Walk-In Early Voting Begins Today
Hawaii Obamacare Premiums Going Up 32% for 2017—Unless You Get a Tax Credit
Ethics: UH Dean Fined for “Improper Use of State Resources for Campaign Purposes” in American Samoa Congressional Race
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Home-Sharing
Pay for Performance: Budget Busting "Incentives" in Medicare Reform
Not Jammed Enough: Caldwell Publishes New Lane-Elimination Manual
Gabbard Does Not Endorse Caldwell
CB: The two-page spread in Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser promoting Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s re-election includes two former governors and the current one, a former U.S. senator and our two current ones, a once and likely future congresswoman, five of the nine City Council members and the son of the most revered politician in Hawaii’s modern political history.
It also prominently displays a certain U.S. president from Hawaii. In all, more than 500 supporters identified, in much smaller type and without color photos, ranging alphabetically from Laretta Abzlos to Dr. Joseph Young.
The casual page-turner may not notice that U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former governors Neil Abercrombie and Ben Cayetano, and the other four Council members are not included in the ad. Cayetano and Council Chair Ernie Martin are backing challenger Charles Djou….
read … TV Spots — And One Big Print Ad — Spice Up Mayor’s Race
Hawaii State Senate May Soon Be All Democrats
CB: Hawaii’s only Republican senator faces a formidable challenge, and some Democrats are already saying how much they’d miss him….
read … Soon
HIDOT Latest Tax Hike Trick—Hold H-1 Hostage
HNN: (In order to push tax hikes in the upcoming Legislature, HIDOT is pretending that) funding limitations have put the brakes on large-capacity highway projects that would ease gridlock, but it hasn't halted planning for them. (Planning for tax hikes.)
And officials hope all that planning is put to good use in the upcoming legislation session, when officials are expected to again seek funding to move ahead with the projects. (See!)
State Department of Transportation identified the top three gridlock-easing projects as:
Adding a lane on the H-1 eastbound from Waiawa to Halawa (Translation: The Governor is from Pearl City)
Widening Kahekili Highway (currently two lanes) from Haiku Road to Valley of the Temples (Translation: Maui has a powerful legislative delegation)
Widening Route 130 on the Big Island (Translation: Rudermann said he would allow his vote to be blackmailed. Will Sanbuenaventura relent?)
read … Tax Hike Coming
Wealthy Enviros Pushing $3000 Smog Check for Hawaii—Real Goal is more Electric Car Tax Credits
HNN: Hawaii is one of 17 states that does not require smog tests or emissions caps for car and truck drivers.
But (in an effort to push tax credits for electric cars) an environmental group is (pretending to argue) arguing that the measures could bring the state closer to its clean energy goals. (Its a head-fake….)
Auto repair experts said smog tests can be several times more expensive than a safety check and failure can mean costly repairs.
"You have an emissions test, they say 'Oh man you need a catalytic converter.' That's $3,000," said George Nitta, owner of Nitta's Auto Repair.
That's one reason even proponents of clean energy are hesitant.
State Rep. Chris Lee, chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, said lawmakers are more in favor of incentives for electric cars, which produce no greenhouse gases.
"Instead of going in that direction (of smog tests) ... we're looking at how can we actually get consumers all the way clean," he said….
read … More Tax Credits Coming
Anti-Telescope Activists: ‘We Control the Hearing Room”
SA: …About 20 opponents of the project gathered in front of the hearing room for a brief prayer before the proceedings began Monday morning, and cultural practitioner B. Pualani Case told them that opponents of the TMT around the world are watching.
“We know now that every single thing that you say is on TV tonight,” she said, a reference to public-television broadcasts of the proceedings. “Let’s take it slow today, let’s not be rushed.”
At the closing of the prayer, one participant blew a conch shell, and Case told the project opponents outside the hearing room that “when we walk in there, we walk in strong.”
“Don’t get bogged down,” Case said. “Be light of heart today. We have control of the room.”…
BIVN: TMT Case Day Two: PUEO Cross-Examines White
read … Control
Kenoi Trial Will Focus on Five Felonies
HNN: A judge has denied Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi's motion for an acquittal on felony theft charges, but did throw out Monday three misdemeanor counts related to tampering with a government record.
The decision came on the same day that the state rested its case against Kenoi. (Star-Adv is calling this a ‘stunning victory’—what a joke.)
Before calling their own witnesses Monday afternoon, Kenoi's attorneys filed a motion for acquittal, arguing that prosecutors failed to present adequate evidence for the charges against the mayor. (A standard maneuver--as usual, rejected.)
While Judge Dexter Del Rosario dismissed three misdemeanor counts of tampering with a government record, he denied the defense team's request to drop five other charges, including two counts of felony theft, two counts of third-degree theft, and making a false statement under oath.
read … Recidivist Criminal on Trial
HPD circumvents community efforts to gain crime data
SA: Many of your neighbors want more useful information about crimes happening in their communities. Some have asked the city for the information multiple times since 2014.
But the Honolulu Police Department largely has ignored the requests.
The contentious issue of how much crime information HPD shares with the residents it serves escalated last week in the wake of a Honolulu Star-Advertiser story revealing that the department excludes violent offenses from its public crime mapping site online.
HPD was the only department among more than 150 that the newspaper checked nationally to limit its mapping to nonviolent crimes. The other agencies included violent and nonviolent offenses, allowing residents in cities from California to Florida to go online to see the range of crimes happening within 2 miles of their homes or businesses….
SA: ‘Nextdoor’ Online service will link HPD with communities
read … Circumvent
Defense Bar Polluting Star-Adv Rape Kit Coverage
SA: …The article was full of confused, conflicting data and unsubstantiated conclusions. There is no basis for the article’s central premise, which is that the Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC) in Hawaii has compromised the chain of custody for evidence stored at its facility.
In fact, quotes by Kimberly Lonsway, our research director at End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI), were misrepresented, to the point that SATC’s name was specifically inserted into Lonsway’s general statements about evidence storage and on chain of custody. This is absolutely outrageous; in no way did Lonsway state that SATC is not following chain of custody. Further, we were extremely dismayed to see the editorial, based on Cocke’s article.
All this is harmful on several levels: It damages the credibility of Lonsway and EVAWI; of confidence in SATC and its reputation; and could have significant repercussions for future prosecutions or even past cases.
read … Criminal Defense Lawyer Propaganda
Cat Obsessives Controlling Sierra Club Endorsements?
KE: As the election nears, questions are being raised about why the Kauai Sierra Club has failed to endorse Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, long associated with environmental issues.
It seems the dissing is due to Club member Judy Dalton, a longtime cat lady who isn't pleased with JoAnn's leadership of the feral cat task force. Advocates of trap-spay-neuter and release are irked that the task force is drafting an ordinance that severely limits managed feral cat colonies.
Judy's feral cat advocacy is in direct opposition to the Sierra Club's stance, which correctly views the critters as the invasive species they are.
Meanwhile, even as Kauai Humane Society Director Penny Cistaro celebrated her retirement party last Friday, Basil Scott, leader of the Kauai Community Cat Project, is getting in a few last licks. He's now pushing a Change.org petition that calls for altering the county's contract with KHS:
read … Save the Cats!
Will Anti-Fluoridation Nuts Hold the Line in 2017?
CB: There is no doubt that fluoridated water would dramatically decrease tooth decay among children in Hawaii. Evidence-based studies from other states that have adopted fluoridation support this claim.
However, as Denby Fawcett’s article noted and reader comments showed, there are mixed feelings about fluoridation in our community.
Past attempts to introduce fluoridation in selected areas were vehemently opposed. We recognize fluoridation is an emotionally charged issue….
read … Nuts in Control
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