Desperate: Nai Aupuni Extends Voting
What’s Next in Akina vs Na’i Aupuni Case?
Judicial Watch: “A state election has been stopped on civil rights grounds”
UH: Mauna Kea better off under our Stewardship
As PUC Hearings Begin, NextEra Touts Old-Boy Network of Supporters
“Should HECO be converted into electric cooperatives?” (video)
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear A-1 A-Lectrician Case
Revolving Door: KITV Reporter Becomes Caldwell ‘Information Officer’
DBEDT: 47% of neighbor island homes sold to out-of-state residents
Monsanto uses less than 1% of Total Hawaii Pesticides
Video: Jones Act Business Forum
Petition: Puerto Rico Demands Freedom from Jones Act
Sending Christmas trees to Hawaii costs more than sending them to Singapore
State Begins Construction on Kakaako Homeless Shelter
Cost of NextEra: $7000 per Family
SA: Critics of the proposed sale say it will cause customers to shoulder more costs, citing the $30 billion price that Eric Gleason, president of NextEra Energy Hawaii LLC, said it would cost to get the state off its dependence on oil. Gleason estimated the cost to be $30 billion over the next three decades.
State Rep. Beth Fukumoto (R, Mililani-Mililani Mauka), minority leader, said she did not support NextEra’s purchase of Hawaiian Electric Industries and was worried about the price tag NextEra recently placed on the cost to accomplish the state’s 100 percent renewable energy goals.
“They’re putting the $30 billion in ‘Cadillac plan’ infrastructure upgrades on the credit card of the people of Hawaii,” she said at a news conference. “We’re the ones who will have to pay it back.”
State Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-Waimanalo) said the $30 billion is a concern because the utilities can pass it on to consumers and take up to $7,000 in profits from each family.
read … $7000
Nai Aupuni Extends Voting—“Clearly they had a dismally low number of people participating”
CB: Lets just skip to the comments …
“Clearly the reason they extended the time for voting is because they had a dismally low number of people participating. There's a boycott going on, and the boycotters are winning!”
“There they go again changing their own rules and making things up as they go along. They already lied about two deadlines to register to be on the Rolls that have come and gone - and they are still allowing people to register on the Kanaiolowalu Rolls. Now they are extending the deadline for voting. I wonder how many more extentions they will have? This is what happens when there is no accountability to anyone but their inner circle and no transparency.”
“…it is a huge waste of money that should be going to the starving Keiki in Hawai'i that are without homes….”
“How silly is this. Bill Meheula who is a smart individual, suggesting that people stopped voting because of the federal judge. Are the voters that stupid? Or is it simply most of those never wanted to be on the list….”
“Bill Meheula J.D. is insulting Maoli Intelligence including his own. Maoli are not dumb. They know that SCOTUS did not stop Na'i Aupuni. Nevertheless most Maoli (81.85%) protest the racist Na'i Aupuni elections and racist Na'i Aupuni voting….”
read … Nai Aupuni Extends Voting Deadline
Na‘i Aupuni squares off with the U.S. Constitution
Borreca: …explaining how the Na‘i Aupuni election…is not really a state election just causes confusion….
The issue is of enough concern that today it is before the U.S. Supreme Court because last week Justice Anthony Kennedy ordered local officials not to count the ballots in the election to select delegates to a convention to come up with a plan for self-governance to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Interior.
The election was sponsored by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a state agency. It tried to meet the challenge of the 2000 Rice v. Cayetano Supreme Court decision, also written by Kennedy.
That ruling struck down the part of Hawaii’s Constitution limiting the right to vote in OHA elections to those who were Native Hawaiian….
Add to that the question that if Na‘i Aupuni is rebuilding a nation, precisely which nation is being rebuilt. Where do these bricks come from?
Hawaii as a nation before the 1893 overthrow was not a country ruled exclusively by Native Hawaiians; the courts and the legislature had people of different ancestries….
(In the Rice v Cayetano decision) Justice Kennedy gave some advice that today should be considered as we struggle to figure out how form this new union.
