Bombardier to HART: Our Rail Bid would have won if not Disqualified
Full Text: HSTA Loses Drug Testing Appeal
Hawaii Leads the Nation for Methamphetamine Use in the Workforce
After Boycott Threat, Safeway Agrees to Change Labels on “Kona Blend”
Marriott: M Waikiki Owners Self-Destructive
News and Video from House Minority: Ward, Thielen, Ching, Pine, Rivere
Construction Industry Group says Hawaii’s rural roads, bridges need work
Pepeekeo Biomass Plant Granted Air Pollution Permit
KITV: Slideshow: 66th Anniversary End Of WWII On Mighty Mo
Governor Linda Lingle on Reforming Education in Hawaii
Former governor Linda Lingle will be appearing on local television this month to address reforms needed in Hawaii's public education system. Here are the dates, times, and stations:
- 9/10/11 Sat 8:00 pm VIEW 54
- 9/14/11 Wed 9:00 am FOCUS 49
- 9/16/11 Fri 2:00 pm FOCUS 49
- 9/21/11 Wed 8:00 am VIEW 54
read … Lingle
Boylan: There is No Canoe
Poor Neil. It’s gotta be getting awfully lonely in that canoe of his.
In his recent “A New Day Status Report to the People of Hawaii,” Gov. Abercrombie found “only the far-sighted ... members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association” picking up oars and “agreeing to pay and benefit adjustments” in order to balance the state budget and prevent a huli of the canoe.
No mention of Hawaii State Teachers’ Association its leaders are looking to lawyers to keep them from drowning. And the college professors? They’re apparently content with piling the back-end pay raises of their current contract on their students through higher tuition and fees. And one of the HGEA’s units, the nurses’, has abandoned the little ship. When the governor suggested taxing retirement income during the legislative session, leaders of the local AARP chapter invoked the frailty of the aged to walk down to the water’s edge. Get in and paddle? Ha!
The sad fact is that there is no canoe, not for Abercrombie or for any of the other 49 men and women who govern states in the so-called American union. We (Democrats) are not a community anymore, simply a conglomeration of the self-interested.
SA: Add-ons aimed at reaching deal with HSTA, state says
read … No Canoe
Republican Missing from CD2 race as Hawaii undergoes Tectonic Shift
Hawaii’s political glass ceiling is set so low it shatters at the slightest vibration.
The thing is, hardly anything ever vibrates.
So when U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka announced he would not run for another term, the rare opening shook the entire political landscape.
Both of Hawaii’s congressional races changed because of it and the entire field has moved….
Missing from the CD2 race is a Republican candidate.
Jonah Kaauwai, Hawaii GOP chairman, says so far no one has publicly announced. Without some major candidate, it is likely that CD-2 will wrap up in the primary.
read … Hawaii’s political landscape undergoing tectonic shift
Star-Advertiser Publishes Serious Misstatement in Pro-Rail Article, Critics Say
Barbata said: "Traffic congestion is obviously the core justification for rail, and the authors cited the 2010 INRIX Travel Time Tax study, saying it: ‘...ranks Honolulu as the second-most congested city in the US’, with only LA being worse. That didn't to me, so I Googled INRIX. Anyone interested should go to http://scorecard.inrix.com. What you will find is that Honolulu is way down on their ‘Most Congested’ list."
"According to INRIX, we are 37th, and have been pretty consistently there for 5 years. But instead, the authors of Sunday's article (obviously the City) chose to cite INRIX's "Travel Time Tax Rank", a complex formula of peak travel time versus delays, apparently because it sounded dramatically more supportive. They also conveniently neglected glaring other contrary data in the study, showing that Honolulu's "Travel Time Tax" (the same reference they chose as supportive) actually decreased by 16% between 2006 and 2010. In other words, according to INRIX, Honolulu congestion is not a crisis and seems to be getting slightly better, not worse," he added.
read … Star-Advertiser
Rail Foes Decry 'Hatchet Job' CB Fact Checks
Civil Beat should get out of the fact check business. Wrong too often to be credible.
read … another lousy CB ‘fact’ check
PIG picks Bunda for HART, will not reveal identities of Unborn Piglets
The Permitted Interaction Group is recommending that former Hawaii Senator Bobby Bunda become the ninth voting member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Board of Directors.
Ivan Lui-Kwan announced the PIG's unanimous recommendation, which was reached after a handful of private meetings. The PIG will not release the names of other applicants, including three other finalists who were interviewed on Monday.
CB: Honolulu Rail Authority Follows Abercrombie Secrecy Doctrine
ILind: Gov. Abecrombie is wrong about the “philosophical difference” over public disclosure of judicial nominees
read … PIG HART
SA: OHA may descend into Hee-esque Chaos Again
Clyde Namuo, the longtime administrator and chief executive officer of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, has announced plans to step down. Setting aside for now the as-yet undisclosed reason for the departure, a change in leadership is in the offing for an agency that stands at an important crossroads.
Such transitions can happen well, drawing in participation by community beneficiaries of the trust fund OHA oversees, or they can deteriorate into spasms of bickering and power struggles.
OHA frankly has a much longer record of the latter experience. Among the highlights: the 1999 arrest of a beneficiary after community testimony led to a dispute during a board meeting.
Namuo himself came into office in the wake of a contentious overhaul of the elected governing body, the board of trustees, which in 2001 had just emerged from a leadership between Haunani Apoliona and Clayton Hee, now a state senator. Some drama has persisted throughout the establishment of priorities and the bureaucratic functioning of OHA departments over time, but recent years have proven far more peaceful than the first two decades of the agency’s history, since the first elected board met in 1980.
read … Ghost of Clayton Hee
Another Honolulu school may close
Talk of school consolidation or closure isn't new to Likelike Elementary school, just off the highway near Vineyard and Palama. It's been at the center of a consolidation study since last year.
"We are strategically located among four schools, and our kids could be probably the most easily dispersed to those other schools," says Kelly Bart, Likelike Elementary school principal.
Those closest include Lanakila mauka about 2 minutes, Kaiulani a couple minutes makai, Kaahumanu just townbound.
SA: School board considers Likelike Elementary School closure
What they’re NOT cutting: Hawaii DoE: Cost of waste, fraud, and corruption between $191M and $431M per year
read … Save Money, Cut Education
Carlisle Wants $1B Rainy Day Fund as Legacy
$5.5B rail, $2B Sand Island, $1B Legacy…priceless.
read … Legacy
Sept 9 Lahainaluna HS Rally for America
RALLY FOR AMERICA: This September 11 marks the 10th anniversary of the “attack on America”. Since then Lahainaluna Student Council has coordinated a “Rally For America” to commemorate that tragic day. Join us for this historical time next week Friday, September 9th....2:30-4:30pm for patriotic sign waving in front of the Lahaina Cannery Mall.
read … Lahainaluna
Price: Statehood Something To Celebrate
Aug. 21, 1959, was a great day in Hawaii. It was on that day President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Admission Act into law, making Hawaii the 50th state in the union….
So there is reason to be a proud citizen of the 50th State. But there was no celebration on Statehood Day this year. With the exception of a couple of Honolulu Star-Advertiser articles and one or two stories on the evening news, there was no jubilation.
Yes, the state and county offices were closed, along with the satellite city halls and public schools. TheBus ran on a holiday schedule, on-street parking was free, except for municipal lots and metered stalls along Kalakaua Avenue fronting Kapiolani Park. Mail was delivered and the trash was collected as if it was a regular day. But there was no pride on display….
In a state where the politicians are willing to close down Kalakaua Avenue for a parade honoring just about any cause from anywhere in the world, maybe we should do a better job of remembering some of the many people, benefits and entitlements that go along with being part of the United States of America.
read … Celebrate Statehood
Hawaii's genetically modified papayas to be exported to Japan after 10-year approval process
Japanese consumers will likely be seeing genetically modified papayas on their grocery shelves beginning in December.
The Japanese government's Consumer Affairs Agency on Thursday approved rainbow papayas for sale in that country.
The papayas had previously been approved by Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Health, Labour and Welfare ministries. The strain was approved for sale in the U.S. in 1998 and in Canada in 2003.
The Japanese labeling approval was the last step to get the papayas introduced into Japan -- there will be a three-month waiting period before the papayas are available.
"The approval by the Japanese government has been slow but thorough," Delan Perry, the vice president of the Hawaii Papaya Industry, said. "They asked a lot of questions."
It's a process that's taken 10 years.
SA: Japan to accept shipments of genetically altered papaya
read … Luddites, Protectionists defeated
PBN: UH must get better at technology transfer
As we reported last week, the university’s tech-transfer office, which is responsible for commercialization efforts, has been approving an average of only 12 licensing deals a year, and as a result receives only $500,000 annually in royalties. The office does get another $2 million to $3 million a year from companies that use UH professors, materials or facilities to do their own research, but the potential is so much greater.
Nationwide, total university licensing income increased 3 percent last year to $2.4 billion. On top of that, universities also were responsible for starting 651 businesses last year based on technologies they created, an increase of 10 percent from the prior year. UH has spun off a couple of companies, but again those efforts are not adequately represented.
By most measures, and Greenwood’s own expectations, the University of Hawaii should be doing more in this critical area.
(Key to success. Keep this tech away from the Act 221 scammers.)
read … Tech Transfer
Second Shack Defendant Denied Bail
Winward was arrested by federal agents Monday along with co-defendants Curtis Swanson, 44, and Jesse Yoshino, 30.
In a hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang denied Winward any opportunity to post bail, ruling that the defendant is a danger to the community.
Winward was represented by well-known private defense attorney Michael Green.
Based on a personal financial affidavit which Winward filed following his arrest, he was ruled eligible for a court-appointed defense lawyer.
But Green appeared for him at the detention hearing and Winward’s original attorney, federal Deputy Public Defender Donna Gray, withdrew from the case.
read … From the Shack to the Big House
Nearly Half Of Big Island Babies Subject To Intoxicating Substances In Womb
Of nearly 2,300 pregnant women surveyed islandwide by the Children's Research Triangle over the past three years, 1,158 admitted to drinking alcohol or other substance abuse while pregnant, said Sharon Bechler, registered nurse and Children's Research Triangle Hawaii director.
While 100 percent preventable, alcohol-exposed pregnancy is the leading cause of miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects and other disorders, said Naomi Imai, Child and Youth Program specialist for the state Family Health Services Division.
Findings from "The First 1,000 Women; Perinatal Substance Use on the Hawaii Island" indicated that of the 2,200 babies delivered on the island annually, almost 1,100 are born exposed and 600 are likely affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, or FASD, a specific group of birth defects, including physical abnormalities, distinct facial features, stunted growth, memory problems, learning disabilities and even mental retardation in severe cases, Bechler said.
read … Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Jury finds marijuana grower guilty of murdering Jamil Khan
Prosecutors say Tai and Sheila Khan's son, Jamil, 24, was killed in a dispute over a marijuana operation.
Jurors were told that Williams and his partner beat Khan with a hammer, sliced his throat, dismembered his body, and disposed of it in a city and county trash bin. Williams then drove the victim's car to Waipahu and set it on fire.
Defense lawyers argued that Williams acted in self defense after Khan brandished an AK-47 assault rifle. They claimed that Khan had become radicalized following the September 11th terrorist attacks.
"This is a serious matter when we have home-grown terrorists," Myles Breiner, defense attorney, said. "It's unfortunate. No one wanted Jamil Khan to die. But the fact of the matter is that if you live by the gun, you die by the gun."
read … typical dopers
Counterfeit Female pleads not Guilty to Counterfeit Check Charges
A man accused of signing fake checks to several businesses, including our Lokahi Project, pled not guilty to forgery and theft charges.
Police say Godwyn Foster, who also goes by Denise, tried to buy a Waikiki business with several fake checks.
They also believe he signed a $20,000 fake check to our Lokahi Project, money Lokahi had planned for people in need.
read … tranny
Prayer Meeting: NOAA asks for input for monk seal recovery
The first meeting is today at Hanalei Elementary School, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The second will be Saturday at Hanapepe Public Library, from 3 to 5:30 p.m., and then continuing from 6 to 9 p.m.
NOAA has stated that those meetings are informational purposes only, and no oral public comments for the record will be taken. But on Sept. 17 there will be a formal hearing for public comments —written or verbal — at Wilcox Elementary School in Lihu‘e, from 9 a.m. to noon, and then again from 4 to 7 p.m.
The Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement — recently approved by NOAA National Marine Fisheries Services — is available for download online, and paper copies of the document are available for review at Lihu‘e and Princeville public libraries.
Written requests for paper copies of the Draft PEIS or a USB drive containing the document can be mailed to any of these libraries.
Written comments are being accepted on the Draft Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Actions PEIS until Oct. 17 and can be submitted tomonkseal@noaa.gov or to NMFS PIRO, Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Actions PEIS at 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814.
read … Monks of the Eco-Religion
Forest Stewardship Panel Meeting Violates Sunshine Law
The Department of Land and Natural Resources seems to have a hard time complying with the state's Sunshine Law. This time, it's the DLNR's Forest Stewardship Advisory Committee that has scheduled a meeting for September 2 without giving public notice. (Last time, it was the Public Land Development Corporation, which had to reschedule its inaugural meeting from August 22 to August 29 as a result of not complying with public notice requirements.) The FSAC has been meeting for years without public notice. In 2007, Environment Hawai`i lodged a complaint with the Office of Information Practices, which finally in July of this year opined that the committee was subject to Chapter 92, HRS. Tomorrow's meeting is the first scheduled since that OIP memo, but no public notice was sent to Environment Hawai`i. Sheri Mann, the DLNR staffer in charge of the Forest Stewardship program, said that notice was given in adequate time to the Lieutenant Governor's office, but she did not apparently know that members of the public requesting notice needed also to be advised of upcoming meetings.
Click here to read the OIP memo: OIP Memo.
read … Sunshine on the Forest
Senate approves Nakasone appointment to Circuit Court
The state Senate approved the nomination of Karen Nakasone as a circuit court judge on Oahu for a 10-year term.
The vote was 22-0.
