Musings: On This and That

Brilliant Venus has slipped into a cloud patch, the crickets are chirping and three times this evening I heard the wheezing honk-bray of the Newell's shearwaters — the adults coming in to nest. Crews have been working to underground the utility lines at Kealia, so hopefully soon the birds will have one less death trap to navigate. When I drive by the construction and see all the guys working, I wonder if the “buck the fird” folks realize the `A`o are providing jobs for their family and friends.

Workers at Makaweli Poi in Waimea are looking at losing their jobs — and westside taro farmers an important market for their crop — because the mill is scheduled to shut down on May 24. Hiipoi LLC, a corporate arm of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, owns the mill and says it's losing money. But staff and farmers say it's more complicated than that.... At any rate, folks are concerned, and they'll be meeting at 7 Tuesday night at the West Kaua'i Technology & Visitor Center. Others will be addressing the OHA board,which just so happens to be meeting in Lihue Wednesday night. It sure would be sad to see the community lose that resource.

Meanwhile, I've gotten multiple confirmations of reports that defendants trying to enroll in Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho's troubled POHAKU program are being told it's “suspended” and “on hold.” So not sure what's happening there, or how it will affect people who have already paid the $200 and are waiting to take the class. But certainly something is happening there or the program would be functioning as usual.

And I found it interesting that Sen. Daniel Inouye got Hawaii a $128,585 grant to aid the protection of Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtle, just as his one-time protege, WESPAC director Kitty Simonds, is orchestrating a move to delist the honu. That could signal the delisting proposal is dead in the water, so to speak.

I spent the better part of a beautiful day trapped in the courthouse being reminded that the wheels of justice move ever-so-slowly. I, like the 40-odd other people there, had been summoned for jury duty. So we all kind of laughed when the instructional DVD thanked us for being willing to cooperate. I'm not sure l'd call it willing when you're threatened with a possible bench warrant and contempt charges if you don't show. And we laughed again when they said don't be insulted if you aren't chosen.

The judge was Randal Valenciano, and I raised an eyebrow when he told us that after 9-11 people had joined the military to serve our nation and someone could quite possibly have lost their life for our right to serve on a jury. I was like, huh? You actually believe that waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan — and the associated secret prisons, torture, Guantanamo, secret drone strikes, President-ordered assassinations of American citizens who have never been charged with a crime, Patriot Act and NDAA — has enhanced the rule of law in America? But when you're the judge you can say whatever you want.

Still, Randal seemed in his element, and he was in good spirits, which helped to keep the often tedious proceedings entertaining.  My number was never called, so I was excused. But as I watched people getting selected, saw their earnest desire to be fair and open-minded, to serve,  two thoughts came to mind: humans aren't complete sheeples yet, and we've got to find a way to get average every day people more involved in their government, as in a much more direct form of democracy.

Musings: Gleanings

It's Friday and I've got a busy day ahead, so I thought I'd skip the news — aside from referring you to this article, in which the Navy finally admits the sonar and explosives used in local war games are more dangerous to marine mammals than previously claimed — and turn it over to visuals.

Musings: Duck and Cover

“It looks amazing,” enthused Dan, one of those empty-headed announcers over on Hawaii News Now.

“Yeah, it's pretty cool stuff,” gushed government propagandist, I mean, “broadcast journalist” Ramsay Wharton, who then proceeded to give Raytheon's SM-3 Block IB's kinetic warhead a glowing, and totally unquestioning, plug.

The news: PMRF launched another missile from Kauai last night and Raytheon's gear shot it down. Ramsay's spin: Gee, isn't war and America and all that exploding stuff grand?

Almost as an aside, Ramsay — a failed GOP Congressional candidate — tosses in, “Now Russia threatens pre-emptive strike over that planned U.S. missile shield....” with absolutely no follow up.

Let me get this straight. It's supposed to be a defensive tool, but it's provoking saber rattling? Sounds effective. So does that mean Putin will "hit" Kauai in the preemptive strike, since we're the center for these test launches?

I know, I know. Quit asking questions. No one cares. PMRF brings money into the economy, and that's the only thing that matters.

Musings: Prosecutors Lawyer Up

Responding to what County Attorney Al Castillo termed “a very unusual and special circumstance,” the Kauai County Council last night agreed to spend up to $15,000 on a private attorney to handle Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho's POHAKU problems..

Council Chair Jay Furfaro took pains to note the special counsel would be representing the prosector's office in a civil, rather than criminal, defense.

But from the limited exchange that occurred in public session, it appeared the county does not yet know whether criminal violations have occurred. It also seemed, from Al's comments, that Shaylene will be directing the special attorney with no oversight from his office.

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura asked whether the money would be refunded if it was determined the legal problems arose from conduct outside the scope of the prosecutor's duties.

“At this point in time, I don't want to speculate.” Al replied. “The conduct not being within the scope takes it into a criminal, not a civil matter. I don't want to speculate where this goes. It's safe for me to say the request is simply for matters regarding the POHAKU program and it's all civil.”

“Is it for ethics violations as well?” JoAnn asked. “This is about how this money is going to be used if we appropriate it.”

“Whatever investigation occurs regarding the POHAKU program is what's going to happen,” Al responded. “Whatever the outcome of the investigation is is the outcome.”

“If a county employee is under investigation for an ethics violation, are they entitled to special counsel?” JoAnn pressed.

“Then the question becomes whether or not that county employee at the end of the day is found to have violated any ethics or charter provisions,” Al said. “But ... we can make the determination at that point in time whether legal representation from the council was appropriate.”

Concerns have been raised about the prosecutor's relationship to Strategic Justice Partners, a restorative justice consulting company that lists first deputy prosecutor Jake Delaplane as its agent. It's also unclear whether Shay followed the state procurement process in hiring the firm.

Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura called for the question (vote) — a move that effectively ends  further discussion — but JoAnn overrode her and asked whether the request for special counsel applied to the prosecutor and deputies as individuals, or the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.

“This is to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney and special counsel for that office,” Al said. “I am not in control of any matters thereafter.”

Councilman Tim Bynum noted that Councilmembers were barred from asking Shay questions about the POHAKU program during her April 20 budget hearing. He said she also refused to answer written questions until she had special counsel.

“Will this facilitate us asking the questions that we wanted to ask, programatic, about the POHAKU program?” Tim asked.

“It will facilitate it to the point where you may ask any question that you want as a Councilmember,” Al replied. “The response that you get I have no control over.”

Although Tim and JoAnn earlier asked for the prosecutor to return to finish answering questions about her proposed budget, Jay did not schedule such a session.

Al also confirmed, in response to a question from Tim, that the request for special counsel stemmed in part from allegations Shay made in an email and during her budget hearing. She accused the county attorney's office of continually working against the interests of her office, repeated conflicts of interest and “constant attacks.”

Only JoAnn voted against the request for special counsel. Tim said he voted for the request after the amount was reduced from $30,000 to $15,000 and it was clarified the money would be used for  civil matters. He also empathized with Al, saying it's "hard for County Attorney to represent OPA when they are making repeated and multiple allegations." 

Prior to going into executive session, JoAnn noted, “For the record, I think there is still a conflict of interest on Mr. Kualii's part. I'm sorry to have to bring it up again.”

KipuKai works for the YWCA, which manages the victim-witness program that Shay transferred from her office to the Y.

Meanwhile, Shay continues to wage a deft public relations campaign, yesterday distributing a news release about how she's gotten grant funds to re-open “cold case” murder unit.

I'll be curious to see whether Shay, who has made much hay about her track record in prosecuting crimes against women, goes after such politically prickly “cold cases” as the westside serial killings and Lauren Kagawa murder. And will she finally be able to get charges pressed against the guy who murdered Amber Jackson?

It's quite amusing to see Shay take credit for programs she thinks will play well with the electorate. But she invariably assigns Jake to carry out the more odious duties, such as trying the case against Tim in the newspaper, even though it's already been dismissed.

Musings: Paradox in Paradise

“So how's your day going?” read the text I sent to a friend this morning.

“Oh, just another day in paradox,” he texted back.

So true.

Here we are, in one of the most beautiful and ecologically fragile spots on Earth, yet we've got RIMPAC, the world's biggest war games headed our way this summer. And they're gonna be even bigger than last time, cuz the Pacific is now the hate mongers hot spot.

Ironically, the most destructive force on the planet is trying to minimize its carbon footprint by using a few ships powered by biofuels to carry out the wanton wasting of life and limb, land and sea. Gee, I feel better already, knowing the military will be competing with food crops for land and water. Got to keep the war machine fed, even if people starve.

Meanwhile, over on the westside, we've got the seed companies steadily applying poisons to their crops, the largest of which is corn, and nobody wants to say nothin', cuz the money is so dang good. But even as the state has finally begun to recognize the critical importance of honeybees to Island farming, three new studies are fingering common agricultural insecticides — particularly the neonicotinoids heavily used on corn — for wiping out the honeybees that pollinate food crops.

As Scientific American reports:

Researchers have now found that repeated low-dose exposures are perfectly capable of gradually killing off whole hives of bees. In fact, 94 percent of hives whose bees had been fed the pesticide died off entirely within less than six months, according to a new paper that will be in the June issue of Bulletin of Insectology.

You can read abstracts for the other studies here and here.

Of course the poison producers, in this case Bayer Crop Science, defended the pesticide in the usual manner, by trying to discredit the scientists and their studies. But the researchers said they'd fed the bees a “distinctly sublethal dose” while noting, “It apparently doesn’t take much of the pesticide to affect the bees.”

So how, then, do you suppose it affects us? Well, here's something to think about as you suck down a soda: bees are dying after being fed corn syrup made from insecticide-treated corn. Sadly, some of the big commercial beekeepers — like the Wyoming guy who has 80,000 hives that he trucks around to pollinate crops in California's Central Valley and the South — feed that crap to their bees by the tanker load because they've stolen all the honey and are too cheap to even buy sugar.

As a beekeeping friend noted with disgust: “Talk about slave labor.”

But hey, since when do insects, even insects critical to our existence, have any rights or merit the slightest consideration? It's our God-given mandate to exploit stuff to the max for profit and then move on through the wreckage.

It's not just the bees that are declining, though. As another friend noted:

Remember when you were a kid that when driving, the car's windshield got covered with squashed bugs? I can remember having to scrub to get the dried bug juice off. When was the last time that happened, either here or on the Mainland?

That put the fear into me.

Yeah, cuz even though we love to hate them, just like we love to hate our fellow human beings who have different political systems and religious beliefs, insects are crucial to the health of the world's ecosystems, and to our survival, too.

We know it, yet we ignore it.

Cuz it's just another day in paradox.

Musings: Righting Wrongs

There's nothing quite like meandering down the road in that fresh, untouched time between night and day, our way lit by a white moon floating behind a thin luminous quilt, the ambient noise equal parts chirping crickets and crowing roosters, dogs getting their fill of sniffs, houses still dark. It helps me feel, for a time, that all is still right with the world.

A United Nations investigator is calling upon the U.S. to begin righting the wrongs it's perpetrated against indigenous peoples by returning some of the land stolen from American Indian tribes, and perhaps kanaka maoli as well. As The Guardian reported:

James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples said that in nearly two weeks of visiting Indian reservations, indigenous communities in Alaska and Hawaii, and Native Americans now living in cities, he encountered people who suffered a history of dispossession of their lands and resources, the breakdown of their societies and "numerous instances of outright brutality, all grounded on racial discrimination".

"It's a racial discrimination that they feel is both systemic and also specific instances of ongoing discrimination that is felt at the individual level," he said.

I was particularly struck by this observation, because it brought to mind the utterly abysmal coverage of kanaka maoli issues by Hawaii media, as well as the snarky remarks so often left in comments:

“The idea that is often projected through the mainstream media and among public figures that indigenous peoples are either gone or as a group are insignificant or that they're out to get benefits in terms of handouts, or their communities and cultures are reduced to casinos, which are just flatly wrong."

Anaya is going to present a plan for land restoration in his final report to the UN human rights council in September. Of course, it's likely to meet stiff resistance considering that not one member of Congress would meet with him.

Meanwhile, as companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo solidify their control over Internet users, they, in turn, become easier for the government to control. As CNET reports: 

The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

The requirements apply only if a threshold of a certain number of users is exceeded, according to a second industry representative briefed on it.

Of course, this is all for own good, in the name of public safety and national security, and the Feds will never use it without the proper court orders. Uh huh. Ya right.

While we're on the issue of trust, Adam Asquith, the Ph.D.-holding taro farmer and biodiesel entrepreneur who is suing KIUC over smart meters, responded to the utility's recent guest editorial with his own letter:

The audacity of the KIUC Board of Directors, demeaning member concern and participation, pushes vexation into the sublime. In the end, you can only laugh at their hubris.

Other than some Third-World banana republic, what brand of elected leadership believes that the one and only input from constituents is on election day?

It is pathetic when our Board of Directors must stoop to belittling member efforts at communication, such as this letter, and offer only their own propaganda (e.g. Currents) as an alternative.

I've gotta say that I've heard a lot of people express similar sentiments, with the words “propaganda” and “condescending” most often used to describe the guest editorial. What KIUC critics most frequently tell me is they want a co-operative that is more, um, cooperative, as in let's sit down and figure this out together, as opposed to, butt out and let the elected board handle it.

At least one person is trying to get the County Council to weigh in on smart meters, as some California municipalities have done, but Chair Jay Furfaro wisely punted to the PUC. No sense the Council getting involved when it can't even do stuff that's squarely under its purview, like calling Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho back for questions before deciding whether to grant her budget increase or fund programs like POHAKU.

Speaking of which, the County Council has an executive session to discuss POHAKU tomorrow. It will be its second confidential briefing on the matter.

One of the biggest potential problems with the program focuses on the procurement process. As I reported on April 21, I found no record of a request for proposal (RFP) related to the POHAKU program, and no contracts for services related to the POHAKU program.

County procurements are governed by HRS 103D, which generally requires competitive bidding. Violations can carry misdemeanor charges.

So I sent an email to County spokeswoman Beth Tokioka asking, “Is the procurement issue involving POHAKU program being investigated by finance or referred to AGs office for investigation?” I got this response:

When the Purchasing Agency is made aware that there may have been a deviation from standard procedures, they generally initiate a discussion with the department involved to determine what actually happened and if corrective action needs to be taken.

In the case of POHAKU, the Purchasing Agency is in discussions with the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney to better understand any issues that may exist. Those discussions are ongoing at this time.


Finally, many thanks to those who offer me words of support and encouragement in comments and out in the community. 

Musings: Coaxing and Stealing

The day began with mynahs loudly squabbling, but their beef was quickly settled by a downpour that silenced all the birds. And as I snuggled back under the covers in the delicious chill of a spring morning, I thought, ahhh, nothing like rain to coax my newly planted seeds into germination.

Judge Lisa Ginoza — the former Superferry lawyer appointed to the Intermediate Court of Appeals by Superferry supporter Linda Lingle — apparently didn't need any coaxing to recuse herself from an upcoming hearing over the use of Kingdom of Atooi badges during protests against the big boat. As you may recall, Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe ordered the cops to return Kingdom badges to Dayne Gonsalves and Robert Pa, but county Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho is appealing that ruling.

Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but we are now in year five of adjudicating these misdemeanor offenses. I really don't mean to harp on Shay, but the badge case is yet another example of how she is using her office to wage a vendetta at the taxpayer's expense. This time, it's on behalf of her pal Roy Asher, assistant chief at KPD. As I noted back in July 2011, Dayne and Rob are the only two people arrested during the 2007 protests who are still facing charges, and it's because they refuse to capitulate on the badge issue.

But maybe this issue will go all the way to the Hawaii Supreme Court. Regardless of how you might feel about Dayne, Rob or the Kingdom, the core issue here is whether the state will allow kanaka maoli to pursue the nation-building efforts afforded them under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that President Obama signed.

Another issue that went all the way to the state Supreme Court, with little practical result, addressed the problem of wealthy coastal landowners deliberately encroaching onto public beaches with intentionally planted vegetation.

Turns out Southern California has the same problem. Except, as the LA Times reported yesterday, except government officials there are actually and actively working to reverse the trend.

The Coastal Commission is authorized to levy fines of $15,000 per day on homeowners who don't rip out there vegetation and irrigation. What's more, city officials in Newport Beach actually erected “public welcome” signs.

"I insisted on those signs being up because I think it's intimidating to the public to see a lawn and a lawn chair and not realize that that's still the public's land," City Manager Dave Kiff said. "And the public has a right to throw a picnic blanket on it and have a picnic."

Wow. Can you imagine officials here taking that kind of pro-public stance?

Or as Charles Lester, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, noted:

"So it requires vigilance, monitoring and action to protect the public's space," he said. "There's always an inherent tension between private and public space on the shoreline."

U no dat. Except here we're just tense because private interests are steadily stealing our public beaches with impunity.

Meanwhile, KIUC officials are trying to steal their way into our hearts with a “trust us” guest editorial that appeared in yesterday's paper. Though signed by all nine board members, I'm assuming it was penned by Jim Kelly, the former editorial page editor for the former Honolulu Advertiser who is the new communications manager for our utility.

I did have to giggle a bit at the complaint about how even the utility's name was garbled in one article printed by The Garden Island. Unfortunately, that's par for the course at TGI. And besides, it seems a small price to pay for the paper otherwise publishing so many KIUC press releases verbatim.

While it's true that people talk a lot of shit about KIUC, and some of it isn't true, it's too easy to blame the blogs, letters to the editor and radio shows for the brown fog of distortion that swirls around the utility. KIUC has put out plenty of its own bullshit, like the one-sided campaign materials in the FERC-hydro election, and the way it tried to make the fight about hydro, when it was really about process.

One can only hope that with a newsman like Jim in the communications office we'll see less gloss and more honest dialogue and timely information. 

Musings: Dirty Deeds

The Scorpio moon will be full when it rises at 7:07 p.m., though it was already showing its brilliance last night when it managed to escape the clouds that brought the rain that drenched my garden, priming it for planting.

I've been a little more focused on bees than gardening lately, though of course the two go together. I got the scary kine chicken skin last night when I attended a talk by state apiarist Danielle Downey and heard her say pollinators — bees, bats, butterflies — are declining all over the world. And that spells trouble for fruits, veggies, seeds and nuts.

It's unclear exactly why their populations are dropping, but signs point to the usual suspects: selfish, stupid, greedy humans.

Speaking of which, the folks at Syngenta are beginning construction of a giant poison facility in Kekaha, a building large enough for its big sprayers to drive right in and get loaded up with toxic chemicals. That gives you a hint about the volume  of pesticides and herbicides they're using — substances that ultimately end up in our soil, rivers and sea.

