Hawaii: Gun-Carry Ban Legit Because It's Century Old
Who's Running in My District? 2019 Neighborhood Board Elections
How Much Would Carbon Tax Add to Price Per Gallon?
IM: …The document noted that “a carbon tax of $25 per ton of CO2 ...would add about 24 cents per gallon to the price of gasoline and about 28 cents per gallon to the price of diesel fuel.” ….Some climate change groups assert that to achieve meaningful transformation, the tax must be $50…..
read … Climate Change Actions at County, State, Federal & International Levels
Rail: “No Public Trust in our Organization”
SA: … Oahu voters resoundingly rejected a proposed charter amendment that would have made it easier for the Honolulu rail authority to conduct its business, and one member of the rail board says the election loss was a sign that there is “no public trust in our organization.”
Former Honolulu Managing Director Ember Shinn is demanding that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation provide a communications plan and “metrics” to measure whether the communication plan is working. Shinn said she made the same requests last year but never saw a plan….
“And I cannot stress too much how important this is, especially in light of the charter amendment’s failure, because that shows that there is no public trust in our organization, and I’m very upset about that,” she said. She told HART staff at the board’s Nov. 15 meeting, “You don’t have to respond; you just have to do it.”
Shinn, who has served on the HART board since last year, noted the HART budget included $775,000 to hire consultants this fiscal year and the same amount for next year, mostly to fund public outreach and community updates….
(Idea: Eliminate the $775K ‘consultants’)
read … Loss on rail charter question prompts concerns about community outreach
Maunakea financial audit completed
HTH: … A financial audit to be presented to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents found no irregularities in how the various entities involved in use and management of Maunakea lands account for their revenue and expenses.
The regents, who will receive it at its Tuesday meeting in Honolulu, authorized the review in February.
The audit evaluated university funds, lease payments and external funds received in the support of “stewardship, management, education, and other activities related to Maunakea.” UH leases 11,228 acres of the mountain that are part of the Maunakea Science Reserve.
University entities that were part of the review include UH-Manoa, the Institute for Astronomy, UH-Hilo, the Office of Maunakea Management, the Research Corporation of UH, and Maunakea Observatory Support Services.
The audit noted the entities have “developed processes and procedures to appropriately account for their respective financial transactions,” but that no individuals or groups at any entity could “describe the university’s overall operations and related financial results associated with the UH-managed lands on Maunakea.”…
The audit lists six recommendations, including allocating a portion of the costs of the Maunakea ranger program to the observatories and determine if the per passenger charge of $6 for commercial tour operators is sufficient.
It appears to be the first financial review of UH’s Maunakea lands….
read … Maunakea financial audit completed
The history of Title IX compliance in Hawaii's public schools
HNN: … this issue has been unresolved for 40 years. Title IX was enacted in 1972.
The courts gave all US school districts a few years to come into compliance. Then, ACLU staff attorney Wookie Kim says, "A federal agency in charge of civil rights compliance came to Hawaii assessed its compliance for Title 9 and found the DOE was not in compliance for Title 9. That was in 1978."
In 1994, State Representative Jackie Young sent a letter to the DOE expressing dismay about the gender inequities. In 1999, the state legislature proposed a gender equity law….
Kim says that law was never passed because "Gov. Cayetano vetoed it because the DOE expressed it was in compliance with Title IX already. That turned out to be not the case."
In 2000, the legislature passed The Gender Equity in Athletics law and formed a three year state commission to study the issue. Its final report in 2003 noted "minimal progress" was made regarding gender equity. Kim explains the commission's role: "They were tasked with monitoring Title IX compliance with DOE and it was the same story."
In 2010 the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Baldwin High School for Title IX violations. A federal judge granted the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. The DOE settlement agreement required the DOE to, among other things, improve and expand existing girls' softball facilities, and build a new girls' softball practice field on par with the boys' field….
Related: Title IX 46 Years of DoE Hypocrisy
read … The history of Title IX compliance in Hawaii's public schools
You aren’t born a leader, says Lingle, you become one
MN: … Linda Lingle’s path to becoming governor of Hawaii started with a drinking fountain at the Mitchell Pauole Center.
Lingle was a young journalist on Molokai when the senior citizens who met at the center came up to her one day to complain about the fountain, which was spewing hot water because the county wasn’t paying for electricity to run cold water. So, Lingle approached Molokai’s County Council member to discuss the problem. He blew her off.
“I said to myself, ‘You know what? I’m going to run against this guy,’ “ Lingle recalled. “That’s how I got started in politics. . . . Sometimes you just are an accidental leader. And I was certainly an accidental politician who became an accidental leader.”
Lingle, who would go on to become a five-term council member, the youngest and first woman mayor of Maui County and Hawaii’s first female governor, shared her takes on leadership at the Kahili Golf Course on Sunday….
read … You aren’t born a leader, says Lingle, you become one
Study: Chuukese Patients In Hawaii Often Face Discrimination
CB: … Micronesian patients face language and cultural barriers when seeking medical care, and are far less likely to have insurance coverage…..
Link: Chuukese community experiences of racial discrimination and other barriers to healthcare: Perspectives from community members and providers
read … Study: Chuukese Patients In Hawaii Often Face Discrimination
Biocontrol: $35M Building to House More HGEA ‘Positions’
SA: …The requested $35 million is largely for the structure itself and needed equipment…what needs clarifying before any major commitment of funds is the human element rather than the bricks and mortar….
The detailed plans for the facility need to be studied, with full costs of construction, equipment and staff factored in, so lawmakers can decide if all expenses are justified.
And in the end, it’s always about the people, and not only the building. Without instituting agreements and procedures that ensure efficient collaborative work, the drive to build a world-class center could merely add to a network of institutional silos….
Big Q: Do you support the state’s proposed $35 million biocontrol center to combat invasive species?
read … Biocontrol needs coordinated effort
Help Count the Homeless
KGI: … The county is seeking volunteers to assist with an annual count of the area’s homeless population in January.
The Kauai County Housing Agency and the Kauai Community Alliance are conducting a “Point-In-Time Count” from Jan. 23 to 28, to assess the number of “sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons” on a given night. …
read … Homeless “Point-In-Time Count” from Jan. 23 to 28
2 Windward churches aiding the homeless get different results
SA: …Kailua’s Daybreak Church and Kaneohe’s Parker United Methodist Church started feeding the homeless seven months ago — while offering social services that could help them get off the street.
But while Daybreak Church has welcomed as many as 41 homeless people, Parker United Methodist Church saw its largest number of homeless clients on Thursday: 19….
Kaneohe’s homeless population tends to be single adults — often addicted to crystal methamphetamine — who are “service resistant,” meaning they’re reluctant to accept help, Carvalho said.
At Parker United Methodist Church on Waikalua Road on Thursday, as usual, the number of volunteers outnumbered the 19 homeless people who were drawn to a lunch of Cornish game hen, donated clothes, toiletries and services, such as help in getting their government-issued IDs back.
“We’re not getting many families,” said volunteer Pam Lotko…
read … 2 Windward churches aiding the homeless get different results
Tourist Sues Expedia for False Advertising of Hawaii TVR
ABC.AU: … When Hugh Selby booked an apartment with beach views through Wotif, he took their assurance he could "book with confidence" seriously.
So when he arrived on the island of Oahu, to find he had paid hundreds of dollars a night for a "dilapidated" basement with views of an outdoor kitchenette, he felt ripped off.
"[We] looked at each other and said 'hey, this is supposed to be a holiday, we don't even want to spend one night here'….
"The place is dirty, the place is old, there's no view, it's not what we left Canberra for."
Mr Selby did not stay at the apartment, and tried to get a refund from the US-based proprietor, but when that failed, he took Wotif's parent company Expedia to the ACAT, which has now found it engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
read … Wotif forced to refund holidaymaker given 'basement' after tribunal finds misleading conduct
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