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Monday, June 27, 2022
June 27, 2022 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 6:53 PM :: 2972 Views

Hawaii: Fewest Elected Officials Per Capita in USA

How Many Anti-Vaxxers at Your School?

Conflict of Interest? Keith Kaneshiro abruptly switches defense attorney

ILind: …  When former Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro appeared at his arraignment earlier this month on federal charges of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and federal program bribery, he was represented by well-known defense attorney Myles Breiner….

Last week, just a week after his arraignment, a legal filing notified the court that Breiner has been replaced by Birney B. Bervar, who also represented former Rep. Ty Cullen in a similar federal bribery case. Cullen pleaded guilty earlier this year.

No reason for the quick switch was given.

However, a look back suggests that Breiner is a potential witness in Kaneshiro’s case, and may have other conflicts as well.

The two men had a contentious history going back decades. Breiner was among a number of deputy prosecutors who were fired by Kaneshiro when he was first elected prosecutor in 1988. After leaving the prosecutors office, Breiner began his career as a criminal defense attorney.

In 2014, Breiner filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Kaneshiro on behalf of Tracy Yoshimura, who had been charged in a massive gambling case brought by Kaneshiro’s office involving hundreds of charges. That case was later dismissed amidst allegations of prosecutorial misconduct….

In addition to Kaneshiro, Yoshimura’s lawsuit named deputy prosecutors Katherine Kealoha and Jake Deleplane. Kealoha, of course, was later convicted on a variety of federal charges, as was her husband, former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha.

In 2017, Breiner was representing Katherine Kealoha in her federal corruption case when federal prosecutors filed an “explosive motion” seeking to disqualify Breiner and another attorney, Kevin Sumida, from the case.

Among the issues cited by prosecutors in the motion was Katherine Kealoha’s leaks of confidential information to Breiner in Yoshimura’s case.

According to Hawaii News Now: “Federal prosecutors included transcript of their interview with Yoshimura, who was being prosecuted by Kealoha and City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro on gambling charges. Yoshimura said Katherine Kealoha leaked information to Breiner to help convince him to represent her.”

Breiner and Sumida withdrew from the Kealoha case voluntarily not long after the federal motion was filed.

Two years later, Breiner was called before the federal grand jury as it continued its long running federal corruption investigation….

PDF: Motion to Disqualify Breiner

read … Keith Kaneshiro abruptly switches defense attorney

Fraud: CNHA Should be Banned from Future bidding

SA: … Speaking out this week in favor of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement are former Gov. John D. Waihe‘e III and tourism industry veterans Ann Botticelli, formerly a senior executive at Hawaiian Airlines, and Frank Haas, a tourism consultant who formerly was HTA’s vice president of marketing and helped develop HTA’s 2020 Strategic Plan….

Waihe‘e, who served as Hawaii gov­ernor from 1986 to 1994, said CNHA’s community connections will help HTA transform, while its Native Hawaiian connections could open the door to supplement state money with federal grants….

Keith Vieira, principal of KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said, “Considering the recovery from the pandemic where we are now getting less visitors paying more money, I think HVCB has done the best job that they’ve ever done….

Mike McCartney, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism director, said in an email to the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, “There is no set timeline for me to attempt to effectively resolve this protest, but I understand the sense of importance to the state of Hawaii and urgency for all parties involved.”

State procurement law Chapter 103D gives McCartney the power to attempt to resolve protests.

“There are multiple ways that could include, but not limited to, such as rebidding, going to another round of questions and more,” he said.

HTA officials, meanwhile, say they plan to scale up the organization so it can temporarily run the U.S. marketing operation if HVCB’s current contract extension runs out before a new U.S. contract is finalized….

Haas said the Kilohana Collective’s team and transition team were chosen to “complement CNHA’s deep expertise in community.”

“Everybody is at the table,” Haas said.

One person not at the table is Hawaii Hotel Alliance President Jerry Gibson, who said his involvement was misrepresented in CNHA’s proposal during the second solicitation. Tom Kiely, former Xterra CEO and co-founder, said CNHA also misrepresented his involvement during the first solicitation….

Vieira said misrepresentations on CNHA’s team should not be overlooked.

“How can anybody ever hire anyone who says, well, we’ll name them later. That’s just ridiculous,” he said.

Kiely said CNHA’s proposal must be thrown out since it “willfully misstated the facts.” He said CNHA should not receive consideration for any future request for proposal either.

Kiely also expressed concern that the Kilohana Collective has not worked as a team before and therefore does not have a performance record….

read … Supporters of Native Hawaiian group back its marketing concepts for Hawaii

Sadly, The Future Of Aloha Stadium Remains All Too Murky

CB: … the state negotiates a contract with the selected developer. As proposed, it will be a closed negotiation, and the contract will not be made public until after it is signed. The lack of transparency is disturbing.

The negotiations will involve a multitude of complex issues. Negotiations typically extend for days, and the final contract will likely run into the hundreds of pages.

The contract is binding on both parties. Each party is going to try to get the best deal for themselves, which is often at the expense of the other party.

The state will be at a distinct disadvantage because no state agency has experience in negotiating a project of this magnitude. However, both developers that are being considered have extensive knowledge and experience.

That’s the business they are in.

During the negotiations it is possible that the state commits to a future it doesn’t foresee that would require the expenditure of hundreds of millions of state dollars that have not yet been appropriated….

read … Sadly, The Future Of Aloha Stadium Remains All Too Murky

Five Branches of Hawaii State Government?

CB: … “And in Hawaii, we technically have four branches of government. Maybe even five, depending on how you look at it,” he interrupted forcefully, unfurling on his desk a 3-foot-wide chart with a hierarchical tree-diagram of local government.

“The University of Hawaii has exclusive jurisdiction over itself, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is a semi-autonomous state agency mandated to better the conditions of Native Hawaiians. Your rep’s proposed bill steps on both of their toes. Unless you get a ConAm, you can’t do this.”…

read … A Blueprint For OHA To 'Better' The Lives Of Native Hawaiians

Gay Underage Recruiters Focus on Ewa Dreamhouse

KHON: … DreamHouse Ewa Beach Public Charter School … This coming school year, students will be tackling topics that could be difficult to discuss among families; gender identity and sexual orientation.

Jaylen Rabago is going into the ninth grade, she is part of the Rainbow Leaders club at the school and she is encouraging her classmates to be their true selves (gay) but knows not all of her peers feel comfortable sharing their identities, especially at home….

DreamHouse was one of 50 schools across the nation chosen for an “It Gets Better Project” grant, an LGBTQ non-profit organization with the goal to empower youth.

At DreamHouse, the $10,000 grant will be used to establish a program the school is calling “A Place in the Middle– Mahu Education for Parents.”

The school’s Chief Student Success Officer Amber Leon Guerrero said students will have the biggest say on how the grant is spent.

“The hope and idea is to really create a community with our parent leaders to embrace, to value and like Jaylen was saying to love,” Guerrero said….

SA: Native Hawaiian concepts at heart of charter school program for parents of LGBTQ youth

Background: Hawaii: 2.15% of Underage Youth Have Been Turned into Trannies--3rd Highest in USA

read … Oahu school encouraging LGBTQ conversations with parents

Norwegian Cruise Line Continues to Cancel Hawaii Bookings

CH: … Norwegian Cruise Line continues to limit the guest capacity onboard Pride of America, resulting in canceled cruises for guests. It’s not the first time that cruisers have been disappointed since Pride of America resumed operations in April of this year.

In March, it was already apparent Pride of America would sail with limitations, and in May this year, the company sent out the first batch of emails to guests that their cruise had been canceled.

Norwegian Cruise Line has not, and is not expecting to be able to bring staffing levels to normal levels before the end of August at least. That much can be concluded from emails sent to guests and travel advisors in the past week. …

In May, Norwegian Cruise Line informed guests that their cruise had been canceled as it implemented capacity limits due to staff shortages for June and July cruises. The cruise line has now announced guests booked on cruises in August of the same. In the statement, the company says the following: 

“Due to staffing levels onboard Pride of America, we will be operating at a lower guest capacity to ensure we are able to deliver a high-caliber vacation experience. In order to adjust to the current staffing levels, unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate all guests with reservations on POA sailings from August 6, 2022, through and including August 27, 2022. “ ….

Dean's Drive Inn, Hawaii restaurant featured on Guy Fieri TV show, to close because of rising costs

More than 700 flights canceled Sunday

read … Norwegian Cruise Line Continues to Cancel Hawaii Bookings

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