‘Unindicted Co-conspirator’ Owns Manoa Mosque
Hawaiian biodiversity declining millions of years--Before Humans Arrived
Letter to OHA: Hawaiian Activists Demand Audit
Trump Budget to De-fund Democrat Ward-Heelers in Hawaii
SA: The budgets of four nonprofits tasked with preventing and alleviating poverty in Hawaii could be slashed under President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget outline for discretionary spending released Thursday, placing increased financial pressure on the state to fund social service programs, while jeopardizing the jobs of more than 600 people who are employed at the agencies throughout the islands.
The Honolulu Community Action Program, Maui Economic Opportunity, Kauai Economic Opportunity and Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council are among about 1,000 Community Action Agencies throughout the country that grew out of the (failed) 1960s War on Poverty.
The agencies were established under President Lyndon Johnson’s Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 to “eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty” by creating job opportunities (handing out welfare checks and breaking up families)….
(Of course Johnson’s Great Society programs were an unmitigated disaster, but at least Democrats got some taxpayer funded ward heelers…until now.)
read … War on Ward Heelers
“This is what we’ve done to Kauai now. You can’t even have a farm on ag land.”
KGI: …Of concern, Brewbaker said, is that visitor spending in Hawaii, when factoring in inflation, is flat, housing costs are soaring and interest rates will be rising.
Kauai, he said, has resisted growth in the the past, and it has hurt the island’s economy.
“You need room to grow. Otherwise, you turn into a wall,” Brewbaker said.
When writing his summary for the presentation, he said he got “really bummed out.”
“We’ve done things in this state to make it difficult to grow the economy,” he said. “It’s just way more challenging than it used to be.”
For example, he referenced Hawaii Dairy Farm’s plan for a dairy in the Mahaulepu Valley, and took a shot at those opposing it.
“It’s ag land. What did you think was going to happen?” he said. “This is what we’ve done to Kauai now. You can’t even have a farm on ag land.”
Brewbaker said the economy is growing at 1 to 2 percent, while depreciation is about 4 percent.
“So buildings are wearing out faster than we’re growing the entire economy,” he said. “How does that happen?”
As for the rising cost of housing in Hawaii, and in particular on Kauai, he said there is a solution. It’s not banning air B&Bs or Muslims, he said.
“The solution is, build more houses,” Brewbaker said. “Hey, you had the babies, yo. Don’t look at me. They grew up and now they’re living with you at home.”….
read … Build Houses
MECO May Face Blackouts After HC&S Closure
MN: Maui Electric Co. is suspending its request to install three temporary diesel power generators at its Kuihelani Substation while the utility looks at other ways of providing reserve energy.
On March 9, the state Public Utilities Commission approved MECO’s request to suspend its application until August. However, the commission had concerns that MECO runs “an ongoing risk of inadequate reserve capacity” this year, especially with the closure of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., whose mill helped provide MECO with power over the years.
“While the loss of HC&S has lowered the level of backup generation reserves that we would otherwise have had, Maui Electric is aggressively pursuing other options to ensure that we continue to provide reliable power to our community,” MECO spokeswoman Shayna Decker said Thursday.
These options include expanding MECO’s demand response program and repurposing the utility’s existing battery energy storage system — options MECO wants to look at instead of the diesel generator proposal…..
MECO expects its reserves to drop significantly in 2023 because of its proposal to retire four units at the Kahului Power Plant. MECO is awaiting PUC approval to seek out companies that could generate 40 megawatts to make up for the loss of the retired units….
read … Black out Cane Smoke Protesters
SB718 Homeless Court
SA: The vehicle is Senate Bill 718, which would fund a “community court” program for Honolulu. The court, similar to others on the mainland, would convene in various parts of Oahu, closer to where the offenders live….
Very often the homeless person, without the resources to pay a fine or defend himself in court, ends up doing nothing, amassing more citations and bench warrants until he is so hopelessly under legal water that rejoining normal society becomes an insurmountable challenge.
There is a good alternative. And no, it won’t solve the homeless problem. But it offers a practical way to help homeless individuals clear up their legal issues and take the next step toward rehabilitation….
(It is a good way to force homeless drug addicts into treatment.)
read … Court
Kailua Kona ‘Building a Force’ to Get Rid of ‘Criminal Vagrant Squatters’
WHT: …The woman’s lived in Kona since 1968. Back then, she said, she could go to the Kailua pier and go swimming, never feeling anything but safe.
