Honolulu Neighborhood Board Elections to be Cancelled?
EA Debunks Hysteria: Aquarium Fishery has 'No Significant Impact'
HSTA Bosses Reelected without Opposition
Amicus Brief on Behalf of Evan McMullin et al in Hawaii v. Trump: Congress Intended to 'Eliminate All Vestiges of Discrimination'
HTA: HB2010 Would be 'Devastating' to Tourism Industry
Is Obamacare Unconstitutional Without Individual Mandate Tax? Hawaii AG Attempts to Intervene
Hawaii Millennials 2nd Lowest Home Ownership Rate in USA
DoE Touts Increased Enrollment in AP Classes
NAEP Shows Multi-Year Decline in DoE Math Scores
If They Can’t Build, We Can’t Collect Rent: Protesters Oppose HB1585 Moratorium on Telescope Construction
HNN: …The full Senate is poised to vote on House Bill 1585 on Tuesday.
The University of Hawaii warns TMT has already faced lengthy delays and the requirements could delay the project to its death.
"It could spell the end of the project. I mean that's a worse-case scenario, but that's a scenario that's more in play now because of what's happened," said Dan Meisenzahl, UH spokesman.
The bill would require UH to secure a new master lease and complete an environmental impact statement and management actions. It would also call on the state auditor to complete financial, performance and organizational audits….
TMT opponents, meanwhile, say they do not support the bill and want lawmakers to wait for the two state Supreme Court rulings on TMT's permit and sublease.
(Translation: “If They Can’t Build, We Can’t Collect Rent.”)
"The Supreme Court has to rule on these questions and they can't do that if they are undermining us. So this is very frustrating for us," said Kealoha ‘$50M’ Pisciotta, of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou….
The TMT board will meet sometime this month to discuss if they'll keep the project in Hawaii or move it to an alternative site in Canary Islands. It's not known if the TMT board will make a final decision at the meeting….
read … UH: Bill up for vote could 'spell the end' of Thirty-Meter Telescope
Hawaii Eco Democrats Too Busy Kissing up to Silicon Valley to be Concerned with the Poor
SA:…The signs can be seen throughout Honolulu: in the open urination by homeless people on Bishop Street….
They don’t care to see the dangers: in the pitiful black plastic bags and shopping carts full of belongings that follow the homeless…
Nor do they seem to respond in any meaningful way to problems of people unwilling to take hot showers…
Nor is there much awareness that in such dirty, overcrowded conditions, a virus can spread like wildfire. This happened last year in San Diego, where unsanitary conditions from homeless people caused an outbreak of Hepatitis A that spread to 578 people and caused at least 20 deaths.
There was a time not along ago when the men and women who were Hawaii’s business, political and religious leaders would never have accepted such a decline in our basic living standards….
…I asked a young Hawaii Democratic representative about the income inequality problems affecting renters and the working poor in Hawaii. The generous state and federal tax credits for photovoltaic solar systems work best for homeowners. The result is that the poor in Hawaii now subsidize energy savings for the rich and — and as a consequence, a public health hazard has been created.
“Maybe you could talk to the consumer advocate,” the representative said helpfully. The problems of the poor, he implied, were not his main area of focus. He was busy with climate change.
The new generation of Democrats do not deny the problems of poverty in Hawaii exist; they are just not a priority like climate change, bike lanes or battling the immigration pronouncements of the Trump administration….
IM: Shakedown Practice: Mindless Hysterics at UH ‘Climate Justice ‘ Workshop
read … Democratic Party needs to return to wisdom, compassion
HB2117: Will Legislators Vote to Outlaw School Testing?
CB: The frustrations are palpable (union propaganda is always the same. HSTA Members are not responsible for their own failures. Its always something else): hours sucked out of classroom instruction time to prepare for multiple statewide assessments; school facilities unavailable for use due to reserved test taking; anxiety weighing on students subject to an average 10 standardized tests a year. (If we could stop measuring our failure then nobody would notice.)
Many teachers across Hawaii (HSTA) contends the number of statewide assessments given to their students, as early as the first grade, detracts from instruction, provides little valuable feedback and puts kids from a lower socioeconomic rung at a disadvantage. (This isn’t a real argument. It is a assertion of power.)
The Hawaii State Teachers Association is pushing House Bill 2117 that would limit the number of statewide assessments given to students to four per year. The only exceptions would be tests required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act and tests for disabled students or English language learners.
The measure is scheduled for a full Senate vote on Tuesday….
read … Outlaw Testing
FCC’s final report on false missile alert cites human error and poor safeguards
SA: …The FCC this morning released its full report on the false missile alert in Hawaii, finding a “combination of human error and inadequate safeguards” and issuing a lengthy list of recommendations….
“The primary human error was a failure to hear and/or properly understand the instructions indicating that the exercise was a test,” the FCC report said. “The employee who triggered the false alert believed that the missile threat was real.”
In addition, according to the report, a misunderstanding between the midnight shift supervisor and day shift supervisor also led to the drill being run without sufficient supervision.
Inadequate safeguards for possible communications breakdowns between warning officers and supervisors was another contributing factor cited in the report. “Specifically, HI-EMA lacked procedures to prevent a single person from mistakenly sending a missile alert to Hawaiian public. Prior to the morning of January 13, 2018, HI-EMA did not require confirmation from a second warning officer before sending a ballistic missile alert.
“After HI-EMA transmitted the false alert, HI-EMA compounded the error by delaying to publicly and authoritatively correct the misinformation,” the report says….
read … Public Employees
HB2739: Marijuana Christmas Tree Bill-Edibles, Tourists, Employment
CB: Amendments passed recently to House Bill 2729, a wide-ranging medical cannabis bill, would allow dispensaries to manufacture edible, marijuana-infused products such as baked goods, gum, drinks or candy. They would need to be sold with a warning label and could not contain more than 10 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. (Solution: Small hard candies so you can eat more.)
Employers would be prohibited from firing or discriminating against employees who are medical marijuana patients if they test positive for cannabis unless that person is a state law enforcement officer or must drive or operates heavy machinery on the job…..
HB 2729 also creates a system allowing eligible tourists to buy medical cannabis. Out-of-state customers may be used to using edibles, Bergquist said….
HB 2729 is now headed to a Senate floor vote. If it’s approved, it would go to conference committee, where appointees from both chambers would attempt to work out differences….
Critics of cannabis edibles worry children will confuse edibles, which are often dessert items, with regular sweets…. (That’s the whole point.)
read … Keep the people doped up so they don’t notice
Caregiver Can Kill off Gramps Without Family Knowledge
SA: …Q: Do you have to tell your family you are going to do this?
A: No, the law recommends but does not require family notification. The patient must fill out a form requesting the lethal prescription and another form within 48 hours of taking the fatal dose. The forms address this subject by asking the patient to check one of three answers: “I have informed my family of my decision and taken their opinions into consideration,” “I have decided not to inform my family of my decision” or, “I have no family to inform of my decision.” …
read … Elder Abuse
Woman feared for life before murder-suicide, daughter says
SA: …The daughter of Jolene Kapua-Allison, a 54-year-old Mountain View woman killed in an apparent murder-suicide on Hawaii island, said her mother feared leaving her abusive husband, a police officer.
“I could have easily gone to the police, but after what my mom told me a while ago, if she was going to do anything that would ruin his job or reputation, he would kill her,” said Heitiare Kapua-Leslie. “That is what stopped me from doing anything. Now it’s too late.
“In a way I felt like I could have prevented it from happening, yet I was scared to do it, knowing the type of man that he was. It probably would have ended way earlier than yesterday. I’m having such a hard time balancing this out.”….
read … Woman feared for life before murder-suicide, daughter says
Concept: Have an Incumbent-Free Election in HD8?
MN: Former Maui state lawmaker Avery Chumbley, the president of Wailuku Water Co., has submitted an application to serve the remainder of former Wailuku Rep. Joe Souki’s term this year, but Chumbley stressed Monday that he’s not seeking the 8th House District seat for the next 2019-20 term.
“I’m not interested in running,” he told The Maui News in a phone interview. “What I’d like to see is an open, fair, transparent race of those who file (as candidates). It gives everyone an equal footing.”
Political observers have noted that whomever Gov. David Ige picks to complete Souki’s term would have a slight (overwhelming) advantage in this year’s election (and they haven’t had an incumbent-free race in decades)….
Chumbley said that if Ige were to appoint someone for the remainder of Souki’s term on Monday, that would only leave about 10 session days remaining.
“It’s important to have someone with experience at that last important junction,” he said. “Decisions are being set in stone, so having the experience, familiarity of the process, established working relationships and ability to work through entanglements are crucial to providing seamless representation. In this short term, having to ‘learn the ropes’ would be disastrous for our district.”
Chumbley said that if Ige were to appoint someone for the remainder of Souki’s term on Monday, that would only leave about 10 session days remaining.
“It’s important to have someone with experience at that last important junction,” he said. “Decisions are being set in stone, so having the experience, familiarity of the process, established working relationships and ability to work through entanglements are crucial to providing seamless representation. In this short term, having to ‘learn the ropes’ would be disastrous for our district.”…
Now, however, the House Finance Committee has “zeroed out” Ige’s proposed second-year subsidy funding of $23 million, Chumbley said. The budget is in the hands of the Senate, and “we’ll see if the Senate restores the requested amount,” he said….
Chumbley said he has established relationships with Ige, with Lt. Gov. Doug Chin and with legislators in leadership positions….
read … Chumbley offers to keep 8th House seat warm
Military Spending: Feds shell out, Isles cash in
SA: …Hawaii received $5,865 in per-capita spending for fiscal 2015 — the most recent year for which complete data is available — and was third in line behind Washington, D.C., with $10,413 and Virginia with $7,132, according to the nonprofit.
The national average for the year that ended Sept. 30, 2015, was $1,510, while the state with the lowest per-person spending was Michigan, at $386.
It all figures into a Hawaii economy driven in large measure by tourism and the military. Visitors brought nearly $16.8 billion to the state last year, while federal spending toward the gross domestic product amounts to about $11.5 billion, according to the state….
Link: PEW Report
read … Military Spending: Feds shell out, Isles cash in
Federal agent Christopher Deedy appeals to halt third trial in Waikiki fatal shooting
SA: …Christopher Deedy is asking the federal court to prevent the state from taking him to trial a third time for fatally shooting Kollin Elderts in a Waikiki McDonald’s restaurant.
The U.S. State Department special agent’s lawyer filed a petition in U.S. District Court Friday asking the court to declare any further prosecution a violation of Deedy’s constitutional right against double jeopardy. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson.
Deedy, 33, stood trial twice in state court for murder. He testified that he intentionally shot Elderts in November 2011 to defend himself and others. Both trials ended with each jury unable to reach a verdict….
read …Federal agent Christopher Deedy appeals to halt third trial in Waikiki fatal shooting
Pro-life walkout planned
KGI: …Students are organizing a nationwide walkout day to raise awareness of the 60,000,000 unborn children who have been aborted since the 1973 Roe Vs. Wade ruling, according to a press release from the Family Research Council
The demonstration also seeks to ensure that school officials give different viewpoints the same treatment.
A grassroots pro-life organization on Kauai is calling for residents to participate in the event at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
“I’m very much pro-life and want to stir up this community,” said Annette Oda. “I know it’s going to be a difficult initiative, but it needs to be done.”
Oda said there are many like-minded people on Kauai.
“We cannot be silent about it,” she said. “I just want something to be done. I want people to be moved to stand up for the cause.”….
Oda said she’d like to expand the idea to include violence, depression, suicide, abuse and discrimination…..
read … Pro-life walkout planned
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