Who Dreamed up this Billion Dollar Fed Wreck Scheme?
SB2659: Legislators Pass ‘Industrial Hemp Bill’
Farming Entrepreneurs
Maui Dancing Law Update
Chief Justice Seeks Public Comment on Judicial Nominees
Taxpayers Bear the Burden of the State's Promises
Ige: Legislative Session ‘Successful’
Midweek Liberal Lovefest
9th Circuit Court Hears Hawaii Democrats Lawsuit for Closed Primary
SA: …Hawaii Democrats claim the state’s open primary violates their free association rights under the First Amendment because all voters can participate. U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright in Honolulu ruled against the Democrats in 2013, but the party appealed, and arguments were heard Wednesday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Pioneer Courthouse in Portland.
Tony Gill, an attorney for the Democratic Party of Hawaii, said voters have no right to participate in party primaries unless they are willing to publicly affiliate with the party, preferably a month or two before the vote….
Judge Andrew Hurwitz said primary voters “may be died-in-the-wool Democrats who don’t care to join your organization,” adding, “How do we know that you’ve actually been required to associate with ‘bad guys,’ if you’ll use my term?” ….
Tallman questioned whether Hawaii Democrats would impose a “litmus test” on platform issues before allowing people to join and vote in primaries…..
Hawaii Democrats brought the lawsuit based on California Democratic Party vs. Jones, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000 that threw out a blanket primary system in California in which voters were allowed to choose from all candidates regardless of party….
The 9th Circuit has issued conflicting rulings on the subject.
In Arizona, Libertarian Party vs. Bayless in 2003, the appeals court upheld a challenge by Libertarians to a semiclosed primary because nonmembers were allowed to help choose the party’s precinct committeemen. But the appeals court refused to apply the ruling to Democrats and Republicans because of a lack of evidence about the impact.
In Democratic Party of Washington State vs. Reed in 2003, the appeals court found that a blanket primary is an unconstitutional violation of free association regardless of whether the political parties showed proof.
The 9th Circuit, which is also reviewing an open primary lawsuit from Montana Republicans, will take the arguments from Gill and Marie-Iha under advisement….
“What matters to a Democrat is the survival of the Democratic Party as an organization,” he said. “And people who say, ‘I will walk away if I don’t get my candidate,’ are not Democrats.”
read … Open primaries: Dems appear unhurt, judges say
Bishop Museum CEO Allegedly Ran up $60K Personal Expenses on Museum Credit Card
HNN: Hawaii News Now has learned that CEO Blair Collis used his Bishop Museum credit card to make more than $60,000 in apparently personal purchases. They include travel expenditures, iTunes downloads, charges at Bed Bath and Beyond, and wine purchases at Tamura's Fine Wine & Liquors….
State Sen. Will Espero said he also sees a need for greater transparency because the museum gets a significant amount in state support.
"They need to be open with the public and let the public understand the extent of the problems they are having," he said.
The credit card expenses are now under investigation by state Attorney General Doug Chin. If they're found to be improper, the museum could face fines.
Sources say that Collis has paid back much of the money. But many complain that the questionable expenditures come at a time the organization is struggling for cash….
PBN: What Hawaii nonprofits can learn from Bishop Museum loan investigation
read … Bishop Museum CEO credit card controversy widens
HEI Shareholders: How Much to Buy the Governor?
IM: Connie Lau described the $90 million issue. “Under the merger agreement, at June the third, actually either side can walk at that point, we would be owed a termination fee by NextEra if they decided that they were going to walk, but what we would do is, I think a lot depends on the Public Utilities Commission, and where they are in their decision-making process.” …
Another shareholder addressed Jeff Watanabe, Chair of the HEI Board. “Jeff, what`s it going to take to get the Governor on board. The Governor appointed the PUC Chairman, who`s at the PUC. We`re at their mercy. Why can’t we get the Governor on board? What is it going to take, money?” …
She went on to say, “I think the fact that we voted for it shows, how forward thinking we are. Maybe we should give the Governor a ticket there …That`s what we should do, pay his way.”
