Hawaii Next? States Halting Payment to CGI over Obamacare Debacle
Health Connector: Our Miserable Failure is Positive Momentum
Tourism Arrivals, Spending Drop for 3rd Straight Month
State Energy Office Updates 'Clean' Energy Leaderboard
Target Credit Card Breach May Affect 121K in Hawaii
House, Senate Schedule Committee Hearings on Budget
Some speculate that Par Petroleum wants to bring liquefied natural gas to Hawaii
PBN: Some local energy observers say that when Tesoro put its Hawaii operation on the market in January 2012, the buyer most likely had to be interested in adding the shipping of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to what’s currently being offered.
That’s certainly what Ted Peck is thinking.
The former administrator for the state Energy Office who was once president of a Honolulu-based startup with plans to take over Hawaiian Electric Industries said that his group looked into buying Tesoro’s refinery for the purpose of importing natural gas.
read ... LNG Future?
$20K for Nothing: Frustration grows for photovoltaic customers
KHON: Frustration is growing among solar power customers waiting for approval from Hawaiian Electric Company. This comes after finding out there are many other customers out there who went ahead and powered their photovoltaic systems without HECO's approval.
Hawaii Kai resident Kristi Matson has been waiting nearly four months to get approval from HECO so she can install solar panels at her house.
"I feel like everyone around me has done their photovoltaic. They all rave about it how great it is," Matson said.
Same goes for Scot Cameron, who plopped down $20,000 to have one installed and still waiting....
The owner of Hawaii Energy Connection says there are hundreds who are avoiding the wait because solar companies are essentially telling their customers it's ok to turn their PV system on without approval.
"Lets them know that they can energize their system right away as their process is going through Hawaiian Electric, which is not true at all," Hawaii Energy Connection managing partner Chris DeBone.
HECO is aware of the problem and has started running an ad, saying PV systems without approval could be turned off. But that hasn't happened.
The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs says it is a violation, but there's no penalty for it other than HECO turning off the power.
TruthOut: Booming Solar Energy Halted by Hawaii Utility Because Sun Produces Too Much Power!
read ... Frustration grows for photovoltaic customers
Abercrombie Sets up UH Hilo Pharmacy School for Legislators to Knock Down
HTH: Supporters of the University of Hawaii at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy were pleased this month, if not surprised, to once again receive support from Gov. Neil Abercrombie in their quest to obtain funding for a permanent building....
Largely, he said, legislators who didn’t support the project appeared to be making a statement with the decision that they were trying to be more fiscally conservative
read ... Campaign 2014
I Aloha Molokai Sings Holiday Wishes to HECO’s CEO
CB: I Aloha Molokai has released a version of The Twelve Days of Christmas that pokes fun at Constance Lau, the president and chief executive officer of Hawaiian Electric Industries.
read ... 12 Weeks of Christmas
Idiot Chock Voted Against GMOs "For the Children"
KGI: He also cast the vote that provided a council majority to override Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s veto of Bill 2491-- establishing buffer zones and public disclosure of restricted-use pesticides and genetically modified crops.
“If I’ve been given the opportunity to make a difference in the health of a child’s life, I’m going to take it,” he said.
Reality: Philippine Kids Suffer Blindness as anti-GMO Activists Destroy 'Golden Rice' Field Trial
read ... Airhead
Trees Chopped to Make Way for Hawaii County Plastic Bag Ban
HTH: The days of collecting plastic grocery bags are coming to an end.
On Jan. 17, all Big Island businesses, including groceries, restaurants and other retailers, will be prohibited from distributing any single-use plastic bag.
During the past year, consumers have been dishing out funds for plastic bags at checkout lines. The fee was part of the plastic bag reduction ordinance adopted in 2011. The ordinance gave businesses one year — from 2013-14 — to eliminate plastic bag inventories and allowed them to distribute the bags to customers in exchange for a small fee.
Toby Taniguchi, executive vice president of store operations for KTA Super Stores, said he’s had a “wide gamut of reactions” from customers since the ordinance took effect....
First-time violators will receive a notice informing them of their violation and order them to cease and desist. Merchants found in violation of the law a second time could receive a $250 per day penalty, and those in violation for a third time face a fine of $500 per day. For subsequent violations, the fine is $1,000 per day....
When the ban goes into effect in mid-January, Honolulu will be the only county in Hawaii that doesn’t have a ban on plastic bags. The Honolulu City Council passed a bag ban for Oahu, but it doesn’t go into effect until 2015.
Background:
read ... Tree Huggers become Tree Choppers
New Push for Ethics Reform in Hawaii County
HTH: Still trying to keep a 2008 campaign promise, Mayor Billy Kenoi has reintroduced his ethics bill to the Hawaii County Council.
The bill has twice been spurned by the Board of Ethics and then killed by a previous council after months of delays. Kenoi is hoping the new council will see the reforms differently.
He’s proposed four changes, some of them modeled after the City and County of Honolulu’s code. The changes, aimed at stopping the most blatant appearances of conflicts of interest, forbid employees from contracting with county government or lobbying boards and commissions on behalf of private businesses.
The most significant proposal is a ban on companies holding contracts with county government where county employees, their spouses or dependent children have a controlling interest.
“People can choose to be either an employee of the county or a vendor of the county, but not both,” Kenoi has repeatedly said.
He said Friday he’ll likely testify in person in support of the bill.
read ... Kenoi pushes ethics reform
"The median age of homeless people is getting older."
SA: ...That is due to people who are the aging chronic homeless, and "those losing housing on the higher age range, who are living on fixed incomes," she said. "If the cost of housing continues to go up, do the math, it isn't going to work."....
Seventy-two percent of hate crimes or violent crimes committed against homeless persons in 2010 were by persons under the age of 30, and 50 percent under the age of 20....
Mitchell noted that within the last month there were three reports of assaults on homeless individuals in the Iwilei area.
In October, Lynn Riley, 49, died of bleeding within the skull due to blunt-force injury from an assault at Aala Park. Police arrested a 58-year-old homeless man in that case....
On Dec. 21, Catholic Charities Hawaii held a memorial for 18 homeless known to have died this year from various causes.
read ... Lifelong Homelessness
In Quest For Obama Library, Hawaii Plays Underdog
AP: A high-level campaign has been underway here since Obama won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 — before it was even clear he'd win his party's nomination, much less the presidency.
From the governor to the state's congressional delegation and local university leaders, Hawaii has spared no effort in laying the groundwork for a potential library, gently pressing Obama's sister and close friends, and setting aside prime oceanfront real estate just in case Hawaii's favorite son chooses Oahu to host the monument to his legacy. (Thus proving that nobody really believes in sea-level rise.)
But as the gears start to turn in the Obama machinery that will eventually develop the library, the focus has increasingly turned to Chicago....
So Hawaii officials have resigned themselves to the likelihood that the library, which will house Obama's records and artifacts, will go to Chicago. If that's the case, Hawaii is hoping for second-best: a presidential center, institute or think tank that can serve as a secondary base of operations for a young, ambitious ex-president.
"We really don't see it as an either-or proposition," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who's assisted the effort for years as a former lieutenant governor and state lawmaker. "We see no reason that the president has to be forced to choose between his two hometowns."
It's a model not without precedent: Bill Clinton chose Arkansas for his library but housed his foundation and humanitarian efforts in New York.
read ... Playing
Ex-Maui officer settles sex assault suit for $20K
SA: According to a plea agreement in Galon's criminal case, he picked the woman up in his police car after she was released from a Lahaina police cell and sexually assaulted her. He was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for extorting sex from her and stealing $1,500 from a driver during a traffic stop.
The woman filed a civil suit against Maui County, the police department, Galon and others. She recently won a $200,000 settlement from the county.
Another former officer was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for stealing $500 from her that night.
read ... Ex-Maui officer settles sex assault suit for $20K
QUICK HITS: