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Wednesday, August 15, 2018
August 15, 2018 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:04 PM :: 3318 Views

Aloha Poke: Activists See Opportunity to Grab 'Cultural Property' in Patents, Trademarks

Kauai, Oahu Floods: Ige Asks FEMA to Reconsider Individual Assistance

Property Tax Credit Offered to Low Income Homeowners

States With the Most Skin Cancer--Hawaii 33rd

Hawaii graded 'F' for small businesses

Report: Hawaii's infrastructure 2nd worst in USA

Saiki: No Limit to HSTA Money Grab if Constitutional Amendment is Passed

HPR: …The Constitutional Amendment question would be, “Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real estate property to be used to support public education?”  Speaker of the House of Representatives, Scott Saiki.

“One thing I should make clear is that the constitutional amendment question does not specify a dollar amount or a dollar threshold.  I know that there’s some discussion that the threshold is $1 million. That is not in the constitutional question so that is not accurate at this point.”…

according to the Hawai’i Association of Realtors, there are more than 19-thousand investment homes and condominiums statewide.  Association president, Frank Goodale, says renters would be hit the hardest and the amendment could be (Federally) unconstitutional….

“It’s targeting outside investors over a million dollars for paying this tax and it goes for the sole benefit of the schools and the people that live here. And, there’s a question of whether it would pass constitutional muster.  This is an egregious case of taxation without representation.”

Hawai’i Tax Foundation president, Tom Yamachika, says the amendment would provide broad powers to the legislature with unanswered consequences.

“What it doesn’t say is, what happens to the money that is already appropriated for education.  There’s almost like $2 billion that is being appropriated out of the General Fund to the Department of Education.  And, I’m thinking that legislators are going to be under tremendous pressure to reduce that amount.”… 

HPR: HSTA Weighs-In on Constitutional Amendment to Help Fund Public Education

read … Nov. 6th Constitutional Amendment Question: Investment Property Surcharge for Education?

Proposal seeks to increase bus fares, some by more than 300%

KHON: A new bill before the Honolulu City Council seeks to increase bus fares in 2019, some by more than 200% (wrong: 300%).

Under the proposal, single fares for adults and youth could see a modest increase of 25 cents increasing fares to $3 and $1.50, respectively.

One-day fares for adults and youth would be increased by 50 cents.

Single and one-day fares for seniors and persons with a disability would remain unchanged.

However, the pass prices for passengers that fall into those categories would be exponentially increased under the new proposal.

Annual passes for seniors and persons with a disability would go from $35 to $110, an increase of 214% (No.  Its 314%).

Annual pass prices will also be hiked for adults, going from $770 to $880.

Youth annual passes would be increased by $55 to $440.

The increases are based on recommendations by the Honolulu Rate Commission on the Department of Transportation Services. … 

Big Q: What do you think of the proposed increase in TheBus’ senior annual pass, to $110 from $35?

SA: Council to consider TheBus, TheHandi-Van fare hikes

read … Proposal seeks to increase bus fares, some by more than 200%

Flood-stricken school can't open due to incomplete inspections

KHON: …First stuck in mud, now stuck in the permitting process. Despite all the destruction from heavy floods in April, an Aina Haina school repaired its facility and made it ready for kids. It's been more than a week and Calvary by the Sea Montessori School is still waiting to open.

The school got a call from the state the morning they were ready to start school on August 6th that they cannot open because building inspections were not completed. …

Since the school's main classroom is still being renovated, educators moved to this temporary building next door. Teachers were ready to welcome new students last week Monday. That was until they got a call from the Department of Human Services.

"Monday morning we were notified that inspections were not complete and so we would have to postpone until inspections were completed," said Martinez.

43 children couldn't start school….

HNN: On Tuesday, Calvary by the Sea got a permit for its side building. There's more to do, though, and the school still doesn't have a date when it can reopen.

read … Flood-stricken school can't open due to incomplete inspections

Kauai: Body Cameras Are Police Officers’ New Best Friends

CB: …The defendant was indignant in his complaint to the Kauai Police Department about the behavior of first one, then three officers after he was pulled over for speeding in a school zone.

The officers were discourteous and intimidating. They used foul language. One of them displayed his gun in a way the defendant found threatening. His written complaint was blistering.

Then KPD supervisors looked at the video from a camera the first officer was wearing. It told a different story. Like every street cop on Kauai now, the three officers all wore body cameras that capture audio and video of interactions between the police and the public.

The arresting officer was calm and reasonable. The defendant screamed at him that he had no right to stop him without radar. The officer patiently explained the circumstances and asked for his driver’s license. The defendant refused..

He was almost irrational. The initial officer asked for backup to avoid having a physical confrontation with the defendant, who was increasingly enraged. He insisted on calling the officer “brother.”

Two more officers arrived. They were calm and did not raise their voices. Together, they explained, again, that the defendant had to produce his license or face arrest — something they were obviously trying to avoid.

Eventually, they coaxed him out of his car and handcuffed him. His conduct had left them no real choice.

End of wrongful misconduct complaint.…

read … Kauai: Body Cameras Are Police Officers’ New Best Friends

Soft on Crime: Career Criminal Gets Rehab, Runs Away Again

HNN: …Honolulu police are once again searching for career criminal Phillip Osuna, who walked away from a drug treatment center earlier this year.

Osuna carjacked a soccer mom at gunpoint in 2015, while she was waiting for her daughter to finish practice at Kapiolani Park. He stole her jewelry, cash, and credit cards. 

The victim, who did not want her name used, believes he will target someone else.

"He's a druggie, he told me that," the woman said, "He needs money to support his drug habit so I'm sure he will do this again."

The woman says she was shocked to find out that Circuit Court Judge Paul Wong granted Osuna supervised release in March.

Osuna pleaded 'no contest' to the seven charges including robbery, kidnapping and identity theft.

Osuna also has a lengthy criminal past he was out on probation for robbery when he committed the 2015 crimes.

Osuna was awaiting sentencing when the judge allowed him to check into rehab. By May, he had walked away and a warrant issued….

read … Soft on crime

Uber, Lyft, with permits, may operate at Honolulu airport permanently

SA: …Uber and Lyft will be able to operate at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu on a permanent basis after amended administration rules were approved today, state officials said.

Since Dec. 1, Uber and Lyft, which the state Department of Transportation referred to as “Transportation Network Companies,” have operated at the airport as part of a pilot program to test the demand for feasibility of their services.

The rules, which go into effect Aug. 24, were approved by Gov. David Ige following a series of statewide public hearings held in Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Lihue in late June, according to HDOT, where more than 160 individuals provided testimony on the proposed rule changes. An overwhelming majority expressed support for the rule changes, the first ones to have been amended for commercial services at airports since 2002…. 

Big Q: Do you agree with the new state policy allowing airport pickups by ride-hailing companies?

read … Uber, Lyft, with permits, may operate at Honolulu airport permanently 

Want to Increase Voter Turnout?  Organize Presidential Primaries in Hawaii

SA: …Voter turnout was slightly higher in this year’s primary than it was in 2016, but the more valid comparison is between the 2014 and 2018 primaries because those were nonpresidential election years with hotly contested primary races for governor, according to Colin Moore, director of the Public Policy Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Turnout in the 2016 primary was low in part because the general public cannot vote in primary election contests for president in Hawaii.

Instead, Democrats and Republicans hold party caucuses to choose their presidential favorites, which meant that the 2016 primary “really wasn’t all that important of an election,” Moore said. “We did have a primary but there wasn’t much at stake.”

Voter turnout in Hawaii has been a problem for some time, and Hawaii ranked among the bottom five states in the nation for turnout in the past three presidential elections, according to “America Goes to the Polls 2016,” a report by Nonprofit VOTE and the U.S. Elections Project.

The report found the most common reasons people gave for failing to vote nationally were a lack of competition and meaningful choices on the ballot, or problems with their voter registration or getting to the polls.

The study found that a dozen of the top 20 states for voter turnout were so-called battleground states in 2016….

read … Presidential Primaries

Maui County primary turnout highest in two decades as Anti-GMO Nuts Grab for Power

MN: …Maui County’s voter turnout of 36.2 percent of registered voters in Saturday’s election was the highest percentage for a primary election in two decades….

Voter turnout for Saturday’s primary — which included competitive Democratic gubernatorial and state Senate and House races and the whittling down of a seven-candidate field to two in the mayor’s race — was higher than the 29.6 percent or 26,993 people who voted in the 2016 primary election.

There was an increase of 7,000 voters since the last primary. The 36.2 percent of 94,194 registered voters who cast ballots was the highest percentage since the 47.4 percent in the primary election of 1998, Nishita said….

read … Maui County primary turnout highest in two decades

Krishna Cultists at Center of Efforts to Take Sunscreen ban National

SA: …The most recent clash came in early July when Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) signed into law a measure that banned the sale of sunscreens with oxybenzone or octinoxate, two chemicals that could damage coral reefs—a cornerstone of the island state’s tourist economy.

The legislative effort faced stiff opposition from sunscreen manufacturers, as oxybenzone is a common sunblock ingredient, and the version that became law wouldn’t start the ban until January 2021.

“We’ve got kind of a reputation for getting big things done,” said state Sen. Mike Gabbard (D), who championed the effort.

Other advocates have taken notice.

The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to outlaw oxybenzone or octinoxate from sunscreen and personal-care products, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii)—Mike Gabbard’s daughter—said she plans to introduce federal legislation soon that would mirror the state ban.

“Join us in helping to protect our invaluable coral reefs and marine life,” she wrote in a letter to other lawmakers in an effort to attract co-sponsors.

Outdoor outfitter REI plans by 2020 to stop carrying sunscreen with oxybenzone, and scientist Craig Downs—whose work has helped draw attention to the risks of oxybenzone to coral reefs—said he’s been contacted by officials in 29 states who have shown an interest in his findings.

The Hawaii ban was a “tipping point,” Downs said. “It’s a pivotal moment.”

A key takeaway of his research, he said, is that oxybenzone can make coral reefs more vulnerable to climate change effects such as ocean warming….

It can hasten a condition known as coral bleaching—a process in which the corals turn white after ejecting the symbiotic algae living in their tissues.

In response to the growing criticism, industry officials have argued that the effect of oxybenzone and octinoxate on coral reefs has been overstated.

“There’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that climate change ... causes the bleaching of corals,” said Jay Sirois, senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. “To come out and make the statement that coral is dying because of oxybenzone ... we feel it’s irresponsible.”

Sirois warned that if Congress or other states followed Hawaii’s lead, it could lead to a “public health issue.”

“Given what’s available right now, there is a very limited number of active ingredients that can be used in sunscreen, even fewer of which can provide a broad spectrum of protection,” Sirois said….

read … Mindless Hysteria is Organized

Fukumoto: Voters Didn’t Take Me Seriously Because They’re Sexist

KITV: …State representative and political up-and-comer Beth Fukumoto managed just six percent of the vote.

Post election, she's spending time with her niece, who's moving to DC next month. Still finding time to reflect on her road to the primary. 

"Being the youngest female that was running for office we came up against a lot more obstacles than any other campaign did," Fukumoto said.

Fukumoto says she's planning a podcast and considering a run for City Council in 2020. But her focus for now, gender equality issues impacting women in Hawaii. A harsh reality she learned while she was canvassing for votes. 

"It felt like we knew that there was more that we can do and we were just getting started that's not how you want to feel at the end of the campaign but it is the way you want to feel at the beginning of your career," Fukumoto said. …

Maybe the Investigators Will Take Her Seriously: Campaign Contributions, Financial Disclosure Tie Rep Beth Fukumoto to Alleged Ponzi Scheme

read … What's next for political powerhouses after primary

Hanabusa’s Women: Hanabusa Lost Because of Sexism

SA: …“Here is an extremely accomplished politician, (Just ask Larry Mehau) with every kind of credential (and kickback), including having been a member of Congress (being rather than doing), having been in a very prestigious position as Senate president (just ask Margery Bronster), and a nebbish and ineffectual male politician defeated her and of all things ran on a platform that was laughable in my view, which is to say leadership,” said Meda Chesney-Lind, a professor of women’s studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “It’s the kind of male privilege that … men can just count on this.” (and ‘rapist’ Dan Inouye hand picked Hanabusa as his successor after seeing the way that she got rid of Bronster.)…

Hart noted that in other races women did prevail over men. For instance, political newcomer Sharon Moriwaki successfully ousted Brickwood Galuteria to claim the state Senate seat representing Kakaako, McCully and Waikiki.  (Which underlines the point: This was a bad election for the mafia.)

Funniest Comment: “Why isn't Kim Coco Iwamoto mentioned in this article?”

read … Something to Laugh at

Homosexual Hawaii Priest Once Deviated to Molest Girls

HNN: …Among those he's accused of assaulting: A young girl, his only known female victim, who "was abused in Hawaii by Hannon on one of his many trips to the islands" before he was officially transferred to Hawaii in 1979.

The victim told church officials that Hannon fondled her underneath her underwear while he was tucking her into bed. The abuse happened more than once, the victim said.

In 2004, the Diocese of Hawaii interviewed the victim and deemed her claims "extremely credible," the report said.

But the Diocese of Erie sided with Hannon because he had previously abused only boys, the grand jury report said. Hannon, the report said, denied ever abusing girls, saying, "They do not have a penis."… 

HNN: Andres says there was at least one other female victim in Hawaii who also went to Ahuimanu Elementary school. That woman is still not ready to come forward.  

KITV: Second Woman speaks out says she was abused by priest in Hawaii

CB: Stop Registering Sex Offenders so they can ‘Start New’

read … Bisexual Child Molester

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