OHA: Crabbe Spent Last Month in Office Hiding From Auditors
Thirty Years of State Tax, Part 1
Maunakea Protesters Down to Skeleton Crew during week
HTH: … The demonstrators occupying Maunakea Access Road have thinned to a skeleton crew after the start of the school year, but students and teachers still find time to return to the mountain.
While the camp at the access road regularly attracted more than 1,000 demonstrators daily since protests began in July, the regular attendance has dropped to only a few hundred since the University of Hawaii’s fall semester began this week….
Ah Mook Sang said some local schools — largely charter and immersion schools — have sent classes to the camp for field trips since the school year began.
Ahia added that, sometimes, the visiting students present lessons to the instructors themselves, presenting what they’ve learned in history class, for example.
Kahala Johnson, another UH Manoa Ph.D. student, said he is in the middle of his Ph.D. examination period, meaning he has no immediate obligation to return to Oahu. However, he said, other students may not be able to visit the mountain without penalties: the University has told instructors to rigorously log and report absences, Johnson said.
“Still, the numbers here on the weekends are similar to what they were like in July,” Ah Mook Sang said.
Although students may not be able to regularly attend school on the mountain, some still try. Oahu resident Onikiniki Sadaoka said her children’s school excused a two-week absence to visit the mauna, so long as the keiki completed their alotted coursework during their visit….
Meanwhile, Hawaiian immersion schools around the state have seen boosts in enrollment since July. Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino, located in Kealakekua saw 50 more students attend since July — increasing total enrollment by about 20 percent — while Ka Umeke Ka‘eo in Hilo saw 10 more students, boosting total attendance to 40….
read … Classes take toll on Maunakea camp numbers during week
Arrests, clearing road is all it takes to move TMT project forward—But Some Want ‘Settlement’ Instead
SA: … After years of Black Lives Matter and Occupy protests in major U.S. cities, many law enforcement agencies have adopted a “soft” approach to managing crowds engaged in civil disobedience and protest, a strategy that emphasizes flexibility, patience and open communication with protest leaders.
But that takes time, and TMT must decide “soon” whether it will proceed with plans to build the project in Hawaii. Gordon Squires, vice president for external relations for TMT, said in an interview Friday he can’t exactly define when “soon” might be, but TMT has a backup site in the Canary Islands….
protest leader Kaho‘okahi Kanuha put it in a videotaped statement to the media on July 29, “we did not come into this thinking it would be a two-week stance. We are committed to a prolonged struggle, and the truth of the matter is, you cannot arrest this issue away.”
(IQ Test: Do you believe this?)
More Reality than the protesters can handle: “How Maui Got its Telescope Built—Despite Protesters Objections”
Ige, who is ultimately responsible for resolving the impasse, said in an interview Thursday that “it’s more complex than people think.”
“We want to be safe, and we want to do it in as peaceful a manner as we can, so it’s about being able to listen, seek opportunities to find peaceful solutions, and then, yes, we do know that we need to enforce the law. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about,” he said….
(Translation: I want to use this to make a ‘settlement’ with OHA.)
Squires, the TMT vice president, said a simple police sweep of the access road and the nearby camp at Puu Huluhulu cannot resolve the Mauna Kea protests, which have spread across the state and beyond Hawaii.
“This situation that we’re in in Hawaii now is clearly about issues far beyond TMT and Mauna Kea,” he said. Many of the issues the activists raise on the mountain are vast, complex and historical, including Hawaiian sovereignty and self- governance, preservation of Hawaiian language and culture, and environmental protection.
The TMT project has become a catalyst for those much bigger issues “to come to the surface and potentially be addressed, hopefully this time successfully,” Squires said. Those issues have now become the focus of community discussions including Hawaiian community leaders, Ige and Kim, he said.
“I don’t see the resolution of the current situation being simply opening that road and reestablishing access to Mauna Kea,” Squires said. “There’s a bigger component that has to be part of this.”
When asked if the larger issues raised by the protesters could possibly be resolved in time to clear the way for TMT, Squires replied that perhaps the prospect of losing a project as important as TMT will help “leadership to emerge and for people to come together to address these fundamental issues.”
“I think this is a situation that has triggered something that is almost unprecedented in Hawaii. I think that’s a fair statement, and so that’s a good thing, and maybe that now gives the impetus for leaders from everywhere to come together and address some things,” Squires said.
(Translation: I want to use this to make a ‘settlement’ with OHA.)
More Reality than Most can Handle: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read … An article titled: Arrests, clearing road may not be enough to move TMT project forward
Their Model for Hawaii’s Future: Why Molokai Is the Least Developed of Hawai’i’s Islands
SM: … In recent decades, this dynamic has continued, as a small but vocal group of Molokai residents has aggressively opposed plans for economic development, protesting and successfully blocking proposals for hotels, condominiums, golf courses, cruise ship visits, inter-island ferry service, and wind energy (the notably windy island remains powered by expensive, imported diesel generation). A long and bitter standoff over proposed residential development between activists and the island’s largest landowner and employer, Molokai Ranch, resulted in the closure of all the ranch’s operations in 2008 and the loss of 120 jobs. So fragile is Molokai’s economy that the unemployment rate jumped from 6.2 percent in 2007 to 13.7 percent in 2009 as a result.
Recent attempts to ban genetically modified crops have put the island’s current largest employers, Monsanto and Mycogen Seeds, in the crosshairs. Both companies test GMO seed corn there, in an uncanny echo of Molokai’s former vocation as a site of quarantine. If the companies go, they will take another 240 jobs—roughly 10 percent of the island’s workforce—with them. As with the Molokai Ranch closure, the cascade effects on small, local businesses would be extreme.
The character of the opposition is notable: While the activists as a loose group are not without diversity, the core members are people of Native Hawaiian descent (Walter Ritte and his cronies, except for the wind farm which he supported because he was being paid) ….
read … About the Protesters' Model for Hawaii's Future
Big Island schools working on bringing more AC units into classrooms
HTH: … The Big Island schools that have either had an electrical assessment completed by the DOE under SDAC or have requested an assessment are: Hilo Union Elementary, Haaheo Elementary, Waiakea Elementary, Keonepoko Elementary, Kapiolani Elementary, Waikoloa Elementary, Holualoa Elementary, Waikoloa Middle, Kealakehe Intermediate, Waiakea Intermediate, Hilo Intermediate, Hilo High, and Kealakehe High.
Three schools on the Big Island have installed energy-efficient air conditioning units under the SDAC program: Hilo Union Elementary, Mountain View Elementary and Keaau Middle School.
According to HSTA and Rosenlee, one of the easiest ways to make sure a school has the electrical capacity needed for AC units is to convert fluorescent light bulbs in the building to LED lights.
Rosenlee said about 50% of a school’s electrical capacity goes toward lighting.
“Most of our schools are on average 60 years old,” Rosenlee said. “So even if you bought an air conditioning unit, and wanted to install it, if you did that, it would blow out the circuitry of the school and that’s why ACs were not allowed in the schools. So by going from the fluorescent lights to the LED lights, it dramatically opens up the capacity of school.”
(They could have used this idea back in 2016—but it was more important to let green energy scammers get a cut of the Cool School action.)
HSTA said in a press release converting to LED light bulbs can reduce energy use in classrooms by 62%, freeing up electrical capacity that can be used to run AC units.
All 171 public schools on Oahu have made the switch to LED lights, and 51 out of 93 schools on other islands had converted as of early August….
read … Cooling down: Big Island schools working on bringing more AC units into classrooms
Public hearing set for water power cost charge increase
WHT: … Hawaii County water consumers will have the opportunity to speak out on a proposed increase to the power cost charge.
Users currently pay $1.96 per 1,000 gallons of water and, if the proposed increase is approved, would pay $2 for the same amount….
With the proposed 4-cent increase, a family of five, which consumes on average about 12,000 gallons of water per month, will see its bimonthly water bill increase by 96 cents.
A public hearing is set for 9:45 a.m. Sept. 24, just before the Water Board’s next monthly meeting to be held at 10 a.m. in Hilo at the Department of Water Supply Hilo Operations Conference Room at 889 Leilani St.
The power cost charge change does not impact the department’s revenue as the money collected goes to Hawaii Electric Light Co. to cover the electrical cost of transporting water to county customers. The charge may be adjusted every two months as the price of oil, and therefore the price of moving water to customers, changes….
read … Public hearing set for water power cost charge increase
Hau Bush: Shelter-Refusing Addicts Pimp Teenage Girls for Drug Money
SA: … drug use, homelessness, and what some say is growing crime in the area.
Councilwoman Kymberly Pine said by phone Saturday that nighttime closure of the park is being discussed again because of the increasing crime.
“Crime is out of control,” she said.
Police have told her two teenage girls being trafficked for sex in exchange for drugs were recently rescued from the park and a teenage boy was stabbed at the park about two months ago.
She said she regularly sees drug deals there, crime has been spilling into surrounding neighborhoods, and police have told her the park is one of the top places on the island for drug deals. She said that could be because Oneula is the last park on Oahu that remains open at night and “everybody goes there from around the island.”
Pine said police have recommended to her that the city close the beach at night to reduce crime and to allow officers to tell vagrants or others to leave the park at night….
She said numerous people have called her “crazy” for trying to close the beach at night because some people would be strongly opposed. Pine has hosted three public meetings over the issue to get community feedback. At the last meeting on Thursday, shouts erupted from the dozens in attendance and at least one person had to be removed….
read … Planned nightly closures irk some ‘Hau Bush’ regulars
Ideological Control: Anti-GMO Activist determines Who Gets to Farm on Mahi Pono Land
SA: … Mahi Pono also plans to provide an undetermined amount of land to small farmers for commercial and subsistence use.
Initial “community farm” plots of 2, 5 or 10 acres are available in a roughly 300-acre field next to the orchard site.
Rent is $150 per acre per year, and Mahi Pono intends to offer irrigation water, equipment and other resources to tenants at affordable rates, according to Shan Tsutsui, a former state legislator and lieutenant governor who is Mahi Pono’s senior vice president of operations.
Tiare Lawrence, Mahi Pono director of community relations, said the partnership began soliciting applications around the beginning of August and had received more than 100 in the first two weeks.
“There’s strong, strong interest,” she said.
Initial farmers are expected to have use of the site by the end of the year….
PNT: Company optimistic that potatoes can become a ‘signature’ crop for Hawaii’s Maui island
read … Obey Me or Lose Out
Congress? Gabbard Refuses to Rule out Run for Reelection
Borreca: … Late last week Gabbard, who has declined to talk to Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporters about her political plans, told CBS that even after failing to qualify for this month’s national Democratic Party debate, she is still running for president.
“We are going to find ways to work around it (not getting into debate),” she said.
Asked if she would stay in the presidential race if she doesn’t qualify for the ensuing October debate, Gabbard said she would work to qualify….
Gabbard, a former state House and Honolulu City Council member, pledged she was running for president. Of course, the big question is, “Why?”
Gabbard wasn’t competitive the day she announced, and she remains so.
The Real Clear Politics website, which functions as a clearinghouse for national political news, keeps an average of all the recognized political polls. From May 16 to Aug. 6, the Real Clear Politics polling average shows Gabbard with a 22% unfavorable rating compared to a 12.5% favorable ranking. The average of national polls show her with 1.4% of the vote….
For someone who complains that her party lacks rule-setting transparency, Gabbard could be a lot more open with her own backstory.
Her support for Syria’s brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are all question marks, as is the relationship she and her family have with the religious leader Chris Butler.
When asked by CBS that if she falters in her presidential bid, would she pick up a campaign for re-election, Gabbard danced around the question, saying: “I am focused on bringing my campaign to the people and bringing this message to them of a government of by and for the people … ”
Gabbard is on record saying she would support the Democratic ticket for president even if she is not on it, meaning she would not try to run as an independent….
read … To What End?
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