Newswatch
Critics drub Senate fiscal proposals
The state Senate's financial and tax reform plans have run into a buzz saw of criticism.Administration officials and a top economist say the proposals will cause the state to lose jobs and do little to bolster the isles' sluggish economy.
The criticism paints a picture of Senate proposals that weren't well thought out and in many instances appear to be of dubious value.
The testimony Friday from an unusual House Finance briefing, called because several elements of Senate proposals emerged late and were not heard in the House, pointed to another error in the Senate's budget proposal.
The latest error stems from a Senate bill that is in conflict with a section of the Senate's budget proposal.
In the bill, the Commission on Persons with Disabilities would be permitted to charge a reasonable fee for its services to pay for its operating expenses. But in the Senate's proposed budget, construction bond proceeds would be used for funding commission staff positions.
"Furthermore, the use of (construction) bond proceeds for the commission's operating expenses is not appropriate, unless it can be directly related to the (construction) project," officials from the Department of Accounting and General Services said in written testimony.
Earlier this week, Senate Human Services Co-Chairwoman Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Liliha) said the Senate money panel -- of which she is a member -- made a mistake when it cut $23 million from the budget for QUEST, which provides health-care assistance for low-income families.
Senate Ways and Means Co-Chairwomen Rosalyn Baker (D, Lahaina) and Carol Fukunaga (D, Makiki) could not be reached for comment Friday night.
Seiji Naya, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, testified that the Senate's modest income tax cuts, no excise tax hike and huge cuts in state spending could lower the state's overall job count by more than 1,000.
Audit says state overpaid millions
The state Department of Human Services has paid millions of dollars in error to welfare recipients and failed to collect millions owed by low-income clients who received subsidized health care through the QUEST plan, according to a state auditor report."We found controls over financial assistance to individuals continue to be weak," auditor Marion Higa said in the report released friday.
"We recommend that the governor, the director of finance and the director of human services re-evaluate the current allocation of resources in the department," Higa said.
She urged that steps be taken to curb flaws in the administration of the QUEST plan, which have resulted in a failure to weed ineligible people off recipient rolls, overpayment of Medicaid disbursements to doctors and hospitals, delayed collection of patients' share of the premiums, and a continuation of business with Medicaid care providers without new contracts.
The auditor found that the backlog of overpayments to welfare recipients increased by $4.7 million in the fiscal year ending in June 1997 for a total of $40 million in accumulated overpayments.
She reported there is about $5 million owed to the state by QUEST clients whose income level required them to share the cost of the health insurance. "The sharp growth in uncollected premiums represents an additional taxpayer subsidy," Higa wrote.
Human Services Director Susan Chandler said: "It certainly is the priority that efficient and timely benefits are provided, and we agree we should continue to improve our methods.
"An auditor can always recommend to get more efficient. It costs money to get more efficient."
Mayors to meet over UPW contract's raises, work rules
The mayors of Hawaii's four counties planned to meet saturday to discuss a labor contract that includes pay raises for United Public Workers union members.A dispute over the contract led to garbage scheduled for automated pickup not being collected this week in some Oahu neighborhoods.
The city expected the last of the garbage would be picked up saturday from 20,000 homes that did not get service.
The mayors are balking at approving the contract with the UPW that would give a retroactive raise of about 2 percent a year to some 8,000 blue-collar, state and county workers. The workers include custodians, groundskeepers, maintenance personnel and Oahu garbage collectors.
"There are some concerns that the proposed changes (to the contract) are really not in the best interests of the counties," said Big Island Mayor Stephen Yamashiro.
Yamashiro said the Big Island can probably afford the raises, but he and Maui Mayor Linda Lingle are more bothered by changes in work rules. Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris has said the city cannot afford the raises at a time when it is laying off other workers.
Kauai is worried about both the work rules and the cost of the raises, said Wallace Rezentes, administrative assistant to Mayor Maryanne Kusaka.
State Chief Negotiator Manabu Kimura, who worked out the contract on behalf of the state and the counties, defended it as a good settlement.
