April 11, 2009 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Saturday, April 11, 2009

April 11, 2009 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:27 AM :: 7770 Views

Mauna Kea plan is approved (years to go until activists can be bought off)

"We can start implementing the CMP," said UH-Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng after the board's vote.

Not so fast, said Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, one of several groups that requested a contested case hearing. "They can't implement anything if we go forward with it," Pisciotta said. The state attorney general's office would have to decide whether the groups that have requested a contested case hearing have standing. "The reason why we had to ask for one (a hearing) is if we didn't, we have no ability to bring it to court," Pisciotta said.

Thielen may also have to await legal advice on whether to grant a contested case hearing, which would reconsider the board's decision. The Department of Land and Natural Resources must wait 10 days to receive written requests for such a hearing. Such a hearing, if granted, ~~might~~ (will) delay the implementation of the CMP for ~~months or~~ years, (unless arrangement$ can be made) and Pisciotta and others say they are prepared to take it to court if necessary. Others who have requested a contested case hearing include Clarence Ku Ching, KAHEA, the Sierra Club and the Royal Order of Kamehameha I.

(This article fails to list the felony records of several who testified in oppo$ition to the telescope....These guys want $50M a year in "rent". That's the going rate for 'sacredness'. With OHA in support of the CMP, this creates the exact same trustee/activist pincer movement which destroyed Molokai Ranch.)

GMO bill sidelined by Mike Gabbard (legislature chooses to allow Counties to attack the fastest growing sector of Hawaii Agriculture...for now)

A bill that would have barred the state and county from regulating genetic engineering has died in the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. House Bill 1226, introduced by House Speaker Calvin Say, D-East Oahu, had a deadline of Thursday to pass out of the committee.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Mike Gabbard, D-West Oahu, said the bill runs contrary to multiple pieces of legislation he's submitted to increase control over GMOs. "What I've been saying all along is that ~~people have a right to know~~ (tax dollars and labeling mandates must be used to spread my anti-GMO propaganda about) what they're eating and also what's happening on our lands," Gabbard said.

Gabbard floated several pieces of unsuccessful legislation calling for greater control of GMOs, including labels for modified whole foods and fish, plus a notification system so that farmers would know where field tests of GMO crops were being held. "I didn't hear HB 1226 because it flies in the face of those efforts, and would basically forbid the state and counties from being able to regulate genetic engineering in our state," Gabbard said.

READ MORE: The Future of Fraud

Lingle-Aiona Dividend: Child welfare system gains have cut foster-care numbers

Improvements to Hawaii's child welfare system since 2003 have reduced the number of Hawaii children in foster care to a 16-year low and drawn a federal commendation....

In preparations for a second federal Child and Family Services review in June, the DHS said it is focusing on:

» Giving parents resources to care properly for their children.

» Preserving cultural connections and family ties.

» Keeping siblings together in foster care.

» Improving stability of foster care placements.

» Continuing to carry out nationally recognized best practices.

Proposed budget includes funds for emergency center ($19.2M to backup computers???)

Existing emergency response facilities located in the Kalana O Maui building are inadequate, she said; and Tavares was particularly concerned that the county did not have a backup for its computer network. "If something were to happen to this building and it affected our computer system, we'd have no other way of keeping the county going," Tavares said. "That's pretty scary."

Tavares' budget request includes $850,000 in federal money, plus $290,000 in matching county funds. But even if the federal funding helps make it palatable in a tight budget year, green-lighting the project would mean committing Maui County taxpayers to significant future costs.

Tavares' budget projects borrowing an additional $2.2 million for design in 2011 and $15 million for construction in 2012, plus $1 million in federal funding for equipment in fiscal year 2013.

(Somebody needs to tell her about Carbonite....)

Price of Obama: Bishop Museum cutting hours, laying off and furloughing staff

"With recent cuts in state funding, loss of income from investments, and a continued decline in non-resident visitors, the Museum must adjust to reduce its operating expenses. (The price of Obama continues to be felt across the nation....)

Maui police officer describes beating outside his home

"I'm getting hit everywhere. There's shots coming from every angle. I was taking shots to my head," he testified yesterday afternoon. "I knew if I didn't get out of that planter, there was a chance I was going to die."

Still recovering from injuries including lacerations requiring stitches above his eye and on his forehead, Becraft described what he remembers of being assaulted — first by three teenagers and then their fathers — starting at 10:30 or 11 p.m. Saturday outside his residence near Waihee Park.

Soft on Crime: Makiki man is charged in second shooting

A 25-year-old Makiki man out on bail for allegedly firing a shotgun at another man in July was charged yesterday for allegedly shooting a man in the buttocks last month.

Reyes, a convicted felon, was charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangering and multiple firearm charges, including use of a firearm during commission of a separate felony and being a felon in possession of a firearm. (And luckily for him the Legislature is choke with criminal defense lawyers who are focused on protecting multiple offenders)

Honolulu takes steps to clean up Chinatown crime problem

Residents and businesses have been on edge about crime in Chinatown following the recent violent attacks, which happened just yards from each other.

In the first attack on March 28, Joseph Peneueta was fatally shot by two men at the intersection of River and Pauahi streets. On April 3, a group of men stabbed a man and beat up his female acquaintance, apparently in retaliation for the first attack, police have said.

Correa has said the attacks involved groups fighting over the distribution of drugs in Chinatown. Yesterday, Correa added no new details on the apparent turf war, other than to say the groups appear to have gone "underground" because of the increased police scrutiny.

The news conference yesterday was attended by several community leaders, including Chu Lan Shubert Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business & Community Association. She said she supports the city plan and is happy that action was taken so quickly.

The association has organized a rally and march today in Chinatown to protest the violence. She said community involvement is key to kicking out bad elements in the area.

(Still waiting to hear about the Chinatown properties being used to distribute drugs...who owns them and why are their names not being mentioned???)

End of a Column: Church people worthy of regular coverage

...we're not afraid to set foot in the other guy's temple or mosque or chapel. (Muslims are OK, just stay away from those nasty right-to-lifers, eh?)

If you don't think religion is a political force down here at the grass roots, you haven't been watching the alternating faith-based crowds chiming in on the civil-union issue at the state Capitol -- and the lawmakers' response. (One has faith in God, the other has faith in their own doubts.)

Religion is news. See the sophisticated (read arrogant) worldview of Newsweek magazine with its cover story this week. The "Decline and Fall of Christian America"

(Antonio Gramsci will miss this column. By the way, Newsweek is downsizing, too. Coincidence, I'm sure....)

Election fund plan in peril

(Poor Bob Jacobson, nobody wants to contribute to him so his 9-11 troother supporters got the legislature to send him OUR money. Now they are taking it back....)

Police block sign waving by Honolulu City Council candidates

Police say the practice is illegal and have asked candidates to move on. But candidates are wondering why now, especially since politicians have been sign waving for decades.

Anderson said he was told to leave the grass triangle area at the Castle Medical Center intersection and he's heard of other candidates being asked to leave, but apparently not all candidates have been warned off, he said. (OK--who?)

University of Hawai'i law professor Jon Van Dyke said a 1975 case found that sign waving is protected by the Constitution but that safety issues may restrict it.