Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Saturday, June 4, 2016

RETIRED HILO JUDGE RIKI MAY AMANO will remain as hearing officer in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case. Hawai`i Board of Land and Natural Resources unanimously denied a motion to disqualify her in an order released yesterday. It also unanimously declined to grant objections to board member Chris Yuen’s service on the selection committee that picked Amano.

      The board’s Order addresses the public scrutiny facing this hearing and notes that the petitioners and the University of Hawai`i are concerned that Judge Amano’s selection may not survive review in an appellate court. As it reasoned, however, the “Board is concerned that, taken to its logical extreme, ensuring a contested case process that subjectively ‘appears to be fair’ to every possible person who takes an interest in the TMT project would likely necessitate not only the disqualification of Judge Amano but of every potential hearing officer who otherwise possessed the acumen to hear this case.” It goes on to provide that no “qualified hearing officer candidate is likely to satisfy all spectators and remove all fears of reversal. The Board will not go down this rabbit hole.”
      Instead, the Board adopts the objective standard cited in a previous Supreme Court decision that found “the commitment to an objective ‘appearance of fairness’ test is consistent throughout Hawai`i judicial decisions.”
      Further, the Order provides that, with “due respect and consideration to the parties’ various interests and reasons for asking the Board to replace Judge Amano, the Board cannot and will not sidestep its own administrative responsibility to exercise judgment and common sense regarding whether the selection process up until now has objectively appeared to be fair. Common sense must prevail.”
      As for the Petitioners’ claim that Yuen should recuse himself in this matter and should not have served as a member of the selection committee for the hearing officer, the board found that a statement made nearly two decades before the TMT CDUA was filed is not evidence of bias or prejudgment. Quoting Yuen’s written response to the Petitioners’ objections: “I think that the policy for board members is similar to that for judges: there is a duty to serve when you are not legally disqualified, just as there is a duty to disqualify yourself when good cause exists. … Board members should not be selected for the absence of opinions: they have to know how to review facts and decide particular cases on their merits given the legal criteria.”

      Orders released by the board are available on the DLNR website at http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/faqs/mauna-kea-faq/.
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U.S. REP. TULSI GABBARD is a factor in Bernie Sanders fundraising campaign solicitations. One email to prospective fundraisers points to her backing of the Vermont senator for President.

      “When a Democratic National Committee vice chair, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, was disinvited from our first debate after calling for more of them, people took notice. And when Tulsi quit her post at the DNC to endorse our campaign, it sent shockwaves through the political establishment,” writes Sanders, just ahead of the California primary on Tuesday.
      “For the last several months, Tulsi has been a tireless surrogate for our campaign. She has joined me at rallies, appeared in ads, and now we’re campaigning across California where almost every recent poll shows us within just a few points of Hillary Clinton.”
      The solicitation asks for contributions that would be split between the Sanders campaign for President and the Gabbard campaign for reelection to Congress. “Tulsi has been a great friend to our political revolution,” the Sanders letter states.

      State Sen. Russell Ruderman has also been mentioned by Sanders. During last weekend’s Hawai`i Democratic Convention in Honolulu, Sanders spoke in a prepared video, noting Ruderman’s support. Ruderman is the only Hawai`i state senator to have formally endorsed Sanders.
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DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT Hillary Clinton has endorsements from numerous political office holders in Hawai`i. Among them are Sen. Mazie Hirono, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, former Gov. George Ariyoshi and former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who is running again. The late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s wife, Irene Hirano Inouye, has also endorsed Clinton.
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EXPLORE THE RICH GEOLOGIC HISTORY of Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park tomorrow at 11 a.m. during the Birth of Kahuku. Traverse the vast 1868 lava flow, see different volcanic features and formations and identify many parts of the Southwest Rift Zone of Mauna Loa. Learn about the Hawaiian hotspot and the creation of Kahuku.

A FREE CLASS ON FREEDOM Release Technique takes place at Margo’s Corner on Wakea Street in Discovery Harbour tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.​
      Megan Tardif-Woolgar is a certified Freedom Release Technique Practitioner and a registered Medical Herbalist from Nova Scotia, Canada. She helps facilitate healing by connecting to an individual’s higher self and releasing past traumas and negative experiences stored within the cellular memory. She also helps facilitate the connection between the human and plant world, allowing plant allies to come forward and offer their healing and support.
      For more information, see sacredspiralherbals.com.
      RSVP to 929-9614 or 1-902-824-0547 or sacred.spiral.herbals@gmail.com.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.