Level 3 Bio Lab for Kalaeloa? Briefing Wednesday

After Losing Hospital, Ewa Beach Gets New Ambulance

Berg: Bus Cuts Could be Restored by Eliminating Rail Propaganda

Planning Commission to Vote on Ewa Development Plan

Arkansas Attorney General Sues Hawaii Travel Agent

Is Mufi Campaigning Illegally on HLTA’s Dime?

SA: Among the allegations is that Hannemann failed to report trips he took to other islands, Washington, D.C., and Guam. Those trips were given extensive exposure in the media but often not reported, or fully reported, in his FEC filings.

The Hannemann campaign's filings do list a number of disbursements to Hawaiian Airlines under the general description "interisland airfares," and there are a number of payments made to a First Hawaiian Bank credit card account. But the detailed complaint by Gabbard suggests there are more trips than have been accounted for.

Gabbard's complaint also charges that Hannemann's campaign failed to disclose in its FEC reports any broadcast and published ads of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, of which he was president and chief executive until Friday, in which he appeared as the organization's spokes­man. Hannemann benefited from those ads, which therefore should be considered "coordinated communications and a prohibited corporate contribution" to his congressional campaign, the complaint said.

Further, the complaint alleges that Hannemann continued to be paid a full-time salary for a job he could not have been working full time, given his busy campaign schedule.

"If that was the case, all or part of the salary paid to him constituted a prohibited corporate contribution to Hannemann for Congress from HLTA," the complaint said.

CB: Gabbard Files Complaint Against Hannemann

FULL TEXT: Tulsi Gabbard FEC complaint Mufi Hannemann

Just for Laughs: Hannemann Releases Aina Protection Platform

read … Illegal Campaign Funding

Will Cayetano Turnout Produce Case Victory?

Borreca: Observers say that despite Case's liberal record, his best chance of winning comes from drawing support from independents lured to the Honolulu mayor's race, featuring former Gov. Ben Cayetano.

"Case will have to succeed in getting enough independent-minded people to vote for him.

"Will Cayetano bring out enough? And is Cayetano likely to have a lot of Caucasian support? Will that translate into support for Ed? It could," said one political consultant.

This isn't the first time that Case and Hirono have fought it out in a statewide primary. In the 2002 race for governor, Hirono beat Case by 2,613 votes.

Interestingly, Case won Oahu by almost 2,000 votes, but was swamped by Hirono on Maui and was barely beaten by her on Kauai and Hawaii island.

If there is a cautionary tale to the past returns, it is that Hirono, despite having served in the state House for 14 years and lieutenant governor for eight, does not run strong on Oahu. Besides being beaten by Case, she was swamped on Oahu in the 2006 race for Congress by Colleen Hanabusa. Hirono won the seat by taking the neighbor islands, but lost Oahu by 5,666 votes.

For Democrats, the August primary is likely to be as much about who is the best candidate against Lingle as it is who is the more likeable.

read … All About the Turnout

Will Hirono Back Andy Winer for Federal Judge?

HR: Should Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, (D-Hawaii) win the U.S. Senate election this November, she will help select Hawaii’s next federal judge.

If Hawaii’s most powerful Democrats get their way, that judicial candidate will be Andrew Winer, a tort lawyer and political strategist who is one of three finalists being considered to replace U.S. District Judge David Ezra.

Winer currently is a lead strategist for Hirono's U.S. Senate Campaign, but Hirono won’t comment on Winer’s application, or whether she will recuse herself should he officially be nominated….

Lawyers and judges interviewed by Hawaii Reporter suspect U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Winer's other powerful political allies will help push his nomination through, but they question whether Republicans in the Senate would support him considering his controversial political background.

Whoever is confirmed will be a federal judge until he chooses to take senior status, and the only way he can be removed is if he is impeached.

read ... Judge at Stake in Election

Windfarm Scammers Consider Purchase Of 4500 Acre Hana Ranch

CB: San Francisco-based Bio-Logical Capital, which last year joined with Pattern Energy to develop the Molokai portion of the controversial Big Wind project, is looking to buy Hana Ranch on Maui.

Winfrey has owned more than 160 acres of the property for the past decade.

The 4,500-acre ranch is listed for $55 million by Sotheby’s International Realty, and has been for sale for several years. It's not clear whether Bio-Logical Capital is interested in buying the entire ranch or just a piece of it….

Bio-Logical Capital opened a Honolulu office in early 2011 and announced that it had teamed up with Pattern Energy to develop a 200-megawatt wind farm on Molokai. The project would consist of about 70 turbines stretching several hundred feet in the air on Molokai Ranch. Executives of the joint venture, known as Molokai Renewables, have since said little publicly about their plans other than to confirm that they are still pursuing the wind farm despite widespread local protest.

Molokai Renewables was also a bidder for Lanai, Hawaii News Now reported. The island was recently sold to billionaire software developer Larry Ellison.

Bio-Logical Capital’s interest in Hawaii is more extensive than the wind farm, which is still far from a done deal. The company lists Hawaii as a priority region for investment on its website. And it says its key projects include the Molokai wind farm, interisland cable and local farming on Oahu and Maui.

read … After Failing to Buy Lanai

Hirono Pushes Windfarms in Latest Commercial

PR: U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono went up on Tuesday with a new television advertisement for her U.S. Senate campaign that ties the lessons she learned about self-reliance growing up in a household that struggled financially to Hawaii’s need for food and energy independence.

The 60-second spot touts Hirono’s support for ending tax breaks for oil companies, offering incentives for the development of renewable energy, retraining workers for clean-energy jobs, and promoting “buy local” food programs.

VIDEO: Castle and Cooke’s Chris Lovvorn on David Murdock retaining rights to Lanai wind farm after sale of island to Larry Ellison

read … Self Reliant?

Complete List of House Districts Ranked by Turnout

CB: Voter turnout on Maui lags the rest of the state, and House District 11, which includes Wailea and most of Kihei, is next to last among the state’s 51 districts.

Only the adjacent District 10, which includes Lahaina and Kaanapali, reports lower voter turnout.

Just four in 10 registered voters in these areas cast ballots in the 2010 General Election, with Kihei’s District 11 (41.6 percent) narrowly beating out last placed District 10 (39.4 percent). By comparison, the average statewide turnout was 55.7 percent.

read … Turnout

Biosafety lab draws protests

SA: The lab would also be the country's 13th regional facility — and the farthest west of Colo­rado — in a national health strategy that already includes 12 regional Level 3 labs run by universities, said project manager Keith Mattson.

But residents such as Marissa Cape­louto don't want what they consider another health hazard in their community.

Capelouto, a member of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, joined other board members for a tour of the UH Medical School's much smaller, 2,000-square-foot Biosafety Level 3 lab in June. She left knowing she does not want a bigger Level 3 lab anywhere near her two teenage children in Maka­kilo.

MEETING PLANNED

Date: Wednesday
Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Kapolei High School cafetorium, 91-5007 Kapolei Parkway
More information: www.phrl.hawaii.edu

"I begged them to stay where they are," Cape­louto said. "We don't want it here. All of the most hazardous things are already in our district — HPOWER, Wai­ma­nalo Gulch — I could go on forever. Don't come already."

Related: Level 3 Bio Lab for Kalaeloa? Briefing Wednesday

read … Protests

Abercrombie Continues to Harass Attorneys Who Won Judicial Transparency

SA: Gov. Neil Abercrombie is appealing a ruling ordering the state to pay nearly $70,000 in Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser attorney fees and costs after the newspaper prevailed in a lawsuit over the release of names of judicial finalists.

Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled last year that the governor had to disclose the names under the state open-records law and ordered payment of legal fees and costs.

Abercrombie did not appeal Saka­moto's ruling on the names, but filed a notice Friday that he would appeal the judge's award of $69,627. Under the open-records law, the prevailing party is entitled to "reasonable" fees and costs.

read … Sore loser Abercrombie appeals ruling to pay legal fees

Hemmings: State Guilty of Anti-Trust Violations in Push for Medical Monopoly

Hawaii’s beleaguered taxpayers’ pay numerous times for State hospitals through high insurance rates, co pays and huge tax subsidies.

The state is also guilty of anti-trust. When a hui of doctors wanted to put in a private hospital on Maui the state would not grant them a license through the “certificate of need” process. That is anti-trust because the state was protecting its own monopoly hospital, Maui Memorial. Maui Memorial receives tax payer’s subsidies yearly.

I agree that all our citizens should have access to health care but not through a bankrupting government monopoly. Private hospitals beware; the state will put you out of business.

Doctors beware you will eventually be in a system that will operate with government reimbursements only. There are solutions to medical industry woes and it is not a government monopoly.

read … Hemmings

Carlisle reports raising nearly $200,000 in run for re-election

SA: Carlisle, who won a special election in 2010 to fill the final two years in the term vacated by Mufi Hannemann, began July with $246,000 on hand for the stretch run to the Aug. 11 primary. His total for the current campaign cycle was $638,000, which includes $78,000 carried over from his 2010 campaign.

Spending reports for the first half of 2012 are due Thursday.

Reports from mayoral challengers Kirk Caldwell and Ben Cayetano were not yet immediately available.

read … $200,000

Thielen: Teenagers Pump Money into Slot Machines in Kaneohe

CB: Her opinion is informed in part by a January memorandum from an attorney at the Legislative Reference Bureau that suggests the video games that, depending on the specific facts, "may still be considered a 'game of chance' prohibited under Hawaii's gambling laws."

"I think it's worth law enforcement looking into this — to see if quasi-gambling is proliferating to our state," Thielen said. "If it is actual gambling, which there is an argument that it is, then I think it should be shut down."

Thielen learned about the games from Kaneohe resident Jim Wolery, who was visiting the Windward Mall one day about two years ago when he passed by the Tilt arcade. What caught his eye was two teenagers pumping cash into a row of machines that to Wolery's eye resembled Las Vegas slots.

"One of the kids was about 14, and he dropped $40 within about 15 to 20 minutes," he said. "I said to him, 'Do you ever win at this thing?' He said, 'I'm just learning, but my buddy wins a lot.'"

The buddy, according to Wolery, appeared around 17 years of age. He was told by the older teen that he had won $1,600 several months earlier, but for any win over $600 the store mailed a check rather than make the payout in cash.

read … Illegal Gambling

Meteorological Tower Permits Approved for Molokai Wind Project

IAM: Maui County has begun the approval process for building permits for 5 meteorological towers on Molokai which will be located on three parcels owned by Molokai Properties. The Professional/Contractor is Structural Engineer Mark A. Holter. The permits give Mr. Holter the authorization to pull the permits, and no information is currently available on the designs, specific locations, or construction timeline.

These towers are a significant step in Molokai Properties’ contract with Pattern Energy and Bio-Logical Capital to construct approximately 90 47-story tall wind turbine towers on 17 square miles of Molokai.

read … Meteorological Tower Permits Approved

Shocker: Electric Bills Fall

SA: The rate for customers on Oahu declined to 34.7 cents a kilowat hour in July from 35.1 cents a kilowatt-hour in June, according to Hawaiian Electric Co. The July rate translates into a monthly bill of $216.85 for households using 600 kilowatts of electricity a month, down $1.75 from June.

Even with the decreases, however, electric rates statewide remained high by historical standards largely because of the utilities’ dependence on expensive fuel oil for power generation. Oahu’s rate in July was the second highest on record.

Elsewhere in the state, Maui Electric Co. customers saw rates fall to to 37.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in July from June's 38.8 cents. The typical Maui bill fell by $8.34 to $233.56.
Hawaii island residential rates fell to 41.4 cents a kilowatt-hour from last month's 42 cents. The typical bill fell by $3.73 to $258.68.

On Kauai the rate fell to 38.4 cents per kilowatt-hour from from 42.81 cents per kilowatt-hour in June, according to the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.

read … Pigs Flying

Principal says secretary's theft caused program cuts, layoffs

HNN: Mina Muranaka, 44, appeared in court May 3 and admitted to writing nearly $15,000 in checks from Fern elementary school to herself, her son and for her rent in public housing.

Hawaii News Now has obtained a petition -- signed by 50 of Fern Elementary's teachers, staff and volunteers -- asking Perkins to assure Muranaka is given a maximum sentence.

School principal Tiare Ulii also sent Perkins a letter explaining programs she cut and staff she laid off because of the thefts.

Ulii said the school's librarian could not be rehired and several part-time teachers were let go, while field trips were cut because of the financial losses.

She said a free after-school program for needy children was drastically reduced, from 180 to just 60 students, with eight part-time employees laid off. Course offerings went from nine to just three, Ulii said.

read … Another Day in the DoE

DoE Seeks to Ban SAT From Bidding

SA: This fall the state had wanted to offer a new series of achievement tests for middle and high school students aimed at gauging how ready they are for life after graduation.

But the plan appears to have hit a snag.

The College Board, a nonprofit that administers the college-entrance exam SAT, has taken issue with the state's plan to forgo competitive bidding and seek a sole-source contract with its competitor, Iowa-based ACT Inc.

Last month the College Board told the Department of Education in a letter that the purchase "should be subject to bidding" and that the ACT series of tests is not unique.

The College Board was responding to a June 19 notice indicating the DOE's intention to seek a $888,548 sole-source contract with ACT, also a nonprofit, for a series of college and career readiness tests for seventh- through 11th-graders.

The DOE wanted the one-year contract to begin this month.

read … About the Tip of an Iceberg

Milner: Hawaii Unions Need to Post Fake Comments on Blogs to Manipulate Public Opinion, Just Like Wisconsin

CB: Both Valentino’s and Gilbert’s ambivalence is quite sensible. Events surrounding the Wisconsin recall show these risks. One small incident is particularly powerful because on the surface it seems so ordinary and non-political. Two days before June 6 recall election, there was a gas explosion at a Milwaukee home. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that five firefighters were injured in the blast. Normally this is a sad but routine story. Typically, reader comments about these stories praise the firefighters’ courage and express prayers for a speedy recovery. In this case, however, the comments turned into a nasty debate about public employees, the key issue in the recall.

“Two more FF’s [firefighters] on disability for how long?” A commentator on the fire story said. “They were doing the job that they get trained to do. They knew the risks and assume them when they take the job. Dozens of workers are killed every year. They don’t get to retire at 50 years of age or get disability for life or until they can collect over-inflated pensions.”

Responses to this were filled with rage. “Your level of classlessness and epic disregard for people other than those with your warped political beliefs is epic…. I pray for their quick recovery, you tool.” “Scott [Walker] wouldn’t give his life for his own family. He’d run with his tail between his legs.”

There is something uncomfortable and even creepy about those exchanges because they seem so excessive. What’s next, a national health-care debate over a city animal control officer who got bitten by a rabid dog? This exchange is about more than intense political differences. The exchanges reflect moral outrage

VIDEO: "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate.. to suffering" – Yoda

Related: Perriera: HGEA has 30-year Plan to Screw Retirees, Maintain Control over Hawaii

read … Lesson from Wisconsin: Hawaii Needs More Anger

Pasha Hawaii to compete with Matson, YB on container service

SA: Pashas ship, the MV Jean Anne, has been modified to ship up to 50 standard 40-foot containers on each trip. The first shipment of containers arrived in Honolulu last week, the company said

The Jean Anne has been providing roll-on, roll-off service since its launch in 2005. The ship has been used for a wide range of vehicles, yachts, heavy machinery, and oversized cargo, the company said. The Jean Anne makes regular calls every two weeks between San Diego and Hilo, Kahului, and Honolulu, with Nawiliwili added as needed.

Related: Will Matson Survive?

read … Pasha

Kailua Overrun With Tourists

HB: There are other friction points:

• The long-standing dispute over illegal bed-and-breakfast facilities and short-term home rentals that cater to tourists eager to see “the real Hawaii,” and upset neighbors and unsettle communities of long-time residents.
• The construction of big-box stores, Whole Foods Market, which opened in April, and Target, scheduled to open next year.
• D.R. Horton-Schuler’s development of 153 condominiums in six four-story complexes on Kailua Road, which eliminated rundown but affordable apartments for low-income people.
• The emotional debate over state Senate Bill 2927, which would have eliminated planning, zoning, height and environmental oversight around rail and bus-transit stations around Oahu, including Kailua. The bill died in the Legislature, but it may be revived next session;
• The proliferation of rented kayaks, paddleboards and other watercraft on the beaches, in the water and on the offshore islands that serve as bird sanctuaries.
• For years, private landowners allowed hikers to cross their property to reach the trail to the World War II pillboxes above Lanikai, but the owners now chafe as the number of climbers has grown exponentially, seriously increasing erosion.

