Two gorillas walk into a bar …
The California Stupidity Fund
Are There Risks From Secondhand Marijuana Smoke? Early Science Says Yes.
Poll: Mafia Candidate Hanabusa leads Ige 47-27
SA: …U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa has a 20-percentage-point lead over incumbent Gov. David Ige less than five months away from the Democratic primary, with 47 percent of likely Democratic voters saying they would vote for Hanabusa if the election were held today, according to a new Hawaii Poll by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Only 27 percent of likely Democratic primary voters said they would support Ige if the election were held today, an extraordinarily poor showing for an incumbent governor in Hawaii.
Former state Sen. Clayton Hee, another Democrat, is well behind both Ige and Hanabusa with 11 percent. However, Hee said he is encouraged by the poll numbers in the three-way primary because he announced his candidacy only last month.
Meanwhile, in the Republican primary between former state Sen. John Carroll and state Rep. Andria Tupola, 40 percent of likely Republican voters said they would vote for Carroll if the election were held today, while only 28 percent said they would support Tupola.
However, many GOP voters said they are unacquainted with either candidate, with 57 percent indicating they didn’t recognize Tupola’s name, and 42 percent saying they were unfamiliar with Carroll….
In hypothetical matchups between Ige and Tupola, and between Ige and Carroll, the data suggests Ige would win each of those races by a margin of about 2-to-1 if the election were held today.
The poll shows Hanabusa would win by approximately the same margin in those hypothetical contests if the election were held today….
Moore believes many Hawaii voters have soured on the ruling Democrats, but that does not seem to translate into an opportunity for Hawaii Republicans. The GOP has been reduced to just five members in the 76-member state Legislature.
“I think the problem is that folks don’t have anywhere to turn,” Moore said. “The fact that the Republican Party is associated with Trumpism, kind of this deep mainland conservatism I think that people fear is also tied up with racism, means that they just don’t see that as a viable option. But they’re also pretty frustrated with the Democrats.”…
Borreca: “It largely comes from Ige’s bumbled handling of the false-alarm missile alert. A full 39 percent says it was a major factor in his performance rating with another 36 percent saying it was a minor factor. That’s 75 percent….”
read … Hanabusa leads Ige by a huge margin
LG Race: Green 19%, Carvalho 14%, Tokuda 12%
SA: …Nineteen percent of respondents said they would pick Green, an emergency room doctor who has served in the state Legislature since 2004, representing Kailua-Kona.
Fourteen percent, meanwhile, said they would vote for Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., who has has worked for Kauai County since 1985 and been mayor since 2008.
State Sen. Jill Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe) finished third in the poll with 12 percent, followed by state Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) with 9 percent, and former Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto with 5 percent….
PDF: The Hawaii Poll – March 2018: Lt. Governor's Race
read … Green has early lead in lieutenant governor race
Poll: 72% of Native Hawaiians Support Telescope
SA: On the eve of a court ruling that could determine the fate of the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii, public support for the stalled $1.4 billion project has never been stronger.
And that goes especially for Native Hawaiians, who have shown a dramatic shift in opinion regarding the proposed next-generation observatory, according to the latest Hawaii Poll commissioned by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Conducted March 13-18 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy of Washington, D.C., the poll asked 800 randomly selected registered voters across the state if they support or oppose the construction of the TMT on Mauna Kea.
Some 77 percent of the respondents said they support the TMT, whose fate may rest in the hands of the Hawaii Supreme Court in the coming months. Only 15 percent were opposed, while 8 percent were undecided.
The last Hawaii Poll to ask the question of voters statewide — in January 2016 — found that the TMT was backed by 67 percent of those queried.
But an even more dramatic change was seen among Native Hawaiians.
Two years ago, some 59 percent of Hawaiians statewide told the Hawaii Poll they opposed the TMT’s construction, while only 39 percent offered support and just 2 percent declined to give an opinion.
In the latest poll, 72 percent expressed support for the telescope, while 23 percent were against and 5 percent were undecided.
What happened in the last two years?
“People are starting to realize this opportunity is once in a lifetime. We can’t afford to give it away,” said Richard Ha….
Kealoha “$50 Million” Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and leader of the Mauna Kea Hui anti-TMT petitioners, said the TMT question is not a popularity contest…. “If they polled people prior to Brown v. Board of Education, they probably would have found that discrimination is OK, too,” she said…..
PDF: The Hawaii Poll – March 2018: TMT
read … Support is building for TMT — even among Hawaiians
Kim: $12.4M in Additional Tax Revenue is Not Enough to add more Positions or Something
HTH: The budget is balanced without a county surcharge on the state’s general excise tax and without counting on any additional share of the state transient accommodations tax on hotels and other short-term lodging. It doesn’t rely on a property tax increase, instead taking in an additional $12.4 million from a 4.1 percent increase in property values and an extra $8.8 million in gas taxes.
That budget will be the subject of a public hearing at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the West Hawaii Civic Center, with the public also allowed to participate by videoconferencing from the Hilo council chambers.
Kim doesn’t think his preliminary budget goes far enough.
“The budget is balanced because we’re required to submit that. … How easy it is to save the agony of getting there by just maintaining,” Kim said in an interview Friday. “Nobody wants to just maintain. They want to see our county improve.”