To a great deal of laughter, HEI Executives joked,“We`re going to give you his [the Governor`s] number.”
Watanabe noted that “Hawai`i’s public companies are all owned by people on the mainland … Alexander and Baldwin, Bank of Hawai`i, First Hawaiian, Matson Navigation. It`s just a reality of how capital works.”
Solar Schemers: Get commitments for low-cost, clean energy future
read … HEI Shareholders vent anger at Governor
Hawaii Legislators Need To Stop Hiding in The Dark
CB: …Consider the name of a key faction, Congress’s Tea Party Freedom Caucus. That group of legislators may not represent your kind of politics, but you have to admit, the name has heft because it reflects a powerful, historical political symbol and it publicly distinguishes that faction from Democrats and other Republicans….
Not so in Hawaii’s case, where the behavior of legislative factions get treated the same way as Papal elections.
You can see this in the names the Hawaii Democratic legislators give to their factions, which those brave souls who wished to remain anonymous were courageously willing to divulge.
On the surface, these names seem like goofy, kids-in-the-carport-clubs, like “The Three Amigos” (a comedy Western), or the Fab 4 (the University of Hawaii basketball team after the NCAA sanctions take hold).
Or take the two biggest factions, called Loyalists and Dissidents. The names have a “West Side Story” vibe, but, as you will see in a minute, they tell you very little except that some folks a while ago were dissidents while others were loyal, and that leadership changed as a result.
This change may have, as Eagle put it, “rocked the house” (not in the Bruno Mars sense), but with what consequences?
In fact, these names are important because of what they don’t indicate.
They say nothing about the basis of the factions: Ideology? Policy views? Astrological signs? Band nerds versus jocks?
So as trivial as they sound, these names are important, because they indicate … well, nothing really, at least to the public looking for cues as to what is going on.
The names tell a lot because they tell so little.
How can you decide how you feel about what the Three Amigos are up to, if all you know about them is that they are friends and speak at least one word of Spanish?
read … Trivial
Rail Contractor Gets Apology in Fight over 8A Money
CB: A year and a half ago, Su Yong Yi wrote to the U.S. Small Business Administration charging that Nan Inc., a major contractor working on Honolulu’s $6.6 billion rail project, had defrauded the federal government out of millions of dollars by taking advantage of a program designed to help small, minority-owned companies get off the ground.
The allegations in Yi’s Oct. 2, 2014 letter were serious — as well as potentially criminal. They pointed a damning finger directly at Nan and its top executives, Patrick Shin and Fooney Freestone, who Yi said had victimized his own small business, Su-Mo Builders, in an attempt to rake in huge profits via lucrative construction contracts for government facilities.
The fraud allegations were born from a bitter legal dispute that played out in state and federal court between Nan and Su-Mo over money, with each side claiming it was owed millions of dollars for work it performed as part of a mentor-protege agreement under the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program.
The October letter also served as a confession of sorts for Yi and his business partner, Samuel Ho, both of whom had admitted to possible wrongdoing in their correspondence with the SBA. They had even hired a criminal defense attorney….
But now, Yi says it was all a big misunderstanding.
The two companies reached a confidential settlement agreement last month, and Yi sent another letter to the SBA recanting his previous accusations. He wrote that the letter also served as a “public apology” to Shin, Freestone and their employees….
read … Apology
Greenmailers: No Geothermal Measurements on Hualalai
HTH: The University of Hawaii has canceled permits for geothermal exploration on Hualalai, and a lead researcher on Wednesday said the university has no plans for future scoping of the dormant volcano’s potential for producing geothermal energy.
But that doesn’t mean plaintiffs plan to back down on a lawsuit originally launched to block the exploration.
The project ran into funding and staff problems last year, and the UH asked the Board of Land and Natural Resources to rescind exploration permits in February. Meantime, a lawsuit by Native Hawaiian groups and residents on the slopes of the mountain has been ongoing, with the opponents of the exploration claiming the state needed to conduct an environmental assessment before it approved the permits.
Now that the project has been scuttled, the state has filed a motion to dismiss the case. But plaintiffs are saying they need assurances the same thing won’t happen again when the funding picture is brighter.
“There is credible evidence this wrongful activity could be resumed (unless we get paid),” said Terri Napeahi, vice president of the Pele Defense Fund.
read … Groups want promise on Hualalai geothermal
Money-Grubbing Anti-GMO Activists Want Second Bite of Apple
CB: A Honolulu attorney suing DuPont Pioneer wants to stop representing three (money grubbing) plaintiffs who refused to sign a waiver that would prevent them from suing the seed company for medical issues associated with dust from the company’s fields on Kauai.
Attorney Kyle Smith represents more than 190 plaintiffs who live near DuPont Pioneer’s fields in West Kauai. Last year, in a bellwether trial, a federal court jury awarded $500,000 (nuisance money) to 15 plaintiffs who contended the dust from the nearby fields damaged their homes….
read … Gimme Gimme Gimme
State Sports and Entertainment Authority Bill Misses Cut
CB: Here’s yet another bill that fell victim to the conference committee mania last Friday: legislation to create a Sports and Entertainment Authority and give it some funding for staff.
“The clock ran out on the sports authority bill,” said Sen. Glenn Wakai, the lead conferee for his chamber on House Bill 1847.
read … Aloha Stadium
Caldwell: ‘I Want To Keep This Job’ (and nobody serious is in my way)
CB: The mayor of Honolulu, who still faces no serious opponent, officially files for re-election….
read … No Serious Opposition
Tranny Caught Lying About Graduation ‘Walk’
AP: …Both Kahuku Principal Pauline Masaniai and Department of Education representative Donalyn Dela Cruz disagree with Mr Purcell’s account, with Masaniai telling ABC that the white graduation gown had been approved. Dela Cruz also said that the DOE had investigated Mr Purcell’s allegations and that she (sic) had been barred from walking with her (sic) class for other non-disclosable reasons.
Mr Purcell admits that she (sic) struggled with academics her senior year. Though she (sic) graduated on time, “the credits weren’t there.” She (sic) says that she (sic) believed she (sic) had been on track to graduate normally until her (sic) conversation with Principal Masaniai.
Hawaii’s Board of Education requires that students have met minimum course and credit requirements, in addition to financial obligations and “other conditions” left unspecified, in order to participate in commencement…..
On a related note, the mayor held another campaign fundraiser Tuesday night, this one at the Waialae Country Club. He said he drew the largest turnout of his many fundraisers, and that he had about $1.6 million — “maybe less” — in cash on hand….
SA: Transgender training in the schools?
read … Tranny
HS Counselor Arrested for Soliciting a Minor for Prostitution, Still on Payroll
KHON: Honolulu police have arrested a counselor at Kapolei High School on suspicion of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
The 39-year-old man was arrested on campus at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the Department of Education, he has been a counselor at the high school since 2009 and works with 11th- and 12th-graders.
He’s been temporarily reassigned to a position on campus….
read … Just another day in the nei
State ethics panel probes Puna charter school
HTH: A financially troubled Puna charter school is under investigation by the state Ethics Commission, according to a letter obtained by the Tribune-Herald.
The April 6 letter from commission staff attorney Bonita Chang to Daniel Caluya, principal of Na Wai Ola Public Charter School in Mountain View, said the commission “is conducting an investigation regarding potential violations of the State Ethics Code.”
“The alleged violations concern salary advances and/or loans that were made to Na Wai Ola Public Charter School employees, payment of unused accrued vacation, travel per diem payments, debit card purchases, and certain other expenditures that were made using school funds,” Chang wrote.
A document attached to the letter indicates that between July 25, 2012, and Sept. 1, 2015, $64,564 in salary advances were paid to school employees. The lion’s share, $35,804, went to Caluya, who took 10 salary advance checks in varying amounts, according to the document….
read … Advances
Lack Of School Facilities ‘Crippling’ Many Charters
CB: The challenge of finding space means classes meet in tents, at libraries — even at a McDonald’s….
read … Crippling
Legislative News:
QUICK HITS: