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| | ENVIRONMENTGreen DrinksRub elbows, talk story and relax with like minded green business people and eco-entrepreneurs. No membership ...
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| | NewsHawaii and Maui Renewable Energy RundownAre we making progress toward energy independence? There's good news and bad newsOct 08 2009A few items of interest on the renewable energy (RE) front bubbled to the surface this week. Since the Energy Expo a month ago, I’ve been following a curious cover-up locally by...
| NewsRaising Water Awareness & Restoring Maui's StreamsWalking downriver for justice and sustainabilityOct 01 2009As with many other things in life, we tend to take water for granted. Yet water is amazing, and deserving of our great respect and stewardship. An upcoming march in support of restoring in-stream flows ...
| NewsHawaii's Nene ParadoxThe state bird is still endangered, but there's hope on the wingOct 01 2009It’s sadly fitting that the nene is both Hawaii’s official state bird and an endangered species. Before the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778, there were more than...
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September 24, 2009 HYPER LOCAL
"Not great, but coulda been worse" is probably the best way to sum up the verdict in the Maui Lani case—for both sides. After a protracted trial, the jury awarded $232,700 in total damages, but to only six of the 11 plaintiffs. The jury also let the contractor, Kila Kila Builders, off the hook, heaping all the monetary blame on developer VP&PK. The case, you'll recall, centers on a collection of Kahului residents who say their tranquility was shattered and property damaged by the lengthy construction project. Attorney Lance Collins, who represented the plaintiffs, told me that while the verdict shows that "the community believes there's a line that was crossed," his clients are disappointed, primarily because not everyone was awarded damages and Kila Kila escaped unscathed. Collins says he respects the jury's decision and thanks them for their service, but hinted that this fight may not be over just yet… As the Maui Planning Commission considers a proposed expansion at the Grand Wailea (see By the Numbers, pg. 9), the resort can rest easy in the knowledge that it's already considered the "most luxurious" in the state, at least according to the results of a Pacific Business News online poll. As of this writing, 30 percent of respondents had picked the Grand, putting it well ahead of its Neighbor Island rivals. Fitting PBN chose the word "luxurious," which in addition to "fancy" also means "excessively ornate" and "expensive."…
LOCAL
An interesting (and by "interesting" I mean "sad and frightening") thing about the ag inspector layoffs (118 Department of Agriculture workers, and 50 of 78 total inspectors for those new to the story) is that, while they're being sold by Gov. Lingle as a belt-tightening measure, they may end up costing the state far more than the $3.8 million they save. That argument is convincingly made in a recent release from the Haiku-based Hawaii Agriculture & Conservation Coalition. The Coalition points out, as others have, that the state's 300-plus export nurseries could be shut down as a result of the firings, along with produce exporters. This, in turn, would have a trickle down effect (and not in the pie-in-the-sky, Reaganesque sense) on ancillary businesses that sell, say, fertilizer or growing equipment. And that's not even mentioning the fallout from the arrival and spread of invasive species like the little fire ant or coqui frog, which could sap hundreds of millions of dollars from the state's coffers for control and eradication. (As an example of how having ag inspectors prevents this from happening: in February, a package containing 17 piranhas was intercepted at the Kahului Airport. If you don't think that's a big deal, hop in a bathtub with 17 piranhas and get back to me.) This is clearly one of those short-term gain, long-term loss scenarios and proof that Lingle's balance-the-budget-without-raising-taxes-at-all-costs mantra is threatening to leave Hawaii in a world of hurt… On the same note: On September 22, Hawaii teachers agreed to a new contract that includes 17 furlough days, to be spread between October 2009 and June 2010, according to a KITV report. The furlough "holidays" are reportedly slated for Fridays. I'm sure few students will shed a tear at the prospect of more three-day weekends, but for working parents it means scrambling to find childcare, an expense many can scarcely afford. It also means fewer days of instruction for Hawaii's young minds, and more days for unsupervised keiki to get into mischief. As with the ag inspectors, this is one of those essential services that everyone depends on whether they realize it or not, and cutting it this drastically will have far-reaching implications…
NOT LOCAL
Ralph Nader: consumer advocate, presidential candidate…fiction writer? Apparently so. In a new novel titled Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, Nader tells the story, according to an AP report, of "a gang of 70-something plutocrats, from Warren Buffett and Ted Turner to Bill Cosby and Yoko Ono, who conspire to set off a progressive revolution." The narrative begins in 2005, when "a secret gathering is convened by Buffett at a Maui mountain retreat, where 17 very wealthy people agree to take back the country they think has been betrayed." Hmmm, a world where The Cos and Yoko take a Maui vacay and the result is a viable plan to rescue humanity? Sounds like the kind of world where Ralph Nader could get elected president… A few weeks ago, I praised Rep. Neil Abercrombie for using the phrase "health insurance reform" (emphasis mine) while discussing the issue with Lance Holter on Akaku. Now it seems Obama has at long last gotten on board. In a September 21 Twitter post (yes, ancient news in Twitterland by the time you read this, but still instructive for our purposes), the President (or whoever writes his Twitter posts) wrote: "Every American needs to know what health insurance reform means for them," and linked to barackobama.com/issues/healthcare. (Note: fact-checking and critical thinking are a must when considering the claims made there, just like anywhere.) It's a good start, but honestly, at this late hour, I'd step the rhetoric up a notch. How about "big, fat legislative insurance company bitch slap"? Too cumbersome? Maui Time Weekly, Jacob Shafer
Tags: Maui Environment, Maui Politics
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