FBI investigating? Sex, Lies and Retaliation at Big Island Election Office
YAGONG: “Jamae is working under direction of Attorney General’s Office, information will come out very soon”
Clarity Needed in Holding Elected Officials Accountable
Nanakuli Meet the Candidates July 30
More Bus Cuts Coming After Election
SA: City officials, after taking a lot of fire from the bus-riding community, have ramped up their outreach before releasing a second set of changes on Aug. 19. A special email account (TheBusStop@honolulu.gov) is being promoted to enable feedback, and detailed maps are viewable online (www1.honolulu.gov/dts).
Protest over the bus routes last week fueled a vote by the City Council budget committee. The measure the Council passed cited the lapsing of up to $5 million during previous fiscal years, asking the administration to tap some of this to restore bus services.
Yoshioka's response to that is that these lapsed funds already have been deployed in the city's current (rail) budget and now would have to be carved out of some other municipal service (ie rail)….
Bus Service Changes Community Outreach
- · July 31 Hawaii Kai NB
- · Aug 1 Manoa NB
Route Changes for August:
- · Route 2 serves Campbell Ave., extends to KCC
- · Route 13 moves to Kapiolani Blvd., extends through Kapahulu to UH
- · Route 4 ends at McCully / Kalakaua
- · Routes 19 and 20 replace Route 2 around Kapiolani Park
- · Route 3 ends at KCC
- · Route 9 deletes Palolo Valley, extends through Kaimuki to end at KCC); Route 901 Palolo Valley Shuttle replaces Route 9 in Palolo Valley
- · Route 14 deletes Kahala, Kapahulu, serves St. Louis and Maunalani Heights direct via Waialae Ave.
- · Routes 18 and 24 join into single route via Kapahulu, Waikiki portion of 24 eliminated.
Click here for Maps of the Service Changes
read … The Bus Stops Here
Okabe Making no Preparations for 2013 HSTA Negotiations
SA: So far this summer, the state and HSTA have made no progress toward reaching a deal.
The state is still asking teachers to return to the bargaining table, while the union believes a six-year agreement that teachers had previously rejected then voted to approve in May should be honored.
And since HSTA believes it has an agreement with the state, it is not ramping up for talks on a 2013-15 contract, as other public-sector unions are.
The lack of movement means teachers will continue working under a "last, best and final" offer the state unilaterally implemented on July 1, 2011, when talks stalled. The offer, which includes 5 percent wage reductions and higher health insurance premiums, expires June 30, 2013.
HSTA President Wil Okabe told members earlier this month that he believes the state can — and must — honor the agreement that teachers first rejected then voted to approve.
Okabe said the union may pursue legal means in an attempt to compel the state to honor the agreement.
read … If teachers are so smart, why are their union bosses so dumb?
Abercrombie, Matayoshi, Horner Cheer Results of System wide Cheating
SA: It is important to recognize that our strides in the education system have garnered positive national attention. For example, a recent Harvard study cited Hawaii as one of the states making the most educational improvement (in setting standards, not producing results.) Still, we are working to move the needle on other measures of educational progress and attainment (without any success at all)….
Earlier this month, we celebrated last school year's increased student achievement. For the first time, the increases were across the board — in every subject and every grade level. These achievements assure us that we are on the right path to transforming public education.
How They Did It: After One Year, Systemwide Cheating Boosts DoE Test Scores
read … Three Stooges
Democrat-Heavy Poll Has Cayetano Falling Short of 50% Aug 11
SA: a new Hawaii Poll shows Cayetano the top candidate with 44 percent, Mayor Peter Carlisle at 27 percent and former acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell at 25 percent. (This is the poll with 62% Democrats, thus explaining why Captain Kirk is pulling up with Carlisle.)
This is all the more remarkable because Pacific Resource Partnership has spent an estimated $500,000 or more in the last months drenching the TV and radio spectrum with a vicious and misleading personal attack on Cayetano for his opposition to the city rail project.
If the PRP strategy was to discredit Cayetano, it has not registered with voters. Cayetano captures the same 44 percent of the vote as reported in February, so the attack ads and negative radio spots are having precisely zero effect in the campaign.
Obviously, the public's dislike for the rail project is driving the Cayetano vote. When a politician is getting both ethnic support and is squared away with the voters on the big issue of the day, he becomes a potent force.
The demographic breakdown on the voter survey shows 41 percent of Caucasians, 45 percent of Hawaiians, 36 percent of Japanese-Americans and 62 percent of Filipino-Americans will vote for Cayetano.
Again, 50 percent of little guys earning less than $50,000, and independents, say Cayetano is their choice. He gets almost twice as many union votes as either Caldwell or Carlisle.
Outside of Filipino-Americans, what group is most likely to vote for Cayetano?
The Republicans. A full 53 percent of the GOP voters surveyed say they are voting for Cayetano — and that gives nonpartisan a whole new meaning. (And it means that Cayetano could still win outright with 50%+ on Aug 11th because this poll under-sampled Republicans.)
read … All Over on August 11th?
Dems advertising in several GOP Senate primaries—And Republican Endorses in Hawaii Democrat Primary
AP: Democrats have their thumbs on Republican scales in Senate primaries in Missouri and Wisconsin this summer, hoping to improve their own chances of maintaining a majority in November.
The idea isn't quite as far-fetched as it might sound.
Two years ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's allies invested heavily in an effort to help Sharron Angle win a contested GOP primary in Nevada after deciding she would be the easiest Republican to defeat in the fall. She won the nomination, but ultimately lost to Reid.
Now Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri is running a series of television advertisements that strategists in both parties say indicates a preference for Rep. Todd Akin over primary rivals John Brunner and Sarah Steelman.
At the same time, Majority PAC, a group with ties to Reid, has run television commercials selectively attacking Republican contenders in Missouri and Wisconsin, where primaries are set for next month.
Most of the contested races involve Republicans, although Democrats have a competitive primary in Hawaii on Aug. 11 between Rep. Mazie Hirono and former Rep. Ed Case. The campaign is notable for the cross-party endorsement Hirono recently received from Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska, a rarity in a hyperpartisan political environment.
Related: Hirono Endorser Wants Her to Win Primary, Lose General Election
read … Associated Press
Dist 1: Star-Adv Spews more anti-Berg propaganda
SA: Rail, traffic and the sometimes confrontational behavior of City Councilman Tom Berg are leading issues in the District I council race, with five candidates vying for the seat that includes Kapolei and the Leeward Coast.
Berg and first-time candidate E.J. Delacruz both oppose the rail project, saying they disagree with the way the project is being executed, and don't believe the benefits from the rail line justify the $5.26 billion cost.
Three other contenders, including Rep. Kymberly Marcos Pine, former state Rep. Alex Santiago and former Teamsters Union leader Mel Kahele, all say they support the 20-mile rail project as a way to ease the worsening traffic congestion in West Oahu.
read … They Endorsed PHOCUSED Profitable Non-Profit Grifter Santiago
Waialua: Pro-Development Carpetbagger Bradshaw Tries Again for Dem Legislative Nomination
SA: The winner of that primary will face Lauren Cheape, who completed her year as Miss Hawaii in June and is unopposed in the Republican primary. Cheape, 24, has worked on her family's Petersons' Upland Farms in Wahiawa and promises to be a voice for agriculture.
Ollie Lunasco said he helped push through the Sunshine Law in the 1970s to open up government to public scrutiny, along with other pioneering bills such as the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act, which eventually became a model for the nation. An Army veteran, he is endorsed by Veterans in Politics International….
"Obviously we don't want big-time development on the North Shore, but we need to make sure we're supporting smart growth development so our people (union members) are working (paying dues) and can put food on the (union bosses’) table," Jake Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw has won a string of union endorsements, including the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the AFL-CIO and the laborers and carpenters.
"I'm a very old-school (boy) Democrat," Bradshaw said ….
read … Agriculture, education lead District 45 hopefuls' agendas
Big Island Faces Three-Way Mayoral Runoff
WHT: “We wanted to make sure we don’t go to raising taxes until we reduce expenses,” Yagong said.
Covering 50 percent of the payment would have added $7 million to the county’s budget this year.
Yagong said he could come up with that money by ending budgetary “padding” within departments and by eliminating at least some deputy director positions.
“I would definitely take a look at eliminating these management positions,” he said. (No wonder the old boys hate him.)
Yagong said he thinks some are unnecessary, and eliminating them would help protect other jobs in the county.
He said he would also reduce the size of the county’s vehicle fleet.
Additionally, Yagong said he would look for “public/private” solutions, such as privatizing the county’s recycling sort facility.
