December 2, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, December 2, 2010

December 2, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:30 PM :: 12328 Views

Cayetano on DBEDT Pick: “Dobelle thought Richard Lim was trying to intimidate him”

S510: TEA Party fights against FDA control over small farmers and farmers markets

Democrats point fingers: Heen blames DHHL, OHA, CNHA for death of Akaka Bill

With all due respect to U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka, it should be clear to any observer that the Akaka Bill is dead. Unless there is a complete Democratic swing in the next election, the ball game is over and self-governance for native Hawaiians is "dead, dead, dead," as we used to say when I was in the state Legislature.

On Nov. 15, your editorial labeled the current situation as "inexcusable" and seemed to lay much of the blame on our two senators. Actually, the debacle was caused by certain Hawaiian organizations, including the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the White House and Gov. Linda Lingle….

How did native Hawaiians play a role in the death of the bill? OHA and CNHA must share the blame.

OHA considered the bill as its "property" and felt that it should be allowed to "vet" all proposals affecting the bill's contents.

CNHA had its own ideas and constantly sought to advance the entitlements of the Hawaiian Home Land "homesteaders." The two organizations were competing.

In the end, CNHA worked with the White House to prepare the amendments that went to the Senate committee. OHA had nothing to do with them. Those amendments aroused Lingle's opposition.

REALITY: Akaka Bill: More than 73% of Hawaiians not "Qualified" for membership in Akaka Tribe

Lynn Finnegan named executive director of Hawaii Charter School Network

Lynn Finnegan, former state representative and GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, has been named executive director of the Hawaii Charter School Network, effective immediately.

Finnegan replaces Alapaki Nahale-a, who was appointed by Gov.-elect Neil Abercrombie to be a co-director of the Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

SA: GOP candidate lands schools job vacated by Abercrombie nominee

AP: Rep. Finnegan to head Hawaii charter school group

HNN: Lynn Finnegan to head Hawaii Charter Schools Network

More federal Funds? Abercrombie’s meeting with Obama produces no announcement

Obama also said he welcomed the governor's input on how to curb state and federal spending at a time of budget shortfalls.

"We're going to be interested in hearing from all of you about programs you think are working, but also programs that you think are not working," Obama said.

"Contrary to the mythology, believe it or not, it turns out that I would love to eliminate programs that don't work," he said.

Obama said his top issue is making sure taxes don't go up for middle class families.

(Sounds like Abercrombie, as always, is a day late and a dollar short.)

Abercrombie: Bring your own cup to the swearing in

The transition office of Neil Abercrombie advises folks to carpool or find alternative transportation to inaugural festivities Monday at Iolani Palace. Traffic and parking will be insane.

Abercrombie's people also advise people bring reusable cups or water bottles to minimize trash. No bottled water will be provided at the public event, though there will be water jugs. (Let's hope there's Porta Potties!)

Hawaii Mayors Want To End Furloughs

Carlisle is launching his effort to unite and lead the four county mayors in defense of their TAT share. The talk about furloughs is designed to unite HGEA, UPW, SHOPO, etal behind Carlisle’s initiative.

KITV: 4 county mayors meet on Kauai to discuss economy

Carlisle eyes Lingle appointee for Budge Director?

Two key posts as yet unfilled are Corporation Counsel and director of Budget and Fiscal Services. The latter has been vacant since the department's top two officials resigned after Carlisle was elected. Mike Hansen is serving as acting director in the interim.

Carlisle told Civil Beat in October that he would consider hiring a state worker who leaves the Capitol after the Lingle era.

Retirement System to propose benefit cuts

The Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System says it will be proposing benefit cuts that could prompt a wave of early retirements. The agency’s legislative proposals could come as early as the 2011 legislative session.

Hints of the cuts are contained in a memo from ERS Administrator Wesley Machida that accompanied a request to exempt a pending contract from competitive procurement.

Specific cuts or changes are not detailed, but the memo predicts they will have “a dramatic impact” as employees eligible for retirement rush for the exits in order to lock-in benefits at current levels.

Monopoly Denied: PUC denies Young Bros.' request to reconsider Pasha decision

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission Wednesday rejected a request by Young Brothers Ltd. to reconsider the PUC’s approval of Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines LLC’s application to ship cargo between the islands.

Thielen: Hawaii Parks in 'Deplorable' Condition

For some people, the last week on the job is an opportunity to reminisce, take a victory lap and smell the roses.

Not Laura Thielen.

The outgoing director of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources used her final turn at the pulpit to take a parting shot at legislators. She blamed years of underfunding for the "deplorable condition" of state recreational facilities, which she said "look so junk."

Abercrombie press secretary is Senator’s sister

Today and tomorrow, freshmen Senators Donovan Dela Cruz and Ron Kouchi are on Kauai to tour agricultural sights and talk to farmers about their concerns.

One other note: Some folks around the Capitol raised eyebrows over the selection this week of Dela Cruz's sister, Donalyn Dela Cruz, as Abercrombie's press secretary. It's an unusually close relationship, they say, between the executive and legislative branches

Dudley Circus erupts at neighborhood board meeting

The Makakilo/Kapolei Neighborhood Board meeting last night erupted into what one attendee described as a "circus," with one District 1 City Council candidate calling a city worker a "liar."

That candidate, Kioni Dudley, moved out of the district to run in the District 1 City Council election. Dudley said he knew that leaving the district also meant he had to vacate his 12-year spot on the Neighborhood Board because the Neighborhood Commission had notified him…

But Dudley said he was surprised when a Neighborhood Commission staffer approached him at last night's meeting and told him he didn't have to resign….

Dudley said the board is "delighted" to see him go.

State Holding Hearings On Giant Telescope Project

The Department of Land and Natural Resources said Wednesday it will hold hearings in Hilo on Thursday and in Kailua-Kona on Friday.

Thirty Meter Telescope managers are seeking a permit from the department because they want to build the telescope on conservation land. They hope to begin construction late next year and finish by 2018.

Some ~~Native Hawaiians~~ Sierra Club operatives oppose the telescope, saying they want $50M in “rent” ~~it would defile Mauna Kea's sacred summit. Environmentalists say the telescope would harm the rare wekiu bug~~.

With Tuition increases pending, UHH defends swank rental

It's one of the swankiest locations for office space in all of East Hawaii, and the University of Hawaii at Hilo is leasing it for almost $12,000 a month.
With its sweeping view of Hilo Bay and its ornate koa wood interiors carefully tucked away behind a large stand of trees makai of Bayfront Highway, the Wainaku Executive Center north of Hilo provides a quiet, out-of-the way spot just a couple minutes from downtown….

SA: Time is right for UH to build

Djou, Hirono vote for $4.5B child nutrition bill

In a statement Thursday, Hirono cited several statistics to justify her support. The Democrat says the diabetes rate in Hawaii rose 15 percent from 2005 to 2009, and 28.5 percent of the state's youth between 10 and 17 are obese.

She also says more than 9 percent of Hawaii residents lack consistent access to enough food for a healthy and productive life.

The measure passed on a 264-157 vote, with mostly Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposing. Djou is a Republican.

Hawaii Organizing Committee a No Show at Miss 2010 South Pacific Pageant

BY TERI TICO- PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA – For the first time in the 25 year history of the Miss South Pacific Pageant, Hawai’i was tapped to host the 2011 Miss South Pacific Pageant. When the Hawaii delegation failed to appear at the pageant last week in Papua New Guinea, the bid to host the 2011 pageant was awarded to Samoa, instead.

Cleanup underway after Homeless tent city dispersed in Waipahu

The City of Honolulu Parks and Recreation Department posted no trespassing keep out signs back in February. Then police did a homeless sweep in June. And now the city is starting to pick up the trash that was left behind.

Right now the junk is in separated piles, scrap metal, tires, wood and other waste is all stacked up. Another section used to be an elaborate homeless camp, now all the rubbish is ready to be removed.

"In the past 14 years I have never ever had such a positive response, ever," said Carroll Cox, EnviroWatch. "In the past we've found these sites and it takes months, even years to address them."

Carroll Cox is used to poking around and digging up dirt as an environmental watchdog, but now he finds himself in new territory actually praising a politician.

"If this is a sign of what's to come with this administration I want to be the first, who's always complaining, I want to be the first to acknowledge and I think it's only fair and let it be known, and let the public know that this was an absolute positive response from a new administration," said Cox, who credited Mayor Peter Carlisle, who was sworn into office two weeks before being alerted to the illegal dumpsite.

Bus Company's Safety Record Is Questioned

A review of KITV news reports turned up at least four fatalities involving Roberts tour or school buses in the last two years. In 2006, a Roberts driver who claimed he was forced to drive despite severe exhaustion caused a fatal head-on collision in Kahaluu. The driver was convicted of manslaughter. Roberts recently settled a class action lawsuit alleging drivers were working many hours without pay.

Charity's anger at proposal to make child porn legal 'to protect children from abusers'

(Hawaii progressives once again use our home as a base from which to once again launch a worldwide campaign aimed at undermining the foundations of society.)

Chris Cloke, the charity's NSPCC head of child protection awareness, said: 'This obscene type of material has no part to play in our society.

'Many children suffer atrocious abuse in the making of indecent images.

'To make it legal, would suggest that inappropriate behaviour and violence towards children is acceptable. It never is and it would be quite wrong to make it legal.'

Legalize Child Pornography? Researchers Say It Deserves Consideration

(Hawaii progressives once again use our home as a base from which to once again launch a worldwide campaign aimed at undermining the foundations of society.)

What manner of vile fiend would seriously suggest we legalize child pornography?

Well, Milton Diamond and his fellow researchers at the University of Hawaii aren't actually suggesting anything. They just say -- rather modestly -- that the idea of legalizing child pornography deserves a look-see. (BS)

In a press release, they ~~point out~~ claim that child abuse and sexual assault decreased in Denmark and Japan after child pornography became widely and legally accessible.

This obviously doesn't take into account the abuse of the children used in making the pornography. (Duh)

Science Daily: Legalizing Pornography: Lower Sex Crime Rates?

TIME: Study: Making Pornography More Accessible May Curb Child Abuse

BIW: New bill could regulate food safety, but crush local food producers

It would also require food processors, distributors and vendors to keep much more extensive records, mandate broad new research initiatives and "science based" food regulations, and provide authority for new license fees to pay for some of the expense involved. And it would get the State Department involved by mandating new international agreements requiring foreign producers of food sold in U. S. markets to conform to U.S. food safety standards.

Courses on genetics are not propagandized

A letter (Nov. 26) alluding to the facts and fiction of genetic engineering and then attempting to justify not teaching genetics in school prior to college because the children are too ignorant to understand it just boggles the mind. Maybe we should back off teaching biology or science in high school. The word "gene" might be inadvertently used in the classroom.

Hawaii death penalty case moving forward

In the coming years, Nakakuni said Hawaii can expect to see its first federal death penalty case to go to trial. While Hawaii may not have its own death penalty law on the books, the federal government has since 1994, she said.
The federal first-degree murder case against Army Spc. Naeem Williams, a Schofield Barracks soldier accused of beating to death his 5-year-old daughter in 2005, is expected to go trial in September 2011, she said.

Yagong targets cost overruns

Hawaii County could lower its construction expenses by allowing public scrutiny of cost overruns and contract supplements, says Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong.
Notifying the County Council, and thereby the public, of contract alterations called change orders also would improve accountability, said Yagong, who wants to mandate such reports.
"The reason we're doing this is the change-order process is totally invisible," the County Council chairman-elect said of a bill he introduced this week.

WHT: County says construction plans on despite lawsuit

KGI: Mayor’s inaugural speech unveils visionary plans

Obsequious defined: LIHU‘E — Recently re-elected Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. drew a standing ovation at his inauguration ceremony, after a speech that revealed many grand plans for the island in the next 10 years.

“It’s an amazing feeling to stand before you today and accept the responsibility of serving as your mayor for the next four years,” Carvalho told hundreds who came to the inauguration of the mayor and county council at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Hall on Wednesday afternoon….

KGI: Nakamura, Castillo retain county jobs

AP: Kauai utility: Guilty on species act violations

Maui: Affordable housing plan nixed over timing

WAILUKU - A Maui County Council committee rejected a proposed "fast-track" affordable housing project Wednesday - not based on its merits, which were not considered - but because of what panel members called "bad timing." (Any excuse will do.)

Na Wai Eha parties to water panel: Go ‘slow’

Arakawa names Wong, Kushi to his legal team

Mayor-elect chooses top prosecutors