“The only result the Nai Aupuni process can get is federal recognition”
Maui County Report: Co-op Should Buy MECO Transmission Grid
Buy America! For an extra $3M – this time
Hawaii Family Forum Gearing up for 2016 Legislative Session
Hawaii March for Life Jan 22
VIDEO: RNC member urges Republicans to rally against Trump
VIDEO: Politically Incorrect Hawaiian Punch Prepares You for the Real World
Military releases names of Marines involved in helicopter crash
Poll: Aiona Beats Caldwell 43% to 38%
SA: Former Hawaii Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona insists he has not made up his mind about running for Honolulu mayor, but the latest Hawaii Poll may give him encouragement.
Aiona, who on Friday acknowledged that he is considering a run, came out on top in a three-way poll question asking registered voters whom they’d select as mayor if the election were to occur today, beating out incumbent Kirk Caldwell and the second-most powerful person at Honolulu Hale, City Council Chairman Ernie Martin….
Burris said “it’s to be expected” that Caldwell would finish second to Aiona in a poll at this juncture when the latter is a fairly well-known political figure and the incumbent is the face of the $6.57 billion rail project, the most expensive construction project in Hawaii history….
As for Aiona, the Republican who in the 2014 governor’s race finished second to Democrat David Ige but ahead of independent Mufi Hannemann, his high numbers in a three-way race are likely due, at least in part, to his perennial anti-rail position. Last month, Aiona said he still opposes rail in general but does not have enough information to say he would try to stop the project, or cut it short, if he were to be mayor.
Burris said Aiona’s poll numbers also reflect the “genial image” voters had of him following the last election.
“So people have no reason to have strong negative feelings about him,” he said.
“If Duke actually runs, then (he) has to get into it, and then I think the numbers will shift around a little bit,” he said.
read … Aiona for Mayor
Cronies Fail without Inouye to tell Them What to Think
SA: Bishop Museum is selling off land. HC&S is ending sugar operations. The University of Hawaii is shelving plans for a building in Sen. Dan Inouye’s honor.
More stark reminders of what Hawaii is like without Inouye….
When Inouye died, Hawaii lost more than a reliable source of funding and political influence. For decades, Inouye set policies, established priorities, decided what Hawaii should value, pursue and support. He didn’t grant wishes like Santa. He told us what to wish for. That commanding, paternalistic leadership is what Hawaii is lacking in this moment of unprecedented change. Just about every other elected official either is trying to put out fires with cups of water or to duck responsibilities by focusing on barking dogs or aloha shirt Fridays….
There was a long period of time when just about every major political and business story in Hawaii included a quote from the senator. When it mattered that something happened, it mattered what Inouye had to say about it.
The effects of that loss of leadership are starting to become clear, and with no successor in sight, it could go on for years.
(Translation: Hawaii’s political and business leaders are a bunch of pathetic losers.)
read … Incompetents not ready for real world
Great News: Public labor unions could lose their political clout
SA: Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, which was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Monday, could significantly rebalance state and local political power for the first time since the rise of public sector unions in the 1960s and 1970s….
For decades, such statutes have increased the membership rolls and inflated the coffers of unions for teachers and other government workers, turning them into political powerhouses and the backbone of the Democratic Party. All that could change if the court rules for the plaintiffs….
Stanford University political scientist Terry M. Moe, for instance, found that more than 90 percent of teachers belong to unions in states that permit agency fees. In states that don’t, only 68 percent of teachers are unionized….
Public sector unions became political powerhouses by essentially co-opting the cash, and therefore the voice, of people who opposed their views. … it has made government more expensive for taxpayers and less efficient for everyone else. The Supreme Court has an opportunity to restore some balance….
read … So Sad
Counties Challenge HECO Monopoly
IM: Last week the Honolulu City Council Committee on Executive Matters and Legal Affairs passed Resolution15-214.
“Electrical Service on Oahu. Declaring the Council’s intent to consider all options regarding the provision of electric service, including the investigation of electric utility public ownership on the island of Oahu.” …
The Maui County financed Guernsey Report was released last week. The Report “recommended that Maui County seek an Independent Systems Operator (ISO) or Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) to oversee the electric grid and energy market.” ….
read … Counties Challenge HECO Monopoly
Cheering some pie-in-the-sky idea of agriculture
SA: “So one of the biggest and oldest agricultural businesses and one of the smaller, very entrepreneurial agricultural businesses in the state called it quits,” Whalen said. “What does that tell you? … All those that are cheering and have some pie-in-the-sky idea of agriculture need to ask what became of all the 150,000 acres or so that came out of sugar and pineapple in the last decade or so.”
Don’t bet on the farms
Local economist Paul Brewbaker said Hawaii’s existing landscape with thousands of acres of fallow farmland already paints a dismal picture.
“If there is something that somebody could grow commercially, at scale, on Maui, surely it would already be grown,” he said in an email. “What, West Maui is not big enough? Let me get this straight: the amount of agricultural land on Maui that is not being used by HC&S is larger than all of the urban land in the Hawaiian Islands combined, and it’s not enough for alternate agriculture on Maui?”
MN: Homelessness, hot classrooms and HC&S’ closure
read … Pie in the sky
Community spearheads effort to cool classrooms
SA: The stifling heat at one of Oahu’s oldest public schools jolted the Laie community to find solutions to cool down classrooms. A group of parents, students, teachers and community members formed the initiative “Keep Laie Cool” in September.
With the school at the bottom of the Department of Education’s priority list for the state’s heat-abatement project, they took it upon themselves to reduce the heat.
Jennifer Kajiyama, a parent of a first-grade student at Laie Elementary, is helping to spearhead fundraising efforts and hopes to raise $50,000 by the end of the 2015-2016 school year. The money would go toward installing air-conditioning units for one classroom at every grade level.
As of Friday, the group had raised a little more than $19,000.
Their long-term goal is to install air-conditioning units in all 34 classrooms at the school. Earlier this month, Greenpath Technologies installed two units in one of the portable classroom buildings for sixth graders. The air conditioner is powered by direct sunlight from the solar panels and does not require an inverter. “There’s absolutely zero feedback from the grid,” said company spokeswoman Dana Akasaki.
The cost for each unit is about $7,000….
Last fall, volunteers from Brigham Young University-Hawaii installed insulation in the roofs of buildings E and F, which house first- and third-grade classrooms respectively. The “Keep Laie Cool” initiative bought $2,800 in material that has reduced the heat in classrooms by 12 degrees.
In its ongoing effort to cool down classrooms, the initiative also plans to paint two buildings with a reflective coating and plant more trees on the campus.
To donate to the “Keep Laie Cool” initiative, go to bit.ly/1UW9CGx.
read … Community
Too Many Children Being Placed in Foster Care
SA: The Star-Advertiser’s thoughtful examination of the disproportionate rate at which Native Hawaiians are taken from their parents and placed in foster care (“Hawaiians at risk,” Jan. 10-11) asks the question: Does this happen because of poverty or because of bias?
The most likely answer: Yes.
read … Confusion
Certificate of need process limiting isle health care options
MN: Good health care can be hard to find on Maui, especially for those in the final stages of life. This is partly because of certificate of need (CON) laws, which effectively prohibit new health care opportunities from entering the marketplace.
The CON laws give competitors the ability to petition the government to block out new health care centers from entering the market. This has resulted in fewer health care options for Maui residents.
According to a recent study by the George Mason University Mercatus Center, Hawaii ranks third in the nation for the number of CON laws. By preventing competition in the marketplace, businesses that have the fortune of being approved to operate through the CON process may charge a higher price for their services than they otherwise could….
read … Grassroot Institute
DoTax Helping Illegal TVRs
SA: The Rental by Owner Awareness Association was formed in 2012 when bills introduced in the Legislature to catch illegal TVRs inadvertently caught legal operators in the net.
One of our roles is to disseminate information to assist operators in understanding and complying with the laws.
But as the Star-Advertiser noted in recent commentaries and articles, TVR laws have lacked enforcement (“TAT already applies to TVRs but state lacks capability to ensure compliance,” Island Voices, Dec. 13).
This has hurt everyone but the illegals.
Owners of legal vacation-rental properties saw their obligations increase.
Neighborhoods beset by illegal operations saw no change.
Providers of other accommodation, such as hoteliers, saw that illegals could continue to operate with impunity.
Without enforcement of laws — be they speed laws, crime laws or vacation-rental laws — those who act outside the law win….
Background: TAT Already Applies to TVRs—but DoTax Not Enforcing it
read … Illegals
Easy money: Slush fund gives Hawaii County Councilmembers spending power
HTH: A few thousand dollars here, a few thousand there. Pretty soon it starts to add up.
In the case of a special County Council fund for contingencies, it adds up to $900,000. Each council member at the beginning of the fiscal year received $100,000. The money can be distributed to county departments and nonprofits, but each allocation must be approved by the council.
Contingency funds were resumed in 2013 following a four-year pause because of the economic downturn. Prior to the downturn, each council member got $300,000.
The council so far this year has spent $376,587, leaving a balance of $523,413 to be spent before the fiscal year ends June 30, Deputy Finance Director Lisa Miura said Thursday. Money not spent reverts to the general fund….
Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi several years ago tried to change the county code so that money from the contingency funds could go only to county departments for their use rather than go to nonprofits….
Onishi was unsuccessful in his reforms.
Critics in the past called the contingency relief funds a slush fund that could be used to bolster reelection chances. Council members interviewed generally said they found it a useful way to meet the needs of their constituents.
Onishi said removing the ability to give money to nonprofits would go a long way toward removing that political tinge….
read … Easy Money
Birtherism Continues to Serve Democrats Well
Shapiro: After seven years of nonsense from the right fringe disputing President Barack Obama’s Hawaii birth, it’s delicious to see the GOP become entangled in its own birther squabble involving Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Not surprisingly, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has been the ringmaster of both circuses….
Nevermind that Obama had posted a copy of his birth certificate on the Internet and that Hawaii’s Republican Gov. Linda Lingle had vouched for its validity.
Trump vowed to send investigators to Hawaii to uncover the “truth,” a promise never fulfilled….
State Sen. Sam Slom, Hawaii’s highest-ranking Republican elected official, is treading a middle ground.
When Trump revived the Obama birth conspiracy in 2011, Slom would only go so far as to say Obama was “probably” born in Hawaii and agreed there was “a legitimate issue” about the president’s birth.
Slom, who supports Ben Carson for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, takes a similar position on the Trump-Cruz dispute.
“I think it is a legitimate question and smart tactical move on Trump’s part, but everything I’ve read points to citizenship,” Slom said….
read … Birtherism
Kailua Boat Death Tied to Hare Krishna Cult?
FR: The tragic death of a beloved Kailua man (Sri Shim, 59) and the severe injuries caused to his stepson (Trey Albrecht, 25) have Kailua residents in an uproar. People are asking about the unidentified operator of a boat that was the apparent cause of the death and injuries. Rumors abound that the operator is a follower of cult leader and Lanikai resident, Chris Butler….
the TV program 60 minutes has been contacted by multiple Kailuans and the local gossip has heated up on this Facebook page, My Kailua….
A similar boat videoed by cult members while operating at a high speed and close to the Lanikai shore and swimmers….
HNN: Boat operator in fatal Kailua boating accident known for speeding
read … Cult Boat?
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