Nai Aupuni Dissolves Itself in Effort to Escape Lawsuit
To Satisfy Protesters, UH Begins Decommissioning Three Perfectly Good Telescopes
Multi-Year Deal: NFL moving Pro Bowl to Orlando
Hawaii: 9th Best State for Military Retirees
Report: Hawaii 5th-Healthiest Seniors
Hawaii Democratic Party is Ticking Time Bomb
Borreca: …Hawaii’s new Democratic Party chairman, Tim Vandeveer, is a former unexploded-ordnance technician, which is a good thing, because today’s party is a ticking time bomb….
With Sanders’ troops inside, old-time Democrats are asking what do they want and will they stay.
Talking with Sanders delegates at the Hawaii Democratic Party convention shows they are a new type of political supporter. They were drawn to the Democratic Party because of Sanders’ support for the issues that resonate with them. There is no loyalty to the party because it is the Democratic Party….
For many Sanders supporters at the convention, the defining issue is who they will support for president if Sanders isn’t on the ballot….
“I dislike Hillary. I would never support her; she broke the law,” said Eric Schrager a retired Navy officer.
Explaining that this past weekend was his first time attending a political convention and his first time in politics, Schrager called it, “My chance to make a difference.”
But, he will not support Clinton for president.
Like Haltom, Schrager said he is likely to vote for Jill Stein, who is a Green Party presidential candidate.
“It could be a seamless transition to the Green Party,” said Schrager.
Lisa Grandinetti, another Sanders delegate who won’t vote for Clinton, said “party unity means going along with the establishment. If it is Hillary, I’m leaning towards not voting.”…
On a local level, bringing those new Sanders supporters into the Democratic mainstream without driving away party regulars means the party has to both change and not change. That is the sort of stalemate likely to lead to a Democratic Party with less and less relevance.
AP: Sen. Bernie Sanders picks up superdelegate vote in Hawaii
read … Boom
Sanders Supporters: Easier to Win Control of Party if Trump is President
IM: …There were Clinton supporters like Kate Stanley who wanted to appeal to both sides, and U.S. Senator Schatz, who supported many of Sanders positions while endorsing Clinton.
There were Sander supporters who spoke of working with Clinton supporters as long as controversial subjects could be openly discussed. There were Bernie supporters who felt it would be easier to wrestle control of the Party, and return it to its original roots, if Trump rather than Clinton became President….
There was quiet tension, a sort of push-pull, Aloha style. The Clintonites wanted everybody to unify around a common opponent, namely Donald Trump. As Senator Brian Schatz said, Trump is for racism, and his campaign has a historical precedence, it resembles the early days of fascism.
Senator Mazie Hirono quoted Elizabeth Warren, noting that we are facing a really bizarre Republican campaign, driven by racism, sexism and xenophobia….
Many Bernie supporters privately asserted that the Clinton and post-Clinton Democratic Party moved to the right, to the area previously occupied by the Republican Party. The Party moved away from FDR`s new deal, and towards pro-business, pro-corporation, and pro-free-trade….
The Bernie people stressed the rigged limited news coverage, the rigged voting processes that occurred across the country, and the corporatized old guard of the Democratic Party. If the Party is willing to engage in meaningful dialogue, including both discussing the rules, and the Super delegates not reflecting the voters, then some Bernie supporters believe that there can be unity for November.
But if the old guard continues to resist all change, then why should those wanting change suddenly endorse Clinton? Wouldn’t it be better fighting for each seat in each district, and for each political office? It might take two, four or eight years. But the future is at stake.
read … Opposing Forces Face-Off at Democratic Party State Convention
Hanabusa Crazy to Take HART Job
Caldwell: “I saw Colleen Hanabusa siting at a table over here. I asked her to be on the HART board. Her husband told her, Are you crazy? Why would you want to be in this controversy? But I knew Colleen was the type of women, who has the courage, the tenacity, the brainpower, someone who reads everything and remembers everything she reads, and does not back away from the hard questions, and gets the answers, is the right person for the job. And you have seen what`s happened since she became the chairwomen.”
(Yes. The price jumped to $8.1B and she fled to run for Congress.)
read … Crazy
Lei Ahu Isa for Congress—Hanabusa to ‘Juggle’ Rail til June 30—Galuteria Chickens Out
SA: …State Sen. Brickwood Galuteria (D, Kakaako-Mc- Cully-Waikiki) said he had been considering running for the U.S. House seat, and on May 24 took out nomination papers for the race. Galuteria said he was traveling to the mainland last week for his granddaughter’s high school graduation, and he wanted to be ready to enter the race in the event that Hanabusa decided not to run.
Since then Galuteria said he spoke with Hanabusa at length on the telephone, learned that she is running and promised to support her….
Former Board of Education member and state Rep. Leinaala Ahu Isa, now an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, said she intends to file nomination papers for the U.S. House race in urban Honolulu later this week.
Observers have speculated that Republican Charles Djou might also enter the race. Djou served briefly in that same urban House seat after winning a special election in 2010.
Djou said in a written statement Monday, “I have not yet decided on what I’m going to do this year, and I am still talking things over with my family and supporters.”
The filing deadline for candidates is June 7….
Hanabusa also serves as chairwoman of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, and she will have to juggle that responsibility and her campaign obligations. Hanabusa said Saturday she has checked with the city and learned that there is no requirement that she immediately step down from that position.
“A lot of this is going to really depend on who’s in the race and what is going to be required in terms of time,” she said.
Her current term on the HART board will be finished at the end of June, and Hanabusa said she is committed to completing tasks such as changing the governance structure for rail to increase board oversight of the project. (Translation: She’s out on June 30)
She also wants to finish work on the budget for the coming year, and participate in a “critical meeting” on June 8 when the HART staff will present the possible alternatives for the rail project within the available funding.
read … Challenge The Hanabusa
WaPo: If Sanders and Warren Drop off the Planet, Tulsi Gabbard has a 1/6 Chance of Being Significant Leader
WaPo: Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even when Bernie Sanders concedes the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton this summer….
read … Who will lead the progressive movement after Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren? Here are 6 who could.
Why Is It So Hard To Pass Police Reform In Hawaii?
CB: …Espero introduced legislation that would have created a statewide database of law enforcement officers who had been terminated or forced to resign for misconduct.
But like most police reform measures, it met a swift and silent death at the hands of his colleagues.
“That was such a dereliction of our duties as legislators,” said state Sen. Laura Thielen, who, like Espero, has been a vocal advocate for more oversight and accountability of Hawaii’s law enforcement agencies. “Creating that database just seemed like a no-brainer.”
The same could be said for dozens of bills introduced over the past several legislative sessions, including those that would have mandated the use of body-worn cameras and others that aimed to eliminate a decades-old exemption in the public records law that keeps secret the disciplinary files of bad cops.
This year there were at least two bills that would have created a statewide standards and training board that would certify police officers and put in place a mechanism to take away their licenses if they were found guilty of serious misconduct.
Hawaii is the only state without such an agency, and one of only six that doesn’t have a police certification program. Had such a board been in place when Ferguson was fired from HPD, he likely never would have gotten the job with DLNR.
But even a watered-down version of a bill that would have set bare-minimum training standards for all police agencies in the state disintegrated before reaching a final vote despite the fact that the new rules would have been voluntary. Like many other measures that fail at the Legislature, there was little public explanation as to why the bill died.
What makes this all the more perplexing is that there have been numerous high-profile cases of officer misconduct and other allegations of serious wrongdoing that have highlighted the need for common-sense reform. Ethan Ferguson is far from being the only cop who has made headlines for bad behavior.
Honolulu’s police chief, Louis Kealoha, is under a federal grand jury investigation for alleged corruption and abuse of power, yet he remains on the job and continues to receive stellar reviews from the Honolulu Police Commission. His officers have faced prison sentences for everything from extortion to covering up assaults on citizens.
In just the last few years, numerous officers, including some working for neighbor island departments, have been arrested or disciplined for troubling incidents including prostitution, embezzlement, kidnapping, drugs and domestic violence.
Some lose their jobs. Most don’t. Others resign to avoid the embarrassment and stigma of being fired.
Several people have died in police custody or after being shot by the cops, sometimes under questionable circumstances. There have been massive legal settlements that have cost taxpayers millions of dollars, including a recent case of alleged racial discrimination within HPD that left officers vulnerable in dangerous situations.
Yet despite the growing evidence that something is chronically amiss, the Legislature has repeatedly failed to act….
read … Reform
Cancer Center Has Been Floundering for Years
SA: …If the Board of Regents approves Holcombe’s appointment at its monthly meeting Thursday, he would start Sept. 1. Much is at stake — especially the UH Cancer Center’s status as one of 69 federally designated National Cancer Institute (NCI) centers. That NCI designation gives UH an edge when competing for federal funds, which the Cancer Center cannot afford to lose.
The center has been floundering for years, and lawmakers were abundantly clear in the just-ended session that they are not about to throw good money after bad. It’s lamentable, but understandable, that legislators rejected the university’s request for an additional $5 million for operations next fiscal year, citing the lack of a sustainable business plan.
The center’s financial woes date back to a faulty business plan that had assumed the university’s share of the state’s cigarette tax would remain constant at $19 million per year — a figure that has dropped to $14 million because fewer people smoke. The failure to see that downward trend as a possibility and have a backup funding source showed a lack of foresight on the part of the center’s previous leadership.
To make matters worse, UH built a $130 million facility for the Cancer Center using that outdated business plan — and is now saddled with an $8 million annual mortgage payment it cannot afford.
Former director Michele Carbone resigned in November 2014 after five years at the helm, and Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, has been serving as interim director. And UH has spent thousands of dollars commissioning at least three possible business plans, with no clear path ahead….
As it always is at the outset for UH’s high-profile hires, high hopes abound — on both sides. But UH’s mixed track record on top administrators in recent years has left taxpayers wary….
read … UH Cancer Center needs solid footing
Interior Department bungling making COFA mess worse
SA: …Every year, Hawaii taxpayers shoulder $100 million in costs for programs guaranteed under the terms of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA). On Guam, the cost is over $50 million. The amount sent from Washington to offset these expenses? Just 16 cents for every dollar spent.
Nearly half of FAS migrants in Hawaii draw public food assistance. On Guam, the number is 58 percent. In Hawaii, nearly a third also receive supplemental welfare payments. A third of FAS migrants on Guam reside in public housing, and the number in Hawaii is presumed even higher. About 5 percent of migrants on Guam and 12 percent in Hawaii, are homeless. Only small numbers maintain health insurance and participate in preventative care. The result is costly emergency room visits.
This could have been avoided. Since 1951, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has spent hundreds of millions in American tax dollars to advance social, political and economic development in Micronesia and the Marshalls.
The failure is startling. Leaving stagnant, semi-cash, local economies for better lives on Guam or Hawaii is no longer just a rational choice for many FAS migrants; it is virtually axiomatic.
In recent years, Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has reacted to its own blunders by further micromanaging the hundreds of millions in aid that it is obligated to provide.
In some cases, OIA has simply withheld the money. Predictably, this has fueled the exodus.
Rather than deal with the underlying problems it helped create, OIA is now training migrants to maximize their dependency on taxpayer-funded services in Guam and Hawaii. This disastrous policy includes awarding grants to so-called “One-Stop Centers.”
Caseworkers at these centers are trained to immediately sign up migrants for entitlements, equipping them to aggressively cash in on the vast number of benefits available.
One DOI-funded group goes further, organizing migrants to advocate for changing what they term “unjust laws and practices that affect Micronesians in areas of health care, housing, labor, and education services.”
Taxpayer money for these groups was cannibalized from a Technical Assistance fund intended to promote accountability, financial management and economic development within the FAS itself….
read … Thanks, Obama
Old and on the street: The graying of the homeless
AP: …They worry about the illnesses of age and how they will approach death without the help of children who long ago drifted from their lives.
“It’s hard when you get older,” said Ken Sylvas, 65, who has struggled with alcoholism and has not worked since he was fired in 2001 from a meatpacking job. “I’m in this wheelchair. I had a seizure and was in a convalescent home for two months. I just ride the bus back and forth all night.”
The homeless in America are getting old.
There were 306,000 people over 50 living on the streets in 2014, the most recent data available, a 20 percent jump since 2007, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They now make up 31 percent of the nation’s homeless population….
read … Growing Old While Refusing Shelter
Young Bros Monopoly Demands another 4%
SA: …State regulators said they plan to host public hearings in July as part of an investigation of Young Brothers Ltd.’s application to increase interisland shipping rates by roughly 4 percent.
On Thursday the Public Utilities Commission opened an investigation into the shipping company’s application to raise rates. The increase would generate an additional $3.14 million in revenue for Young Brothers.
The PUC said the state Consumer Advocate’s concerns about the lack of detail in the application warranted a suspension of decision about the possible rate increase and an investigation instead of an outright denial. The suspension of decision could last up to six months….
read … Monopoly
After Failing Worldwide, Floating Wind Farms Take Aim at Hawaii
WPM: …For the past five years Japan has been widely assumed as the most likely pioneer of utility-scale floating offshore wind. As the world's third-largest economy it has the industrial and technological muscle to drive rapid development and deployment, while in the wake of 2011's Fukushima disaster, the country's need for a greater proportion of clean, safe energy seems profoundly obvious.
Yet progress has been slow, with Japan seeming to be more interested in getting its nuclear industry turning again to replace its dependence on imported liquefied natural gas and coal, rather than looking for a more renewables-based solution.
Hawaii is now emerging as a more promising location for large-scale floating wind. It currently generates 90% of its electricity from imported fossil fuels, but has set itself an ambitious goal of achieving 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2045. Offshore wind will be fundamental to the state hitting this target, and water depths of up to 800 metres compel the use of floating foundations. Now that the US has a domestic turbine manufacturer with a growing interest in offshore wind, and the bought-in hardware to exploit it, progress in Hawaii should be well worth watching….
read … Another Scam Coming
Hawaii Residents least Likely to file Medical Malpractice
LR: …With the highest rate of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in 2015 compared to other states, it appears that Louisiana residents are the most likely to accuse a doctor, nurse, or dentist of negligence, according to data analyzed by a career information company.
Louisiana residents filed 44 medical malpractice lawsuits per 100,000 people last year, topping a ranked list of 50 states.
Zippia, which gathered and analyzed to evaluate the “downside” to a medical career for college graduates, used numbers reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank. They added up the number of malpractice lawsuits filed against medical practitioners in each state in 2015, and made comparisons.
Oklahoma followed Louisiana with a rate of 36 suits per 100,000 people. Delaware, Wyoming, and Tennessee round out the top five. Hawaii residents are least likely to sue for malpractice, with just about five lawsuits per 100,000 people, according to the report….
read … Louisiana files a lot of medical malpractice suits, data shows
Scary News: Star-Advertiser is 12th Largest Newspaper in USA
CB: …I picked up and opened the paper recently to read a full-page advertisement announcing it has become the 12th largest newspaper in the country, putting the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in close company with such paragons of American journalism as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, etc….
A 2012 story acknowledged that the “Star-Advertiser” label, for the purposes of this ranking, included its “branded” editions, such as the free handouts Midweek and Street Pulse. Kotarek said that the 2015 number (used for the “No. 12” claim), of about 286,000 customers, also included the audiences of recent acquisitions, such as West Hawaii Today and The Garden Island newspaper….
The Star-Advertiser’s tremendous growth has occurred during the same era in which some of the nation’s largest and most dynamic newspapers, in cities such as New Orleans, Cleveland, and Portland, Oregon, essentially have shriveled and abandoned the idea of daily printed circulation. The industry overall has suffered dramatic losses of subscriptions.
The Star-Advertiser appears to have weathered this period better than most. It has taken advantage of the buyer’s market to aggressively acquire other media properties in the region, merging with – and eliminating – competitors….
read … The Republic is Doomed
Memorial Day
QUICK HITS: