No Gag Order in Hawaii Blind-Deaf School Homosexual Rape Gang Case
Neil Abercrombie is the Least Popular Governor in USA
Poll: Obama's numbers down even in Hawaii
HPD Releases APEC Road Closure Schedule
HOPE Probation Expands to Four New Communities
Enviros decide Hawaii Reefs worth $33B of your money, Design Survey to arrive at Conclusion
National Pro-Abortion Money Pours into Hirono’s Campaign
Civil Beat: Many of Hirono's donations came from people who gave to her campaign via a donation to EMILY's list, the Democratic reproductive rights group.
Some of the heftiest political action committee donations that went to Hirono came from PACs established by Democratic U.S. Senators. For example, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's PAC shelled out $10,000 for Hirono and California Sen. Barbara Boxer's PAC gave $5,000. Hirono also got $2,500 from Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's PAC, and $1,000 from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's campaign committee.
While individual donors may give up to $5,000 to a national candidate like Hirono — that means $2,500 for the primary election and $2,500 for the general election — multicandidate PACs like Schumer's can give up to $10,000.
Hirono spent $125,587 last quarter, bringing total spending since her campaign began to $231,933. She has $722,489 on hand, and owes $196,778. More than one-third of her donations — $90,997 — came from special-interest groups, and Hirono received $211,447 from individual donors.
Hirono proved popular among attorneys and other business leaders. Several teachers and professors donated to her campaign. Out-of-town donations came mostly from Washington and San Francisco, though many of Hirono's out-of-state donations came from elsewhere in California, too.
An examination of donations from outside Hawaii shows that Hirono has been well served by an early-campaign endorsement by EMILY's List. Many of Hirono's donors — from states like Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina — came via contributions to the Democratic abortion-rights organization that donors requested go toward Hirono's campaign.
read … Dead babies
Abercrombie is Lingle’s Ace in the Hole
Borreca: Lingle in this poll scores 46 percent favorable and 43 percent unfavorable, a higher unfavorable rating than either Case or Hirono.
“Lingle was definitely a lot less popular when she left office than she has ever been. She is in much better shape than she was a year ago,” Jensen says.
He speculates that perhaps after being out of office for a year, folks are saying “well maybe we weren’t happy with Linda Lingle but when you look at her eight years we pretty much liked her.”
The big change is that Lingle can now be compared to current Gov. Neil Abercrombie. It is expected even as a Republican in a Democratic state, Lingle will look pretty good next to Abercrombie.
Jensen says his survey checked in on the favorable rating of Abercrombie.
He says PPP was expecting to release a poll Friday showing that “Gov. Abercrombie is one of the least popular governors in the country.”
Could that be a factor in next year’s race?
With the caveats that Hawaii is still a year away from deciding its new U.S. senator and the reasons for why people vote are all speculation — yes.
“If you are mad at your Democratic governor it could have voters wondering whether voting for more Democrats is the way to go,” says Jensen.
Republicans say it could be the tipping point if voters acknowledge that they think Lingle was on the right track.
read … Lingle must be liking new poll
Gary Hooser May be Violating Federal Election Law in run for Congress
CB: Potential 2nd Congressional District candidate Gary Hooser is walking a fine line when it comes to federal election law.
People considering a run for national office are permitted to "test the waters" by raising money to use on expenses like polls, travel and telephone calls to determine whether their candidacy is feasible. But there is a point at which a maybe-candidate must officially register by filing paperwork with the FEC.
While the 57-year-old former state senator said he's still exploring the possibility of running for Congress, he could meet the Federal Election Commission's standard for when somebody who's "testing the waters" crosses the line into candidacy.
A spokeswoman for the FEC told Civil Beat that she could not determine whether or not Hooser had violated federal regulations, but pointed out the relevant regulations.
The FEC stipulates that certain activities "indicate that the individual has decided to become a candidate and is no longer testing the waters." Once that happens, "he or she must register as a candidate."
Reality: Sen. Gary Hooser campaign website linked to Holocaust deniers
read … Tax Cheat Hooser breaks Election Laws?
Perfect Symbolism of Entire System: Illegal Fundraising by Legislators was to Buy Surfboard for Obama
CB: Brickwood “Buzzy G” Galuteria and Larry Mehau associate Cindy Evans sent a letter via email Wednesday asking their colleagues and staff in the state House and Senate for a $10 donation to buy Barack Obama a surfboard.
The $750 surfboard — which would feature the state seal — would be presented to the president during his APEC visit.
"If you are not aware, the Hawaii Convention Center often presents this type of gift to those who bring a convention," the letter explained.
The letter noted that Calvin Say and Shan Tsutsui advised that the 10 bucks had to come from legislator's personal funds or legislative allowance.
The request for donations, however, was quickly withdrawn when it was learned that legislative allowances can not be used for such purposes.
read … With the State Seal
CB: HLRB Hearings Show the System is a Joke
CB: What message is the board giving by the way it's allowing these hearings to proceed and one lawyer in particular, Herb Takahashi representing the teachers union, to act?
A bad one. In the Simpson case, it was the judicial system that didn't seem to work. In the Hawaii case, it appears that we don't have a way of working out labor disputes.
The board doesn't appear serious. Its schedule displays no urgency to reach a resolution. The crazy way the hearings are proceeding, with a lawyer answering his own questions, makes it seem the people charged with getting to the bottom of this serious public issue are anything but serious about creating an environment where matters of great public interest can be worked out.
On Thursday one union attorney remarked out loud that she woke up this morning thinking it was a bad dream because she had to come to the hearing.
The hearing should build understanding. It should build confidence that we have a system that can be trusted.
Instead, the board is sending a message that the system is a joke and that it's not serious about its work.
(They’re just being honest, for once.)
read … It’s a Joke
Lokelani Lindsey’s Lawyer now heads State Housing Development Corp
SA: Practically the first place David Gierlach headed after stepping off the plane here 30 years ago was Hale Mohalu, the Pearl City residence for Hansen's disease patients targeted for demolition. Not long after that, he was in Chinatown joining in with the protest against evictions there. (Typical professional protester.)
It was clear that Gierlach, 54, has a heart for social issues. Some he pursued while he was an attorney, litigating cases against police corruption in Hawaii County, and against priests accused of child molestation.
Now he's back near Chinatown, with a new vocation, as parish priest at St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church. The law practice is being closed so he can focus entirely on that, and on his newest volunteer position: chairman of the state's Hawaii Public Housing Authority….
It wasn't the Mayor Wright residents who were outraged. They're beaten down too much. It was our old-time (Progressives) members who couldn't believe it (the opportunity). So we did a couple of petition drives, and a letter-writing campaign to Gov. (Linda) Lingle that went unanswered. So then we went and picketed in front of Washington Place. (Same strategy Abercrombie supporters used re: Furlough Fridays) And then we rounded up a bunch of folks and went to the Legislature and handed out bumper stickers to every legislator that said, "Hot water for our babies, please." And then the governor (Neil Abercrombie) got involved….
Q: Wasn't the Kamehameha Schools lawsuit over reorganizing the trust a big case for you?
A: Yeah, we represented Lokelani Lindsey (who was ultimately removed as a trustee).
Q: What do you have to say about that case?
A: I really liked Loke, as a person. I found her to, despite the whole world crashing in on her, to be of good humor….
read … Gierlach
Nobody has Gumption to Get Killer off Shoreline Squat
A federal judge could decide as early as Tuesday whether a family claiming Native Hawaiian rights can block the sale of Kawa Bay property to Hawaii County.
The hearing before Judge Alan C. Kay in U.S. District Court in Honolulu follows a petition from the landowner, the Edmund C. Olson Trust, to expunge several deeds and a genealogy affidavit filed by (ex-con) Abel Simeona Lui (convicted of 1976 manslaughter) and family members that clouded title to the land Olson is selling to the county. Lui, in turn, has filed a motion for an injunction to stop the sale….
"This is just nobody having the gumption to get Abel off the property," Alston said. (So true.)
read … Killer Squatter
Gay Mental Illness to Be Focus State of Hawaii Conference aimed at Your Children
It will provide people working in social service, health, education and juvenile justice with information about providing services to LGBT clients, many of whom are at risk for drug and alcohol abuse or becoming suicidal, the state said in a news release.
(Of course these mental illnesses are caused by bullying homophobes, not by older homosexuals abusing the young. If you think otherwise, you are required to report for reeducation at UH Manoa. The purpose is to bend the Hawaii DoE anti-bullying program.)
For information, go to www.equalityhawaii.org/conference3 (Take a good look, everything about this is aimed at your K-12 child.)
Just ignore this story: Hawaii Blind-Deaf School Homosexual Rape Gang Case
And pretend this is not coming: The transsexual agenda for Hawaii schools
read … No mental illness here, eh?
Boon to Tourism: Dollar slumps to record low versus yen
Reuters: The dollar fell as low as 75.78 yen on trading platform EBS , surpassing its previous record low of 75.941 set in August.
It last traded down 0.9 percent at 76.18 yen, coming off lows on reported buying from Japanese banks at the 76.00 level. At current levels, it was on pace for its biggest daily fall since Aug. 26.
If the yen does hold, it could hit 75.50 per dollar, followed by the 75.00 mark, Molloy said.
read … 76 Yen
Jobless rate up a third straight month to 6.4%
The jump in the unemployment rate to 6.4 percent in September from 6.2 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis marked the third consecutive monthly increase and pushed the jobless rate to its highest level since November, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported.
The increase in the jobless rate occurred despite the economy adding a net 6,300 payroll jobs, including an estimated 800 new positions at Disney's Aulani Resort at Ko Olina.
Officials at the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said the "divergence" between the direction in unemployment rate and the payroll job count was probably due in part to an increase in the number of people working more than one job. If a newly created job is filled by someone who already has a job and wants it as a second job, there is no reduction in the number of unemployed.
read … Abernomics
No Overtime in Top Three: ERS To Push for Pension Reform Again
CB: The Hawaii Employees' Retirement System is looking at drafting legislation to deter the scam known as pension spiking.
"This would target anyone who might be trying to game the system or trying to boost their pension in their final years of service," ERS Administrator Wes Machida told Civil Beat Thursday. "We're looking into what can be used to prevent that from happening, and so that these types of situations don't continue. It's something the board is concerned about."
Pension benefits are calculated by averaging an employee's highest three or five years of compensation, depending on their hire date. Compensation, as currently defined by statute, includes base pay, overtime, differentials and supplementary payments, bonuses and lump sum salary supplements.
During the 2011 legislative session, a bill that aimed to redefine compensation for future public employees to include only base pay ultimately stalled. It could be revived next year.
read … The unions killed this last year
SA: Education trumps housing on DOE land
SA: Hawaii residents already have enough reasons to be tracking, carefully, the progress of the state’s newest agency, the Public Land Development Corp.
A recent report by Star-Advertiser reporter Andrew Gomes should give them another. The Abercrombie administration has signaled that the corporation, which is still at the beginning of its organizational process, could ultimately expedite the use of school land for affordable housing. That’s because the law creating the corporation exempts it “from all statutes, ordinances, charter provisions and rules of any government agency.”….
But it’s far too early in the process to sit back, confident that this will all work out. The corporation board, which met last week, is defining the criteria for hiring its executive director. Then its first major job is the preparation of a “public land optimization plan,” beginning with creating an inventory of public lands suitable for development.
Before school properties can go on the list, there are many complications — including ownership, said Randy Moore, assistant superintendent, Department of Education Office of School Facilities and Support Services. Among the arrangements: Campuses can be owned by the state or county, or occupy a mix of government parcels; schools on military bases can be federally owned.
Additionally, Moore said, some parcels may have provisions that if the land isn’t used for a school, ownership may revert to another party. At some point all these issues would have to be resolved.
read … Profiteering by Abercrombie’s DoE
Bhago Trying to Rescue State IT Dying on Side of Road
GCN: The first phase of Hawaii’s IT transformation initiative was completed at the end of September with the release of findings from a baseline assessment conducted by Science Applications International Corp. The state also released a companion Benchmarking Report and Administrative Directive, which gives Bhagowalia authority to deal with the myriad challenges the state faces.
Using the findings and recommendations contained in the report, Bhagowalia, who began as CIO in July 2011, and the Office of Information Management and Technology will now develop a comprehensive, statewide information management and technology strategic plan, which is anticipated to be delivered in July 2012….
During the next phase of the IT initiative, Bhagowalia’s team will identify the first 20 percent of work that the state should tackle during the transformation and determine how much funding will be needed to complete those tasks, Bhagowalia said earlier this month during an interview with GCN at the National Association of State Chief Information Officer’s conference in Denver. The challenge is to efficiently provide 200 services throughout the state across 18 agencies, he added.
The master plan is one project. Another area is “triage projects,” those “that are dying on the side of the road that have to be taken care of,” Bhagowalia said. For instance, the state’s Microsoft Active Directory and domain name directory need improvements so state employees can be more easily found within the system. Many departments have their own e-mail systems, “so how do you find each other?” he asked. “It’s a basic thing: If you don’t have that, you can’t provide some of the new services.”…
Bhagowalia said he expects to deal with issues such as cloud computing and data center consolidation. Hawaii does have some redundant data centers that should be consolidated, he added.
read … Triage
Sop to Solar Industry? FERC Dismisses Kauai Hydro Applications
PNN: The order also casts doubt as to whether the rest of KIUC's preliminary permits will be allowed stand if the "potential for a preliminary permit issued by the Commission to interfere with existing development activities at the state level is significant."
"While we cannot let a state process interfere with our exclusive mandatory jurisdiction" the order states, "we do not want our preliminary permit program with respect to projects subject to permissive licensing to chill the development efforts of entities pursuing a legitimate state authorization process."
It is unclear what specific state process FERC is referring to. Previous reports and statements from KIUC, opponents of the FERC process and, in fact, state officials themselves have indicated there is no official written state process for developing and approving hydroelectric projects.
In an email today Adam Asquith who has led the opposition to using the FERC process for hydroelectric development on Kaua`i said:
This ruling by FERC is significant and fully supports the arguments of the petitioners against the KIUC Board decision to use the FERC process on Kauai...KIUC should voluntarily withdraw all its preliminary permit applications and give up the ones that have been granted. This action would be consistent with the FERC ruling and KIUC's acknowledgment of its wrongful use of the FERC process.
The order indicated that all other FERC permits in Hawai`i- such as the one that, according to FFP's application, would dam the Wailua River- are in trouble too.
KGI: FERC nixes hydropower ‘claim-jumping’ in Hawai‘i
Full Text: FERC ORDER
read … Hydro Setback on Kauai
New Hearing for Hoopili Grows Heated
CB: “Right now over 2,000 carpenters are on the bench that didn’t work for two to three years,” said Sam Kalilikane, a member of the Hawaii Carpenters Union. “We really need this project. We really need jobs.”
But opponents argue that the development will take away prime farmland needed to advance Hawaii’s food security, and that the arguments for development are short-sighted. Aloun Farms, a major produce grower in the islands, will have to vacate the 3,000 acres it farms.
Kioni Dudley, president of Friends of Makakilo, who played a major role in proceedings that derailed the development two years ago, asked Kalilikane whether he would support a proposal to build homes in Kapiolani Park because it would create employment, raising the question of whether the state should be creating jobs at any cost.
Kalilikane responded that if it created union jobs he would support it.
TOTALLY RELATED: Human Trafficking: Did the US DoJ Purposefully lose the Aloun Farms Case?
read … Predictable
The Shack: Accused Waikiki Extortionist May Get Bail
Alleged Waikiki extortionist Tory Winward is “a good guy” who has been falsely accused by business partners “who have been robbing him blind,” his lawyer said in court today.
Winward, 44, was arrested by FBI agents in late August on charges that he and two others used violence in a conspiracy to extort money from owners of The Shack Waikiki, a popular Kuhio Avenue bar/restaurant.
