April 10, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Saturday, April 10, 2010

April 10, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 10:02 AM :: 17998 Views

Out of money, Puna DoE school shutting down next week

Ed Case votes against tax cut for military personnel, supports death tax

SB: Democrats' ad on Djou deemed false

A TV commercial by a national Democratic group attacking Republican Charles Djou in the special election for Congress is false, according to a nonpartisan research Web site. Factcheck.org reported on the ad yesterday, declaring, "A Democratic ad claims a GOP House candidate pledged to protect breaks for sending jobs abroad. He didn't."

DCCC latest hit piece: Charles Djou’s Hypocrisy is Off the Charts (National Democrats’ panic is off the charts)

Kaulana Park confirmed as DHHL chairman (After Hanabusa gets her deal)

The state Senate on Friday confirmed Kaulana Park as chairman of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (without a hitch).

The last deal goes bad: Fireworks, dirt, and stolen trucks: Colleen Hanabusa and the Honolulu Raceway Deal

Confront Reality: Will Hanabusa allow DHHL to revert back to the bad old days?

Prison guards allegedly threaten to shoot Hawaii Senator

The alleged threat made to one of Kim's office assistants is being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division of the state Public Safety Department, Kim said.

Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa) said the woman who made the alleged threat was among a group of prison guards who spoke to her office staff about part of the state budget bill, authored by Kim, that would close a portion of Halawa Correctional Facility.

"She told my secretary that if I got shot while I was driving around it would be my own fault," Kim said.

REALITY: Hawaii inmates say if they have to do time, they'd rather do it in the Lone Star State, Hawaii prisoners say they want to stay in Kentucky

Kulani Prison Guards allegedly burn documents in 20’ ditch, steal equipment

“My understanding is that there is information and data that should have been kept regarding inmates,” Espero told Khon2. “There may have also been some violations of federal law.”

Khon2 spoke to a former employee of the prison who said during the final two days the facility was in operation records were placed into a 20 foot wide ditch with diesel fuel before being set ablaze.

“They dug a pit in the industrial area near the tree line and then burned all the documents inside,” said the former worker, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

“There were inmate misconduct records, sex offender registry information and treatment program enrollment and completion documents that were all destroyed.”

Espero has tentatively scheduled a public hearing April 28 and may issue subpoenas to several individuals. He did not specify who would be called before his committee.

“Currently I am putting together a list of individuals that I would like to have subpoenaed,” he said.

In addition to the destruction of prison records the hearing may focus on the theft of state property from the jail.

Khon2 confirmed Hilo police initiated an investigation at the Kulani Correctional Facility November 20 after a $3,500 piece of equipment was apparently stolen.

“I am getting reports of major issues of theft and missing state inventory,” said Espero.

DMZ Hawaii: Ex-Prison Guard Rep Faye Hanohano (D-Puna) teams up with anti-American war activists to steal Kulani from Youth Challenge Academy (House Bill 2567)

REALITY: Hawaii inmates say if they have to do time, they'd rather do it in the Lone Star State, Hawaii prisoners say they want to stay in Kentucky

Prison guards lobby lawmakers over proposed cuts

It said closing part of Halawa would cost 70 guards their jobs and send hundreds of inmates to mainland prisons….

State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, D-14th (Moanalua, Aiea), made the proposal as part of the Senate's version of the budget.

She said the UPW ad incites the guards by giving them false information. She said closing a module would affect 24 positions not 70.

"There are 76 funded vacancy positions throughout the corrections system and $3.6 million in appropriations," said Kim, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "I don't anticipate the 24 corrections officers would lose their jobs."

ADV: Hālawa prison's budget may get cut by one-third

REALITY: Hawaii inmates say if they have to do time, they'd rather do it in the Lone Star State, Hawaii prisoners say they want to stay in Kentucky

War on food production continues: Group urges fish-farming safeguards—“Environmentalists” call for moratorium on expansion

(I was hoping to catch somebody in the middle of this article babbling about “sustainability” and “what happens when the ships stop coming.”)

Two ocean farms operate in the state — Hukilau Foods, which began in 2001 as Cates International raising moi off 'Ewa Beach on O'ahu; and Kona Blue Water Farms, which since 2005 has produced amberjack off the Kona Coast of the Big Island.

Food & Water Watch produced a 20-page report, "The Empty Promise of Ocean Aquaculture in Hawai'i: Lessons on Factory Fish Farming From an Industrial Testing Ground."

Supporters of ocean aquaculture, which involves raising fish in submerged cages, claim that the Mainland group is trying to keep the federal government from adopting Hawai'i industry regulations as a national standard.

(Same crowd that tried to extort $$$ from Hokulia—at work on their latest target.)

LINK>>>Read House Bill 2409

Honolulu rail route change may oust some Ualena Street shops

The city said the switch would affect only six parcels owned by private property owners.

State Transportation Director Brennon Morioka yesterday confirmed that all but one parcel on the makai side of Ualena are owned and managed by DOT's Airports Division. Nearly all the leases run out in 2012, he said.

Allow me to refresh mayor's memory

David Shapiro’s Top 10 Mufi Hannemann flashbacks….

Slom-Zimmerman team, Texas investor qualified to pursue Star-Bulletin

State Sen. Sam Slom and Internet publisher Malia Zimmerman, who jointly put in a bid for the state's No. 2 paper, said Star-Bulletin owner Oahu Publications Inc. informed them yesterday that they met the standards as qualified bidders.

Texas private equity investor Brian Ferguson received a similar notification from Oahu Publications, according to a person familiar with the sales process.

HNN: Injunction denied in Honolulu Advertiser Case

RELATED: www.savehawaiinews.com

Grown-ups at sit-in ticketed

The adults are part of a group of parents who are demanding to meet with Gov. Linda Lingle to find a way to end the public school furlough days. The group, Save Our Schools, began the sit-in Wednesday night and said it would continue sit-ins at the reception area of Lingle's office until she agrees to meet with the group.

WHO THEY ARE: Furloughs: How Unions and the DoE aim to co-opt protesting parents, Furloughs: Advertiser sides with “sustainability” billionaires

Hawaii public school candy ban fails

Final approval of the bill fell short on a 21-20 vote in the House today. Ten representatives were absent after the session had dragged on for more than two hours.

The bill is now dead after it had previously passed the Senate and a similar version had passed the House in February.

Opponents said a total ban would have prevented students from selling candy after school to raise money for their sports teams or other extracurricular activities.

(Another idiotic Legislative waste of time. Trying to regulate and ban every detail of life--except marijuana, which they seek to legalize.)

BTW: Hawaii Legislators' pay tops nation

Kam School blames lawyer in Hawaiians-first dispute

Kamehameha Schools sued California attorney Eric Grant, the Big Island student and his mother in state Circuit Court in Hilo last year after an Advertiser news story in February 2008 revealed that the lawsuit had been settled for $7 million.

In an amendment to the lawsuit this month, Kamehameha said Grant failed to tell his clients that they would be legally liable if the confidential terms of the settlement were made public.

U.S. District Judge Alan Kay upheld the admissions policy in November 2003 but a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling in August 2005, saying the admissions policy constituted unlawful racial discrimination.

By an 8-7 vote, the full 9th Circuit upheld the policy a year later before the lawsuit was settled as Does' attorneys were preparing an appeal before the Supreme Court.

(At which time KS forked out $7M because they knew they would lose before SCOTUS. Now they are trying to get the $$ back to dissuade any further litigants. How to solve your civil rights issue? Attack the lawyers and plaintiffs endlessly. Better solution? Vouchers.)

Hawaii Pork Report Exposes Piggie Pies in the City

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-Waianae, who is a District 1 Congressional candidate, said in a January 2010 Smart Business Hawaii debate, that there is "no waste in government."

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and CAGW report authors say they disagree, having identified $308,844,604 of wasteful spending statewide that could be eliminated from the budget; $239,055,504 from the City and County of Honolulu alone.

Maui judge disregards plea deal, sentences man who beat wife to five years

WAILUKU — Saying he couldn't "in good conscience" follow a plea agreement recommending probation, 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August sentenced a Wailuku man to a five-year prison term for assaulting his wife with a 2-by-4 last year.

In imposing the sentence Wednesday, August said 57-year-old Benjamin Matias has a "long history of substance abuse and violence."

Flags stolen from veterans center

A worker at the Fosters Village center says, she saw the American and Prisoner of War flags flying as usual when she left around 10:30 pm Wednesday. But when a neighbor walked by just half-an-hour later, the flags were gone.

Higa sex harassment case settled, lawyer says

Nauyokas said he learned Thursday the council approved a settlement offer of $22,000. That low of an offer -- anonymous sources told Stephens Media in 2008 a judge ordered the county to pay up to $272,000 -- "exonerates" Higa, his attorney claimed.

The amount "we think is subnuisance value," Nauyokas said. "It's below what you'd pay for a nuisance. It just shows that Stacy Higa was right all along."

Fight sparks Keaau High lockdown

According to Principal Ron Jarvis, the school followed normal procedures in the event of adults causing a disturbance on campus, and went into lockdown mode. He said students were not allowed to move freely about the school for about 15 minutes as the situation was dealt with.

Jarvis declined to provide much detail involving the altercation, citing the ongoing police investigations, but he did say the adults involved in the fight were family members of some of the students.

(Just another day in the DoE.)

Here’s a school which isn’t getting as much funding as the fight and pipe bomb plagued Keaau HS campus: Out of money, Puna DoE school shutting down next week

Maui Residents appeal to preserve funding

"Just give everybody money," said Yap, who received applause from Wednesday night's crowd.

Residents see some progress, poll shows

Unscientific survey measures penetration of eco-delusions such as the meaningless term “sustainability.”

NKorea vows to keep building nuclear bombs

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea has denounced President Barack Obama's nuclear policy as "hostile," and is vowing to keep building and expanding its arsenal of atomic weapons….