Totally Related: FBI investigating? Sex, Lies and Retaliation at Big Island Election Office
read … Yagong
Freitas Buys Student Athletes with $200K Cash Raise
SA: The change comes after football coach Norm Chow offered a suggestion to acting athletic director Rockne Freitas earlier this month and officials began reexamining the formulas by which the NCAA allows the school to compute housing allowances.
"I credit Norm for being a spokesman for the coaches and making some suggestions and the Manoa Chancellor (Tom Apple) for going along with us," Freitas said.
Chow said he "approached the athletic director his first couple of days on the job and he made it happen. Rockne's No. 1 goal as athletic director is the same as mine, to make sure that our student-athletes are taken care of. He's a very decisive individual where they are concerned."
Chow said, "We expect so much out of them that we need to take care of them."
Freitas said UH previously used an average cost to help determine its level of subsidy but chose an alternate method, one of several approved by the NCAA.
The change is expected to cost UH approximately $200,000 more per year, Clapp said.
($200K? Hey, itsn’t that the cost of the Stevie Wonder concert?)
read … About Freitas’ gang of thugs
Lawyer Creating New Excuse for Litigation against Arizona Prison
KITV: Attorneys attempting to reach inmates at Saguaro by telephone (for free) are required to first place a request with the Department of Public Safety's Mainland Monitor's Office. (Unless they want to accept a pay phone call)
At the pre-arranged call time, the inmate is then brought into a unit manager's office, where he is allowed to converse with his attorney. However, Breiner alleges that more often than not, the unit manager stays in the room.
"Consistently, the unit manager listens to the conversation from the client's end of the conversation and takes notes," said Breiner. "Those inmates are then subsequently removed from their units and interrogated by an assistant warden or other staff regarding the nature of that confidential communication."
…Owens adds that inmates are not required to receive phone calls through the Mainland Monitor's Office, and attorneys are "free to confidentially communicate with their clients via legal mail or through a legal visit."
However, for many inmates, using a pay phone is not an option, since prisoners don't have the money to pay for calls.
"These guys are broke," said Breiner. "They have no money." (And he won’t send them any or pay for their collect calls so he sets up an excuse for more litigation.)
Read … Grist for Litigation
Will Asian voters swing the election?
Salon: They have been called the “forgotten minority” and a “sleeping political giant.” Just four years after being politically ignored, however, it now appears they are finally attracting attention. They are Asian Americans, and these once “overlooked” voters are being discussed as potentially “decisive” “game-changers” in the 2012 presidential election.
According to an April poll by Lake Research Partners, Asian Americans tilt Democratic and favor Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, but nearly a quarter of them remain undecided about the presidential race, and a much larger share of Asian Americans report never having been contacted by either presidential campaign — leaving many of them up for grabs. “Asian-Americans have, in the minds of the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates, gone from a marginalized community to the margin of victory,” ….
read … Will Asian voters swing the election?
Act 294 will enhance efforts to combat fraud
SA: Gov. Neil Abercrombie recently signed into law Act 294, which amends the state and county false-claims acts and brings them into conformance with federal law.
The state and county false-claims acts allow private persons to file lawsuits on behalf of the government to recover monies fraudulently billed by government contractors.
Since Hawaii's false-claims act was passed in 2000, more than $100 million dollars has been recovered for the state.
Under the false-claims acts, persons who report the fraud — called "relators" — may receive from 15 to 30 percent of the amounts recovered. These rewards provide a monetary incentive to report fraudulent activity….
Hawaii's law also goes much further than almost every other state law. Under Act 294, Hawaii became only the second state to allow false claims act cases to be pursued for tax fraud.
It is estimated that up to 10 percent of all government health care charges are fraudulently billed. With public improvement projects and other government initiatives costing billions of dollars, the amount of taxpayer money being lost is staggering.
Act 294 creates a better and more effective tool to combat fraudulent activity and the waste of government and taxpayer monies. Our government must make sure it is properly implemented.
Related: http://grandelawoffices.com/about-us.asp
read … Whistleblower
Soft on Crime: Three Time Loser Loose on Streets at Age 37
A 37-year-old Mililani felon was charged Saturday with firing a gun and forcing his way into a home while trying to run from police Thursday in Waipio.
He has three felony convictions for driving a stolen vehicle and two robberies.
read … Another Justice Reinvestment preview
Anti-Hunting Obsessives Begin Assault on Hawaii Hunting Dogs
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