Helping Hawaii to Help Itself
Prosecutor: Illinois Ruling May Affect Concealed-Carry Laws in Hawaii
Honolulu Rail Remedy - Phasers On Minimal
Tom Berg: Farewell to Honolulu Hale
Molokai Alt-Energy Festival
Arakawa, Tsutsui, Souki, Machado: Inouye Was One of Us
MN: Mayor Alan Arakawa thanked Inouye's widow, Irene Hirano Inouye, and the rest of the late senator's family for allowing Neighbor Island residents the opportunity to celebrate his life….
Arakawa emphasized how the senator, despite being "larger than life," was down to earth and speaking to him would be like talking to an uncle or a neighbor.
"Somehow we all felt we knew Senator Inouye personally," he said. "He was one of us. He was our senior senator."
Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, who ascended to the state's second-highest office last week as a result of a political domino effect set off by Inouye's death, fought back emotion as he spoke of the late senator.
"For me, it's hard to imagine he's no longer with us," he said. "Maui will never forget Senator Inouye because he never forgot about us."
House Speaker Emeritus and Wailuku Rep. Joe Souki fondly remembered Inouye.
"He was always thinking about what kind of future we could build for our young people," he said. "Dan Inouye was the right man for the right time for our young state."
Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chairwoman Colette Machado, calling herself a "Molokai tita," recalled how Inouye defended her when people complained about her being the senator's Molokai island representative in the mid-1990s.
"I was really rough, outspoken," she said, and she worried that Inouye would give her "gas" when people complained about her.
Instead, Inouye wrote a letter to her detractors, saying he was satisfied with her and his other Neighbor Island representatives and reminding them that Native Hawaiians had their land taken away illegally during the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, and "I believe we have a bit to repay."
Related? Tsutsui for Governor 2014?
read … Abercrombie wasn’t
Hundreds pay respect to late U.S. senator in Lihu‘e
KGI: Besides putting emphasis on national security, Inouye fought hard for education and to bring down racial barriers, among other things.
“He made it OK to be Asian-American,” said Sakoda, adding that Inouye voted to confirm the first Filipino-American to the U.S. Federal Court, judge Alfred Laureta.
Some of those who attended the event included Kaua‘i County Council members Gary Hooser, Tim Bynum and Mel Rapozo, former council members Kaipo Asing, KipuKai Kuali‘i and Dickie Chang, former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, state Senate Vice President Ron Kouchi, state Reps. Jimmy Tokioka and Dee Morikawa, Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau Executive Director Sue Kanoho, Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce President Randy Francisco, County Prosecutor Justin Kollar, county Film Commissioner Art Umezu and Grove Farm Vice President Michael Tresler.
Rep Sean Kawakami brought the audience to laughter when he said that as a young child, he was terrified of Inouye, “the man with one arm,” because of the stories he had heard of him being shot in the stomach and having his arm blown up on the battlefield. Years later, when Kawakami became an adult, Inouye would tease him for that.
read … Abercrombie, Schatz nowhere in sight
Star-Adv: Inouye Death Proves Mayans Right
The Mayans were right, after all. The world really did come to an end in 2012.
That prediction applied to Hawaii, at least. The past year has marked a watershed moment for the 50th State.
Consider both that there has been a changing of the guard, and just how long that guard has been in place.
This refers, of course, to the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who was part of the postwar generation of leaders who helped shape Hawaii. In his long tenure in government, first in the territorial Legislature and then quickly up the ranks until his arrival on Capitol Hill, Inouye was seen as the dean of the state's leadership team.
Throughout his career, he weighed in on key decisions and gained the position in the Senate to bring various developments since statehood to fruition. To a considerable degree, leaders on lower echelons deferred to him and proceeded on the assumption that he'd be there to carry the ball across the goal line.
And up until this point, accession to higher office in Hawaii has been severely constrained, with few opportunities to advance and an unwritten rule about the pecking order. There was always a sense that the most experienced state lawmakers had the clear advantage in the rare event of a U.S. House opening — where they remained as long as they wished — and that the one serving longest in the House was next in line for the even rarer Senate seat.
All that could be changing. Tulsi Gabbard, a young former state lawmaker and war veteran newly arrived at the City Council, leaped past other more seasoned contenders, including former Mayor Mufi Hannemann, to win a seat in the U.S. House. The appointment of an interim replacement for Inouye — Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz — was also a departure from convention. With the retirement of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, the top strata of leadership is green. Perhaps it will be fluid, too, and the era of lifetime tenure in D.C. will be over. Time will tell.
read … Meet the new boss? or not
Audits: Recycling Centers Stealing Millions from Taxpayers
The audits present a litany of chronic procedural and financial failures that all err to the benefit of redemption centers and to the detriment of the state and consumers who fund the program, said consultant Kevin Dietly, who was hired by the American Beverage Association to analyze the two reports.
The flaws included the department's over-reliance on self-reporting by distributors and redemption centers and a lack of adequate internal controls to monitor the accuracy and completeness of the information submitted by them, according to the report, one of the last overseen by Marion Higa, the retired state auditor whose final day in office was Friday.
The lack of sufficient oversight meant the state risked collecting too little in fees from distributors — which have an inherent incentive to underreport the number of containers sold — and paying too much to redemption centers, the auditors warned. They said they found deposits and fee collections from distributors and payments to redemption centers that were unsupported by documentation. One recycling company refused to provide records to the auditors for nearly $350,000 in deposit reimbursements for four of its facilities
Related: Auditor: HI-5 Program is Exposed to Fraud
read … About something that will not be fixed
HSTA Member: Teacher evaluation not a simple matter
SA: As Hawaii moves toward implementation of Common Core State Standards, schools look to reform instruction by adding depth to students' thinking. This requires students to move beyond simple facts to higher levels of thinking that require analysis, synthesis and evaluation of data. This approach to standards-based instruction can have a positive impact on student achievement. Yet we don't have tests that sufficiently measure these advanced areas of learning.
Furthermore, tests cannot examine important aspects of learning that teachers impart: creativity, passion, distinctive learning strategies, curiosity and persistence, to name a few. Teachers can observe these dispositions for learning every day, but no standardized test can measure the growth of these characteristics.
(Quick IQ Test: Are you fooled by this crap?)
In secondary schools, students in assigned grades take the HSA, but since instruction is departmentalized, many teachers' students (social studies, physical education, guidance, health, world languages, career and technical education, art, music, band, dance, and drama) do not take tests that measure the content for which those teachers are responsible.
There are also librarians, registrars, and student activities coordinators who may not have assigned students who take the HSA. In all schools there is also the question of test scores of children in special education classes, youngsters who are learning English, and students with poor attendance. What consideration will be given for students whose low scores are affected by factors that result in their performing below grade level in much of their work?
One must also wonder about high-schoolers who see the test as an ordeal. No graduation requirement is tied to the test, so what if they decide not to take it? How will their teachers be evaluated?
Until we answer these questions, our use of tests to evaluate teachers will be ineffective.
read … HSTA Operative
Democrats sought for Central Maui Senate seat
MN: According to an announcement from the Maui County Democratic Party, applicants seeking to be appointed to Tsutsui's former seat need to fill out a "Statement of Candidacy" form and submit a one-page resume and a short statement of why they want the job.
The "Statement of Candidacy" form is available online at www.mauidemocrats.org or by calling 358-5679.
Party district and precinct officers within the senatorial district will make up the official nominating committee. That panel will meet Saturday to hear presentations from candidates for up to 10 minutes.
Committee members may vote for up to three candidates.
The committee will submit three names to Abercrombie, who will appoint the district's new senator, the party's announcement said.
"I encourage any interested Democrats to apply for this position," said Justin Hughey, the District 5 State Senate Ad-hoc Nominating Committee chairman.
read … Senate District 5
O‘Conner to chair Kauai Police Commission, Appeal Likely to Move Forward
KGI: Current Vice Chair James O’Connor will serve as chair, and Charles Iona was elected to serve as vice chair….
Community member Glenn Mickens commended the work of the police and the commission. He encouraged the appeal and said he hopes the higher court will see that charter intended for the commissions of appointed citizenry to act as a “firewall” between county departments and the mayor.
Chief of Police Darryl Perry concurred with the statement.
read … Police Commission
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