Hawaii Land Use Laws Violate Fair Housing Act
Federal Recognition: How Robin Danner Made $11.9M
Hawaii Anti-Gun Bills: One Down, Three to Go
Willes Lee Succeeds Sharon Angle as President of National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Honolulu's mayor, Hawaii's members of Congress may face no re-election opposition
HNN: With only a little more than two months to go before this year's filing deadline for political candidates, no well-known challengers have emerged yet to run against Honolulu's mayor and Hawaii’s Congressional delegation.
June 7 is the deadline for politicians to file their nomination papers to run for office.
UH Manoa Political Science Professor Colin Moore, a Hawaii News Now political analyst, said that "it's troubling that incumbents here can so easily keep their seats. Why? Because sacred politicians are responsive politicians." ….
Former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, who told Hawaii News Now he's decided whether to run for mayor but is not ready to go public, had just $18,871 in campaign funds as of late 2015.
Former Mayor Peter Carlisle, who has no money in his campaign account, said this when asked if he will run for mayor: “I would say that I'm leaning towards it but I would necessarily have to include my wife and children in the equation and they may have a veto." ….
Former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou, a Republican, has just $6,284 in his campaign account.
Djou said that he's “not actively planning any campaign for myself right now, but I’m not ruling anything out.” ….
Related: Who’s Running: Candidates Pulling Papers as of March 24, 2016
read … Why Aren’t YOU Running?
Pflueger Kills 8 at Ka Loko, Legislature Giving Him $10M Buy Out
HNN: …A measure to issue up to $10 million in revenue bonds to rebuild the dam has sailed through both houses of the Legislature, with the backing of Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair Suzanne Case. "This is not a giveaway. We have to pay the money and the interest. The only thing that is happening here is the state is allowing us to have a slightly lower interest rate and slightly longer term," said Ricky Cassiday, trustee of the Mary Lucas Estate.
The plan calls for revenue bonds to be issued on behalf of the Mary Lucas Trust, which owns half of the Ka Loko Reservoir. The proceeds would be used for repairs and to buy out retired car dealer Jimmy Pflueger, who owns the other half of the reservoir and the land nearby….
Pflueger was accused of filling in the emergency spillway for the dam, which burst on March 14, 2006, killing seven people (and an unborn baby makes eight). He later pleaded no contest to reckless endangering….
read … $10M for Killer
Lawyer: Kenoi Not Quite a Thief
HTH: …Mayor Billy Kenoi pleaded not guilty today to charges related to his use of a county credit card.
His trial is scheduled to start July 18.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura oversaw his arraignment but said he didn’t know what judge would handle the trial….
…The most serious offenses, two counts of second-degree theft, are Class C felonies which carry a possible five-year prison term and $10,000 fine upon conviction. The other charges are misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors.
“It’s an overreach to call him a thief, and it’s fighting words,” Eddins said. “And Mayor Kenoi is going to fight these allegations all the way.”
Eddins called Honolulu media reports that Kenoi turned down a possible plea deal before his March 23 indictment by a Hilo grand jury “false information.”
“There have been numerous leaks from the attorney general’s office, and we don’t comment on leaks from the attorney general’s office,” he said.
Criminal cases seldom go to trial on the first set date. Eddins said it’s “hard to say at this point” whether Kenoi’s case will go to trial while he is still mayor.
Related:
read … Not Quite
Transparency Could Have Saved Billy Kenoi from Himself
ILind: …in our current political environment, far too many requests for disclosure of government records are met with veiled hostility and behind-the-scenes resistance from agency employees, who understand that their elected bosses are not champions of transparency.
Elected officials often pay lip service to openness, but in practice are loath to let the press and the public in on their secrets. Under those circumstances, the mayor thought he was safe from public scrutiny. And he was, for years.
And the way these things work is that getting away with the risky once or twice encourages the behavior to continue and usually to escalate.
If Kenoi had been encouraged to stay on the right side of that thin edge of ethics by the understanding that his spending records wouldn’t stay secret for long, he might have made different choices, and would now be looking at a run for higher office instead of a high-profile criminal trial.
So let’s do all of our public officials a big favor and save them from themselves by demanding more transparency at all levels of government….
HTH: Connecting the dots: What we know about the charges from Kenoi’s indictment
ILind: Ironically, Sunshine could have kept Kenoi out of trouble
read … Kenoi Had Good Reason To Think He Could Misuse Funds
Airport Authority Would Cut OHA out of Greenmail Action
SA: Senate Bill 3072 would establish an airport authority governed by a five-member board that would oversee all airport operations, including land dispositions….
DOT’s track record does not instill confidence that creation of an airport authority would improve operations, including the handling of land transactions.
The department, for instance, has struggled to expend its federal funding for highways — and to some extent its airports — for repairs, maintenance and new construction, risking the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.
While the state would argue that the DOT has issued its own revocable permits since 1993 when BLNR delegated that authority to the agency, a recent attorney general opinion concluded that the delegation was improper. But rather than comply with the law as written, Gov. David Ige’s administration is seeking to change it….
Under Ige administration-proposed HB 2407, DOT would have sole authority over negotiated agreements, including long-term leases, for airport and harbor lands. House Bill 2408 would remove BLNR from the approval process for revocable permits.
Both measures overwhelmingly passed the House, but appear doomed in the Senate where Transportation and Energy Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Inouye has no plans to schedule a hearing….
SB 3072, however, is scheduled to be heard by the House Finance Committee at 11 a.m. Friday. DOT argues it would be better able to address historical, cultural and environmental concerns through an airport authority, yet it fails to specify how.
Just last month, Native Hawaiian salt makers were able to voice their opposition to a proposal that would have allowed a helicopter operation at tiny Port Allen Airport on Kauai to increase the state land it leases there by a third. The salt makers, who contend the expansion would negatively affect salt ponds in the area, urged BLNR to reject the lease and the proposal was removed from BLNR’s Feb. 26 agenda.
The DOT’s outright dismissal of the salt makers’ concerns gives little assurance that it would be inclined to listen to public sentiment….
Salt Makers in Action: Office of Hawaiian Affairs Blocks Kauai Drug Treatment Facility
read … DOT-related bills would diminish transparency
Queens Hospital: 639 Homeless Patients Last Year
SA: Nielsen, 62, a longtime fixture at the homeless encampment at Atkinson Drive and Ala Moana Boulevard across from Ala Moana Center, recently spent 20 days at Queen’s for a strep infection in her right toe that required surgery while also recovering from a torn retina, which she sustained after being punched in the right eye by another homeless person….
Last year, Queen’s referred 639 homeless patients like Nielsen to IHS’ shelters, where it’s difficult for them to get the proper follow-up medical treatment they require after being discharged from the hospital….
IHS estimates that the eight beds in Tutu Bert’s House conservatively will save taxpayers $2.68 million every year in Medicaid costs that would have been used to treat homeless patients at Queen’s.
“Many require a high level of medical care and it’s really difficult to care for these patients at the shelter,” Mitchell said. “And a shelter is not a good place for people to recover, especially if they require intravenous antibiotics. We have a real need for this type of housing.”….
Terry Lauro, 54, was discharged from Queen’s two weeks ago after surgery for a painful bacteria-borne skin infection from both ankles to her knees called cellulitis, which can lead to blood clots.
It took three Queen’s surgeons seven hours to “clean me up,” Lauro said.
Lauro requires antibiotic IV injections three times a day to prevent infection and blood clots and said it would be nearly impossible to keep her legs clean on the street.
She spent seven years, off and on, homeless from Waikiki to Honolulu Airport sleeping in “parks, beaches, benches.” ….
read … Discharged hospital patients find care, shelter at Tutu Bert’s House
Lets Give Dope to Little Kids and Make Your Insurance Pay for It
CB: …Today, at age 7, MJ is alert, her cognitive ability has improved and she can walk with assistance. Most importantly, although she still has seizures, they are dramatically reduced both in severity and quantity. Her quality of life has improved. She and our entire family now have more freedom. Why? Medical marijuana….
(Lets give weed to all the little kiddies!)
Medical cannabis is not covered by Hawaii’s health insurance providers and is not tax-deductible because cannabis is listed as a federal Schedule I drug. This places a major financial burden on those patients already struggling financially. Hawaii’s Act 241 (2015) and the Administrative Rules governing Medical Cannabis Dispensaries prohibits the provision of product at no cost to patients in need….