“As the State of Hawaii attempts to address these realities, it must, as always, seek the political consensus that begins with a sense of shared purpose. One of the necessary beginning points is this principle: The Constitution of the United States, too, has become the heritage of all the citizens of Hawaii.”
read … Na‘i Aupuni squares off with the U.S. Constitution
Nai Aupuni Has Parallels on Guam
GPDN: …The U.S. Supreme Court last week temporarily stopped Hawaii from counting ballots in a recent election of Native Hawaiian delegates over concerns by some the vote violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against voters who aren’t native Hawaiians.
The delegates, once elected, would prepare a document for self-governance by native Hawaiians.
Guam plans to hold a political status vote, limited to the island’s indigenous Chamorros, as defined by Guam law. The non-binding vote, or plebiscite, would be used to determine whether the island’s Chamorros prefer statehood, free association or independence. Guam currently is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
The Guam vote is being challenged in federal court for allegedly discriminating against the island’s non-Chamorro voters. The case, filed by Guam resident Arnold Davis, who isn’t Chamorro, is scheduled to go to trial next July….
read … Parallels
Health Connector’s end extended to Friday
SA: …Ige’s administration decided to abandon the troubled program, which has struggled since its launch in October 2013 to meet enrollment targets, provide satisfactory service and raise enough money to be self-sustaining. The Connector has burned through $130 million of $204 million in federal money granted to the state to build the exchange but not to fund ongoing operations.
The state was supposed to take over Connector operations in February, after the end of the open-enrollment period, which began Nov. 1 and concludes Jan. 31….
read … Health Connector’s end extended to Friday
State Claims Computer Crash Not Caused by ‘Cyber Monday’ Overload
SA: State computers crashed on Cyber Monday, but apparently it wasn’t because too many workers were searching the Internet for bargains.
State Chief Information Officer Todd Nacapuy said the state’s mainframe was down because of a power failure caused during routine maintenance to the system’s backup power supply.
An estimated 300 to 400 employees were affected by intermittent power failures between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., said Keith DeMello, senior communications manager with the Office of Enterprise Technology Services….
This was the fourth power failure suffered by the state in the past six months due to infrastructure problems at the aging Kalanimoku Building on Punchbowl Street, which is home to the state Department of Accounting and General Services, among other agencies.
THE state’s computer system is in the building’s basement, where the infrastructure is in dire need of an upgrade, officials said….
More than 49,000 employees rely on the state’s computer systems.
In August the state began blocking video streaming sites on state computers after discovering that employees spent between 100 and 300 hours watching Netflix during one week….
read … Cyber Monday
Ige Admin: PISCES Must Make Money for Ariyoshi or be De-Funded
SA: …Kelso said that the current administration and Legislature have grown concerned that PISCES, which has focused on research that could help colonize the moon and Mars, isn’t generating the kind of economic activity that the state had hoped.
The agency’s business model was a central topic during a meeting earlier this month of the PISCES board of directors, which includes former Gov. George Ariyoshi and Blue Planet Foundation Chairman Henk Rogers, among others. Kelso recommended that PISCES explore other businesses models, including space tourism and small satellite launches, which could bring in more money and jobs for the state.
“It’s clear to me that they don’t see a lot of value in what we do today,” Kelso told PISCES’ board, in reference to the state’s political leaders. “We have to morph ourselves into something different that aligns with what the state wants, which is economic development and money infusion and jobs. I think something has to change. I don’t think that the status quo is sustainable.”
BOARD members seemed weary of the idea, however, noting that space tourism and satellite launches diverge from PISCES’ original mission, blur the line between what should be state-sponsored versus commercial activities, and could be a hard sell to the the governor and Legislature.
Rogers, chairman of the board, said PISCES needs instead to be more aggressive in seeking funding from the Legislature for projects that will advance the agency’s research.
“I think we go big or go home. That’s how I feel,” said Rogers. “I feel your frustration, Rob. I’m sharing your frustration, you know. We are not getting enough money to make that vision come true — that we are going to have a piece of the space ex(ploration) business.”
Kelso told the Star-Advertiser that he still thinks that the space tourism and satellite launch businesses hold promise for the state, but noted that PISCES needs the board’s support to move forward.
read …. Space agency asks state for funds to keep it going
Filmmaker tried to push out Maui film commissioner
MN: "He is a lightweight who just gets in the way," Kavanaugh says of Donenfeld in the email. "I'm done with this Harry guy. I'm no longer going to work on the Hawaii initiative unless Harry is no longer involved. He knows nothing about the film or TV business, is always lying to the mayor and has done nothing but get in the way and cost Maui opportunities and real upside. I'm going to think on it, but I don't think I want my name involved as long as he is involved." …
Days later, Kavanaugh would serve as honorary chairman of the mayor's fundraising ball and usher to the event Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody. About six months later, Donenfeld was fired as film commissioner, officially for not showing up at work.….
Related: Hawaii Dodges $500M Bullet as Billionaire Movie Mogul Declares Bankruptcy
read … Bankrupt
Hawaii Airport Parking Rates Increase 20% to 25%
CB: Just in time for the holidays: a big increase in daily public-parking rates at Hawaii’s airports, effective Monday.
The maximum rate for 24 hours of parking at Honolulu International Airport is now $18, up $3.
At Kahului Airport, Kapalua Airport, Lihue Airport, Hilo International Airport and Kona International Airport at Keahole, the increase went from $12 to $15.
read … Hawaii Airport Parking Rates Increase $3/day
Kailua NIMBYs Find New Way to harass Small Business
HNN: The Kailua Neighborhood Board is asking the City Council to empower police to ticket bike rental companies when bike renters break the law. They say the idea isn't that strange -- it's similar to when a camera catches a driver running a red light and the ticket goes to the car's owner.
But Devin Roth, manager of The Bike Shop, said it's unfair to single out bike businesses.
"We wouldn't be asking Hertz rental car or Enterprise to pay for a ticket any time someone got pulled over on the H-1," he said.
A half dozen companies rent bicycles by the hour or the day, and most of their customers are tourists….
KE: Kauai Council Tinkers With TVR Regs
read … NIMBYs
Armed Homosexual Child Molester Hunted in Waipahu
KHON: Honolulu police are investigating a report of a suspicious male who approached an elementary school student in Waipahu.
It happened at around 7 a.m. Monday, about a quarter-mile from August Ahrens Elementary School.
The boy’s mother, who wished to remain anonymous, told KHON2 he was walking to school as he normally does when he saw a man standing outside a white van with the door open.
The boy said the man asked him to “come in my car so I can take you home.”
“He did see a weapon on the driver’s side,” the mother said. “It was a gun.”
read … Suspect sought after ‘stranger danger’ incident near elementary school in Waipahu
Supreme Court Digs Into Redistricting
BNA: …on Dec. 8, the one-person, one-vote principle will take center stage at the high court in two separate redistricting cases: Evenwel v. Abbott, U.S., No. 14-940, oral argument scheduled, 12/8/15, andHarris v. Ariz. Indep. Redistricting Comm'n, U.S., No. 14-232, oral argument scheduled, 12/8/15.
Where the justices ultimately land in these cases could have a national impact.
The dispute in Evenwel—possibly the most consequential of the two one-person, one-vote challenges—centers on whether the one-person, one-vote principle announced in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), protects all persons, or just eligible voters.
In Reynolds, the court held that the equal protection clause requires that states draw legislative districts with substantially equal population. “Simply stated, an individual's right to vote for [] legislators is unconstitutionally impaired when its weight is in a substantial fashion diluted when compared with votes of citizens living in other parts of the State,” the court said.
But the Reynolds court didn't say which population had to be equalized—the total population or only the population of eligible voters….
read … Dig In
2,900 HIV/AIDS Cases in Hawaii
HNN: Tuesday is World Aids Day, and approximately 2,900 people in Hawaii are living with HIV/AIDS -- many of whom are unaware that they have it.
2013: World AIDS Day: Gay Inc Drops HIV for Marriage, Military & Money
read … 2,900
Dengue Cases Hit 112
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