He has been held without bail since his arrest but Winward’s lawyer, Michael Green, said his client deserves a chance to post bond and return to his family and friends while awaiting trial.
read … The Shack
Army plans ambitious Pohakuloa upgrade
SA: As the nation's wars wind down in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military in Hawaii will need to train more at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island, not less, the Army says in a new environmental report.
A series of ambitious projects to modernize aging training ranges and facilities at the 133,000-acre range is detailed in a draft programmatic environmental impact statement released this month by the Army.
(Will YOU testify in support at the hearings?)
read … Pohakuloa
Dopey Hawaii County Council to be Tested for Drugs?
HTH: Hawaii County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong is proposing a Charter amendment requiring that council members, the mayor and the prosecuting attorney pass annual drug tests or face removal from office.
The amendment must be approved by at least six County Council members at three separate votes before it goes on the 2012 ballot. If passed by voters, it would go into effect immediately for officials elected that year.
Yagong said he's not aware of drug use by the current County Council, mayor or prosecuting attorney. But he said it's only fair elected officials be subject to drug testing because the county has a drug-free policy and many employees in the county and in the private sector are subject to testing.
Totally Related: Feds: Medical Marijuana Laws and Hawaii County Council Drive Growth in Drug Trade
read … Dopiness at the Top
Did Animal Liberation Whackos Get a U.S. Marine Colonel Fired?
HR: U.S. Marine Corps Installations Pacific Commander Maj. Gen. Peter Talleri replaced Col. Jeffrey R. Woods this week "due a lack of confidence" in Woods' leadership. No other information was released about the change other than it is a "private matter."
This announcement came on the heels of a national social media campaign launched October 3 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and October 5 by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to get the military to stop using live pigs in their military training in Hawaii ….
Protest this, hypocrites: PETA Kills Animals
read … Pure Speculation
Stealing Electricity? Saipan Attorney General, Auditor Trade Criminal Charges
ST: The Office of the Attorney General filed Wednesday a criminal case against the wife of Public Auditor Michael Pai for allegedly stealing utility services amounting to over $51,000.
The OAG charged Joanna C. Pai with one count of theft of utility services.
Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from Pai yesterday, but she is reportedly currently in Hawaii with her husband.
The charging information states that the alleged theft of utility services occurred on Aug. 30, 2011 on Saipan.
The information showed Chief Prosecutor Michael L. Ernest's name as the one who filed the one-page document but the signature on top of Ernest's name was that of assistant attorney general Shelli Neal….
The filing of the case comes on the heels of the unauthorized release of a December 2010 Office of the Public Auditor investigation report, which states that Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham “violated criminal prohibitions” of both the Commonwealth Ethics Code Act and the Commonwealth Election Act when he hosted a campaign party for then delegate candidate Joseph N. Camacho at Gov. Benigno R. Fitial's house in Gualo Rai on Aug. 28, 2010.
read … power for personal use
Karma: Latest Electric Car gets 19 MPG
FORBES: …it’s a sham. This figure is calculated using the grossly flawed EPA process that substantially underestimates the amount of fossil fuels required to power the electric car, as I showed in great depth in an earlier Forbes.com article. In short, the EPA methodology leaves out, among other things, the conversion efficiency in generating the electricity from fossil fuels in the first place….
As I calculated in my earlier Forbes article, one needs to multiply the EPA MPGe by .365 to get a number that truly compares fossil fuel use of an electric car with a traditional gasoline engine car on an apples to apples basis. In the case of the Fisker Karma, we get a true MPGe of 19. This makes it worse than even the city rating of a Ford Explorer SUV.
Congrats to the Fisker Karma, which now joins corn ethanol in the ranks of heavily subsidized supposedly green technologies that are actually worse for the environment than current solutions.
Postscript: I will say, though, that the Fisker Karma does serve a social purpose — Hollywood celebrities and the ultra rich, who want to display their green credentials, no longer have to be stuck with a little econobox. They can now enjoy a little leg room and luxury.
read … A touch of reality