Favored Nations: Abercrombie Signs over Millions to to HGEA, UHPA
Abercrombie Evicts Haleiwa Farmers Market, Blames Organizers
Your Act 221Tax Credit Dollars At Work: Hopeless Hoku Forms Restructuring Committee
State Appeals Court: Individuals Cannot Sue to Determine Vacation Rental in Violation
Abercrombie Lied, Evicted Farmers Market on Two Days Notice
Abercrombie Lied, Evicted Farmers Market on Two Days Notice
SA: The future of the Hale‘iwa Farmers Market was left in doubt Friday after Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced that "No Trespassing" signs have been installed along the Haleiwa bypass road where the market had been operating for the past three years.
Some 60 vendors were preparing for Sunday's market but organizers said they now "have no idea" what will happen next.
"We are stunned," said Annie Suite, one of the market managers. "Absolutely stunned. In this time of economic upheaval, it is difficult to believe that a simple roadblock cannot be erected to overcome this legality and allow 60 legal small businesses to continue to flourish until a permanent location is found. We have been operating legally on this property for three years. We have offered to pay the state since day one. We have had no issues with safety."…
Market manager Pamela Boyar said in a statement, "The governor assured us that we would not miss a market day, so this change of events is a big surprise to us."
Boyar and Suite said in their statement that each of three alternative sites suggested by state officials "comes with unique obstacles."
"For two months, Hale‘iwa Farmers Market has requested multiple meetings with Gov. Abercrombie to provide community input and accurate information regarding the operation, but to date there has been no offer to meet or the courtesy of a return phone call," they said.
News Release: Abercrombie Evicts Haleiwa Farmers Market, Blames Organizers
read … Farmers market organizers spar with governor over closed-off site
HECO Bills Up $61/month
HECO Bills Up $61/month
KHON: If you're paying more for electricity, you're not alone.
Hawaiian Electric Company says the average bill on Oahu has gone up about $61 over the past year.
read … $61/month
Quick-cash fund for rail OK'd
SA: Carlisle said at the bill-signing ceremony at Honolulu Hale that "the likelihood is next to zero" that the credit line will be needed to complete the rail project.
However, if HART does use the money and must later pay it back, "then we'll find the money (using) whatever method is appropriate, whether it's continuing revenues from the GET (general excise tax), and whether we could get that by action, to be paid for, to use it, or … using the funds of the City and County of Honolulu if necessary," Carlisle said….
That 2007 ordinance requires that construction of the rail project be financed mostly through federal funds and a half-percent excise tax surcharge paid by Oahu residents and visitors. The money from the excise surcharge has already been built into the rail financial plan, and the surcharge is set to expire at the end of 2022.
Using city general funds or seeking an extension of the general excise tax surcharge "is at least a possibility, we'd actually have to explore all options to figure out what different avenues we could go down, what do we need to do, who do we need to approach, are there other available federal funds that we could apply for — all those things would be on the table," Carlisle said.
"So, you look at every conceivable place where you could get money, and then you pay it back."
Ann Kobayashi, chairwoman of the Council's Budget Committee, said she believes the new line of credit amounts to an end run around the 2007 ordinance prohibiting the use of city general funds to pay for rail construction.
read … Quick Cash
Federal Prosecutors Accuse The Shack Attorney Michael Green of Conflicts Of Interest
HR: In federal criminal court, attorney Michael Green is defending a man charged with using violence and extortion to gain ownership of a popular but rowdy bar-restaurant in Waikiki called The Shack.
In state civil court, Green represents four clients who are suing The Shack Waikiki for injuries they claim they suffered after being attacked and beaten by the bar’s owners, bouncers and security personnel.
That’s a conflict of interest for Green, federal prosecutors argue in asking the court to disqualify him from further involvement in the criminal case….
State court files show that Green, a flamboyant lawyer frequently involved in high-profile civil and criminal cases here, was suing the Shack and its owners with Uesugi in one state civil case before he agreed to take on Winward as a client in the criminal case in September of last year.
In that civil case, which is unresolved, Green’s client Michael Scalera clams he was “violently beaten by Shack Waikiki Shack Waikiki security personnel without provocation.”
After Green began representing Winward in federal court, he sued Shack Waikiki three more times. All of those suits are still pending.
Numerous other civil complaints have also been filed by other attorneys on behalf of clients claiming they were violently assaulted by Shack employees and/or managers.
read: Attorney For Shack Owner Accused of Conflict Of Interest
Shack Waikiki Owes $500,000 In Back Rent, Facing Closure
HR: In February, The Shack Waikiki’s landlord, Waikiki Trade Center, brought an eviction case in state District Court, alleging that the bar-restaurant owed more than $509,000 in back rent.
The company then agreed to pay $49,000 a month into a court-administered rental trust fund, but late last month the landlord obtained a writ of possession to take control of the property.
Michael Green, a private attorney who represents one of The Shack Waikiki owners, said today that negotiations are underway for a sale of the business.
Waikiki Trade Center attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
Another Waikiki business owner, who asked not be identified, said he understood that that there are plans to auction The Shack’s business inventory by the end of this month if a sale of the business is not finalized.
read … Shuttering the shack?
Tweekers Busted at Queen St Gambling Den
SA: Two people were arrested on outstanding traffic warrants and 11 other people were detained during the search at 832 Queen Street at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday by officers from the District 1 Crime Reduction Unit and the Specialized Services Division.
Also seized were crystal methamphetamine glass pipes, baggies with residue, and other drug paraphernalia, police said.
read … Gambling, Meth
Manager of Waimanalo Puppy Mill Extradited back to Hawaii
SA: David Lee Becker, 37, was extradited to Honolulu Friday afternoon from Las Vegas to face charges of animal cruelty, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said.
He was being held at the police cellblock in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Becker, charged May 26, 2011 with 153 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, is scheduled for a bail hearing 8:30 a.m. Monday in District Court. He is also scheduled for his arraignment and plea.
Becker left the state before he was served with the criminal complaint, which details some of the filthy conditions the animals were kept in at the breeding facility owned by Bradley International.
read … Abuse
Maui Council Wants to Extend Term of Office
That possibility surfaced Wednesday when the County Council's Policy Committee voted 6-2, with Council Members Mike White and Don Couch dissenting, to recommend placing an alternative ballot question clarifying that full terms would be only complete four-year terms. The proposed charter amendment still needs to pass a vote by the full council.
Currently, council members serve two-year terms, with a limit of five consecutive terms or 10 years.
The Charter Commission's version of the amendment calls for extending council terms from two to four years, with a provision to stagger council members' terms.
read … Term Limits
Hawaii Latest State To Drop Surplus Lines Tax Sharing
Law 360: In spite of attempts to boost support for the Nonadmitted Insurance Multistate Agreement, Hawaii's insurance department has become the latest state to pull out of the multistate pact for sharing surplus lines tax revenues, a spokeswoman for the Florida insurance commissioner said Friday.
Earlier this year, Alaska, Connecticut, Mississippi and Nebraska also exited NIMA, an interstate agreement for sharing taxes collected from the surplus lines market, which offers coverage that is not available from insurers that are licensed or admitted in a particular state.
read … Hawaii Latest State To Drop Surplus Lines Tax Sharing
FilCom Center in Waipahu celebrates its 10th anniversary
SA: More than 500 people gathered at the FilCom Center on Friday to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Attendees included Gov. Neil Abercrombie, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and area lawmakers. Also present were Filipino community leaders including Casamina, Eddie Flores Jr. and Rose Churma, who led efforts to rally the community and realize the dream of having a center to symbolize the arrival of Filipinos.
read … FilCom
Hidden History and Divergent Opinions Found in Untranslated Hawaiian Newspapers
SA: But the history and knowledge hidden in those volumes are vast and priceless. Thanks to the early adoption of a written alphabet, Hawaiians developed a high level of literacy less than 60 years after Capt. James Cook's arrival in 1778. As a result, these newspapers, dating from the 1830s, contain a "written record of the whole transition from stone age into modern age," said Puakea Nogelmeier, executive director of Awaiaulu Inc. The hard part will be preserving and unlocking those treasures for future generations….
The information contained in these old newspapers is not simply academic. There's information about what crops were being grown, what species were introduced, what was being sold in markets. The University of Hawaii's Sea Grant College Program is mining the papers for information about Hawaii's ecosystems in the 19th century — climate conditions, traditional and introduced fishing practices, major weather events, even fish catches and market prices. Such real-time information can provide valuable knowledge about how and why Hawaii's environment has changed, and lead to better sustainability practices today.
Nogelmeier also noted that the written record can change what we presume to know about Hawaiian history. The newspapers, he said, contain "stuff your history teacher doesn't know," such as some of the divergent opinions about Queen Liliuokalani in overlooked and untranslated reports both before and after her overthrow.
read … Divergent Opinions