AG Chin Politicizing Office and ignoring his real job
Hawaii Braces For Possible NK Missile Attack
AG Chin Calls on Trump Admin to Keep Rape Hysteria Active on Campuses Nationwide
Big Q: Should the state embark on a new effort to bring another interisland passenger ferry service to Hawaii? (YES 3-1)
HART & OHA Auditor Found Guilty of Fraud—Could Get 20 Years
SA: …Circuit Court found (former PKF Managing Partner Patrick) Oki guilty of multiple counts of theft, money laundering, forgery and using a computer to commit the crimes.
(May 17, 2012: HART Board ratifies selection of PKF as HART's independent auditor -- see pg 19)
(January 13, 2015: PKF Provides Audit Report to OHA Trustees in 'Illegal' Executive Session)
Oki, 47, faces a mandatory 20-year prison term for computer crimes, the most serious of the charges, at sentencing in October.
During a two-week, non-jury trial in February, Oki took the witness stand and admitted that he created fictitious companies and employees, phony contracts and correspondence and doctored invoices and other documents to collect hundreds of thousand of dollars in false reimbursements from his own company….
Circuit Judge Rom Trader said today that Oki abused his professional knowledge, skills and experience as a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner to defraud his partners.
read … PKF accounting firm ex-partner guilty of fraud
Arakawa: Sister Isles Should not be paying for Oahu Rail with TAT Hike
MN: …“Kauai, Maui and Hawaii counties generate 51 percent of TAT revenues ($247 million) while Oahu generates 49 percent ($237 million). Given this split distribution, any increases to the tax for rail should apply only to Oahu. It is unfair to expect Neighbor Islands to subsidize one of the most expensive projects in the state’s history,” White wrote.
So when it comes to their transportation challenges, Oahu legislators don’t have any problem tapping statewide funds. But when it comes to Maui’s traffic woes, the state doesn’t seem all that interested in helping out.
Recently while Gov. David Ige was visiting Maui, we talked about the traffic situation along Honoapiilani Highway. His comments were that there are “traffic challenges on every island.”
In other words, it’s not a priority. Because pali traffic is on Maui and the rail project is on Oahu.
I hope the governor and every single state legislator out there reads this next part carefully and remembers it, because it is important that they understand this:
Maui County and the rest of the counties are not colonies of the “State of Honolulu.” We are equal partners in this state government and should be treated as such.
We can resolve our concerns by helping each other out, not by abusing our relationship with each other. But that kind of mutual respect is hard to achieve if one side believes you need them more than they need you.
For example, in a recent Maui News interview with the governor he said that “state lawmakers, in general, recognize that state support is needed by smaller communities on the Neighbor Islands ‘or else basic infrastructure becomes unaffordable.’ “
I respectfully disagree with this type of attitude expressed by the governor and many state legislators. Our counties don’t “need” a helping hand or charity from the state, what we “need” is for the state to take care of its responsibilities…..
Related: Mike White: Special Session Threatens Neighbor Islands
read … Neighbor Island counties are not colonies of Honolulu
Greenmail Causes Lack of Affordable Housing
MN: …The extortionists at Maui Tomorrow and Sierra Club used their baseless bully tactics once again to push their extremist agenda.
Using over $50,000 of Mainland money, they sued yet another developer here on Maui.
This time they are claiming victory by blackmailing the landowner into “concessions” at the high profile site in Makena.
There is no doubt these staves will use this to further fundraise into their Ponzi scheme of perpetual lawsuits.
If the silent majority (or Judge Joseph Cardoza) does not start to stand up to these criminals, they will push out the last couple of developers left here on Maui.
We will be left with a paradise that no one can afford. Well, except the few that can pay for more frivolous lawsuits….
One Day’s Coverage:
read … Greenmail
Pacific Islanders suffer from poor overall health, large federal study shows
AP: Hawaii consistently ranks among the healthiest states, but a federal survey found Native Hawaiians are in unusually bad health.
Native Hawaiians are in worse health than many other Americans, more likely to suffer asthma, diabetes and obesity. They also were more often under severe psychological stress, and were less likely to say they are in good health, according to the just-released report.
The study, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the first national look at the health of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. It’s based on interviews with 11,000 people in 2014, as part of an effort to get better health data from these populations…..
PDF: Full Text of Report (99pgs)
read ... Health
Navy to let city clear large homeless encampment from Pearl Harbor bike path
HNN: ….Blaisdell Park will be closed between August 7th and August 31st for renovations. During that time period, the Pearl Harbor Bike Path will be off limits from the east side of the HECO power plant to Waimanu Stream. Folks who ride in the area will need to find an alternate route.
After that section is completed, the city is planning another sweep from West Lipoa Place to the Kalauoa Stream. That's considered phase two of the project.
"Part of the reason we don't have a date for that yet is that we want to work with the Navy and ask for their help clearing the mangroves, cause many of the homeless are in the mangroves," said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. "There's a lot of stuff there, but we don't have access to the water or Pearl Harbor."
In the meantime, the state is also planning an enforcement operation near Aiea State Park.
This afternoon, campers at Blaisdell Park were given notice to start packing up. Francis Cenal says he has lived there for nine years.
"I'm not nervous. I'm more mad. Pissed off. All I see in the newspaper is the neighborhoods complaining about the homeless," says Cenal. "That's because they're pushing us out of the public park. Where else are we going?"…. (Not to one of the many vacancies in homeless shelters, that’s for sure)
Officials estimate that there are about 120 people living between the HECO plant and the area just Ewa of the Arizona Memorial. Outreach workers from multiple agencies will be offering shelter to anyone who wants it.
Over the years, the deteriorating condition of the path triggered an overwhelming number of complaints from joggers and bikers who've said they don't feel safe. ….
read … Pearl Harbor Bike Path
News Flash: One Homeless Dude Says He ‘Might’ be Willing to Accept Shelter
SA: …On Thursday, Morishige and two of his staff handed out notices to people in eight encampments atop a grass-and-dirt berm that overlooks the Punchbowl Street offramp to the H-1 freeway.
The notices warn the occupants that they are not authorized to be in a restricted area, and offered contact information for shelters and other homeless-related services.
Outreach workers from three social service agencies — the Institute for Human Services, Kalihi-Palama Health Center and the CHOW Project, which stands for Community Health Outreach Work — already have been offering homeless-related services, including bed space in homeless shelters. They will return to the area and spend most of Monday notifying homeless people along Nimitz Highway and the H-1 freeway.
Sweeps could begin Monday afternoon, Morishige said, but the real push likely will start at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, he said.
Along with notices offering help, signs have gone up informing people they’re on government property.
Fences also will be erected to block access to the “Magellan overlook areas” — as DOT calls them — to block access, Sniffen said. The signs and fences are designed to make sure “there’s no confusion whether you can be up in the area,” Sniffen said.
Ryan Hardesty, 31, said he might be willing for the first time to enter a homeless shelter after being homeless on Oahu for a year. During that time, Hardesty said, he’s been swept seven or eight times.
“I might be willing” to enter a shelter, he said.
Hardesty’s neighbor Larry Guthrie, 67, remained defiant and did not plan to be around when the dump trucks and deputies move in next week.
“I’ll be gone,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll find another place real soon.”
read … Or might not
Homosexual Kiddie Porn: Kamehameha Schools appeal to close court is denied
SA:…Alisna is charged with violating the privacy of students who went to his off-campus faculty housing apartment. The state says Alisna used a miniature spy camera to record students using his shower.
Alisna’s lawyer wants to question the guards, who searched and removed items from Alisna’s apartment during Kamehameha Schools’ own investigation. School officials later turned over items taken from the apartment, including a miniature spy camera and memory card, to police to investigate and prosecute Alisna.
Kamehameha Schools officials had asked Trader to close the courtroom while Alisna’s lawyer questions the guards. They claim the guards were acting at the direction of school lawyers and that anything they discussed is privileged attorney-client communication.
School officials say they are considering their options….
read … Another One
Marijuana for 8-year olds—Don’t Worry its ‘Medicine’
HNN: After school, 8-year-old, MJ, loves taking water balloons and popping them in them in the backyard. Just feet away, her mother, Jari Sugano, a member of the state's dispensary task force, grows marijuana plants. She uses the medical cannabis to treat MJ's symptoms for a severe form of epilepsy. Over the years, she's used different varieties including 'purple indica.'…
"We started moving over to plants with high THC," said Sugano….
She showed us how she's moved from feeding MJ marijuana oils through a feeding tube to making salves and rubbing it on her legs, toes and wrists. She uses Doterra oil along with the marijuana oil to mask the heavy smell…..
she is not cured….
"It's been a 4-year long journey not just to save my child but to understand the plant. This plant is magical," she said.
read … Children on Marijuana
Police, Prosecutors Help Prison Guard Evade Felony Dope Dealing Charges
SA: A state judge has dismissed felony marijuana possession charges against a former Waiawa Correctional Facility prison guard and her husband because the prosecutor took too long to take the case to trial. Circuit Judge Karen Nakasone is denying the state the opportunity to refile charges because Honolulu police caused the delay by dragging their feet when turning over evidence….
A state judge has dismissed felony marijuana possession charges against a former Waiawa Correctional Facility prison guard and her husband because the prosecutor took too long to take the case to trial. Circuit Judge Karen Nakasone is denying the state the opportunity to refile charges because Honolulu police caused the delay by dragging their feet when turning over evidence.
Logotaeao Marie Faatea, who at the time of her Sept. 15 arrest was a training sergeant at Waiawa, and John Evaliko-Faatea were arrested at their rented Aiea condominium after police seized live marijuana plants and processed marijuana from the condominium while executing a search warrant.
The state charged each of the Faateas with first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, for possessing at least 25 pounds of marijuana, and first-degree promotion of a harmful drug, for possessing at least an ounce of processed marijuana. Both charges are Class A felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison….
Police said Faatea told the arresting officers that she had a medical marijuana card, that she provided medicine to all her sick relatives who have cancer and that she also was giving some to neighbors in the building who have post-traumatic stress disorder.
When police applied for the search warrant, they said they had already confirmed that Faatea had a medical marijuana certificate and that the state Department of Health had listed the unit as an authorized place for Faatea to grow marijuana. Police also said that from their ground and aerial surveillance, there appeared to be more plants growing at the condominium than what state law allows for an individual user….
Faatea started working for the state Department of Public Safety in 2003. The department says her last day was June 22….
read … Ex-prison guard, husband have pot charges tossed
Effort to Shut Down Tuna Fleet Fails Again
DN:…The Board of Land and Natural Resources denied Native Hawaiian waterman Malama Chun's petition seeking to stop the Department of Land and Natural Resources from issuing commercial fishing licenses to non-resident fishermen who are confined to boats at Honolulu and Hilo harbors when at port….
read … Fail
Hirono’s Up For Re-Election Next Year But Schatz Has Twice The Cash
CB:Campaign finance reports show Hawaii’s U.S. senators have far different totals on hand, but Hirono did raise $400,000 from April to June.
read … Buying Influence
Marco Polo Fire
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