Hawaii--The Worst State for Middle-Class Income Earners
Bottleneckers in Hawaii: How licensing laws make it harder to get a job
City to hold final public workshop on $500M Blaisdell Center Master Plan
Schatz Responds to Texas Church Shooting by Suggesting Law That Already Exists
Maui News: Will Ing Resign Legislature?
MN: Attempts to reach Ing on Monday for comment on whether he plans to fulfill his current term and represent South Maui in the upcoming legislative session that begins in January were unsuccessful….
The Democrat got into some legal trouble last year. He was cited for driving a vehicle without proof of insurance when he was stopped for having an expired safety sticker and delinquent vehicle tax, police said.
He did not show up for a Feb. 18, 2016, court date and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Ing turned himself in and was released on bail.
In January, Ing pleaded no contest to not having vehicle insurance and was fined $500 with half of the fine suspended for six months on the condition that he not be convicted of another offense. As part of the plea agreement, a charge of failure to appear was dismissed.
The offenses came to light in the middle of his re-election campaign but Ing won his seat handily.
His name was listed as Mark K. Ing during court proceedings. In his announcement to seek the U.S. House seat, he listed his name as Kaniela Saito Ing.
He did not reply Monday to questions about why he included “Saito” and whether it is part of his legal name…..
read … Arrested Development
Fukumoto to Quit Legislature?
SA: …state Rep. Beth Fukumoto (D, Mililani-Mililani Mauka-Waipio Acres) is also eyeing Hanabusa’s seat.
Fukumoto, 34, said last week she is “exploring a potential run,” adding that she will review polling data and discuss the possibility with her community and supporters before making a final decision….
Related: Ponzi Scheme Blues? Fukumoto will not run for Reelection—Claims to be Considering Run for Congress
read … State legislators eyeing Hanabusa’s congressional seat
LG Fund Race: Tranny Brings up the Rear
ILind: Josh Green $485,978.60 on hand at the end of June 2017.
Jill Tokuda $123,059.54 on hand at the end of June 2017.
Will Espero $51,463.37 on hand at the end of June 2017.
Bernard Carvalho Jr.$40,230.25 on hand at the end of June 2017
Kim Coco Iwamoto $13,462.77 on hand at the end of June 2017
read … That amazingly crowded LG field
Defense attorneys in Kealoha corruption probe face heat over questionable practices
HNN: The motion says that past representation by both attorneys prevents the Kealohas from turning against each other….
Lawson said the exhibits and details in the motion to disqualify the legal team exposes more than just the attorneys' potential conflicts, but possibly questionable practices that, he argues, should get both Breiner and Sumida investigated by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
One of those issues: The federal prosecutor says Sumida provided Katherine Kealoha with a key to his law office, where she allegedly took a witness who testified at the grand jury against her. Federal authorities have accused her of tampering with witnesses and evidence.
"She's a prosecutor, (Sumida) represents criminal defendants and you give the prosecutor the key to your office to go in when you're not there?" said Lawson, "And everybody's files are in your office? That was troublesome."
Even worse, Lawson said, was that Breiner took on the Kealohas even though he was representing several other people who were suing or had sued over police brutality or wrongful prosecution.
"If you're going to be a criminal defense attorney, and you're fighting for people who can't fight for themselves, and as soon as you get a big case -- against the people who've been violating your own clients rights for years -- you choose to represent them? And throw everyone else under the bus? There's something rotten about that," Lawson said.
read … Defense Bar Corruption
Criminal Case Against Kealohas Puts Brakes On Uncle’s Suit
AP: The lawsuit filed by Gerard Puana will have to wait while the case against his niece and her husband continues, a judge rules.
read … Brakes
Honolulu Police Officers Begin Testing Body Cameras
CB: …The state’s largest police force with about 2,000 sworn officers held a press conference at HPD headquarters to announce the 30-day initiative.
The department will outfit 77 officers with body cameras, mostly those working the third watch from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the downtown patrol district, said Capt. Rade Vanic..
He said select officers in the traffic and training division will wear the cameras, made by the company Axon, formerly known as Taser.
One of the goals, Vanic said, is to reduce the number of complaints against officers, as well as encourage officers and the people they encounter to be on their best behavior since they know they’re being recorded..
Once the pilot program is complete, the department will analyze whether it will move forward with purchasing more equipment and making body cameras part of an officer’s daily routine..
This is the second time HPD has tried to launch a pilot program for body cameras.
Vanic said a previous pilot in September with the company WatchGuard ran into some problems with uploading footage, data storage and file sharing.
He said both WatchGuard and Axon have provided the department with the equipment free of charge for pilot programs.….
read … Body Cams
Testing Reveals Leading Oahu Democrat Grows Dirty Weed Full of Mold & Mildew
HNN: Steep Hill Hawaii, says over 50 percent of the black market product had contaminants that included mold, yeast, and pesticides….
"I personally was shocked to find out how much stuff was in black market cannabis that you would never expect. E. coli, which comes from fecal matter. Salmonella, which comes from raw egg and chicken. We found that on product we tested," said Michael Covington, of Steep Hill Hawaii. …
…Medical cannabis patient Teri Heede (Deputy Chair of Oahu Democratic Party) says she was recently forced to trash all of her plants.
"I had to rip them out. The weather has been really bad. There was mildew, mold, whatever is growing. I've lost all my plants. All my adult plants are gone, and now I have to look at a way to replenish them. And that's problematic," Heede said. …
She says when she's out of supply she doesn't go to dispensaries, where the prices are too steep….
(Update: As of October 17, 2017, Heede is no longer deputy chair of Oahu Dems.)
read … Doper
Solar Scammers Seek Path to Higher Electric Rates
IM: The State Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission have wrestled with this issue for the last several years….
In the traditional Cost of Service (COS) model, the utility is paid cost plus a profit margin for everything it builds. The more a utility invests in infrastructure, the more profits they make. Thus, gold plating a system is profitable.
The Commission recognized that there are two different approaches to incentivizing utilities. Performance Based Ratemaking (PBR) “would constitute a wholesale change in the regulatory procedures …[by] establishing financial rewards or penalties based on utility performance according to specific incentive metrics.”
By contrast, “Stand-alone PIMs provide financial rewards or penalties for utility performance according to specific metrics but without necessarily adopting a substantial change in other ratemaking procedures.”
Jeff Kim wrote “Next Steps After NextEra” which appears in the January-March 2017 issue of “Mālama I Ka Honua: A Quarterly Journal of the Sierra Club of Hawai`i.”
“At present, Hawaiian Electric is only compensated on how much capital investment it undertakes. As a result, they are naturally motivated to increase their profits by spending money on infrastructure, regardless of what it is. Instead, however, the utility should be compensated on lowering costs (facilitating alt-energy scams—Editor). In order to address this issue, we need to move the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to establish performance incentive mechanisms that directly tie electric utility revenues to the utility's achievement on performance metrics."
What metrics should be used? Should metrics include renewable energy penetration rates, lowering ratepayer costs, improving reliability, diversifying the types of renewable energy used, environmental justice, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, improving resilience, decreasing customer complaints, decreasing phone time for callers, and/or stabilizing rates?
Some organizations believe that the history of Incentive Regulation in Hawai`i provides evidence that Incentive Regulation can be dangerous.
The Public Utilities Commission started the requirement that utilities offer energy efficiency programs, also known as Demand Side Management (DSM), to their customers in the early 1990s. The utilities would be incentives to offer the program. Many came to believe that the incentive regulation gave excessive ratepayers funds to the utility, while the utility had learned to game the system….
Blue Planet and the Sierra Club want to have the Commission adopt incentive regulation to encourage the utility to do what is in the public (alt-energy scammers’) interest….
read … Hawai`i Wrestles With High Electric Utility Bills
King Tides UH Calls on Global Cooling Deniers to take more Propaganda Photos for use on ‘Decision makers’
KGI: Water levels in November could be five inches higher than usual during the highest tides of the year, according to University of Hawaii experts.
April’s king tide brought an increase above normal water levels of about nine inches throughout the state, and summer water levels peaked at more than 10 inches above anticipated levels.
Flooding and coastal erosion are among the problems associated with the rapid rise in water levels.
“Currently the king tides and flooding associated with the higher water level occur just a few times per year,” Knapman said. “It is estimated that sea-level rise will more than double the frequency of extreme water-level events in Hawaii within a few decades. The high tides we experienced this summer provided a snapshot of the future, when extreme-water-level events become commonplace.”
The next king tides are expected in this first full week of November — today and tomorrow to be exact, and UH Sea Grant is once again asking the public for help document the natural phenomenon through the Hawaii and Pacific Islands King Tides Project.
Community members and visitors alike can help UH Sea Grant by capturing photos of the shoreline during king tides events. Over the 2017 summer months, more than 2,400 photographs were submitted by citizen scientists.
“These photo records are an invaluable resource for researchers and decision-makers as they attempt to better understand and prepare our state for the impacts of sea-level rise,” Knapman said.
To view king tide photos submitted by citizen scientists and learn more about the project visit PacificIslandsKingTides.org.
Related: Crichton: Environmentalism is a religion
read … Religion News
Billionaire’s Website Promotes Waimanalo as Haven for Homeless
CB: When Lavina Aina returned after a month of recovering from knee replacement surgery at Tutu Bert’s Homes, a medical respite home for homeless people, she checked on her neighbors.
Aina is known as “Aunty Vina” and lives in the tent closest to the canoe hale alongside Kalanianaole Highway just outside Waimanalo Beach Park. Hers is one of a long line of tents — 21 on Monday — that have sprung up on the roadside since the city has been sweeping homeless people away from the nearby parkland.
She’s been living in a tent in the park or along the road since 2003…..
Church groups and nearby residents provide food, supplies and services like washing their clothes. ….
Some homeless people have moved to Waimanalo because the sit-lie ban prohibited people from sitting or lying down on public sidewalks in areas like Waikiki.
More than 90 percent of homeless people in Waimanalo are from there and have been homeless for more than two years, said Kimo Carvalho, director of community relations for the Institute for Human Services.
Most suffer from generational poverty, some are dealing with substance abuse and some are unaccompanied minors, he said. …
Sometimes, fights break out between recently arrived homeless people and the long-timers of Waimanalo. Most homeless people settle by the beaches, but some are reported in the backstreets of the neighborhoods. …
“You get used to it,” said Erskin Olsen, one of the tent-dwellers. “It comes with the territory. But it is kind of dangerous being out there because it’s so close to the road.”
Olsen has been among the Waimanalo homeless for about 12 years. He used to camp out in the beach park when permits were free. Outreach workers offered him a housing in town, but he wants to stay in Waimanalo…
IHS bought him a bus pass and he gets hot meals throughout the week….
most of the homeless people are “service-resistant,” Carvalho said….
Realistically, moving people from the side of the road and into homes “could take years,” Carvalho said. “You measure success by going out frequently and gaining their trust.”…
SA: Addressing a ‘Silent Crisis’ – YO! & National Runaway Prevention Month
read … Waimanalo Tent-Dwellers: A Different Kind Of Homelessness (yeah, right)
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