Study: Wind Turbines Could Make This Endangered Bat Go Extinct
Anti-Telescope ‘Circus’ Nearly Over? – Doubtful
SA: …Once the current hearing is over, the hearings officer, former Circuit Judge Riki May Amano, will review the stacks of documents, evidence and testimony and make a recommendation to the Land Board. The parties then will be given an opportunity to agree with or take exception to Amano’s recommendation and make their own pitch to the board.
The board will then hold a hearing and make a decision on whether to approve or reject the issuance of a Conservation District Use Permit to the lessee, the University of Hawaii.
After that the project’s destination is likely Round 2 before the state Supreme Court.
The future of the project remains uncertain, however, as it apparently faces another contested case hearing related to the sublease between UH Hilo and the TMT. The state has appealed that ruling by Hawaii island Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura.
But even if that hurdle is cleared relatively quickly, the project still faces another deadline, this one self-imposed by the TMT International Observatory Board.
TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa issued this statement Friday: “With the contested case hearings in Hilo appearing to be coming to a close, we remain hopeful that a permit can be issued in a timely manner to begin construction of TMT on Maunakea by April 2018.”
At the same time, Ishikawa added, the board continues to work through the necessary steps to enable building at the backup site in the Canary Islands on the same timeline.
“However, Maunakea continues to be the preferred choice for the location of the Thirty Meter Telescope, and the TIO Board will continue intensive efforts to gain approval for TMT in Hawaii,” he said.
Doug Simons, director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, also on Mauna Kea, said it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how the contested case timeline and TMT’s decision dates align….
Another Mauna Kea astronomer, Thayne Currie, added, “I’m just glad the hearings are finally wrapping up: This has been such a circus.”
Some of the project foes are clearly trying to “filibuster” the proceedings, Currie said, and he finds the grandstanding “rather offensive and shameless.”…
While most Native Hawaiians testifying in the hearing have opposed the telescope, Big Island farmer Richard Ha and other members of the Native Hawaiian group known as Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities (PUEO) offered their endorsement of the project.
“I really believe not allowing the TMT to be built will hurt our people,” Ha said last week, adding that the educational opportunities and funding for science, technology, engineering and math programs offered by the TMT simply can’t be turned away.
“Fighting against astronomy, banning astronomy from Maunakea, is as short-sighted as burning the oars of the canoe Hokule‘a because we need firewood,” Ha said in his written testimony. “The TMT is made up of the Pacific Rim nations of Canada, the U.S., Japan, India and China. What better purpose can we aspire to than cooperation among nations, rather than war? And what better place for cooperation than on Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, the land of aloha?”
Reality: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read … Circus Nearly Over?
Hawaii Wind Turbines Not Bolted Together Correctly—One Collapses
RB: Government accident investigation authority SHK said the three-year-old V112 which failed on 24 December showed clear signs of fatigue and corrosion at the join between the bottom and second section of the tower.
“The bolts that had held together the joint had suffered from a fatigue process and the bolts could no longer withstand the loads of normal operation.
“The flange surfaces in the main wind direction showed signs of corrosion which most likely originated from the bolts.”
SHK said the cause of the fatigue was “the pre-tension force in the joint was too low”.
It said the reason for not achieving the required standard “was due to the bolts, tower sections and tools not being protected from rain and snow during installation”.
SHK added that the tools were not maintained properly and that the assembler who performed final torqueing of the bolts “had no previous experience” and “had not received the manufacturer’s internal training”.
Lemnhult also experienced problems with “loose and broken bolts” prior to the accident. “These were not reported by the operator,” said SHK….
Siemens last year suffered a similar bolt failure at a wind farm in Hawaii, albeit at the top of the tower. Incorrect tensioning was again the main suspect.
Oct. 2, 2016: Auwahi Windfarm, Maui-- when the turbine on the eighth unit separated from the tower and fell to the ground--The nacelle, which houses all of the generating components of a wind turbine, is 82.5 tons
read … Unhinged
Retired HPD Officer was Sought in ‘Felony Investigation’
KITV: …Crews arrived on the scene just before 11 a.m. Police say officers were searching for a suspect in a felony investigation. KITV has confirmed through multiple sources that man is 50-year-old retired (2014) officer Kevin Oshiro.
Police found Oshiro at Makapu'u. They were in contact with him when he either jumped or fell from the rocks and died….
