If You Don’t Rock the Boat, How Do You Change Its Direction?
Hanabusa: Mafia is Good for You and Me
Borreca: …Ige, he finally got his big chance to go negative and attack Hanabusa’s sponsorship of a tax credit for an aquarium at Ko Olina and how it was or wasn’t part of a real estate deal for Hanabusa’s husband. Unfortunately for Ige, Hanabusa had enough political jujitsu left to flip the issue into her concern for sponsoring needed West Oahu development in an area of high unemployment….
read … Televised ‘super debate’ not so super — for audience, sponsors or candidates
Star-Adv: A Vote for Hanabusa is a Vote for Massive Festering Homeless Tent Cities Everywhere
SA: …During last week’s televised debate, he expressed his doubts about enacting SB 2401, still sitting on his desk. His challenger for the top executive office, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, has called on the incumbent to implement the program.
Hanabusa should come up with more solution-oriented specifics on what she would implement as governor, beyond dressing down the current office-holder for his policies. But she’s right on the basic point: Ige needs to think through his aversion to the idea.
SB 2401 would make it easy for the governor to do so, as it defines only loosely what is required of an ohana zone. It’s a place “that has a program to address basic needs of individuals experiencing homelessness; and where wrap-around services, social and health care services, transportation, and other services may be offered with the goals of alleviating poverty and transitioning individuals experiencing homelessness into affordable housing.”
This is described as a pilot program that “may provide” facilities at each site: “secure dwelling spaces that may be private or communal; have access to toilets, showers and other hygiene facilities; and have access to an area for food storage and meal preparation.” Other items listed include “medical and social support services and transportation to appointments related to medical care or supportive services that are not available onsite.”
Nothing appears to be written in stone on that list. And in general, the suggestions seem to align with initiatives that the governor supports himself.
Example: The state repurposed a storage shed adjacent to Kakaako Waterfront Park to become the Family Assessment Center; a twin facility would largely fit within the bill’s description of an “ohana zone,” if that’s the approach the administration endorses.
There is also the city’s Hale Mauliola “navigation center” on leased state land. In June, the governor made a tour and mulled replicating it for the families displaced by the eruption.
There’s no reason why a version of either model couldn’t be funded through SB 2401.
Ige may be opposed to creating what’s more characteristically termed as a “safe zone,” a loosely controlled tent-city operation often associated with security issues. A pilot of that concept, Camp Kikaha in Kailua-Kona, was ultimately shut down as a failed experiment.
The bill does include the statement, “ohana zones should, at least initially, be temporary.” While the push is for permanent housing, that shouldn’t seem such a stopper, either. Both the assessment center and Hale Mauliola are designed to be temporary, too….
read … Get creative on ‘ohana zones’
Gov. David Ige wins over environmentalists
SA: …Ige has been endorsed by Hawaii’s Sierra Club, Unite Here Local 5, a union known for its support of progressive issues, and the state chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action, which advocates on issues of social and economic justice.
He’s also attracted the personal support of local progressive leaders, including Gary Hooser and Bart Dame, who helped form the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, which has been active in grooming new leaders and organizing around progressive causes. Moses Haia, executive director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., an advocate for Native Hawaiian and environmental issues, also said he personally supports Ige….
read … Gov. David Ige wins over environmentalists
Hawaii News Now enables Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign hypocrisy
Shapiro: …Hawaii News Now deserves kudos for hosting debates that try to energize local elections, but made a couple of bad journalistic calls in the latest round by shutting out potentially the most interesting GOP candidate for governor and again letting U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard run and hide to deny opponents a chance to be heard.
HNN hosted a GOP gubernatorial debate between John Carroll, a perennial big loser in top races who hasn’t been elected to anything since the 1970s, and state Rep. Andria Tupola, a music teacher by trade.
Left out was the third Republican candidate, Ray L’Heureux, a retired Marine major who piloted Marine 1 under four presidents, served as Hawaii assistant schools superintendent in charge of facilities and now heads the Education Institute of Hawaii.
He has substantial and relevant experience for the office, and voters crying for fresh voices in local elections would have benefited from hearing his views….
We need more choices in elections, not fewer, and there was no defensible rationale for excluding L’Heureux.
In the 2nd Congressional District, HNN declined to hold a debate because Gabbard, the incumbent, refused to participate, the second election in a row she’s pulled the stunt.
Gabbard, who famously bashed Hillary Clinton in 2016 for not giving Bernie Sanders enough debates, saying debates hold politicians “accountable for the positions that they’re taking,” has every right to be a hypocrite and duck her own debates.
But HNN and other news media shouldn’t give her the right to effectively silence opponents by backing out, notwithstanding her bazillions in campaign funds and high profile in the polls.
Gabbard’s main Democratic opponent, Sherry Alu Campagna, an environmental activist, business owner and an organizer of the national Women’s March, is running a vigorous campaign with many volunteers and significant endorsements, including the state teachers union.
There’s no reason HNN couldn’t have aired a debate between Campagna and the third Democratic candidate, Tony Austin, a military veteran, business owner and party activist.
Debate sponsors have been known to represent missing candidates in such debates with empty chairs; a sponsor on the mainland once put a chicken in the empty chair.
Gabbard not only avoids debates but is unusually inaccessible to local media seeking to ask tough questions about issues such as her controversial trip to Syria last year to prop up murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad.
As Gabbard said herself, debates should be about accountability and respecting voter choice, not money and star power.….
read … Hawaii News Now enables Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign hypocrisy
ACLU prepares to sue to Keep the Homeless out of Shelters
HNN: …Last week, Mayor Caldwell proposed two new measures that would prevent the homeless from living and sleeping on Oahu's sidewalks. One would make it illegal to block a sidewalk anywhere on Oahu, and the other would make it a crime to live in a public place when shelter is available.
The mayor conceded that the proposals may be challenged, and officials with ACLU say they're watching closely.
"One thing we know from the courts is that you cannot criminalize someone's status, and with bills like this that seem to target people who are unsheltered, it seems to be quite close to that," said Joshua Wisch, executive director of ACLU Hawaii.
The ACLU will not sue immediately, but will wait to see what the Honolulu council does with the bills first, according to officials….
read … ACLU officials prepared to sue over new city proposals concerning homeless
Volunteers build additional shelters for evacuees
HTH: …Construction of more transitional shelters is underway for people displaced by the Kilauea eruption in lower Puna.
On Saturday, about 80 volunteers began constructing 11 micro-units on a 1-acre lot owned by Connect Point Church in Hawaiian Paradise Park. The church and its partners are using the same design used for the first transitional shelter at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pahoa….
Dion Maeda, pastor of the Hilo-based church, said he hopes to have the transitional village — which will include bathrooms, showers, laundry space and a kitchen area — ready for use by the end of the month. The micro-units are 120 square feet in size, with materials and design provided through HPM Building Supply.
“The hope is this is a steppingstone,” he said. “It will give them a bridge to a more permanent solution. This is definitely temporary, but it’s better than living at the (community) shelters.”
Twenty micro-units were cleared for occupancy a week earlier in Pahoa. Brandee Menino, CEO of Hope Services Hawaii, which manages the project, said eight people, and a few pets, had moved in by Saturday.
Community shelters in Pahoa and Keaau were housing 244 people as of Tuesday….
read … Volunteers build additional shelters for evacuees
Senate 19 Candidate Kurt Favella Catches Illegal Grease Dumper
HNN: …Footage of the man dumping what appears to be used cooking oil into a storm drain in Ewa Beach sparked outrage on social media on Friday, prompting many community members to call for action.
On Saturday, the man responsible for the dumped grease hired a crew to clean out the storm drain.
According to Ewa Beach neighborhood board member Kurt Fevella, the responsible party said he put dirty water into the drain and was sorry for his actions.
