Ka‘ū News Briefs, Thursday, February 20, 2020

Learn advanced means of keeping bees at a workshop this weekend. See details below. Photo by Julia Neal

A BILL TO ALLOW LARGER GREENHOUSES AND SHADE HOUSES, without building permits, passed the state House of Representatives this week. HB 2192 HD1, introduced by Hawaiʻi Island Rep. David Tarnas, proposes to increase the maximum area, from 20,000 to 60,000 square feet, for each agricultural shade cloth structure, cold frame, or greenhouse that is qualified for an exemption from building permit and building code requirements. 
     "This bill supports Hawaiʻi's local food production and sustainability goals by making it easier for local farmers to build modern greenhouses without having to go through a lengthy and costly permitting process," said Tarnas.

     HB2192 received public support from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaiʻi County Councilman Tim Richards, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, Ulupono Initiative, Hawaiʻi Farming LLC, Big Island Produce Asset Holdings LLC, Hawaiʻi Aquaculture & Aquaponics Association, and one individual. 

     Testifiers in support of HB2192 stated that the bill is necessary to support local producers to make farming more profitable and productive across Hawaiʻi. "We believe that opening the door to new investments in agricultural infrastructure will directly support more local food production and an economically robust homegrown agriculture industry, which strengthens our community with fresh, healthy food," said Amy Hennessey, Senior Vice President of Communications and External Affairs at Ulupono Initiative.

     HB2192 House Draft 1 is the first of Rep. Tarnas' 2020 bills to pass Third Reading in the House this session. HB2192 now crosses over for consideration in the Senate. 

      To see Tarnas' bills go to capitol.hawaii.gov/advreports/advreport.aspx?report=intro&year=2020&leg=Tarnas&rpt_type=first_pri.

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AFTER WEDNESDAY'S DEMOCRATIC DEBATE WITHOUT TULSI GABBARD, and without her receiving invitations to CNNTown Hall meetings, her presidential campaign released a statement: "Despite complete media blackouts and DNC bias, Tulsi is still climbing in the polls."
     The statement contends that Gabbard is beating a billionaire, "who is quite literally outspending us 16 to one. Not only are we beating him in the polls, but we're also outraising him 12 to one on grassroots donations." The Tulsi 2020 group also states that "nearly half of primary voters" still haven't decided who they want to vote for. Her campaign message is that "the establishment elite and its allies in the media have been trying to count us out — by ignoring us, attacking us, and moving the goalposts — since the very moment we launched. They feel threatened by Tulsi, whose support cannot be bought and whose message cannot be influenced... Can you imagine what this election would look like for Tulsi if she was given anything close to the kind of media treatment that's been handed to candidates favored by the establishment? Or if she had even a small fraction of the hundreds of millions already spent by the billionaire candidates?

     "We don't have to imagine, we know from our own work on the ground that when voters from ALL parties learn about Tulsi and hear her message for the people, they get it. They see someone with integrity, honesty and a new hopeful vision for the country we all love. A candidate with the firsthand experience necessary to be commander in chief on Day One."

     The EmersonCollege poll, Feb. 16 to 18, presented by the Gabbard campaign, shows Gabbard in seventh among sampling of primary and caucus voters, with Bernie Sanders in the lead, Joe Biden second, followed by Michael Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar.

     "Would you vote for your candidate or is there a chance you would vote for someone else?" The poll showed more than 50 percent undecided.

     The billionaire in third place is Michael Bloomberg and the billionaire behind Gabbard in this poll is Tom Steyer.