Pioneer, on the other hand, continues to try and polish its tarnished image, most recently with a heavily-publicized donation to the Kauai Independent Food Bank. Amazing how The Garden Island can always find room for a KIFB puff piece — this is the fifth in 10 days — while so many important stories go unreported.

To its credit, The Garden Island made a good effort on its second-day coverage of “rice-cooker gate," with the reporter calling Special Prosecutor Richard Minatoya for comments on why he dropped the misdemeanor charges that Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho had filed against Councilman Tim Bynum.

I wondered if former planning director Ian Costa and planning inspector Sheilah Miyake, both witnesses in the case, had an attorney present when Minatoya interviewed them. I'll never forget the way Deputy County Attorney Maunakea Trask asked Judge Kathleen Watanabe if he could stand beside the two when they testified in the hearing to recuse the prosecutor. Kids testifying in heinous abuse cases don't even get to hold a teddybear, yet Ian and Sheilah wanted Maunakea to hold their hands. 

Nor will I forget the classic response from Tim's attorney, Dan Hempey, who said he couldn't see the need “unless they're gonna be confessing to a crime up there.” That quote came to mind when Shay said she couldn't talk to the County Council about POHAKU unless she had an attorney present.

What the paper didn't make clear was what Minatoya meant when he said the case “wouldn't survive the suppression,” nor did it elaborate on his key statement:

The compliance inspections were in violation of regulations, according to Minatoya. It came down to whether there was valid permission for the compliance check.

To get the gist of what's behind all that, you've got to read the motion to suppress that Hempey filed on March 13. In it, he asked the court to suppress evidence gathered during warrantless searches both by planning inspectors and the person — still unnamed, though not truly anonymous — who made the initial complaint against Tim.

It lays out the sickening scenario of how Shay got her lackeys in planning to do her dirty work of compiling a case against Tim, even though Ian had already told her that it did not appear any laws had been broken.

Though someone — likely either Sheilah or inspector Patrick Henriques — claimed in comments yesterday that no one peeked in Tim's window, the motion states that to see the rice cooker and fridge, a person would have to enter a gate into a fenced back yard, go up a ramp past bedroom windows to the back of the house and across the lanai. Sure sounds like trespassing.

Further, Patrick acknowledged that he “made up excuses” and “so-called” questions in an attempt to gain Tim's consent for a second inspection, using evidence gained while peeping without a warrant.

When you read the motion, you can see why Dan took the case: he was justifiably upset about government intrusion into the private lives of citizens.

And if you read the motion to dismiss that he filed the same day, you'll understand why he was challenging as “vague and overbroad” the county's definition of a kitchen to be “a room used or intended or designed to be used for cooking and preparing food.”

As he notes, “Does this include boiling water? Spreading peanut butter on bread? Microwaving pre-prepared food? Reheating food that has already been prepared and “cooked” at a restaurant? Pouring rice from a bag and covering it in water?”

He contends the vagueness of the statute “invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement,” which is the crux of the matter here.

It's obvious that Shaylene trumped up a case against Tim — a case that cost the taxpayers a lot of money, diverted the prosecutor's attention away from other more serious crimes and made it clear she is abusing the power of her office to execute personal vendettas.

The only question now is whether Shay, like the seed companies that cover their dirty deeds with public relations stunts, will be allowed to get away with it.

Musings: Bynum Cleared

County Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho suffered a major defeat yesterday when Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe dismissed a misdemeanor case against Councilman Tim Bynum.

The judge's order came after Special Deputy Attorney General Richard Minatoya conducted an extensive investigation and asked for a dismissal. Minatoya was appointed to the case after the judge recused Shay's entire office for conflict of interest.

"Mr. Bynum is deeply grateful to the Court for removing the Kauai prosecutor from this case and to the Attorney General's Special Counsel for conducting the thorough investigation that proved his innocence,” said Tim's attorney, Dan Hempey, in a press release distributed last night.

The trouble began on April 14, 2010, when planning inspectors Patrick Henriques and Sheilah Miyake — acting on a tip — came onto Tim's property while he was at a Council meeting and peeked in his windows. They allegedly spotted a rice cooker on the counter of his family room and a refrigerator.

The next day, the planning department sent Tim a “cease and desist” letter advising him of two violations of the zoning code, which he then worked to clear.

Some 19 months later, Shay charged Tim with four criminal misdemeanors, claiming that the presence of the appliances transformed the family room into an unpermitted second kitchen. Each count carried a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Though the prosecutor's office claimed it had not singled Tim out for prosecution, many thought Shay was waging a personal vendetta against Tim, her political enemy from the days they served together on the County Council. That assessment gained credence when Judge Watanabe recused the prosector's office on April 5, saying its continued participation in the case would be highly improper, and there was a compelling public interest for the Attorney General's office to intervene.

As I reported at the time, the recusal hearing included testimony from one of Shay's former deputies, who recounted her office's scheme to mislead and secretly tape record a crime victim in hopes of digging up dirt on Tim.

According to court transcripts of the recusal hearing, Watanabe told First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jake Delaplane (emphasis added):

Thank you. I've heard more than I need to hear at this point. Mr. Delaplane, your request to the court and your reasoning for it has supported this motion for recusal. You know, to protect the integrity of the process, and when I say the process I mean the prosecution and the judicial process, your office should no longer be involved in any manner whatsoever with State v. Bynum. And as such this court is ordering that your entire office, and I don't mean just Ms. Iseri Carvalho or you, Mr. Delaplane, but your entire office is disqualified from further prosecuting this case and the matter will be turned over to the attorney general's office.

The idea that Shay was waging a political vendetta gained more traction when she sent a Jan. 19, 2012 letter to the County Council demanding that Tim be recused from all review and deliberations involving her office while the criminal case was pending.

In that letter, which she marked confidential but later released to the media, Shay stated that “Bynum's paranoid belief that the actions taken by our office were calculated personal attacks against him is without any merit and is completely baseless.”

Shay went on to assert that the planning department had investigated the case and referred it to her office for prosecution — a claim later determined to be false. She also said Tim had a “vested interest” in ensuring her office did not function properly.

The case against Tim, which he said cost him thousands of dollars in legal fees and took a toll on his health and well-being, was dismissed with prejudice, which means the charges can never be filed again. It's unclear how much the case has cost taxpayers, or how much more it may cost if Tim decides to pursue a civil rights action against the county.

I'll be reporting more of the gory details in a subsequent post, but in the meantime, check out the initial motion to recuse, which Watanabe granted, as it contains more examples of Shay's smarmy moves in this case.

Musings: Gloss and Shibai

I was driving past Kealia yesterday, watching out for a bicyclist who was riding against the pau hana traffic and wondering why, when the Path that was supposedly created for them is right there, so many cyclists don't use it.

Could it be because the joggers and strollers and dogs get in their way on what is clearly a recreational path, even though Path boosters scammed the feds into kicking down funding under the guise of providing alternative transportation?

So it was with that same nose for bullshit that I checked out the "visioning document" for a North Shore Path, which pretty much follows the existing road, except in key areas. Can you guess which areas those are? You've got it: primarily undeveloped private lands that would benefit greatly from having a recreational amenity put through with taxpayers picking up the $4.4 million-per-mile tab.

We're talking about the Kilauea plateau on the makai side of the highway; the acreage across the road where Bill and Joan Porter pushed for a pavilion on ag land and CPRd the rest for gentleman's estates; Princeville Corp. lands makai of the highway near the airport, where Jeff Stone plans to develop gentleman's estates; and the taro fields owned by Princeville and the Wilcox family that represent the last bit of Hanalei not yet exploited for tourism.

Curiously, the map also shows a “future/proposed” Hanalei overlook at Pooku, even though that proposal has been beat back several times by the community, which made it pretty clear Princeville has played a key role in this “visioning.” And though the North Shore Path is presented as a “grassroots effort,” no Citizens Advisory Committee was convened for that particular segment.

While I must confess I didn't read the entire document — I can only stomach so much gloss at one sitting — I couldn't help but notice the bit about how “planning costs could easily exceed $2.0M [as in $2 million] for the entire North Shore Path network.” I'm sure that has planning consultant Ben Wellborn, who conveniently is also a Realtor, salivating.

Once again boosters are looking for federal money that is supposed to be used to “expand transportation choices and enhance the transportation experience,” which is probably why the North Shore Path website has wordage about “fewer cars.” But I think you'd be hard-pressed to show the eastside Path has reduced motor vehicle traffic in any significant way, if at all. In fact, it may actually have worked to increase it, because many people drive from their homes to use the Path.

My point is, let's be honest about this whole damn Path. Don't pass it off as providing alternative transportation when its purpose is clearly recreational. Don't claim it will be “forever green” when it's concrete. Don't say it's going to provide lateral access in perpetuity when it's using easements we already have. And in the case of the North Shore, don't pretend it's community-driven when it's so obviously been cooked up as an amenity intended to boost the  property values of a few private landowners and the visitor experience.

While we're on the topic of gloss and shibai, I was kind of astounded to get an email on behalf of Rep. Colleen Hanabusa's campaign that was sent out by John Garibaldi. Remember him, the front man for Hawaii Superferry? And now here he is, blatantly running the campaign of the woman who was president of the state Senate when the Lege held its special session and decided HSF didn't need an EIS to operate. Nope, no special interest legislation there, suck-suck, nuzzle-nuzzle. Gee, and all this time we thought they were our legislators.

Dropping the gloss and going straight for the shibai, fallout continues from the bogus Hanalei toxins story printed Sunday in The Garden Island. The state Department of Health yesterday sent off a blistering letter to the article's author — editor Renee Haines, who has since been fired:

Your story in the April 29 Garden Island News is missing some important information, and unfortunately misrepresents the facts.  We understand the paper’s desire for timely reporting, but we urge you to check on the accuracy of serious allegations like the ones being made by Mr. Lilley before going to print.  The Hawaii State Department of Health is very concerned about the misleading information being shared by Mr. Lilley and would like provide the following facts:

The concentrations of arsenic, barium, chromium and lead reported by Terry Lilley with the  Hanalei River heritage Foundation are within anticipated, natural background levels for the volcanic soils and related sediments of the Hawaiian islands.  The metals are naturally occurring, are tightly bound within minerals in the soil and are not toxic to humans or wildlife.  The terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna of Kaua‘i have lived with these metals since the island was created millions of years ago.  They are similar to levels of metals in soil that would be found anywhere on the islands as well as much of the world, and are not related to manmade pollution.  This is well documented in numerous reports over the past several decades, and summarized in the recent draft report “Hawaiian Islands Soil Metal Background Evaluation Report” prepared for the Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office of the Department of Health.

Mr. Lilly incorrectly compared the sediment data to regulatory standards for drinking water.  These are completely unrelated standards and are not applicable to metals in soil or sediment.

I don't know if Renee was fired for writing that story, which gave Hanalei a black eye just when it was reaping the benefits of exposure provided by The Descendants — the shibai film that glosses over the sins of Hawaii's 1% — or for other reasons. 

But it's very odd that the paper has not yet printed a retraction, a correction or at least the letter to the editor that Dr. Carl Berg submitted. 

Musings: Evasive Tactics

Today is the day the County Council is supposed to get the briefing on the prosecutor's questionable POHAKU program that the County Attorney has been wanting to give for weeks now. 

But since it will be delivered in executive session, we the people won't hear it unless the Council — or more accurately, the members who are not actively protecting Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho — can figure out a way to bring the details into the light of day.

One way to do that would be through grilling Shay about her department's budget. Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, who was prevented from asking the prosecutor about POHAKU at the surrealistic April 20 budget session, said at the time she wants Shay to come back and publicly answer questions.

But Shay has already informed the Council that she refuses to answer their questions about the Office of Prosecuting Attorney's (OPA) budget unless she has a special attorney to represent her.

So the Council will either have to approve her budget with their many questions unanswered, or kick down the dough so Shay can hire her own attorney, a process that could easily be stretched out past the deadline for adopting the county budget.

Can you spell evasion? And how many other department heads get to skate on having their budgets scrutinized because they've done something potentially illegal and so require legal representation? I'd say sure, she can hire her own attorney, so long as it's Craig DeCosta, Dan Hempey, Mark Zenger or another one of her many nemeses. 

Of course, the Council could empower the County Attorney to conduct a thorough investigation into whether Shay and her first deputy, Jake Delaplane, violated the state procurement law and county ethics code when they set up POHAKU. But given that a Council majority didn't even want timely information on the county's potential liability in this matter, that's rather unlikely.

In the meantime, Shay today managed to get yet another promo piece in The Garden Island — her third in 10 days. This one is about her “senior fraud presentations,” a thinly disguised ploy to campaign on county time. With the AARP, Kauai Agency on Elderly Affairs and Kauai Senior Law Program, as well as KPD, all providing fraud alert services to seniors, it's really a stretch to think the supposedly overworked prosecutor needs to chime in, too. But seniors are a captive audience at the senior centers, and they vote, so they're easy targets for, you know, fraud.

While we're on the topic of the so-fine-as-to-be-essentially-invisible line between OPA promotional activities and the prosecutor's re-election campaign, check out the flyer the OPA sent out for the April 23 “kalo dedication ceremony” held at Babylon, aka the cop shop. It features the very same taro graphic that appears on the orange and black re-elect Shay banners posted around the island. Sure looks like a blatant use of county funds to promote a political campaign.

Meanwhile, Justin Kollar, who is running against Shay, may go down as the first politico in history to receive no — as in zero, zilch, nada, none — negative cracks in The Garden Island's comments section. Yup, in the 19 comments posted on an article about his campaign, nary was heard a negative word about Justin, though his opponent received a drubbing.

But will this actually translate into victory for Justin at the polls? Well, as “interesting” noted:

unfortunately, this guy is about to get introduced to the power of local-style mass-extended-family voting patterns

My own thought is that it's going to take more than a worthy opponent to dislodge Shay from the prosecutor's office, which is why some people are sweeping so feverishly to keep that dirt under the carpet.

Heavy Metals Update

Here's a little update to my post earlier today, on Terry Lilley's claim that he'd found dangerously high levels of heavy metals in Hanalei River and Bay.  The Hanalei Watershed Hui sent along a report by Andrew Hood, a hydrologist and principal of Sustainable Resources Group.  He compared Lilley's findings to natural background concentrations of metals in soils and found:


In short, it does not appear the concentrations reported warrant immediate attention or cause for alarm. 


The reported arsenic levels in Hanalei River mud were slightly above the "selected action level," which could mean conducting additional samples or investigating potential sources, Hood wrote. All the other metals were well below action level. Hood noted that arsenic is a "naturally occurring element found in numerous minerals associated with volcanic rock. Arsenic levels in Hawaii soils have been elevated above background in some areas where sugar cane was cultivated."


Anyway, here's his report, so you can see for yourself.

Musings: Occupy Da `Aina

Last night I went out and looked up to see a fattening half moon surrounded by a golden halo, the kind you find in pictures of saints, and next to it, a fiery dot — Mars. The sight served as a reminder of the great planet action in store for us this month. And then this morning, rainbows and a 5-gallon bucket full of gardenias, just in time for May Day. Make like a bee and Occupy flowers!

Some have called for a May 1^st general strike — no work, no school, no shopping. I can understand the “no shopping” bit, since our consumer culture is directly linked to fattening corporate coffers and crashing ecosystems. A new study correlates “above-trend world GDP with greater increases in CO2 concentrations,” prompting one of the authors to state:

“If ‘business as usual’ conditions continue, economic contractions the size of the Great Recession or even bigger will be needed to reduce atmospheric levels of CO2,” says Tapia Granados, who is a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

Which is why we ain't gonna be reducing atmospheric levels of CO2. Because people want not just business as usual, but even more robust business than usual.

Meanwhile, it's business as usual in terms of the mainstream media reporting bogus stories. I'm specifically referencing two recent pieces about Hanalei: a Hawaii News Now report about native water birds supposedly destroying the taro there, and yesterday's front page story in The Garden Island about toxic heavy metals in the river and bay.

I'll start with toxins piece. It was based on information from Terry Lilley, who seems to share the Kardashian's love of publicity, even if it means he has to manufacture threats. In this case, he claims his organization — whose board is led by boatyard owner Michael Sheehan — financed a mud study that found high levels of arsenic, barium, chromium and lead. This prompted Terry, a self-proclaimed marine biologist with no credentials or training, to sound the alarm:

“We have a major problem that needs to be fixed.”

Dr. Carl Berg, a bonafide marine biologist who regularly conducts water sampling around the island, responded to Terry with an email that read, in part:

2. These  values are lower than those reported in the scientific paper done by USGS and myself way back in 2001 which you should have read by now (attached) and quoted. We looked at water, sediment and tissues for a wide range of metals and organic compounds.

3. Our values were below toxicity levels of ecological concern.

4.They were below EPA "probable adverse effects level" for aquatic organisms. Your single values are even less.

And Maka`ala Ka`aumoana, executive director of the Hanalei Watershed Hui, sent out an email stating:

The Hanalei Watershed Hui has confirmed with Hawaii Department of Health Environmental Health Administration Deputy Director, Gary Gill (586-4424), that the analysis report of recent sampling in the Hanalei area as reported by Mr. Terry Lilley appears to reflect “background levels” of these substances often found in the environment in Hawaii.

And then there was the similarly shibai taro piece. It has Rodney Haraguchi, who pays just $25 per acre to farm in the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, blaming endangered native water birds for crop losses. Rodney regularly makes this claim, threatening taro eaters with higher prices if something isn't done.

But since he's Japanese, and supports GMO taro, he doesn't hold much sway with the Hawaiian community. For this he trotted out Haunani Pacheco, who claims her family has been farming taro for 100 years. Well, Haunani also happens to be married to Gary, who serves on the board of Rodney's historic rice mill, so she's not exactly an impartial source.

Never mind that Rodney could go farm at Mahaulepu if he doesn't like the refuge, or that his own heavy chem operations and the winter floods might have something to do with his crop losses. 

And there's absolutely no mention at all that the perennial taro shortage is most likely due to the fact that many acres of viable taro land lie fallow because no will or can them. This includes the loi behind the Hanalei Shopping Center, where nearly all the farmers were inexplicably evicted by Hanalei Poi on behalf of the Wilcox family. Now fertile loi that once produced copious amounts of taro is overgrown with trash trees. And Rodney never said a word while all this was going down.

Yeah, just blame it on the birds. Cause we all know humans can't be at fault.

Forget the streets and the banks. Occupy da `aina.