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Friday, October 18, 2019
October 18, 2019 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:11 PM :: 3350 Views

National Council on Disability Rips Hawaii Assisted Suicide Law

Hawaii Vape Retailers Oppose Proposed E-Cigarette, Store-Bought, Nicotine Flavor Ban

NELHA Economic Impact Estimated

Hawaii Death Tax Will Soon be Tied for #1

Hillary Clinton says Tulsi Gabbard is a 'Russian asset' groomed to ensure Trump reelection

Kahuku wind farm convoy on the move; Dozens arrested, utility pole cut down

Staffer Convicted In Union Vote Rigging Finally Out At HART

CB: … Yamanoha’s continued employment at HART drew criticism, but rail agency officials won’t say whether he was fired or left voluntarily…

agency leaders were reluctant to dismiss Yamanoha immediately after he pleaded guilty. Last month, Robbin said that he saw “no compelling reason” to fire Yamanoha and that HART would wait until his sentencing in December to decide what, if any, action should be taken.

“At this point in time, he’s doing a good job at HART and there’s no real valid reason for us to change his employment status,” Robbins said during a Sept. 5 media briefing.

On Thursday, Robbins declined to say whether he still stands by those statements.

He also declined to say whether HART has a severance, settlement or other agreement with Yamanoha.

Yamanoha did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Last year he earned a salary of $86,304, according to Civil Beat’s searchable public employee salary database.

In September, Robbins said he was being advised how to handle the situation with Yamanoha but wouldn’t say who was giving the advice.

read … Staffer Convicted In Union Vote Rigging Out At HART

Victim of racially-charged violence on Maui outraged after his attackers get probation

HNN: … The victim of a racially-charged attack on Maui five years ago says he’s outraged that the men who beat him unconscious got off with probation.

Audio of the violence at a home in Kahakulua Village was caught on a security camera.

In the 23-minute video, the attackers ― Levi Aki, Jr. and Kaulana Alo Kaonohi, can be heard repeatedly using racial slurs as they beat Chris Kunzelman and then force him to leave.

He had just moved into the neighborhood.

Despite the video evidence, the case was marred by delays caused by Maui prosecutors, who eventually cut plea deals.

In the end, Aki served a total of six months in jail and got credit for time served. And Kaonohi was allowed work release.

Kunzelman, meanwhile, said he was never able return to his home because the neighbors put a lock on his gate. He called the sentences for the two “absolutely ridiculous.”

"The only word I can come up with is corruption,” said Kunzelman. “Both of them got probation and absolutely nothing. They got off scot-free.”

Kunzelman has since moved back to Arizona.

In an interview with Hawaii News Now on Thursday, he also questioned why the case was not charged as a hate crime. …

Link: Video of Attack

read … Victim of racially-charged violence on Maui outraged after his attackers get probation

Soft on Crime: Thugs ‘evict’ family from house, get probation—5 Years Later Family still can’t get back into house

MN: … Levi “Pio” Aki Jr., 30, of Wailuku was given credit for more than six months he previously spent in jail, as part of his sentence.

“Every night I relive the attack in my nightmare,” Christopher Kunzelman said at the sentencing hearing.

He said he, his uncle and friends had been renovating a house he bought on Kahekili Highway, expecting it would be the “final house” for his wife, who had been diagnosed with a potentially disabling disease.

On Feb. 13, 2014, “it was going to be the first night living in my wife’s dream house,” he said. “It was so exciting.”

Kunzelman said he saw two men approach the property from the rocky beach.

His handicapped uncle was “cracked” over the head by the strangers, Kunzelman said, before the men rushed Kunzelman.

“For many minutes, they beat me and terrorized me,” he said.

He said Aki handed co-defendant Kaulana Alo Kaonohi a roofing shovel that was used to hit Kunzelman on the back of his head.

He said the attack was captured in a 23-minute video, along with Kunzelman’s pleas for the men to stop.

“Instead, they said, ‘We’re going to tie you up and drag you, you haole f—er. You’re going missing today, I swear to God. We’re going to cut you up and feed you to the fishes,’ ” Kunzelman said.

He said the defendants told him, “It’s nothing personal, you just have the wrong f—king color skin.”

Kunzelman said he was “seeing stars” when Alo Kaonohi threw him up the stairs and told him to get his belongings and get out.

“I was being violently evicted from my own house,” Kunzelman said.

He said he was legally carrying a gun, which he tossed away when his attackers saw it.  (Wrong move.)…

He said his attackers couldn’t find his gun before Kunzelman and his uncle fled and the intruders smashed windows of the house with the shovel.

Later, he said police told him everything was stolen from the house.

Aki had pleaded no contest to first-degree terroristic threatening.

In exchange, the prosecution dismissed charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree theft and first-degree criminal property damage.

Saying the first-degree terroristic threatening charge “barely resembles the crime you see in the video,” Kunzelman asked the judge to throw out the plea agreement and have the case go to trial….

“I don’t think he would have gone to the house at all if it weren’t for his cousin,” she said. “For whatever reason, he followed him over. He thought Mr. Kunzelman was trespassing. They also didn’t think he had an easement. That was sort of the impetus to go over there. We’re still unclear whether there’s this valid easement or not.”…

Kunzelman said he can’t go back to his Kahakuloa house.

