August 29, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Sunday, August 29, 2010

August 29, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:47 PM :: 11400 Views

Restoring Honor: Glenn Beck rallies 500,000 on anniversary of “I have a Dream” speech

Waipio All-Stars win US Little League Championship

University of Hawaii Study: Native Hawaiians Fear Violence

Aiona says Dems plan to raise excise taxes

Aiona said he questions statements made by Democratic gubernatorial candidates Mufi Hannemann and Neil Abercrombie that they will not raise general excise taxes during a governor's forum held Thursday in Kona.

"It is not possible to have the endorsement of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaii State Teachers Association and the United Public Workers unions, which have all made it clear that if you want an endorsement you'll have to raise taxes,"

Hawaii doctors, ophthalmologists endorse Aiona

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Two groups representing Hawaii doctors and ophthalmologists are throwing their support behind Republican Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona's bid for governor. Aiona on Friday announced the endorsement of the Hawaii Medical Association Political Action Committee (HAMPAC) and the Hawaii Ophthalmological Society.

VIDEO: Mufi and Abercrombie meet with healthcare alliance

Atheists on warpath over letter by GOP Chair

I Lind: I’m not sure which aspect is most interesting/disturbing. There’s the description of the Hanneman(sic) campaign’s attempt to persuade Christians to cross over and vote for him in the primary, and pushback from the GOP….

Kaauwai letter: RE: DECEPTION OF THE HANNEMANN CAMPAIGN & KEN WONG – VOTE MUFI IN PRIMARY ELECTION AND DUKE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION

Question: Will the Star-Advertiser pick this up from ILind? Do they really want to bring Abercrombie’s Atheist Army back front and center in this campaign? We will find out shortly….

Just a little taste of Abercrombie’s Atheist Army: Beyond Marriage The Confession: Hawaii Gay marriage advocates let the polyamorous cat out of the bag

Same-sex couples in Hawaii look to California

Young and King joined five other gay and lesbian couples in Hawaii last month and filed suit against Gov. Linda Lingle after she vetoed legislation approved earlier this year that would have allowed same-sex civil unions.

They hope the Aug. 4 ruling by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker striking down California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage will become the legal precedent that other courts in the country eventually will follow.

The Hawaii lawsuit focuses on legalizing civil unions, which give same-sex partners the same rights and responsibilities as marriage, such as obligations to children, inheritance rights and end-of-life decision-making. The Hawaiian Constitution bans same-sex marriage.

Their civil union lawsuit makes many of the same arguments outlined in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, the case that led Walker to rule that gay marriage poses no harm to heterosexual couples and that California has no legitimate interest in prohibiting gays from marrying.

HGEA dragging Kona Hospital down

…greater than 400 health care providers and administrators who just two weeks ago attended the Big Island Health care Conference, sponsored by Mayor Billy Kenoi, HMSA, Kaiser, HHSC and others. This conference is evidence of scores of individuals working to put all three of the island hospitals on solid fiscal basis, improve access to health care services to all, and to devise strategies to recruit and retain physicians for the island. We invite Reed to join in, rather than undermine the efforts to improve the delivery of quality health care services on the Big Island….

Flickinger definitely must know -- but failed to report -- that approximately 70 percent of KCH's operating costs are due to labor costs required by labor agreements with the largest bargaining unit in the state.

One particular element is the retirement packages too rich for the current economy to support -- a similar situation that required even the U.S. automotive industry to restructure. The state requires the payment of these costs to be paid from KCH's operating budget making operating in a fiscally responsible manner nearly impossible to achieve. In the current economy what organization can afford to provide their employees with 52 days of paid time-off?

$75 million blueprint for change: Isles' Race to the Top plan is encouraging, say veteran school watchers (dreams)

Roth says there was nothing preventing the state from issuing the same proposals in the past but believes that the dedicated funding provided by the grant "magnifies dramatically the chances that the DOE will follow through."

Roth saw promise in the plan's call for performance assessments and incentives for principals and teachers.

"The thing that's noteworthy, in my perception, is that it signals that union officials perhaps are recognizing that they need to play a different role than they've played in the past if our public education is going to be as good as it can be or needs to be," he says. "In the past they've focused on protecting members and maximizing benefits. I think they may be recognizing that their members also want them to factor the kids' welfare into the equation."

SA: Some schools will be cut (reality)

Although a too-large classroom is to be avoided, the smallest classes aren't necessarily the best. The aim should be to maintain the order and attention to students, rather than preserve a small school for its size alone.

On the upside, a law passed this year requires the DOE to notify charter schools planners of the availability of school property, which should help the effective use of campus facilities to be carried out in more coordinated fashion.

(Let’s cut out the middleman--the parents and teachers at Queen Liliuokalani School can immediately begin the process of charter school conversion and continue running their school in place without interruption.)

Shakedown artists panic: Overhaul of land-use regulations being rushed

Holt-Takamine & Osorio write: Using the rule-making authority granted to agencies, Lingle's administration is proposing a massive regulatory overhaul that would increase commercial use and construction in conservation areas, limit public oversight of government actions, and undermine coherent management of our most precious natural and cultural resources.

In 57 pages of exemptions, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources proposes that nearly everything it does -- issuing permits, removing invasive species, transferring land titles -- need not undergo any environmental review.

In 71 pages of amendments to the regulations protecting conservation lands, the department proposes to dramatically increase the possibility of construction on conservation lands, remove requirements for comprehensive management, authorize staff to waive requirements, overly limit the public's right to appeal DLNR decisions, and increase commercial use of protected areas.

Though it is true that these rollbacks are packaged together with improved shoreline setbacks, one good apple does not unspoil the barrel. On the whole, these changes are bad for our resources, bad for government accountability, and bad for the people of Hawaii. These proposed changes will fundamentally alter the way decisions are made for 2 million acres of land and ocean in Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor lures more Chinese tourists with World War II legacy

HONOLULU (Xinhua) - Hawaii is courting tourists from China with elevated service and its World War II stories, as the number of Chinese travelers to the islands has soared in recent years.

The population of Chinese visitors to the war memorial complex, which is a combination of several sites at Pearl Harbor, has increased from 5 percent to 9 percent out of a total of 1.5 million tourists to the islands last year, said Eileen Martinez, chief of interpretation of WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

Maui’s foreclosure picture ‘not pretty’

The foreclosure picture for Maui is "not pretty at all" with nearly a thousand single-family homes and condominiums currently pending foreclosure - nearly double the number from a year ago - said the executive director of a non-profit housing organization Thursday.

Another survey showed Kihei leading the state in new foreclosures last month, with 110.

MN: Federal grant would help turn foreclosures into affordables

For Obama, Steep Learning Curve as Chief in Time of War

NYT takes a look at what happens when a Manoa liberal gets a real job with responsibilities. It is a painful look at who is leading America....