Photos: N Korea Dictator Signs Missile Orders in Front of Map Targeting Hawaii, Guam
VIDEO: Kalaeloa Solar Illegal Heavy Equipment Crushes Hawaiian Caves
Two former POWs visit wounded warriors, share stories of resilience, hope
Star-Advertiser Backs Jones Act Reform
Hawaii Schools Win Big in TV Journalism Competition
Hawaii Medal of Honor: Honoring the Fallen
Report: Hawaii 47th in Freedom
Chaos 2014: Hanabusa vs Abercrombie, Gabbard vs Schatz
MN: Let's say Hanabusa challenges Gov. Neil Abercrombie in 2014 and Gabbard decides to try to wrest Schatz's Senate seat from him. We will have four very distracted people in our highest elected offices - only Sen. Mazie Hirono will be able to give full attention to business. (Good! Less attention = Less damage.)
And don't forget, if either of our House incumbents decides to challenge Abercrombie, she will probably resign from Congress. Abercrombie decided he couldn't run for governor while serving in Washington. That could mean another special election and more chaos. (Good!)
read … Chaos
Twenty-year hiatus in rising temperatures has climate ‘scientists’ puzzled
The Australian: DEBATE about the reality of a two-decade pause in global warming and what it means has made its way from the skeptical fringe to the mainstream.
In a lengthy article this week, The Economist magazine said if climate scientists were credit-rating agencies, then climate sensitivity - the way climate reacts to changes in carbon-dioxide levels - would be on negative watch but not yet downgraded.
Another paper published by leading climate scientist James Hansen, the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says the lower than expected temperature rise between 2000 and the present could be explained by increased emissions from burning coal.
For Hansen the pause is a fact, but it's good news that probably won't last.
International Panel on Climate Change chairman Rajendra Pachauri recently told The Weekend Australian the hiatus would have to last 30 to 40 years "at least" to break the long-term warming trend.
But the fact that global surface temperatures have not followed the expected global warming pattern is now widely accepted.
Research by Ed Hawkins of University of Reading shows surface temperatures since 2005 are already at the low end of the range projections derived from 20 climate models and if they remain flat, they will fall outside the models' range within a few years.
"The global temperature standstill shows that climate models are diverging from observations," says David Whitehouse of the Global Warming Policy Foundation.
"If we have not passed it already, we are on the threshold of global observations becoming incompatible with the consensus theory of climate change," he says.
Whitehouse argues that whatever has happened to make temperatures remain constant requires an explanation because the pause in temperature rise has occurred despite a sharp increase in global carbon emissions.
As Explained: "95% water vapour" Global warming debunked by New Zealand Meteorologist
read … Stop Global Cooling!
Hawaii = Not Much Support For Gay Marriage
CB: Millions of people changed their profile pictures to the misnamed Human Rights Campaign’s symbol for the absurd claim that gay marriage is equality this week as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two gay marriage cases.
Facebook created maps and charts showing which states and counties had the most people changing the picture. Hawaii was not one of the standouts….
Chart: Support for redefining the nuclear family on Facebook
read … No Support for Gay ‘Marriage’
Sequestration delivers major blow to health care
SA: Cuts to the Mental Health Block Grant program mean that as many as 373,000 adults and children would not receive mental health services. According to the White House report, “This cut would likely lead to increased hospitalizations, involvement in the criminal justice system and homelessness for these individuals.”
A pullback on funding for the AIDS drug assistance program could result in 7,400 fewer patients having access to HIV medications, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could conduct approximately 424,000 fewer HIV tests. Sadly, the National Association of Community Health Centers suggested that as many as 900,000 patients might be turned away from receiving the health care they need.
Provider reimbursement will also contract. According to the Society of Hospital Medicine, providers and insurance plans will face up to a 2 percent cut in their Medicare payments. Graduate medical education, primary care training and payments to other providers would also be affected….
Abercrombie announced that he is putting together a Sequestration Impact Response Team made up of public and private stakeholders to identify “how we can help our citizens and segments of our community that will be most affected.”
read … Congratulations: You are now part of the budget
Family Health Hawaii Aims for Lower Rates on Health Exchange
SA: Former state Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt has taken the job of CEO of Family Health Hawaii, a startup health insurance company, and said he hopes to have as many as 50,000 members in five years.
Family Health Hawaii, which is preparing to enter the Hawaii market in the next few months, will be the state's fifth commercial health insurer, competing with Hawaii Medical Service Association, Kaiser, Hawaii Medical Assurance Association and UHA (University Health Alliance).
Family Health Hawaii received conditional approval to sell insurance from the state's Prepaid Health Care Advisory Council on Thursday, said Paul Tom, council chairman. The council reviews health insurance plans to ensure they meet the requirements of the 1974 Prepaid Health Care Act, the law mandating employer-sponsored health insurance for full-time workers.
The new health plan will offer lower premiums for small businesses and help drive down the rates of other insurers as well, Schmidt said.
read … J.P. Schmidt to head Family Health Hawaii
Molokai Shooter Had Major Mental Illness, Was Free to Walk Streets in Hawaii
SA: At the hearing, Maui police Detective Jeffrey Mahoney, who interviewed Lavoie after the March 20 shooting, said Lavoie had indicated he was "reportedly diagnosed as bipolar." Mahoney said Lavoie reported he had been institutionalized in Alaska. (Guess what happens when you let crazy people out of the asylum….)
According to Mahoney, Lavoie also said that on the night of the shooting, he should have been on medication so he wouldn't "flip out."…
Police recovered the weapon, a Remington bolt-action 30-06 rifle with a scope, Mahoney said. The rifle was registered to a man who acquired it in 2011 and told Molokai police that he had transferred the rifle to Lavoie shortly afterward.
Precisely as Explained: Connecticut Shooting: Failure of Mental Health System
read … Mental Case
Civil Beat Marks Third Anniversary
Key Question: Do you think Civil Beat will provide Pierre with enough greenwash to get his resort built in Hanalei? Pierre Omidyar: The Secret Empire of a Resort Developer
read … Three Years of greenwash
Pro-Akaka Bill Congressman apologizes for using racial slur
HNN: Alaska Congressman Don Young is trying to minimize the fallout from a derogatory term he used in an interview earlier this week.
The 79-year-old Republican used the term "wetbacks" when talking about workers on his family's farm in California.
Related: House Ethics Investigating Alaska Rep Don Young
read … ‘Wetbacks’
Kona prison plan resurrected
HTH: A Department of Public Safety master plan called for a 359-bed prison to be open somewhere in West Hawaii sometime this year.
Former Gov. Linda Lingle in 2004 sought $500,000 from the Legislature to fund preliminary planning for the facility, which was to house prisoners for no longer than one year.
The idea went nowhere — there’s still no prison in Kona.
But, someone in the state Legislature has resurrected the idea, and not even Public Safety Director Ted Sakai knows who.
The latest version of the House budget bill, HB197 HD2 SD1, includes a line item for design and construction of a new correctional facility adjacent to the new judiciary complex at Kona. There’s no funding attached to the line item.
Stephens Media contacted the department’s spokeswoman earlier this month. Toni Schwartz, in an email, said the department had no immediate plans to build a jail or prison in West Hawaii, although she said Sakai acknowledged Kona is a priority.
Sakai, in Kona earlier this week to attend a Hawaii County Council committee hearing, said his department didn’t request the addition, but he would like to see some sort of jail, prison or holding facility in West Hawaii eventually. About 40 percent of the department’s prisoners, now being housed at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo, must be driven to Kona for their court proceedings, either because the prisoners are from West Hawaii or because they live elsewhere on the island but are charged with crimes committed here.
read … Never Gonna Happen
State elections may get permanent public option
WHT: On Thursday, the state Senate’s Ways and Means committee approved House Bill 1481, which aims to improve Hawaii’s partial funding program for state Legislature elections. The original program was implemented in 1978, but has “become ineffective over time,” according to the nonprofit organization Voter Owned Hawaii.
read … Welfare for Wanna beees
Schatz Launches barely Disguised Campaign Swing thru State
News Release: During the week of March 29, Sen. Brian Schatz will meet with constituents and stakeholders across neighbor islands and Oahu to discuss issues facing Hawaii.
“My goal is to continue an open dialogue with my constituents so that I can hear from them on what I can do in Washington to better represent the people of Hawaii. Whether it’s our oceans, fisheries, parks, health care facilities, or small businesses, I’m seeking input from the entire community on issues affecting them,” Schatz said.
“I’ve spent the last 90 days working towards concrete solutions to problems like sequestration, climate change, our nation’s budget and ways to increase tourism in Hawaii to grow our economy, and will continue to tackle these issues and others that are facing Hawaii today,” he said.
read … Campaigning on Taxpayers' Dime
Honolulu has sixth-strongest local economy in the United States
PBN: Honolulu has the sixth-strongest local economy in the country, according to the On Numbers Economic Index, which offers a monthly snapshot of the economic health of 102 major markets.
Honolulu moved up a notch in March from its February ranking of No. 7 in the analysis, which is conducted by an affiliate of Pacific Business News.
Hawaii’s strong tourism industry and our international visitors’ attraction to shopping destinations in Honolulu including Kalakaua Avenue and Ala Moana Center are likely a good part of the reason we jumped up a notch.
read … Economy
Consent Decree on Disputed Pepe`ekeo Power Plant
EH: The consent agreement was filed with the Honolulu federal court on March 8. It calls for the EPA to issue a decision responding to the petition of Preserve Pepe`ekeo Health and Environment that was filed in August 2011. The petition asked the EPA to find that the plant’s operation will violate the Clean Air Act and to void the permit to operate issued by the Hawai`i Department of Health.
Under terms of the consent decree, the EPA is to issue a finding on the petition within 30 days – that is, by April 8.
Read the consent decree here: Consent Decree
read … Bio-Mess
Bernie Bicoy Obituary
On Dec. 7 that year, Bicoy enlisted in the Army after watching the bombing of Pearl Harbor from the roof of his Waipahu home, said daughter Dawn Bicoy-Stephenson.
After the war, Bicoy served as a researcher for the Allied War Crimes Commission during the Nuremberg Trials and then attended the University of Missouri Law School until the start of the Korean War.
He returned to military service and served in Korea as commander of a rifle company. He earned a number of medals, including a Bronze Star with "V" device, Purple Heart and Silver Star. Even after the war, he was an Army reservist, retiring from the military at age 60.
After the Korean War, Bicoy finished his studies at the University of Missouri and earned his law degree in 1953. He was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar in 1956 and co-founded Bicoy & Yamane, where he practiced law for the next 26 years….
(And then he got involved in Hawaii Politics.)
Bicoy was a member of the last Territorial Legislature from 1958 to 1959, representing West Oahu, and served two terms as a representative in the state Legislature in the 1960s. He helped found the United Filipino Council of Hawaii, the Filipino Chamber of Commerce and the Congress of Visayan Organizations.
In 1982 Bicoy ran for lieutenant governor, but was unsuccessful and later served four months in prison for violating state campaign spending laws by illegally receiving $23,430 in tax dollars for his campaign, according to a Dec. 4, 1999, Star-Bulletin story. He resigned from the bar in 1999 and was pardoned by Gov. Ben Cayetano in 2002.
"We greatly respect Gov. Cayetano for granting a pardon to our father," the Bicoy family said in an email.
read … Obituary
QUICK HITS: