Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities. Native NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.  Please save the dates for our Fourth Annual Native Hawaiian Conference from August 30 - September 2 2005, at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.  For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

February 2, 2005

 

 

 

FEE LAW REPEALED

 

Repeal supporters cheer the 6-3 Council vote, but lessees fear loss of their homes

                               

By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com

 

January 27, 2005

HONOLULU, HI - The City Council voted yesterday to void the controversial ordinance that allows condominium owners to use the city's condemnation powers to buy title to the land under their buildings.

The Council voted 6-3 to repeal the mandatory lease-to-fee conversion law known as Chapter 38. The measure now goes to Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who has said that he would sign a repeal bill.

"To me, Chapter 38 promotes unfairness, and that is why it has been so controversial," said Councilman Nestor Garcia, who voted to repeal the law.

After the vote, repeal supporters, including representatives of charitable trusts, small landowners, charter school students and teachers, and native Hawaiian activists applauded the Council's action.

They stood and broke into a chorus of "Hawaii Pono'i."

"We won. I'm just so happy. ... We've been fighting for this for the longest," said 17-year-old Helena Crawford, a senior at Waianae High School who has taken part in programs sponsored by the Queen Liliuokalani Trust, which owns land in Waikiki with leasehold condominium units.

"This means we can continue to protect our lands, we can continue to rely on our ownership into the future, rely on its cash flow and take care of our educational programs," said Ray Soon, vice president of community relations with Kamehameha Schools, which also fought to kill the law.

Chapter 38 harms charitable trusts like Kamehameha Schools and Queen Liliuokalani by taking away needed revenue generated from the condominium leases, its detractors said. Small landowners also said they have been at a disadvantage with lessees who have had City Hall on their side.

"Today is a wonder day in Hawaii nei for our children, our alii trust and protection of landownership for all of Hawaii's people," testified LeRoy Akamine, a Kamehameha Schools alumnus.

But lessees said they fear they will face high lease payments or lose their homes as a result of the law being voided.

"I love my home and I don't really want to give it up, and I really don't think that it's fair that we should have to after the many years we have been there," Melba Maxwell, who owns a unit in the Kalia in Waikiki, testified.

They also contend the city is liable for its decision to not only repeal the law, but to cut off applicants close to converting.

"We assumed that the City and County of Honolulu would live up to its obligations under its contract. This is just a flagrant breach by the Council of that," said Robert Dupire-Nelson. A resident of the Kahala Beach apartment, he is one of the plaintiffs who filed suit Monday against the city over the anticipated repeal of the law.

Another lawsuit was filed Tuesday by lessees at the Admiral Thomas condominium.

"I think we're placing every faith that the courts of Hawaii will uphold the law and uphold reason and allow actions to continue," Dupire-Nelson said. "If the courts do not allow the (conversion) action to continue, I think ... it puts a great deal of questions into how long you can remain somewhere."

The Council rejected an amendment introduced by Councilman Charles Djou that would have permitted some lessees in cases close to Council approval to complete the conversion process. Djou and other members said the amendment would have helped limit the city's exposure to liability.

The mandatory leasehold conversion law was passed in 1991 to help condominium leasehold owner-occupants gain title to the land under their units. The city uses its powers of eminent domain to condemn the land and turn over the fee interests to the eligible unit owners.

 

 

 

Akaka requests hearing for Native Hawaiian bill

 

January 30, 2005

By Frank Oliveri

Advertiser Washington Bureau

 

WASHINGTON — Hawai'i Sen. Daniel Akaka wants the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to hold a hearing on Native Hawaiian federal recognition in late February or early March when Hawai'i Gov. Linda Lingle is in Washington.

 

The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 — otherwise known as the Akaka bill — was introduced in the Senate and House yesterday by all four Hawai'i lawmakers, beginning the process that they hope will culminate in a vote by Congress this year.

 

The bill's next step is in committee: Indian Affairs in the Senate and Resources in the House.

 

The Akaka bill would set a framework for the creation of a Native Hawaiian government. That governing body would then be empowered to negotiate with the federal and state governments over the disposition of Native Hawaiian lands, the exercise of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and the delegation of governmental powers and authorities to Native Hawaiians by the federal and state governments. Akaka said his goal is parity in federal policies between Native Hawaiians, Native Americans and Native Alaskans.

 

Patricia Zell, minority staff director and chief counsel of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said Lingle, a Republican, would prefer to testify on behalf of the Akaka bill while she is in Washington attending a National Governors' Association meeting.

 

In an impassioned plea on the Senate floor yesterday, Akaka said the legislation would not sanction race-based preferences as has been stated by those opposed to the bill.

 

"Native Hawaiians never relinquished their inherent rights to sovereignty," Akaka said. "We were a government that was overthrown. ... I strenuously disagree with the mischaracterization of this legislation as race-based."

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, January 27, 2005

DHHL focus on Kapolei

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

KAPOLEI, HI - The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is pinning its star on three developments in Kapolei to set a fast-track pace toward meeting its stated goal of awarding 6,000 statewide residential leases to Native Hawaiians by 2010.

"Kapolei was one of three places in the island chain where Hawaiians would go to identify Hokule'a, which is one of three stars that led to and from Tahiti," said Micah Kane, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands chairman.

The Kapolei area is the guiding light for DHHL's new aggressive philosophy of building larger, master-planned communities as opposed to smaller pocket developments.

DHHL's development of 380 acres in the region will include Kaupe'a, a 326-lot project on 53.3 acres at what was formerly called Village 8. Groundbreaking for Kaupe'a was held Dec. 14. Infrastructure work is under way and home construction will begin in December of this year, Kane said. And Malu'ohai at the Villages of Kapolei, a 45-unit self-help project formerly known as Village 6, was recently completed.

East Kapolei I is the proposed third project. The plan calls for 380 single-family homes of 5,000 square feet to be built on 100 acres. The new $12 million DHHL office, on a campus-style setting on nine or 10 acres by the third quarter of 2007, and a community center will be part of the East Kapolei I development, adjacent to the University of Hawai'i's West O'ahu campus.

"The primary goal is to provide a thriving community where our people can live, work, play and learn," Kane said. "We also want to go into communities with the concepts and ideas of how we can benefit our surrounding communities. ... We need to make sure that our adjacent landowners, like in the case of East Kapolei, know that we are bearing the major costs of bringing down water from the mauka lands and sewer lines from the makai lands."

Kane said DHHL has been working with the state Transportation Department on accelerating the building of the North-South Road and with the county on Kapolei Parkway. "The two bisecting roads are critical pressure points for the region," Kane said. "If they're built, traffic and congestion in the region will subside tremendously."

The self-help Malu'ohai project, developed by Menehune Development Co. with help from Honolulu Habitat for Humanity, was dedicated Jan. 8. DHHL, the master developer, spent $12 million to put in on-site infrastructure improvements for 226 lots on the parcel, where the first hui of 12 families began constructing $70,000 three-bedroom, two-bath homes in January 2003.

"This was an exciting project for us because it proved that we can hit larger numbers with the self-help concept," Kane said. "So you'll see that self-help concept in East Kapolei I. We plan to blend the demographics of Malu'ohai."

The $18.3 million cost for Kaupe'a's infrastructure work is being met by the Native Hawaiian Trust Fund and money from the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Because 25 percent of the cost is being met by Native Hawaiian housing grant money, 25 percent of the households in the subdivision must be at 80 percent and below median income ($52,550 in 2004) for the area.

"Over the history of our trust," Kane said, "we've had difficulty lining up support at the federal, state, county and legislative levels. It's a unique time right now because there is support for the fulfillment of native issues. We have the governor, the Legislature and the (congressional) delegation all in support so it allows us to move quickly.

"... Malu'ohai and breaking ground on (Kaupe'a) is a sign that we can execute. As we move east into East Kapolei I, I cannot understate the importance of our success in this region."

DHHL's Kapolei projects will be completed by 2010, said Kane. Many of the future residents already live in the region, he said.

DHHL is also proposing master-planned communities for Wailua on Kaua'i; Kula and Lei'ali'i on Maui, and Maku'u, La'i'opua and La'iamilo on the Big Island.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

HHS Releases New Tribal Consultation Policy

 

January 21, 2005

 

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced a new HHS Policy on Tribal Consultation created under a federal-tribal partnership that included over 40 Tribal and 20 Federal representatives.

 

“I commend the tribal and federal representatives who worked hard on the tribal consultation policy,” Secretary Thompson said. “This new agreement will further emphasize the unique government-to-government relationship between Indian Tribes and the federal government and help improve services to the Indian community through better communications.”

 

The new policy updates the current policy for consistency with existing Executive Memorandum dated September 23, 2004 and Executive Order 13175 and contains sections on performance, evaluation, consultations. The new policy also incorporates new practices implemented since 2001 such as reactivation of the Secretary’s Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs (ICNAA), annual regional tribal consultations sessions, and enhanced consultation on the budget formulation process.

 

In March 2003, HHS initiated formal consultation with tribal governments to revise the 1997 “HHS Policy on Consultation with Indian Tribal Governments and Indian Organizations” which predated the recent Executive Memoranda and Executive Order signed to enhance tribal consultation.

 

Since 2001, HHS leadership expanded tribal government access to HHS programs, initiated senior staff trips to Indian reservations, reactivated a dormant ICNAA and implemented annual regional tribal consultation sessions. As part of HHS’ broadened emphasis on expanding programs to better serve this population and be responsive to tribal consultation issues, the Secretary determined revision to existing policy was needed.

 

 

 

FCC issues ruling on phone company

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

January 30, 2005

For several years, fees on telephone bills have paid for Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. to build a telephone network to serve customers living on Hawaiian Home Lands.

So far, Honolulu-based Sandwich Isles has spent $160 million for a system serving 1,300 customers, mainly on the Big Island, Maui and Moloka'i.

Whether the company will continue to have access to the money has been thrown in doubt following a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission last year. The FCC has ordered Sandwich Isles to go through an application process that could lead to a decision to deny the company access to the money.

If that is the case, "Sandwich Isles revenues will decline so severely that it will be unable to continue operations, much less complete its expansion to serve all of the Hawaiian Home Lands," the company wrote the FCC last month.

Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. is building a telephone network to some of the least-served areas of the state with money from the Universal Service Fund. The fund was created as a means of financing phone service in high-cost rural areas that have small numbers of customers. Money in the fund comes from fees paid by phone customers nationwide.

The FCC originally decided in 1998 that Sandwich Isles did not need to go through a lengthy application process. The FCC granted Sandwich Isles rights to subsidies to help pay for service to Hawaiian Home Lands. In its original petition, Sandwich Isles claimed the areas in question were unserved by the local phone company — an issue later disputed by GTE Hawaiian Tel, which is now Verizon Hawaii.

Now, about six years later, the FCC is investigating the claims by Verizon that Hawaiian Home Lands customers are part of its territory and do not need the services of Sandwich Isles.

It's not the first time questions have been raised about Sandwich Isles. The company was a subject of controversy when it was awarded an exclusive, open-ended license to serve Hawaiian Home Lands by the Hawaiian Homes Commission in 1994. The license was approved without competitive bidding.

Later the company — which is headed by Al Hee, brother of former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Clayton Hee — received approval for up to $400 million in low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sandwich Isles also was able to persuade city and state officials to expand the boundaries of O'ahu's Enterprise Zone tax incentive program to include 163 acres of agricultural land it purchased between Wahiawa and Mililani.

Under Sandwich Isles' business plan, the company borrows from the USDA to build its network, then receives money from the telephone-bill fees to help repay the loans.

Without such subsidies "there's no way these rural areas can be built out," said Gil Tam, Sandwich Isles vice president. Sandwich Isles serves customers on Hawaiian Home Lands, where leases go to beneficiaries who, under federal law, must have 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood.

During the new FCC application process, which could take a year or more, Sandwich Isles can continue to draw upon federal subsidies. As a result, the new FCC order hasn't affected operations at the phone company, though it's unclear whether future plans — including construction of a network operations center on O'ahu — will need review, Tam said.

"We're confident that the justification is there for approval," said Tam. "The unfortunate thing is it's taken this long for the FCC to bring it to the front."

FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield acknowledged the FCC has taken an inordinately long period to resolve the issue.

"It just didn't get the attention it deserved," he said. "Now we're looking at it again.

"It's unlikely it will take that long this time."

Among the issues the FCC typically considers in such cases are whether the operation is in the public interest and its impact on the universal service fund, or the money generated from the phone-bill fees.

So far Sandwich Isles has borrowed $166 million under low-interest loans from the USDA and provides service to 1,106 subscriber lines, according to government records. The loans, which typically have terms of 20 years, can be used to cover equipment costs but not operating expenses, said Claiborn Crain, a USDA spokesman. Crain said Sandwich Isles is up to date with loan payments.

This year Sandwich Isles also will receive an estimated $15.3 million from the universal service fund.

While the amount of money spent per telephone line installed may appear high, the universal service fund was established specifically to offset the higher costs of providing phone service in rural areas, said Daryl Schoolar, a senior analyst with telecommunications industry research firm In-Stat.

Whether Sandwich Isles is spending too much "is difficult to know," he said. "One of the reasons they got those funds is because it's so expensive and there's so few customers."

Adding to the expense of deploying the new phone network is Sandwich Isles' decision to install high-speed fiber-optic lines that can provide broadband Internet service among other advanced telecommunications services, Tam said. The company hopes to serve more customers as additional parcels of Hawaiian Home Lands are leased.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands plans to offer 6,000 leases to eligible Native Hawaiians during the next five years, said Lloyd Yonenaka, DHHL spokesman. Overall there are about 12,000 residential leases on Hawaiian Home Lands.

Yonenaka said the agency would back Sandwich Isles' effort to retain federal subsidies, which he said allowed the company to offer phone service at no cost to the state.

Reach Sean Hao at 525-8093 or shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Crow drug program accredited


By MIKE STARK
of The Gazette Staff

 

Billings Gazette

 

February 1, 2005

 

The alcohol and drug treatment program on the Crow reservation has been accredited by an international commission that monitors rehabilitation and other services.

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities awarded the Crow Substance Abuse Program (CSAP) a three-year accreditation in January.

Dennis Bear Don't Walk, CSAP's program director, said the accreditation process includes a rigorous review of the agency's services, policies, accounting and operating procedures.

The accreditation could help CSAP expand its services in the future, including possible contracts with the state of Montana for alcohol-related programs.

"This really opens up a lot of doors for us," Bear Don't Walk said.

For years, Indian Health Services operated the alcohol and drug treatment program on the Crow reservation. Tribal officials took over the program in October 2003 and have served more than 400 people since then. The program offers drug and alcohol treatment for adults and adolescents. The program includes an intensive outpatient program.

"It allows people to get sober in their home environment," Bear Don't Walk said.

Employees at CSAP began preparing a year ago for the two-day review by the accreditation commission. One inspector focused on CSAP's administrative side and another focused on the clinical.

The review's aim is to ensure that people are receiving the services that they need.

Bear Don't Walk said the award is the "highest level of accreditation" for a rehabilitation organization and shows that the program is doing what it should.

"First and foremost, it means we provide quality client services," Bear Don't Walk said.

The accreditation may lead CSAP to seek contracts with the state of Montana for DUIs, minor in possession of alcohol and other services. CSAP may also be able to increase its funding through federal reimbursements or third-party billing and eventually expand its services.

 

 

 

 

 

Maui Hawaiians get affordable homes

 

January 28, 2005

Pacific Business News

The Dowling Co. turned over the first of 115 affordable new homes to its owner Friday at the Waiehu Kou 3 subdivision on Maui. Seventeen of the homes have been completed to date.

The two-, three- and four-bedroom homes are being developed by Dowling for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

"The Waiehu Kou 3 subdivision is an important part of our mission to put Native Hawaiians on the land," said Micah Kane, chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission. "This year marks the beginning of a very aggressive schedule to award leases and put Native Hawaiians on the land."

Construction began in July 2004, with the goal of turning all developer-built homes to buyers by the end of June this year.

Of the 115 homes, 79 will be developer-built while 36 will be set aside for owner-builder construction.

Maui-based Dowling Co. also developed the Waiehu Kou 2 subdivision.

Bank of America provided house construction financing, while Hawaii Community Lending is the project's lead lender and will provide mortgage financing for the buyers. Dowling Co. secured $405,000 in federal grants to support buyers with down payments and closing costs.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, January 31, 2005

 

Homeless programs get $6 million

Advertiser Staff

 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded almost $6 million in grants to help Hawai'i's homeless, Gov. Linda Lingle and Rep. Neil Abercrombie announced.

 

The awards are part of HUD's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance program. The following programs received grants:

 

• Parents and Child Together/Ohia Domestic Violence Shelter for Women and Children — $277,410.

• University of Hawai'i Center on the Family Analysis and Dissemination project — $123,480.

• Child and Family Services/Domestic Abuse Service — $123,470.

• City and County of Honolulu/People Empowerment Program — $133,608.

• HCDCH, State of Hawai'i/Kawaihae Education and Employment Program — $126,863.

• Homeless Solutions, INC./Vancouver House — $165,395.

• Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i/Homeless Holistic Legal Services Program — $129,339.

• Mental Health Kokua/Safe Haven — $870,274.

• Steadfast Housing Development Corporation/Puamelia Group Home — $66,769.

• The Salvation Army/ATS Homeless Offenders Treatment & Supportive Living Services — $575,812.

• United States Veterans Initiative, Hawai'i/Barbers Point Veterans in Progress Project (VIP) — $682,526.

• City and County of Honolulu/Shelter Plus Care "Ekola" — $515,400.

• City and County of Honolulu/Shelter Plus Care "Eha" — $796,020.

• City and County of Honolulu/Kalihi Palama Health Center — $503,796.

• City and County of Honolulu/Shelter Plus Care — $306,936.

• State of Hawai'i/Shelter Plus Care I — $181,020.

• State of Hawai'i/Shelter Plus Care II — $94,632.

 

 

 

 

 

Boosting Native lending

 

Indian Country Today February 01, 2005.

by: Mark Fogarty / Today correspondent

 

SEATTLE - Two financing ventures aimed at increasing lending to American Indians have gotten their starts in the Northwest.

One is a coalition of Native housing groups and Washington Mutual Bank, based in Seattle, to increase homeownership for Northwest tribes.

The other is a venture, based in Bellevue, Wash., but targeted nationwide, to increase the overall Native lending, including but not limited to homeownership, done by KeyBank. Both ventures were announced in the second half of 2004.

Washington Mutual is a top five home loan lender to Indian country, according to data it filed to the federal government last year. Its 2003 mortgage lending to Natives was more than $500 million, based on the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council's annual HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) survey.

KeyBank, based in Cleveland, is a top 100 Indian mortgage lender according to HMDA data. It made $16.5 million in home loans to Natives in 2003. However, it has also done much larger amounts of non-housing loans to tribes, such as construction and gaming loans, and trust services.

WaMu is partnering with Native groups, including the Northwest Indian Housing Association (NWIHA) and the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) to increase Native shares of programs such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development section 184 guaranteed Indian mortgages and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Community Development Initiative.

WaMu has given $75,000 to NWIHA as matching money for a potential grant from USDA. First Vice President Beth Castro administers WaMu's Native programs. Other groups involved include the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, the Oregon and Washington state housing agencies, and the non-profit Common Ground.

In December, NWIHA and NAIHC offered a program in Clackamas, Ore. to instruct Native trainers to administer a homeownership counseling course to tribal members. The course, ''Pathways Home'', designed with Native people in mind, teaches them about managing credit, savings and budgets in order to qualify for mortgages.

In Bellevue, Mike Lettig is heading KeyBank's national Native banking strategy, while Steve Barker has been named vice president, western manager of Native American Financial Services. An eastern manager is also in the works.

KeyBank's total credit commitments in Indian country are $414 million, serving 45 tribes or Native corporations. The bank noted that 305 tribes live in KeyBank's lending areas.

The $86 billion asset KeyBank is targeting individuals, businesses and tribes as part of an integrated strategy. ''For business, Key will deliver loans and letters of credit, equipment leasing, treasury and asset management services, loan sales, and syndication and depository accounts. For individuals and communities, these include retail banking, wealth management and trust services, financing options for education, financial education and home ownership solutions. For governments, Key will provide financial solutions for infrastructure, governmental and social services, obligation bonds and other debt instruments.''

The bank said it was launching the effort ''to deliver its full breadth of financial products and services to a significant but underserved market segment.'' It also pointed to its ''understanding of - and respect for - tribal laws, governmental infrastructure and Native cultures.''

As examples of its current undertakings in Indian country, KeyBank pointed to deals with the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico, the Asa'carsarmiut Tribe of Alaska, the Colville Tribal Nation of Washington, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority of Connecticut, the Oneida Indian Nation of New York (owner of Four Directions Media, Inc., publisher of Indian Country Today), the Salt River-Maricopa Indian Community of Arizona and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York.

The bank made a loan to help replace Casino Apache in Mescalero, N.M. with a new hotel/casino/convention center, set to open this year. It also provided a $2 million construction loan to build 10 new single-family homes in Mountain Village, Alaska, home of the Asa'carsarmiut.

It has helped the Colville Nation, a client since 1996, with a cash management, credit and investment solution for the tribe. For the Mohegan gaming effort, it has been a part of the casino loan syndicate and has made interest rate swaps for it and co-managed its debt transactions.

For the Oneida of New York, Key is part of a syndicate that delivers cash management, leasing and credit to several of the nation's enterprises. At Salt River, a unit of the bank is managing tribal trust accounts.

And the bank is delivering cash management and other services to the St. Regis Mohawks, including letters of credit to several tribal enterprises.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Ferry lines up $200M in financing

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Hawai'i Superferry, which hopes to start an interisland ferry as a low-cost alternative to air travel, has secured more than $200 million in private and government money and is on track to begin service in early 2007, officials said yesterday.

However, the company still needs about $40 million in improvements to state harbors to make its operations a reality, according to John Garibaldi, the company's chief executive officer.

"The last remaining piece is to get the port infrastructure in place," Garibaldi told lawmakers, who this session will consider the state Transportation Department's request to use general obligation bonds to pay for the improvements.

The money would be more than paid back to the state over the next 20 years through wharf fees as well as money the company pays in state excise taxes, Garibaldi said.

Members of the House Transportation Committee worried that the ferry would take business from financially troubled airlines and cargo companies in Hawai'i, but Chairman Joe Souki said he expects the Legislature to pay for the improvements in some form.

"If we can find a good mix that helps everyone, I think we can figure out a way to pay for the improvements," said Souki, D-8th (Wailuku, Waiehu).

Hawai'i Superferry last week received a commitment from the Federal Maritime Authority to guarantee $140 million in loans the company will use to help build two $80 million catamarans capable of carrying up to 866 passengers and 282 cars on trips between between O'ahu and Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island, charging what it says will be about half the cost of an interisland plane ticket. Travel time would be three to four hours, Garibaldi said.

The loan guarantee is dependent on the company signing harbor usage agreements with all four of its ports with the additional infrastructure, Garibaldi said.

Hawai'i Superferry also has accepted an equity investment of $58 million from the JH Lehman Equity investors company, said Garibaldi, a former airline executive in Hawai'i.

The $40 million in state funds would be used to build ramps, passenger facilities and loading barges in harbors in Honolulu, Maui, Kaua'i and Kawaihae on the Big Island.

The state Transportation Department has included funding for the improvements in its budget request for this year, but Souki said lawmakers may want to ensure that the bonds used will be reimbursed by the company or harbors division.

"That's a lot better than putting another burden on the taxpayers," Souki said.

Aaron Mattis, an escrow associate from Kailua, said he would support using government money for the ferry as long as there is a return for the state.

"It seems like a lot of money, but if we get something back for tourism and making travel easier for us, too, it would be a good thing," he said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.

 

 

 

 

County sued over voting districts

 

By Bill Harlan, Journal Staff Writer

Rapid City Journal

January 28, 2005

 

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Charles Mix County for violating the voting rights of American Indians.

 

The federal lawsuit, filed Thursday in Sioux Falls, alleges that the county commission deliberately created election districts to divide the Indian population.

 

"There has never been an Indian elected to the Charles Mix County Commission," ACLU attorney Bryan Sells of Atlanta said Thursday.

 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four members of the Yankton Sioux Tribe who live in the county. One of them, Evelyn Blackmoon, issued a written statement through the ACLU, saying: "We have been without a voice on the commission for too long. This is an effort to change that."

 

The Rapid City Journal was unable to reach any of those plaintiffs Thursday evening. The Journal also was unable to reach Charles Mix County officials, who were in Pierre on Thursday.

 

Charles Mix County has three county commission districts. Sells also said the ACLU warned the county commissioners in 2001 that state law required them to redraw districts based on the 2000 Census to make them more equal in population.

"They didn't do that," Sells said. He called the districts "a blatant violation of the one-person, one-vote principle."

 

Charles Mix County is in south-central South Dakota, just north of Nebraska and bordering the east bank of the Missouri River.

 

Charles Mix County's population in the 2000 Census was 9,350, including 2,754 people who identify themselves as Native Americans — or about 30 percent. Slightly more than 23 percent of voters in the county identified themselves as Native American in the census.

 

The most populous and least populous of the county's commission districts differ by more than 19 percent, which Sells said was almost twice the legal limit.

 

Most Indians live in the southern part of the county, according to the lawsuit, and the existing commission districts divide that population in half.

The lawsuit asks the court to dissolve the current districts, create new ones and order a special election.

 

Jennifer Ring, executive director of the ACLU of the Dakotas, said the county commissioners reviewed the current districts last year and should have known they violated federal law. "The question then becomes, Is this an intentional effort to keep Native Americans off the county commission?'" Ring said.

 

The lawsuit is the seventh voting-rights complaint filed by the ACLU in South Dakota since 1999. One case, against the city of Martin, is pending. Five have been settled in favor of the ACLU and Indian plaintiffs.

 

In Boneshirt v. Hazeltine, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier struck down the state's 2001 legislative redistricting plan, saying it packed too many Indians into a single voting district that includes much of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations.

 

Contact Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com

 

 

 

 

 

Pacific Islander messages sought for public television

 

Pacific Business News

January 28, 2005

Pacific Islanders in Communications, which seeks to raise the profile of Pacific Islanders in national broadcast programming, has announced a call for proposals for "Pacific Spots 2005." The nonprofit is seeking short, personal digital video works that explore Pacific Islander cultural identity.

Up to five works will be selected. Thought-provoking projects about an authentic portrayal of the Pacific Islander experience with lengths between 30 seconds and two minutes will be considered and must be completed and delivered by Aug. 30. Most genres, including drama, comedy, and animation, and mixed-genre, are welcome.

The work must be budgeted at $5,000 or less. Applications and guidelines are available on the Web at www.piccom.org or by calling Gus Cobb-Adams at (808 591-0059, extension 16. Deadline for proposals is Feb. 25. Works will be offered for national public television broadcast during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

LYDIA KAUAKAHI / 1955-2005

‘Keeper of Culture’ blended family life into her hula

 

By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.com

 

January 31, 2005

Lydia Kauakahi would always take time for a student in need of guidance, even after illness forced her to scale back on her duties as a kumu hula.

"She's done that for family, for friends, for her students," said sister-in-law Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole.

"Lydia had danced since she was a little girl. It was a passion for her."

Kauakahi, kumu hula of Halau Kahauola and sister of late entertainers Israel and Henry "Skippy" Kamakawiwo'ole, died Tuesday after a months-long battle with heart and other health problems. She was 49.

Kauakahi was born in Honolulu and was married to Louis "Moon" Kauakahi of the Makaha Sons, with which her hula halau used to perform.

Kauakahi's halau took home honors at several Merrie Monarch Festivals over the years, including first place in 1982.

In 1989, Kauakahi was one of several featured in a documentary called "Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture."

Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole said Kauakahi's hula was a "product of her family life."

"It was something that was instilled in her," she added.

Kauakahi also passed hula on to her own daughter, Sheyenne, Kamakawiwo'ole said.

Survivors include her husband, daughter and two grandchildren.

Services are set for 7 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday at Borthwick Mortuary. Visitations are scheduled for Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Exhumation of nun becomes a learning experience

 

By Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.com\

 

January 26, 2005

KALAUPAPA, Molokai » An archaeological dig that drew residents and visitors to the grave of an historic caregiver and spiritual leader here is expected to be completed today.

The exhumation of the body of Mother Marianne Cope drew more than 100 spectators for a rare opportunity to watch scientific experts discover and delicately extract bones, crucifixes, coffin nails and other artifacts from the 1918 burial site.

People leaned over the open grave to watch the work under way 8 feet down. But the Franciscans mandated that no photographs were to be taken of the bones. The fragile pieces were bagged and carried to the nearby convent where the laundry room served as a temporary forensic laboratory.

Spectators became engaged in the event. The dig, which began Sunday, became an introductory archaeology course as Vincent Sava and his team of archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic experts answered questions as they worked and described what they found.

It was also a teaching -- and learning -- experience for 20 members of the Sisters of St. Francis who anticipate that the 19th-century nun will be named a saint by the Catholic Church. People who weren't asking them questions -- why keep bones, what are relics -- were bent on telling a sister about their life in the settlement where Cope cared for leprosy victims for 30 years, or their experiences with nuns, nurses, saints and bones. One frequent answer: Exhumation is required by the church before Cope is declared "blessed" later this year in the second of three steps in the sainthood process.

Kalaupapa resident Boogie Kahilihiwa, 63, had a story to tell, but he didn't. He mostly stood as close as he could to watch experts at work. He remembers a 1972 exhumation because he took part in it. A mortician came to the settlement to remove a body because a family wanted to rebury it outside. The man was squeamish, so he paid Kahilihiwa and two other patients to do the job. "They made us wear gloves. We picked out the pieces and put them in a box. That's all there was."

He has worked in heavy labor jobs, including as gravedigger, since he was sent there at the age of 19. He and other former patients eventually won a political struggle to be credited for their work, be given civil service status and the right to a state pension.

"I think it's good for people to have a chance to see her," Kahilihiwa said. He said he got over initial resentment that Cope's remains will be returned to the Syracuse, N.Y., headquarters of the religious order. "I know she's with us anyway," he said.

"I don't think of myself as sentimental," said Dr. Paul DeMare. The sight of human bones is not new to the Honolulu radiologist, but in this case, "I found myself taking a personal, not clinical, interest, more so than I expected." He is the great-great-grandnephew of Cope, a connection he learned about only when, as an intern 35 years ago, he visited Kalaupapa and later described the experience to relatives in upstate New York.

He will underwrite copies of a videotape of the excavation and interviews at the scene filmed by his colleague, Dr. Richard Gould, for Franciscans who weren't there.

A metal crucifix found yesterday morning was seen as a particular treasure because it was found near the ribs, something Cope would have worn over her heart. The design includes a skull and crossbones at the foot of the cross.

"It was always a reminder that this is a finite life, to keep your sights on a bigger picture," said Sister Patricia Burkhart, general minister of the Sisters of St. Francis. "Many saints meditated on it."

Besides artifacts, the sisters gathered several plastic bags of soil from the grave. They will also be carried to Syracuse. When a shrine is built, the metal container holding Cope's bones will rest on Kalaupapa soil.

The Franciscans fed up to 60 people daily during this busy week in the dining room of Bishop Home, the convent where Cope shared meals with her sisters a century ago. No one at the table -- priests, nuns, doctors, guests, journalists -- was ignorant of that link.

 

 

 

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