Hawaiians Give Vote of No Confidence to ‘Sovereign Hawaiian Nation’
Hawaii Tax Freedom Day April 14
Hawaii’s First Satellite to Launch from Barking Sands
Got Ethics? Apply Here to Join the Commission
Hawaii: Last Chance to Stop Bill Requiring Background Checks on Legally Possessed Firearms
Hawaii Ranks 13th in Access to Local Food
Budget: House, Senate Conferees Named
Schatz Across Hanabusa’s Bow: Campaign Reports $1.1M Raised
Abercrombie Anger Management Tour Prepares for Campaign 2014
CB: When Gov. Neil Abercrombie brought his Cabinet to Lihue, Kauai, last September, he was frequently shouted down by anti-PLDC and anti-GMO protesters….
In his administration's second neighbor island venture, however, this time to Kahului, Maui, the governor and his team received orchestrated a far warmer welcome.
It helps, he pointed out, that he's hired away a lot of Maui folks to work for him, including Budget Director Kalbert Young and Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, who were on hand for the Cabinet in Your Community. So were Maui state Sens. Rosalyn Baker, Kalani English and Gil Keith-Agaran.
It was a polite, engaged audience, one that applauded repeatedly (knowing its pork was on the line) when the governor and others spoke. No one, as best as I could tell, shouted; few even raised their voices.
After introductions, the administration was divided into Q&A sessions with various officials. (A classic technique to compartmentalize and isolate dissidence.)
The topics were fitting to the department: e.g., road jurisdiction for transportation, water allocation for the land board, domestic violence for health, photo-voltaic for DBEDT and waiting lists for Hawaiian Home Lands. (A technique to further muffle dissidence.)
After the breakout session, the audience gathered back in the auditorium for a "hot topics" Q&A. The topics — including GMO labeling, Banner Health and wind and energy projects — had been pre-selected.
Unfortunately, But precisely as intended, it was now 7:20 p.m., and the two-hour meeting was drawing near a close. (And some people don’t know that this is how these meetings are planned to end! LOL!)
Coppa said Abercrombie would take his team next to the Big Island and circle back around to other communities. Unsaid was that the governor faces a re-election next year. (Will Hawaii Co & Kauai Dems let Abercrombie get off this easy? Or will they help Hanabusa by exploding Abercrombie’s show?)
UPDATE April 12: Abercrombie Anger Management Tour Sneaks back to Kauai
read … Stage management
SB68: More Early Release for Drug Dealers
CB: Last month Sens. Patrick Leahy (“Reliance on mandatory minimum sentences has been a “great mistake.”) and Rand Paul (“Judges will tell you that current federal sentencing laws — known as mandatory minimums — don’t actually do anything to keep us safer.”) co-authored the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013.
Speaking at a convention on April 4th, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long for no good law enforcement reason."
In a 2006 Hawaii case study, Lengyel (anti-prison activist) and Brown (UHM Soc Perfesser) figure that the net cost to the state for the 197 drug offenders' total prison terms upon their release in 2006 had come to $15.6 million. "The cost of incarcerating drug offenders greatly exceeds the corresponding social benefit," they concluded. (Translation: We want our weed and we need them to sell it to us.)
Hawaii has a chance to get on the right wrong side of history by enacting into law SB 68 SD1 HD1 that passed 3rd reading in the House.
read … Open the Prisons
HCDA: Endangered Native Trees, Hawaiian Trails, Caves Must be Destroyed for Solar Farms
KITV: The Navy has offered to transfer land that known as the Northern Trap and Skeet Range into state hands.
The catch is, the Kalaeloa land is home to an endangered plant-- the akoko shrub. (It’s a tree, not a ‘shrub’. It is also a traditional Hawaiian medicinal plant, according to Pukui and Elbert. See photos)
"If HCDA were to receive conveyance of this particular lot there would be a deed restriction that we undertake a specific conservation plan including regular water source, fencing and labeling," said HCDA executive director Tony Ching.
Protecting this small, fragile and --not very showy-- shrub would be expensive. (Not very showy? See photos.)
The state would have to keep the area clear of all the ground cover. (Huh?)
HCDA already owns another parcel where a cultural park is taking shape.
A non-profit group aligned with the Hawaiian Civic Clubs has been working to protect and identify important archeological sites.
There are 11 so far, including a rare intact trail built in the Tahitian style-- significant because of the style of vertical stone structures.
The area is noted for a system of underground caves and sinkholes that Hawaiians used for farming.
"You look around here. There is no water, no top soil. The only thing is you couldn’t see it. It traveled as a traditional river did. Only thing is, it’s underground," said Shad Kane, whose non-profit Kalaeloa Heritage and Legacy Foundation has permits to operate the cultural park.
And while protecting the significant coral structures is high on HCDA list, so is development.
The agency is moving ahead with getting critical roads, power and water in place.
One thing about Kalaeloa is that the military used to supply all of the utilities. HCDA is working with Hawaiian Electric to build a new transmission plant.
USFWS: Akoko Species Endangered Status
Photos: Akoko Tree
Read … Endangered shrub on Kalaeloa land complicates land transfer
Hunt Cashes in on Abercrombie Contributions, Plans 4000 Homes in Kalaeloa under HCDA Control
SA: The population of Kalaeloa is envisioned to surge over the next two decades under a private developer's plan to add roughly 4,000 homes and 7,000 jobs to the West Oahu area that was once Barbers Point Naval Air Station.
Hunt Cos., which acquired about 540 acres at the former base in 2009 from the Navy, publicly unveiled its master plan for the property Wednesday.
An initial phase of development will include affordable rental apartments converted from former military barracks, a retail marketplace and a light-industrial park….
The master plan, Colon said, is roughly based on a master plan the state produced in 2006.
That state plan, adopted by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, called for 6,350 new homes, new schools and a business district with 7,000 new jobs on the 3,700-acre former military base closed by the Navy in 1999.
A previous master plan created in the mid-1990s as part of the base closure process considered almost no housing….
Other pieces of the initial phase include a photovoltaic energy farm, which is already under construction, and a light-industrial business park.
In the second phase, one of the former base's main roads, Saratoga Avenue, would become Main Street.
Property for any schools deemed necessary by the state Department of Education are provided for in the plan.
There also would be 3.5 million square feet of commercial real estate, and 60 acres of open space including parks.
Ewa Beach resident Glenn Oamilda told the HCDA board that Kalaeloa is a planned bedroom community that will negatively affect people who live in the Kapolei and Ewa regions, where traffic is bad.
HCDA: Mitsunaga Daughter Oversees Kakaako Redevelopment
HUNT: Follow the money: $10B Guam pork project benefits Abercrombie contributor
read … Kalaeloa
HCDA Finally Decides to do Something With Building Vacant Since Statehood
SA: Even though it would take 28 years to break even with the investment based on the rent savings, Ching said the state would have a more valuable property compared with a virtually worthless building that it can't sell, given restrictions in state law. Demolishing the property also would be problematic, given historic preservation issues.
But board member Miles Kamimura, who deals in commercial real estate as president of Pacific Property Group, argued that it would be "terribly irresponsible" to fix the building….
The brewery building, which is also known as the American Brewery building or the Honolulu Brewing and Malting Co. building, was built in 1900 and is listed on the state and federal historic registers.
The building on Queen Street between South and Punchbowl streets produced beer including Primo and Royal brands, but brewery operations ceased in 1960, according to the Historic Hawaii Foundation.
In the early 1990s, American Brewing Co. Ltd. sold the building, which had been vacant for more than 30 years, and an adjoining lot to HCDA so the agency could develop a complex of rental apartments for seniors and affordable condominium studios on the lot pressing up against the brewery building.
After the 1996 renovation, Catholic Charities Elderly Services used three floors in the renovated building for a community center for seniors, but fumes drove them out and the building has been vacant for the past 14 years.
HCDA recovered about $1 million in a 2011 legal settlement over the defect, which stems from a termite treatment, and determined that there were no viable options to correct the problem without replacing the beams and flooring.
read … Vacant for Over 50 years
Marvin Dang Bill: Ethics Commission Rejects Mollway Letter
SA: Daniel Mollway, the former executive director, had written a letter to the com- mission accusing Kondo of allegedly operating in a “rogue and arbitrary fashion.” Mollway cited public statements that Kondo has made suggesting that a for- mer member of a state mortgage foreclosure task force violated ethics law when no formal case has been brought before the commission.
But the Ethics Commission was not convinced that Kondo acted improperly and voted unanimously to reject Mollway’s request that he be fired.
“Based on my contacts with the staff, I believe you’re doing an excellent job here,” Maria Sullivan, the commission’s chairwoman, told Kondo. “We evaluated you within the last year and you received very high marks.”
Kondo said he was frustrated and disappointed that Mollway made serious accusations against him and that he circulated the letter to the commission, state lawmakers and advocacy groups, but then lacked the “courage” to at- tend the commission’s meeting Wednesday.
Background: SB893, the Marvin Dang Bill: Mollway Demands Kondo’s Head
read … Ethics Commission backs executive director in spat
In The Case Of This Fired Honolulu Cop, The Public Is Still In The Dark
CB: The Honolulu Police Department refuses to release investigative details about an officer who was fired after sexually assaulting a Waikiki prostitute even though state law requires the information to be made public once a discharge is finalized.
Former officer Michael Tarmoun, who is believed to have fled to Morocco, was found guilty of second degree sexual assault in June 2011. He was discharged in October 2011, four months later.
But police officials still guard specifics of Tarmoun’s misconduct and their internal affairs investigation of his crime. According to them, he was discharged because he was convicted of a felony, not because of the sexual assault.
read … Secret Rapist Files
New Details in Stevie 'Wonder Blunder' Concert Fiasco Released After University Forced to Make Report Public
HR: The University of Hawaii lost $200,000 to scammers claiming to represent Stevie Wonder, but the timeline details of who was responsible has not been released to the media until last Friday when the university released a long awaited “fact-finders” report naming the people and businesses involved with the so-called “Wonder Blunder.”
The Office of Information Practices said in a March 28 ruling that University and its attorneys violated the Uniform Information Practices Act by redacting the August 2012 report released to the legislature and the press and since the University agreed to release the unredacted version.
The University paid Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris $65,000 to redact names of University employees and outside parties in the report “to protect their rights”, but OIP staff attorney Jennifer Brooks said the document was “of high public interest” and the decision not to release it “appears not to have been supervised by anyone with even a passing familiarity to the actual law governing public records requests.”
read … Wonder Blunder
Rail Money Could be Cut by Sequestration
SA: Under President Barack Obama's (DOA) budget proposal released Wednesday, Honolulu's future elevated rail system would get its full federal funding for 2014 — a move that local proponents say shows the project is in good health.
Nonetheless, there's still "nail-biting," as the rail project's top executive put it, over whether the project will first get its full share of federal dollars for 2013….
with the recent, deep budget cuts known as sequestration, Grabauskas said there's a good chance the rail project won't get the full $250 million that FTA originally agreed upon for 2013. Any federal dollars withheld in 2013 would be made up in later years, officials say.
"We expect that we will take a financial hit" on federal funding this year because construction was halted last year, Grabauskas said Wednesday.
Opponents of the rail project successfully argued before the Hawaii Supreme Court last year that the city needed to finish its archaeological survey along the entire Honolulu route before building could start. That survey wrapped earlier this year, and, if the project clears several more legal hurdles, HART expects construction to resume this fall.
Grabauskas has said HART could weather a 5 percent cut in 2013 and still stay on schedule and budget.
On Wednesday, he said HART could get word in the next few days from FTA on how much money the agency will provide the Honolulu rail project this year.
Related: Bob Woodward: Sequester Was Obama's Idea
read … No Money This Year?
Federal Pork for Hawaii in Obama’s DOA Budget
CB: According to Hirono’s office, the proposal includes $44 million more than this year in federal military construction for the state. The totals are $75 million for Fort Shafter, $237 million for Kaneohe Bay, $30 million for Pearl City, $58 million for Pearl Harbor, $4.8 million for Pearl Harbor-Hickam, $2.6 million for Ford Island and $2.8 million for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The East-West Center received the $10.8 million recommended by the federal Office of Management and Budget. It would be less than the $16.7 million the center received this year, said spokeswoman Karen Knudsen. She said, though, that OMB typically recommends less than what Congress ultimately provides. “We’re obviously hoping they plus us up,” she said.
If not, she said, “it would be very difficult for us.”
Hanabusa said she is circulating a letter already signed by more than 20 members of Congress, requesting that the center be funded at a minimum of $20 million. "This is no time to cut a program with a successful record of fostering international cooperation and understanding of our increasingly connective global community, especially while we focus on the Asia Pacific region,” she said.
According to the Defense Department, the proposal includes funds to emphasize the military’s shift to the Pacific and Asia by hardening of airfields, protection of critical strike capabilities such as bombers and F-22 squadrons, and developing Guam as a strategic hub.
Hanabusa praised the shift. “It’s important that the proposal specifically addresses the nation’s refocus on the Pacific region and the combined focus on security and economic issues, and funds critical investments in the region to further these objectives," she said.
Sen. Brian Schatz highlighted the inclusion of the $250 million in federal funding expected by the Honolulu rail project. "This is great news for Oahu’s rail project," Schatz said in a press release. "I will continue to work with the Federal Transit Administration and the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure the project receives this full funding in the final 2014 appropriations bill and necessary support until completion.”
MN: Hirono Cites Good and Bad in President’s Budget
read … Pork for Hawaii
Sagum pleads no contest for theft
KGI: A former state representative pleaded no contest to illegally receiving rocks from a historic preserve and heiau site in 2011.
Roland Diaz Sagum III, 58, of Kalaheo, changed his plea Tuesday to third-degree theft in 5th Circuit Court. The misdemeanor charge was reduced from the original class C felony charge of second-degree theft….
Sagum was the state representative for Kaua‘i’s 16th District (Koloa to Ni‘ihau) from 2006 to 2010. He said the incident was not treated fairly in the media by implying he received rocks from a heiau
read … Sagum
Maui County officials will seek bigger TAT share
MN: Mayor Alan Arakawa, Maui County Council Chairwoman Gladys Baisa and former council Chairman Danny Mateo will put their powers of persuasion to the test Friday at the state Capitol.
Coming at a crucial juncture in the current lawmaking session that ends May 2, the county leaders will continue lobbying to convince lawmakers to remove a cap on the counties' share of transient accommodations tax revenue.
This morning, House and Senate conferees will face off in conference committee on the state budget. What still has county leaders worried is whether lawmakers will balance the state's budget with money that has traditionally gone to the counties, such as the transient accommodations tax, also known as the hotel room tax….
Baisa said she believes another measure, Senate Bill 1213, which would have taken half of the counties' share of public utility franchise tax revenue, has died this session because of lobbying by the counties.
If half of the franchise tax revenue were diverted to the state Department of Transportation, as had been proposed, Maui County's current $9 million in revenue for highway projects would have been reduced by about $5 million.
read … TAT Share
TAT Cap Blamed for Hawaii County Property Tax, Gas Tax Hikes
HTH: Hawaii Island property owners could see a tax hike this year, as the county struggles to meet rising costs with a budget diminished by a decrease in property values.
Property tax revenues — by far the largest revenue source for county government — increased 1.2 percent this year to $200.6 million, but that’s still 10.8 percent less than when Mayor Billy Kenoi took office in 2008.
The second largest revenue source, the transient accommodations tax, has been capped by the state Legislature at $17.4 million, so the county won’t get the hotel room tax benefit of a 13.7 percent uptick in visitor spending on the island.
“Certainly there’s got to be some adjustments in revenue,” Kenoi told the County Council, which was meeting as the Finance Committee Wednesday at the start of an intense three days of budget scrutiny.
“I think that’s something people could understand and live with,” if the realities were explained to them, he added.
Kenoi and the council last raised property taxes in the 2010-11 budget year. The increase hit hardest in West Hawaii, where many part-time homeowners live.
Property taxes aren’t the only taxes in the administration’s sights.
Kenoi noted that Hawaii County’s gas tax remains at 8.8 cents per gallon, compared to 15 cents per gallon on Maui and 18 cents per gallon on Oahu. Public Works Director Warren Lee said increasing the tax to 11 cents per gallon would raise $2 million annually, resulting in many more miles of roadways being repaved.
read … Property Tax
Hawaii County Elections Officers Still Trying to Sue ‘Taxedtodeath’
HTH: Strauss noted the comments Hong made during the February hearing before 3rd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance in his motion against adding Taxedtodeath to the lawsuit, and gave several reasons why his client should not be included in the court case.
“Plaintiff’s proposed amended complaints do not specifically state any actionable alleged false statements by defendant Taxedtodeath, and only statements of opinion and comment upon a newspaper article,” Strauss wrote.
He said Hong should not be able to add Taxedtodeath to the complaints about the release of a confidential investigation, because the commenter was not an investigator.
Taxedtodeath submitted a declaration, with his or her real name redacted, to the court. In it, the commenter said he or she was not a county employee, nor the spouse or relative of a county employee. The commenter does live in Hawaii County, and was not involved in the investigation.
“I am not an insider,” the commenter said, adding the motion to amend “is futile, not in good faith and contrary to the intent and reasoning behind the court’s order granting Taxedtodeath’s motion to quash (Hong’s subpoena).”
The commenter said he or she did not have a duty to conduct a fair investigation, because Taxedtodeath was not involved in the investigation.
“Ironically, while claiming defamation and unfair treatment, plaintiffs indiscriminately toss around allegations like hand grenades,” Taxedtodeath said.
read … Taxedtodeath
Japan Drops the ‘M’ Bomb on Hawaii
BIN: Japan is going ballistic.
Not with nuclear warheads, mind you (though the results are intercontinental).
Instead, the country just dropped a huge money-bomb in the Pacific, with Hawaii directly within the blast radius.
After more than a decade of stagnation, Japan’s new leadership decided the best way to boost economic growth would be to thoroughly nuke their country’s currency.
And indeed the massive move has sent the yen plummeting, losing around 7% of its value in the last three days alone. That means American goods and services (including those here in Hawaii) are now around 20% more expensive for the Japanese than they were in September of 2012.
Honolulu, we have a problem.
Whether or not Japan’s not-so-little experiment manages to jump-start its economy, making Hawaii more expensive to the Japanese could end up causing some near-term turbulence for our visitor industry.
Related: Stimulus Japan Style: Cost of Hawaii Vacation Jumps 3% Today
read … M Bomb
Bill Would Hinder Sale of Tesoro
SA: The bill, which has been moving in nearly identical versions by the state House and Senate, would require the buyer of any business with at least 100 employees to retain the non-management staff. No other state has such a law… If the bill is enacted, it "is likely to have a chilling effect on our ability to attract strong buyers," Lance N. Tanaka, Tesoro Hawaii's government and public affairs manager, told legislators.
The legislation would allow a buyer to lay off some of the seller's employees if the nature of the left-over business "is substantially dissimilar to the former employer's business" or if the buyer's work force needs are reduced. That could provide an exemption for Tesoro —but many other companies, such as hotels and large stores trying to emerge from a slow period of tourism, would not be so fortunate.
Moreover, the "substantially dissimilar" escape that may be available for Tesoro "is difficult to define and will result in litigation in most cases," warns the Chamber. While labor unions testified in favor of the legislation, the Chamber warned that the employees who want to keep their jobs may instead "lose their jobs due to potential overwhelming litigation costs that could impact the employee."
Related: 5,000 Petition Abercrombie to Keep Tesoro Open
read … Don't overreach on protecting jobs
In just two weeks, Tesoro’s oil refinery will shut down
KHON: The Hawaii Refinery Task Force is made up of 29 members from the public and private sectors, tasked with identifying ways the state can ensure fuel supply and pricing concerns are addressed.
The group will have to present recommendations to the governor within 60 days of the refinery’s closure.
“Instead of importing crude oil, we will be bringing in finished products and will have access to all the refining capacity in the world really to supply those products and bring them in, given our location,” said Tom Weber, Tesoro Hawaii.
Tesoro has been in talks with interested parties, but so far no one has come forward to buy the company’s assets.
SA: Loss of Tesoro site opens doors to competition, official says
read …Tesoro
Tech Mavens Make Final Pitch for IT Funding
SA: This “Transformation Plan,” released by the Office of Information Management and Technology (OIMT) in October 2012, lays out a best-practices approach to bringing Hawaii state government into the 21st century by leveraging lessons learned by other states across the country that have undergone similar efforts, including the state of Utah. We agree with the Star-Advertiser’s editorial that the Legislature should support this technology-transformation initiative and appropriate funding for OIMT based on the Senate’s budget recommendations (“Invest in state's computer systems,” Our View, April 8).
Utah has deployed more than a thousand online services since launching eUtah.gov in 1999, resulting in increased citizen access and improved efficiency. According to a recent study by the University of Utah, the state saved more than $46 million between 2007-2011 from just nine of those online services, reducing the cost per transaction from $17 for offline services to just $4 for the same services offered online….
We urge the House Finance and Senate Ways and Means committees to demonstrate their commitment to good government by funding OIMT’s budget request included in House Bill 200, SD 1.
Missing Detail: Abercrombie Hi Tech initiative Larded With Fat Salaries
read … Money
Campaign Contributions: A Public Option
Under HB 1481, in order to qualify for public funding, candidates would have to agree to accept no private contributions. Additionally, they would be required to gather signatures and small donations from voters in their districts. Currently, candidates would need 250 $5 donations and 200 signatures that correspond with voter registration records. This is intended to weed out nonviable candidates: “It’s really to make sure the candidate is qualified,” said Payne. “We want candidates who have a lot of support in their district and who know the issues.”
read … HB1481
Hawaii County Council Votes to Stiff Lawyers
HTH: Attorneys hired by former County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong in what became a high-stakes lawsuit will not be paid for their work after action Tuesday by the new County Council.
The council voted 7-2 to revert back to its coffers $42,499 in fees previously budgeted for attorneys who advised Yagong and former County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi in employee grievances that later escalated to lawsuits filed by fired Elections Administrator Pat Nakamoto and Elections Specialist Shyla Ayau. Both were reinstated following the union grievance procedure….
“We can’t lose this money,” said Puna Councilman Zendo Kern. “We need it; we’re in a tough economic time.”
But South Kona/Ka’u Councilwoman Brenda Ford said the money was encumbered when the previous council struck contracts with the law firms. She said Yagong as chief procurement officer could hire attorneys under state law, provided they’re for legal advice, not litigation. Ford said the attorneys were consulted when Corporation Counsel declared a conflict. That conflict was later resolved.
The attorneys who will not get paid following the council action are Honolulu law firms Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris, $25,000 and O’Connor, Playdon & Guben LLP, $15,000 and Kailua-Kona attorney Michael Matsukawa, $2,499.
“They in good faith came forward and did work for the prior county council and they were not paid. We operated under the law … this lawsuit is not over yet. There will be ramifications,” Ford said. “This is totally political.”
read … Totally Political
Maui Co: 18,000 Would Have Been Hit by Toilet Tax
MN: There are 13,684 cesspools and 5,084 septic tank systems in Maui County, according to state records. Hawaii Island has nearly 59,000 individual cesspools and septic systems.
Related: HB903: Toilet Tax movement in Legislature
read … 18,000
Bill aims to expand smoking ban to all Oahu beaches, parks
KHON: Honolulu’s new smoking ban was meant to target several south shore beaches, but bad wording says the ban can only be enforced on the sandy area at Ala Moana Park.
“Being that we have to go back and fix that part of the policy anyway, I feel that now is the time to go ahead and enact a broader policy that will prohibit smoking at all of our City parks,” Councilman Anderson said….
when Anderson proposed this idea earlier in the year, it was shot down by a vote of 5-4. He hopes second time around it sticks. The mayor says he’ll sign it.
read … Smoking Tobacco
Clayton Hee Shuts Down Reso Calling for Freedom for Alleged Drug Dealer
AP: Hawaii Senate judiciary committee Chairman Clayton Hee has shot down two resolutions asking federal authorities to release Roger Christie from federal prison on bail.
Hee deferred the measures Wednesday without a committee vote….
Sen. Russell Ruderman from the Big Island introduced the measures. He says Christie is a peaceful man. Ruderman visited Christie in prison last week along with Sen. Will Espero.
Totally Related: “Harassment and intimidation” Clayton Hee Challenges Will Espero to a Duel on Senate Floor
read … Doper Stays Locked Up
HB668 Medicated Marijuana Passes Senate
From Medical Cannabis Coalition of Hawaii: HB 668, the bill that would transfer Hawaii's Medical Cannabis Program to the Department of Health, has passed the Senate. All Senators voted Yes on this measure.
We will keep everyone informed on the next steps for HB 668 and SB 642 (improvements to the Medical Cannabis Program that passed the House earlier today) as they move through the final processes.
LOL: Global Wormers Predict 6.5 foot Sea Level Rise, Quadruple Size Waves
USGS: The team found that at least twice as much land is forecast to be inundated on Midway and Laysan by sea-level rise than was projected by passive models. For example, 91 percent of Midway's Eastern Island is projected to be inundated under a model that takes into account storm and wave activity accompanied by a sea-level rise of 2 meters (6.5 feet), as compared with only 19 percent under passive sea-level-rise models. Storm waves on Midway are also projected to be three to four times higher than they are today, because more deep-water wave energy could propagate over the atoll rim and larger wind-driven waves could develop on the atoll.
read … Some Embarrassingly Stupid Assertions
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