December 13, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Monday, December 13, 2010

December 13, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:08 PM :: 10529 Views

Cleaning up Abercrombie’s Mess: GAO to investigate lack of funding for Compact of Free Association Migrants

Hawaii Legislators’ favorite child molester claims he is the victim

Small Business Survivability: Hawaii ranks 44th

Special election will fill Apo's City Council seat

Only McDermott has elected legislative experience, having served three terms in the state House until 2002, when he ran for Congress. He lost to U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, who died after the primary but still won in the general election. Ed Case won a special election to fill the term.

McDermott is touting his experience and qualifications in the race.

The rest of the field includes first-time and former candidates, along with various neighborhood board members, community activists and organizers.

Dudley and Kahele have already faced charges of carpetbagging by another first-time candidate, LoPresti, who at a recent Hawaii Public Radio forum said he moved into the district on Sept. 10. LoPresti filed a challenge to their residency with the City Clerk's office, claiming they do not live at the addresses listed with the nomination papers. He also has visited his rivals' residences with a camera to document his claims.

Your DoE at work: Hawaii tops nation is Special Education due-process claims

Hawaii has long had one of the highest rates in the nation for special-education due-process claims -- filed by parents who have unresolved complaints about the special-education services their child is offered.

From 1991 to 2005, Hawaii ranked third in the nation for per-capita due-process filings.

Since then the situation has worsened.

Last school year, amid teacher furlough days and a new law that capped free public education in Hawaii at 20 years old (lowered from 21), the number of due-process claims involving special-education services rose 25 percent, compared with the year before, to 148 filings. Before the 2009-10 school year, the number of filings hovered around 120 for several years. The number of hearing requests peaked at 250 in 2004-05.

SA: Autism on the rise

SA: Special-education costs rise and so do questions

2009 SpEd Due process report: http://www.spinhawaii.org/SAP/sap.html

Abercrombie’s $67M giveaway endangers plan for Department of Early Childhood Education

Abercrombie said during his campaign that he would appoint a Cabinet-level director of a new Department of Early Childhood to integrate early-childhood services now spread among several state agencies, and would work in partnership with private providers. This new department, Abercrombie envisioned, "will assure that all children, including those in families with low incomes, can realistically access high-quality childcare and preschool services."

That's a daunting task, made even more so now that the new governor has already given out $67 million from the state's hurricane relief fund to end teacher furloughs on classroom instruction days in public schools.

The task of improving education at the earliest stages of a child's development may not seem as dramatically immediate as the furloughs -- but the investment in preschool now toward positive results in the near future is just as vital.

REALITY: Abercrombie’s first-day furlough fakery

A Surcharge on Safety: Union Contract and Turnover Blamed for Outsized Overtime

The Hawaii Department of Public Safety says high turnover and a rigid union contract have hamstrung efforts to rein in unusually large overtime claims.

A Surcharge on Safety: Outsized Overtime at the Department of Public Safety

Halawa guards are fired over inmate abuse

A Department of Public Safety official says three correctional officers have been fired for beating an inmate at Halawa Correctional Facility but declined to say whether other officers are under investigation for the same offense.

The attack, caught on surveillance video, shows a prolonged struggle during which a guard kicked the inmate in the head as he lay on the ground.

Arrogant Abercrombie: At 72 he says he finally figured out humility

PAHALA -- Storm clouds were replaced by warming sunlight. Blankets of vog had vanished. Even an io flew overhead while people held hands and sang "Hawaii Aloha." (No journalistic bias here, eh?)

"Yes, these are tears in my eyes. I can't help it. I'm so grateful. Believe me," Abercrombie said, adding for the first time he now understands what being humble truly means.

Shapiro: Will legislators follow Abercrombie’s lead?

Many in Hawai‘i assume that because Democrats control the governorship for the first time in eight years and have the biggest legislative majority in the nation, it’ll be smooth sailing and they’ll be able to pass anything they want.

Don’t be so sure; it all depends if they can agree on what they want to pass. Legislators are factionalized, jealously protective of their own power, have their own special interests to service and won’t necessarily be on the same page as the governor.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie so far has done his talking to lawmakers privately rather than publicly, which makes sense at this early stage as he strives for a collaborative relationship.

But sooner or later they’re going to butt heads on some major issue, and how he works his mojo will tell us a lot about how the next four years will go…..

Rep. Ward: Hawaii Kai Public Schools Under Serious Threat of Closure

Come to make you and your family’s voice heard:

WHEN: 6:30 PM – Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
WHERE: Kaiser High School Cafeteria
WHY: TO KEEP KOKO HEAD AND KAMILOIKI SCHOOLS FROM BEING CLOSED

Current rail plans rife with problems

We've never gotten this far with rail. Now that we have, we are seeing things that are extremely serious problems. The government is intent on barreling ahead, fearing that if we veer in any way from the original plan, the whole project might fall off the track. But it's far better to correct the problems now than to cast them in cement. The millions of dollars the city has already spent on rail already are nothing compared to the billions we might save with changes to the plans.

FACE Hawaii wants to see mediation and other changes to help buyers keep homes

A local nonprofit organization comprising mostly churches is calling on state leaders to do more to address the wave of home foreclosures washing through Hawaii.

Faith Action for Community Equity Hawaii, or FACE Hawaii, released a report that advocates changing the local foreclosure process, including a right to court-supervised mediation for borrowers.

FACE: FACE Foreclosure Study Release

Bankruptcy court hears Symphony case today

The Symphony Society said there was "sincere desire of all involved" to find a way to reorganize but management and the musicians were never able to close their differences, and payroll was by far the largest expense of the organization.

A statement from the musicians asserted that reorganizing the Symphony failed, not for lack of community support but reflected "lack of trust and confidence in the board."

Management and labor fell out over a research report that concluded Honolulu was too small to support a full season. The report said paying customers rarely filled more than half of Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Musicians questioned several premises of the analysis and rejected an abbreviated season that would have paid a fraction of what the musicians were paid before the financial crisis began.

SA: Judge approves liquidation of Honolulu Symphony

Obama's Hawaii trip on hold until Congress finishes its work

More great news for air tour operators.

Appeals court denies bail for pot guru

The founder of the Hawaii Cannabis Ministry in Hilo has been denied bail again by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported it is the fifth time that bail has been denied to 61-year-old Roger Christie, who is accused of operating a marijuana distribution ring. He and 13 co- defendants, together the self-described Green 14, are scheduled for trial in U.S. District Court in Honolulu on April 26.

Some Laysan albatross pairs prove to be same-sex couples

Best Comment: Just because two female birds take turns watching over an egg doesn't mean they are gay; just like when two female humans take care of a child does not mean they are gay either. Not a very scientific conclusion….

Valiant bird needs our help, not our hate

From another eco-religionist seeking to establish the dominion of the eco-religion over the football religion.

Full Lunar eclipse will be visible from Hawaii

The first total lunar eclipse visible from Hawaii since 2007 begins at 9:41 p.m. Dec 20, when the moon moves into the Earth's shadow and takes on a deep, blood-red appearance for more than an hour.