An Opportunity for Opportunity Zones
‘Dan Inouye is a Rapist’—My Name is Mark Kaniela Saito Ing and I approved this Message
SA: …Right now Maui state Rep. Kaniela Ing is running for Oahu’s 1st Congressional District …. He is also calling former U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye “an accused serial rapist” and mulls over why the state’s main airport is named after Inouye….
Ing in his social media comments said the affair was hushed up, which is nonsense; it was the biggest local political story of the year. In very large print, the old Honolulu Star-Bulletin front page in October of 1992 declared: “Kwock: Inouye forced me to have sex with him.”
Inouye denied the charges, but other women anonymously said they, too, had allegations against Inouye….
Ing isn’t offering legislation to change the name of Hawaii’s airport or other government buildings and highways named after Inouye.
(Hilarious: Airhead Ing Voted to Name Airport for ‘Serial Rapist’ Inouye)
In Twitter conversations last week, Ing said: “My statement about the airport isn’t about attacking the late Senator….”
So what does Ing want?
… how much is Kaniela Ing, who voted for the Inouye airport name change, about #MeToo — and how much is it about #Kaniela4Congress?….
Flashback:
read … Political history could offer lesson in campaign backlash for outspoken candidate Ing
Gays Decide Which Democrat Will be our Next Congressperson
SA: …Democratic congressional candidates were given a chance to explain their evolving views on such topics as marriage equality and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights during a candidates forum Saturday in Kakaako….
Dozens packed into the small office space to hear Lt. Gov. Doug Chin, state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and state Rep. Kaniela Ing speak about their candidacy and answer questions from the three caucuses, with each allotted 40 minutes to talk….
Ing had his own controversy to account for, namely his opposition to renaming Honolulu International Airport after highly regarded U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who was accused by his hairdresser in 1992 of coercing her into having sex. Other women also alleged sexual misconduct by the senator, but Inouye was never charged with any crime and continued to serve in the U.S. Senate until his death in 2012.
Ing (D-South Maui) said whether or not the allegations against Inouye are true, renaming the airport after him sent a message to the alleged victims that no one believed them….
Hilarious: Airhead Ing Voted to Name Airport for ‘Serial Rapist’ Inouye
read … Candidates asked to account for past actions
HSTA Property Tax Slush Fund Still Alive
SA: …The Hawaii State Legislature passed the midpoint of the 2018 session last week, with lawmakers considering bills that would allow physician-assisted death, would increase the 5-cent deposit for bottles and cans, and would impose a new mandate for paid family leave.
They are also debating measures that would ban the “bump stock” devices that allow rifles to simulate automatic weapons fire and would create “safe zones”
Lawmakers also are debating an array of proposed tax and fee increases this year that could affect the cost of cigarettes, timeshares, vacation rentals, rental cars, electric vehicles, online purchases, new cars, and more.
Even property taxes could be affected under a bill that would ask voters to give lawmakers the power to impose a new surcharge on hotels and residential investment properties to help fund public education….
read … Tax Everything
Three Big Tax Hikes on the Move in the Legislature
SA: >> House Bill 2702, which would require state income tax to be paid to the state by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), in which revenue-producing properties do not yield any such revenue for the state of Hawaii.
>> House Bill 1655, which aims to have online marketplaces collect general excise tax (GET) due to the state from sales to Hawaii residents. This has the support of local brick-and-mortar retailers, who argue that online sellers have an unfair advantage by not collecting taxes.
>> Senate Bill 2963, which would set up a system for an online short-term rental platform to remit transient accommodations tax (TAT) revenue owed to the state. These businesses don’t always pay the TAT conveyed on conventional hotel rooms; that’s unjust and must be corrected.
read … More Tax Hikes
Maui DEM Director into Gambling, MLM Scheme
MN: …Good luck in Las Vegas and a Midas touch with a direct marketing “side business” combined last year for Stewart Stant to match his annual salary as Department of Environmental Management director, financial disclosure documents show.
Serving as director since December 2015, Stant earns $139,232 annually. His department manages wastewater and solid waste disposal, has more than 200 employees and a budget of $131.2 million this fiscal year.
His recent financial disclosure reports that he had gambling winnings of $25,000 to $49,999 from Harrah’s in Las Vegas….
Stant, a Pukalani resident, also is a regional vice president of ACN, an international, multilevel marketing direct seller of telecommunications, energy and other services.
This year, Stant filed his annual financial disclosure Feb. 26 with the Maui County Board of Ethics. It shows he took in $100,000 to $199,999 in his “direct sales” business, S and S Unlimited LLC, located at 360 Hoohana St., Unit A106, in Kahului.
According to Stant, S and S Unlimited is a “doing business as” entity related to income he earns with ACN, which was founded in 1993 as American Communications Network….
According to a March 2016 article in the National Review, Trump was “ACN’s most famous unofficial spokesman.”
Trump appeared in ACN promotional videos, pitching the company’s “revolutionary products.” And, one episode of his NBC television program, “Celebrity Apprentice,” featured the company’s videophone, the article says….
MN: White reports variety of investments in his financial disclosure
read … Stant’s ‘side job,’ gambling match county paycheck
Massive pesticide testing confirms: Hawaii Surface Waters "Meet State & Federal Water Quality Standards"
RI: Ground zero has somehow slipped away. There is no evidence of widespread pesticide contamination in Hawai`i’s surface waters, according to a thorough federal study of water resources on two islands.
That confirms similar results in separate tests from 2014 and 2016.
It would seem that HAPA, SHAKA, the Center or Food Safety can fold up their tents and go home. Their work is done. If the claims of rampant agricultural pesticide misuse were ever true, they are not true now…..
read …. Confirms
Hawaii Tourism Growth Comes from TVRs
SA: …I recently conducted an analysis of the alternative accommodations industry on behalf of Airbnb. The analysis yielded some important findings about guests’ contribution to Hawaii’s economy:
>> Alternative accommodations generated over $120 million in general excise and transient accommodations taxes statewide in 2016 (lodging and non-lodging spending). If the state had a system in place to allow platforms such as Airbnb to collect and remit these taxes from operators, this tax revenue would be more fully and effectively captured.
>> Visitors using Airbnb, just the third-largest platform in Hawaii, spent an estimated $649 million in 2016, including $484 million on non-lodging expenditures such as food and beverages, contributing significantly to the success of local businesses and restaurants outside of traditional visitor destinations like Waikiki.
>> Airlift to Hawaii grew by 28.6 percent between 2011-2016, yet hotel inventory has been growing at a much slower rate. As a result, the additional elastic supply of alternative accommodations available through platforms such as Airbnb has supported the increased arrivals and visitor spending.
read … Don’t let vacation rental rules hurt economy
SB2567: Make Home Buyers Install Septic System
HTH: SB 2567 would, if passed, require sellers of a property that included a cesspool to upgrade the cesspool, at cost, by connecting to a sewer system or install a septic tank. This upgrade would be required to occur within an as-yet-undetermined length of time after the purchase, although an earlier draft of the bill specified 180 days.
According to the bill, upgrading a cesspool costs, on average, $20,000.
The bill also would require any real estate agent selling a property featuring a cesspool to disclose the existence of the cesspool to prospective buyers, as well as explain the sellers’ obligation to upgrade the cesspool, “so that buyers and sellers can negotiate the payment of the upgrade costs as part of the sale,” the bill reads.
Nancy Cabral, owner of Coldwell Banker Day-Lum Properties, said she feared the bill would disproportionately impede Hawaii homeowners compared to incoming mainland buyers.
SB2567: Text, Status
read … $20K
SB2304: Restrict Vape Shops
HTH: A bill to regulate the location of vape shops is making its way through the Legislature. Hawaii has some of the toughest smoking and vaping laws on the books and as of now does not delineate between smoking and vaping in matters of policy, despite (because) vaping being in no way affiliated with tobacco (taxes)….
The latest version of Senate Bill 2304 would prohibit the sale of any tobacco or vaping products within 500 feet of any school or public playground, banning the re-issuance of the necessary permits to any outlet located within the prohibited zone after Nov. 30, 2019. Fines would accompany those operators who fail to comply….
The practice is billed by proprietors as a significantly safer alternative to smoking, as there is no combustion or inhalation of tobacco.
“You don’t need a medical degree to understand if you inhale smoke, it’s going to be harmful to you,” Anderson said.
