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Thursday, November 16, 2017
November 16, 2017 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:59 PM :: 5027 Views

Hospital Reform? Randy Perreira Says "F*** You"

Hawai’i State Hospital Employees Game Overtime System

Hospital Crisis: How to Use Union Work Rules for Fun and Profit

HGEA Hospital Debacle: DOH Places Seven On Leave for 30 Days

Another Day in the Nei: Three Inmates Charged with Escape

Welfare Fraud Charges: Years Before Anybody Noticed

Tupola: FTA review of HART recovery plan finished 'early 2018'

2017 Survey: Home Health Care Costs Increase in Hawaii

Pension pinches profligacy

With Tax Increase in Hand, HART Begins Planning to Run Rail to UH Manoa

CB: The HART board may be resurrecting a route plan far more ambitious than the one submitted to federal transit officials….

The board that manages the Honolulu rail project is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting Friday to discuss extending the rail line from its currently planned terminus at Ala Moana Center to the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The extended route would also include a Waikiki branch.

The planned discussion, scheduled for Friday’s board meeting of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, comes less than three months after the Hawaii Legislature passed a $2.4 billion financing package during a special legislative session to rescue the financially strapped project….

“It’s so strange they’re talking about it now when they just got this money that can barely get them to Ala Moana,” said Honolulu City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi….

Extending the rail line would likely mean another potentially enormous cost increase for a project whose price tag has ballooned from $5.121 billion in 2012 to HART’s current estimate of $9.02 billion….

“I’m not shocked, but it is disappointing,” said Randy Roth, a retired law professor who has questioned the rail project’s financial viability.

He said the additional stretch would increase project costs significantly.

“You’re talking about billions more,” he said….. 

SA: Illegal New members can help HART board

read … Will Rail Go To Manoa And Waikiki After All?

By Escaping, Saito may have Shortened his Incarceration

KHON: …Once Hawaii State Hospital escapee Randall Saito is back in Hawaii, he won’t go directly back to the hospital.

Instead, he’ll be brought to Oahu Community Correctional Center, where he will likely stay until his trial for escape is over.

If he is able to post a half-million dollars in bail, he will return to the custody of the state hospital (where he can reunite with his taxpayer subsidized HGEA harem).

If Saito is sane and is convicted of escape, the maximum penalty is only five years in prison.

Once that’s done, will he be allowed to walk the streets again?

“Well if he gets sentenced to prison, he’ll serve his prison time,” said Ken Lawson with the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law. “Then once he’s released from prison, he’ll go back to the mental hospital until a court determines that he’s restored to sanity.”

(To be sentenced to a prison, Saito would have to be found to not be legally insane—thus eliminating the justification for his incarceration in the State Hospital orgy room.)

A panel of doctors will determine Saito’s sanity. They’ll be tasked with not only determining whether he was well aware of his actions at the time of the escape, but also looking at a bigger picture.

“If he’s sane enough to commit this crime, that does not mean that he’s been restored to sanity with respect to the legal standard that’s necessary in order for him to be released back into society,” Lawson explained….

AP: 17 escapes from Hawaii hospital since 2010

read … Jail is ticket to freedom?

Meet the Corrupt Hawaii Judge Who Let Saito go to Mental hospital instead of Prison

K5: …Judge Harold Shintaku's legal history is returning to the fore in the wake of Saito's escape, with many questioning why the killer was committed.  

… Shintaku overturned a jury verdict that found high-profile Honolulu crime boss Charles "Charlie" Stevens guilty of a double murder. Stevens had admitted to killing and dismembering the victims. 

Shintaku said there was not enough evidence in the case, and protests erupted at the State Capitol several days later with hundreds calling for his demotion and an investigation. 

On Oct. 6, 1981, police arrested Shintaku for drunk driving and he was found later at his family's Mokuleia beach house with multiple injuries, including a broken collar bone. 

Shintaku claimed he passed out and was beaten, but investigators said he may have gotten hurt trying to hang himself….

Shintaku retired in 1983. In 1987, he was arrested in a gambling raid in Alewa Heights and pleaded guilty. 

The following year, he was found dead on the Las Vegas strip after apparently jumping from the third floor of the Stardust Hotel. ….

Cataluna: Years later, the defendant in the double murder admitted that he had bribed Shintaku to rule in his favor

read … Corrupt Drunk 

Some HGEA Hospital workers to be put on unpaid leave in escape’s aftermath

SA: (A paltry) seven of the Hawaii State Hospital’s 630 (HGEA) employees (that’s over 3 employees per patient) are being placed on unpaid (Maternity?) leave today as the state Attorney General’s office investigates how Randall Saito was able to leave the hospital grounds, hail a cab, fly to Maui and then get on another flight to California, where he was captured today, Gov. David Ige announced today.   (Must be maternity leave to help birth Saito’s love child.)

Attorney General Doug Chin said Saito will face an extradition hearing in San Joaquin County “within days.” Once he’s back in Hawaii, Chin said his office plans to make a case before a judge that Saito is not suffering from a mental defect.  (Translation: Years later we acknowledge that Saito’s defense shyster got his client off easy with a phony mental illness defense—just as so many others have done.)

“This was premeditated,” Chin said. “It was intentional. It was planned. This was something that wasn’t done by somebody suffering from a mental defect.”  (He could get a harsh sentence of 5 years for escape with 4 years 11 mos off for good behavior.)

At the same time, Ige said visits have been suspended to the hospital’s club house; patient privileges are being reviewed; all staff are being retrained “on accountability;” (LOL!) security is being reassigned to the area; and fencing and other physical barriers are being procured.  (A fence around the loony bin.  What a unique idea!)

Ige expressed frustration that hospital officials took 10 hours to notify law enforcement that Saito had escaped, made his way to Maui and was en route to California…..

AG: “my office will conduct an internal investigation to determine what procedures and protocols were breached, and who – if anyone – assisted with Saito’s escape” (Yadda yadda yadda.)

(Of course we could have a new hospital built for free, operated at much lower cost per patient, and providing vastly superior care than the DoH facility.  All we have to do is contract with a private mental health hospital system and dump the UPW/HGEA controlled insanity.)

read … Some State Hospital workers to be put on unpaid leave in escape’s aftermath

Saito Received Two Visitors Before HGEA Allowed Him to Walk Away

KHON: …Charley’s Taxi surveillance footage shows Saito with cash, a cell phone, and a backpack. The state could not answer how he got hold of those items, but admitted Saito used an ID to get to California.

How did he get an ID?

We spoke with an employee, who said Saito hadn’t had a visitor in at least a decade, until recently. Saito had two visitors in the last few weeks….

read … Visitors

After Hospital Debacle, DPS Decides it Might Finally be Able to Prohibit Some, but not all, UPW Members From Bringing Contraband into Prisons

HNN: …Visitors and staff will no longer be able to carry in non see-through bags such as purses, backpacks, coolers, gym bags and briefcases. All items must be placed in clear bags with all items visible, and must not be larger than 12" x 8" x 12".

Only sealed, unopened will be allowed in. Clear, non-glass water bottles and other liquid containers must be less than 64 ounces.

“Contraband is a problem in prisons across the country. We eliminated one contraband pathway when we converted our visitation room to non-contact visits. We are constantly working on ways to block other contraband pathways, to better protect both staff and inmate safety, as well as the public we serve,” Scott Harrington, Halawa Correctional Facility Warden said

The change went into effect for Halawa Correctional Facility Wednesday, and will be put in place at OCCC on Nov. 22.

DPS Director Nolan Espinda said no exceptions to the rules will be made.

“A majority of staff come to work and do a great job.  Most staff don’t intentionally introduce contraband into our facilities, however, we have had instances where such misconduct has occurred," Espinda said. "Anyone who is caught intentionally bringing in contraband will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Eventually, DPS officials want the changes made statewide….  (Big dream!)

read … Prison policies change to crackdown on contraband behind bars

HPD: Body Cams, Dash Cams on Chief’s Agenda

HNN: …The first thing she said she wanted to do was, “leave everything in the past and move forward.”

In a very detailed presentation, she explained what she expects to accomplish during her term as head of the department.

Over the next five years, Chief Ballard said the values she hopes to restore is leadership, integrity, excellence, accountability and teamwork.

Her priorities include preventing and solving crime, recruiting and retaining quality employees, improving efficiency and advancing the use of technology like body cameras and possibly dashboard cameras.

But above all, she says restoring and maintaining community trust is most important….

CB: New HPD Chief Shares Her Goals For A Department In Turmoil

read … Starting fresh: Chief Ballard outlines plans to revitalize HPD

Recidivist Criminal from Hawaii Killed by Police in Vegas

IBT:  Authorities said Pitts, who had an SCCY CPX-1 9mm loaded with eight bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber, pointed the gun at his wife's stomach during the altercation, Daily Mail reported.

Reports stated Nesheiwat first fired two rounds, one of which went through Pitt’s arm and struck his wife in the stomach. However, even after getting shot, Pitts kept pointing his handgun at his wife, which led to Nesheiwat firing two more rounds. Pitt was taken to the hospital as a result of the shooting but did not survive the bullet wounds. 

His wife, who was wounded during the confrontation, was also taken to University Medical Centre, Las Vegas, where she underwent surgery and is in a non life-threatening condition, the Mirror reported.

According to the officials, Pitts had no criminal history in Las Vegas, but had multiple arrests, mostly on misdemeanor charges, in Hawaii between 1996 and 2007. Daily Mail reported Nesheiwat was placed on paid administrative leave in the wake of Saturday’s shooting, which is a standard procedure under the department’s policy….

read … Soft on Crime

Wind: Will Price of Electricity be a larger factor?

IM: Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and Maui Electric Company (MECO) recently submitted a Draft Request for Proposals (RFPs) for Renewable Energy. The RFP must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission.

The utilities proposed that in evaluating renewable energy proposals, price related issues should account for 60 percent, and non-price related issues should account for 40 percent.

The non-price issues include community outreach/engagement, cultural impacts, environmental review & permitting plan, and environmental compliance.

Longroad wrote to the PUC earlier this week. If you can`t get community buy-in for a project, you should minimize community buy-in when seeking regulatory approval. Loagroad  asserted that HECO and MECO are overly generous in plans to weigh non-price issues. Each of the ten non-price issues, including community outreach/engagement and cultural impacts, should count for only one percent…..

read … Hawai`i Wind Developer Seeks to Minimize Community Input

Air BnB is What It Really Takes To Survive In Hawaii

CB: …Having rental property, legal or otherwise, has always been a way for average folks to survive in Hawaii: Stick an odd-looking unit on top of a two-story walk-up (take a look at Moiliili), or make a tiny “studio” apartment out of one room in your townhouse.

These additions and reconfigurations may be legal. Often they are not.

Now, sure, everyone renting out a vacation rental is not average, but face it: most Airbnb landlords are not exactly plutocrats.

Renting property is a second job, a way to afford house payments or avoid taking a side job in Waikiki or Wal-Mart. For some it is a way to make some money while staying home with their young children…..

If you think affordable housing is a problem generally, the elderly housing problem is even worse, especially for frail old people.

Hawaii has a severe shortage of nursing homes. The ones we have cost much more than the U.S. average. Compared to the mainland, Hawaii has more old people who are sicker than the capacity of their living facilities to take care of them because, quite simply, they have nowhere else to go.

Attention please: This problem is going to get worse. The percentage of elderly in Hawaii is increasing far faster than the state’s capacity to house and care for them.

So, no surprise, some new workarounds have emerged, particularly an arrangement where an old person rents a room in a home and signs a separate arrangement for health care.

Often these homes (they tend to be in someone’s house) are not licensed by the state, so in the eyes of the Department of Health and now the state attorney general, they are violators.

But in the eyes of care operators and their clients, they are workarounds, a way to deal with the housing shortage and avoid the cumbersome, inapplicable licensing process….

Related: What's in the Secret Air BnB Agreement?

read … Work-Around 

Housing First is making a dent in homelessness

MN: Before the State of Hawaii started pushing its Housing First program, the Family Life Center in Kahului just didn’t have the resources to find housing for the people who needed it most, Executive Director Maude Cumming said.

But now, agencies like the Family Life Center are getting the funding and assistance they need to quickly get housing for the chronically homeless, who make up about 10 to 20 percent of the homeless population but require the lion’s share of community resources, from police to hospitals to homeless agency services.

“If we can get them housed and stabilized, that would free up the resources for the majority,” said David Nakama, Maui County Homeless Program coordinator.

