Murder at Pier 23: The Death of Hawaii Animal Agriculture
Yoshimura: Drunk Solar Scammer Wants to Return to Honolulu Council as Pro-Rail Vote
SA: Months earlier, in April 2002, Yoshimura was suspended from practicing law for six months for lying to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel about drinking before a 1999 hit-and-run traffic accident involving a parked car.
On Friday, Yoshimura brought up that incident without prompting from reporters.
"I also did some things during my first two terms on the City Council that I'm frankly ashamed of," he said. Bringing up the 1999 incident, Yoshimura said, "I basically lied about the circumstances that went into that occurring. … I let a lot of people down."
Yoshimura credited U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka for giving him a second chance by hiring him as a staff aide in Washington, a job he held for six years before returning to Honolulu last year to work as an executive for SolarCity, a solar energy company….
Yoshimura said he is a supporter of the city's $5.26 billion rail project. "We're actually building rail, and some people are having their buyer's remorse, or cold feet," he said.
read … Rod Tam’s Predecessor
Natural gas could cut Hawaii power bills "for years to come"
SA: Switching from oil to natural gas for the bulk of Hawaii’s electricity production could lower power bills “for many years to come,” an East-West Center energy expert said today.
There are several initiatives underway to ship liquified natural gas to Hawaii to take advantage of a glut on the mainland that his driven prices of the commodity to historic lows in recent months.
“Hawaii has no choice but to go to natural gas. It’s just the speed that is in question. You can go fast or slow, but you have to go,” said Fereidun Fesharaki, an East-West Center senior fellow, and head of an international energy consulting firm….
The natural gas option has been discussed in Hawaii in the past during periods of high oil prices, Fesharaki said at a seminar sponsored by the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum and HAWAI'IGAS, the state’s only gas utility. But enthusiasm waned when oil prices came back down.
“This time I see oil staying in the $80 to $120 a barrel range for many years to come,” Fesharaki said.
The benchmark oil futures contract closed at $96.01 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since May 11. Natural gas futures, meanwhile, fell for the fourth straight week to settle at $2.719 per million British thermal units. Natural gas futures have fallen 9 percent so far this year.
“The gap between natural gas and oil prices will continue into the future,” Fesharaki said.
CB: Pitch For Natural Gas Heats Up On Friday, about 100 representatives from renewable energy companies, local refineries, the state energy office, environmental groups, as well as Hawaii politicians convened for an all-day event sponsored by HawaiiGas about how to make natural gas a reality for Hawaii.
read … For Years to Come
Kenoi: “Were only interested in Cheaper Renewable Energy”
HTH: On Friday, Marlene Hall of Lucy’s Taqueria in Hilo said that shortly after opening the restaurant earlier this year, she and her family got an unpleasant surprise when they opened their first power bill.
“We were actually in shock when we got it,” she said. “We had a huge electric bill.”
The restaurant features an air conditioning system that sucks electricity, she said, but in the end, the family feels like it gives their customers a great experience, and that’s a priority for them.
“High electric bills definitely make an impact on the business,” Hall said of the possibility of a rate increase next year, “but, we’ve just got to go on. It’s all we can do.”
Meanwhile, Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi said Thursday that he will be taking a firm stand when it comes to renewable energy proposals on the Big Island — the projects have to do more than just reduce the island’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Kenoi said his administration will be asking the PUC’s permission to participate in a recently filed HELCO and Aina Koa Pono docket seeking approval of a power purchase agreement between the two companies. Aina Koa Pono wants to build a biodiesel production plant in Ka‘u and sell the fuel to HELCO for use in the Keahole Power Plant. To do so, it proposed adding a surcharge — $1 per 600 kilowatt hours — to every electric bill on the Big Island and Oahu.
“We’re not interested in more renewable energy,” Kenoi said. “We’re interested in cheaper renewable energy. Unless it has lower rates, we will not support it.”
read … HELCO’s rate increase request comes amid soaring profits
Yagong throws mayoral endorsement to Kim
WHT: Going into the primary election that took place a week ago, Harry Kim had only one endorsement for his bid to regain the mayor’s office, that of the Sierra Club.
He gained a second nod early Friday evening, and a significant one, at that — County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, who came in third in the nonpartisan mayoral primary with 19.5 percent of the vote.
The 72-year-old Kim, who was mayor from 2000 to 2008, will face incumbent Mayor Billy Kenoi in a runoff election in the Nov. 6 general election. Kenoi garnered the most votes in the primary, 42.5 percent, while Kim, Kenoi’s former boss, was the runner-up with 34 percent.
Yagong announced his “unsolicited endorsement” for Kim in an email, stating that Kim “brings an honest and open approach to the governmental process, and he listens to all sides of a discussion.” He wrote that Kim’s “exemplary public service over the years has earned him the respect and trust of the people.”
read … Yagong & Kim vs Kenoi
Aiona Return Control of Elections to Lt Governor
HNN: "If you had accountability you wouldn't have to wait for something like this to happen where you have basically a traumatic experience and one that I believe affected the elections on the neighbor islands, said former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona.
Aiona said the state should return management of the state office of elections to the Lt. Governor, who answers to voters.
The Lt. Governors' office used to run elections in Hawaii but starting in 1995, that job was transferred to the county clerks, who are civil servants and are not elected.
Current Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz says that approach would be premature. He says the state should first conduct a review of how best to manage elections.
read … Brian Schatz says the responsibility is too much for him
Kona: Three late-opening precincts lagged in voter turnout
WHT: Three West Hawaii precincts that opened late on primary election day were among the four with the worst voter turnout in the county, a trend that leads at least one candidate to question whether the late openings cost her crucial votes.
A West Hawaii Today analysis of the county’s 40 precincts shows that Kahakai Elementary School, the polling place that opened the latest at 8:40 a.m., had a dismal 29.1 percent voter turnout, compared to the county average of 42.6 percent. Second came Waikoloa Elementary School. It opened at 7:45 a.m. and ended the day with a 32.7 percent turnout. Kona Palisades Community Center, which opened at 7:52 a.m., had a 33.8 percent turnout. Polls were supposed to open at 7 a.m.
The analysis calculated complete voter turnout, adding early walk-in, mailed absentee ballots and election day voting in an attempt to take into account the impact of this year’s surge in absentee ballots. Comparing turnout to the last mayoral primary election, in 2008, was difficult because absentee ballots weren’t reported by precinct that election year.
However, all three precincts showed at least 100 more election day voters in the 2008 primary than this year….
In all, 13 precincts opened late that day, although four of those were less than five minutes late, and five opened within half an hour, according to a report released Thursday by the state Office of Elections.
Related: Full Text: Nago Report on Hawaii Co Elections, Kawauchi Response
SA: Clerk fires back over voting gaffes
read … Low Turnout
Honolulu Tells HUD Troubled Wahiawa Senior Center Making Strides
CB: The Wahiawa senior facility at the center of a federal probe into $8 million in potentially misused grant funding has seen a "steady increase" in the number of people who use the center and should soon reach its benchmarks, according to the city.
Budget and Fiscal Services Director Mike Hansen sent a letter and a quarterly on-site monitoring report of ORI Anuenue Hale to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Design July 31.
The quarterly report is the latest in a protracted back-and-forth with the federal government as the threat of losing $7.9 million hangs over Honolulu Hale. ORI Anuenue Hale, referred to in the report as ORIAH, was criticized for an exceedingly low usage rate despite the heavy investment of federal funds.
ORI's wellness center was still used less in June than the city and ORI had said promised it would, but not by much, and a trendline included in the quarterly report shows the standard of 50 elderly and developmentally disabled adults each day. In June, the city's report estimates, the ORI wellness center averaged 48.3 daily users. For the quarter ending June 30, the average was 43.7 daily users.
Full Text: HUD on-site program monitoring CDBG
read … ORI
Pro-Rail Activist Michelle Saito Loses Job as Farmers Hawaii CEO
PBN: a corporate spokesman who said that Farmers does not have local presidents at any of its offices in the other 49 states.
AIG Hawaii changed its name to Farmers Insurance Hawaii on Jan. 1, 2010, and Saito was named president of the local office after Robin Campaniano retired. Before that she was executive vice president and chief operating officer for the former AIG Hawaii, which she had joined in 1984 as an accounting manager.
Saito is also a member of several boards, including the pro-rail group Move Oahu Forward.
read … No more Perch for Old Boys
Government employment declines slightly in Hawaii
PBN: There were 125,000 federal, state and local governments in June 2011, but that number decreased by 1,500 to 123,500 jobs as of June of this year, according to the analysis by Pacific Business News affiliate On Numbers.
read … Shrinking Government
Nation's choices will impact Hawaii's clout in Congress
MN: In Hawaii, former Gov. Linda Lingle will strongly challenge for Sen. Daniel Akaka's seat. Her success would allow Republicans to cancel out an Inouye vote as well as contribute to his potential demotion to minority member.
A Republican displacing a Hawaii Democrat in the U.S. House would further dilute Inouye's standing, if he no longer could count on solid support from a Hawaii congressional delegation, he will play with a weakened hand.
(No. If Hawaii doesn’t elect Lingle and Djou, we will be completely isolated and ineffectual because the Republicans are going to control House and Senate with or without us.)
read … Needs Three Puppets
Thanks to Soft on Crime Judge, Knife Wielding Lunatic Will Get Escort to College Classes
SA: On Aug. 7, Circuit Judge Richard Perkins granted Davis’s request to attend classes unsupervised which sparked public concern, prompting Chancellor Douglas Dykstra to meet with state hospital administrator to discuss security issues, according to a statement by Dykstra.
“In light of the unprecedented public concern, the two administrators agreed that the student will be escorted to, from and during class sessions. Moreover, the college will be adding personnel to its security staff,” said Dykstra.
read … Judge Richard Perkins
Hawaii-Based Soldiers Among Seven Killed in Afghanistan
SA: Seven Americans, including the helicopter crew, two Navy SEALs and a Navy explosives expert, along with three members of the Afghan national security forces and an Afghan civilian interpreter, were killed when the Black Hawk went down, according to reports out of Afghanistan.
The Black Hawk was operating in support of an ongoing assault on the ground, but initial indications were that it was not shot down, The Associated Press said.
About 2,600 Schofield Barracks soldiers with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade are on a yearlong deployment to southern Afghanistan.
The Pentagon has not yet identified those aboard the Black Hawk, but one of the Hawaii-based crew members who died was 23-year-old Richard Essex, a door gunner and "wheeled vehicle mechanic" from Kelseyville, Calif., said his aunt Mayme Dyslin.
read … Afghanistan
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