“Both gates are locked, and they built a fence around my house,” he said….

“Would you let him go back to his house?” Judge Cahill asked....

MN: Jail term ordered for unprovoked bar attack

read … Beating victim ‘insulted’ by probation sentence

Guam: Discussion begins on CLTC federal lawsuit, settlement

KUAM: … How to save the Chamoro Land trust and can Guam pull a win from the clutches of a federal suit alleging the land trust violates the federal fair housing act - that's what talks centered on today before Legislative land Chair senator Therese Terlaje's committee.

Present - Attorney General Leevin Camacho and Attorney Mike Phillips.
AG Camacho said part of the problem is that the federal government is comparing the land trust to the fair housing act, which given Guam's unique history may be apples to oranges….

2019: Judge: It's not race-based. Court favors Chamorro Land Trust Act

read … Discussion begins on CLTC federal lawsuit, settlement

Lawmakers to revisit statewide ban of flavored e-cigarettes

SA: … State lawmakers, grappling with how to stop an unprecedented rise in vaping among Hawaii youth, will consider a statewide ban of flavored electronic cigarettes again next legislative session amid a growing outbreak of lung illnesses nationwide.

As of Tuesday there were 33 deaths and 1,479 cases of lung injuries linked to vaping in all states except Alaska, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hawaii has at least two reported cases.

“I would personally like to ban all of the sale of e-cigarettes,” said Sen. Roz Baker (D, South-West Maui), following a Thursday legislative briefing seeking solutions to end the “youth vaping epidemic.” “The other thing is to increase the taxes….”

Juul Suspends Sales of Flavored Vapes And Signs Settlement To Stop Marketing To Youth

State Lawmakers Hear Options For Limiting Vaping As Cases Of Illness, Deaths Grow

Hawaii High Schooler To Legislators: Ban Flavored E-Cigs

read … Lawmakers to revisit statewide ban of flavored e-cigarettes

Mauna Kea: HGEA Files Altitude Sickness Grievance

HNN: … The TMT protest at Mauna Kea has lasted more than three months and HGEA is raising red flags about altitude sickness.

Hawaii News Now obtained a HGEA grievance and letter sent in September to the Department of Public Safety.

The letter said seven workers from Oahu were forced off the mountain, five of them evacuated and hospitalized.

“HGEA is extremely concerned with the health and safety of deputy sheriffs,” wrote HGEA executive director Randy Perreira.

The Attorney General’s office confirmed three deputy sheriffs and one attorney general investigator were transported in separate incidents in an ambulance, but did not release specific dates….

read … Altitude

Hawai`i BioEnergy Proposals Generate Heat

IM: …The Public Utilities Commission is now holding a contested case proceeding that will examine the economic, environmental, cultural, and greenhouse gas impacts associated with the proposed Hu Honua project.

On Monday, HELCO and/or Hu Honua will file a greenhouse gas using life cycle analysis. Today, three days before its release, Civil Beat published a community voice column written by Hu Honua President Warren Lee suggesting that the proposed facility will be carbon neutral.

A five-week discovery period will commence on October 28, followed by briefs, written testimony, more discovery, and an evidentiary hearing with cross-examination….

CB: Some Hu Honua Propaganda

read … Hawai`i BioEnergy Proposals Generate Heat

Navy Resists Calls To Relocate Or Strengthen Red Hill Fuel Tanks

CB: … Almost six years after 27,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked from an underground tank at Red Hill, the U.S. Navy says it’s not realistic or affordable to fortify its 20 tanks with double walls.

If it can’t come up with a fix to prevent leaks, the Navy says it will drain the fuel at Red Hill – but not until around 2045.

That’s eight years later than a previous commitment made to state regulators.

“The plan is to continue to modernize the facility,” said Navy Rear Adm. Robert Chadwick in an interview Tuesday. “If we can’t get to a secondary containment solution, we are committing to defueling the facility in the 2045 timeframe.” ….

SA: Navy eyes new 2045 deadline for Red Hill tank improvements

SA Editorial: Don’t stall on Red Hill fuel tanks

read … Navy Resists Calls To Relocate Or Strengthen Red Hill Fuel Tanks

DOBOR: Ala Wai Fee Hikes Designed to Clear out Live-Aboards

CB: … “They’re not supposed to be floating condos, which is what it has turned into,” Ed Underwood, administrator of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, told Civil Beat earlier this year. “People don’t use the boats. They use it for housing and that was never the intent at the Ala Wai.”

Indeed, some boats in the harbor look like floating flophouses that aren’t headed out to sea anytime soon.

And not everyone living aboard boats in the harbor is paying to do so. DOBOR said in 2017 it was aware of at least 45 boats with illegal liveaboards at the Ala Wai.

Some longtime harbor tenants fear their way of life may be coming to a sudden end, and the abruptness is partially due to the state being so slow to start charging realistic fees….

SA: Boat owners protest Ala Wai harbor fee increases

read … Fee Hikes

LOL: Hawaii’s surf might disappear completely if climate change worsens and turns ocean into Jell-o, experts say

HNN:  …If this nonsense were true, we can stop worrying about sea level rise because the lack of wave action will eliminate erosion….

read … Hawaii’s surf might disappear completely if climate change worsens, experts say

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