Hawaii ACLU Threatens to Sue Nursing Home for Refusing to Help Patients Kill Themselves
Cost of Long Term Care--Hawaii 3rd Highest in USA
Ige Proclaims ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance’
Hawaii #1 State for Viagra Prescriptions
Trump Admin: Caldwell a Section 8 High Performer
Star-Adv: Lets Make General Elections Democrat-Only
SA: …Additionally, the shrinking numbers of Republicans among elected officials has depressed GOP participation somewhat, even in the contested races.
And the power of incumbency has left many voters thinking it’s pointless to turn up. The election of a single Republican to the state Senate, Kurt Fevella, is the exception, but the rule still is in force.
But there is a path worth considering, one that could yield more vibrant primary and general elections. It’s a system used in Washington and California for all but presidential primaries, called the nonpartisan blanket primary, sometimes known as a jungle primary, qualifying primary or top-two primary.
All voters can cast for any candidate on the ballot, which is open to include all parties. The ones that proceed to the general are the top two vote-getters — regardless of party.
The benefit? Candidates on the general-election ballot are proven vote-getters, worthy of another look. The down side? Not all parties may be represented in the final choice.
California advocates hoped this system would both increase turnout and have a moderating effect on the candidates, with more centrist candidates likely ending up with more votes, said Colin Moore, associate professor of political science at the University of Hawaii. It hasn’t really yielded either of those effects, he said….
read … Democrat Monopoly
Bill speeding up building permits poised for final vote at City Council
SA: …The City Council Zoning and Housing Committee on Wednesday approved a bill mandating that the Department of Planning and Permitting process building permits for one- and two-family dwellings within 60 days, rejecting a plea by city officials to hold up the bill.
Bill 64, which is being fast-tracked by Council members at the behest of building industry leaders, is now poised for a final reading of the full Council, likely at its next meeting on Nov. 14. Industry leaders say lengthy processing times are costing them contract jobs, causing them to shrink their businesses and forcing them to lay off employees.
DPP Acting Director Kathy Sokugawa said a 60-day processing deadline on building permits for one- and two-family dwellings would adversely affect her agent’s ability to process permits for other projects….
(Translation: Blackmail.)
“It will mean that other permits, including those that have higher value … than single-family dwellings, such as commercial tower buildings or some of the other (mixed use) projects like Sky Ala Moana may be deferred further in their processing time because we only have so many resources to go around,” Sokugawa said. “So we just want to make sure that we understand what the opportunity costs of this bill is.”
The committee had approved the Sky Ala Moana Condo-Hotel and Residential Development project earlier in the meeting. The project, on the site of the Kenrock Buildings along Kapiolani Boulevard just ewa of Keeaumoku Street, consists of two towers with 300 full-service hotel units, 388 market rate residential units and 90 affordable or workforce housing units.
Council members have attempted to provide more staff positions for DPP, but Sokugawa said a competitive job market is making it difficult for the agency to hire and retain employees.
(Translation: HGEA wants to keep its members’ wages down so it can ‘represent’ a larger number of workers, thus controlling more votes.)
“There’s a huge chasm between what we’re paying them and the responsibility we’re giving them,” she said….
(Translation: We should be allowed to accept ‘gratuities’ for speedy service.)
read … Bill speeding up building permits poised for final vote at City Council
Kim resumes work on plan for Maunakea
HTH: …Kim, who in November 2017 received a green light from Gov. David Ige to propose a new management structure for the mountain, said he is back to talking with a seven-member working group that will help him refine his vision for Maunakea, which he thinks can be a symbol of international cooperation, the pursuit of knowledge, and the Hawaiian people.
The mayor hopes to have a proposal done by the end of the year, but he has declined to identify the working group members until he gets their approval. He said he has yet to receive it….
Kim said he has met with the Police Department and his corporation counsel about what his legal responsibilities are if construction vehicles are blocked….
read … Kim resumes work on plan for Maunakea
Vacation Rental Ban Could Be ‘The Final Death Blow’ For Puna
CB: …short-term vacation rentals represent one of Puna’s remaining economic sectors.
That success is being threatened by proposed government regulations that could force operators off agricultural land that comprises virtually all of Puna – an area the size of Oahu – while also imposing fees and other mandates.
“This district is dying, and this is the final death blow,” Puna Councilwoman Eileen O’Hara said of Bill 108….
O’Hara was the lone dissenter Nov. 2 when the Hawaii County Council voted 5-1 to pass the bill on the first of two required votes. Fellow Puna Councilwoman Jen Ruggles isn’t weighing in on the bill, or any other, because she fears doing so would constitute “war crimes” against sovereign Native Hawaiians.
O’Hara, however, lost her re-election bid….
while some areas of Hawaii Island are overly busy, others are desperate for people.
“We don’t have a housing shortage in Puna,” O’Hara said of the empty homes and vacant lots she said are available throughout the district.
O’Hara failed to convince a single colleague to oppose Bill 108 or, as a consolation, give her district five years before the law would take effect….
read … Vacation Rental Ban Could Be ‘The Final Death Blow’ For Puna
Legislative Agenda: Potheads to Push for Edibles
Potheads: …Aloha from the Medical Cannabis Coalition of Hawai'i:
As you may know, discussions are underway about what types of medical cannabis (a political drug--look it up under “soma”) edibles should be made available at Hawai'i's medical cannabis dispensaries.
We need your input about edibles! Please complete this short survey by clicking here.
To keep up to speed on this discussions regarding edibles, we suggest that you attend the public meetings of the state legislature's Act 116 Working Group.
The next meeting is next Tuesday November 13 at 2pm to discuss both edibles and another very important issue, employment protections for medical cannabis patients. Please see this link for an agenda, location and more. …
read … Agenda
Hilo gun owner contests petition in open-carry case
HTH: …The attorneys for the Hilo man challenging Hawaii’s open-carry gun law filed a response Thursday to the state’s latest legal maneuver, saying its argument is both legally wrong and “far too little and far too late.”
The latest filing by former law enforcement officer George K. Young Jr. contests the state and Hawaii County’s joint petition asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a July ruling that would make it easier to carry firearms openly.
The state and Hawaii County are asking the full court to take a second look at a three-judge panel’s opinion that declared Hawaii’s requirement for getting a license to carry a firearm in public a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms for self-defense….
Background: Ninth Circuit Stunner: Second Amendment Protects Public Open Carry!
read … Hilo gun owner contests petition in open-carry case
California Shooting: Failure of Mental Health Care System
AP: …He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Officials say police had several previous contacts with the former Marine including a call to his home in April, when deputies found him acting irate and irrationally.
Ventura County sheriffs say a mental health crisis team was called at that time and concluded that Long did not need to be taken into custody….
(He was not incarcerated in a lunatic asylum. Why? Because the insane among us act politically in a way that is useful to those who obstruct their re-incarceration -- as this latest of many insane shooters now has.)
Long was found dead in the Borderline Bar and Grill after 12 people were shot to death late Wednesday….
read … Failure on Mental Health Care System
Soft on Crime: Child Molester May be Released on Technicality
HNN: …A Kauai man convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old may be freed because his indictment didn’t say he knew they weren’t married….
Roy Rita denied the charges against him, but was found guilty in 2003.
He’s served 15 years of a 20-year sentence.
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday his indictment was faulty because it didn’t state that he knew he was not married to the girl or that he acted intentionally, knowingly or recklessly.
Rita’s attorney says he will be brought back to Kauai for a hearing and potentially released — or face a whole new trial….
read … Man who sexually assaulted child could be freed on technicality
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