiving holiday.
While the outbreak has passed the century mark, she said she remains optimistic since the number of new confirmed cases continues to vary.
“We’re not seeing an exponential increase, and I think that’s a good sign,” Viray said.
An outbreak that started in 2001 reached 122 confirmed cases, with 92 occurring on Maui, 26 on Oahu and four on Kauai.
read … Dengue
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