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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
August 21, 2018 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:21 PM :: 4864 Views

Direct Impact? Hurricane Lane to Turn Towards Oahu, Kauai

Caldwell Announces New Plan to Eliminate Lanes, Jam Up Downtown Traffic Even More

Honolulu City Lights non-profit display application deadline is Sept. 7

HIEMA Gets New Executive Officer

Lehua Island: No New Rat Attacks Since 2017

Exploring an Uphill Battle

Kauai: Illegal Alien Felon Gets 30 Months, Another Deportation

Lawsuit vs Romy Cachola: Vote-by-Mail Fraud (Again)

CB: …A 21-page complaint filed Monday afternoon with the Hawaii Supreme Court by several dozen voters in state House District 30 alleges voter fraud, coercion and intimidation by State Rep. Romy Cachola, who won the Aug. 11 Democratic primary race by just 51 votes….

The complaint is premised on the surge of absentee mail-in ballots that secured Cachola the win against his Democratic primary opponent, Ernesto “Sonny” Ganaden, in the fifth and final set of results released at 3 a.m. Aug. 12. It contends there was an “irregular breakdown of votes for District 30” that pushed Cachola to victory….

The race all evening was neck and neck: Cachola led Ganaden on the first and second printouts. The lead flipped in Ganaden’s favor by the third printout by a margin of 10 votes, 720 to 710. By the fourth printout, Cachola led by just 5 votes. After the final printout, he had won 920 to 869, according to the complaint.

“A suspicious and irregular submission of last-minute ‘mail in drop off’ ballots which were counted after 3:00 am the morning after the election swung the election in Cachola’s favor,” the suit alleges.

The complaint notes that Cachola’s district, which includes Mokauea, Kapalama, Kalihi Kai, the Daniel K. Inouye Airport, and sections of Pearl Harbor and Halawa, is home to many Filipino immigrants and Filipino-Americans. It alleges that as a state representative, Cachola “coerces and intimidates vote(r)s from a vulnerable population.”

The suit notes that Cachola “mingles his residence and campaign headquarters with a medical clinic run by his wife” and that he allegedly coerces the voters in his district who are also patients of the clinic to vote for him.

“Cachola uses the implicit threat of diminished healthcare to register individuals and ensure that he is voted into office,” the complaint states. “He has done this with impunity in a community with limited English proficiency that is suspicious of governmental authority and respects the practice of medicine.”

The lawsuit lists seven counts, including violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)….

read ... Cachola Vote by Mail Fraud

Enviros Cite Gabbard as Possible Presidential Contender

EE: …The first Hindu member of Congress, the representative hails from Hawaii, where politicians tend to be bluer than the ocean.

Gabbard sponsored the "Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act," an ambitious climate bill that would phase out fossil fuel energy sources by 2035. It also calls for an end to subsidies for drilling, mining and refining companies. And it would establish programs to help fossil fuel workers get jobs in renewable energy industries.

In 1996, she co-founded the Healthy Hawaii Coalition with her father, Mike Gabbard, a Democratic state lawmaker. The group teaches about pollution, the environment and health.

A member of the Progressive Caucus, Gabbard broke with the DNC, which she vice-chaired, so she could endorse Sanders for president. 

(And Steve Bannon wanted her to be Trump’s Sec’y of State.)

Gabbard has a 96 percent lifetime score from LCV….

(And she’s endorsed by David Duke.)

read … Enviros Cite Gabbard as Possible Presidential Contender

How This Political Rookie, 72, Pulled Off A Big Senate Upset

CB: How Sharon Moriwaki beat state Sen. Brickwood ‘Buzzy G’ Galuteria by 20 percentage points in a district full of high-rise condos….

read … How This Political Rookie, 72, Pulled Off A Big Senate Upset

Will Supreme Court Order Greenhouse Gas Analysis for Hu Honua Biomass Plant?

IM: …Hu Honua Bioenergy, LLC proposed converting a former coal plant into a 21.5 MW biomass facility in Hamakua on the Big Island. Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO) signed a Power Purchase Agreement with Hu Honua in May 2012. The Public Utilities Commission approved the project in December 2013.

Hu Honua was unable to meet construction deadlines due to internal errors. Then NextEra sought ownership of the HECO companies. HELCO terminated the contract. Hu Honua sued. A settlement agreement resulted in a new Power Purchase Agreement. The Public Utilities Commission approved the project in July 2017.

Life of the Land sued on the grounds that the greenhouse gas analysis was lacking, and that cheaper alternatives were available. All filings have been completed and a decision is pending by the Hawaii Supreme Court.

“The appeal is still pending. Hu Honua is expected to be on-line by the end of 2018.”…

the Hu Honua project would cost ratepayers more than 20 cents per kilowatt-hour….

read … Biomess

After GE Tax Hike, Hawaii County budget hits new high

HTH: …Even with a $4 million hit from Puna property tax revenues swallowed by the lava flow, the County Council is about to approve a bill effectively setting the annual budget at a historic high, thanks to a general excise tax surcharge.

The 2018-19 budget, anticipating a $10 million infusion after the quarter-cent surcharge takes effect Jan. 1, now stands at $524 million, about $6.1 million more than the $518 million budget proposed by Mayor Harry Kim….

…adding — and spending — the entire extra $10 million coming from the new county share of the general excise tax is rubbing Kohala Councilman Tim Richards the wrong way.

Richards, who opposed the tax but finally relented one day before the deadline to pass the measure, said he never intended for all the money to be spent. He said he understood the $5 million in excess funds would be deposited into a special account and kept in reserves.

“This is not what we discussed previously when we discussed the GE tax,” Richards said during an Aug. 8 Finance Committee hearing. “That money is not going to be spent, but it should not be appropriated now either. … That’s not what I signed up for; that’s not what my constituents signed up for.”…

(Suckers.)

read … County budget hits new high

Tighten up government; lower cost of living

KGI: …According to the Tax Foundation, and brought to us by the Grassroot organization (Mahalo Grassroot!) Here’s how far your $100 goes … $84.46 in Hawaii (Down from $85.62 in 2016)….

read … Tighten up government; lower cost of living

Shorthanded Honolulu Police Department Tries To Speed Up Hiring

CB: The HPD streamlines its application process and revamps recruitment messages to get more people to consider a career in law enforcement….

read … Shorthanded Honolulu Police Department Tries To Speed Up Hiring

Police body cams merit close watch

SA: …It’s the storage costs that police departments nationally have found most challenging; Indiana and Connecticut are among the states that decided to abandon their programs for that reason.

Controlling that seems to be one of the goals of the HPD policy. The devices are not physically obtrusive to the officer, weighing only 4-5 ounces. But the department doesn’t want a lot of excess video taking up expensive space, so it records a 30-second loop that keeps overwriting itself until the officer has a public encounter, when he or she generally taps the camera on.

But not always. Officers won’t be recording under certain sensitive circumstances, such as in child abuse and sexual assault cases, when a witness might be exposed, or anywhere there’s an expectation of privacy — in the bathroom or locker room, for example.

Police must report each public encounter and video, and note their explanation for why certain interactions were not recorded. Even if the video-or-not decision is defensible by policy, there are sure to be operational errors — cameras could switch off accidentally.

The Honolulu Police Commission is the watchdog agency that must provide oversight — and it appears poised to do so. Chairwoman Loretta Sheehan said the panel plans to review the program performance during the state police commission conference, set for next April on Oahu….

read … Police body cams merit close watch

Soft on Crime: Alleged YMCA Stabber Arrested 2 Days Before Attack

HNN: …Honolulu police said Robert Midel, 32, was charged with second-degree attempted murder in connection with the incident. His bail is set at $200,000.

The alleged stabbing left 35-year-old Ryan Cavalear on life support, according to friends and co-workers at Smith and Kings in Chinatown.

"I don't know why anyone would have a problem with him," said Joel Seger, Cavalear's boss. 

Seger says Cavalear was a model employee. In the short time he's worked at the restaurant and bar, he went from dishwasher to barback.

"Very respectful," Seger said, "It was 'yes, sir,' 'no, sir' no matter who he spoke to."

The attack happened around 2:45 a.m. Saturday.

Just days earlier, sources say, Midel was taken by Honolulu police after he was holding a knife and walking through the Ross store in Kaneohe. 

Police did not arrest him because no one apparently complained that Midel threatened them. So HPD instead took him to Castle Medical Center for a mental health evaluation, called an MH1.

"There is a process in place," said state Sen. Karl Rhoads, whose district includes Nuuanu, "The police, that's what they did when they filled out a mental health one form and took him to the hospital."

Rhoads says lawmakers have passed legislation to deal with mentally ill people who pose a danger, but it's not an easy process to get those people into a facility using the courts.

"The psychiatrist has to diagnose them as potentially a harm to themselves or to others. That's the medical evidence.  Then you need a lawyer to bring the case," Rhoads said….

read … Soft on Crime

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