KITV is actively working to confirm the nature of the investigation into Oshiro.
read … Police Felony
$3 million sought for Housing First effort on Sister Isles
SA: Three years after homeless people on Oahu were first placed into market-rate, Housing First rental units, the state wants to add another $3 million to expand the concept to Kauai, Maui and Hawaii island starting in April.
Under the program, imported from mainland communities, landlords are assured of rent and a social service contact to call to address any problems with their tenants, who may be dealing with various issues that could include mental illness and substance abuse.
“There’s no Housing First on the neighbor islands,” said state homeless coordinator Scott Morishige. “We at least want to get it started on the neighbor islands.” …
In the 2016 homeless census, Oahu’s homeless population increased by 37 people, representing a gain of less than 1 percent. At the same time, neighbor island homelessness grew by 12 percent on Hawaii island, 30 percent on Kauai and 1 percent on Maui, for a combined statewide homeless population of 7,620 people.
read … Housing First
HB783: Force Businesses to Give Free Electricity to Electric Car Moochers
SA: One bill this session (HB 793), which didn’t make it out of committee hearings, proposed assigning the state Department of Transportation to monitor and fine businesses that don’t comply. The bill also proposed to change the requirement to one charging station for every 100 stalls, instead of one charging station if the property has at least 100 stalls.
Tina Yamaki, president of Retail Merchants Hawaii, said she opposed the change because the stalls can be costly for businesses as some EV owners charge but don’t shop.
“Taking away open public parking stalls and turning them into reserved EV stalls would hurt businesses, especially on weekends when many go to the malls and stores to shop and turn away when they can’t find a stall,” she said in her testimony about the change. “Many of our members have found EV drivers in the surrounding neighborhood and condominiums plug into retailers’ charging stations to avoid increasing their electric bill at home.”
Some public EV charging stations are free, in which case the parking lot owner or tenants must pay for the electricity pumped into the cars.
read … Moochers
We Came Here for the Lifestyle—Now Change It
KE: We came here because of the lifestyle....
It was the reiteration of a quote from a North Shore high-end Realtor that I included in a piece called “Parallel Universes” that was published in Bamboo Ridge a while back and excerpted in what was then The Honolulu Advertiser:
“We all love Kauai. We don’t want it to change, either. It’s what we moved here for: the watersports, the surf, the weather, the golf. In fact, I had this little sign made for my desk, and when I’m talking to customers, I can turn it around and show it to them and it says, ‘I don’t sell real estate, I sell a lifestyle.’ I made that up myself. I think it pretty much sums it up.”
Yeah. I guess it does. And let's face it: it's a lifestyle that eschews local culture, and that most locals can't afford, anyway.
Meanwhile, to support this new lifestyle, the newbies keep providing us with revisionist history.
Like how the proposed dairy site at Mahaulepu, which grew sugar for a century and more recently pastured cattle, is “pristine.”
And how Keahua Stream shouldn't have a bridge because the land there is “sacred” and shouldn't be accessed by tourists — even though the existing ford previously linked to an interior loop road that connected Kuamoo Road to Lihue and was traveled by tourists. Not to mention the youngin's now go back there to smoke ice before work in the visitor industry, and too many hunters wantonly dump pig guts and carcasses.
And how the trees back there shouldn't be touched, even though they're all introduced species that were planted 50 to 80 years ago as timber demonstration projects.
And how “intensive agriculture” is horrible, even though the Hawaiians for centuries cultivated pretty much every inch of arable land, greatly altering the natural landscape in the process.
And how legally-permitted, long-existing water diversions that provide hydro and irrigation are now "new dams" created by “ecoterrorists” — and by this they mean KIUC and Grove Farm, as opposed to the real ecoterrorists who vandalized the diversion and generated all the concrete rubble that has flowed into the stream
read … Revisionism
Ige a Traitor? Meets with National Republicans
CB:Gov. David Ige, a Democrat in a state dominated by Democrats, is in Republican-controlled Washington for the National Governors Association winter meeting….
For many Democrats, any sign of cooperation with the Republican administration is viewed as treason to progressive ideals….
Voters across America are describing themselves as “terrified,” “disheartened,” and “disgusted,” pollster Frank Luntz told the governors Sunday….
Washington is not an easy or pleasant environment for the leader of a state that is deeply Democratic in its principles and ideology, but that depends on federal spending and largesse. The state’s sugar industry shut down permanently in December when the final mill closed, and tourism can be a notoriously undependable source of income.
In a world of Zika viruses and terrorism, only a few bad news events could have damaging repercussions on the state’s economy….
(They forgot the locusts and frogs….)
read … Ige a Traitor
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