December 20, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Monday, December 20, 2010

December 20, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:39 PM :: 13111 Views

Honolulu is #2 on Erin Brockovich hexavalent chromium hit list

Nanakuli Special Election Candidates’ forum Tuesday

Abercrombie nominates Louie Attorney General

New Hawaii State laws effective January 1, 2011

Governor picks attorney general

Louie's reputation in Hawaii's legal community could help resolve many contentious issues, the governor said.

"I'm hoping that some of the potential legal brambles that are out there, some of the quagmires that we may have faced — that we can get through because of the credibility that David Louie has," Abercrombie said.

Abercrombie nominates Louie Attorney General

6 Democrats vying for Takamine's Senate seat

According to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, the six were interviewed over four hours Sunday.

They are Kenneth Goodenow, an attorney and former state representative; Donald Ikeda, a Hilo County Council member since 2004; and former state Sen. Lorraine Inouye.

The others are Robert "Bob" Marx, a Hilo trial attorney and Big Island co-chair of Gov. Neal Abercrombie's gubernatorial campaign; state Rep. Mark Nakashima of Hawi and Hilo; and former St. Sen. Malama Solomon.

HTH: Dems bid for Takamine seat

REALITY: Malama Solomon’s meth connection

SA: Plan for isle inmates awaited

Frustrated by community opposition to construction of new prison facilities in Hawaii, the state began exporting some of its inmates to mainland facilities 15 years ago because of overcrowded conditions. Gov. Neil Abercrombie now wants to bring them home — a laudable goal but, as his two predecessors found, difficult to achieve.

At this point in the economy, money is central to the issue. In the short term, putting inmates behind mainland bars is less expensive than island imprisonment. The Pew Charitable Trust found three years ago that housing inmates in various mainland correctional centers costs $42 to $52 a day, compared to $102 daily in Hawaii. Last year, the cost of housing a woman inmate in Hawaii was said to be $86 a day, compared with $58 at the private prison in Kentucky where they then were held.

However, those are not the only costs. Ninety percent of former mainland-held Hawaii prisoners were found in 2005 to have committed subsequent crimes, compared with a recidivism rate of 47 percent to 57 percent among those imprisoned in Hawaii. Those long-term societal costs are important. (Bogus argument. Does not take into account the greater seriousness of crimes committed by prisoners sent to mainland.)

ILind suddenly discovers there might be a revolving door between politics and journalism

Why? Because in a sea of Democrat hack/flacks Republican Ramsay Wharton has made it back on the air after running for Congress…. Just a typical progresive working to insure that all other viewpoints are censored.

REALITY: “From Hack to Flack”: the Big Island newspaper-Democrat revolving door

Band or Football for Homeschoolers? Not in Hawaii

Should Hawaii's 5,800 home-schooled students have access to extracurricular activities such as baseball and math club that can only be provided in a school campus setting? Right now, Hawaii law says 'no.'

Obama HHS officials laud Obamacare law’s effect on Hawaii

In a statement released Monday, HHS Region 9 Director Herb Schultz said the controversial law has provided $22.1 million in grants for public health and insurance oversight, and lowered prescription drug costs for nearly 14,700 Medicare beneficiaries in the state.

He says the law also has awarded close to $4.8 million in tax credits and other benefits for 22 Hawaii projects involved in biomedical research.

They didn’t mention THIS: Health Insurance? No need: Abercrombie promises to dump Prepaid Health Care Act

Tesoro forced to sell fuel at a loss to HECO

Under the current contract, Tesoro is locked into selling fuel oil to HECO at a loss, causing a financial hardship for the company, a Tesoro spokesman said. Both HECO and the state consumer advocate have agreed to the proposed "price structure revision," the details of which were not made public for competitive reasons. The Public Utilities Commission is expected to make a final ruling on the proposal this month.

"The substantial losses suffered by Tesoro Hawaii since 2009 as a result of the existing fuel oil contract is the major justification for Tesoro to obtain a retroactive adjustment on the low-sulfur fuel oil pricing," said Tesoro spokesman Mike Marcy.

He said Tesoro competitor Chevron, which operates the only other major refinery in the state, obtained a similar agreement with HECO in February.

Maui Taser case ruling could have nationwide implications

In January, a panel of 9th Circuit judges threw out a lower court's ruling on a civil case filed against the county. The appeals court found that the police officers involved did not violate the rights of Troy and Jayzel Mattos or use any bad judgment during what court papers describe as a volatile encounter involving alcohol, rage and at least one very frightened child….

But complicating matters further for Maui County is the fact that the officer who tased Jayzel Mattos, according to records, is Ryan Aikala. He's a former police officer who had been convicted of third-degree assault and served a couple of weeks in jail in 2003.

Aikala currently is the head of operations at Kahului Airport for Securitas Security Services, which is an international private firm…..

FORBES: Bank of Hawaii named “America’s Healthiest Bank”

After doing everything it can to put Democrats in congress, BankOH skipped out on the subprime mortgage scams they created.

DLIR Report: 'Green' jobs in Hawaii to rise 26 percent

The study says there are more than 11,100 such jobs currently in the state, mostly in the construction, professional services and waste management industries.

It says in 2012, the number of such jobs will rise to about 14,000, or almost 3 percent of the islands' total employment.

The report was financed by a $1.2 million competitive grant Hawaii won from the federal economic stimulus law. (How many jobs did they claim were created by the report-writing grant?)

REALITY: Wind Energy's Ghosts

Sopogy to partner with Chinese company on power plant

Sopogy’s concentrated solar power technology will be paired with Yu Hao Long’s patented Stirling generators to produce renewable energy. Heat produced by the system will be captured in thermal energy storage tanks that will provide firm and reliable energy during the day into the evening peak hours, said Darren Kimura, Sopogy president and chief executive officer.

Hawaii bicycling activist returns to Connecticut

Georgette Yaindl is leaving her ocean paradise and returning to her roots. Her hiring as the first executive director for Bike Walk Connecticut is also being funded, in part, by a $15,000 Advocacy Advance Grant from the Alliance.

According to Bike Walk Connecticut: “Yaindl is returning to Connecticut where she worked for many years, including as the first Executive Director of the Connecticut Bicycle Coalition. She left the CBC in 2000 to work for the Hawaii Bicycling League as its Community Liaison….

“Dorothy was right,” Georgette says. “There is no place like home. I am stoked knowing I shall soon be back in the mix helping improve the health and vitality of our residents and communities via the simple yet revolutionary acts of bicycling and walking. Aloha!”

Clayton Hee pushes for Marianas Islands shark-finning ban

Hawaiian State Senator Clayton Hee, the author of the bill that became the strongest anti-shark finning law in the nation, is drumming up support for a similar CNMI House bill pending at the Senate.

Hee and WildAid shark campaign project manager Stefanie Brendl met with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday afternoon to push for the enactment into law of CNMI House minority leader Diego Benavente's (R-Saipan) House Bill 17-94, which bans the sale and distribution of shark fins in the CNMI.

They also met with local lawmakers led by Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) and House Vice Speaker Felicidad Ogumoro (Cov-Saipan) on Capital Hill yesterday afternoon.

Hmmmm: http://www.seventh-generation.de/projects/north-america/usa-stefanie-brendl.html

Gabbard wants a law addressing data leaks

The legislation will be modeled after proposals offered today by the Liberty Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit civil liberties watchdog group. The report estimates that identity theft caused by breaches has cost Hawaii businesses and banks $571 million since 2005.

Among its proposals, the Liberty Coalition suggests that Hawaii law be changed to require organizations or agencies responsible for data breaches to provide specific information on the nature of the breach.

The coalition also suggests that the state set up a "Breach Victims Trust Account" that would be administered by a "Victims Advocacy Agency." It would be funded by the culpable organizations.

The money would be available to victims of identity fraud.

Father slams 'veiled' Wanat report

An Aiea man who believes his son was killed in Afghanistan as a result of Army negligence now says the Army is trying to whitewash the history of the 2008 battle that killed nine Americans and wounded 27 others.

David Brostrom's son, Jonathan, was a 24-year-old first lieutenant in charge of a platoon that was ambushed by an overwhelming force of about 200 enemy fighters in the village of Wanat on July 13, 2008, in eastern Afghanistan.