1959: Martin Luther King Jr Salutes Hawaii Statehood
Maui TEA Party Hosts Pulitzer Prize Winning Cartoonist Michael P Ramirez
Honolulu Charter Commission Discusses Ethics, Police, Fire and Salaries
Rep. Ward: Legislators don’t have to Follow Souki and Ige Against DHHL Funding
VIDEO: Is America Racist?
Hawaii Residents Most Likely to be Living Paycheck to Paycheck
Search for missing Marines finds life rafts but no sign of 12 Marines
Poll: 45% of Native Hawaiians Reject Nai Aupuni
SA: A substantial majority of Hawaii residents supports the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, while a plurality opposes a convention that aims to form a Native Hawaiian government.
But it’s a different story for Native Hawaiians, most of whom oppose the telescope while a narrow majority supports the Na‘i Aupuni convention, or aha….
Some 67 percent of the 619 registered voters queried by Ward Research Inc. of Honolulu said they support moving ahead with construction of the next-generation telescope, while only 27 percent oppose it and 6 percent offered no opinion….
Regarding the Native Hawaiian convention, 49 percent of those surveyed were opposed, while 40 percent backed the effort. Ten percent had no opinion. (That’s just barely outside the 9.6% margin of error.)
When Native Hawaiians were asked, the answers were split, but supporters exceeded foes 48 percent to 45 percent…. (That’s within the 9.6% margin of error, so a statistical tie.)
the effort is still being targeted by litigation, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Friday considered a request for Na‘i Aupuni to be held in civil contempt, could still block the convention.
Lawsuit plaintiff Kelii Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, said, “Clearly, there is no consensus for the Na‘i Aupuni convention, even among Native Hawaiians. The citizens of Hawaii do not want a government- funded, racially exclusive process that divides rather than unites. Instead, most people in Hawaii want to preserve the Hawaiian value of aloha.”
PDF: Hawaii Poll — TMT & Hawaiian election
read … Build telescope, scrap convention, most say
Poll Shows Rail Planners How Much they Can Jack Up Costs
SA: A majority of island residents — 57 percent — said they would prefer to see work on the 20-mile, 21-station system proceed, while 40 percent would like the rail work to stop, according to the survey by Ward Research Inc. for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
It’s the first time that a clear majority have said they would like to see rail work continue since Ward first asked that question in May 2011. The latest results come with rail construction in full swing and potentially severe financial consequences to reversing course now.
Meanwhile, the project’s costs have climbed by about $1.3 billion in the past year or so. The Hawaii Poll results on rail show that majority support to keep the work going will quickly erode if those costs keep climbing….
PDF: Hawaii Poll — Rail Transit
read … Useful Spending Guide
HYCF Overtime Abuse has plagued the facility for years
SA: If it were an anomaly, then perhaps the public would be more forgiving of the $1.17 million in overtime paid to Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) staff last fiscal year. But excessive overtime — accumulated by staffers including a farm manager, grounds- keeper and corrections officers — has plagued the facility for years.
The overtime would be understandable had the inmate population at the facility skyrocketed, but the exact opposite has occurred. The number of youths housed there has dropped drastically to a mere 23, down from 80 to 90 several years ago.
Clearly, HYCF managers have been unable to keep their labor costs in line. A shakeup is in order at the correctional facility, where 14 corrections officers and supervisors and one human services professional were able to earn six-figure salaries thanks to generous overtime policies — all at the taxpayers’ expense.
That such mismanagement has been allowed to continue year in and year out is appalling and needs immediate attention….
Back in 2007, then-state Auditor Marion Higa issued an audit that showed more than a third of the annual earnings of 20 HYCF guards came from overtime, and the facility did not have a system for monitoring sick leave and overtime pay. A decade ago, in fiscal 2005, the facility paid $818,231 in OT to 54 guards at the Windward Oahu facility.
Fast forward to fiscal 2015: Nearly four dozen corrections officers and supervisors earned overtime, many boosting their base pay by more than 30 percent. For instance, one officer earned a base pay of $93,482 that year and worked the equivalent of about 36 hours a week in overtime throughout the year, earning an extra $43,895 in OT.
Further, a groundskeeper, auto mechanic, farm manager, nurse, maintenance supervisor and cooks also raked in overtime.
It’s mind-boggling how the farm manager boosted his base pay by 37 percent, earning a total of about $54,000, plus four weeks of comp time….
SSDF: Hospital Crisis: How to Use Union Work Rules for Fun and Profit
read … OT at youth prison must be reined in
After 20 Years of paying, Tourism authority still owes $317M for convention center
SA: Over the past two decades taxpayers have paid about $450 million toward the cost of the Hawai‘i Convention Center, but lawmakers were told last week the Hawaii Tourism Authority still owes almost as much for the center as when the state first started paying for it in 1995.
The convention center cost $350 million to build, and members of the House Finance and Senate Ways and Means committees were told Tuesday the Hawaii Tourism Authority still owes $317 million in principal and interest for the project.
In other words, the tourism authority still needs to fork over the equivalent of more than 90 percent of the original cost of the center….
read … $317M
Food Injustice Comes to Hawaii (Again)
KE: The Food Justice/Food Sovereignty agenda now being peddled in Hawaii, and elsewhere, is missing several key ingredients….
CBS: Digging for seeds of truth in GMO debate
read … Musings: Food Injustice
Motivated Students Sacrificed to Satisfy Utopian Ideals?
KGI: Incoming ninth-graders and their parents got a surprise recently when they learned advanced classes will not be offered at Kapaa High School next year.
During a meeting last week to discuss a change in curriculum, parents were told honors English and math classes, as well as digital media, which used to be offered though an open-honors system, will not be offered to incoming freshman. The open-honors system allowed upcoming ninth-graders to sign up for classes without needing to test in or get permission.
Tuesday’s meeting left some parents wondering how their child’s needs were going to be met without the option of taking advanced classes.
“My biggest concern is that my child won’t be with peers who have the mindset,” said Missy Hoesel, a Kapaa High School parent. “The students who took honors classes in middle school are a different group of kids — they want to learn and they want to make good grades. And now they don’t have the opportunity to be in an environment that would help them excel.” …
Jill Weiner, another Kapaa High School parent, believes the students are being shortchanged.
“The school is lowering the playing field, and it’s not fair to the students to make them sit and twiddle their thumbs while the rest of the country is becoming competitive,” she said.
But school officials believe Kapaa High School teachers can meet the challenge of catering to different learning abilities. They also said teachers will be able to challenge honors students as well as keeping a steady pace for mainstream students….
some upcoming honors students are concerned teachers won’t be able to keep the classes challenging enough for them.
“I’m worried I won’t go as in-depth as I would in honors classes,” said Weiner’s son, Hershel.
His twin sister, Loren Weiner, said she is worried about being expected to help others.
“I’m not as bothered by distractions because teachers can handle it, and can get the problem out of the classroom,” she said. “But I’m more concerned that I’d be doing most of the work on group projects and will be taking time out of focusing to help others.” (Translation: The administrators are hoping the smart kids will lift up everyone else’s test scores.)
read … Advanced classes will not be offered at Kapaa High School next year
California to Build 10,000 Units for Mentally Ill Homeless
TP: …Last week, a group of Senate Democrats in California proposed a plan to address the issue in their state, with a $2 billion bond that would build new housing for homeless individuals with mental illness. According to Senate president pro tem, Kevin de León, the money — which would be funded by California’s Proposition 63 (passed in 2004 as the Mental Health Act) — would provide enough funding to build 10,000 units.
León also said that he would support another $2 million in general fund revenue (over four years) to be committed to rent subsidies for homeless individuals, as well as an increase in the state’s Supplemental Security Income allotments.
The proposal has received moderate bipartisan support. Sen. Bob Huff (R-San Dimas) noted that supporters are “trying to do something about a persistent problem.” Fomer Sen. Darrell Steinberg, who authored Prop. 63, called it “the boldest proposal to reduce homelessness in a generation, if not longer.” ….
Both Los Angeles and the state of Hawaii recently declared states of emergency due to rising numbers in homelessness. According to Hawaii’s government, it holds the record for the highest per-capita homelessness among the 50 states, with approximately 6,500 homeless individuals, or 465 per 100,000. Hawaii’s answer has been … to house some eligible individuals in grass huts….
read … 10,000 units
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