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Monday, April 16, 2018
April 16, 2018 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 6:09 PM :: 3482 Views

Physician-Assisted Suicide: Some Humans are Disposable

Attorney General Suzuki Names Deputy, Assistant

Hanabusa’s Legislators are Already Putting Homeless People on the Streets

SA: …Gov. Davig Ige requested more than $8 million to continue to fund existing homeless programs, but the (Hanabusa supporters in the) House wiped out the request and instead proposed pouring $30 million in capital improvement money into the new concept of homeless “ohana zones.” House Speaker Scott Saiki (a Hanabusa endorser) has said existing programs still could be funded through stand-alone bills once the state budget is settled.

The Senate wants to provide $15.9 million to continue existing programs, including Housing First and rapid re-housing, and $650,000 for an ohana zone pilot project for Hawaii County.

Through Housing First some of Hawaii island’s most hard-core, chronically homeless “are getting stabilized or are stabilized,” Menino said. Legislators “invested in the program. Then they don’t even give the time to consider the lives of the people they saved.”

The uncertainty is affecting progress on Hawaii island, Menino said.

“We’re hesitating in putting more people into this program if it’ll only contribute to them being moved onto the street come July” when the current funding ends, she said.

And for Hawaii island landlords, who have already taken a chance on renting their properties to homeless people, the lack of assurances from the Legislature to ensure future funds puts the credibility of Housing First at risk, Menino said….

Menino is hardly alone in her concerns.

Across the state a hui representing 67 social service agencies told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that both the House and the Senate appear reluctant to ensure long-term funding for existing programs — including Housing First and rapid re-housing — that they say are proved to reduce homelessness and are endorsed by federal housing officials….

Reducing Housing First money alone would send people back on the street, “where they’re frequently in the ER, frequently in the courts, frequently in the jails or prison,” said Ellen Carson, who represents Housing Now, a program of Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE).

“It is really important to keep these programs going,” said Catherine Graham, co-chairwoman of FACE’s Housing Now task force for FACE.

Rather than spend $30 million to lay infrastructure for “ohana zones” that are supposed to be temporary, Ryan Kusumoto, vice chairman of the board of directors of PHOCUSED, said legislators might instead be guided by a simple thought: “Think about what’s working right now,” he said….

(Or they could just keep on thinking about August 11th.)

Precisely as Explained: Hanabusa Campaign Plan: Send swarms of homeless into streets as absentee ballots drop 

Big Q: What do you think of Hawaii’s top four lawmakers collaborating on a fundraiser for Gov. David Ige’s opponent, Colleen Hanabusa, at the height of the legislative session? (65% Oppose)

read … Hanabusa

Molokai Mule Ride: More Mainland ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Quackery

ILind: …The mule ride company was formerly operated by the late Eldon “Buzzy” Sproat, who led mule rides down the cliff to Kalaupapa for four decades. Sproat died in 2014, and his partner, Roy Horner, resigned from the company in early 2016. The company was left in the hands of Sproat’s family — wife Marlene, son Eldon “Sale”, and daughter Beatrice Kalehua Sproat-Augustiro….

R.W. Meyer pointed to a long paper trail documenting its ownership of the land dating back into the 19th century, while Kalehua Sproat-Augustiro now says her family owns the “allodial title” tracing back to Royal Patents granted during the Hawaiian Kingdom.

But while the news reporting has been equivocal, the court record itself tells quite a different story.

It doesn’t take extensive research to determine the hundreds of pages of rambling documents filed by Sproat-Augustiro on behalf of herself and the family company over the past year are a crazy mishmash of legal mumbo jumbo and frivolous claims based on bizarre and long-discredited conspiracy theories that have no legal standing and have never been successful in court….

documents are full of bizarre claims. Sproat-Augustiro refers to herself and R.W. Meyer as “U.S. vessels,” and their “cargo” is said to include the court docket and the eviction lawsuit itself. To further confuse matters, which may be the primary purpose, Sproat-Augustiro invokes something called the “Public Vessels Act,” and goes on to refer to the court clerk as “a PUBLIC VESSEL and the CARRIER, being a vessel of the United States and its co-parties.”…

The twisted reliance on maritime and commercial law, which requires so many contortions, is common among what courts and law enforcement reports identify with the “sovereign citizen” or “freeman” ideologies spread by the anti-government and anti-tax fringe.

“Sovereigns — also called ‘freemen on the land’ or ‘organic citizens’ — believe that an illegitimate, usurper federal government has taken over, and that they don’t have to pay taxes, pull over their cars for police or obey any other law they don’t like,” according to a 2014 article in the Journal of the American Bar Association.

It also reported “sovereign citizen” arguments “have caught on among some Native Hawaiian activists,” certainly no surprise to landowners, escrow companies, and others who have quietly dealt with challenges to land titles. There have also been criminal prosecutions of those who turned to selling their pseudo-legal resources which they claimed could stave off foreclosures or erase debts.

Buried in one paragraph is a hint that Sproat-Augustiro may have used a template based on mainland samples but repackaged by an unknown person for use specifically in Hawaii.

“I use a Bill of Lading/Petition/Complaint in all of my lawsuits,” wrote the unnamed author in a comment intended to be edited out of the final version before submitting to court. “The Bill of Lading identifies the cargo as the lawsuit, by describing the suit’s postal registry number … and by describing the paperwork as having a Kanaka Maoli flag on the front of the paperwork.”… 

ILind: Another Hawaiian family that mistakenly put its faith in these bizarre claims and is paying the price

Related: Trask: Coco Palms Occupiers Duped by White Supremacist ‘Sovereign Citizens’

read … The Crazy Lease Fight Over Molokai Mule Rides

Punatics Attempting to Shut Down Low Cost Clean Energy Source

IM: …Malama O Puna, Puna Pono Alliance, Pele Defense Fund and six individuals filed a joint statement of position on April 12, 2018, in a Department of Health contested case proceeding.

“For decades, PGV's geothermal facility in Kapoho has endangered human health and welfare, and plant and animal life and unreasonably interfered with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property in the surrounding area.  DOH, being the agency responsible for regulating PGV's air pollution, has not yet adequately addressed those problems.  That should be the purpose of this contested case. …

IQ Test: Geothermal is a major pollution source? T-F

read … Hawai`i Department of Health Delays Protecting Health

Profitable Hysteria: Raw Elements Marketing ‘Reef Safe’ Sunscreen on Hawaiian Flights

GC: Hawaiian Airlines is taking this problem seriously. In an effort to promote environmental safety of their home islands, the airline is now offering free samples of all-natural sunscreens that will not damage the reef systems. These 'Eco Formula' sunscreen samples will be available to flyers to Hawaii on all flights from North America. The airline also encourages people to watch their new documentary 'Reefs at Risk' on all of their flights.

Raw Elements USA is the certified-natural sunscreen company that Hawaiian Airlines is working with to promote the use of safe sunscreen. The company has created a complete line of protective sunscreens using all natural ingredients. In addition to the sunscreen samples, passengers will also have the ability to purchase full-size bottles of reef-safe sunscreen at a discounted in-flight price through June for their vacation in Hawaii.

IQ Test: Do you see how this works?

read … Hysteria is Profitable

Kauai: Yukimura Refused Military Help for Iniki Hurricane Relief

KGI: I am writing in response to JoAnn Yukimura’s bid for mayor of Kauai. I am not surprised that she has thrown her hat in the ring but Ms. Yukimura needs to remember what she did to the people of the Westside after Hurricane Iniki. What I will share with you is not made-up stories, but facts. I worked for 42 years at the base and I seen with my own eyes and heard for myself what went on during that tragic time.

Right after the hurricane the military sent support in the form of food, equipment, ice and manpower. They contacted our mayor at that time, Ms. Yukimura, to let her know that they had landed at PMRF and was ready to go out and distribute the supplies and manpower to help the island residents get back on their feet. Her response was to wait and not have the military do anything at that time. The ice was picked up by her people and was distributed but it went straight to the North Shore and Eastside. Westside received nothing.

For two weeks, these soldiers waited to hear from our then-mayor, these men and women had nothing to do because of our mayor’s refusal to accept their help. I returned to work not long after the hurricane to run the gas station on base; while working there the captain of the soldiers who had come to help us drove up.

I asked him why the military was just playing football and not going off base. His words to me I will always remember, he said: “I shouldn’t tell you this but it’s your mayor that is at fault. We can’t go out and help because she’s refusing our help.” We had soldiers who were willing and able to help, sitting on the base for two weeks before she accepted their help.

So to me, her asking us to vote her in as mayor again makes me angry….

read … Yukimura

Man killed trying to enter Ewa Beach home

SA:  A 41-year-old man was shot to death today after attempting to enter a home in Ewa Beach, police said.

Police arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with the shooting. He was booked on suspicion of second-degree murder.

Police said the victim tried to open the front door of the suspect’s home when the suspect shot him. Police said the incident occurred between 3:15 and 3:51 a.m….

Police said the suspect and victim do not know each other. They did not say why the victim was trying to enter the home….

read … Man killed trying to enter Ewa Beach home

Zoo Making Another Run at Accreditation

SA: …Many big and small problems remain. The hippo viewing area has been closed since 2014 when the city ordered the contractor to stop work following the unexpected death of one of the two endangered hippos. The sun bear exhibit also is closed for renovations, and the nene geese have been temporarily relocated to another part of the zoo while their exhibit is being improved….

Goeggel said the city should consider adding closed-circuit TV cameras to beef up zoo security. The city said the zoo doesn’t use security cameras, but it does have two security guards and zookeepers patrolling the grounds….

“We addressed several rust and deferred maintenance projects in various exhibits throughout the zoo, opened the Ectotherm Complex and opened the Japanese giant salamanders on exhibit,” Kubota said.

Part of the reptile and amphibian complex, which shut down in 2014 for improvements, has reopened. Renovations are progressing for the tiger area, and planning and design of a new bird and a new spider monkey habitat are underway, she said. Upgrades are being made to the water system, elephant hydraulics, the Preis Building roof, various barn roofs, rust and fencing projects, and resurfacing of exhibit floors and walkways, Kubota said.

The zoo’s breeding and conservation efforts resulted in a third sloth birth, seven African wild dog pups and the propagation of Kamehameha butterflies with support from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, she said.

The zoo got a dedicated funding source in November 2016 when taxpayers approved a charter amendment dedicating 0.5 percent of real property taxes to the zoo, which is expected to generate $6.3 million to $7 million per year.

read … Zoo addresses vandalism amid push for validation

Commission cites problems at Kau charter school

SA: The Public Charter School Commission has voted to put Ka‘u Learning Academy on notice about possible revocation of its charter, citing a range of problems including financial irregularities, enrollment discrepancies and testing procedures.

The charter school in Naalehu, on Hawaii island, is in its third year of operation and has about 93 students in grades three through seven. The commission voted late Thursday to issue a new “notice of prospect of revocation,” which is the first step toward possibly revoking the school’s charter, or contract with the state.

Ka‘u Learning Academy’s governing board has recruited new members and made leadership changes, but the commission questions whether even that was done properly….

“By doing this, rescinding the old notice and issuing this new one with concerns that have come up since, it kind of restarts the clock in terms of your ability to respond to that and put corrective action in place,” Commissioner John Kim told the school’s leaders at the meeting Thursday….

read … Commission cites problems at Kau charter school

Legislative News:

Flood Damage:

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