February 6, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Saturday, February 6, 2010

February 6, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 10:55 AM :: 8435 Views

LINK>>>DoE firing hundreds of Special Education skills trainers

LINK>>>Gambling bills to be heard by House Committee Tuesday

LINK>>>Iraq War veteran launches HD 28 campaign in Chinatown

LINK>>>Full Text: Moody’s outlook for Hawaii shifts to “negative”

LINK>>>Cec Heftel, former KGMB owner and congressman from Hawaii, dies at 85

Lingle, BOE spar over stalled furlough plan (BoE stalls, lies about letter to Governor)

The governor's spokesman, Russell Pang, said the administration has been frustrated that the BOE has not formally presented Lingle's proposal to the Hawaii State Teachers Association even though the governor had announced her revised plan on Jan. 8.

"It's the third furlough day since Jan. 8," Pang said yesterday. "We believe it could be moving along a lot quicker if the DOE and BOE would get on board and pass the formal proposal along to the HSTA."…

BOE Chairman Garrett Toguchi had said that the board on Jan. 22 sent a letter to the governor requesting additional information and clarification about her proposal. But Pang said yesterday the governor did not receive the letter until her office asked for it on Tuesday.

"We received the letter Feb. 2 and it was dated Jan. 22," Pang said. "We only received it after we called their office. We have not responded back yet. The governor will be responding verbally to the (BOE) chairman soon."

Still No Selection Of Voting Machines

Causing further concern is the possibility that another challenge by a voting machine vendor could further delay the process. To prevent that from happening lawmakers hope to waive the normal procurement process through emergency legislation – House Bill 1901.

“The reason for this bill is to ensure that the general election of 2010 is not impeded by litigation regarding the procurement of election equipment,” State Attorney General Mark Bennett told lawmakers at a Friday hearing before the House Finance Committee….

House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro has scheduled decision making on HB 1901 on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

Rewarding failure: Lawmakers Consider Raising Salaries Of Ed. Officials

HONOLULU -- Hawaii lawmakers on Friday advanced a bill to raise the salaries of the schools superintendent, assistant and deputy superintendents and the state librarian.

The bill removes a cap on the salaries of school leaders that has been in effect for almost 10 years.

The Board of Education said it ~~needs to~~ has a rare chance to get away with offering higher pay as it pretends to searches nationwide for a new superintendent knowing full well they are going to pick Matayoshi.

(This extra pay is absolutely useless as long a the next Sup’t is not directly appointed by the Governor. Abolish the BoE!)

‘Unholy (Education) Trinity’ May Benefit from Hurricane Relief Special Fund Monies, but Raid May Jeopardize Hawaii’s Bond Ratings

The DOE budget shortfall was created when the Board of Education and the Hawaii State Legislature awarded $102.6 million in collective bargaining increases to the unions for the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium.

According to the DOE administration, savings from cancelling school for 17 days this school year and 17 days next year on “Furlough Fridays” amount to $172.8 million for the fiscal biennium.

Those savings will go to pay union raises totaling $205.2 million funded under Act 158. Critics say the Board of Education and the Legislature’s majority voted to pay union employee raises over funding students’ public school education.

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Kihei Furlough Fun Day parents oppose tax increase for DoE

Bridget Bunting, the Kihei PTA president, said the club averages between 25 and 40 students each Friday that teachers and students are not in the classroom.

In this week's session, 38 students showed up from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a variety of activities, including a Mardi Gras parade of masks produced by the children.

On Monday, the Senate committees on Education and Housing; Human Services; and Commerce and Consumer Protection are set to deliberate on Senate Bill 2437 at the State Capitol. The measure proposes to tap the state's hurricane-relief fund to restore instructional days until Jan. 1, 2011, and increase the general excise tax by 1 percent beginning Jan. 1 of next year to put students back in classrooms Fridays.

Marzke said she would back tapping the hurricane-relief fund for the restoration of instructional days, but she does not support raising the general excise tax "because Hawaii is already taxed so high."

Domingo said she doesn't support Senate Bill 2437.

"It's only going to be a Band-Aid fix," she said, adding that she'd prefer state leaders focus on figuring out how to balance the state budget while overhauling the public education system.

"You need to fix the system and look at why we got to where we are today," she said.

"Everything is uncertain up to this point. If we run into the same problem in the future, do we raise taxes again?"

Bunting agreed with Domingo, expressing particular opposition to an excise-tax increase. "You can't continue to bleed the people," she said.

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Kona hospital centering on trauma

The hospital began implementing the procedures to qualify as an American College of Surgeons-designated Level III trauma center Jan. 1; since then, the trauma team has been activated 14 times. The procedure builds on the hospital's existing 24/7 emergency room coverage and the 24/7 availability of a general surgeon, anesthesiologist and other specialists, Trauma Program Coordinator Wendi Wagner said. To be a Level III center, first responders alert the emergency room to the arriving trauma patients; a trauma announcement is made at the hospital and team members assemble in the emergency room prior to the patient's arrival. Previously, Wagner said, paramedics would bring in a patient and then a doctor would begin to assess the patient and request treatment procedures.

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Espero says he will not run in Hawaii special election for Abercrombie's seat

Espero said he would face a handicap in preparation and fundraising given the fact that the special election could be held as early as May and the other contenders have been planning to run for Congress for months.

Espero also said there was some concern locally and nationally that having three Democrats in the race could split the vote and benefit the only Republican.

KHON: State Senator Will Espero Drops Out Of Special Election

State Senate confirms Lingle nominee for Appeals Court

Reifurth was selected by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle and confirmed by the Democrat-controlled Senate today.

Reifurth has served as director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs since 2007. He also has been state insurance commissioner, deputy attorney general and a private lawyer.

Lingle has appointed five judges to the appellate court, 13 to the Circuit Court and two justices to the Hawaii Supreme Court.

(And that’s not nearly enough.)

(Destroyed by welfare) Last member of 65,000-year-old tribe dies, taking one of world's earliest languages to the grave

Boa was born in the jungle of the northern Andamans and grew up in traditional society, learning to gather wild potatoes and hunt for wild pigs, turtles and fish.

In 1970, the Indian Government moved the Great Andamanese tribes to the tiny Strait Island near Port Blair.

Boa lived in a concrete and tin hut provided by the government and survived on state food rations and a pension of about 500 rupees (£6.80) a month.

She recalled: 'She used to say they were better off in the jungle.'

(Destroyed by public housing, food stamps, and welfare.)

Hawaii engineer helps with efforts in Haiti

A structural engineer from Honolulu was sent to Haiti by the Engineering Earthquake Research Institute to see what lessons can be learned, and to help determine if some of the buildings were safe to go back into.

(New enviro scam) Hawaii-ecosystem researcher Peter Vitousek wins Japan Prize (for building foundations for propaganda war against nitrogen fertilizer)

(Watch as the enviros begin their next great chemical scare—this time they are against nitrogen fertilizer, key to sustaining worldwide agricultural production. If they succeed, the result will be starvation for billions of human beings—a key goal for many environmentalists.)

"Peter's work has had a very big impact over 40 years of research, from basic research on nitrogen cycles in the evolving ecology of forest systems in Hawai'i to the application of that work in understanding the role of human activity, including agriculture, in global nitrogen cycles. The work is fundamental to any discussion of mitigation of human impact on our environment."

Vitousek's research into biogeochemical cycles, which included extensive study of Hawaiian ecosystems, yielded groundbreaking knowledge of how human activity such as agriculture can negatively impact fragile ecosystems. Often cited has been his study of how increased levels of reactive nitrogen due to the use of fertilizers have disrupted forest and ocean ecosystems.

In 2001, Time Magazine recognized Vitousek in its list of "America's Best Scientists."

Vitousek says appreciation for what Native Hawaiians were able to accomplish is a "fairly recent" development, one that has come to brighter light as (FAKE FAKE FAKE) estimates of ancient Hawaiian populations have been adjusted upward.

"If it was just a matter of a few thousand people being able to sustain their food production, it would be interesting but not necessarily relevant," he said. "But these were huge populations that were able to be self-sustaining over a long period of time, and that is something we can learn from." so the Hawaiian population fraud is integral to the ban fertilizer movement aimed at eugenics)

Vitousek attributed the growing recognition of his field to a concordantly growing recognition of its immediate relevance. (The global warming scam is playing out and they need something new.)

He said that while high-profile issues such as climate control are getting much-needed public and political attention — "which is appropriate," he said — the warnings they sound are based on models and projections of a distant future.

"What we (study) is what we're doing now," he said. "The amount of relative nitrogen has more than doubled as a result of human activity. This is not a projection; we can see it. This is now." (Paging AlGore. Al Gore please report to Dr Vitousek.)