Seven Deadly? Hawaii Comes up Short in Sin Index
New DLIR Website Tracks Military Spending in Hawaii
DLNR: Did Anti-Ratbait Activists Kill 45 Mullet?
State's Hyperbaric Treatment Center to remain closed through February
Four Years After Sheep Sex Scandal--Brian Schatz in Charge of Sex Harassment Investigations
CB: …fellow Senate Democrats Al Franken of Minnesota and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and maybe Republican Roy Moore of Alabama….
Schatz is one of three Democrats and three Republicans serving on the Senate Ethics Committee….
“Nobody sitting on the Ethics Committee is going to be having a good time right now,” says Jennifer Duffy, senior editor for U.S. senators and governors for the Cook Political Report. “It is a fairly unenviable assignment, period, and when you have your colleague up it gets really awkward.”
Schatz is not talking publicly about his dilemma…..
KITV: Pelosi confronting 'raw feelings' within black caucus over Conyers accusations
Flashback:
read … Brian Schatz Is In The Hot Seat Now
Conference: How to Shut Down Protesters and Call it Democracy?
CB: Hawaii is in a unique situation when it comes to civic engagement — record low voter turnout, contentious issues like rail or pesticides, an overwhelmingly dominant political party, among other things….
Peter Adler, a professional mediator and organizer of the event, has seen his share of public meetings turn into “yell fests.” Opinions, not facts, dominate the debate….
Hawaii has some unique challenges that deter civic engagement, such as the high cost of living. With the rising income disparity in Hawaii, Adler said, people may be fatigued from working two jobs or caring for kids.
And it doesn’t help that the Democratic Party has essentially run the state for decades, leaving little room for diversity of thought, he said.
People seem to have overblown fears that all public decisions are made behind closed doors, he said.
That can discourage people from trying to participate, though Adler said there is sometimes a need for privacy and negotiation so decision-makers can candidly “hash out details.”…
Adler recalled the time a colleague was asked to moderate a meeting about a proposal to manage Kauai waters. But that meeting was stopped by a Native Hawaiian group that claimed sovereignty over the island’s resources. The group said others had no right to talk about those things.
That action prevented others from learning more about the issue during the informational briefing….
Other efforts at encouraging public dialogue have been more successful.
He pointed to the Nai Aupuni aha, or convention, in 2016 that successfully brought together people with differing viewpoints and led to the creation of a Native Hawaiian constitution and statement of independence. (Wow. Just imagine the effort necessary to say that with a straight face..)
On the Big Island, he said the community group Envision Maunakea is trying to foster a discussion around long-term plans for the whole mountain — not just the summit where the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope is planned to be built.
The purpose of the conference is to “try to move beyond platitudes and see if there are actionable strategies,” he said….
CB: Democracy In Hawaii Needs A Tuneup — Here Are Some Tools To Do It
IM: Richardson Law School Tackles Kauai Dairy Farm
read … Call it Democracy
Isle substance abuse fatalities on rapid rise
SA:Hawaii’s drug, alcohol and suicide death rate is projected to increase by 39 percent over the next decade, a new report shows.
The state’s death rate from these causes is forecast to rise to 43.3 per 100,000 residents by 2025 from 31.2 in 2015 — the sixth lowest in the nation — according to the report by the Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate has been steadily climbing from 22 in 2005 and 20 in 1999.
“Nobody wants to see a 39 percent increase in 10 years,” said Dan Galanis, an epidemiologist at the state Department of Health, which expects to present a plan to address substance abuse, particularly prescription opioids, to the Legislature next session….
Link: News Release
read … Isle substance abuse fatalities on rapid rise
Enviros: Global Warming Makes the Ocean Radioactive
ABC: Rising seas caused by climate change are seeping inside a United States nuclear waste dump on a remote and low-lying Pacific atoll, flushing out radioactive substances left behind from some of the world’s largest atomic weapons tests….
(IQ Test: Do you believe this?)
read … Radioactive
Sierra Club: People Leaving Hawaii Reduce Global Warming
IM: …Sierra Club boss Anthony Aalto spoke up from the audience. Talking to the panel, he said, you`re not talking about what people can do. People are leaving. People can switch to a vegetarian diet. They can plant trees to sequester carbon….
read … We Have Arrived--Now Get Out!
Star-Adv Whines About Monster Houses and Lack of Affordable Housing—Unable to see Contradiction
SA:Some families can’t afford to buy a house on their own and are pooling their money with other relatives to buy property that everyone can live on….
DPP records show the department considered 23 building permit applications for houses of eight bedrooms or more in 2017 as of the beginning of October; 13 of the requests have been issued, and two others have been approved but not yet issued. The others are pending.
Among those approved, the largest is an 18-bedroom house on the 3300 block of Kalihi Street. Real property records show it’s on a 13,950-square-foot lot that’s currently empty. The building permit describes the project as a new two-story, single-family dwelling with a wet bar.
A plan for 15 bedrooms and a three-story structure on a 5,000-square-foot lot on Aupuni Street, also in Kalihi, is among the pending applications. Property records show the lot has had a six-bedroom, one-bathroom house and a second dwelling with three bedrooms and one bathroom….
Ozawa said his staff found online a room for rent at a property in Palolo that has 20 bedrooms. “It’s obvious it’s being used for some type of unauthorized use,” he said. “What more does DPP need to further pursue a lead like that? Constantly we’re being told, ‘We can’t make assumptions that they’re not being used for legal purposes.’”
SA: 8 ‘Monster’ houses that stand out – Best Comment “since realestate is so expensive in Hawaii its best to build your house up to the 4 or 5 feet within the boundaries of your property. People who build monster houses are actually fulfilling needed housing in Honolulu. Only now, this maximizing the use of realestate in Honolulu is said to be a problem. Whats the problem?”
SA: City inspectors cite some for ‘monster’ houses but not others
SA: Many huge homes not illegal under current city laws
SA: Accessory dwellings touted as alternative to ‘monster’ homes
read … Monster
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