Full Text: Feds Release 'Proposed Rule' for Creation of Hawaiian Indian Tribe
Voter Registration Drive Set for Hawaii Catholic Churches June 21-22
Sutton: Disconnect the Hawaii Health Connector
Court Order Delays Implementation of Kauai Anti-GMO Ordinance
Honolulu VA Still Worst in Nation--Wait Time 130 days
Honolulu Rail And The Use Of Eminent Domain
Andy Winer Behind PRP Attacks on Cayetano
CB: Emails detail the political strategies employed in 2012 by the PRP, an organization determined to undermine the mayoral candidacy of the former governor....
John White might have been the face of PRP, but his supporting cast played key roles in crafting its messaging. It included Andy Winer, who is described in the emails as a “General Consultant” to PRP.
Winer is a well-known Democratic operative in Hawaii. At the time he was working on Mazie Hirono’s U.S. Senate campaign. He’s currently U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz’s chief of staff.
The emails indicate Winer was a guiding force behind PRP’s push to take out Cayetano, and he was a party to nearly every email discussion in the 488 pages. He was already familiar with Hawaii’s political landscape, and with Cayetano.
read ... Defeat Cayetano
Schatz' Chief of Staff Target of Campaign Spending Investigation
CB: The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission is taking an interest in the Pacific Resource Partnership and whether it violated any laws during the 2012 mayoral campaign.
Recently released emails show how PRP and its consultants worked to undermine the campaign of former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano, who was running for mayor on a platform to kill the city’s $5.26 billion rail project.
Among the revelations was that PRP was working on its campaign several months before officially forming its political action committee, doing opposition research and poll testing future attack ad messages....
Campaign Spending Commission Attorney Gary Kam said his agency is now looking into the “apparent vendors” who did not appear in PRP’s finance reports. He declined to go into specifics.
They include Texas-based opposition researcher Jason Stanford; Barbara Tanabe and Jim McCoy, who worked for Hoakea Communications at the time; and Andy Winer, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz’s chief of staff, who in 2012 was working on U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono’s campaign.
SA: Lay bare just how crass and manipulative the backstage crew can be
read ... Jail Winer
Cayetano to Schatz: Fire Winer
KITV: Cayetano added that if Schatz did not know of Winer's involvement in the smear campaign, he most certainly knows about it now.
"Andy Winer should resign, or Brian Schatz should fire him," said Cayetano.
In reaction to Cayetano's comments, Schatz spokeswoman Meaghan Smith issued the following statement to KITV4:
"Sen. Schatz is too focused on getting things done for Hawaii families to get in the middle of Mr. Cayetano's attempts to settle an old score," said Smith.
read ... The Advisor Becomes the Issue
Borreca: All Hawaii voters, and not just Native Hawaiians, must be involved in 'Sovereignty' Discussion
Borreca: The Feds are coming, but is that a good thing? ...
In many ways, the discussion on federal recognition, sovereignty and forming a government-to-government relationship has been by only a portion of Hawaii's population.
No matter how enlightened the effort, making a decision about Hawaii should be made by the people who live here, not by one person in Washington.
Resolution of these questions should not happen until all Hawaii voters, and not just Native Hawaiians, are involved and enfranchised.
Fourteen years ago, Akaka and the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye held two days of hearings at the Blaisdell Center. Much of the time was taken up with pleas from Inouye and other members of the delegation asking the unruly crowds to behave (http://goo.gl/ymxD1c).
It would behoove the planners to expect similar displays during this new round of hearings.
read ... Feds want your opinion on Native Hawaiian recognition
City might seize land in Honolulu for rail line
SA: Acquiring properties in Honolulu to build Oahu's rail transit system could involve "judicious" use of eminent domain, officials say, as those overseeing the project scramble to secure ownership of all the properties they'll need to keep construction on schedule.
"We won't hold up the project," Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Director Dan Grabauskas said Thursday after HART's board meeting, held this month at Kapolei Hale. "If our negotiations haven't gone to where they need to be, or aren't going in the right direction, then we may concurrently file for eminent domain."
Grabauskas and HART staff say they're aiming to do some 18 months of work negotiating those properties in only six months' time. They intend to purchase approximately 146 full or partial properties in the heart of Honolulu by Dec. 15 to keep construction on track in 2015.
Related: Honolulu Rail And The Use Of Eminent Domain
read ... City might seize land in Honolulu for rail line
Cachola may owe thousands of dollars for using campaign money to buy meals and a truck
CB: The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission decided Thursday to give attorneys more time to reach a settlement before determining whether state Rep. Romy Cachola improperly used his campaign funds.
The commission’s executive director, Kristin Izumi-Nitao, filed a complaint May 7 against the longtime Democratic politician after struggling since February to get an explanation from him about dozens of expenses.
A staff investigation revealed purchases — including more than $9,000 for food and beverages, a $30,000 Nissan Pathfinder and almost $22,000 for expenses related to the vehicle over the past six years — that the commission believes were often personal and not for the campaign....
The complaint recommends that the five-member commission order Cachola to reimburse his campaign committee more than $64,000 for all the non-campaign related expenses and fine him almost $4,000 for three counts of violating the law.
SA: Cachola will settle claims of campaign fund misuse
read ... Cachola Buys Time
Supreme Court Unanimous: College Employees Have 1st Amendment Right to Testify Against Corrupt Legislators
CB: The Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision today concluding that a community college employee was indeed entitled to First Amendment protections when testifying against a state legislator who was being tried for fraud and misuse of federal funds....
In Hawaii, the potential threat of retaliation against public educators for speaking out has raised eyebrows. A recent informal survey suggests that fear of retribution is one of the biggest concerns among principals, with nearly two-thirds of them fearing the Department of Education will punish them if they speak out.
DOE officials deny the problem, and Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi has said that finding is one of the most disturbing conclusions of the survey.
Read more about the SCOTUS opinion here.
read ... Unanimous
State sues official for failing to air income
SA: Hovanian, owner of Island Steel Erectors, said he had not heard about the fine until the Honolulu Star-Advertiser called about the lawsuit.
"Kind of hard to be fined for a nonpaid position," he said by phone. "I don't see how they can get off assessing a fine for something that you're doing out of the goodness of your heart."
Hovanian said he hasn't had time to file the financial statements and has been busy running a couple of businesses.
He said he's been too busy to even attend licensing board meetings recently.
"They should have notified me," he said. "I think it's a total waste of taxpayer dollars to try to go through all the effort that they are to assess a fine on a nonpaid position."
read ... State sues official for failing to air income
Roof where prisoner escaped was well-known hot spot for previous incidents
KHON: Sources said the Kalihi prison's surveillance video shows Skelton on the roof of OCCC's Annex One a little after 11 p.m. Sunday, more than six hours before he was discovered missing around 6 a.m. Monday. He wasn't discovered missing in spite of two head counts during that period, sources said....
OCCC staff said the restroom and shower area where Skelton crawled out of a hole onto the roof was a well-known escape "hot spot."
In fact, sources said the sergeant on duty the night of the escape had stopped another inmate from sneaking out of the same hole sometime in the last two years, and it had been patched and bolted closed by an inmate work crew under supervision of prison staff.
Sources said inmates have used the same hole to crawl onto the roof of the building and pick up contraband -- including drugs, cell phones, and cigarettes -- which people are able to throw onto the roof because the building is so close to the street.
During numerous shakedowns over the last two years, sources said guards have found prisoners' street clothes hidden in the rafters of Annex One, presumably for inmates to change into before escaping.
There was just one sergeant and one guard -- a recruit new to the job -- at the unit to watch 101 prisoners overnight when Skelton escaped.
Sources said that sergeant is known to sleep on the overnight shift because he frequently works several 16-hour shifts in a row, earning extra overtime.
The recruit conducts head counts but the sergeant on duty is responsible to ensure the count is correct, prison officials said.
Sources said the escapee was not discovered missing during a head count around 1:30 or 2 a.m. Monday or during another head count around 3:30 a.m. when the prisoners were served breakfast.
He wasn't discovered missing until around 6 a.m.
KHON: Long-time corrections officer outlines ongoing problems at OCCC
read ... About the Prison Guards we want to rely upon after we close out Arizona
Government Employees Warned not to Mail Drugs to Halawa Inmates
KHON: According to the department, all mail is checked before it enters the facility and prison officials say this keeps drugs from getting into inmates’ hands.
“All inmate mail that is brought in is opened searched and read. The only exception to that rule is our legal mail,” said Toni Schwartz, DPS public information officer.
Mail is considered legal if it’s from government officials, attorney of record and the courts. While staff cannot open these, prisoners are supervised by multiple staff members when they do open them.
“Identified confidential mail is presented to the inmate and the inmate will open it in front of staff and the staff will check it for contraband without reading the mail,” said Schwartz.
If illegal contraband is found in the packages, the prison notifies the proper authorities.
WHT: Female inmates protest condition of lavatories at HCCC
read ... Amazing Genius Idea
Manoa Rapist Sues, Demands Work Release
HNN: Breiner represents inmate John Freudenberg, the so-called "Manoa rapist" who committed a series of brutal sex crimes more than three decades ago.
But since his minimum sentence ended in 1996, the parole board has recommended placing Freudenberg in a work furlough program when his parole came up. But each time, the DPS rejected that request, sending Freudenberg back to prison.
Freudenberg recently sued Sakai and the DPS in federal court.
"What's happened the past 18 consecutive years is that Mr. Freudenberg has been summarily rejected from entering into any program that will allow him to transition into the community," Breiner said.
read ... Soft on Crime Manoa Liberals Won't Offer Him a Job ... Babysitter perhaps?
Matayoshi Pay Hike -- A tone-deaf decision
MN: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it seems that public boards and commissions are tone deaf when it comes to pay raises for leaders.
The latest to join the clinker chorus is the state Board of Education. The board announced Tuesday that it is raising Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi's annual salary by 33 percent next month.
Matayoshi's new pay will be $200,000 - up from its current $150,000.
Our reaction is the same as it was when the Maui County Salary Commission voted last year to bump the mayor's pay 19 percent and council members by 15 percent - shock. Just what message does a double-digit increase for leaders send to public-sector unions?
read ... A tone-deaf decision
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