June 4, 2011 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Saturday, June 4, 2011

June 4, 2011 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:34 PM :: 11354 Views

Progressives: Hirono will rescue us from Xenophobic Warmonger and Corporate Shill Ed Case

APEC Preparations: Wealthy liberals pony up for Abercrombie’s Homeless Sweeps

Hanabusa backs Boehner against Obama, Hirono rejects call for Congressional Approval of Libya War

Redistricting: Tammy Duckworth gets Gerrymandered into Illinois 8th Congressional District

Hawaii Tax Director Finds Unusual, Inconsistent Revenue Reports

Tax Director Fred Pablo said in a press release issued late Friday that he noticed "unusual reporting" and "several inconsistencies" in the department's monthly tax revenue reports since being named to the position six months ago.

The department has put out a formal request, asking auditing firms to submit a letter of interest. These letters are due by June 13 and the department expects an audit to be done by mid-August.

"The audit will help to validate that the assumptions used in preparing the revenue reports are sound and based on relevant information," Pablo said.

News Release not Posted: http://www6.hawaii.gov/tax/a2_1media.htm

$104M in rail bonds, Tax & Fee Increases approved: The City Council headed for courtroom showdown over oversight of the new rail authority's budget

The City Council gave its blessing to the issuance of $104 million in general obligation bonds for the rail transit system but also voted to put controls on the upcoming rail authority's budget.

The Council voted 6-3 to allow the city to issue bonds to get working capital as construction for the $5.3 billion system is expected to ramp up. Council members Tom Berg, Romy Cachola and Ann Kobayashi voted no.

The earliest the city would issue the bonds would be in September 2012, said Toru Hamayasu, chief of the city Rapid Transit Division.

The Council also passed the operating and construction budgets for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation; Berg cast the only no votes on both bills.

The bills contain provisions giving the Council oversight over the rail authority's spending. Mayor Peter Carlisle has said he will veto it, and both sides have said the issue will likely go to court.

Council Approves Another Sewer Fee Increase: Typical Bill Will Rise 68% Over Six Years

The city said the increase was necessary to upgrade the city's century-old sewer system and meet the requirements of federal law being enforced by a court order negotiated with environmental groups. (This is how they will pay for the $2B Sand Island upgrade.) The city said the increase will raise sewer bills for a typical homeowner from about $95 per month Friday to about $160 per month in 2016, a 68 percent increase.

Most of the fees, including an increase in the cost for a new, renewed or duplicate driver's license, a new fee for camping of about $1 per person per day, and higher costs for zoo admission, use of city recreational facilities city employee parking and even a higher tax rate for residential property, passed without much discussion.

When a poll goes off the rail, tax dollars pay for a new one

With things relatively quiet at the Capitol, we shift our attention to the other side of Punchbowl Street as we “flASHback” on the week’s news that amused and confused:

Unhappy with private polls showing Oahu residents evenly split on the $5.3 billion rail project, the city paid $24,000 for its own poll asserting that 57 percent of the public support rail. Who says money can’t buy you love?

Hawaii to challenge FERC’s role in hydro

Recently proposed hydro projects throughout the Islands are facing a mounting challenge as state agencies seek to halt federal oversight of local waterways.

The response follows a spate of filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by companies interested in developing the energy source on several islands. Within the past year, at least nine hydro projects have been proposed in Hawaii: six on Kauai, two on Maui and one on Lanai.

State intervention could affect the future of how hydro power is developed in the state, with supporters saying it has the potential to be used to provide ratepayers with a steady, low-cost source of electricity.

What this is about: OHA Trustees claim ownership of your drinking water

AARP wants to Put Pension Tax fight behind them, get back to being liberals

Earlier this year, the group battled Gov. Neil Abercrombie over a proposed pension tax. The bill failed, and Abercrombie called AARP "essentially a front for insurance companies."

That soured a promising relationship: Previously, the governor had promptly released long-delayed funds for the senior support program Kupuna Care. (Hint, hint)

Auditor: Poor Management of Hawaii Public Housing Puts Federal Funds at Risk

Some highlights from the audit:

As of Feb. 15, 2011, the authority had a total of 233 vacant units that either had pending maintenance work or were available for rent
The authority has approximately 9,000 families on the waiting list and an average wait time of two to five years
The authority gets most of its funding — 75 percent to 83 percent annually — through grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The authority has seen its funding from the state's general fund drop from $10.2 million in fiscal 2008 to $4.4 million in fiscal 2010 and 2011.

The audit concluded: "The (Hawaii Public Housing Authority) must improve its monitoring of project managers to ensure tenants' needs are addressed and the state's assets are protected for future users. It must also implement the federally-mandated asset management system model of operation. Any further delays in implementation may put federal funds at risk." ….

Read the full audit.

HTH: Public housing woes revealed

Kailua Fireworks Update: $48,000 Left to Raise in 30 Days

“It’s called the Kailua Fireworks Coupon Book and will include more than $4,000 worth of offers from restaurants, retail establishments, activities and more in Kailua,” says Gramann. “It’s the entertainment book for Kailua- a fantastic value.”

Cost for the Kailua Fireworks Coupon book is $20, with proceeds going to help fund the annual show. The Fireworks committee is counting on citizens to buy the book to support the fireworks effort and hoping too that Kailua businesses consider buying the books for their employees.

The Kailua Fireworks coupon book will be on sale beginning June 11th at select Kailua retailers and online at www.kailuafireworks.com.

The Kailua Fireworks Group has all of the permits in place. The show is scheduled to take place on Monday, July 4th at 8 pm. Pilots Clint Churchill and Hank Buckner will be back with the Airshow at 6 pm.

Giving away free shave ice 30 days before the 4th is the Kailua Fireworks Committee’s way of raising awareness that the ice is free but the fireworks aren’t. They need your help. For more information or to donate go to www.kailuafireworks.com.

400 expected to march at Honolulu gay pride parade

Organizers say the Saturday parade is set to begin at 10 a.m. in Ala Moana, continue into Waikiki and end at Kapiolani Park.

The event is expected to include 400 marchers, floats and bands.

Honolulu Pride says Gov. Neil Abercrombie plans to speak at the park.

Hawaii gov: 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Questioning Pride Month'

REALITY: The Overhauling of Straight America

Email, Website of Hawaii Lawmaker Hacked

Hackers put up "offensive" postings on her website, the representative said, and sent out an email calling her a "crook."

Both accounts are now back in the control of Pine, the House Minority Floor Leader who represents Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point and Puuloa.

But Pine has alerted the Honolulu Police Department, the state Sheriffs Division (which provides security at the Capitol) and the FBI.

"The Legislature needs to take this very seriously," Pine told Civil Beat Friday. "This is the coming future for all of us. Most private citizens don't have the resources that lawmakers have to protect against identity theft, but we need stronger identity theft laws. This person stole my identity via the Internet."

Pine described the contents of the hacked email and website as "crazy things" that were "offensive, false, misleading information — and we can prove it in court."

(Visualize Eric Ryan wearing stripes.)

Few Hawaii Senators File Disclosure Reports During Session

Of the Legislature's 24 senators, 15 filed after session ended on May 5. Among those who did file during the session, four reported in February, two more in March, and two during the last week — one on May 3 and the other on May 5.

As of June 2, Donovan Dela Cruz was the sole Hawaii lawmaker who did not file his 2011 report with the state ethics commission before the May 31 deadline. When reached by phone, Dela Cruz told Civil Beat he filed his report in May. However, the ethics commission says the forms, posted online, are up-to-date.

How Tort Reform helped Hawaii Accident Victims Get Medical Care

Tort reform during the late ’90s changed the face of the industry. There were winners and losers. Minimum coverage for medical costs per person, per accident, dropped to $10,000. The tort threshold also dropped, to $5,000 from $13,500. Chiropractors, acupuncturists and naturopaths were mandated to charge no more than $75 per visit, and the combined number of visits to these three professions per occurrence are now limited to 30. All other services, including medical visits, physical therapy, massage therapy, medications, diagnostics and procedures, must still simply be “reasonable, appropriate and necessary” and, of course, within the policy limit.

The result has been a trend toward smaller awards. Carriers now tend to have less to lose and only rarely contract independent medical examiners to refute claims. Interest on the part of some in the legal profession has waned, and the number of chiropractors in the state has dropped.

Patients now have more unobstructed access to injury care that includes a broad range of services, a number of which are not available under private insurance. The big downside of the reduced minimum level of medical benefits, particularly in the event of a hospital admission or surgical procedure, is that patients will usually run out of funds. If that happens and the person also has private insurance, that carrier should then assume care, but only for services included in the private policy.

Taxes account for 70 cents a gallon

there is a step Washington could take to cut the price of fuel immediately. It could suspend the 18.4-cent-a-gallon federal fuel tax.

If the state and county governments in Hawaii were to do the same, the price at the pump would be cut by about 70 cents immediately.

(Government is the senior partner in the oil industry.)

State agencies boost energy efficiency

Hawaii agencies cut electric use by 2.8 percent and saved more than $20 million in energy costs during fiscal year 2010 as the state continued to reap benefits from its push toward energy efficiency.

Last year's decline in energy consumption marked the third straight year that state departments have cut energy use and was the first time the agencies were able to trim costs from the previous year, according to a recent Lead by Example (LBE) report by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

KGMB’s Kim Gennaula to be next Aloha United Way president

Former KGMB-TV anchor Kim Gennaula is leaving Kapiolani Health Foundation to serve as the new president and chief professional officer for Aloha United Way, PBN has learned.

Gennaula has served as philanthropy director for the charitable arm of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children and Pali Momi Medical Center since September 2008. Before that, she was with KGMB for 15 years.

Honolulu Chinatown Rat-Check: No Rodents, But Plenty Of Rat Bait

Shedding my identity as mild-mannered blogger to become Ratman, I visited Chinatown last night in search of tall buildings to leap.

Finding none, I had to settle for looking for rats back at the Kekaulike Market. (sigh)

It was my second visit this year. I’m pleased to report that I found none. Not one rat. Here’s a report of my escapade, such as it was.

Virginity Inspection in 1960s Hawaii Juvenile Detention

A headline about “virginity tests” and abuse of women demonstrators in Egypt caught my eye. We’re rightly outraged, of course. But it wasn’t that long ago that similar physical exams of young women were relatively routine parts of arrests right here in Hawaii.

This was really the discovery that launched Meda’s very successful career as a feminist criminologist. She was dubbed “the mother of feminist criminology” by one reviewer, and the label is apt.

We were grad students at UH in the early 1970s when one of her sociology professors obtained old juvenile arrest files from Honolulu’s family court dating from early in the 20th century. Out of curiosity, Meda asked one of the people methodically coding these files to set aside those of the girls, which she then set about analyzing.

That’s when she discovered the notes of physical examinations of girls that included commentary that would accurately be described as virginity checks. One of her first publications was an article in Psychology Today in 1974, “Juvenile Delinquency: The Sexualization of Female Crime,” describing her findings.

Scientists to study Japanese Nuclear impact on Ocean

A team of scientists will set out Saturday from Hawaii on a research expedition to study how radioactive contamination from the nuclear power plant crisis in Japan has spread in the Pacific Ocean and what effects it will have on marine life, the food chain and human health.

The scientists say the effects of radioactive contamination in ocean waters, sediments and fish is not well understood. The Japanese nuclear disaster is the worst release of radioactive materials into an ocean.

The contaminated water in the ocean is diluted to much lower levels as it travels from the plant to waters far offshore. Miles from shore, the elevated levels of radiation aren't a direct public health hazard, but there are still many questions about the impact of long-lived isotopes that can accumulate in the food chain and in sediments, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which is leading the trip.

Perspective: 2009: Japanese scientists devise method to collect Uranium from Kuroshio Current

Herb Kane: The Last Interview

“Ancient Punaluu, Hawaii Island” was once a 24-foot by 10-foot mural, but was sawed in pieces and stolen in 2005. Artist Herb Kane got his revenge by repainting the work as an easel painting and refining it, turning the thieves’ version into a preliminary sketch….