ACT Scores Released: Hawaii 4th Lowest in USA
Affordable Hawaii Coalition: We Will Continue After Victory
Graham: "I wouldn't want to be a Republican charged with a crime in Hawaii"
Did Anti-GMO Activist Rip You Off? Maui County Can Help
HSTA Member arrested for allegedly choking a student
KHON: …The boy's family says the teacher choked him and threw him against a fence, while an aide assigned to the child did nothing to stop it.
The boy's mother says the fifth-grader has been traumatized. And he hasn't been able to go back to school since it happened last week Monday.
"I have all these bruises all around my neck," said 12-year-old Dashay Souza Nascimento.
His family says he was on a field trip with other special education students at Keaau Elementary School when he started acting up and threw a rock at his teacher. A witness who called the police told Dashay's mother what happened next.
"And he just began telling me what he saw. The teacher choking my son, that the teacher pinned my son up against a chain link fence," said Serena Nascimento, Dashay's mother.
In a video recorded by Dashay's therapist later that day, Dashay says the teacher also kicked the boy's legs from under him.
"He went with his foot on my foot and I tripped and then he caught me by my jacket and then he pulled me back up like this," said the boy.
The teacher, David Alipio, was arrested and charged with third degree assault.
… Dashay hasn't been the same since.
"It's been rough, he's been having nightmares. He yells out in his sleep, stop, leave me alone. He kicks, he swings, he tosses, and turns," said Nascimento.
"Trauma is real and especially a kid that has the disability that Dashay has had his whole life. It's been a challenge and it's taken a lot for him to just be at school," said Cyndy Meyer, Dashay's therapist.
Nascimento adds that there's an aide assigned to be with her son while in school and she says he didn't do anything to stop the teacher.
"He said that the teacher is his boss. He wasn't even the one that called 911. It was this stranger that called 911," she said.
The family has hired attorney Jeffrey Foster who says he will file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Dept. Of Education.
He says he will be requesting a federal investigation….
The teacher posted bail of $1,000….But the teacher is on department directed leave (ie PAID VACATION). The aide is not….
Last Week: HSTA Sex on Campus: Drug-Using Teacher Gets Probation in Revenge Porn Case
read … Big Island special education teacher arrested for allegedly choking a student
Homeless Sex Offenders Visit Hawaii, Fake Registration
KGI: There are currently 240 people in Hawaii who haven’t added their names to the sex offender registry….
The national average for sex offender registries, said Chris Young, administer of the Hawaii Justice Data Center on Oahu, is in the 90th percentile. Hawaii is 88 percent compliant.
“We’re not very far off,” he said. “The hardest population to service (control) is the homeless population. They’re not required to give us an address, they’re required to come in person and give updates.”…
People convicted of sex assaults, some stalking and some crimes against children are required to register….
On Oct. 1, Young said there were 2,948 offenders listed on the registry in Hawaii, but that number changes daily.
Some offenders may be visiting but are still required to register, making them temporary registrars, while others’ whereabouts have never been known, he said.
“From a percentage number we are at 88 percent compliant as of Oct. 1, which means we have 12 percent of the population that is not compliant. The non-compliant includes offenders prior to 1997,” Young said.
As of Oct. 1, there were 126 registered sex offenders on Kauai. Of that number, 12 of them were non-compliant, Young said….
To view the sex offender registry, visit https://sexoffenders.ehawaii.gov/sexoffender/welcome.html
read … Some convicted don’t register
Bishop Street Lawyer Foolishly Leaves Hawaii, Finally Gets Busted
FOX: …Bruce L. Lamon, of Hillsboro, didn’t pay his taxes for calendar years 2008 through 2013, (and he foolishly left Hawaii) the attorney’s office says. He also allegedly failed to disclose rental income in an application to proceed in a civil case he filed in federal court in 2016.
According to the attorney’s office, Lamon evaded $744,000 in personal income taxes.
The attorney’s office says Lamon previously worked as a commercial civil litigator at a law firm in Hawaii. He retired and moved to Hillsboro in 2012.
(Move out of Hawaii while allegedly committing major financial crimes? Hello?)
The attorney’ s office says while living in Oregon, Lamon between November 2012 and December 2015 titled vehicles in his former spouse’s name and purchased rental properties with cash using an LLC registered in Hawaii to conceal them from the IRS….
(Advice to crooks: Stay safe. Retire in Hawaii where stuff like this won’t happen to you.)
read … About something that never would have been uncovered if he still lived in Hawaii
Akina: Why I Don’t Spend OHA Trustee Allowance
CB: … I would like to provide some insight as to why I recommended discontinuing the practice of individual trustees giving OHA funds directly to have individuals and organizations.
First, such giving can influence voters and buy their favor. This poses a significant ethical problem in that trustees can potentially buy campaign support with these funds, and is the main reason I have refused to use the trustee allowance since beginning my term in 2016.
At the time of this writing, I have returned to OHA a total of $44,000 ($22,000 per year that I have been in office).
I do, however, affirm the use of trustee allowance funds to facilitate and maintain communication with OHA’s Native Hawaiian beneficiaries and the public.
In light of the role of trustees as elected officials, and the importance of communications in that role, I believe it is important to draw a distinction. I believe the use of allowance funds to carry out the duty of a trustee to raise awareness and broaden understanding of Hawaiian issues is appropriate. In contrast, the ethically questionable practice of giving funds in potential exchange for campaign support is what I take issue with….
Waihee: Trustees working on new policy
read … Kelii Akina
If Rowena Akana is Reelected, What Will Legislature Do?
CB: …Two weeks before the general election, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Rowena Akana is on trial for multiple violations of state law.
But her 28-year political career and her reputation are arguably also on the line.
Akana, who has served on the OHA Board of Trustees since 1990 — longer than any other trustee — is charged by Dan Gluck, executive director of the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, with accepting prohibited gifts, failure to report the acceptance of gifts and using her office for personal benefit. Her attorneys at Bickerton Dang reject the claims.
If the ethics commission concludes that Akana is at fault, she could be subject to tens of thousands of dollars in fines. But she would likely keep her job, as was the case with Trustee Peter Apo. He paid a $25,000 fine to the commission in 2017 for using his office to conduct personal business and settled a sexual harassment claim for $50,000.
But Apo decided not to seek another four-year term this year while Akana did. In the Aug. 11 primary, she finished third in a crowded field for three at-large seats.
In the Nov. 6 general election, Akana faces not only two other sitting trustees but three other competitors, some of whom have have talked about the need to reform the way OHA operates….
(Really Obvious Question: Given that everything but the kitchen sink has been thrown at Akana, if she is still reelected will the Legislature feel this proves the need to OHA Trustees to be appointed, not elected?)
read … Is Rowena Akana’s Political Career On The Line?
Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning to break ground next year (AGAIN!)
PBN: …It has been almost 15 years in the making (of nothing), but the $250 million Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning project is on track to break ground in late 2019….
IQ Test: Do you believe them?
Masutomi, who was named president and CEO in 2012, added that HSWAC is in discussions with a handful of other properties under state and county control. While he declined to provide the absolute number of customers that have signed up for system, Masutomi said the project is closing in on “two-thirds of its committed supply secured.” Reaching the two-thirds threshold would enable the project to proceed to the financing stage.
(Translation: This PBN article is a sales pitch for more contracts.)
“Assuming we achieve our threshold by the end of the year, you are looking at a six-to-eight-month financing process, after which we could actually break ground,” Masutomi said (without laughing)….
“This project has been in the public eye for some time now and hasn’t reached fruition, there’s some perception out there that the project is not going to happen,” Masutomi said.
(Translation: The public is on to us. Only the politicians are fooled..)
Flashback 2012: Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning is scheduled to break ground this year
Meanwhile: State to recoup late rent from tech firm Cellana
read … Again
Eco-Hucksters Try Disappearing Island Trick (again)
CB: Hurricane Walaka, one of the most powerful Pacific storms ever recorded, has erased an ecologically important remote northwestern island from the Hawaiian archipelago.
Using satellite imagery, federal scientists confirmed Monday that East Island, a critical habitat for endangered Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles, was almost entirely washed away earlier this month.
(Did you Know? Turtles and seals can swim.)
