Final Week to Register as Candidate: 2019 Neighborhood Board Elections
HB1180: $60M Lava Relief for Big Island
More Anti-Gun Legislation Scheduled for Hearings This Wednesday
Gabbard Hires Russian Agent--Story to go National?
Screening Committee Selects Three KSBE Trustee Finalists
Prosecutors seek no bail for Hilo doctor accused in multi-island drug ring
AP: …Federal prosecutors are asking for no bail for a Big Island pain doctor accused of dealing opioids with his sister, a key figure in a growing public corruption scandal.
Dr. Rudolph Puana and his sister, former Honolulu deputy prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in federal court. A 54-count indictment alleges Kealoha used her position to cover up their crimes.
…Puana, a Hilo anesthesiologist and pain doctor, used his pain clinic to distribute and dispense “immense” amounts of controlled substances including oxycodone, Xanax and fentanyl, prosecutors said. He and unnamed co-conspirators sold or bartered the prescription drugs for other drugs such as cocaine, prosecutors said.
When a police officer notified Kealoha that her brother and a co-conspirator were buying and using cocaine, she “arranged to have herself assigned as the prosecutor” of the investigation, the indictment said.
Puana should be detained without bail because he’s a drug addict and “gun enthusiast,” prosecutors said in a motion. According to the document, Puana was in rehab last year. He has owned numerous firearms, including handguns and rifles, prosecutors said….
SA: Katherine Kealoha charged with drug conspiracy cover-up
read … Prosecutors seek no bail for Hilo doctor accused in multi-island drug ring
Motive for Mail Box Frame-up: Prosecutors detail the Kealohas’ ‘house of cards’
HNN: …Why would a power couple go to such lengths to pin such a strange federal crime on a relative?
The answer, prosecutors say, is simple: Their “entire house of cards” was in danger of crashing down.
Just before the reported theft of the Kealohas’ mailbox ― a fabricated crime, federal authorities say ― the couple was fighting with Puana and his mother (Katherine Kealoha’s grandmother) over money.
The Puanas say their joint account was drained, allegedly by Kealoha. The dispute ended up in civil court….
the Kealohas targeted the Puanas because they were the only “two people capable of revealing the truth” ― the scope of their alleged financial crimes.
In addition to the Puanas, two other victims play a prominent role in the document: Siblings ― the Taitos ― whose trusts Katherine Kealoha was charged with managing but instead allegedly raided.
And the Kealohas didn’t stop there, prosecutors say.
“Even while stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Taitos and Puanas, the Kealohas still required supplements to fund their lavish lifestyle,” the motion says. “Between 2004 and 2017, the Kealohas opened and controlled over 30 separate financial accounts with various institutions.”
The document continues: “Bad credit followed. Thus, in order to continue securing loans, the Kealohas turned to fraud. Between 2008 and 2016, they engaged in many fraudulent acts to convince lenders to approve various financial applications," from allegedly falsely pledging as collateral the Taitos’ accounts to submitting forged documents.
PDF: 1:17-cr-00582-JMS-RLP UNITED STATES’ MOTION IN LIMINE TO ADMIT EVIDENCE OF MOTIVE TO FRAME GERARD PUANA
read … In page-turner of a court filing, prosecutors detail the Kealohas’ ‘house of cards’
What's next if prosecutor goes on leave, quits or gets ousted
KHON: … The county charter is specific on succession if a prosecutor is to quit or is ousted, but it depends on when. If it happens with less than a year left on a term, the first deputy acts as a prosecutor. But if that deputy doesn't qualify, the mayor with council approval appoints someone else within 30 days of vacancy.
If there's more than a year left on a prosecutor’s elected term, the county council calls for a special election within 10 days, and that vote has to happen within 120 days of the vacancy.
Kaneshiro was re-elected to his latest four-year term in 2016.
Under just a suspension, the first deputy would run things day to day. Former First Deputy Chasid Sapolu already took leave when Sapolu got a subject letter -- not a target letter -- from the feds. Currently the first deputy is Dwight Nadamoto. ….
Meanwhile, a county council vote to had been scheduled for Wednesday to have taxpayers foot bills of up to $75,000 for private attorney William McCorriston to defend Kaneshiro on the impeachment petition. …
Later Tuesday, the scheduled Wednesday vote on that $75,000 tab to pay Kaneshiro's attorney was marked "canceled" on the council agenda….
read … What's next if prosecutor goes on leave, quits or gets ousted
SB674 / HB664: Senate Ctte Votes to Outlaw DSM-5 Psychiatric Care of Underage Transgenders
KITV: … A Senate Committee Tuesday passed a bill to clarify (add trannies to) the language on Hawaii's ban on gay conversion therapy.
(Nowhere in this article is the bill number identified. But we at Hawai’i Free Press have found it—SB674. The House version, HB664, will be heard by HLT on Thursday, 02-14-19 9:31AM in House conference room 329.)
The ban now known as Act 13 was signed into law in 2018 and established a sexual orientation task force (who then cooked up this scam).
It also prohibited doctors and psychiatrists from offering or advertising the "treatment" in Hawaii.
(NOTE: This bill would outlaw standard treatments for Gender dysphoria mandated in DSM-5. Golojuch and the Legislators are trying to conflate modern and current medical practice with the so-called ‘gay conversion therapy’ horror stories. Fortunately you are reading Hawai’i Free Press which is the ONLY place you will see the deception unraveled.)
"It does exactly what it does now, it just makes it clearer to everybody by using an umbrella term so nobody (tranny) is left out," Chair of the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii Michael Golojuch Jr.…
Quote from opposition testimony: “Today’s institutions that promote transition affirmation are pushing children to impersonate the opposite sex, sending many of them down the path of puberty blockers, sterilization, the removal of healthy body parts, and untold psychological damage. These harms constitute nothing less than institutionalized child abuse. Sound ethics demand an immediate end to the use of pubertal suppression, cross-sex hormones, and sex reassignment surgeries in children and adolescents, as well as an end to promoting gender ideology via school curricula and legislative policies.”
(IQ Test: Is ‘political correctness’ more important than your son?)
read … This Applies to Underage Only
Hawaii County’s $155 million disaster funding request is not dead yet
HTH: …The Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs passed on Tuesday the ($155M) aid request for lower Puna as submitted.
That follows four House committees last week pulling a companion bill and instead passing a measure providing $60 million to help the area recover from last year’s Kilauea eruption.
A separate bill to provide $50 million in aid also passed a Senate committee last week
Both Senate bills will be sent to the Ways and Means Committee for consideration….
Related: HB1180: $60M Lava Relief for Big Island
read … Not Dead Yet
Massive flood control project for Waikiki would gobble up schools’ outdoors space
HNN: …Some schools are pushing back against a huge Army Corps of Engineers project aimed at protecting Waikiki from a massive flood.
The federal project, which has also caused concern among some homeowners, has the green light from Congress, but students at Hokulani Elementary in Manoa say it’s a bad idea.
“I was like why would they want to put the detention basin on our field?” said Kaylah Kwon, a student council member who testified recently at the Manoa Neighborhood Board with fellow fifth graders, Alexis Bueza and Brennan Kim…..
In a letter last month to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DLNR, Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi complained of lack of transparency and said “schools such as Ala Wai Elementary, Hokulani Elementary and Iolani Schools are opposed to the project for the health and safety of their students, families, faculty, and staff.”…
Congress appropriated $345 million for the project and the governor has $125 million in his proposed budget….
read … Massive flood control project for Waikiki would gobble up schools’ outdoors space
Hawaii’s Next Big Project Disaster: Aloha Stadium
SA: …The Legislature came closer to setting the framework for rusting Aloha Stadium’s future Tuesday by quickly deferring House Bill 695 and leaving just two identical bills, House Bill 1497 and Senate Bill 1530, dealing with a new stadium progressing in the session….
(Translation: Legislators learned nothing from rail.)
read … Aloha Stadium bill likely in current session
Cycle of Hype: Don’t Panic Over Rapid Ohia Death
CB: … Here we go again — another era of the dreaded ohia dieback. We are all panicked by the pronouncements of the experts, and our agency folks are still stirred up. (“Rushing To Save Kauai’s Ohia Trees From A Deadly, Fast-Spreading Disease.”)
Agency pathology experts from the mainland have again come over to pronounce the dire consequences of new disease organisms and insect vectors related to what they have seen happen to unrelated cold-climate tree species on the North American continent. Unfortunately, they seem to know little about oceanic tropical island ecosystems.
As before, they have spawned heightened concern in local agencies that are properly protective of our native forests. However, there is a lot of drastic-measure hype about suspected rapid ohia death trees (cut ’em, tarp ’em, save the seeds!). They discuss funneling limited conservation funding into coordinated agency response behaviors and drastic measures for the after-apocalypse.
The bottom line is there is a lot not known about the deaths of ohia trees, and not yet enough rational research into what really is going on….
This is not the first time we have seen such dire pathologist pronouncements — a century ago on young lava flows of east Maui near Keanae, and again 35-40 years ago on Hawaii Island. In the latter period, there were a series of assessments and calls for drastic measures because all our ohia forests were doomed. …
HB: Vacation becomes Pilgrimage of Penance in EcoReligion
read … Don’t Panic Over Rapid Ohia Death
Homeless Emergency Decree—Allows for Festering Homeless Tent City to be Built in Kailua Kona
HTH: … The governor made the initial proclamation in December 2018.
Proclamations of this sort allow for quick allocation or re-allocation of funds to support existing efforts to curb the emergency, in this case homelessness, or to get new initiatives off the ground.
Roy Takemoto, who serves as executive assistant to Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim and works frequently on homeless solutions, said the proclamation will aid the county’s efforts to develop a 5-acre area of Village 9 off Kealakehe Parkway for a temporary homeless encampment while work continues toward the eventual permanent 15-acre build out.
The proclamation allows the county to procure a separate contract with master planners for the site, which also will include a 15-acre state affordable housing project and the adjacent Kealakehe Regional Park, so they can move quickly through the planning process for the 5-acre temporary shelter.
Current timelines could see construction begin on that portion of the plan as early as May. The proclamation also expedites community involvement, which will occur through the environmental assessment process, Takemoto explained.
This will allow for public comment on the project before any work with regard to the homeless encampment element, temporary or permanent, is carried out….
read … Ige extends emergency proclamation on homelessness
Criminal Gets Probation for Beating up Homeless Dude—So he Robs the Disabled
HTH: … A 21-year-old Hilo man is charged with second-degree robbery and third-degree assault for allegedly striking an adult special-needs athlete and demanding his money and cellphone….
Kaaumoana-Ferreira was convicted May 7, 2018, of first-degree assault, a Class B felony, and sentenced to five years probation and 18 months in jail. The sentence stemmed from an Oct. 25, 2016, attack on a 40-year-old homeless man, whose left arm was broken after he was struck by an unidentified metal object. The man’s backpack, which reportedly had $265 worth of possessions, was stolen by an accomplice.
In return for his guilty plea, a charge of first-degree robbery — a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison — was dropped…. (Thus giving him a second chance to do it again…..)
read … Soft on Crime
Sign up to run for your neighborhood board
SA: … It doesn’t seem to have been loudly publicized but the deadline is fast approaching to become a candidate for an Oahu neighborhood board — it’s this Friday. Any Oahu resident age 18 years or older can run for his or her neighborhood board; there are 33 islandwide, comprised of 437 elected volunteer members. While the panels are advisory, they are an important part of civic engagement, have clout in vetting community projects and issues, and do affect governmental decisions.
The Neighborhood Board Election will be held online from April 26 through May 17. For more information on becoming a candidate, call 768-3705 or see www.honolulu.gov/NCO….
Related: Final Week to Register as Candidate: 2019 Neighborhood Board Elections
read … Sign up to run for your neighborhood board
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