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Friday, December 7, 2012
December 7, 2012 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:32 PM :: 4862 Views

Pearl Harbor, Civil Rights, and Hawaii Statehood

After Atheist Attack, Charity Concert Relocated

Eco Groups Testify Against New Aquarium Fish Laws

Suppressed by Star-Bulletin: Pearl Harbor report published for the first time, 71 years later

WaPo: On Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, I was working as a reporter for the Hono­lulu Star-Bulletin. After a week of war, I wrote a story directed at Hawaii’s women; I thought it would be useful for them to know what I had seen. It might help prepare them for what lay ahead. But my editors thought the graphic content would be too upsetting for readers and decided not to run my article. It appears here for the first time.

For seven ghastly, confused days, we have been at war. To the women of Hawaii, it has meant a total disruption of home life, a sudden acclimation to blackout nights, terrifying rumors, fear of the unknown as planes drone overhead and lorries shriek through the streets.

The seven days may stretch to seven years….

read … What Hawaii’s so-called media would not print 

Attorney General Louie Refused to Defend Charity Concert

HR: Donalyn Dela Cruz, director of Communications for the DOE, said the decision announced Monday to cancel the Friday concert was made by the DOE after consultation with the Attorney General's office.

“The Department applauds both the students who were hoping to provide this concert, as well as the charitable purpose behind it. However, after some consideration, the Department realized that the concert could have been better structured,” Dela Cruz said….

There have been government officials who have stood up to Kahle.

House Speaker Calvin Say, a Democrat who represents Palolo, refused to ban prayer in the House of Representatives’ daily sessions even after Senate’s Democrat leadership capitulated. (After AG Louie said he could not defend prayer in the Legislature.)

Despite the ban on prayer in the Senate, Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom also rebuts Kahle’s demands by mentioning God every day in his closing remarks. Kahle is often there with his wife filming Slom.

While the student concert will not go on, New Hope will try to make up for the $30,000 that was promised Mercy Ships, by holding its own concert on Friday, December 7.

The event will take place at 290 Sand Island Access Road at 7:30 p.m.

Related: The Atheist Declaration of War on Hawaii Churches

read … AG Louie Again Delivers Victory to Atheists

Old and Wealthy dominate Hawaii voting

SA: The older and richer you are, the more likely you are to be a voter in a Hawaii election….

Just 4 percent of those who voted were between the ages of 18 and 24. But of those who said they voted in the 2012 election, 28 percent were 65 or older.

Perhaps the most disturbing age split was that of those who did not vote: 55 percent were 34 or younger.

The median age of those who voted was 53, and the median age of those who did not vote was 31.

From an ethnic viewpoint, of those who voted, 27 percent were Caucasian and 24 percent were Japanese. For those who did not vote, the largest groups were Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian, at 28 percent….

The median household income for those who voted was $66,400, and for those who either did not vote or did not register to vote, the average was $44,700.

The poll did not ask political affiliation, but from the numbers, it appears the name of the dominant political party is "Old and Wealthy."

(Borreca then proceeds to use this as an excuse to return control to the LGs Office.)

read … Old and Wealthy

Hawaii Legislator Salaries Going Up 25 Percent

CB: Facing a tight fiscal situation, Hawaii legislators took a 5 percent pay cut beginning in 2009.

After some deliberation — and grumbling — the cuts were extended during the 2011 session.

But, barring another extension in the 2013 session, those cuts expire next July 1. And, come Jan. 1, 2014, lawmakers will receive a scheduled pay increase.

That means 24 Hawaii senators and 50 representatives will each see their annual pay grow $11,580 to $57,852. The Senate president and House speaker will enjoy an increase of $11,955 to $65,352.

Put another way, just over a year from now Hawaii will pay its 76 legislators about $880,000 more than it does now. That's a 25 percent hike….

But how do Hawaii legislative salaries compare with other states?

The National Conference of State Legislatures breaks down the differences between part-time and full-time legislatures into red, white and blue legislatures:

2010: Hawaii Legislators’ pay tops nation

read … Just Like Taxes

Supreme Court to hear historic same-sex marriage cases

The Hill: The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — the federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The court also agreed to hear a lawsuit challenging California's statewide ban on same-sex marriage.

read … Ban?

Honolulutraffic et al. & City/FTA file court papers over an injunction:

HT: Late Friday, both the Plaintiffs and Defendants filed papers with the Federal District Court in their dispute over the Honolulu Rail Project. Our fillings may be downloaded here.

read … Honolulu Traffic

HART Forks Out $29.5M to Kiewit

SA: The approval of the change order is the first for what HART estimates to be $7 million a month in costs for construction delays.

It covers part of the costs to Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. for six of the 12 months that HART is assuming will be the length of the delay.

HART officials say the approval is fair because it locks in the actual additional costs the contractor incurred for the six months and avoids later disputes about that amount.

read … Your Tax Dollars Not at Work

Governor Recovering from Shoulder Surgery

News Release Dec. 6, 2012 HONOLULU –Governor Neil Abercrombie today reported that the elective surgery he underwent on Wednesday to address an existing shoulder injury was a success. The Governor is in the recovery phase, which may require rescheduling of select events on Friday. He is attending to state business from his residence and expects to be back in the gym and office soon.   # # #

read … News Release

 

HSTA: Contract negotiations moving forward

KHON: On Thursday afternoon, HSTA President Wil Okabe said even though it was only their second bargaining session, negotiations are moving forward.

He also said a key point of their discussion was the teacher evaluation system.

A new system is being piloted and HSTA said "Our goal is to establish a system that is fair, valid, and reliable for the teachers and students."

"For me, it's not that we're against evaluations or against anything like that, but we're the ones in the classrooms, so it would be great if our voice was heard," Farrington High School teacher Jessica Serino said.

"We're very happy with with the way it's going right now. We're very positive that we'll come up with something good," Farrington High School teacher Karin Rombang Matsushita said.

SA: A contract offer has been put on the table

HNN: DOE memo riles up protesting teachers

read … HSTA: Contract negotiations moving forward

Abuse of Micronesians Behind Kealakehe School Shutdown

WHT: Principal Wilfred Murakami said, before stopping himself, that several incidents on campus that began Wednesday and hit a boiling point on Thursday were the result of an ongoing “issue of people bullying through racial and cultural taunts. The result overflowed on the Micronesian side where there was frustration, yelling and screaming — a reaction … .”

The situation came to a head Wednesday with a lot of “loud yelling, swearing and screaming” between two groups of students that included boys and girls at lunch time, around 11:45 a.m., said Murakami. There was no physical altercation between any of the students. No weapons were involved, he said.

The school was subsequently placed on lockdown, sending students back to classrooms, and Hawaii Police Department officers responded, he said. A second lockdown went into effect shortly after school let out because of another verbal altercation. No arrests were made.

When students returned Thursday, the situation was festering and by 1:30 p.m., Murakami said, three separate fights broke out on campus during the school’s lunch recess. Apparently, one student involved in the previous day’s incident felt she was still being taunted and teased and began screaming and yelling, Murakami said.

read … Lawmaker says school cancellation is wise decision

Caldwell, PAC Spent $5 Million In Mayoral Campaign

HR: Pacific Resources Partnership, the political action committee that backed Caldwell, spent $3.6 million in this year’s election. Almost all of that money went to advertising and other political support of Caldwell, who favored continuation of the city’s rapid transit project which Cayetano adamantly opposed.

Caldwell’s campaign spent just under $1.7 million and ended the campaign $222,000 in the red.

Former Hawaii Gov. Cayetano’s campaign spent $1.43 million and the PAC that supported him, Ben Cayetano called AiKea, kicked in another $213,000, according to spending reports.

The Caldwell/PRP spending totals dwarf the money spent by Mufi Hannemann, $3.7 million, to win the last full Honolulu mayoral campaign.

SA: Mayoral runs top $10.50 per vote

read … $5M

Hanabusa Spent $1.2M, Djou $977K

PR: Hanabusa spent nearly $1.2 million in her successful re-election campaign in November against former congressman Charles Djou, or about $10.29 a vote.

Djou spent more than $977,100, or about $10.09 a vote, according to federal campaign-finance reports.

Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, raised more than $1.2 million for her campaign. Djou, a Republican, brought in more than $695,600 and carried over money from previous campaigns.

read … Fund Race

Pineapple PAC: Hirono Launches Political Slush Fund

NEW LEADERSHIP PAC FOR HIRONO: Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), newly elected to the Senate, has also filed paperwork to form a leadership PAC, federal records today show. Dubbed Pineapple PAC, Hirono may use her new PAC to raise and spend money separate and apart from her campaign account for purposes that range from travel and touting ideology to making donations to political brethren. Jadine Nielsen will serve as treasurer.

read … POLITICO

Activists Renew Push for Public Funding of Elections

PR: Activists will urge the state Legislature next session to expand the state’s partial public-funding program for political candidates.

The program, created in 1978, is obsolete, activists believe, because candidates are not able to receive enough public money to be competitive. Candidates who meet the qualifying threshold are eligible for public financing for their campaigns but have to abide by spending limits.

read …  Impossible Dream

Another Big Island reporter Gets Job Working for Politician

ILind: Peter Sur, of Hawaii Tribune Herald, is going to work as Dennis Onishi’s Council aide….

Sur was in the middle of a labor dispute at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that started back in March 2006 when he and Dave Smith were suspended for recording a meeting with an editor, and eventually led to ruling against the newspaper’s union busting by the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.

Reality: “From Hack to Flack”: the Big Island newspaper-Democrat revolving door

read … Another Big Island reporter leaves journalism

Hawaii Has Among the Lowest Unemployment

CB: Hawaii is tied with Vermont as the state with the eighth lowest unemployment rate in October 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Aloha State had an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent in October compared to the national rate of 7.9 percent. The state figure dropped 0.2 percent from the previous month.

Compared to other cities, Honolulu's unemployment rate of 4 percent is also relatively low. Out of 58,519 cities, Honolulu had the 100th lowest rate in a Nov. 28, 2012 analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hawaii has consistently had a healthy employment rate. In 2010, the state was included on Business Insider’s list of "10 States with Ridiculously Low Unemployment Rates". In 2006, the unemployment rate was as low as 2.4 percent.

The state's unemployment rate has been below the national rate since 2000, according to Eugene Tian, the chief economist at the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

To be fair, the unemployment rate is not uniform among the islands — it's much higher in the Big Island, Maui and Kauai than in Honolulu, according to data available from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organiza.

read … Lowest

State to get analysis of progress on energy goal--Many question whether HI can meet 2030 objectives

PBN: The last “scenario analysis” was done several years ago, at about the same time the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative was created. Its goal is for Hawaii to achieve 70 percent clean energy by 2030, with 30 percent of that gain coming from efficiency measures and 40 percent coming from locally generated energy sources.

Despite the proliferation of wind farms and solar panels, the state currently gets less than 13 percent of its energy from renewable sources, with an interim goal of 15 percent by 2015 being the next target.

The state has more experience working with renewable-energy sources since the last study was completed, so there should be new information available on resource potential and costs….

SA: Energy firm will oversee HELCO geothermal bid process

read … Analyze This!

Graduating senior Maria Agurto: Republican Club pres. got involved

KA: Maria Agurto’s time is complete at BYU-Hawaii, as she will be graduating with her bachelor’s degree in political science on Dec. 15. Born in Peru but later moving to California when she was 10, she has worked hard to get a good education and pursue her ambitious goals. Agurto’s time here has been well spent being highly involved with what the school has had to offer her. She spoke of her experience here at BYUH and shared some of her successes.

read … BYUH GOP Club

Bag ban theory Plastic sack prohibition to begin Jan. 17

WHT: No one provided public testimony during the hearing, and only four members of the public attended. One person, who did not provide her name, did ask Peters why the rules didn’t prohibit paper bags, and why biodegradable plastic bags were not allowed as an option for retailers.

Peters, noting the County Council established the ban’s broader parameters, said the council didn’t indicate paper bags should be outlawed. Focusing on public education, including an awareness campaign of banners, leaflets, buttons and television commercials, will help Hawaii Island residents decide to switch to reusable bags and eschew single-use ones, she added.

The council decided against allowing compostable plastic bags for several reasons, she added, including “because we have an island environment. Turtles aren’t going to differentiate between a biodegradable bag and a petroleum-based one.”

read … Insanity

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