Nakasone, 41, a deputy public defender since 1996, is the third judicial appointment for Gov. Neil Abercrombie
read … 22-0
Laupahoehoe faces effort to roll back Charter Approval
The Hawaii State Board of Education may have granted Laupahoehoe School approval to convert to a public charter school, but a large number of teachers, students and residents are now opposing the plan.
There was a large turnout in the Laupahoehoe school band room on Thursday night for a community meeting organized by Noralyn Pajimola, which was billed as the first for the organized opposition to the charter school plan.
In 2009 supporters of the charter school movement rejoiced when the community voted to go ahead with the charter school conversion.
read … Laupahoehoe
Ethics Brushes Back Waialua Girls Softball Fundraising
As president of the Waialua Little League, Rep. Gil Riviere received a plea last month from a junior girls' softball team. They had won the state title and were headed to nationals in Arizona. But a week before the trip, they were just short of their $26,000 goal.
"Our team was 3,000 bucks short and I was trying as a last ditch effort to get them on a plane," said Riviere, who represents the North Shore.
So he crafted an impassioned plea asking his fellow lawmakers in the House and Senate for donations. Riviere's legislative office manager sent the letter via email on behalf of Riviere to every lawmakers' government email address.
"The funds must be raised this week," the email stated.
That same afternoon, Riviere's phone rang. State Ethics Commission Executive Director Les Kondo was on the line.
read … Ethics Takes on Big Time Case
Maui Wind Farm to Kill Five Nene
The draft aims to mitigate "takes" of four identified endangered species. Those are the nene, the hoary bat, Blackburn's sphinx moth and the petrel, Hufana said….
The conservation plan sets guidelines for "takes" for everything but the small moth. Only five total nene could be taken over 75 years. (Clue: The windfarm will be dead in 10 years) A "take" refers to the injury, killing or harassment of the endangered species, which could be threatened by the wind turbine blades, land clearing and construction off the deserted area off Piilani Highway near Kaupo.
Related: Hawaii Windfarms killing endangered Birds: After five years Mitigation Lags
read … Wind farm
Gay & Robinson plans larger Hydro Project, wants to Sell Energy to KIUC
President and CEO Charlie Okamoto told PBN that although KIUC has preliminary federal approval to proceed with the 6.6-megawatt Makaweli River Hydro project, it “can’t do anything on our land unless we are a willing participant, and we aren’t.”….
Gay & Robinson engineers are still sizing up the project, but its Makaweli River Hydro project would be bigger than the one proposed by the KIUC, Okamoto said.
read … Sell Energy
UH Manoa to Burn $35M on Solar Panels
The 31.5-kilowatt photovoltaic system dedicated today will produce enough energy to power about 135 homes a year over the lifetime of the project, according to university officials.
The $271,000 photovoltaic project is an “important early step” in the University’s long-term goal to deploy renewable energy at the flagship campus, according to a UH news release. UH Manoa’s is planning to spend $35 million to install about 5 megawatts of solar generating capacity that would provide an estimated 7 percent to 10 percent of the campus’ energy needs.
Meanwhile: New Day: UH Regents Propose Tuition Hikes
read … Money for Solar
Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning months away from breaking ground
His company is moving forward on a project to pump cool ocean water 4-miles off shore through pipes into a central station along Ala Moana boulevard, that will then chill freshwater to service downtown buildings. Heated sea water goes back into the ocean.
"This system saves over 75% of electricity that on-site conventional AC equipment uses," says Higa.
Higa says it will also eliminate the need for 178,000 barrels of oil per year. Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning has already gotten several state permits to move forward, and is awaiting federal approval.
Panos: Ten Reasons Why Nuclear Energy Is Necessary For Another 50 Years
read … Pipe Dreams
Activist concerned about possible radioactive contamination at Kaneohe Sandbar
Cox says he was informed a week-and-a-half ago by military sources that the CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter contained a device known as an In-flight Blade Inspection System, or IBIS. Within the device are six half inch pellets that contain the radioactive isotope strontium-90, a known carcinogen with a half life of 29 years that’s easily absorbed by human bones.
“I'm told by sources that some did contaminate, that meant that these capsules were breeched,” Cox said in an interview with Khon2. “I would like to see is an independent entity sample that area.”
HNN: State to test for radiation at Kaneohe Sandbar
SA: Radiation released by copter crash
read … Strontium 90
Feds Propose New Dog Import Regs for Hawaii
Dogs intended for research would be excepted if the study for which they are imported requires imported dogs with certain health issues, or without certain vaccinations.
Dogs younger than 6 months old may be imported to Hawaii from certain countries, because of the state's strict quarantine laws. However, the dogs may not be transported to other states until they are 6 months old.
Dogs seized for non-compliance would be adopted at the importer's expense.
Click the document icon for this regulation and others. 
read … Dog Rules