Mayor vows clear path for pageant
Yes, Brook, there will be a Miss Universe Pageant at the Stan Sheriff Center.So says Mayor Jeremy Harris, who will make sure the pageant -- where Miss Universe Brook Lee will hand over her crown -- is not snagged by unforeseen legal problems, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.
City attorneys friday had not yet determined whether the event complies with land-use regulations governing the 10,000-seat arena on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus.
But Joe Blanco, an assistant to Gov. Ben Cayetano, said the pageant is allowed under the plan review use permit for the center.
"We are working with the governor to legally resolve the situation," Costa said. Harris "has been asking city attorneys how to resolve the situation."
Harris said he found out about the sticky issue on Thursday.
The permit bans commercial activities from using the arena.
Blanco, Cayetano's executive assistant for economic development, said the permit allows nonprofit organizations to use the facility. The pageant, he said, is allowed since it is being sponsored by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, a nonprofit organization.
California jury favors death for Maui murderer
WAILUKU -- A Maui man convicted of torturing and killing two women in separate incidents within seven years should never be able to hurt anyone again, the daughter of one of the victims said.Peggy Ventura, the daughter of real estate agent Muriel Delbecq, who was murdered on Maui in 1993, said she's happy that Robert M. Edwards will never be released from prison.
But she said she didn't feel it was up to her to decide whether Edwards should get the death penalty in California.
"It's God's way as to what happens to him," said Ventura, now an Alaska resident.
A California jury on Thursday recommended capital punishment for Edwards, who was convicted in the 1986 murder of Los Alamitos resident Marjorie Deeble.
California Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan set Edwards' sentencing for July 17.
Council will attempt to explain gas prices
A council of gasoline industry representatives and state officials has begun the complicated task of trying to explain to the public why Hawaii gas prices haven't tracked steep drops in crude oil and mainland pump prices.The 11-member Petroleum Advisory Council met Friday for the first time and started identifying issues that some said would help consumers better understand how prices are set.
Whether the group will be able to provide answers that help resolve the controversy over Hawaii prices is uncertain.
But several members acknowledged that public education will enable people to better grasp the issues behind the controversy. They said the oil industry is especially complex, as are the dynamics that affect pricing.
Chuck Totto, the state's consumer advocate and a council member, recommended that the group identify what costs and other factors help determine price.
If prices are deemed to be unreasonable, he said, the council can recommend to the Legislature ways to improve the competitiveness of the market.
Man arrested 23 years after ex-wife found slain
Honolulu police detectives friday extended the long arm of the law to Largo, Fla., arresting a man on murder charges in connection with a 1975 homicide in a Waikiki hotel.William Scheblein, 75, of Largo, was arrested on a warrant signed by District Court Judge Marcia Waldorf, according to a Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman. He is being held on $250,000 bail and will be extradited to Honolulu for trial.
Scheblein allegedly killed his ex-wife Catherine P. Scheblein after following her to Honolulu from California. He then shot himself in the May 23, 1975, incident at the former Paradise Hawaii Hotel at 220 Ohua Ave.
A suicide note was found in the hotel room, according to newspaper accounts at the time. The victim was 35 and Scheblein was 52 and a resident of Concord, Calif.
Police spokeswoman Jean Motoyama said friday Scheblein wasn't charged at the time because he wasn't expected to survive a head injury. He was transported to a California hospital.
Police add 3 arrests in Ewa relocation fraud
Police friday arrested three suspects in connection with the ongoing Ewa Villages revitalization project fraud investigation.An Ewa Beach couple, both 51, was booked for first-degree theft, bribery of a witness, illegal ownership of a business, and money laundering.
A 75-year-old Waialae man was booked for first-degree theft, illegal ownership of a business, and money laundering.
The Waialae man admitted he became a bookkeeper for a moving company that existed only on paper, according to police. They said he received more than $500,000 for jobs that were never done.
The Ewa Beach couple owned a used auto parts company in the Ewa Mill area and benefited from illegal proceeds, police said.
According to police reports, a former city employee in the Department of Housing and Community Development is believed to have set up the entire operation.
A total of 20 people have been arrested in connection with Ewa Villages, including two city employees. All were released pending further investigation.