Board of Education Delays Superintendent Search Process After Challenge from Castle Foundation
Honolulu Neighborhood Board--List of Contested Races and Candidates
The Real Poison in Paradise
Hawaii v Trump: ‘Deep Historical Illiteracy’
SB786: Obvious Shell Bill “Relating to Medical Marijuana”
HTH: A bill to replace the term “medical marijuana” with “medical cannabis” in state law is moving through the Legislature, though most other marijuana-related measures have died.
Senate Bill 786, introduced by state Sen. Mike Gabbard, D-Oahu, says the word “marijuana” originated as a “slang term” and carries “prejudicial implications rooted in racial stereotypes” from the early 20th century when the drug was first criminalized in the United States. “Cannabis” is a more accurate term, the bill says, and carries “no such negative connotations.”
If passed, the word change would affect state statute, Hawaii Administrative Rules and require the state Department of Health to revise all its documents, letterheads and websites to conform.
(Hello Hello? Obviously this is a Shell Bill being run thru the process so something can be scooped into it at the last moment.)
The bill is co-sponsored by state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna. Earlier this week, it crossed over to the House.
Other marijuana measures moving forward include:
• Senate Bill 305, introduced by state Sen. Rosalyn Baker, D-Maui, would require dispensaries to retain video footage and recordings of their operations for at least 45 days. (instead of 365 so more criminals can escape justice) ….
• House Bill 263, introduced by Scott Saiki, D-Oahu, would impose a General Excise Tax on a percentage of dispensaries’ gross income and deposit it into a special fund to be used for public health purposes such as drug recognition training for law enforcement officers.
Many other marijuana proposals languished in their original chamber….
(Which of them will be scooped into SB786?)
SB786: Text, Status
read … Shell Bill
Anti-GMO Obsessives Attempt to Oust McKelvey from Chairmanship
CB: …more than a half-dozen reps spoke with me this weekend after being granted anonymity so as not to harm their relationships at the Capitol.
On Monday, a resolution calling for change in the leadership of Consumer Protection and Commerce is expected to be introduced. Twenty-six signatures are needed for that to happen.
It’s not clear if there are enough votes to boot McKelvey, who is from the same island as House Speaker Joe Souki. But if he is removed, his replacement could be the chair of another committee, thus opening up a second chair position….
read … McKelvey
Anti-Dairy Activism Spreads to Big Island
HTH: Poindexter has called a community meeting and roundtable meeting for 6 p.m. Tuesday next at the Ookala Post Office to discuss concerns about the runoff that flows into the community in the wake of heavy storms….
Some residents are putting the blame at the feet of Big Island Dairy, a commercial dairy farm of about 2,500 acres near the community, which some in the area say isn’t being a good neighbor by allegedly letting wastewater from the farm run into gulches that flow past the community….
The chairwoman called a similar meeting back in September after one particularly bad flooding event. Flash floods at that time sent muddy water down from the dairy, across Highway 19 and into Ookala. At the meeting, a resident reported getting 2 inches of mud in their backyard, according to a Hawaii Tribune-Herald article.
At that same meeting, Duff told the crowd the mudslides happened because a plot of land had been recently cleared and there was no crop cover to retain the soil, news files state….
read … Councilor calls meeting over runoff dispute dairy, neighbors
Hawaii Expands Voluntary Pesticide Reporting Program—Anti-GMO Activists Not Satisfied (of course)
CB: The Hawaii Department of Agriculture has started posting data on what kinds of restricted-use pesticides large agricultural companies apply each month and in what amounts….
Enright said that the Agriculture Department has been double-checking data with companies every six months to make sure the sales data they report correlates with their usage logs. He plans to standardize the practice going forward as part of the Good Neighbor Program….
Critics say that the data now available online isn’t very meaningful because it’s not (insert excuse here)….
CB: The Science is Clear Only Agriculture Harms People
read … They Will Never be Satisfied
Hawaii considering bill to force church, pro-life centers to promote abortion
WT: In a 22-3 vote, the state’s Democrat-controlled Senate approved SB 501, which would direct “all limited service pregnancy centers to disclose the availability of and enrollment information for reproductive health services.”
For the Rev. Derald Skinner, pastor at Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor, that would mean putting a sign advertising abortion in his church.
“They want to mandate all pro-life centers to put an abortion referral sign in our reception areas,” Mr. Skinner said in a video published to the church’s Vimeo account. “Now our particular pro-life center is in our church. So it’s very important to realize that they are dictating to us what we can and cannot say. Will they give me my sermon next and tell me what I can preach?” ….
Thomas Glessner, an attorney who heads the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, said he is working with the Alliance Defending Freedom to bring the case before the Supreme Court. He said the legislation is an “egregious violation of religious freedom.”
“The Hawaii effort to suppress free speech is especially concerning because one of the state’s pro-life centers is housed in a church — which means the church itself would be forced to refer for abortions,” Mr. Glessner said in a statement.
read … Hawaii considering bill to force church, pro-life centers to promote abortion
Attorney General Meets with Usual Suspects to make Hawaii Sanctuary for Unwanted Muslims
HNN: …Petitions (organized from the UH Manoa Art Dep’t) are circulating urging Gov. David Ige and Mayor Kirk Caldwell to join more than 300 jurisdictions across the country who have offered a meaningful sanctuary for their undocumented residents.
"A sanctuary state or city would not enforce federal immigration law which is under no legal obligation to do so," said (professional protester) Nandita Sharma, co-chair of Hawaii J20+ Immigration Action Committee.
On Saturday, dozens attended a public forum on immigration justice at Church of the Crossroads in Manoa.
Panelists included state Sen. Stanley Chang and Attorney General Douglas Chin, who was the first to file a lawsuit last week against President Donald Trump's revised travel ban….
Byron York: New Trump executive order hurts Hawaii's feelings
Flashback: More Donors to End Funding of ‘Politicized’ UH
ABC NEWS: Exclusive: US May Have Let 'Dozens' of Terrorists Into Country As Refugees
read … Usual Suspects
Civil Beat Whines About Former Omidyar ‘Journalist’ Busted Over Threats to Jewish Centers
CB: …I was surprised and disappointed that 31-year-old Juan Thompson was labeled merely as “a former journalist” after he recently was arrested for making bomb threats against Jewish institutions. Yes, technically Thompson is a “former journalist,” but not like most other former journalists, who take jobs in public relations.
(So only those journos who quit and take jobs as shills for politicians or … uhhh … Silicon Valley billionaires … Ahem … are REAL 'former journalists'? )
Thompson is a disgraced and expelled former journalist (he didn’t just move on to “pursue other interests”). Thompson was summarily and publicly fired last month, less than two years into his job with The Intercept….
Reality For Those Who Don’t Want To Whine About It: Former Omidyar ‘Journalist’ Charged with Threats Against Jewish Centers
read … Some Whining
Star-Adv Publishes Map of Homeless Camps on Oahu
SA: Homeless Encampments around Oahu….
Flashback:
read … Map
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