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Saturday, November 24, 2012
November 24, 2012 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:52 PM :: 4808 Views

Oshiro: "My intention at this time is to stay in the House"

PLDC: Abercrombie Capitulates to Protesters

Success for Hawaii Family Advocates

Hawaii County Vote is Referendum on Eradication

Ernie Martin: Cancel Nanakuli Park to Make Way for PVT Landfill

Lawyer: Kauai Prosecutor Forged Indictment against Rapozo

HNN: the grand jury that charged Kauai County Human Resources manager Janine Rapozo with theft was one vote short of the amount needed for an indictment.

They needed 11 votes but sources say they only had 10.

Her attorney Craig De Costa is now accusing Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho of misconduct and he's asking a Kauai judge to dismiss the case.

"We don't know what the votes are officially because they are secret ... but I have a good faith basis to believe that it was less than three-fourths" of its members, he said….

The prosecutor is only on the job for one more week and her critics claim this is a vendetta against her enemies.

SA: Retaliation alleged in theft indictment against Kauai official

read … Kauai: Government-by-Retaliation

PLDC Board Cancels Meetings as Abercrombie Huddles with Protesters

CB: Gov. Neil Abercrombie has asked the Public Land Development Corporation to take a break while a top administration official meets with critics to try to placate mounting concerns about the agency.

At a press conference the day after Thanksgiving, the governor announced that William Aila, chair of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, will be meeting with stakeholders to address objections to proposed rules to govern the agency. Aila, who stood by the governor's side Friday, is also on the board of the PLDC.

Aila said that some of the groups he will meet with include labor unions, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, the Surfrider Foundation and the Sierra Club. He said that the process is expected to take a month or two.

The PLDC, which announced earlier in the day that it had canceled its next board meeting, was in the process of approving rules to govern the agency….

"Most of the testimony that we received during this process was repeal, repeal, repeal," said Aila….

Attempts to repeal the agency or restrict its powers must be brought up this legislative session, which begins in mid-January. Aila will be meeting with groups that commented specifically on how they would like to see the rules amended.

Senate President Shan Tsutsui has already said that he plans to introduce bills that both repeal and restrict the powers of the PLDC.

Despite, the heated rhetoric and growing political opposition toward the PLDC, Abercrombie said he hoped that upcoming meetings with critics will help quell the call for repeal.

"I don't want a good thing that could happen to be lost because we in turn get lost in the weeds of confrontation and accusations that don't really accomplish anything," he said. "That's unproductive. It's ill-advised and unproductive. I'm saying let's take time now in order to make time count."

Related: PLDC: Abercrombie Capitulates to Protesters

SA: Groups involved in the talks include labor unions, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Farm Bureau, Sierra Club, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and the Surfrider Foundation, he said. The outreach could take a month or two, Aila said.  (Question: How can Abercrombie buy off all these Democrats?)

read … Come to a grinding halt

Gabbard: Death to Whitey

SA: The crowd — which included members of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Baha'i, Unitarian and Buddhist faiths — laughed and cheered most loudly when she said, "In the Demo­cratic caucus we have the most diverse Congress ever, and for the first time we have minorities and women outnumbering Caucasian men."

(All ethnicity is imaginary.  Embrace the counter-culture, and you won't be 'white' anymore.  Just ask Tulsi.)

Related: To Stop Mufi, Mrs Abercrombie Joins the Chris Butler Cult

read … a multiracial, multicultural and multifaith family (except for Whitey)

Number of Veterans in Congress Drops from 400 to 100

AP: …the 95th Congress, which served in 1977-78, had more than 400 veterans among its 535 members, according to the American Legion. The number of veterans next year in Congress will come to just more than 100. Most served during the Vietnam War era. In all, 16 served in Iraq or Af­ghani­stan, not all in a combat role…Tammy Duckworth carries the highest profile of the incoming vets.

read … Combat veterans take fight to Congress

Plans to Shut School and Reopen Big Island Prison Moving Forward

CB: State Department of Public Safety officials today released a draft environmental assessment on the proposal to reopen Kulani Correctional Facility, about 20 miles south of Hilo. The prison has been closed since 2009.

The draft EA, dated Nov. 9, is posted on the agency’s website and you can read it here.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie hopes to transfer about 200 prisoners from other Hawaii facilities to Kulani, making room to bring back 200 male prisoners from facilities on the mainland. There are about 1,700 prisoners housed out of state

WHT: Kulani Prison takes step toward reopening

The complete 53-page report can be found at www.hawaii.gov/health/environmental/oeqc/index.html. Comments are being accepted until Feb. 7.

read … UPW Jobs

Lawyer Organizing Arizona Prisoners Claims CCA Will Lock Him Up if He goes to Saguaro

HNN: A Honolulu lawyer who represents about 70 Hawaii inmates at an Arizona prison said officials there routinely harass and retaliate against some of those inmates for bringing complaints about their treatment behind bars.

Hawaii inmates at Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona often use the phone to talk to their Hawaii-based attorneys, such as Myles Breiner.   

But he said officials at the prison routinely listen to the prisoners' side of the conversations and take notes on their contents, a violation of attorney-client privilege.

"Inmates, as a result, are intimidated.  They are reluctant to discuss anything over the phone," Breiner said. "Our clients are told, 'Why do you need that lawyer?  You don't need that lawyer. We can help you without that attorney.'"

"Inmates who are pursuing litigation have a disproportionate number of misconducts filed against them by the facility," Breiner said.

A spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that owns the prison where Hawaii houses more than 1,600 of its inmates, released a statement responding to some of Breiner's allegations.

"CCA takes the safety and dignity of the inmates entrusted to our care very seriously," said Steven Owen, senior director of public affairs for the prison company. "We have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of retaliation and take any such allegations very seriously."

Owen said the Saguaro Correctional Center has a "robust grievance process" that inmates can use to voice concerns or complaints, and he said the prison encourages them to do so.

But Breiner has other complaints.

"The warden has a habit of referring to me as 'That Jew lawyer. That Jew lawyer Myles Breiner.’ They hope to have me put in segregation," Briener said.

In a letter he wrote to Hawaii's Attorney General David Louie, Breiner said his clients tell him the prison warden and his assistant warden say they want to lock Breiner up if he visits the facility.

(Yes this guy actually thinks CCA will throw him in a cell.)

read … Lawyer claims Hawaii prisoners are harassed at Arizona prison

Deferred Maintenance: Farrington HS Auditorium Roof Collapses for No Particular Reason

SA: “Thank goodness it was a holiday and nobody was in there,” he said, noting that a slam poetry contest expected to be attended by 100-200 people had been scheduled to take place there tonight.

“In a few hours, there could have been kids in there,” he said.

About 20 to 25 members of Dancer's Delite, a dance group made up of students from Farrington High and Kalakaua Middle School, were just outside the auditorium preparing for tonight's Christmas Kalihi parade when they heard a loud roar that sounded like thunder, said Sherly Doropan, the instructor's assistant for the group.

It wasn't obvious what happened until someone opened the doors to the auditorium and people could see "the middle of the rooftop caved in," said Doropan, 20.

A man who does lighting and sound for New Hope Church, which holds services in the auditorium on weekends, was in the sound and lighting booth when the incident occurred but was not hurt, Doropan said. "Lucky thing (the area over) the booth didn't come down."

Doropan, a Farrington graduate, said she was stunned that the storm could have caused the collapse since she's seen it withstand heavier rains over the years.

read … Roof collapses at Farrington High as storms pummel Oahu

HPU plan worth consideration

SA: …there's an intriguing prospect of a complete overhaul, repurposing the center as a mix of retail with Hawaii Pacific University campus amenities, classrooms and dormitory space. The $32 million plan would yield dorms for 320 HPU students on the second floor of the existing retail center, as well as a sports and entertainment venue in the Pier 10 building and a faculty club and alumni center at the former site of the Hawaii Maritime Center.

Certainly the deal could result in more robust business activity with the university anchor than now exists, and a terrific upgrade for HPU. Dorm space is absolutely needed for students in high-rent Honolulu. Providing some right downtown, and in such an attractive waterfront location, would help immensely in the university's marketing efforts and growth plans — a win-win for all concerned.

There are complications, which the two principal partners should work hard to overcome. They are HPU and Hawaii Lifestyle Retail Properties LLC, the corporate entity led by developer Ed Bushor that bought the marketplace for $14 million in December, with HPU as 80 percent owner.

The issue is financing: HPU plans to go to market with $120 million in tax-free special purpose revenue bonds that lawmakers approved last session. But to tap them, HPU, a private nonprofit university, can't have a profit-making partner, and is negotiating to buy out Bushor's 20 percent interest.

Fortunately, both sides see an opening for a final deal to be concluded….

The financing is enabled under the Hawaii Constitution as a way to encourage a public good by allowing private entities to sell more attractive, tax-free bonds. The state's sacrifice is the potential tax revenue, but it is not liable for the loan, state officials have said.

read … HPU plan worth consideration

Luddites Target Monsanto Water Supply

HI: The state water commission today again postponed decision-making on whether biotech giant Monsanto should be granted a duplicate water use permit in Kunia.

read … Monsanto water case is a test for new commission

Dive Industry, Eco Lawyers: Any Science Which Allows Reef Collecting is Bad Science 

SA: Environmental groups are criticizing proposed state rules to regulate the collection of ocean aquarium fish on Oahu.

"These rules aren't based on good science," Earthjustice associate attorney Caro­line Ishida said. "What we want to see is what basis they have for making these rules and looking at good science."

A public hearing on the draft rules by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Wai­malu Elementary School cafeteria.

The hearing follows a lawsuit filed in October seeking to force the department to study the effects of aquarium fish collection before issuing more permits.

No date has been set for the court hearing.

Related: Enviros win 90% in Hawaii Supreme Court

read … Absolutists

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