HB: Negotiating Haleiwa's Future

HB: Preserving Paradise While Making a Living

read … Kailua

Barber’s Point Key to Getting Hawaii-Based Carrier

PBN: Not only do these ships pack a lot of military muscle, they pack a lot of economic firepower as well with their crews of 5,000 to 6,000 people. It’s enough to make retailers, bars and clubs and a lot of other businesses foam at the mouth every time one of those ships pulls into Pearl.

So given the recent carrier activity here and Hawaii’s strategic location, one has to wonder: Why not base one of those ships here?

Pearl Harbor is closer to potential trouble spots than the West Coast — North Korea and Iran — and isn’t the military committed to a focus on the Pacific? Hawaii is practically smack dab in the middle of that new focus.

The big obstacle to landing such a large ship is the Navy would have to spend who-knows-how-much at Pearl Harbor for the base to be able to handle a carrier on a permanent basis.

In 2005, the state was looking into helping make that possible by giving the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station, or Kalaeloa, back to Navy to handle a carrier. But that idea was apparently torpedoed and there hasn’t been much on it since.

And a few years later, another effort headed by Hawaii Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka sank. San Diego got the Carl Vinson instead. Cost was a factor since San Diego already has the infrastructure to support a carrier.

Another obstacle is if Hawaii got a carrier, it would likely mean that California or Washington state would be losing one.

And the idea of moving carriers is touchy, to say the least. An example of that is how Virginia legislators were up in arms about the idea of Florida taking one of the Navy’s prized ships.

Given how other states would probably put up a fight to prevent Hawaii from getting one, maybe one candidate for such a move would be the USS George Washington, which is the only carrier based outside the United States. It’s based in Yokosuka, Japan, and it has been a target of protesters because it’s nuclear powered.

read … Dreaming and Scheming

Allegiant Projects 26% Growth Based on new Hawaii Routes

VI: Allegiant Air’s ability to find profitable routes and willingness to ditch unprofitable ones is leading the airline to project double-digit capacity growth in the third and fourth quarters of the year.

Allegiant, a subsidiary of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., projected available seat miles would grow 15 to 19 percent on scheduled service in the third quarter and 22 to 26 percent in the fourth quarter.

Much of the projected growth is due to Allegiant’s new service to Hawaii from several mainland cities.

read … Allegiant

Gas Stations Give Away Free Electricity to Electric Car Owners

SA: The chargers will be available to the public for free for a limited period, according to Aloha Petroleum. Officials from Aloha Petroleum, AeroVironment, Hawaiian Electric Co., and state government are scheduled to attend a dedication ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Aloha Island Mart Kahala.

The Level 3 units being installed are fed by a 480-volt line capable of charging an electric vehicle about 10 times faster than the 240-volt Level 2 chargers normally found at public charge spots.

read … And Who Will Pay for Aloha’s Higher Operating Costs?

Eminent Domain, Island Style

IC: No, not another case from the Hawaii courts, but from an island further afield, Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.

We were going to do a write-up of Commonwealth v. Lot No. 353 New G, No. 2012-MP-06 (CNMI June 28, 2012), but Gideon Kanner beat us to it. Read the opinion, and his summary of what happens in the CNMI when the government takes property but doesn't pay for it for 15 years.

Decision: Commonwealth v. Lot No. 353 New G, No. 2012-MP-06 (June 28, 2012)

MV: Supreme Court issues ruling in eminent domain case

read … Eminent Domain, Island Style

High-speed rail officials rebuffed proposal from French railway

LAT: As state officials accelerated their effort to design a high-speed rail system in 2010, they were approached by the renowned French national railway with a suggestion: The project could use the help of an experienced bullet train operator.

Until the end of last year, SNCF, the developer of one of the world's most successful high-speed rail systems, proposed that the state use competitive bidding to partner with it or another foreign operator rather than rely on construction engineers to design a sophisticated network for 200-mph trains.

The approach, the French company said, would help the California High-Speed Rail Authority identify a profitable route, hold down building costs, develop realistic ridership forecasts and attract private investors — a requirement of a $9-billion bond measure approved by voters in 2008.

But SNCF couldn't get its ideas — including considering a more direct north-south route along the Central Valley's Interstate 5 corridor — out of the station.

Instead, the rail authority continued to concentrate planning in the hands of Parsons Brinckerhoff….

read … Just Like Honolulu, Only Bigger