Nakama and Cumming were part of a seven-person panel that addressed homelessness, housing and development before an audience at the West Maui Senior Center on Tuesday. In many ways, the Housing First program is changing the way shelters aid the homeless on Maui…..

read … Housing First

Kauai County Wrongness: Give Free Stuff to Homeless Tweekers, Considering Tent City

KGI: The County of Kauai may establish a safe zone to help the homeless population.

“While the county has not implemented a safe zone here on Kauai, it is an option that we are considering,” Sarah Blane, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s chief of staff, wrote in an email. “However, we would need to ensure that we site a location that has access to water, electricity and is in close proximity to services. Proper management and security of the site would also be key factors that we would need to work out prior to us proposing a safe zone or similar operation.”

Outreach workers visited with the homeless Wednesday in front of the Historic County Building during “Hope in the Park” sponsored by the Kauai Community Alliance in recognition of Homeless Awareness Week.

About 50 people, including representatives from the different agencies dealing with hunger and homelessness turned out for information, a free chili lunch, and prizes, including a month’s pass on The Kauai Bus….

KGI: Kauai Treatment Court targets vets

read … The Wrong Way

Council Panel Votes To Prohibit Lying Down At Honolulu Bus Stops

CB: But the committee postponed action on a measure to extend the sit-lie ban to areas around schools and libraries…. Councilman Trevor Ozawa, who represents Waikiki and East Honolulu, said his constituents aren’t able to use bus stops because people who appear to be homeless sleep on the benches. The complaints led him to introduce Bill 99….

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi introduced Bill 83 to expand the sit-lie ban within 800 feet of schools and libraries. She said she was addressing a specific homeless encampment near the McCully-Moiliili Library and that the current measure might be too broad.

Caldwell vetoed an earlier measure by Kobayashi that would have expanded the sit-lie ban along Makahiki Way, which borders the McCully-Moiliili Public Library. The street is residential, not commercial, which might make the ban more vulnerable to legal challenges (from ACLU doing everything it can to keep the homeless homeless).

The committee deferred Bill 83 after discussing it for almost an hour behind closed doors with lawyers from the city’s Department of Corporation Counsel…..

read … Partial Progress, Need More Pressure

Lack of applicants for Fire Department battalion chief posts becomes excuse for yet another raise

HTH:…The career ladder reaches only so far for Hawaii County firefighters, at least if they don’t want to take a pay cut.

Concerns about a lack of interest from rank-and-file firefighters about rising to the rank of battalion chief have Fire Chief Darren Rosario and Acting Human Resources Director Bill Brilhante meeting with Mayor Harry Kim, asking for a classification study to determine whether the position should be moved up a few rungs.

Rosario said Tuesday he supports a move up on the salary scale for battalion chiefs. That’s why he took it to the mayor, he said.

Brilhante is more cautious and called for a study to justify the changes.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure there’s sufficient evidence” for an upward move, he said, acknowledging the battalion chief level is “kind of the pinch point in the advancement process.”

Battalion chief is a managerial position one rank above captain. Captains and below are covered by the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association union, while the battalion chief position is excluded from collective bargaining.

Battalion chiefs’ pay ranges from $81,672-$135,936, depending on seniority and longevity of service, according to 2017 salary charts maintained by the state Department of Human Resources. Captains’ pay is from $79,728-$109,140.

The fire chief makes $130,818 annually, and two assistant chiefs each make $126,894…..

read … Solution: Mo Money

Anti-Sunscreen Dog n Pony Show Comes to Kona

WHT: Craig Downs says the science is in — and many types of commonly sold sunscreens are a direct threat to Hawaii’s coral reefs.

Downs, a Ph.D. (Piled higher and Deeper) and executive director of Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, gave a presentation on the topic Tuesday night at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority Gateway Center at the request of Rep. Nicole Lowen — Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau.

He referenced the sunscreen sheen, or the slicks on top of ocean water, after several hundred or thousand people have entered a bay.

“That is equivalent to an oil spill, and that’s how we forensically deal with sunscreen pollution,” Downs said. “As an oil spill.”  (LOLROTF!)

Nov 14: Sunscreen Hysterics: Will Idiots on Maui Council be First to Unleash Wave of Stupidity?

More Reality than Most Can Handle:

read … Lots of Quacks in Kona too

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