Hotel Occupancy Increases on Kauai Despite Flooding
S. 2155: Checks to Clear Faster in Am Samoa, NMI
Criminal Charges? Ing to Twist in Wind until July
SA: …Ing, who is running for a seat in Congress, is accused of a wide range of offenses including filing 23 false spending reports, using campaign funds for personal use, co-mingling personal and election accounts, filing late reports and exceeding campaign spending limits going back three election cycles.
In brief remarks this morning, Ing told the commissioners, “I take full responsibility for any mistakes that were made by myself (and) my state House staff over the years.” … (So his ‘House Staff’ is working on his campaign???)…
In response to a request by Ing, (D, South Maui), to postpone the hearing, Campaign Election Commissioners voted to hear the complaints against him at its June 20 meeting.
But Ing, who appeared with accountant Ryan Akamine, said he and representatives of the “Friends of Kaniela Ing” political action committee have scheduling conflicts in June.
Akamine asked that the complaints be heard at the commission’s July meeting. That meeting is scheduled for July 18 but likely will be held on July 25, according to the commission’s executive director, Kristin Izumi-Nitao.
After the meeting, Akamine said Ing’s attorney may have to request that the commissioners postpone their June hearing on Ing’s complaint until July.
Ing could face criminal prosecution if the Campaign Spending Commission decides that he knowingly or recklessly violated campaign finance laws, and then chooses to refer the case to either the state attorney general or the city prosecutor….
Best Comment: “Kaniela is quite possibly one of the dumbest elected officials I’ve ever encountered in the square building. I would put him on par with Rod Tam, the only difference being that Lightning Rod is actually very likeable….”
read … Twisting in the Wind
Poll: Hanabusa Most Unpopular Member of Congressional Delegation
CB: …In a survey of voters statewide, 61 percent said they have a positive opinion of Tulsi Gabbard. She is viewed even more positively (69 percent) by the voters of the 2nd Congressional District, which Gabbard has represented since January 2013.
(This means CD1 residents are only 53% fooled by Gabbard)
The only major politician with Hawaii ties that polls better than Gabbard is the Oahu-born ex-president, Barack Obama. Sixty-four percent of voters surveyed like the 44th POTUS….
Gabbard’s poll performance also offers a contrast from her 2017 Civil Beat poll numbers, when her approval ratings plunged to around 50 percent. She generated quite a bit of national controversy last year by traveling secretly to Syria to meet with Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, in what she described as an attempted peace parley….
Also viewed well by voters are U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono (59 percent) and Brian Schatz (54 percent)….
Of the state’s four members in Congress, only Rep. Colleen Hanabusa failed to crack the 50th percentile: 44 percent have a positive opinion of her compared to 34 percent who hold a negative view….
Voters were divided evenly on the incumbent governor: 38 percent positive, 38 percent negative….
Also dragging in popularity is Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who posted similar statewide numbers to Ige’s: 38 percent positive, 39 percent negative. For Oahu alone, the positive-negative numbers are 40 percent to 46 percent, respectively….
Civil Beat also polled Hawaii voters on President Donald Trump. Thirty-three percent said they had a positive opinion of him, while 57 percent had a negative view.
Trump, a Republican, scored best among Republicans at 87 percent approval. Those who identified as conservative (85 percent) also like the president….
PDF: Poll Results
read … Tulsi Gabbard Is Hawaii’s Most Popular Politician
100% does not mean 100% -- Hawaii Greenhouse Gas Rules Just as Fake as Renewable Energy Rules
IM: …the RPS calculation can create weird results. Depending upon how … generators are configured … the percent of renewable energy-based electricity …, as reported in regulatory filings, can be 0 percent, 50 percent, 100 percent, or infinite percent. …
The highly complex legislative language can be reduced ten-fold with simplicity and transparency, but the legislature has not done so since the RPS standard was established in 2001.
Now comes the new legislative mandate of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Guess what? asserts Life of the Land. Net zero does not mean zero. Hawai`i can cause a global rise in greenhouse gas emissions and call it net zero.
Like the RPS, the net-zero definition found in HB 2182 is politically-manipulated to meet multiple needs: the legislative desire to go green while not pissing off the fossil fuel industry; the need to promote change while protecting the status quo; the desire to avoid taking bold public positions which may be perceived to impact reelection; the desire to please all sides.
Organizations, legislators, and utilities can score national media points and raise funds based on bold statements that lack substance.
Newspapers and social media columns continually publish fake news statements like this statement made by a Hawai`i media site today: “State law essentially requires 100 percent of electricity HECO sells by 2045 to be produced from renewable resources.”
Hawaii legislators also passed a bill during the 2018 legislative session on climate change induced sea level rise. If a proposed project will be IMPACTED by sea level rise, the impact must be analyzed. If a proposed project will CAUSE sea level rise, that is not a trigger requiring an environmental impact statement.
The State of Hawai`i and Hawaiian Electric adopted the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) in 2008 but did not define clean energy until 2013. Clean energy is now defined in a way no one would call clean or green….
Background:
read … Life of the Land Questions Value of New Hawai`i Greenhouse Gas Bills
After Kona Tent City Fails, Hawaii County Proposing Actual Housing for Homeless
WHT: …Roy Takemoto, executive assistant to Mayor Harry Kim, said leaders of the county’s Community Alliance Partners (CAP) have a plan to pioneer a new concept for homeless assessment centers that might allow Hawaii Island to score an $800,000 state fund to create such a center….
“We will propose to convert existing facilities into these family assessment centers,” Takemoto explained. “So, the $800,000 wouldn’t be used for any kind of capital improvements because they’re existing facilities. We can use all those funds for (operations).”
The concept would appropriate 23 units at the Ulu Wini housing complex, located off Hina Lani Street above Costco, and repurpose them. Ten of the units would be converted to emergency shelters for families.
The other 13 would be turned into transitional units to tap into funding sources separate from Section 8, a program currently used to fund those living at Ulu Wini. Takemoto said it would then free up those Section 8 vouchers for other needs.
The community center at Ulu Wini would be set aside as an assessment area. It would be available for 24/7 assessments of all homeless individuals, whether part of a family or not. However, the living spaces at Ulu Wini would remain family-focused.
Hawaii County’s procurement of the assessment center grant would also open the door for a discussion about potentially introducing a “sit/lie” bill across the island….
read … Getting a handle on homelessness: West Hawaii has ideas for state’s $50M allocation
Honolulu Ambulances Too Busy with Homeless ‘Frequent Flyers’ to Help Real Patients
SA: …When they found her in pain and semi-conscious lying on her side, they called for an ambulance. Although she lived five minutes from Castle Medical Center, the ambulance took more than a half-hour to arrive. The family called twice. Firefighters came and put her on a gurney, but because they are not certified as paramedics, they could only offer first aid and wait with her in the driveway for the ambulance to arrive.
When she at last made it to Castle, the family, in consultation with the doctors there, determined it was best that she be taken to Queen’s Medical Center for more specialized treatment. It never occurred to me that the ambulance transporting her would arrive well after we did. She slipped into a coma and died two days later at age 92 after a happy and full life….
read … Too Busy With Homeless
Kauai mayor extends order banning vacation rental use in flooded areas
HNN: …For at least the next 60 days, the Lumahai, Wainiha and Haena areas are only accessible to residents, government employees and disaster response officials. Utility providers, residential construction contractors, and insurance industry employees will also be allowed in those areas.
The emergency rule also extends a current order that prohibits the use of transient vacation rentals in those areas.
Visitors, tourists and vehicles that weigh more than 10,000 pounds are also prohibited. Any person that violates the emergency rule will be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Possible consequences include a $5,000 fine or up to a year in prison….
read … Kauai mayor extends order banning vacation rental use in flooded areas
Snorkel Rentals Kill: Michigan woman dies snorkeling in Maui waters
HNN: …Around 1 p.m. a lifeguard noticed that a snorkeler 450 feet from shore was having difficulty swimming back to the beach. The lifeguard swam out to assist the woman, but when he reached her, she was unresponsive.
The lifeguard performed CPR on the 67-year-old woman when they reached the shore, but his efforts — as well as those of Maui firefighters and paramedics — were unable to revive the victim.
It was the 20th water-related death in Maui County this year….
read … Michigan woman dies snorkeling in Maui waters
Telescope protester’s trial put on hold (again)
MN: …The trial for a Haleakala telescope protester was put on hold Wednesday after he submitted a motion written in Hawaiian asking a judge to dismiss his case because his rights to a speedy trial were violated.
Samuel Kaleikoa Kaeo of Kula submitted his motion to Judge Kelsey Kawano before the start of his trial in Wailuku District Court. Kawano said the motion was written primarily in Hawaiian and would need to be translated to English before he could make a ruling.
“Mr. Kaeo, I’m greatly troubled because we were supposed to proceed with trial today,” Kawano said. “I’m informed that a prior oral motion to dismiss for violation to your right of a speedy trial was not entertained, and you were instructed to file a written motion. It puts me in the position to place this before the trial. Your motion needs to be resolved before we start the trial.”
Kaeo, who is representing himself, last appeared in court in March after he was granted an interpreter for his trial….
read … Telescope protester’s trial put on hold
US looks at defence and foreign policy in Micronesia
RNZ: …The US Defense Department is to report to the U.S. Congress by 1 December on a range of security concerns in the northern Pacific island groups that are affiliated with the US….
read … Radio New Zealand
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