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Tuesday, May 2, 2023
May 2, 2023 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:59 PM :: 1797 Views

Why OHA Should Fully Open Its Records to the State Auditor

Hawaii refinery to produce 'renewable' fuels

Honolulu: Where You Can Earn Six Figures and Still Be Broke

Wisdom: Fixing up old stadium may be better option than building new

SA: … It was in December 2020 when officials declared Aloha Stadium would no longer be able to serve as host to spectator-attended events. There was talk of a replacement being completed for the 2023 football season. And then 2024, and then 2026, and then — cross their hearts and hope to spit — 2027. Now they’re hinting at 2028.

That’s eight years from the self-condemnation. World War II lasted six years. The Golden Gate Bridge was constructed in 41⁄3 years; the Empire State Building in 410 days. That’s all eight seasons of the “Andy Griffith Show.” That’s four Olympics. In the eight years through 2022, Apple came out with nine versions of the iPhone….

If it is too difficult to raze the stadium and replace it with a stadium-centered entertainment and housing complex, why not consider fixing Aloha Stadium?

Insurance companies declare a damaged car as being “totaled” if the repair cost exceeds the value of the vehicle. It would be costly to replace Aloha Stadium’s plumbing and repair the corroding stands and walkways. But with time and inflation as obstacles to a replacement, it might be more practical to redirect the money for a new facility to fixing the old one. After all, the field is in good shape and the scoreboard does not appear to be hitched to a U-Haul anytime soon. New pipes and lots of Bondo would go a long way while we wait for the next promise…..

Big Q: What do you think of a new $400 million stadium with bleachers and no shade?

read … Fixing up old stadium may be better option than building new 

2023 Hawaii legislative session ending Thursday

KHON: ... .Hawaii's 2023 legislative session will end on Thursday, when lawmakers will take final votes on hundreds of bills.

To prepare for that, lawmakers were busy Monday making sure the final wording is right on bills and any last minute problems have been corrected.

"Tuesday, we will give approval for many bills from last Friday. There are some bills that need fixes, so there will be floor amendments. We will work on that to address issues that came up," said Sen. Angus McKelvey.

The first bills getting a final vote will be ones without a fiscal impact, including measures that change policies and procedures….

read …2023 Hawaii legislative session ending soon

Mayor Blangiardi announces Reelection Campaign

KITV: … Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recently posted he's seeking a second term….

Blangiardi has two upcoming, in-person, Vision for the Future events on Wed. May 24 and Fri. June 2 at the Pacific Club.

For more information visit: rickblangiardi.com….

read … Mayor Blangiardi energized to pursue second term

Hawaii doctors who treat Medicaid patients to get significant pay raise

HNN: … Many Hawaii doctors will be getting a pay raise thanks to the state Legislature.

Experts say new rates for treating Medicaid patients will keep some doctors from leaving the business of medicine.

Hawaii has about 450,000 people on Medicaid, medical coverage for low-income residents. That’s a third of the population, and starting soon, the doctors who treat them will be paid considerably more, according to Hilton Raethel, CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

“So, this will be a huge incentive for physicians to take Medicaid patients and will also make it more viable for their practices when and some of those many physicians are really struggling to practice,” Raethel said.

Doctors are paid less by Medicaid than any other insurance.

Legislation that will be approved this week would raise Medicaid rates to match Medicare reimbursements, which have been about 40% higher than Medicaid.

Dr. Scott Grosskreutz, a Hilo radiologist, has been calling for the state to improve the viability of medical practices, especially on the neighbor islands.

“So that’s wonderful news and mahalo to Governor Green and the Legislature for making this happen,” he said…..

SA: Hawaii doctors to get more from Medicaid

read … Hawaii doctors who treat Medicaid patients to get significant pay raise

Fevella, HSTA Gin up Phony Fears about unsafe drinking water at school

SA: … For weeks, community members and state lawmakers representing Ewa Beach have been soliciting donations of bottled water for students at Iroquois Point Elementary School amid myriad concerns about unsafe drinking water due to either lingering effects of the 2021 Red Hill water crisis or the detection in 2022 of unsafe lead levels in a number of the school’s water fountains and sinks.

Donations have poured in from Pepsi, CVS Longs and a local philanthropic foundation, with more cases expected to be on the way, according to community members.

State education officials, however, say the water drives have been spurred by misinformation and that the water and pipes that serve the school, which are part of the Navy’s drinking water system, are safe. A handful of water fountains at the school were shut down in 2022 after water samples detected high lead levels, but DOE says the problem was determined to be contained to the now off-limits faucet fixtures….

But state Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point), who has participated in the water drives, said the community remains wary of the water and that a larger problem is that DOE is taking so long to fix the water fountains, limiting the students’ sources of drinking water….

DOE officials say some people conflated the past water troubles, resulting in erroneous information circulating through the community and spurring requests for water donations.

“The allegations first focused on Iroquois Point Elementary School and the Red Hill water crisis, then evolved to include lead contamination in the school pipes and Ewa Beach Elementary, none of which are accurate,” said DOE spokesman Derek Inoshita.

On April 5 the school’s principal, Ofelia Reed, sent a letter to parents alerting them to “inaccurate information” being circulated ahead of an Ewa Beach Lions Club Easter celebration that included a water drive for the school….

“The misinformation states that our school is still being impacted by the Red Hill Water Crisis and that our students are required to bring their own bottled water daily for drinking purposes, as the basis for a community bottled water donation drive at the event,” according to a copy of the letter provided by DOE. “We want to reassure you that our water supply is safe for all uses and that this description is not accurate.”

Still, Ofelia said bottled water is provided to anyone who requests it….

Julie Reyes Oda, former president of the Leeward Chapter of the Hawaii State Teachers Association and a teacher in Nanakuli, has helped lead the effort to obtain water donations. Oda said she became involved after several teachers from Iroquois Point Elementary School sought help.

Oda said they had approached her with a presentation titled “There is something in the water: the continued water crisis at Iroquois Point Elementary School.” The presentation included claims that the school lacked a clean source of drinking water….

read … Hawaii officials seek to quell concerns about unsafe drinking water at school

Hawaii charter school conflict holds lessons

SA Editorial … The legal standoff between Kamalani Academy and the supervising State Public Charter School Commission came to a head in recent weeks. The commission decided in February against renewing the Wahiawa-based charter school’s contract, citing what it described as contract violations. This could have forced Kamalani to close in June, upending plans for the families of its roughly 160 students.

But the resulting school protest led to a first-ever quasi-judicial appeal before the state Board of Education, which on Thursday voted to reverse the commission’s decision….

they both need to hit the reboot button.

For the commission’s part, as the school board indicated, proper procedure was not followed. Voss said the commission had based its decision against Kamalani’s contract renewal on problems that had not been raised in an earlier performance evaluation, and it did not adequately describe the violations….

These are technicalities, perhaps, but that matters in the delivery of due process that the school deserved.

Unrelated but disturbing stumbles by the commission’s former chief also should be underscored.

The state Ethics Commission last week settled with Sione Thompson, the Charter School Commission’s executive director from September 2016 through February 2020 who admitted to conflict-of-interest violations, taking actions affecting three nonprofits to which he served on a board. He also failed to report his competing interests….

Of course, neither did Kamalani Academy itself follow protocols — challenging as that was during the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Part of the Charter School Commission’s critique of Kamalani rested on its launch of full or partial online learning in 2020 as the coronavirus posed risks to in-person classes. In 2021, the commission ruled that Kamalani did not have authority to open a new virtual, blended or alternate program without amending its charter.

The commission reduced the school’s enrollment count as a result, which led to a loss of $1.4 million in state revenue allotted to the academy.

There were other missteps listed as well. Kamalani officials did not release students to other schools unless the school-issued laptops were returned and reported inaccuracies in student records; there also were allegations that a teacher’s license did not cover all grades she taught and failure to follow an admission policy approved by the commission….

RELATED: Ethics: Charter School Commission Exec Funneled Money to his Pet Nonprofits

read … Hawaii charter school conflict holds lessons

Homeless Drug Addict Dead Because he was not Jailed for TRO Violation

CB: … The man shot dead by police on Molokai Sunday was under two restraining orders from his parents, and court documents indicate he was homeless and mentally unwell. He was scheduled to appear in court Monday for a pretrial conference for violating one of the restraining orders.

Maui County police shot and killed 40-year-old Nathaniel Naki when they responded to a violation of a restraining order in Waialua.

Naki came towards them with a weapon, a police press release says. It was a machete, according to Maui County council vice chair Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who represents Molokai.

One officer used his Taser on Naki, but it didn’t work, so they both fired their guns. Naki died at Molokai General Hospital….

read …. Fatal Shooting By Police On Molokai Spotlights Need For Crisis Intervention Resources

State Takes Over Private Sector Program which sends homeless to mainland--will fly local homeless to Vegas

SA: …The funding, provided in the latest version of House Bill 1366, follows previous efforts in Hawaii to return homeless people to the mainland driven by the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association working with the Institute for Human Services, which operates Hawaii’s biggest homeless shelters, Kauai Economic Opportunity and Maui Family Life Center.

(Unfortunately, the state’s involvement in this pre-existing private-sector initiative dooms it.)

State Rep. John Mizuno (D, Kamehameha Heights- Kalihi Valley) separately has paid for airfares out of his own pocket to send more than 50 homeless people back to the mainland and their families.

Mizuno complained to New York officials that they were dumping their homeless in Hawaii with no support.

Hawaii’s “return to home” plan will work, Mizuno said, because it relies on a support network of family and friends on the mainland.

“New York failed,” he said. “Hawaii will not. We have the blueprint. This will work because we are reuniting them with family.”

The overwhelming number of homeless people in Hawaii are from the islands, said James Koshiba, the state’s homeless coordinator.

But the new state funding could also benefit local homeless people who may be welcomed by family now living in places such as Las Vegas “who say, ‘Uncle, come home and live with us,’” Koshiba said. “This is a valuable resource. I’m glad the Legislature saw fit to put resources into it.”

(Wait til NV hears that we are mailing our bums to them.)

The Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association, working with its partner organizations, has paid for half of the airfares to send 744 homeless people from the mainland back to friends and family between 2014 and 2019.

(Soon the skies will be full of flying bums.)

With the new state funding, Mufi Hannemann — HLTA’s president and executive director — hopes his organization also can partner with a Big Isle organization to send the island’s homeless people back home.

“We only pay half the fare and expect family and friends to pay the other half,” Hannemann said. “I just know that it works. … We’ve got to try everything.”…

(Unfortunately the state will lack the flexibility that HTLA had in making this program work.)

read … Hawaii to pay to return homeless people back to mainland

Bill 19: Island-Wide Limits on Beach Commerce

CB: … Bill 19, now under consideration before the Honolulu City Council, would set limits on city beaches to three commercial tour buses at a time, or 10 in a day, but would restrict them to daytime hours and weekdays. Operators would be required to pay for permits from the city. Violators would be fined.

Blangiardi sees his solution as more equitable than current practice because it avoids the problem of communities shifting the burden from one place to another, with tourism-related businesses ejected from one beach simply transplanting themselves. It would instead create a standardized system that the city would find easier to enforce, he says.

read … More Oahu Beaches Would Be Open To Business Under Mayor’s Plan

May 1 First Day of ‘Sensitive Places’ Gun Law

KHON: … onday, May 1, marks the first day of the Sensitive Places Law, which bans Oahu gun owners with concealed carry permits at certain establishments.

They are allowed at some businesses but many of them don’t seem to have much interest in letting that happen.

The new law states that businesses who don’t want people with guns in their property don’t have to do anything to declare that. Although they can put up signs saying no guns allowed. Those who want to allow guns are required to put up signs saying so.

“You must post signs that say guns allowed in places as laid out in the law that are very visible to patrons for entering or exiting your place of business,” said Ian Scheuring, city spokesman.

Businesses can pick up one of the signs at Honolulu Hale and at this point they’re not exactly flying off the shelves….

read …  Oahu businesses reluctant to allow guns inside

HECO Proposes Spending $190M Ratepayer Funds Relying on ‘Probabilistic Models’

IM: … Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO), and Maui Electric Company, Limited (MECO) filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission to commit funds currently estimated at $189,727,000 for a Climate Adaptation Transmission and Distribution Resilience Program for the period 2022-2027. 

The HECO Companies can spend money on whatever they want to, but to get ratepayers to pay for the expense, the utility must receive Public Utilities Commission  (PUC) permission. The PUC opened the proceeding last summer….

HECO Reply Statement opened with an excerpt from Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 44 adopted by the Legislature in 2021. “Based upon the scientific information and expertise available, Hawaii is in danger of disaster occurrences as a result of the effects of global warming, thereby endangering the health, safety, and welfare of the people, warranting preemptive and protective action... climate mitigation and adaptation efforts [should] mobilize at the necessary scale and speed.”…

HECO determined that the $190M expenditure would be cheaper than the financial impact of a major hurricane hitting the islands without the climate hardening in place….

read … HECO Proposes Spending Ratepayer Funds Relying on Probabilistic Models

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