(Lets make HMSA pay!)
read … Rate Hike Coming
Legislators: Insurance Companies Must Pay $54M a Year for Trannies’ Hormones
HNN: A measure moving through the state Legislature would address the issue, prohibiting health insurance companies from deciding whether a procedure is covered based on a person's actual or perceived gender identity.
Rebecca Copeland, of Equality Hawaii, said many of the state's 15,000 transgenders are denied insurance coverage for a variety of treatments….
"If I put a wig and high heels on and I want to go get a Pap smear, the doctor has to affirm my fantasy, the way the law is written, and go along with this for me because 'all the other girls' are getting it done," he said….
Southiphong's medical insurer does pay for hormone replacement therapy. Without coverage, the monthly bill would be up to $300 per treatment….
(Do the math: 15K trannies x $300/mo x 12 mos = $54M)
KHON: Child Molester Wanted for Burglary?
read … Rate Hike Coming
Big Island Farmer Quits After 30 Years—Wants to Grow Weed
PBN: Hamakua Springs Country Farms on the Big Island of Hawaii is shutting down on Thursday after being in business for more than three decades, its owner confirmed to PBN.
The 600-acre banana and hydroponic vegetable farm in Hilo, once known for its tasty tomatoes, may be turned into a grow operation for medical marijuana.
read … Dopey Future
DoH Debunks Anti-Dairy Farm Hype
KGI: …“The Department of Health has investigated the high bacteria level in Waiopili Stream to see if it is caused by sewage, and our survey found no human sources,” said Keith Kawaoka, DOH deputy director of environmental health in a news release. “The high bacteria appear to be from animal sources and soil, enhanced by the natural canopy of trees that prevent sunlight from killing bacteria in the ditch.”
The area is also the site of a proposed 575-acre dairy farm roughly two miles north of the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa.
Amy Hennessey, director of communications for Hawaii Dairy Farms, the organization proposing the dairy, said the DOH survey will help with their voluntary environmental impact statement and the diary’s future plans.
“After months of dairy opponents accusing HDF of being the cause of high bacteria levels in Waiopili Ditch, it’s reaffirming to have these results released to the public,” Hennessey said. “The facts are plainly stated and backed up by solid scientific testing.”
HDOH said the study was prompted by the Surfrider Kauai Chapter’s (work on behalf of the Hyatt, hyping pretend) concerns about the high bacteria levels in the stream and their request to post warning signs at the stream…..
KGI: EPA investigates Syngenta incident
read … Debunked
Anti-Dairy Farm Protesters are Source of Pollution
KE: …it turns out the real problem may be the doo doo produced by Bridget, the Hyatt and its guests and other anti-ag agitators on the southshore:
DOH is concerned that the large number of injection wells and cesspools in the adjacent Poipu/Koloa watershed may adversely impact the waters of the Waiopili Ditch. The geological and hydrological composition of the watershed indicate that these facilities may contribute to the high levels of enterococci detected in the Waiopili Ditch via the groundwater.
A portion of the injection wells and cesspools in the Poipu/Koloa watershed are located very close to the ocean, further leading to concerns that the beach fronting the Mahaulepu watershed may also be adversely impacted by the adjacent watershed.
In other words, tourists themselves may be polluting what Councilman Gary Hooser termed the “crown jewel of our visitor industry” while blasting the dairy. Oh, the irony. But hey, let's blame the dairy, even though it has yet to bring in a single cow.
read … Protesters are Full of S***
DoE Facilities Branch is Dysfunctional
MN: …West Maui state Rep. Angus McKelvey…responded to an Oahu legislator's attempt to redirect funds for the South Maui high school to a school in his district.
"The problem is the inability of the state to build new high schools at all," McKelvey said in a Maui News story Sunday. "The Kihei high school should have been built 15 years ago."
Andrew Beerer, chairman of the Kihei High School Action Team, agreed with McKelvey, calling for reform of "the dysfunctional aspects of the DOE facilities branch."
The story also quoted Beerer as making this sad observation:
"It is a painful irony that Hawaii is the newest state in the union, yet we have the oldest schools of any state."
Beerer said the average age of a school in Hawaii is 60 years old.
read … Dysfunctional
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