February 26, 2009 > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, February 26, 2009

February 26, 2009
By Andrew Walden @ 1:32 AM :: 10637 Views

Trial of Billy Kenoi associate Malu Motta: threats against witnesses

Advertiser: "The shell went through my nose and shattered the lower part of my skull," Tino Sao said. "It's still in there, you know. They couldn't take it out. It kept moving."

SB: Golfers who witnessed fatal shootings at the Pali Golf Course on Jan. 7, 2004, did not want to talk to police about what they saw because their lives were threatened, Thomas Brady, assistant U.S. attorney, said yesterday. In addition to threats against anybody who testified, there were bomb threats made on the Pali Golf Course office....

Ceded Lands: Not even Ginsburg buys OHA's arguments

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs sued the state to prevent it from selling some of the property in question. Speaking for the office, Shanmugam discounted the apology resolution’s effect on the state court’s decision. He said that state law created the fiduciary duty ensuring that interests of native Hawaiians were properly addressed. The state court made clear that it was relying on the apology resolution only for the acknowledgment that native Hawaiians had unresolved claims, he said.

Ginsburg didn’t seem to agree though. She said the Hawaii Supreme Court stated that its decision was “dictated by” the apology resolution. Those representing native Hawaiians in the legal battle were “treating it now as sort of window dressing, icing on the cake, really didn’t matter.”

(This is going to be 9-0 against OHA)

Final Kaua‘i Springs permit approved: Judge defeats OHA and Kauai Planning Commish

The commission, complying with a fall 2008 order from 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe, approved a special permit four weeks after doing the same for a use permit and a Class IV zoning permit. The three documents go a long way toward lifting the cloud that had been hovering over the company as it operated on the strength of a temporary injunction since May 2007.

The final permit approval came with caveats. Conditions were attached based on representations made by the applicant in the September 2005 permit application and agreed to Tuesday by Kaua‘i Springs owner Jim Satterfield and attorney Robert Thomas, according to David Minkin, special counsel for the county in the matter.

The new conditions limit the size of the bottling facility to 1,600 square feet of gross floor space and limit the traffic in and out of the facility to eight round trips per day by delivery trucks and office personnel. The limits effectively put a cap on the amount of water the company can bottle and distribute without actually doing so directly, as Watanabe’s ruling essentially made clear that the commission has no jurisdiction in water disputes.

Commissioner and former Chair Steven Weinstein said to his colleagues, “You may have some reservations but the court order (ties our hands). ... You got to do it. The only way is by attaching as much conditions as we can.”

Related: Ue ka lani, ola ka OHA?

After the Porkulus, comes even more pork: 8,570 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion

WASHINGTON - Congress went on a pork-a-palooza yesterday, approving a massive spending bill with big bucks for Hawaiian canoe trips, research into pig smells, and tattoo removal - all while the nation faces an economic crisis. Among the recipients of federal largesse is the Polynesian Voyaging Society of Honolulu, which got a $238,000 "earmark" in the bill.

Visitor arrivals fell 12.5% in January

In January, Hawaii's visitor arrivals fell to 522,241, a 12.5 percent decrease from the same period in the prior year, according to data released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. And, those that came by air spent 13.6 percent less than travelers who visited the islands in January 2008.

Marshall's post to be filled by mail-in, walk-in ballot

The deadline for the city to receive ballots in the mail from registered Windward Oahu voters is April 23. There will not be an official voting day, such as in primary and general elections, but the city plans to have walk-in voting for two weeks at Honolulu Hale.

HR: Pflueger suddenly healthy again...and interesting tidbits from the Civil Unions testimony

Honolulu City Council member Gary Okino pushed his way to the front of hundreds of testifiers early on and demanded time at the podium, after which he talked about men and women’s “parts” and how men’s parts don’t fit with other men’s parts. He was opposed to the bill.

Board of Education Member Kim Coco Iwamoto, a transgender who testified for civil unions, revealed a startling lack of knowledge when questioned by Senator Mike Gabbard about school procedures involving textbook selection and curriculum should civil unions become state law.

Former Board of Education member Debi Hartman took it upon herself to give many reason why the state reciprocal beneficiaries law could not just be amended as some Senators and testifiers suggested. However, upon questioning, the research conclusions were her own and a few other individuals....

A number of African Americans testified they were insulted by two things: 1) pro-HB 444 supporters likening their struggle to that of African Americans; and 2) supporters use of Martin Luther King Jr. to justify their position, even though King never said a word about same sex marriages, rather dedicated all his time to racial and ethnic harmony.