But a maintenance budget might just be what the County Council orders. After raising property taxes and fuel taxes last year, many council members are leery of more tax hikes, especially in an election year, and want to exercise fiscal restraint….
read … More Taxes, More Positions
Honolulu: Law allowing more B&B permits and stiffer regulations on the way (or not)
SA: A bill that would allow for a limited number of new bed-and-breakfast permits to be issued on Oahu while establishing stiffer fines for unlawful vacation rentals soon will go before the City Council.
The Council instructed the city Department of Planning and Permitting to come up with a proposal to deal with the rapid expansion of bed-and-breakfast operations. The department’s acting director, Kathy Sokugawa, said she is working on a bill that will be sent to lawmakers.
How many new permits would be allowed has not been determined, she told the Star-Advertiser, and the proposal may set limits for individual districts rather than a single total for the entire island…..
The City Council has struggled for decades to come up with a policy on how to deal with the bed-and-breakfast issue. Permits for new vacation rentals, except in resort-zoned districts, have not been been issued by the city since 1989, a detail that has not deterred hundreds of illegal ones from operating….
read … Always Right Around the Corner
TVR Pipedream: HB2605 Will Solve All Out Problems (not)
SA: A pair of similar measures are in the Capitol hopper, although House Bill 2605 appears to be the one picking up steam. It seeks (pretends) to get taxes collected and to enforce county regulations of the rentals. Lawmakers and the vacation rental industry need to come to terms on both goals….
In its current form, HB 2605 would get at that issue by enabling rental brokers such as Airbnb to serve as tax-collection agents; rightly, it would require that the brokers verify compliance with county laws (but Air BnB refuses to do this so it ain’t gonna happen, geniuses)….
Reality: Air BnB Will Not Cooperate with HB2605 (see pg 10-13)
read … TVR Pipedream
Souki Resignation Sets off Five-Way Scramble
MN: …His exit leaves the Wailuku representative seat without an incumbent for the first time in 34 years.
Those who’ve taken out papers but had not filed them as of Friday were: attorney Lynn Araki-Regan, chief of staff for Mayor Alan Arakawa; Troy Hashimoto, executive assistant to Maui County Council Chairman Mike White; Justin Hughey, vice president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association; Dain Kane, a County Council member (Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency seat) from 1999 through 2006; and Mary Wagner, business continuity plan manager in information technology in the county Department of Management.
Separately, the Maui Democratic Party will field applications from candidates for the remainder of Souki’s term this year and submit three names to Gov. David Ige for appointment. That process is in its initial stages.
With more media exposure and a short time of service in the Legislature, Ige’s appointee may have an edge over other candidates in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary race….
read … Five toss hats into ring for 8th state House seat
Homeless Dude Gets Himself Stuck, Firefighters Cut thru 3 feet of Concrete to Save Him
HNN: HFD says he fell roughly 12-15 feet into the tight space that was no more than 10 inches wide….
"My friend told me that some guy was stuck between two walls, and I didn't believe him at first. I was like, how do you get stuck in between two walls?" witness Kekoa Roberts said.
More than 20 firefighters arrived at the scene just after 2 p.m.
For most of the afternoon, the sound of circular saws and jackhammers were heard cutting through the concrete wall.
He was freed at 5:25 p.m. – after being stuck for more than three and a half hours.
"It started as a tile wall and then a full concrete slab and then supported with rebar," Capt. Albert Mccollum of HFD said. "We had to cut through all that to get to his location."
Once freed, the 55-year-old man was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Residents in the area say the man is homeless, and goes by the name of Mike. He has been known to frequent the area.
"To me, we gotta get this kind of people off the street. Let's do this. I mean he's stuck in there, and that's our taxpayer's money," John Jones, Kickin' Kajun restaurant owner said....
Meanwhile: Man dragged almost five miles, dismembered in fatal pedestrian crash in Nanakuli -- “KHON spoke to people in several homeless camps near the scene who said police showed them a photo of the deceased. They said they did see the man in the area the day before….”
read … Off the Streets
After 26 Years, Anti-GMO Activist Has Only Excuses
SA: (Lets just skip to the comments) …After 26 years and no results, Hector must change profession. Maybe becoming a farmer?…
…Hector has an agenda here because he tries to justify it by claiming that the seed companies are trying to evade state and federal guidelines and standards on the use of pesticides abt herbicides. Here in Hawaii that's not true…..
read … 26 Years of Excuses
As Expected, Gun Control Rallies Morph into Democrat Get-out-the-Vote Effort
Legislative News:
QUICK HITS:
- Big Q: What is your opinion of the $1.3 trillion federal spending bill passed by Congress?
- Ed Case: Fix Politics Now!
- How High are Spirits Taxes in Your State?
- Ethics Comm Agenda for March 29
- Falling transit ridership poses an ‘emergency’ for cities, experts fear
- 130 years ago, 'Iolani Palace turned on its lights. Today, the feat is being recognized
- Report calls for removal of soil tainted by arsenic near Waiakea Villas
- Pace of Kolekole Beach Park lead testing frustrates residents
- Biki expands stations, schedules open houses
- With Eye On China, This Remote US Island Is Once Again Becoming Strategic
- In 1823, Betsey Stockton, a young African-American woman, sailed with the second group of missionaries from New Haven, Connecticut, to Hawaii.
- Will Creating More Jobs In Kapolei Ease Traffic Congestion?
- Potholes need proactive, not reactive approach
- People power protects local use of Ala Moana Park
- Waialua High School named regional winner of FIRST Robotics Competition
- A&B reaches out to Kailua community
- Another government oops but with a better response this time