Email Chain Reveals Hawaii Obamacare Leaders Debating “Inevitable Failure”
What does a buck get you? A strange deal, ex-Hawaii regent says
Hawaii’s GE tax mark-up
Video: Debating Same-Sex Marriage on Island Insights
Hawaii Rifle Assn. 20th Annual Shooting Sports Fair
Before Waikiki Shooting, Chris Deedy in Benghazi
Slom All Alone: "Yippee!"
Green Energy Scammers Promise themselves $300M from Hawaii
SA: A plan to be unveiled today to more than double the energy efficiency in state and Honolulu County buildings could add 5,000 new jobs to Hawaii's economy by 2015 and bolster efforts to meet aggressive clean-energy goals.
The state planned to make a commitment to more energy efficiency at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in Chicago hosted by former President Bill Clinton....
Hawaii pledged to do its part by investing more than $300 million to execute more energy savings performance contracts, which offer contractually guaranteed savings for comprehensive energy, water efficiency and operational improvements, with private sector partners....
That's good news for clean energy, which is one of the fastest growing and most important industries in Hawaii, said Jeff Mikulina, CEO of Blue Planet Foundation, a nonprofit formed in 2007 to make Hawaii a role model for clean-energy solutions.
read ... State Budget Set at CGI Meeting?
51,000 Water Dept Customers May Have Been Overcharged
KITV: ....when the bill hit $740 dollars for one month, Dicks thought it was time he took action.
"I thought it was outrageous at $400 and $500 for every two months and it’s just gone up from there,” said Dicks.
So every day for 50 days straight, Karl Dicks read his meter.
By his accounting, daily usage was only 492 gallons when he says the Board of Water Supply's estimated usage was pegged at 2,500....
The Board of Water Supply admitted it was having problems with its automated meter reading program and earlier this year replaced 51 thousand batteries across the island.
Those batteries were failing, which led an unusually high number of "estimated" bills and so they had to be replaced...
"Find your meter. Read your meter Keep track and figure your daily usage," said Dicks.
Take your water bill, compare it and see if it’s anywhere even close," said Dicks.
read ... Waipio customer questions accuracy of estimated water bills
Navy Solar Scam EIS Comments Open Thru June 24
SA: The Navy has stepped away from a controversial plan — at least for now — to blanket the historic Ford Island runway in photovoltaic panels, a new environmental assessment reveals.
Instead of covering 28 acres of runway with 60,000 PV panels and surrounding it with a 7-foot fence, the latest Navy plan calls for 50,000 panels on nearby fallow land on Waipio Peninsula.
The photovoltaics are part of a massive solar power project undertaken at Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps bases on Oahu and Kauai.
The Hawaii Joint Services Solar Power Generation effort would be constructed at 85 sites, providing between 7 and 56 megawatts of power — an amount representing 2 percent to 16 percent of the total power consumption at the installations.
Sixty-eight of the systems would be mounted on existing roofs, 12 on structures above parking lots and five on the ground.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, which is overseeing the project for all the services, awarded in 2011 a $500 million maximum, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract to Island Pacific Energy LLC of Honolulu, Pacific Energy Solutions LLC of Honolulu and Photon Finance LLC of Mountain View, Calif., for purchase of reliable, locally generated power from solar systems at Hawaii military installations.
At this point, the Navy is in a public comment period for the final environmental assessment. Documents can be downloaded at www.dodhawaiisolarea.org.
This comment period runs through June 24.
read ... June 24
PUC: HECO Must Give More Money to Green Energy Scammers
CB: The three major tenets of the plan include lowering customer bills, pushing forward on clean energy and ensuring fairness when it comes to installing rooftop solar. Beyond a general discussion about those energy goals, few specifics were provided about what types of renewable energy projects will be taking priority in the coming years....
Earlier this year, the utility announced that it would begin accepting proposals for large renewable energy projects that provide cost savings to consumers, despite a ruling by the PUC that requires such projects be competitively bid. Seu said that the utility has received about 25 project proposals and is currently reviewing them. HECO plans to request a waiver from the competitive bidding process from the PUC for projects it deems worthy.
As far as renewable energy sources, Seu said that bringing geothermal from the Big Island was an unlikely scenario in the near future. But other than that, the utility doesn’t seem to be ruling out any other options, including increasing wind and solar energy and pushing forward on biofuels.
The controversial Lanai wind farm, which would bring energy to Oahu, is still a possibility, said Seu. HECO has an agreement with Castle & Cooke for the wind farm. But the project can’t move forward without a bid for undersea cables. The PUC is months behind schedule in releasing a request for proposals for 200 megawatts or more of renewable energy for Oahu, which includes the cables.
The utility also said that it planned to unveil smart meters in 2018. The meters can provide both the utility and consumers with real time information about their energy use.
LINK: HECO Plan
read ... Green Energy Scammers
Schatz vs Hanabusa on FISA Spying
SA: U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono are among 13 Senators calling for an investigation into National Security Agency surveillance programs recently uncovered by media that may place at risk the privacy of millions of Americans.
In a letter sent Wednesday to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board -- an independent agency created by Congress charged with overseeing actions of the executive branch -- the senators detailed their concerns over the two programs, one that gathers hundreds of millions of U.S. cellphone records; the other collected Internet usage data on foreign users from nine U.S. tech companies.
The letter was posted online on the Scribd account of U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. and asks the Board to make it an urgent priority to review the matters and provide an unclassified report to Congress and the public. The full letter:
2013 Letter to Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
Comment: "Hanabusa is the only member of the Hawaii delegation to have supported an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."
Oi: Snowden’s stint in isles stirs awareness of leaks
read ... 'Troubling details'
Star-Adv Lobbies for COFA Funding in DOA Immigration Bill
SA: The bipartisan Gang of Eight senators who put together the immigration reform package last month were offered 301 amendments from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which 92 were approved, mostly technical. Among the more substantive was Sen. Mazie Hirono's amendment to reverse the elements of a mistake made 17 years ago by Congress, a mistake it has been reluctant to correct.
More than 50,000 people — nearly one-fourth of the populations of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia — have moved to the U.S., including 13,231 in Hawaii and at least 10,000 in Arkansas.
Their education and medical care cost Hawaii $114.9 million in 2010, up from $32 million in 2002, according to Gov. Neil Abercrombie. The state Department of Human Services spent $42.7 million on Medicaid-related benefits to the Pacific migrants — $26.4 million of it on services for able-bodied adults, $14.1 million for the aged, blind and disabled and $2.2 million for children and pregnant women. Restoration of Medicaid eligibility would cut the state expenditure in half, according to the department.
Those expenses should have been paid by the federal government under the 1985 Compact of Free Association Act, as compensation for past U.S. nuclear testing and defense uses, but a 1996 welfare reform law erased the migrants' eligibility for Medicaid. In 2010, a federal judge ordered Hawaii's government to restore life-saving health care to low-income migrants. Many Pacific islanders migrate to Hawaii mainly to receive that health care.
Nov 2, 2010: Abercrombie admits responsibility for costing Hawaii millions under Compact of Free Association
read ... COFA
Abercrombie Raising Money on Mainland
CB: Last week he was in San Diego to address the 26th Convention of the Office and Professional Employees International Union. Other headliners included AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
Did the governor, who took personal time for the trip, perhaps engage in a little fundraising while in San Diego? Or from May 22-24, when he traveled to San Francisco? Or this week, when he accompanied the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Military Affairs Council delegation's annual visit to Washington, D.C.?
In response to a media inquiry, Abercrombie campaign manager Bill Kaneko emailed this statement:
Fundraising is a necessary element in running for any statewide race. While Governor Abercrombie's fundraising efforts are focused on Hawaii, there are periodic opportunities for mainland fundraisers to be held. To date, Governor Abercrombie held one mainland fundraiser on February 23, 2013, in Washington, D.C. Keep in mind that Governor Abercrombie spent two decades in the U.S. Congress. During that time, he developed strong networks in the U.S. House and Senate, Pentagon, and various federal agencies which continue to benefit Hawaii. He also maintains strong relationships with friends and supporters throughout the country who admire his leadership, ability to make tough decisions, and desire to support his re-election efforts in 2014.
It certainly would not be unusual for Abercrombie to be raising mainland money now — all the better to beef up his war chest in time for the next campaign contribution report, which is due for release at the end of July.
June 1, 2013: Abercrombie Angered by "Damn Idiot who got Stoned and drove off bridge"
read ... Will PR Blitz Help Abercrombie Coast To Re-Election?
Affordable Housing Provider Retaliates after Asbestos Discovered
SA: Hale Mahaolu — which listed assets of $36 million for the 2011 tax year — owns and manages 14 rental properties, providing about 1,000 affordable housing units for low-income families and the elderly in Maui County. Nishida Nakao, 39, has worked for the organization for nearly 20 years, assuming the job of deputy executive director in 2010.
Through the past two years, Nishida Nakao said, she pushed for testing and proper removal of the hazardous material at the Lahaina apartment complex. She said Katsuda wanted maintenance employees to collect samples and to perform renovations, saying that using certified contractors would be too expensive.
After months of back and forth and working under "increasingly antagonistic" conditions, Nishida Nakao said Katsuda told her in April he was terminating her deputy executive director position. She is on medical leave due to stress and anxiety — she still holds the title of development director — and has hired an attorney to try to resolve the personnel matter.
Meanwhile, she filed an "alleged safety or health hazard" complaint last week with the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division, reporting that untrained employees were handling and disposing of harmful materials at Lahaina Surf and two other Hale Mahaolu properties in Kahului.
The complaint, filed June 3, also says "administrative controls and safe work practices are not being utilized for asbestos removal and disposal activities" and that employees are "not provided personal protective equipment."
The division is "in the process of conducting an investigation," said Bill Kunstman, spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
read ... Affordable?
Kahoolawe Commission Burns Thru $44M, Looks for Handoff to Akaka Tribe
MN: In 2003, the trust fund had $33 million. In fiscal 2009, it was down to $16.5 million, further dropping to $13.5 million in fiscal 2010 and to $10.7 million in fiscal 2011, according to a financial report on the fund.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Naho'opi'i said the fund fell further to $8.1 million in fiscal 2012 and is projected to go down to $5.8 million in this fiscal year. If no new revenue source is approved by the state Legislature, the commission will be left with around $1 million at the beginning of fiscal 2016, he said.
Then, the commission would "probably shut down operations," he said, putting ongoing island restoration work in mothballs until more funding is available or the island passes on to a Native Hawaiian sovereign entity.
read ... Akaka Tribe
Dinnan Case: Lawyer Changes Story
KHON: The witness believes Dinnan got hurt before officers arrived.
Other sources say Dinnan was involved in a scuffle at the Waimanalo home, after being tracked down by someone who claimed Dinnan had stolen a vehicle.
“This officer did nothing having restrained Mr. Dinnan to stop this other individual from contributing to the asphyxiation of Dinnan. I can’t comment on who this person is, we know the name of the person that was involved” Attorney for Dinnan’s girlfriend, Myles Breiner said....
With all these conflicting reports, flyers were posted around the neighborhood asking for witnesses to come forward.
Something the police union says is just a way to drum up business.
“End of the day the facts going to come out the truth will be told. You’ll never find anyone coming back to apologize for ruining this officers reputation through defamation,” SHOPO President, Tenari Maafala said.
read ... Attorney says third party involved in Kaneohe man’s death
UH Study: Yellow Tang Population Jumps 14%
WHT: The University of Hawaii studied Puako and Pauoa extensively from 1979 to 1981, Walsh said. To get an accurate understanding of the bays’ fish and coral declines, Walsh’s team resurveyed the bays in 2007 and 2008 using the same methods as the team nearly three decades earlier. Walsh recently wrote a new report incorporating that data, and more, as part of a peer-reviewed paper on the fishery decline.
“Over that 28-year period, whatever you were looking at, it’s gone downhill dramatically,” he added.
According to Walsh’s latest report, the total abundance of all fish species declined 43 percent to 69 percent at Puako. The variations in decline reflect the different areas of the bay surveyed. Of the 35 most abundant reef fish — which make up 92 percent of fish present in the initial surveys — 31 declined in abundance. The decline ranged from 9 percent less yellow tangs to a 98 percent decline in the mamo, or Hawaiian sergeant, population. Kole, or goldring surgeonfish, populations at Puako dropped 61 percent; wekea, or yellowstripe goatfish, dropped 86 percent; and the Achilles tang population dropped 97 percent.
At Pauoa, the declines ranged from 49 to 76 percent, the report said. Again, 31 of 35 species showed population decreases, from 6 percent in the bird wrasse population to a complete disappearance of the threespot chromis, the report said. Kole decreased by 71 percent and mamo dropped by 99 percent.
One increase at Pauoa, Walsh said, was a 14 percent growth in the yellow tang population there. Between Puako and Pauao, that species had a net gain, he added. (Oh boy. How are they going to blame aquarium collectors now?)
The decreases weren’t limited just to fish, Walsh said. Coral cover dropped by 35 percent at Puako and 21 percent at Pauoa. Crustose coralline algae — the precursor to coral growth — was down 64 percent at Puako and 87 percent at Pauoa.
read ... More Yellow Tang
NOAA Rules May Overturn Hawaii Shark Fin Ban
MV: The Abercrombie administration has interpreted the law in the strongest way possible. They consider possessing shark fins in state waters or on land to be illegal even if they are attached to shark bodies.
This is not inconsistent with federal law. The Hawaii law does not interfere with fishing in federal waters; it regulates possession, sale, and trade within the state.
Fishermen can still land sharks legally caught in federal waters, just not in Hawaii.
If the state laws are overturned, Hawaii will be forced to open itself up to the trade in sharks.
read ... Obama administration proposes a step backward in shark conservation
KSBE Shopping center plan called off
SA: Stanley Chang who represents east Honolulu, scheduled a news conference at Maunalua Bay Beach Park for this morning to announce what he described Wednesday as Kamehameha Schools' "intent to suspend plans for the Kuapa Gateway Parcel." (Why no announcement from KSBE?)
Chang told the Star-Advertiser he believes the suspension is indefinite. "There are no existing plans to proceed with development of the property at this time," he said.... (Translation: Chang is using this to help his run for Congress)
Greg Knudsen, Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board chairman, said he is not surprised by the decision. "It's the only correct decision for them to take," he said. But he said he wonders whether the suspension is a tactic by Kamehameha Schools to wait until opposition to the project subsides.
Community opposition has been "overwhelming," Knudsen said. An estimated 200 people attended the first community meeting on the development plan and 400 at the second, he said.
(Obvious Question: Will KSBE now donate the site to Chang so he can open a homeless tent city?)
read ... B Bye
QUICK HITS: