Word on the street is that Governor David Ige struck a deal with UH President David Lassner to get the governor’s friend, developer lobbyist Carleton Ching, a job as UH director of land development. The price? Vetoing HB553 which would have given graduate student state employees the right to collectively bargain.
Lege cut back on DoH vector control – now Big Island has Dengue
In this November 9, 2015 interview with Dr. Lorrin Pang, who successfully eradicated Dengue from Maui island in 2001, he talks about the Legislature cutting funds for disease vector (e.g. mosquitoes etc) control. We can hope that his effective and hands-on approach will be able to stop the Big Island infection and that the Legislature quickly gives him the money to do it. According to Senator Kalani English, there is $1.5 million that can be used.
Dept of Health dropping the ball on Big Island dengue?
Dengue is a serious disease caused by a bite from an infected mosquito. With many popular surf spots in overseas endemic Dengue areas, we generally have a few cases brought back every year. On Maui aggressive steps, under Public Health officer Dr. Lorrin Pang, to prevent Dengue from taking hold in our local mosquitoes has isolated these cases and prevented a recurrence of the 2001 situation where East Maui mosquitoes became infected with Dengue.
Prior to that, the last known Autochthonous (caused by our mosquitoes rather than contracted overseas) dengue infections in Hawaii were in 1944. Allowing dengue to get a toe hold in our home-grown mosquitoes, would be a disaster. For instance the island of Bali has yearly outbreaks which fill their hospitals to 100% occupancy.
But now dengue has taken hold on Big Island.
Elle Cochran files complaint against Forward Progress, PRP & Buenconsejo
PRP and its successor organization, Forward Progress (both bankrolled by the Carpenters Union slush fund, Hawaii Carpenters Recovery Market Fund, are yet again the subject of allegations for dirty dealings and illegal actions.
Maui County Councilmember Elle Cochran filed a complaint today with the Campaign Spending Commission against Pacific Resource Partnership (“PRP”), Forward Progress, and former Maui County Council candidate Butch Ka’ala Buenconsejo. The complaint alleges that Forward Progress and Buenconsejo engaged in illegal campaign coordination during the 2014 election year. It further alleges that Forward Progress made unauthorized expenditures and contributions to Buenconsejo’s campaign. The complaint seeks to have fines imposed upon PRP/Forward Progress and its responsible individual directors in an amount three times the illegal expenditures made to Buenconsejo. It further seeks to ban PRP from organizing or operating as a Super PAC under any name in the State of Hawai‘i.
400 Maui activists say no to TPP. Talks end without agreement
On July 29th with the secret Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty (TPP) negotiators and ministers sequestered in the plush Mariot resort at Ka’anapali Beach on Maui, 400 conch shell blowing TPP protestors showed up to say “no” to the TPP.
On Maui 400 Stop the TPP on Land and Sea protestors sound the kahea (call) with conch shells
Event organizer Trinette Furtado said that in blowing the pū (conch shell),
“we are putting out a mighty kahea (call), past the shorelines of Maui, to connect with others standing up for their ‘āina (land) and people.”
TPP Negotiators on Maui Will Be Greeted by Anti-TPP Pū blowers
TPP secret negotiations are going on right now at the plush Westin Maui Resort & Spa at Ka’anapali on Maui.
Activists on Maui are preparing to greet the TPP nation ministers with an attempt to break the Guinness World Record in beach pū (conch) blowing outside their hotel. A tiny group of Maui residents are putting together this national event with backing and help from Kāko’o Haleakalā, AiKea, Hawaii Sierra Club, Hawai‘i SEED Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action H.A.P.A, UNITE HERE Local 5, Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, Flush the TPP, Popular Resistance, MoveOn, CREDO, SumOfUs, Babes Against Biotech, Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, `Ohana o Kauai, Occupy Wall Street Maui and many more.
In the last four days since discovering that the TPP negotiators were holding meetings on the secretive treaty on Maui, they’ve gotten permission from Guiness World Records to try for a world record, created a website, TPPmaui.com, put out PSAs and press releases and coordinated with the national groups.
Maui’s noisy anti-TPP event takes advantage of Hawai’i laws which say that the beach is public property.
SumOfUs has contributed towards T-shirts for participants to highlight the opposition to the TPP.
Event organizers say:
I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope (“the future is in the past”) – In understanding the past, we look to the future: we rally together in prelude to Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Restoration Day, when after being temporarily seized by the British Navy, sovereignty was restored and Kamehameha III proclaimed before a large crowd, ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono (“The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness”)
Reprinted with permission from DailyKos
Construction Lobbyist: Sneak Attack on Maui Community Plans
On Thursday June, 18, 2015 the Maui County Council will hear a bill introduced by Councilmember Don Couch but most likely written by developer lobbyist, Charlie Jenks and the Maui Chamber of Commerce that will make community plans entirely toothless and irrelevant.
BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2.80B, MAUI COUNTY CODE, RELATING TO GENERAL PLAN AND COMMUNITY PLAN says that a developer may ignore the Community plan.
Under current law, the administration can zone areas but even if a parcel is zoned “Hotel” if the citizens who create the community plan want the land to be “Park” or “Residential” the developer cannot build a hotel on the land. This bill will eliminate the citizens’ voices from planning and make the community planning process irrelevant.
One has to hand it to Don Couch, the Chamber of Commerce and the developer lobbyists: they’ve got chutzpah!
Big win for Monsanto/Syngenta in state senate reorganization
After a brief year of the Hawai’i senate being responsive to constituents, a coup led by Jill Tokuda, Michelle Kidani, Ronald Kouchi, Kalani English, Mike Gabbard and Gil Keith-Agaran has returned control to the corporations. Those who listened to the voice of the voters and voted down developer lobbyist Carleton Ching have been ousted by Tokuda’s corporatist faction.
Balfour a climate change denier
Sources tell us that when Gov Ige’s people asked Bill Balfour whether he thought climate change was an issue to worry about with regard to water, he indicated that he felt it might or might not be real and might or might not be caused by humans, and said if it was, it was “God’s will”.
And Gov Ige nominated him to the Water Commission knowing this? Perhaps we should have asked David Ige whether he is a climate change denier too.
Here are the phone numbers for the WTL Committee. The final hearing is Friday, April 17 at 1:15pm in room 224.
Chair Laura Thielen: 587-8388 senthielen@capitol.hawaii.gov
Vice-Chair Brickwood Galuteria: 586-6740 sengaluteria@capitol.hawaii.gov
Les Ihara: 586-6250 senihara@capitol.hawaii.gov
Maile Shimabukuro: 586-7793 senshimabukuro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Gil Riviere: 586-7330 senriviere@capitol.hawaii.gov
Sam Sloan: 586-8420 senslom@capitol.hawaii.gov
Russel Rudermann: 586-6890 senruderman@capitol.hawaii.gov
Gov Ige 586-0034