During the cleanup, hired help, and others observing, noticed a strong odor of cooking oil.
Dumping any substance other than rain water into a storm drain is illegal.
Carroll Cox, an environmentalist with Envirowatch, a nonprofit environmental organization, says it appears there were previous illegal dumping events at that spot, but it's unclear if they're connected to the same person.
"It was quite putrid and substantially saturated the oil, so if it was just a one time event ... it wouldn't have been that saturated," Cox said….
read … Kurt Favella to the Rescue
Surfrider Discovers Unwanted Kauai Garbage is Good Propaganda Tool
KGI: …with a landfill at capacity, the county is starting conversations with nonprofits and conservationists like Surfrider Kauai and Zero Waste Kauai to get a handle on the problem.
(Translation: They intend not to solve the problem. If they wanted to solve the problem, they would ship the plastic to H-Power.)
“There are two aspects to this conversation: the downstream waste management and a movement to upstream regulation,” said Jesse Brown-Clay, who has been working with Zero Waste Kauai.
(IQ Test: Do you know what ‘upstream regulation’ means?)
He continued: “We have an opportunity to be a leader in sustainability, but we need direct action opportunities.”
(Translation: Next sesion they will use this to push more product bans.)
Surfrider has more than 10,000 pounds of nets and debris claimed from the beaches just in the last six months. The Kauai landfill is brimming with plastic and other trash that either can’t be recycled or simply wasn’t….
While the county doesn’t keep track of the types of materials going into the landfill, it does collect data through the Kauai Recycles Drop Bins. On average, 63 tons of plastic a year is captured through the program. The HI-5 redemption program captures almost 400 tons per year of bottle plastics.
China stops accepting some recyclables
China’s decision in January to stop accepting post-consumer recyclables exacerbated the situation further, causing the county’s Department of Public Works Solid Waste Division to stop accepting plastic trays and clamshells in February….
Of the 63 tons accepted annually in Kauai Recycles, officials estimate about a third of it was trays and clamshells — about 20 tons per year….
(Now you know what their target is.)
The average amount of material handled daily at the landfill in Kekaha is about 205 tons.
(Do the math: 205 x 365 = 74,825 20/74825 = 0.02% of total landfill each year.)
read … Garbage Propaganda
Decades of Anti-Geothermal Hype Dismissed Easily
SA: …Lava has covered three of the wells and burned a PGV substation and an adjacent warehouse that held a large drilling rig. At its closest point, the current flow is roughly 1,000 feet from the remaining plant facilities but so far is largely confined to a channel through the property, according to Michael Kaleikini, senior director of Hawaii affairs for Ormat Technologies, PGV’s Reno, Nev.-based parent company.
Ormat executives visited the Big Island a couple weeks ago and voiced their intention to re-open the plant, informing workers that their employment would continue while the company monitors the situation, Kaleikini said.
But he acknowledged the unpredictability of the flow and how that might affect the company’s plans for the facility.
“A couple of months from now our position may change,” Kaleikini told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“It’s very premature to give anyone concrete details of what our plans are.”…
Ormat officials hope history provides a good indicator of how long the current eruption will last.
Kaleikini referred to a 1955 eruption that was over in about three months and a 1960 eruption that lasted three to four weeks. “We are hoping — that’s all we can do,” he said.
At least once a week, PGV transports workers wearing hazard protection gear to the plant via helicopter to do inspections.
High levels of sulfur dioxide emissions from the volcano make prolonged stays too dangerous, he said. “Safety is No. 1.”
While the plant is shut down, the PGV workers are spending time on safety training and volunteering to help with disaster recovery efforts, Kaleikini said. Some also are being sent to work at Ormat geothermal plants elsewhere.
Kaleikini downplayed criticism from plant opponents who say the facility has released harmful gases over the years.
Compared with what has been released by the volcano during the current eruption, “it’s like a grain of sand,” he said….
read … Puna Geothermal Venture faces challenges amid uncertainty
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