Things are different, she said on Friday, holding up a sign that read, “We’re taking back our community,” and another that read, “We’re taking back our beaches!”
These days, she explained, public parks and beaches are rife with squatters who leave behind trash, waste and drug paraphernalia — so much so that she doesn’t feel safe taking her family out.
“The kids want to go to the beach; it’s like, ‘no,’” she said. “So who suffers? The kids.”
Camacho was among a handful of residents rallying to draw attention to the state of public parks and beaches.
“Take ‘um back,” declared signs and T-shirts at the rally, a call to action for passing motorists.
Bolo, a local musician, said the slogan illustrates the sad state of local beaches.
“It’s like we shouldn’t have even had to do that to begin with,” he said. “It shouldn’t have been taken from us anyway. This life is for all of us here in general.”
Bolo distinguishes between those who are homeless and in need of assistance and those he calls “criminal vagrant squatters,” individuals causing the unsafe environment at parks and beaches.
“The thing is they’re posing as homeless,” he said of the latter. “So the police officers, the advocates, they get confused and they don’t know how to figure out who’s who at this point.” ….
Earlier this month, 1,000 volunteers came together to clean up 133 miles of West Hawaii’s coast line. One contingent of that effort focused entirely on Old Airport park, picking up rubbish.
But in the less-than-two weeks since the cleanup, “it’s all trashed again,” said Jeff Fear.
“I mean you name it — bottles, cans, trash, blankets, beds,” he said. “It’s disgusting.”…
Fear emphasized the timing, saying that it needs to be addressed “not next month, this week.”
“I hear it from tourists, local families, all of the above,” he said. “We’re just fed up already; we want our beaches back.”
Bolo said they plan to continue to fight their quest.
“I feel that it’s my kuleana, and Jeff does, and all of us here do, and we’re building a force that does,” he said. “And we want to make changes for the love of our community.”
read … Criminal Vagrant Squatters
Hawaiian Airlines, HTA back airport authority bill
PBN: Airline and tourism experts are supporting a bill that would establish an independent airport corporation under the Department of Transportation, which intends to expedite necessary airport infrastructure changes.
According to the bill, (SB658) which has crossed over to the House, Hawaii's airport planning and management is distributed among a number of agencies, resulting in delayed decision-making and inefficiency. The bill intends to increase the financial flexibility and strength of Hawaii’s airports and increase economic opportunities for the state in partnership with the Hawaii Tourism Authority….
The more an airport acts like a business, the more it is responsive to its customers, which includes passengers, airlines and vendors,” DiFiore told PBN. “Authorities work well, and they have a degree of autonomy. Their one and only mission is improving the airport.”
Although Hawaiian Airlines supports the intent of the Senate bill, it said in a testimony that it prefers the original, House version of the bill, HB1443….
read … Escape HIDOT
40 Muslims Eager to Engage with UH Manoa – But The Trumpmonster Won’t Let Them
HNN: …The University of Hawaii has a very strong Persian Studies program, one that attracts plenty of international students, including many from Iran.
"Currently we have 40 applications in from Iran," said Risa Dickson, the school's vice president for Academic Affairs.
Unlike in prior years, commitments from Iranian students aren't coming in swiftly. It's an unusual development, given March is the height of admission season.
"If they're afraid that they're not going to be able to leave, or there are [travel] concerns, then we are not likely to get them," Dickson said….
"There are people who are not signing up for international research teams. There are faculty members who are concerned about going home to visit family over the summer because they're afraid they're not going to be able to come home. This is their home," she said.
read … Engagement
Muslims Leaving Hawaii
WSJ: …they have become targets in the months since the election.
A Muslim cabdriver was attacked by three men who called him “Osama” in Waikiki late last year, said Hakim Ouansafi, president of the Muslim Association of Hawaii; the driver has since moved away from the state….
In February, a man on the bus began shouting profanity about Islam at his daughter, who was wearing a head scarf. When the kids got off the bus, the man followed them, and only left when a woman called the police. The kids now get a ride to school, and the family is now considering moving to Morocco….
A Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman said both incidents were being investigated as possible hate crimes. But Muslims across the island said small expressions of hate in recent weeks—from drivers giving women in hijab the middle finger at red lights to men yelling at them to go back to their country—have become commonplace….
TI: Paris Orly airport shooting: Attacker was 'radicalised Muslim' man known to French intelligence services
read … Leaving
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