Interior Department Funds Guam ‘Self-Determination’ Outreach
Chief Justice Seeks Public Comment on 3rd District Court Nominees
HR21: Development Land Swap for Great Lawn in Hawaii Kai
Complete List: Bills that Passed First Crossover
Grand jury in Kenoi case issues subpoenas
HNN: A Hilo grand jury will meet March 23 to investigate potential theft charges against Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi.
Hawaii News Now has learned that the panel has issued subpoenas to several county staffers about Kenoi's use of his government credit card.
Since taking office, Kenoi racked up more than $120,000 on his government credit card on meals and lodging at high end hotels and restaurants. He also used the card at Oahu hostess bars such as the Club Evergreen and the Camelot Restaurant Lounge.
Sources say investigators have narrowed their case to a handful of transactions. Legal experts say that's an appropriate strategy….
Kenoi has said he always planned to pay back the money. But investigators want to show that he only did so after he was warned or told to return the money.
Former Big Island Mayor Harry Kim recalls telling Kenoi not to use the card for personal expenses back when he hired him as his executive assistant.
"I just told him you have to be very very careful how we use this pCard," said Kim. "People trust us with this card."
Kim says Kenoi -- whose attorney declined comment today -- has lost the trust of voters on the Big Island.
"Yes it is overdue," Kim said. "This is way overdue."
read … Subpoenas
Caldwell Makes Excuses for not asking police chief to go on leave during FBI probe
HNN: …"He assures me that he's done nothing wrong," Mayor Kirk Caldwell said, on HNN Sunrise.
When asked whether he made any effort to find out what was going on with the case, Caldwell said, "I would think that if the federal government had information that they think was important to share with me as mayor or with Keith Kaneshiro as prosecutor, they would share that information."
The FBI is investigating whether Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, Katherine, used their positions for personal gain and that they violated the civil rights of a family member.
Hawaii News Now reported last week that the case is expanding, and all stems from a bitter family dispute over money.
read … Go on leave
Legislature: Lets Make it Easier to Pass Around the Campaign Cash
CB: Hawaii law prohibits political candidates from using their own campaign funds to support the campaigns of other candidates.
But some state legislators and other officeholders have long gotten around the ban through a loophole that lets them buy up to two tickets to another politician’s fundraiser for an amount often equal to the maximum allowable individual campaign contribution.
Now the Legislature is considering a bill that would remove the need to hold a fundraiser and simply allow direct campaign donations between candidates — something critics contend amounts to buying influence.
Even without the bill, in the past three years alone more than 70 politicians have transferred a total of about $200,000 of their own campaign money to other candidates, according to state Campaign Spending Commission data.
The vast majority who do so are in the Legislature, predominantly members of the House. A handful of the most powerful lawmakers account for the bulk of this type of spending.
Rep. Sylvia Luke, who chairs the Finance Committee, tops the list, having doled out $26,600 of her own campaign money to other candidates from Nov. 7, 2012, to Dec. 31, 2015, according to Campaign Spending Commission data.
Doing so hardly made a dent in her campaign war chest. She was sitting on just over $150,000 at the end of last year, in large part due to the influential position she holds as chair of the committee that shepherds the overall state budget bill and other legislation with financial components.
Senate President Ron Kouchi was next-highest. He gave $21,800 of his campaign money to other candidates over the last three years, followed by House Majority Leader Scott Saiki at $13,500.
Critics say it’s a blatant attempt by legislators to solidify their support base and maintain control. The money is often given to lawmakers who were just elected or to those with limited campaign funds, and it’s also used to try ousting incumbents by propping up challengers.
“If you happen to be an incumbent with a healthy balance in your campaign fund, this enables you to create loyalty by simply writing a check to a less well-funded colleague,” said Janet Mason, who co-chairs the legislative committee for the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.
CB: Let’s Raise Some Cash During Session!
read … Buy and Trade
GEMS for DoE plan hits delay
SA: …For the second time this year, Ige is urging lawmakers to fast-track bills that would authorize funding for the classroom work, but key lawmakers in the House and Senate say Ige will have to wait.
Both Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Jill Tokuda and House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke said Ige’s cool-the-schools initiative needs to fit into the overall state budget, which will not be completed until late next month….
Ige … wrote to House and Senate lawmakers Feb. 12 and again Thursday requesting “immediate consideration and passage” of bills that would allow the schools cooling initiative to move forward quickly.
The House earlier this month approved House Bill 2569, a version of the Ige initiative that would allow the state to borrow $100 million in GEMS funding for the schools initiative. However, Luke pointed out that bill also includes an appropriation for $7 million from the general treasury to begin paying the interest on the borrowed money.
Luke described Ige’s fast-tracking request as “problematic” because lawmakers don’t usually approve appropriations or spending bills until the entire budget has been completed.
read … Cool-the-schools plan hits delay
HTA against shifting $3M to UH sports
SA: On Wednesday HTA also will provide comments to a state Senate committee on House Bill 1847, which would create and fund a sports and entertainment authority. Likewise, HTA will discuss House Bill 2229, which creates and funds a sports task force for the state. HB 1847 will be heard at 1:15 p.m. in Room 414, followed by HB 2229 at 1:20 p.m….
read … HTA against shifting $3M to UH sports
SB2244: No Pension for Judges Unless They are reappointed
ILind: …The bill would require judges appointed after June 30, 2016 to serve 12 years and reach the age of 60 before being eligible for retirement.
Judges currently are appointed to 10 year terms. Senior attorneys appointed to serve on the Intermediate Court of Appeals or the Hawaii Supreme Court would be most likely to be impacted by the bill. Even after serving out a full ten year term, they would not qualify for any retirement unless reappointed and serving at least two more years….
SB2244: Text, Status
read … Another bill targeting judges up for public hearing tomorrow (March 15)
Transparency-Related Bills Before Legislature
SA: Senate Bill 2121, which would make permanent a temporary provision that for the past two years allowed public agency boards to have “limited meetings” that are not required to be open to the public….
>> SB 2439 would allow more freedom for persons to make a video, audio or photographic record of an on-duty law enforcement officer in a public place or location where the officer has no expectation of privacy. The bill, which deserves further consideration, would exempt that person from charges of obstructing government operations and violating privacy in the second degree.
>> SB 1194 requires the electronic filing of lobbyist disclosure statements, and that the filed statements be posted online. This bill should advance.
>> Advocates for SB 2912, a measure that would establish a statewide integrated sex offender treatment program, have not made a persuasive case why the interagency coordinating body developing the program should be exempt from the state Sunshine Law.
read … Keep government open to the public
HB2501: With Sugar Dead, Usual Suspects Fight to Take Away Ag Water
State Fines Costco $16K for Helping With Hurricane Relief
State officials trace the problem back to October 2015.
Costco brought in pallets and pallets of water to meet the demand for supplies during the close calls we had during last year's hurricane season.
But customers across the state are just finding out those bottles are being rejected by recycling centers because they don't have the proper Hi-5 labels….
Costco said it brought in shipping containers full of the bottles, and six months later, customers are still trying to bring them into the redemption centers
"If you purchased any of the unlabeled containers you can take it back to Costco. Or if you have the receipt, I believe their inventory can tell and verify it that way, and they will reimbursed them the five cents," said the State Health Department’s Steve Chang.
The state said it fined Costco $16,000 for improper labeling after it began seeing the containers on the neighbor islands last fall.
“So, one-point-two million containers were brought into the state. Costco chose not to pull them and continued selling them so we cited them for the penalty,” said Chang.
read … Guess They Won’t Make That Mistake Next Time There’s a Hurricane Warning
1,000 Apply for 84 Affordable Rentals in Pearl City
HNN: …Nearly 1,000 people have applied for the 84 units at Kalaupapa Ohana, which apartment managers say is move-in ready.
City and state officials say they're excited about the families the project will house in the future and the legacy it commemorates.
There are minimum and maximum income requirements for tenants. Two bedrooms start around $495 a month, with three bedrooms reaching no more than $1,300 a month. Section 8 vouchers will be accepted.
read … Affordable
Declining oil prices lead to lower Electric Bills
MN: Maui Electric Co.'s fossil-fuel generation costs, lowered by declining oil prices worldwide that have benefitted customers, have dipped below the fixed price the utility pays for wind power.
In a filing with the state Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 26, MECO reported its fossil-fuel generation cost in January at 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. (Stories published Feb. 23 and 24 about new solar power purchase agreements and wind-power dumping, respectively, listed the price incorrectly.)
MECO has power purchase agreements with the Kaheawa and Auwahi wind farms to pay 12 cents per kWh for electricity….
MECO has fixed price contracts for wind power and is working on power purchase agreements with proposed solar farms in Kihei and Lahaina for 11 cents per kWh. The utility also reworked its power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. for a fixed 19.1 cents per kWh for scheduled power, untying the rate from the price of oil. That contract will be ending with the close of sugar operations at the end of the year.
Decker said that the outlook for oil prices is "relatively stable" over the next few years….
SA: Oahu residents to see lowest electricity bills in over 6 years
read … Declining oil prices lead to lower bills from Maui Electric
Planning director calls for revoking permits for Aina Lea golf courses
HTH: It’s been two dozen years of false starts and lawsuits for Aina Lea, where a series of massive development plans have come and gone for 3,000 acres in South Kohala.
Now, the latest rendition of the struggling project is set to lose the permits that would have theoretically allowed the development of six 18-hole championship golf courses on the land. Hawaii County Planning Director Duane Kanuha is recommending that the Leeward Planning Commission revoke the permit for the courses issued in 1991, saying the repeated delays in construction have left the project in violation of conditions set during its approval.
In part, it’s been a story of closing doors and missed opportunities, although one of the developers said they’ll continue to pursue some development.
“We are actually moving forward,” said Robert Wessels, CEO and manager of DW Aina Lea.
When Aina Lea first got county approval to build the courses and a golf teaching academy, the county zoning for the land was unplanned. Five years later, county code was amended to put an agricultural designation on all lands in the unplanned category. Then, in 2005, the state Legislature passed Act 205 prohibiting golf courses and driving ranges on agricultural land.
Theoretically, Aina Lea’s golf courses could have been “grandfathered,” if the construction of three courses was completed by 2011 as required, following multiple time extensions. Instead, a plan that once encompassed hundreds of town homes and timeshares, parks, trails, commercial area and ball fields — continued to languish.
Today, Bridge Aina Lea owns a 1,900-acre portion of the land zoned agriculture, and DW Aina Lea owns a 1,060-acre tract designated urban. Infrastructure work is underway at the latter tract now, Wessels said.
Construction on The Villages at Aina Lea could begin in April, he said.
read … Planning director calls for revoking permits for Aina Lea golf courses
Soft on Crime: Tweeker Gets Probation for Near-Fatal Shooting--Surprisingly She’s Back at it Again
WHT: Police said Randi-Keli Banagan, 24, of Captain Cook, got out of a silver or gray van and pointed what appeared to be a black handgun at two 17-year-old girls and a 17-year-old boy….
Banagan is on probation for a shooting on Waiono Meadows Road on March 29, 2014, that left a bullet lodged near the victim’s heart. The victim said during a preliminary hearing that he recognized Banagan and had a heated exchange with her before she shot him.
“She looked at me,” the victim said during the 2014 court hearing. “We had previous problems before. She does not like me. She reached in the middle (of the car) and grabbed a gun.”
That case proceeded at the same time as one for stealing a vehicle.
The defense twice entered a request for an order to suspend proceedings while Banagan underwent a mental evaluation. The state opposed neither motion. She was found fit and pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, which was reduced from the original attempted murder charge, illegal place to keep a loaded firearm and promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree. The remaining 27 counts were dismissed with prejudice.
Judge Elizabeth Strance ordered a sentence of 18 months in prison, along with five years of probation.
However, she included the option that Banagan could get out of prison if she entered a facility that treats substance abuse and addresses mental health. She was also ordered to complete anger management and substance abuse treatment.
In a Aug. 17 hearing defense counsel Dean Kauka said they had been waiting for a treatment facility to have space. However, that did not occur before the 18 months were up, according to court documents, and she was placed on probation on Sept. 18.
On Dec. 24, the prosecution filed for a warrant to arrest her on a revocation of probation. She was arrested on Jan. 5 and posted a $5,000 cash bond, according to court records.
In a Feb. 19 hearing, Banagan admitted to using meth in violation of her probation.
read … Soft on Crime
SB2309: Untested Rape Kits
CB: …Although minor differences between bills passed in both the Senate and House last week must still be resolved, if the legislation becomes law rape kits gathering dust for years will be counted and many of them eventually tested. Specific deadlines for submitting and testing new rape kits also will be established.
The House Human Services Committee was slated to hear Senate Bill 2309 on Tuesday. A companion measure, House Bill 1907, is scheduled to be heard Thursday in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
What the final bill will almost certainly include is the creation of a rape kit tracking program requiring an inventory of all untested rape kits collected before July 2016 and mandating those kits subject to criminal investigation be analyzed….
read … Untested Rape Kits: Hawaii Isn’t The Only State Struggling With A Backlog
If Hawaii Had Dictatorship Like Cuba, We Could Shut Down Anti-Pesticide Nuts and Spray to Stop Dengue, Zika
CB: Hawaii recently had its first cases — involving people who had been traveling abroad. Cuba, meanwhile, has remained one of the only vulnerable countries in our hemisphere tocompletely avoid Zika cases. How is this possible?
Cuba has performed aggressive door-to-door mosquito spraying. It is using 9,000 soldiers in the spraying to decrease the mosquito species that spreads the virus. Cuba is about 42,500 square miles, or 10 times larger than the Big Island.
In Hawaii, meanwhile, spraying has been much more limited. This means Zika will likely come to Hawaii, and people may die. Why has a developing nation with extremely limited resources been able to conduct much stronger public health strategies than the state of Hawaii in the richest country on Earth? ….
Reality for those who can handle it: Dengue Here, Zika Coming but 75% of South Kona Properties Go Unsprayed due to Anti-Pesticide Fanaticism
read … Just Need Dictatorship
Dem Presidential Caucus a Test of Strength for Anti-GMO Nuts
SA: We are a dozen days away from the Hawaii Democratic caucus selection and it is shaping up to be a competitive race….
There is a Hawaii angle to the national Sanders campaign, because not only did Hawaii’s U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard endorse Sanders, she has become the warm-up act for Sanders’ speeches across the country.
Last week, Gabbard introduced Sanders to 5,000 in Gainesville, Fla., warmed up a crowd of 4,000 in Raleigh, N.C., and got an estimated 4,800 up and cheering for Sanders at Missouri State University.
In an article datelined Kissimmee, Fla., The Washington Post said Gabbard “arguably does more to articulate Sanders’s views on foreign policy than he does.”
Meanwhile, back in Honolulu, the Clinton campaign’s latest statement notes that “prominent leaders from Hawaii’s Japanese-American community” are endorsing Clinton….
It is estimated by campaign insiders that while Clinton will draw the the establishment Democrats and organized labor, Sanders is going to do well with the young and those in the campaigns to ban GMO plants and foods.
Veteran Democratic campaigner, Bart Dame, is the official spokesman for the local Sanders campaign. He explained that he was planning this week to meet with both environmental and Hawaii groups to push for support for Sanders.
“We have no real idea of how we are doing, but we are encountering a lot of enthusiasm,” Dame said….
read … Redshirts Coming March 26
Trump gets huge win in Northern Mariana Islands GOP caucus
AP: The party says the billionaire businessman won almost 73 percent of the vote in Tuesday's caucus. He will get all nine delegates from the U.S. territory.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz came in second with 24 percent of the vote, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio finished a distant third and fourth, respectively….
The party said a total of 471 people voted.
read … 73%
Legislative News:
QUICK HITS: