Elusive Unfunded Liability Needs to be Addressed Without Tax Increases
2016: Obama's America Now Showing on Oahu, Kauai, Big Island
'Last Ounce of Courage' Now Playing in Honolulu
NYT: Medicare Bills Rise as Records Turn Electronic
Secret City, state emails reveal Abercrombie’s $100M Scheme for ‘Hot Potato’ Natatorium
KITV: A trail of emails between the city and the state shows the underside of political maneuvering in government and the great lengths to which officials have gone to keep information from the media about the fate of the Waikiki Natatorium.
Bickerton obtained hundreds of emails between state and city officials through the Freedom of Information Act.
The emails show how attempts by KITV, Civil Beat and the Star Advertiser to get information-- were stymied by the mayor’s communications staff and city officials.
Buried in the e-mails are papers that show the governor plans to ask lawmakers to set aside $100 million for the Natatorium.
Bickerton says the emails show how the State and City included the Waikiki Improvement Association and the Friends of the Natatorium who want the war memorial restored
CB: William Aila: Sleep Well! The Natatorium Will Soon Be Mine
SA: Natatorium planning kept under wraps
To view emails click here: Emails from City and State
Read … Natatorium
Can Act 55 Be Amended to Exclude Time Shares, Hotels?
Borreca: Audience members said they feared the broad powers of the PLDC would be used to reinstate a (nonexistent) plan to put hotels among the pristine park lands atop Kokee.
"It is very difficult to argue against anything that is on the far edge of reality, because all you can do is say you are not going to do it," Abercrombie said in response, arguing that hotels on Kokee would never be allowed if the county refused to provide water to them.
Kauai County Councilman Mel Rapozo attended the meeting and praised the concept of the PLDC to provide a new way to pay for needed housing, but even he had fears.
"It also allows for time shares and hotels. The problem I am having is that Act 55 (the PLDC law) is taking away the county's planning and permitting. The five-member board doesn't know Kauai. The seven Council members know Kauai and we are accountable; this board is not," Rapozo said.
Non-existent plans: Kokee Hotel Delusions
read … Gov gets Kauai earful on PLDC; let's see if he hears
F-Bomb Governor suddenly wants respect?
Shapiro: Abercrombie admonished hecklers to heed signs at Chiefess Kamakahelei School promoting respect and self-discipline. It meant a lot coming from a guy once known for dropping the F-bomb on somebody who disagreed with him.
read … F-Bomb
Hirono voted to authorize automatic cuts to the federal government that will leave her own salary untouched
NH: Hirono voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011 which authorized automatic cuts to the federal government totaling an estimated 110 billion dollars for FY 2013. However, as Politico is reporting, the automatic cuts will mean:
“Money for smaller classrooms and after school programs would get the ax. So would funding for border patrol agents, food inspectors and cancer research. But the salaries of members of Congress? Their $174,000 annual take won’t be touched.”
read … leave her own salary untouched
Electing moderates only way to end gridlock
MN: So, I ask all the moderates - whether Republican or independent or Democratic supporters of Case - to cast their vote for Linda Lingle and send a strong message that we want to see some action from Congress.
read … Gridlock
Greenwood Questions Legislative Oversight of University
SA: Greenwood has not issued any statements or responded to Star-Advertiser questions about the hearing, but she told a recent gathering of business executives that, in business terms, the Legislature amounts to a minority shareholder controlling the company. She said UH has a $1.5 billion budget, with the state providing $350 million in funding.
She asked those present to support her and the UH by attending the hearing or submitting testimony.
Kim said the committee has received several large binders of information from UH containing requested materials.
read … Suicide Run
UHPA Demands More Legislative Oversight over UH Spending
As a Senate panel prepares to press University of Hawaii officials Monday about accountability issues in the wake of the Stevie Wonder concert debacle, faculty are questioning a lack of transparency in the raising and spending of millions of dollars in private funding at UH each year.
Long before the university lost $200,000 in the apparent concert scam, faculty raised concerns about what they describe as a secretive system in which outside money, typically routed through nonprofit organizations, is collected and spent with little public oversight.
"It's really hard to track the money in and out," said Kristeen Hanselman, an associate director at the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the faculty union.
The $200,000 that UH wired to a Florida-based company to arrange the Wonder concert was not private money, but the fallout from the botched event has triggered even more questions about UH's oversight of its overall spending practices.
A panel led by Sen. Donna Mercado Kim is to question UH officials Monday about the Wonder fiasco, the school's fiscal management and related matters.
The UH Board of Regents also has formed a committee to "evaluate the university's operational and financial controls and oversight practices."
THE QUESTIONS being raised about private funding similarly focus on oversight, whether the money goes through the University of Hawai‘i Foundation, a nonprofit fundraising entity for the university, or other nonprofits.
By the time the money gets to UH, the original funding sources and how the dollars are spent often are unclear, and the funding bypasses the usual route of state money appropriated through an open, publicly accessible process, according to Hanselman and faculty members. Greater transparency would help alleviate concerns about potential conflicts and other issues, they said.
Former Manoa Faculty Senate Chairman Bob Cooney, a researcher at the UH Cancer Center until January 2011, said faculty there questioned what he called lavish spending of foundation funds.
read … Long Running Dispute
Star-Adv: Mayoral Election is All About Rail
SA: …late last week, Federal Transit Administration officials signaled that the agency would not award the federal portion of the project's cost — $1.55 billion — until the end of the year, after the general election.
What was left unsaid, but remains a reasonable interpretation, is that they are hinging their decision on the outcome of Honolulu's mayoral race. Former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who was the top vote-getter in the three-way primary contest, has made the project — meaning, the defeat of rail — his signature issue. His two primary opponents drew a combined vote that exceeded his, but it remains to be seen whether their supporters will unite against the former governor.
Kirk Caldwell, who faces Cayetano in the runoff Nov. 6, has tried in recent week to broaden his pitch for the job.
"While rail transit is an important issue, this election is about so much more," Caldwell told the Star-Advertiser.
We would rephrase that. The mayor's job is about so much more — public safety, repairing infrastructure, managing the tax base and all the rest — but the election is about rail. For better or worse, it's politics that both will determine our next mayor and seal the fate of Honolulu's largest public works project.
Cayetano has said he will kill the project if he is elected. Even if the City Council pushes back, the feds are certain to read his election as a sea change in the project's popular support — and be reluctant to commit Uncle Sam's largesse, even after Cayetano leaves office.
And while he's in office, Cayetano could throw up barriers in numerous ways. The mayor appoints four of the nine voting members of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the agency that manages the project, and a fifth member is his own Cabinet member, the city transportation services director. Another nonvoting member would be the mayor's planning and permitting director.
Although the mayor can't block the HART budget, he could impede supplemental funding requests related to rail or obstruct other approvals needed for transit-oriented development and other project elements.
In short, it would likely be death by a thousand cuts, but it would still be death.
The Star-Advertiser and its predecessors, The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin, have long advocated the completion of the rail project ….
read … Rail's future in the balance
About 18% of isle students were absent 15 or more days last school year
SA: At 91 Hawaii schools, more than one-fifth of students were "chronically absent" last school year, according to new figures that highlight the scope of the attendance problem on many campuses.
Topping the list of schools with high chronic absenteeism rates was Waianae High, where 815 students — or 48 percent of the school's population —missed 15 days or more over the course of the 180-day school year.
Waianae Intermediate had the second-highest chronic absenteeism rate, with 41 percent of students fitting the definition, followed by Makaha Elementary, where 40 percent were absent 15 or more days.
Altogether, more than 31,000 students statewide were chronically absent. That's about 18 percent of all public school students.
Full Text: SY2011-12 Attendance Report 5-23-12 Sept 2012
read … About the Glorious DoE
Media oppose proposal to seal court files
SA: Several media organizations are opposed to the state Judiciary's proposal to seal court files for thousands of offenders who obtain dismissal of their criminal charges by pleading guilty or no contest and abiding by conditions similar to probation.
The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center has also raised logistical concerns about obtaining information if the records are sealed.
Under state law pertaining to what is known as deferral cases, first-time offenders can plead guilty or no contest to misdemeanor and certain felony charges, and a judge can defer accepting the plea and not find the offender guilty. If the offender stays out of trouble for a specified period of time, the judge dismisses the charges.
Monday was the deadline to submit comments to the state Judiciary on the proposal, which would automatically seal court files in future deferral cases. About a half-dozen individuals said they support the proposal. Of the roughly 20 responses, the majority said they oppose it.
read … Deferred Plea
U. S. Senate Talk Story Sunday; Forums Set Islandwide
BINC: Sunday, September 23, U. S. Senate Candidates, Kealakehe High School, 2 p.m. til 3:30, and broadcast live on LAVA 105.3 fm. Candidate confirmed: Linda Lingle; Candidate declined: Mazie Hirono.
Monday, October 1, Mayor Candidates and County Prosecutor Candidates, 6 p.m. til 8:15 p.m., Kealakehe High School Cafeteria and broadcast live on LAVA 105.3 fm. Candidates for Mayor, Mayor Billy Kenoi and former Mayor Harry Kim, for Prosecutor, Lincoln Ashida and Mitch Roth. Broadcast live on LAVA 105.3 fm. Food sales by Kealakehe High at 5:15 p.m.
Thursday, October 4, State House District 5 Candidates, 6 p.m. til 7:30 p.m., Konawaena Elementary School Cafeteria. Candidates Dave Bateman, Denny Coffman.
Friday, October 5, Mayor, County Council, 6 p.m. til 9 p.m., Waikoloa School. Mayor candidates Billy Kenoi and Harry Kim; Council Candidates Sonny Shimaoka and Margaret Wille.
Monday, October 8, County Council Candidates, 6 p.m. til 8 p.m., Kealakehe High School Cafeteria, for District 5, South Kona to Ka’u: candidates Maile David, Brenda Ford, and Candidates for District 9, Waikoloa through Waimea and North Kohala; candidates Sonny Shimaoka and Margaret Wille. Broadcast live on LAVA 105.3 fm. Food sales by Kealakehe High at 5:15 p.m.
Monday, October 15, State Representative District 3 and County Prosecuting Attorney, 5:30 p.m. at Volcano’s Cooper Center; State House Candidates Fred Fogel, Marlene Hapai, Richard Onishi; Prosecuting Attorney Candidates Lincoln Ashida, Mitch Roth….
read … Forums
Will Monday’s hearing in Federal Court be the last gasp of federal farm trafficking cases in Hawaii?
DN: The long-delayed case filed by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission against Global Horizons Manpower, Inc. and six Hawaii farms will have its day in court on Monday, 9/24.
The Hawaii farms were Captain Cook Coffee Company, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Kauai Coffee Company, Kelena Farms, Mac Farms of Hawaii, and Maui Pineapple farms.
The EEOC action is a civil case seeking compensation to Thai workers and to enjoin defendants from continuing certain allegedly abusive practices.
Hawaii was to be the venue for the “largest human trafficking” case in the history of the country filed by the US Department of Justice. It didn’t happen. The DOJ dropped that case on July 20.
Related: Human Trafficking: Did the US DoJ Purposefully lose the Aloun Farms Case?
read … Will Monday’s hearing in Federal Court be the last gasp of federal farm trafficking cases in Hawaii?
Survey unveils figures on most vulnerable homeless
HNN: The results are in after an extensive survey of Oahu's homeless. Over the past week, volunteers have been canvassing the island to identify areas with the most medically-at-risk homeless.
The survey showed those in Honolulu, Waianae, and Waikiki required more than 300 hospitalizations and about 1,600 emergency room visits annually.
100 homeless will eventually be re-located into shelters where they'll receive proper medical care.
Officials say the plan will also save the city money….
About 10 percent of those surveyed were over the age of 60.
The plan is to have the unsheltered homeless moved into supportive housing by September 2014.
KITV: New detailed homeless registry created with 200 volunteers
read … Homeless
The Reburial of Bones
SA: This means locating descendants; traditionally, the disposition of remains was entirely a family responsibility. However, it's rare that someone can prove to be a true "lineal descendant" of the person whose remains were found. Instead, invariably people step forward to be recognized as "cultural descendants" under state law, by demonstrating that their ancestors lived in the general region of the burial find.
The law gives recognized cultural descendants rights to consultation about what to do with the bones but far less prerogative than a lineal descendant would have.
However, that certainly doesn't mean cultural descendants have no influence. In fact, protests raised by these petitioners brought several of the past controversies into the forefront. Paulette Kaanohi Kaleikini was a cultural descendant in some of the cases — the Walmart and Ward Villages projects come to mind — and was the plaintiff whose lawsuit drew down the definitive Supreme Court ruling.
read … Iwi Kupuna
DLNR boosts haul of illegally moored boats on Oahu
SA: The state Department of Land and Natural Resources last week impounded three boats that were illegally moored in the Ala Wai Harbor — bringing this year's total to 47 confiscated vessels.
"There are often a number of illegally moored vessels in the Ala Wai and Keehi SBH (Small Boat Harbor), as these are the largest harbors on Oahu and the only harbors where live-aboards are allowed," Statts said in an email.
Since 2009, the state has impounded 118 boats in its Oahu harbors, according to the division….
"A lot of times, there is a criminal element that gets tied to these illegally moored vessels in the harbor," she said. "We continue the process (of impounding) so that we can remove these vessels and the criminal element from our facilities to make them safer for the regular tenants and the general public."
read … Illegally Moored
After Giving Away the Store to Wind Scammers, HELCO Wants to Get Tough on Geothermal
HTH: Hawaii Electric Light Co. wants to renegotiate its power purchase agreements with renewable energy providers.
Earlier this week, the County Council approved by a 9-0 vote a resolution urging HELCO to renegotiate its contracts based on the price of energy production rather than “avoided cost,” which ties the cost of producing renewable energy to the price of oil on the market.
“We are in agreement with the resolution,” said HELCO President Jay Ignacio on Friday. He testified in favor of the renegotiated contracts when the resolution came before a County Council committee.
Councilman J Yoshimoto said the idea for the resolution came out of a discussion about general energy issues with HELCO officials earlier in the year.
Last December, the Public Utilities Commission approved an amended purchase power agreement between HELCO and Puna
Geothermal Venture to purchase an additional 8 megawatts of power that would expand production to 38 megawatts and provide monthly savings of between $1.60 and $1.90 per customer through 2025.
Those savings struck a lot of people as not enough, given Hawaii Island’s reliance on imported fuel for energy.
“The savings that resulted out of the recent negotiations that HELCO had with PGV were minimal,” Yoshimoto said. That’s why he wrote the resolution to “ask both parties to go back to the negotiating table. That’s the bottom line.”….
HELCO also has purchase power agreements with two wind farm firms, Apollo Energy Corp./Tawhiri Power LLC and enXco/Hawi Renewable Development; and hydroelectric plant Wailuku Holding Co.
read … Real Decoupling (LOL!)
Suicide Activists Exploit Case of 95-year old woman
SA: This 95-year-old woman expressed in her 1998 written "living will" (advance directive) not to have her dying "artificially prolonged."
We have all heard how important it is to create an advance directive if we hope to make the journey to death in a manner consistent with our values. Mrs. Okada's experience makes clear this is not as easy as filling out a form and filing it away.
Last month, Mrs. Okada suffered the latest in a series of medical crises that began in December. Her doctors at The Queen's Medical Center determined she was beyond recovery and recommended removing her feeding tube.
A complicating factor is present, though. At the same time she documented her wishes, Mrs. Okada also completed another equally important advance-planning document: She appointed her brother as her health care proxy to make medical decisions if unable to do so herself. He insists the feeding tube stay in place.
We cannot know what is in her mind now.
read … Suicide Activists
Community, donors rebuild Ewa Beach playground area
SA: The Ewa Beach organization was formed in 2009 as a Weed and Seed initiative to economically stimulate and develop the community. It got a boost from Empower O‘ahu, a nonprofit designed to support so-called community implementation groups.
Together they worked to gain Ewa Beach federal designation as a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area.
With that designation, the Ewa Beach organization, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was eligible to apply for certain grants, including the one from the city.
Without the grant and donations, the project would have cost $175,000. Donors included Ameron, David's Fencing, Dura Constructors, Endo Electric, the Ewa Beach Crush Youth Football League, Gentry Homes, the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, JDS Construction, Masons Union Local 630, Operating Engineers Local 3, Paradigm Construction, Pineridge Farms, South Pacific Steel and West Oahu Aggregate.
Bolosan-Yee, who grew up in Ewa Beach, said: "My husband and I decided to stay in Ewa Beach and raise our kids here. To watch my kids play — I'm so grateful I had this opportunity."
The organization also has sponsored training for people wanting to start small businesses. The result is 11 new businesses in the past year.
read … Ewa Beach Volunteers
1961: 70,000 in Hawaii Watch Film Exposing Berkeley Rioters
SA 1961: Although the Air Force has removed two officers in Seattle, Washington from their jobs and reprimanded them for showing the movie “Operation Abolition,” the film is now being show by Imua at military bases on Oahu.
Lawrence V. Cott, executive vice president of Imua, said last night that the film is not only being show to all military branches, but also to church groups, civic organizations, students, teachers and businessmen….
“And it is being shown at local churches, even though one of the major groups against it is the National Council of Churches.”
“Operation Abolition is a 45-minute film of the student rioting in San Francisco during a hearing of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in May, 1960.
Those arguing against the movie say it presents a distorted picture.
Defenders, such as Imua, say it is not distorted, but is an accurate anti-Communist document….
Since the film was released last October, Imua has shown “Operation Abolition” twice on local television stations and to 50 audiences in the Islands, Cott said.
He estimates that some 70,000 Islanders have seen the film to date.
read … And now the Governor is Abercrombie
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