INVERSION

LET'S WATCH THIS MONEY CLOSELY,,,,SHALL WE

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By Greg Wiles
Advertiser Staff Writer





Posted on: Friday, September 12, 2008
State will borrow $619.4M to boost public construction

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The state's budget had a surplus of nearly $500 million at the end of fiscal year 2007 but faces a shortfall of $162.3 million by the end of the 2009 fiscal year that could grow to a deficit of more than $900 million by the end of 2011, according to the state Budget Department. In an executive memo, Lingle said "immediate action must be taken to control and reduce government expenditures," starting with the 2009 fiscal year.

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Posted on: Wednesday, September 17, 2008
By Greg Wiles
Advertiser Staff Writer

State pension system's assets down by $600M
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The Hawai'i Employees' Retirement System's assets declined by roughly $600 million during the first 15 days of September as worries about the economy and the financial health of investment banks roiled Wall Street.


Rod June, chief investment officer for the pension plan serving state and county workers, said assets declined from about $10.8 billion at the end of August to $10.2 billion yesterday morning.


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By Alexandre Da Silva
adasilva@starbulletin.com

Thursday, September 18, 2008
Gov. Linda Lingle's administration has forecast Hawaii could be $903 million in the red by fiscal 2011 unless the state tightens its belt.



"Given the magnitude of this level of revenue reduction, immediate action must be taken to control and reduce government expenditures, starting with (fiscal year 2009)," Lingle wrote.

Linda Smith, Lingle's senior policy adviser, said the changes in the revenue projections have resulted in an estimated loss of $2.8 billion in expected revenue.

ALOHA FOR THE HOMELESS

City seeks ways to limit campers

By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Roy Thompson, 43, says he has been living in a tent at Kapiolani Park since he was released from prison in April because job-placement programs did not come through for him.

"They said, 'Do what you do best,'" he said. "I'm a thief. I don't want to do that. I do recycling now." He cannot afford rent on the $20 to $40 a day he gets collecting cans.

Soccer moms at the park were wary of Thompson and dozens of other homeless people camping about 200 feet from where their daughters practice and play.

City Parks Department officials say they have had a significant jump in recent complaints about people camping or living in the area. Police have noticed an increase in the number of campers, but it is currently not illegal to camp in the park, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Cherri Masaki, 40, who has two daughters who play soccer in the park, said, "If I had a choice, I'd have them removed. I know people are having a hard time, but this park is so heavily used. There's youth all over. It's scary. Our girls have to go in groups to the bathrooms."

Christine Asuncion, 36, whose 14-year-old daughter plays soccer, said, "If the balls go down (near the homeless), we don't let the girls go. We get the balls."

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IT'S RARE TO FIND A PERSON MOLESTE A CHILD IN A CROWD.

THERE ARE MANY HOMELESS WHO ARE MORAL AND DECENT PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT DONE TIME, DON'T DO DRUGS AND HAVE STRONG PERSONALITIES, INCLUDING WOMEN AND FAMILIES THAT LIVE IN THE PARK.

EVEN THE CODE OF SOME FORMER INCARCEREES WOULD NOT PERMIT THEM TO DO HARM TO CHILDREN. LET'S FIND A WAY TO HELP THOSE WITH PREJUDICES ABOUT THE HOMELESS


NOT HOMELESS

Newswatch, Police/Fire | starbulletin.com | News | /2008/09/12/Sep 12, 2008 ... Hawaii Newspaper - Coverage and reports on news, sports, business, ... Man allegedly assaulted girl, 4. Police arrested a 68-year-old Salt ...
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HONOLULU -- A 76-year-old man convicted for sexual assaulting a 5-year-old relative was sentenced Tuesday to a year in prison.
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In a case with national significance, Chief Federal Judge Helen Gillmor has rejected a request by the Justice Department to commit to a mental institution a convicted sex offender who has completed his prison sentence and parole supervision.

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A deputy prosecutor said accused child molester Manuel "Memo" Taboada is the head of a religious "cult," and a police detective said Taboada is being investigated in Oregon for conspiracy to assist "numerous adult men committing sex assaults against children."

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No-contest plea to molesting 6 Hawaii boys
In a deal with prosecutors that will avoid a trial and could lead to five years in prison, a former Wahiawa soccer coach and foster parent said yesterday that he would not fight charges that he sexually molested six boys over several years.

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Girl, 13, says chief molested her on airplane - Navy News ...Jan 27, 2008 ... Girl, 13, says chief molested her on airplane ... incident is disturbing to all of us,” said Keoni Wagner, a spokesman for Hawaii Airlines. ...
www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_molest_080124/ - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

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StarBulletin.com | News | /2006/03/09/Mar 9, 2006 ... Another isle man allegedly baits teen victim on MySpace ... Connecticut against two men accused of assaulting girls they met on MySpace.com, ...
starbulletin.com/2006/03/09/news/story05.html - 36k - Cached - Similar pages

HAWAII GOES HYGIENIC

Homeless get help fighting diseases
By Nalea J. Ko
nko@starbulletin.com

Two hundred homeless people at the River of Life Mission received safety kits yesterday meant to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and perhaps save lives.

Lend a hand
To make a contribution to provide kits to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases among the homeless and the poor, visit hepatitis.idlinks.com and click on the Save-a-Life Safety Kit link.

But more funds are needed to help other at-risk people statewide, health officials said.

"This fund, while very needed for Oahu, is limited to Oahu only, and so we need to raise money to provide kits to the neighbor islands," said Ken Akinaka, executive director of the Hepatitis Support Network of Hawaii.

State Rep. John Mizuno was one of a handful of people passing out plastic storage bags filled with nail clippers, razors, plastic bandages and other items to those waiting to get a hot meal at 101 N. Pauahi St.

"It's my understanding that our homeless population -- their rate of hepatitis B, C, HIV and other infectious disease is two to three times higher than the general population," said Mizuno as he presented an award to Akinaka. "So it's very important that we try to address this issue now within the homeless community, and it will also provide protection as they interact with the general population."









from "Vernon Balmer Jr."
to fkaufman@chla.usc.edu
date Feb 9, 2008 4:45 PM
subject Being Inclusive In Our Outlook


I have resided in Honolulu, Hawaii for 6 years now. I needed to sustain myself at the local soup kitchen due to vicsissitudes beyond my control. I was surprised to find a breakfast menu that consisted of what appears to be Starbucks fare and the local donut shop. I was surprised after eating there for some time and realizing this is the breakfast menu 95 percent of the time. Seems to me, since the homeless population and the needy population keeps growing, we should be more concerned about what we all eat. Needless to mention, we all have children. There is diabetes here as there is over the world. It's easy to see here the effects of "colonization" and oppression. Some compare Hawaii to a 3rd world country. How do we make all people our concern, as far as diet, even the people some would forget about, push to the periphery, or not care about at all?

SNEAKED ONE IN

Dec,2007
Wisconsin lawyer to head elections office
Kevin Cronin has held several government roles but has limited experience in elections
By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com
A government attorney in Wisconsin with little election experience has been selected to run Hawaii's elections.

The state Elections Commission announced yesterday that Kevin Cronin, assistant general counsel to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, has been named the Hawaii chief election officer and will start work in February.

Vol. 13, Issue 211 - Tuesday, July 29, 2008


State looks at voting status of its chief election officer
» Governor criticizes candidacy confusion

Star-Bulletin staff
The state Elections Commission reportedly will take up the issue of state Chief Election Officer Kevin Cronin's voting status -- a key qualification for his job.

City Clerk Denise De Costa confirmed yesterday that Cronin, a Wisconsin state attorney who was hired in February by the state Elections Commission, was not a registered Hawaii voter until Friday.

State law states: "The person appointed to be chief election officer shall be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the state, and a registered voter of the state."

Cronin yesterday declined to discuss his voter status except to say that the Elections Commission would take it up at their Thursday meeting.

YOU LUCKY YOU WORK HAWAII

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WHO'S BENEFITING FROM WHAT, AND WHO ?

Rod Tam sorry for saying ‘wetbacks’ | Alohapolitics.comCity Councilman Rod Tam apologized yesterday for his recent use of the ethnic slur “wetbacks” about illegal immigrants from Mexico working in Hawaii. ...
www.alohapolitics.com/?p=435 - 65k - Cached - Similar pages


WHAT ARE THE STATISTICS ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC...OH YEAH, AND EUROPE?

HAWAII IMMIGRATION STATISTICS
Total Population: 1,285,000 (2006)
Foreign Born: 232,000 (2005)
Illegal Immigrants: FAIR Estimate: 52,000 (2005)
USCIS/DHS Estimate: 2,000 (2000)
Pew Hispanic Center Estimate: 2,000-3,500 (2005)

Immigration to Hawaii
During the 1990s, Hawaii's foreign-born population increased 30 percent. Between 1990 and 2000, Hawaii gained 50,000 immigrants, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to 212,000. The increase in the foreign-born population during the 1990s accounted for 48 percent of the state's overall population increase during the decade. 30 percent of school-aged children in Hawaii have immigrant parents; while five percent are immigrants themselves. Under a 1985 pact between the United States and the newly independent Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, citizens of those territories may freely migrate to the United States. To protect Hawaii from a major resettlement burden, the agreement specified that annual reports would be sent to Congress on the impact on Hawaii and the Pacific territories as a result of the compact to allow remedial actions. However, the Hawaiian government sued the federal government to recoup outlays for the migrants as the Interior Department failed to issue those reports from 1989 to 1996. The suit was dismissed by a federal appeals court as a political matter for Congress to resolve. However, the lawsuit caught the federal government's attention and has led to a new catch-up report and some federal assistance. Then-governor Ben Cayetano cited Census data showing that 4,815 immigrants from the two countries have migrated to Hawaii since 1985 and that nearly 40 percent of them were living below the poverty level, affecting welfare, health care, and crime.

Illegal Immigration to Hawaii
Many states have begun to grapple with the issue of immigration reform in response to Congress' failure to act. Hawaii Legislature has turned the other way, contrary to impressions left in a new nationwide survey, possibly because of worker shortage or liberal leanings. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that state legislatures considered 1,404 immigration measures this year and enacted 170 of them, including 18 measures approved by the Hawaii Legislature. State lawmakers elsewhere adopted measures to curb employment of unauthorized immigrants and make it more difficult for them to obtain state identification documents, such as driver's licenses.

These Hawaii measures, however, can hardly be interpreted as a crackdown on illegal aliens. For example, a Hawaii bill that the NCSL says "excludes certain alien agricultural workers" from receiving unemployment benefits actually stops forcing them to pay into the program "even though they will never qualify to collect unemployment benefits." A new law, cited by the report, that it says requires that all persons seeking jobs with the state or any county "must be citizens, nationals or permanent residents of the United States or eligible under federal law for unrestricted employment in the United States." However, as of October 2007 Hawaii is among the few states still issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

This new law is actually less restrictive than the old one, which required that anybody applying for a Hawaii state job must be a Hawaii resident. The American Civil Liberties Union in Hawaii challenged the law on behalf of out-of-state applicants from Florida, and U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled in June 2006 that it was unconstitutional. The only other bill approved by the Legislature, signed into law by Gov. Linda Lingle and cited by the NCSL was to create a pilot program providing health-care coverage for all children in Hawaii, including aliens who have only temporary visas or who lack documentation of any kind. Children should not be refused health care, regardless of their alien status. According to INS figures, 2,000 illegal aliens resided in Hawaii as of 2000.

REVERSE ROBIN HOOD

BEWARE, HAWAII (THE FOX)







Pay to stay
IHS to start charging homeless with long-term shelter needs


By Alexandre Da Silva
adasilva@starbulletin.com
Without a home or job, Danuse Urbaskova plans to leave the downtown emergency shelter where she has slept, showered and eaten for free for the past two years.

The 55-year-old is hoping to find a care home that will take her before she is billed a $90 monthly fee the Institute for Human Services shelter will begin charging as early as Sept. 1.

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PRESERVATION, RESERVATION

Lingle wants state to buy Turtle Bay

By Dan Nakaso
The Honolulu Advertiser Jan 22, 2008


In her sixth state of the state address this morning, Gov. Linda Lingle proposed that the state purchase the 850-acre Turtle Bay hotel and condominium resort on O'ahu's North Shore.











Lingle said that she has considered at least a dozen ways "we could mix and match" revenue streams to finance such a purchase. These include selling off the resort portion of the property to pay down the debt, exchanging other state lands, creatively using tax credits spread out over time, a tax check-off on our income tax returns, private grants, allocating Legacy Land Funds, federal conservation dollars and a worldwide Internet fundraising campaign to "Save Hawai'i's North Shore."