Hawaii Supreme Court Rules Public has Property Right to a Clean Environment
Kelii Akina: My Vision as OHA Trustee
Akana: Crabbe Worked on Book on OHA TIme for 5 Years
OHA Announces 2018 Bill Package
Video: "The Future Of Land Regulations And A Tribute To David Callies"
What’s a Carbon Tax?
If We Really Believe in Sea Level Rise, There is no Reason to Complete Rail Project
DN: A Star-Advertiser story this morning (12/30/2017) announced the release of the Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report…
The first question that came to mind as I read the newspaper article was what will become of Honolulu’s fearfully expensive rail project. Will some of the stations be standing over flood waters?…
Cranking up the report’s visualization tool, it appears that no station will be threatened by the ocean even with a 3.2 foot rise over the present.
But wait: the tool also has a layer illustrating flooding. The potential flooding area exists today, but flood events will be more frequent and more threatening as the seas rise….
Note that the Diamond Head side of Ala Moana Center is pretty much wiped out economically. What this means for the station, I don’t know, but why have a station there if the destination will no longer be desirable?
Note also the potential loss of those pricey condos facing the ocean on Ala Moana Blvd. Sorry, snowbirds….
Moving on now to Pearl City, where another rail station is to be located…The station is just at the edge of an area marked for economic loss – even for as little as a 0.5 foot sea level rise. The loss area increases as the higher level overlays are selected….
I don’t know the implications of siting a rail station at the very edge of what is to become an economically blighted area, but I think it’s safe to say that developers are not going to be willing to build any “affordable” or any other housing there….
read … Sea level rise vs. the Honolulu rail project—what a new report portends
State Budget is Priced for Economic Perfection
Borreca: …All the indicators are up and everything should be set for a bright 2018.
But instead, lawmakers are looking at the supplemental budget sent in by Gov. David Ige and are thinking cutbacks, restrictions and funding lapses.
First off, why? And secondly, why does Hawaii continue with budget cutting in times of surplus? It has become a multi-year trend….
“The spending is not conservative because they are deficit-spending all the way till 2023. They are putting the monies into the Rainy Day Fund,” said one House Budget Committee veteran who asked not to be identified.
“For six consecutive years from FY2014 to FY2019, the state’s estimated fiscal picture for the upcoming fiscal year has been ‘under water,’ meaning that estimated revenues would be lower than estimated expenditure,” said another Budget Committee member asking for anonymity….
(Lesson: Hawaii State budget is susceptible to economic downturn.)
read … Trying to understand state budget involves a whole lot of dollars, but little sense
Star-Adv: If UH Admin Comes up with some excuses, $100K Salaries will be OK with us
SA: …In the midst of rising faculty wages, some increase for management is to be expected. Maintaining some level above average faculty wages for managers and especially executives simply keeps the pay rates competitive.
The real question, however, is what the taxpayer is getting from those at the helm of the state’s public university. UH administration should come back to the state Capitol throughout the upcoming legislative session to make its case, outlining where it’s improving efficiency and producing higher education that meets the needs of the students.
To start with, it’s actually a good thing that UH President David Lassner had decided to allocate much of the $800,000 based on evaluations of the managers’ performance.
Of the 198 people holding “excluded managerial” posts system-wide, 174 were deemed eligible for the pay increase, because their length of service met qualifications, said Dan Meisenzahl. At UH-Manoa, almost a third were ineligible, according to a second presentation Lassner made on Friday, speaking as the Manoa interim chancellor….
read … How to get money by bamboozling the public
Alarmed by fake news, Legislators push media literacy in schools
AP: …Lawmakers have introduced or passed bills calling on public school systems to develop lessons for a form of instruction called "media literacy."
The effort has been bipartisan but has received little attention despite successful legislation in Washington state, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Mexico….
Several more states are expected to consider such bills in the coming year, including Arizona, New York and Hawaii.
Supporters say the misinformation spread during the 2016 presidential campaign has helped their efforts. They want schools to include lessons about how to evaluate and analyze sources of information in civics, language arts, science and other subjects….
read … Literacy
Hawaii doubles the number of advanced practice registered nurses
UHN: …The 2017 Nursing Workforce Report issued by the Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing (HSCN) indicates that the number of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs)—or registered nurses with graduate education, specialized certifications and advanced nursing licensure—in the state has more than doubled since 2005….
The rapid increase in the number of APRNs is good news for local consumers, given the critical shortage of primary care providers. More than half of all Hawaiʻi APRNs work in primary care-related specialties, such as family health, pediatrics or mental health. Many work in remote and rural areas and provide primary care services to parts of the state that are most severely affected by provider shortages.
This increase has been facilitated by enactment of legislation authorizing APRNs to work to the fullest extent of their education and training, allowing them to work as primary care providers skilled to perform health promotion, diagnose and manage acute and chronic illnesses, make referrals to specialized care, and prescribe treatments and medication.
While the number of APRNs has grown, the report also reveals evidence of a developing shortage of licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in the state. This shortage will most severely impact long-term and residential care facilities that employ more than one-quarter of all LPNs statewide….
read … advanced practice registered nurses
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