“Rap Back”: A New Federal Firearm Registry
Who’s Running: Candidates Pulling Papers as of May 27, 2016
9 misdirected arguments against GMOs
April 2016: Visitor Expenditures Decline 1.1 Percent
Regents to Vote on New UH Cancer Center Director
Shadow Boxing With the Supreme Court: TMT Joins In Call For New Contested Case Officer
BIVN: The Thirty Meter Telescope and the University of Hawaii agree with opposing attorneys taking part in the upcoming TMT contested case, saying the Board of Land and Natural Resources should replace Judge Riki May Amano as the hearing officer.
“In the interest of fairness to all parties,” wrote attorneys for TMT International Observatory, LLC in a memorandum dated May 26, “TIO requests that BLNR reconsider its Minute Order No. 4 and replace Judge Amano as Hearings Officer with its next alternate candidate.” (Translation: The Hawaii Supreme Court is Supremely biased against us, so we know that the slightest excuse will be enough to derail this case.)
The University’s made the same request in an official statement of position filed on May 25.
On May 13, 2016, the lawyer for the petitioners opposed to the TMT permit filed a motion asking the state to reconsider the appointment of retired Judge Riki May Amano as the hearing officer for the contested case redux. Attorney Richard Naiwieha Wuderman reiterated his argument that Amano’s membership with the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, operating under the University of Hawaii-Hilo, constituted the appearance of bias and warranted disqualification. The University is the party applying for the Conservation Districy Use Permit for land on the northern plateau of the summit of Mauna Kea, which it plans to sublease to the TMT observatory.
The land board set a May 26 deadline for parties to respond to the Motion for Reconsideration….
read … Eliminating Inevitable Excuses
Mass Hysteria: Kauai group finds no harms tied to pesticide use
SA: …The study followed incidents reported in 2006 and in 2008 at Waimea Canyon Middle School, where teachers and students complained of dizziness, nausea and headaches. Some residents suspected the cause was pesticide drift (but it was just mass hysteria).
Scientists later found that there was no evidence of pesticide abuse by a nearby seed company and that stinkweeds growing near the middle school emitted noxious odors that could have been the source of the trouble…. (which sparked mas hysteria on the entire island)
read … No Harm
Hawaii Democrats to Vote on Anti-GMO Resolutions
KE: …the Hawaii Democratic Party will be considering a packet of resolutions at its convention this weekend, including one on “responsible legislation regarding pesticide application.” In pressing for the adoption of buffer zones, it advances the totally outrageous claim:
Whereas some large industrial agricultural operations in Hawaii do not use modern best practices that farmers elsewhere use to protect the environment, their neighbors and the land.
WTF? Why, just yesterday state Agriculture Director Scott Enright told those big ag operators: “You folks apply pesticides better than anybody in the state ever has. You are not my concern.”
Despite the JFF — or more likely, because of it — the old misperceptions about agricultural operations remain, hyped by hypocrites like CFS, which call for cooperation even as it dishes out discord and fans the flames of fear.
read … Musings: Conflict and Conciliation
Will Protesters Block Badly Needed Lunatic Asylum?
SA: Overcrowding at the Hawaii State Hospital (HSH) in Kaneohe has been a chronic problem, one that’s escalated with real dangers regarding staff safety, patient care and public security.
At long last, the state Department of Health (DOH) recently received the go-ahead and substantial funds to start overhauling its outdated facilities — so it would be unwise to allow recent objections from nearby Windward Community College to delay needed progress.
At issue is the DOH’s plan to replace its decrepit, unused Bishop Hall building, which sits next to the college’s Great Lawn, with a new 140- to 150-bed skilled nursing facility….
Related: Mental Health: Can Reform Solve Hawaii’s Homeless, Prison and Unfunded Liability Problems?
read … Don’t let worry about view delay hospital upgrade
Big Island Water Dept Pays $20M/Year for Electricity
PBN: Work is nearing completion on the $13 million Lalamilo Wind Farm in South Kohala on the Big Island, which will power the County of Hawaii’s Department of Water Supply, a county executive told Pacific Business News this week.
Developed by California-based Lalamilo Wind Co. LLC, the 3.3-megawatt project on 126 acres will power the eight water wells in the area. The county’s water department is one of the biggest consumers of power on the island….
“It will save ratepayers $800,000 a year,” he said…. $800K x 16.25 years = $13M
The Department of Water Supply pays HELCO about $20 million a year for electricity.
read … $800K
Solar Costs Ratepayers $38.5M
PBN: In 2013, Hawaiian Electric said the cost to its full-service customers due to this program totaled $38.5 million, representing about 1.3 percent of the collected rates for the Honolulu-based utility and its subsidiaries….
Alan Oshima, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric and one of the panelists, said the utility is seeing oversized PV systems on homes coming into the utility and causing it some problems, exporting too much of this type of energy in an already highly penetrated area….
“Stranded customers all pay higher bills to support the infrastructure,” he said. “We have to look at this holistically. That’s my bomb in the room and I think I needed to say that. There are other issues besides just one source of renewable energy. It is for everyone, not just for the electric utility. The clean energy initiative put the onus on the utility to get to 100 percent. We all have the responsibility, not just the electric utility.”
Hawaiian Electric and the state Division of Consumer Advocacy are both opposing a request by an alliance of solar energy industry trade groups to increase the cap one of the options for installing rooftop solar that replaced net energy metering.
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission has yet to make its decision on this matter….
read … Hawaiian Electric chief has choice words for solar PV industry
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