May 18, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

May 18, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:59 PM :: 8240 Views

Whistleblower In $250,000 City Theft Case Speaks: City Blamed For Not Catching Parking Lot Scheme Earlier

Lee said Bracey had help from about ten other people who were never charged: two city officials and eight other parking lot employees, whom she claims were in cahoots with Bracey.

"Many of them had involvement in this. It was not a one-person thing," Lee said.

She blamed city officials and previous employees at the parking concessionaire for either being on the take or looking the other way….

Lee said she was planning to fire some parking staff who she suspected of being involved in the scheme when "the problem took care of itself." She said those employees left her company to follow Bracey to another parking concessionaire which won the contract to handle the same two parking garages.

(500 monthly parkers at Kukui Plaza were paying cash. These are some of the Bishop St elite and they didn’t know what was going on?????? And as usual, the words Mufi Hannemann appear nowhere in this article. Remember: MMLG!)

Lingle Amused by arrogance of Dem Governor’s attack on Djou

Cayetano said a Djou victory would essentially cancel out Rep. Mazie Hirono’s vote in the U.S. House, a democrat who represents the state’s only other congressional district.

“If he's elected what will happen is that our four votes will effectively become two. I'm convinced more than ever that this guy will march lock step with the national Republican Party and try to block everything that President Obama is trying to do.”

Djou was quick to try and turn the governors’ joint message on its heels with a new radio ad.

The spot will begin airing on local radio stations and closely mirrors the successful campaign of Scott Brown, who earlier this year won Ted Kennedy’s former U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts.

“This congressional seat is not owned by any political party, union or special interest,” Djou says in the ad. “It's owned by the people.”

In the Massachusetts special election Brown coined a similar populist phrase saying, “It’s the people’s seat.” Djou did not shy away from any comparison to Brown.

“I think the people of Hawaii are learning, just as the American people are learning, that we do not have to follow the marching orders of the old boy network and the establishment. This congressional campaign is an opportunity for the voters of Hawaii to say we own this seat, not the Democratic Party.”

Both Case and Hanabusa agreed with the former governors’ political rhetoric, saying Djou would be an outcast among the state’s congressional democrats, which includes senators Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka. (And if there is anybody who knows ‘outcast’ it is Ed Case.)

Hawaii moves up dates for some tax refunds

Delay by the state in paying 2009 income tax refunds has pushed Hawaii’s adjusted general fund tax revenues 4.9 percent over the previous year to $3.6 billion for the first 10 months of this fiscal year.

The better-than-expected tax collections has prompted Gov. Linda Lingle to release state income tax refunds totaling $125 million to 143,000 taxpayers whose refunds were processed in January and February. Claims total $207 million for 331,000 taxpayers, according to the governor’s office.

KITV: Lingle To Release Tax Refunds Earlier

ADV: Lingle to release most tax refunds by end of this month

Civil Beat gets it wrong? State running out of money?

Oshiro: The GE Tax is a “privilege of doing business in Hawaii”

(Check this out…)

The GET is "the envy of all states," Rep. Marcus Oshiro, chair of the House Finance Committee, told Civil Beat. He pointed out that it's broad based, easy to administer, equally applied to goods and services, and generates a lot of revenue with a relatively low rate.

"It's a privilege of doing business" in Hawaii, Oshiro said.

(BTW Oshiro also likes gay marriage….)

Also: Why Growing A Business In Hawaii Is Challenging

130,000 Ballots Returned In Special Election

The 130,000 ballots equal to about 41 percent of the 317,000 eligible voters, officials said.

The deadline for mail-in ballots is Saturday. Walk-in voting at City Hall ends on Thursday.

State elections officials said they expect to release results of the election shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday.

ADV: Almost 41 percent of U.S. House ballots returned for Hawaii election

ADV: Hawaii governor's 'robocall' urges vote for Djou

Group Home Agency Faces More Scrutiny: Hale Kipa Closes One Home, Faces Questions About Another

Both the Health Department and Department of Human Services are investigating whether Hale Kipa followed proper procedures at its therapeutic group home on Damon Street. The two suspects in the beating death of taxi driver Charlys Tang were housemates there, and somehow managed to get out without the staff noticing on the night of the slaying.

Shapiro: Lawmakers interfering in private business (Musubigate)

Last year, ethics concerns arose about House Speaker Calvin Say after Pacific Business News reported that he sponsored the House version of a bill forcing Massachusetts-based HRPT Properties Trust to provide more favorable leases to tenants of a Māpunapuna building.

Among the 180 tenants benefiting was Warabeya U.S.A. Inc., which uses the property for its musubi-manufacturing subsidiary Tokyo Bento Nichiyo. Say is an officer of Warabeya and is paid $1,000 a month.

He didn't disclose his conflict when he introduced the House bill or voted for a similar Senate version that eventually became law. He told PBN it wasn't a conflict because "I'm just an officer in title. I'm not there for any daily operations."

To argue his hands were clean because he wasn't actually on the production line rolling musubi was certainly one of the more novel ethics defenses we've heard.

(Of course they could come back with a bill which affects ALL industrial land-lease tenants, but they don’t want to go after the in-state landed aristocracy, do they….)

Abercrombie opens W. Hawaii campaign office

Useful info posted in comments section: "Duke Aiona Kona campaign HQ Kuakini Commerce Building #102, Next to McDonalds on Kuakini geev um Duke!"

More useful info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gs-pKQHP7I (Look at the way he grins eagerly while describing how much land will be scooped up by the Akaka tribe.)

Big Island project to add 2,330 homes

A planned Big Island residential community with 2,330 homes initiated by the state to produce workforce housing is on pace to break ground next year despite a recent setback.

The estimated $734 million project called Kamakana Villages at Keahuolū recently was notified by the State Historic Preservation Division that a more thorough archaeological survey needs to be conducted prior to the developer petitioning the state Land Use Commission to urbanize the property.

Developer Forest City Hawaii LLC in March petitioned the LUC to reclassify the 272-acre site near Kailua, Kona, from agricultural to urban use….

VOUCHERS: OHA offers money for Native Hawaiian kids to attend private schools if they join tribe

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is awarding up to $5,000 to Native Hawaiian families sending their children to private schools.

OHA Transitional Assistance Program Manager John Alamodin said private school education is unaffordable for most Hawaii residents, especially Native Hawaiians.

Applicants must have a child in private school, be eligible to live on Hawaiian homelands, demonstrate financial need and register with OHA's Hawaiian Registry Program. (Kau Inoa)

(Bribery. I bet this program is really determined by family size. One kid gets the voucher if all 10 members of extended family sign Kau Inoa.)

New schools in Kihei, Wailuku, cafeterias in the works for county

LAHAINA - A new Kihei high school, a second Wailuku elementary school, a replacement cafeteria at Paia Elementary and a bigger one at Lahainaluna High School are the Maui District's big-ticket items moving forward soon, a top state Department of Education official said recently.

DOE Maui Complex Area Superintendent Lindsay Ball, who oversees Hana, Lahaina, Lanai and Molokai schools, updated the Governor's Council of Neighbor Island Advisers on concrete plans that - once they come to fruition - will result in hundreds of millions of dollars invested in Maui County schools in the next several years.

Honolulu City Council may cut funds for televising its meetings

Nestor Garcia, chairman of the council's budget committee, said eliminating committee broadcasts would save the city about $123,000 and is necessary to show the council is making hard budgetary choices for itself as well as city agencies during tough economic times.

Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz opposes Garcia's proposed change in the legislative budget, which has already passed two of three required approvals before the full council. Dela Cruz was the only council member to vote against the measure — Bill 14 (10) — on April 21.

ADV: No more TV? How about fewer meals?

Journalist says she confessed in North Korean captivity

CHICAGO — An American journalist who was imprisoned in North Korea for months after briefly crossing into the reclusive country while reporting about the sex trade says she told interrogators in a ploy for mercy that she was trying to overthrow the government.