“I had a holy shit moment, thinking ‘Oh my God, it’s gone,’” said Chip Fletcher, a University of Hawaii climate scientist. “It’s one more chink in the wall of the network of ecosystem diversity on this planet that is being dismantled.” (He then began giggling uncontrollably as worried-looking aides hustled him off stage.)
(Reality: Sandbars like ‘East Island’ come and go with the wind. Literally. It will be back—probably when the north swell hits it this winter. And none of this has anything to do with Global Warming or sea level rise.)
East Island, which is part of French Frigate Shoals in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument….
(Fascinating factoid: One of the other islands in French Frigate shoals is called ‘Disappearing Island.')
Even if East Island reemerges, he said, it will take time for it to revegetate and become stable again. And it would take years for the surrounding corals to make a comeback if they were destroyed too, as suspected.
(This is called the environment. Apparently these geniuses think it can be frozen in time. They also think that doing so would be desirable.)
Google: Disappearing Island Global Warming
Cavalcade of Histrionics:
read … This Remote Hawaiian Island Just Vanished
UH says it’s not the reason vets home plan was changed
SA: … University of Hawaii officials said they have been unfairly blamed as the reason for another state agency abruptly shifting plans for a veterans home to a historic site in Aiea that has rankled some community members.
UH officials said Monday that the university is still willing to let the state Office of Veterans’ Services develop the $70 million facility on vacant UH land next to Leahi Hospital near Diamond Head.
At an Aiea Neighborhood Board meeting two weeks ago, Col. Ron Han, Veterans’ Services director, said UH wanted to do something else — possibly faculty housing — with the Diamond Head site after several years of discussing the veterans home project there….
read … UH says it’s not the reason vets home plan was changed
AG: Gun Crime Down in Hawaii
CB: …The number of violent crimes — murder, assault, rape and robbery — committed in Hawaii by suspects with firearms increased by 24 percent from 283 in 2014 to 351 in 2017.
While the count of violent crimes committed this year with a gun will not be available until next summer, early fall has brought a rash of shootings and conflicts that can make it seem as if Hawaii is in an unprecedented crime wave involving guns.
Not so, according to Paul Perrone, research chief for the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General.
“When you step back and look at the big picture we’re undeniably better off than we were 10, 20, 30 or more years ago,” he said. “What captures our attention are the periods in which several random events cluster together. And then we’re not so interested in periods when none of these things occur.”
In Hawaii, where the number of crimes are small to begin with, any rise or drop in the total can translate into a big percentage change.
“We’re at a bit of an upward trend, but we’re still below historically high levels,” Perrone said.
The state’s violent crime record-keeping began in 1994. The following year set the high-watermark for the number of violent crimes committed with a gun: 425….
Many of the guns, prosecutors say, were stolen….
read … Gun Crimes Are Rising In Hawaii, But Still Below Historic Levels
Big Island hotel RevPAR dropped 12 percent in September as Kilauea effects linger
PBN: … Hotels on Hawaii's Big Island experienced losses for the fourth consecutive month, reporting a 12.5 percent drop in revenue per available room to $122 in September, according to statistics released Monday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
However, all four major Islands realized growth in RevPAR and average daily rates through the first three quarters of 2018.
Last month, a 0.9 percent increase in ADR for Big Island hotels was offset by an 8.9 percentage point decrease in occupancy to 58.7 percent. For the first nine months of 2018, Big Island hotel RevPAR increased 4.1 percent to $193, ADR increased 5.6 percent to $261, while occupancy dipped 1.1 percentage points to 73.9.
Statewide hotel RevPAR for the first three quarters rose 6.1 percent to $225, led by a 12.3 percent increase on Kauai to $277. Statewide ADR increased 5.7 percent to $278, while occupancy increased 0.3 percentage points to 81 percent….
Related:
read … Big Island hotel RevPAR dropped 12 percent in September as Kilauea effects linger
Tulsi Gabbard stumps in Sioux City, Iowa
KTIV: …in Sioux City, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard stumped for fellow Democrat Jackie Smith.
Smith is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Rick Bertrand for his seat in the Iowa Senate.
Gabbard talked about healthcare and foreign policy.
Hawaii is a long way from Iowa so there is a reason for her trip to the area….
Some political publications indicate Gabbard is weighing a run for President in 2020….
read … Tulsi Gabbard stumps in Sioux City, Iowa
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