OHA the Savior of Mauna Kea?
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Fight Begins over Kawananakoa Money
HNN: …Attorneys for her trust said in court papers that the 92-year-old recently suffered a stroke, leaving her unable to care for herself. Based on her health problems, state Probate Judge Mark Browning recently removed her from her trust and replaced her with her longtime attorney James Wright.
Sources said Kawananakoa was in the neuro-intensive care at Queens Medical Center for about a week and that her doctor found her unable to manage her own financial affairs.
“(Kawananakoa) is impaired as a result of an acute stroke … unable to meet essential requirements of physical health, safety, self-care or financial matters,” lawyer Frank Kanemitsu wrote in court papers.
But Kawananakoa’s partner of more than two decades, Veronica Gail Worth, is seeking to contest the order. Her attorney Michael Rudy said a medical exam by a panel of experts they hired found that she did not suffer a stroke.
“Miss Kawananakoa is in excellent mental and physical condition," said Rudy.
"She did not have a stroke."
Rudy said he will ask Wright to voluntarily remove himself from the trust. If that doesn’t happen, he will seek to reverse Browning’s order.
We're told that the 63-year-old Worth is a beneficiary of the Kawananakoa estate and receives about $700,000 a year from the heiress. Sources said she is seeking tens of millions from the trust. But her attorneys denied that….
She’s a big backer of Iolani Palace, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. and a number of other Hawaiian movements such as the protests of the Thirty Meter Telescope at Mauna Kea….
"She firmly believes as a royal that one of her duties is to take care of Native Hawaiian people,” said former state Sen. Clayton Hee.
SA: Legal dispute flares over heiress’s assets
read … Money, Hee
Judge’s Findings Leave TMT Opponents Few Options
ILind: The decision to let the Thirty Meter Telescope move forward closely tracks reasoning in an earlier case involving a Maui telescope….
This latest contested case began in early 2016 with months of legal wrangling and pre-hearing motions, followed by 44 days of evidentiary hearings that began Oct. 20, 2016, and ended March 2, 2017.
And this hearing was, in large part, a repeat of an earlier contested case hearing held in 2011. The resulting decision by the land board to approve the telescope project was subsequently overturned by the Hawaii Supreme Court on procedural grounds in December 2015….
And the arguments actually go back more than a decade, when development of the astronomy district at the top of Mauna Kea began to draw increased scrutiny. No wonder people are getting tired of it.
So politically, waning public interest makes the position of TMT opponents more difficult. And a case decided by the Hawaii Supreme Court late last year has made their legal challenge much less tenable.
Kilakila ‘O Haleakala vs. Board of Land and Natural Resources was also a challenge to a conservation district use permit for a new radio telescope on Maui’s Haleakala. Opponents there made many of the same arguments being made regarding Mauna Kea. For example, opponents in both cases say the scale of the planned telescopes is inconsistent with requirements of the conservation districts where they are located.
However, the court held that since state law allows astronomy facilities on conservation lands, and does not set limits on size or other characteristics, the land board did not exceed its authority in approving the permit.
It’s a legal precedent that now weighs heavily on the TMT case….
read … TMT Options
2 prominent Native Hawaiians say they're part of 'silent majority' in favor of TMT
HNN: "The silence is deafening."
That's how OHA Trustee Peter Apo describes the lack of support from the Native Hawaiian community for the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope.
He says despite the protests and legal battles, a silent majority support building the telescope atop Mauna Kea.
"I think it's important to the legacy, to the identity to who we are as Hawaiians. The legacy of the search for knowledge," he said, of the telescope. "To not pursue that, to not have it happen in our homeland is crazy. Frankly, I think that's the cultural injury."
He believes ancient Hawaiians would have welcomed the telescope.
"If they were given the opportunity for a tool, a technology like the TMT, they would build a temple on top of the mountain and put the TMT on top of the heiau," he said.
One of Hokulea's master navigators, Kalepa Baybayan, has also supported it.
"It's pretty lonely, yet you have to be pretty brave to take a stand for something that polarizes the community," he said.
He added, "The education benefits that it will bring the community is a very generous offering on the part of TMT."
read … 2 prominent Native Hawaiians say they're part of 'silent majority' in favor of TMT
Legalize TVRs
CB: Legal short-term units will provide Hawaii with tax revenue and a community to enforce rules against nonconforming rentals….
read … Common Sense For Vacation Rentals
Hawaii County Fuel Tax Hike Bites Consumers Hard
HTH: Higher fuel taxes that began this month are expected to generate an additional $4.6 million for the rest of the fiscal year, according to a report from the Hawaii County Department of Public Works.
Of that, $1.7 million will be used for road paving projects while another $1 million will benefit the county’s Hele-On bus service. The extra funds also will be spent on school safety projects, an emergency/disaster fund, signal upgrades, union-negotiated wage and benefit increases, and equipment.….
SA: City looks to boost revenues at Ala Wai Golf Course, but some worry about what that means
read … An Article Titled: 'Fuel tax increase has its benefits'
Students Make it to School Without Busses
KHON: …Ground Transport tells us it’s within weeks of getting newly hired drivers through all the required licensing and training to fully staff all routes.
This comes as all grades at Lahainaluna High School went back to school Wednesday.
Out of about 1,000 students, nearly one-fifth had their bus route suspended. Despite that, only four students were late to class on the first day….
MN: Parents making do with no school buses
read … Who Needs Busses?
Bill requiring retrofitting of all high-rises with sprinklers passes first reading
HNN:Honolulu City Council members passed a bill Wednesday afternoon that would require all high-rise buildings to install sprinkler systems. …critics of the measure say it will cost too much money to install the sprinklers….
read … Bill requiring retrofitting of all high-rises with sprinklers passes first reading
HPD Raids 20 Game Rooms
HNN: …In a sting operation this past weekend, approximately 20 game rooms were raided, and nearly 20 people were arrested on dozens of charges, sources said.
And two weeks ago, there was a massive bust of a game room off Keaaumoku Street.
Former federal special agent Tommy Aiu said he's been told the crackdown comes after a recent spike in violence relating to game rooms on Oahu.
“In the past several months there's been several armed robberies, there was a shooting last month, all related to criminal activity within and surrounding the game rooms," Aiu said.
Last month, police were called to a suspected game room in Mapunapuna after several shots were fired. And in May, three suspects posing as law enforcement officers invaded a home in Punchbowl, tying up and robbing several people inside. Sources say the robbery was game room-related.
Sources also say among those arrested in the Kalihi game room raids this past weekend was OCCC work furlough escapee Martin Williams. Williams was serving time for drug charges.
Sources say only three people were arrested on gambling charges…..
read … Raids
Resolution to remove controversial sidewalk extensions passes city council
HNN: …The Honolulu City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday that would remove eight of the bulbouts on Pauahi Street, between Mauna Kea and Smith Street.
The curb extensions installed were intended to make the area safer for pedestrians, but merchants say it blocks access for customers and emergency vehicles.
The bulbouts extend the curb about 7 feet into the roadway at four different intersections.
read … Dim Bulbouts to go?
Medicated Marijuana “Like Candy’ Should Appeal to Kids
SA: …Dozens of patients (mostly oxy addicts) anxiously stood in line — one as early as the night before — to be the first on Oahu to buy products such as Chocolope and Lemon Drop, medical marijuana strains that went on sale Wednesday.
“It’s like a candy store,” said Kimbreley Timulty, 45, who was among the first to purchase pot at Aloha Green LLC. “It was overwhelming because you walk in there and that’s the only thing that you smell.”…
“It was like Disneyland. I had to enjoy the ride. It felt like being a kid again,” said Joseph Timulty, a disabled U.S. Coast Guard veteran who plans to use the drug instead of opiates (#1) to alleviate what he describes as severe pain. “I’ve been fighting this battle for 47 years really … in my heart. It’s the gateway to get off opiates.”… (Uh huh.)
Aaron Kagan, a 29-year-old Pearl City resident, has used the drug since he was 18…
“I was taking Percocet and Vicodin (narcotic prescription drugs) as a teenager (#2)…..”
Chinatown resident Jared James, 34, said he hopes the community will embrace marijuana now that dispensaries are open in Hawaii.
“It’s so much better than all those other drugs. Opiates (#3) work pretty well (for pain relief) but there are a lot of complications with them. There’s huge risks too. One of the side effects is dying,” said James, who uses marijuana for back pain….
(Apparently they have all been instructed to sell MJ as an alternative to Oxy. How dull. They can re-sell the MJ to buy what they really want.)
read … Copies Tobacco marketing Technique
After Faking Opposition, Hawaii Election Officials Give Trump Exactly What He Requested
HTH: …Three of Hawaii’s four county election officials said Wednesday they will send President Donald Trump’s election advisory commission their public voting lists by the end of this week.
Hawaii County Clerk Stewart Maeda said the four county elections officials got together to decide how much information to send or whether to send anything at all. They ultimately settled on sending the public list, which contains only voters’ first and last names, district precincts and whether the voter is active or inactive.
“We decided that the public list is already available to anyone if they request it,” Maeda said. “That’s what any public person can see.”
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity asked states to send much more, including addresses, dates of birth, all or partial Social Security numbers, voter histories since 2006, previous voter registrations in other states, military statuses and felony convictions, if they are part of the public file.
“Because they are only asking for the public list, that’s all we’re sending them,” Maeda said.
read … Fake show to Impress Democrat Base
Why Hawaii Won’t Join Battle Against Trump’s ‘Sanctuary City’ Crackdown
CB: While Hawaii has led the legal charge against the administration’s travel ban, Gov. David Ige is not supporting the sanctuary movement….
Remember This? April 26, 2017 Soft on Crime: To Help Criminals Avoid Deportation, Honolulu eyes sanctuary city status
Or This? May 18, 2017 Caldwell Claims Honolulu is Just Like a Sanctuary City
It was all a fake out.
read … Another Fake Show to Impress Democrat Base. They are so easily fooled it is laughable.
Anti-Semites Harass Hanabusa for Support of Israel
CB: …U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s town hall turned testy Tuesday as she was confronted by constituents (a gaggle of the usual suspects) who criticized her support for a popular but controversial pro-Israel bil
Their efforts may have paid off — the congresswoman’s chief of staff said Wednesday she is reconsidering her support.
Waving signs and chanting, critics of Israel’s expansion of settlements on the West Bank (anti-Semites) called on Hanabusa to abandon her co-sponsorship of HR 1679, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, saying it would threaten opponents of Israel’s policies with hefty fines and prison terms.
Supporters of a pro-Palestinian group known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, shouted “No Attacks on BDS!” in unison as the town hall came to a close (and reveled in their right to be openly racist in the midst of political correctness)….
At both events, Hanabusa staunchly defended the measure as an appropriate step to take to protect America’s ally, Israel, from being unfairly targeted by political opponents, adding that the original sponsors of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement were 22 Arab nations that want to destroy Israel.
“The United States has not taken a position against Israel; Israel has been an ally,” she said in Kapolei last Thursday. “It is blacklisting, that’s what a boycott is.”
She said the boycott could complicate international relations, noting that Israel is participating with about a dozen firms, including some in the United States, in the development of the F-35 fighter jet.
Hanabusa said that opponents of the measure were oversimplifying complex legislation and exaggerating the risks.
Hanabusa was the only member of the Hawaii congressional delegation to agree to co-sponsor the measure, which has 252 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 48 in the Senate….
read … Anti-Semites
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