“With vaping there is no smoke. When you combust vegetable glycerin, the byproduct is water vapor,” he continued. “Smokers miss the fixation, putting it to lips and inhaling and exhaling. With vaping, people still get to experience all the stuff they loved about smoking without the effects of actually inhaling a cigarette.”…
The American Cancer Society released its most recent position on vaping in February, stating that using e-cigarettes is preferable to traditional smoking from a health perspective….
read … Something in the air: Understanding vaping
Crime victim restitution up 70 percent
SA: …Comparing fiscal year 2013 with 2016, the state collected about 70 percent more from the offenders and made 40 percent more disbursements to victims, mostly by focusing on improvements in policy, data collection and interagency coordination, according to the Justice Center for the Council of State Governments, which assisted the state in making the turnaround.
The increase was so pronounced that it was the focus of a panel discussion at a meeting last month of the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington, D.C. The conference agenda noted that Hawaii had developed a national model for improving management of victim restitution…..
The restitution totals analyzed by the center did not include about $1.2 million collected since 2012 via 10 large one-time payments ranging from $11,470 to $353,064. That money, paid mostly in theft and money-laundering cases, was excluded so the restitution data would show trends with regular payments.
Pelka said many states lack the depth of data Hawaii has for its restitution program, making comparisons with other states difficult. In compiling data, some states don’t even separate restitution amounts from fines and other types of penalties…..
read … Crime victim restitution up 70 percent
Homeless Drug Addicts Trash Bathrooms, Vandalize Parks
KGI: …Part of the problem, Medeiros said, is the bathrooms are used by a large group of homeless people and drug addicts.
Sometimes, he said, lifeguards have to drive to a bathroom at one of the other two parks, but those are often unusable, as well.
Vandalism has been reported at several county parks. Most recently, new playground equipment at Poipu and restroom facilities in Kekaha were damaged.
“Maintenance of our public spaces and facilities has become a growing concern as we have seen an increase in the use of our parks as well as an increase in vandalism,” said Sarah Blane, county spokeswoman.
read … Trash
Hawaii Ponzi schemer and professed secret agent dies at 76
SA: Hawaii’s most notorious branded conman, a Wisconsin native who claimed to be a CIA agent but swindled money from hundreds of island residents and served barely 10 years of an 80-year prison sentence, has died.
Ronald Rewald was 76 and died in California in December after living 23 years as a free man out of the limelight.
That limelight was bright and ultimately scorching during the nine years Rewald lived in Hawaii in the 1970s and 1980s, a time during which he hobnobbed with celebrities, collected fancy cars, hosted royalty at polo matches and ran a purportedly venerable investment firm called Bishop Baldwin Rewald Dillingham & Wong where lofty financial gains were guaranteed.
Rewald was convicted in 1985 of 94 counts of fraud, tax evasion and perjury for running what a federal judge deemed a Ponzi scheme that sucked in $22 million from roughly 400 investors, including friends, widows and a blind man…..
CIA: Ron Rewald Page
read … Rewald Dead
Florida Shooting: Failure of Mental Health System
AP: …documents in the criminal case against Nikolas Cruz and obtained by The Associated Press show school officials and a sheriff’s deputy recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation.
The documents, which are part of Cruz’s criminal case in the shooting, show that he had written the word “kill” in a notebook, told a classmate that he wanted to buy a gun and use it, and had cut his arm supposedly in anger because he had broken up with a girlfriend. He also told another student he had drunk gasoline and was throwing up. Calls had even been made to the FBI about the possibility of Cruz using a gun at school.
The documents were provided by a psychological assessment service initiated by Cruz’s mother called Henderson Behavioral Health. The documents show a high school resource officer who was also a sheriff’s deputy and two school counselors recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be committed for mental evaluation under Florida’s Baker Act. That law allows for involuntary commitment for mental health examination for at least three days.
Such an involuntary commitment would also have been a high obstacle if not a complete barrier to legally obtaining a firearm, such as the AR-15 rifle used in the Stoneman Douglas massacre on Feb. 14, authorities say.
There is no evidence Cruz was ever committed. Coincidentally, the school resource officer who recommended that Cruz be “Baker Acted” was Scot Peterson — the same Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy who resigned amid accusations he failed to respond to the shooting by staying outside the building where the killings occurred.…..
read … Mental Health Failure
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