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Wednesday, July 21, 2021
July 21, 2021 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:47 PM :: 1687 Views

Trumpster Anti-Vaxxers Target BYUH

Mayor Victorino vetoes hotel construction moratorium bill

DHHL Seeks Recommendations for 2022 DHHL Legislative Package

Asset Forfeiture Audit: After 30 years Program Finally Gets Administrative Rules

Honolulu woman pleads guilty to unauthorized removal and retention of classified material

Blue Pacific Act Added to Major Foreign Policy Bill

HART board nominee Just a shill for ‘Go rail at all costs.’

SA: … HART Board Chairman Tobias Martyn abruptly resigned this month after state Sen. Kurt Fevella accused him of “possible criminal acts” relating to the issuance of rail general obligation bonds. Former Congresswoman and HART Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa is scheduled to rejoin the board at its July 30 meeting after turning down a controversial HART consulting contract worth nearly $1 million.

If the Council approves Aalto’s nomination, he would replace one of the HART board’s most outspoken critics, Joe Uno, who owns a construction cost consulting firm.

Different entities get to pick members of the HART board, such as Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s selection of Hanabusa. Martyn’s seat is selected by the HART board itself. It takes only two “no” votes to veto any HART board proposal, and Uno had hoped to replace Martyn with someone with construction experience and expertise.

“(Aalto’s) also a supporter of rail going to Ala Moana no matter what the cost,” Uno said. “I was hoping to use my veto to get in a technically qualified person, someone with construction experience and who is not just a shill for ‘Go rail at all costs.’

“I just wish there was someone more qualified.”

Councilman Augie Tulba similarly questioned Aalto’s experience on overseeing major construction projects.

Aalto acknowledged he does not have the same background as others on the HART board, but said that could be an asset.

(WRONG: Aalto comes from exactly the same background as most HART board members.  He is displaying his ability as a shill and huckster here.)

“I would just turn the question around and ask, What has that experience bought us?” he said. “They weren’t asking the right questions. They didn’t supervise the project correctly.”….

(TRUE:  A board made of shills like Aalto got us into this mess.  We don’t need any more experienced shills.) 

CB: Aalto Moves Closer To Replacing Uno On HART Board

Why he’s being selected: Aalto’s Conflicts of Interest Disqualify Him for HART Board

read … Just a shill for ‘Go rail at all costs.’

Star-Adv Endorses ACLU Plan: Build New Jail too Small to Guarantee Overcrowding, Force Mass Releases of Criminals

SA: … OCCC’s latest operational capacity tops out at about 950 inmates. But in recent years the Kalihi jail has often exceeded that limit. The proposed new facility — as envisioned by the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) — would house 1,044 detainees and 288 pre-release inmates at an underutilized state site in Halawa.

However, a report presented to the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission last week counters that there’s also potential to see the average daily inmate population fall below 800 within the next dozen years. That scenario, according to the report’s author, consultant Pulitzer/Bogard &Associates, hinges on factors such as Hawaii’s overall population continuing a downward trend and adoption of various legal reforms.

Eliminating “cash bail” for certain minor offenses should rank as a reform priority….

Related: Study a Trick to Ensure New OCCC is Built too Small

read … Create a Crisis to Solve it

Shrinking military, students could affect reapportionment

HTH: … The number of nonresident military families and students to be extracted from population counts before state House and Senate seats are allocated to islands is down significantly from the 2010 census, a factor that could affect the distribution of legislative seats for the coming decade.

A group of Big Island residents sued in 2011 after the Reapportionment Commission left the nonresidents in the count. After the successful lawsuit, 108,767 nonresidents primarily living on Oahu were removed, leading to Hawaii Island gaining a fourth seat in the Senate.

As the fastest-growing island in the state, Hawaii Island could rate even more representation this go-round, with an eighth House seat likely. The situation will become more clear once the block population numbers from the decennial census are released next month.

But lower numbers of nonresidents could make the picture less clear. Nonresidents are removed under the theory they’re counted in their home states.

The plan this year is to remove only 71,162 military and students, including 70,104 from Oahu, while 536 would be extracted from Hawaii Island, 225 from the Maui island unit and 297 from the Kauai island unit, according to a report presented Tuesday to the commission by staffer David Rosenbrock.

The military numbers come from United States Pacific Command, and the student numbers are gathered from public and private universities by collating the numbers at each institution paying nonresident tuition, Rosenbrock said. Both categories are reported as of April 1, 2020….

Rosenbrock said student numbers could have dropped because the coronavirus pandemic could have kept students in their home states. There were 10,629 out-of-state students in 2000, compared to 13,320 in 2010 and 6,747 in 2020….

The military reports the numbers of military, spouses and dependents who don’t pay taxes in Hawaii as an indication they’re not residents. In 2000, there were 73,996 military and dependents in the state, compared to 95,447 in 2010 and 64,415 in 2020, he said….

The commission expects to get population numbers for each of Hawaii’s 14,732 census blocks in mid-August. The state had 1,455,271 residents, up 94,970 from the 2010 census…

read … Shrinking military, students could affect reapportionment

Infection rate among Hawaii’s unvaccinated now as high as it was for entire state during pandemic’s peak

HNN: … From hospitals to pop-up clinics and pharmacies across the state, it’s easier than ever to get a COVID vaccine. But despite extraordinary access, 40% of Hawaii residents remain unvaccinated ― and the virus is spreading quickly among them.

“We could do the calculation and what it tells us is right now we’ve got the same level of infection in our unvaccinated population that we had in our total population before the vaccines became available,” said Hilton Raethel, CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

On Tuesday, 70 patients were hospitalized statewide.

That’s about a quarter of what it was last year during the peak of the pandemic.

Health officials say one of the reasons fewer folks are ending up in the hospital is because overall the people catching the virus are younger and healthier….

read … Infection rate among Hawaii’s unvaccinated now as high as it was for entire state during pandemic’s peak

Designed to Fail: Teachers and parents still ‘totally in the dark’ with school set to begin in two weeks

KHON: … “A lot of parents need to use the DOE’s plan in order to plan for our own lives, whether it be work or whatever other activities we’re doing,” VonTungeln said. “If we know that kids will be on campus, then we can maybe go into the office ourselves. Whereas, if kids are going to be at home, then we may need to make arrangements at home to be there to supervise them. A lot of parent-planning hinges upon the DOE having a plan.”

He said lack of a concrete plan gives him little confidence in the DOE.

(Reality: This chaos is a calculated HSTA strategy to make school reopening fail and force a return to the fake ‘distance learning’ scam they got away with last year.)

Teachers are also in limbo, unsure of how to plan their curriculum.

“I have to be back on campus next Wednesday,” she explained. “That’s teachers first day for public schools in Hawaii. I know what classes I’m going to be teaching. But that’s about it. Teachers are feeling like we have to scramble and put something together hastily at the last minute.”

Governor David Ige said he’s unable to give a definitive answer about schools resuming in-person classes or distance learning.

DOH is also supposed to release new learning model parameters.

According to current DOH guidelines, the recent surge in cases would require every school on Kauai, and secondary schools across the state, to follow the blended learning model….

(Translation: HSTA has already succeeded in closing down 1/3 of the DoE.  The plan is right on schedule.)

SA: Health Department ‘racing round the clock’ to revise school guidance before Aug 3 reopening

read … Teachers and parents still ‘totally in the dark’ with school set to begin in two weeks

Masks to be Mandated in Schools?

KITV: … Conflicting COVID-19 guidance from the "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" and a respected organization of pediatricians is causing frustration for many parents as the new school year begins.

Some are concerned that Hawaii public schools have no clear reopening guidance with only two weeks until kids are supposed to be back in classrooms.

The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends everyone over the age of 2 wear face masks in school settings, regardless of vaccination status.  The recommendation's more conservative than the CDC's recent guidance, which allows vaccinated teachers and students to shed their masks, while those unvaccinated should still wear them.  Some doctors and parents believe the state Department of Education should go with the more cautious approach.

"It's just got to be much safer, overall, much easier for schools just to have everybody wear masks," said pediatrician Dr. Michael Walter. "That would be a more reasonable position for the schools to take, rather than having the teachers and other administrators trying to police the situation and decide who doesn't need to wear masks, especially for younger kids that can't get vaccinated yet."

read … Parents frustrated with conflicting COVID-19 guidance from CDC, pediatricians

Judge denies motion to dismiss charges against 3 Honolulu police officers in fatal shooting of teenager

SA: … Richard H.S. Sing, who represents Thom, Crystal K. Glendon, counsel for Fredeluces, and Ah Nee’s attorney, Thomas M. Otake, argued that prosecutors could not deny the will of a jury of the officers’ peers and that the grand jury process is an important check on the power of a prosecutor.

Van Marter maintained that the Hawaii Constitution provides multiple pathways for a prosecutor to charge alleged criminals.

Judge William M Domingo agreed. “Statutorily, it is allowed. There is nothing to preclude the preliminary hearing to continue in this matter,” he said this afternoon.

The preliminary hearing for the three officers began after the ruling and lasted until 4 p.m. when Domingo scheduled it to continue on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Before the hearing, more than 100 police officers, fire fighters and other supporters rallied in front of the court house on Alakea at 12:30 p.m. to show support for the officers and demand discipline against Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steven S. Alm for ignoring the grand jury’s decision. The crowd also included counter-protesters supporting the prosecution of the three officers….

read … Judge denies motion to dismiss charges against 3 Honolulu police officers in fatal shooting of teenager

Report: 29% of Hawai'i hotel jobs will not return by the end of the year

KITV: … This year, Hawai'i only has about 31,500 jobs --That's down from more than 44,000 in 2019….There were only a little more than 24,000 hotel jobs in 2020…..

read … Report: 29% of Hawai'i hotel jobs will not return by the end of the year

Free Electricity Ain`t Cheap

IM: … The high financial cost of purchasing solar and batteries can be offset by providing grid services, that is, allowing a microgrid solar+battery system to export electricity to the grid or import electricity from the grid to help maintain frequency and voltage levels on the grid.

In contrast, a stand-alone solar system is economically inefficient since the customer must either have excessive generation and storage to handle unexpected demand that occurs for just a few hours of the year, or the customer must have a willingness to not have sufficient generation at times. 

In addition, if a stand-alone system needs to go down for maintenance, the customer has no power during that time unless they are hooked up to the grid.

The NARUC microgrid panel at the 2021 Summer Policy Summit noted that microgrids are cool but complex. They are popular but poorly understood. The value proposition is undergoing development….

read … Free Electricity Ain`t Cheap

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