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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

December 7, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:07 PM :: 8176 Views

Pearl Harbor, Civil Rights, and Hawaii Statehood

Rep. Ward: If DoE won’t ban nepotism, insist on WASC Accreditation

GOP: “Hawaii can count on us to keep a watchful eye”

Abercrombie’s first act: Raid $90M to feed HSTA, HGEA

Hawaii arrest shows Revolution Muslim Shifting from Ideological to Operational

Meth Project Named Third Most Effective Philanthropy In the World

Website GovernorLindaLingle.com Launched

Pearl Harbor survivors gather 69 years later

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- Aging Pearl Harbor survivors on Tuesday heard reassurances their sacrifice would be remembered and passed on to future generations as they gathered to mark the 69th anniversary of the attack.

"Long after the last veteran of the war in the Pacific is gone, we will still be here telling their story and honoring their dedication and sacrifice," National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis told about 120 survivors who traveled to Hawaii from around the country for the event.

He spoke before the Park Service was due to dedicate a new visitors center for people paying their respects at the memorial to those who died on the USS Arizona, which was sunk during the attack. The remains of nearly 1,000 sailors and Marines are entombed inside.

"This facility is the fulfillment of a promise that we will honor the past," Jarvis said.

AP: Pearl Harbor survivor group ‘won't disband yet’

Extra! Extra! How Did Journalists Cover Pearl Harbor The Day After?

NYT: the Japanese aggression yesterday did more than start a Pacific war. It broadened the conflicts already raging into a world-wide struggle whose end no man can know.

Pearl Harbor is State’s Number One Tourist Draw

Indeed, today's official dedication of the new $56 million Pearl Harbor Visitor Center testifies to the enduring power of history. After all, it was overwhelming demand -- 1.5 million visitors to the Arizona Memorial alone each year -- that necessitated the expansion. It's a heartening reminder that those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice will live on, in the hearts and minds of generations to come.

Abercrombie celebrates One-Party State, demands Republican shut up, yuks it up with fawning media

Abercrombie said island people understand the importance of lokahi, of working together.

Our driving message will be, Make it happen (or else). And make it happen by working together. Make it happen by working together. Our actions will speak for themselves.

Brian Schatz, 38, a former Democratic Party of Hawaii chairman and Makiki state lawmaker, took the oath as lieutenant governor. He challenged people to resist the partisan extremes that have defined politics on the mainland and to move beyond the divisions of the November elections. (ie Bow down)

"Hawaii must not succumb to this angry and useless road (of electing Republicans). We must resist it, reverse it and get to work together (in one Party)," he said. "That means that everybody who cares about Hawaii -- Republicans, Democrats, independents, people who voted for us and maybe especially people who didn't -- needs to hear this: The election is over, and the time to solve problems is now.

"So let's declare a cease-fire on the wedge issues and personality squabbles. We've wasted too much energy on the small stuff. And let's pull together on what really matters for Hawaii."

Shortly after the inauguration, at his first news conference as governor at the state Capitol, Abercrombie announced that he was releasing $67 million from the state's hurricane relief fund to cover the cost of ending teacher furloughs on classroom instruction days and $23.7 million from the state's rainy day fund for social-service programs.

(And not a single news story has noted that Lingle already negotiated a $57M agreement to end instructional furlough days last spring. Likewise, not a single media outlet noted that Abercrombie’s release did not eliminate non-instructional furlough days. Now you know what all this unity talk really means—silence in the face of lies.)

HNN: 'A New Day in Hawaii' at Iolani Palace

Civil Beat: On Abercrombie's First Day, Everything Old Seemed New Again

American flag, National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance return to Iolani

It was wonderful to see the American flag and the Pledge of Allegiance on the grounds of Iolani Palace where Annexation took place in 1898 and the transition to Statehood was celebrated in 1959; and to hear Willie K. singing the Star Spangled Banner there along with another song honoring our troops. Maika’i loa!

Cabinet: No Tourism Liaison for Abercrombie?

As the new governor rounds out his Cabinet choices and starts working on the biennium budget, the administration has said nothing about hiring a tourism liaison, as Linda Lingle did eight years ago.

"She felt that because tourism was such a large part of our economy that tourism should be represented at the Cabinet level," Marsha Wienert told Civil Beat as she left office. "[But] it is not a permanent cabinet position. A statute was not created to immortalize the liaison position as a cabinet member."

During Wienert's term, the state experienced its peak tourism boom (2005-2007), saw the industry collapse with the global recession (2008-2009) and then gradually enter into a prolonged recovery period (2010). Wienert participated in all Hawaii Tourism Authority meetings and weighed in on HVCB marketing decisions — until the Legislature took away her ex-officio status last year.

Slavery lawyer turns down Abercrombie’s Attorney General offer

"I was asked by people close to (Abercrombie) if I was interested," Seitz told Civil Beat. "I thought about it, I was very flattered and I said no that I wasn't interested."

Never shy of controversy, Seitz put himself in the spotlight in July when he wrote a letter to the Hawaii Bar Association calling Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Katherine Leonard "ill equipped and unqualified" for the post.

A civil rights defense attorney, Seitz represented Ehren Watada, a Hawaii-born former U.S. Army lieutenant who famously faced court martial in 2007 for refusing to deploy to Iraq on moral grounds.

Earlier this year, he represented Mike Sou, co-owner of Aloun Farms, who faces human trafficking charges for allegedly keeping 44 Thai immigrants as indentured laborers.

Don't say 'retirement' to Linda Lingle

In Lingle’s case, her website reads a lot like a resume. Even the headline “Continuing the Journey” suggests that we have not heard the last from the former governor. In fact, she already has made it clear that she has Daniel Akaka’s U.S. Senate seat in her sights in 2012.

To that end, she has used her website to remind us by category of what she and her cabinet have accomplished. There’s also a photo gallery broken out by subject. And no, there’s no photo coverage of the ~~parents’~~ Abercrombie campaign activists’ sit-in in her outer office earlier this year.

Residents Rally Around East Oahu Schools as BoE threatens closure

HONOLULU -- Elections are over but there was still plenty of sign waving in Hawaii Kai Monday.

All in an effort to make an impact on a different kind of vote for the Board of Education.

Young student's faces were smiling as they tried to attract the attention of drivers heading home to Hawaii Kai.

But they rallied over a very serious issue to students, keeping two elementary schools open in the wake of DOE consolidations.

Here’s what the DoE isn’t cutting back: Hawaii DoE: Cost of waste, fraud, and corruption between $191M and $431M per year

Eco frauds cheer: Aquaculture on the Ropes in Hawaii

To judge by recent reports from Hawaii—once regarded as the Silicon Valley of aquaculture due to its offshore lease laws, wealth of fishing and marine science experts, and 200,000-square-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—things are not working out quite as hoped. One pioneering OOA operation has declared bankruptcy; another is seeking $5 million in financing.

Hawaii suspends court search fee

The state judiciary told The Associated Press on Monday that the $5 fee will be suspended because of concerns that it could diminish access to court records.

Administrative Director of the Courts Rodney Maile wrote in a letter that all state courts will suspend collection of the search fee for onsite documents while the judiciary reviews its rules.

Hawaii County Council inaugurated: Yagong calls for 'accountability, transparency' in tough times

Yagong acknowledged there's "a huge mountain for all of us to climb," because of the looming budget deficit and tough economic times. But he said he's optimistic and he urged the public to keep the council on its toes.

"I'm here to proclaim to each and every one of you, we will get the job done," Yagong said to loud applause. "Demand accountability. Demand transparency. After all, this is your government. This is your money."

Hilo Councilman Donald Ikeda voted "no" on the resolution authorizing Yagong's chairmanship. He declined to give specifics to reporters after the meeting, but said some of Yagong's past actions influenced his vote.

"He has to gain my confidence and respect," Ikeda said. "At this time, he doesn't have it."

LUC upholds Ooma denial

State land use commissioners shot down a request to reconsider a North Kona land classification change while beefing up their ruling against the project.

Kona International Airport, north of NELHA, was moved to that Keahole Point location because it was, at the time, relatively isolated, the order said. Growth in West Hawaii will put more demands on the airport, including the need for more late-night flights, it said.

"Increased airport operations may ultimately lead to complaints and lawsuits concerning aircraft overflights, safety and noise," the order said. "Although aviation easements (allowing flights over the residential areas) and conditions ... provide some protection to the state, they will not completely prevent complaints and lawsuits, and there is no assurance of the outcome of any such lawsuits."

(In other words, Ooma is denied because if it is build, people will move in and start suing the airport. Anti-development lawsuits are being prevented by … blocking development. Hilarious.)

NPR: Destructive Bug Infests Hawaii's Kona Coffee Fields

But now the premium coffee, which can go for as much as $50 a pound, might get even more expensive: A destructive bug known as the coffee berry borer has infested Hawaii's Kona coffee bean farms.

Neil Reimer with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture says this bug has not been eradicated anywhere in the world. He says the insect can only be controlled. And Reimer says the infestation could affect Hawaii's farmers more than others.

"If you're in a Third World country, or somewhere in South America or Central America, you can probably get by because labor is really cheap and land is cheap," Reimer says. "Where in Hawaii, you just get a small percentage reduction in yield [and] it can knock you under. So it's even more serious, I think, in Hawaii."

Enviros, Island nations seek money using non-existent sea level rise as excuse

CANCUN, Mexico >> Encroaching seas in the far Pacific are raising the salt level in the wells of the Marshall Islands. Waves threaten to cut one sliver of an island in two.

"It's getting worse," says Kaminaga Kaminaga, the tiny nation's climate change coordinator.

(The Marshallese Gov’t is just trying to make money, but some poor saps actually believe in global warming after one fraud after another has been exposed. So sad.)