Hawaii unemployment rate hits 4-year low.Hawaii's unemployment rate falls to a 4-year low of 5.3 percent in November

HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in four years, hitting 5.3 percent. 

That rate, while still preliminary, compares with 5.5 percent a month earlier and 6.7 percent in November 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

Last month's rate was the lowest in Hawaii since November 2008, just before the state began feeling the effects of the recession and the softened U.S. economy.

The unemployment rate has generally been trending lower since October 2011, when it stood at 6.8 percent.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.7 percent last month.

Hawaii added 4,600 non-agricultural jobs between October and November, according to a state labor department business survey, bringing the total to 612,700. Government employment rose by 2,200 jobs between October and November, which the department attributes largely to temporary hires to help with the general election.

The state added 17,700 jobs between November 2011 and November 2012, with some of the bigger gains seen in the industries of trade, transportation and utilities; leisure and hospitality; and construction.

Lava flows to the ocean in Hawaii, creating rare natural show

HONOLULU (Reuters) - A volcano on Hawaii's largest island is spilling lava into the ocean, creating a rare and spectacular fusion of steam and waves that officials said on Tuesday could attract thrill-seeking visitors if it continues.

Lava from a vent in Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii began flowing into the ocean 7 miles away on Saturday. The volcano has been erupting continuously from its Pu'u O'o vent since 1983.

The flow was the first from the volcano to reach the ocean since December, said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Even as Hawaii tourism officials awaited an increase in visitors drawn by the explosive natural show, officials warned of potentially deadly risks and urged visitors to stay a safe distance away and respect barriers placed around the lava flow.

"Ocean entries can be quite beautiful but also quite dangerous," Babb said.

When the lava reaches the ocean, it cools, darkens and hardens into a lava delta amid an outpouring of steam. The lava delta is newly created land that is unstable and can collapse without warning.

When it collapses, even visitors standing 100 yards (meters) away can be hurt because large chunks of lava and hot water are hurled their direction by the collapse, Babb said.

"The molten lava meeting the ocean creates steam which may look innocuous, but can be quite hazardous," she said. "It's acidic and contains tiny particles of volcanic glass. And waves crashing with the lava can send out scalding water."

It was not clear how long the lava would continue flowing into the ocean.

George Applegate, director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau, said he expected an increase in tourists due to the latest occurrence of the phenomenon. "We always do," Applegate said. "A lot of people want to see a live lava flow."

Tourism officials declined to estimate how many more visitors they might see on the Big Island because of the lava flow. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which encompasses Kilauea, welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors last year, according to park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane.

Security workers were keeping people beyond the barriers during approved viewing hours, said Barry Periatt, plans and operations officer for Hawaii County's Civil Defense Agency.

No communities around the volcano are threatened by the lava flow, Periatt said. The nearest town is Kalapana Gardens, which is more than half a mile away. It suffered major damage from a 1986 volcano flow.

Commentary: It's simply amazing the show Kilauea has put on for the local residents of Hawaii for the past 29 consecutive years. Tourists from around the world eagerly fly to the big island of Hawaii just to view lava flowing from Kilauea. 

Hawaii’s Solar Market Is Booming; Why This Is a Very Bad Thing

In June 2001, when Hawaii became the 35th state to adopt a Net Energy Metering (NEM) law to promote the installation of small renewable energy grid-connected systems, it probably seemed like one of those “duh” moments. All that sun power waiting to be harnessed would certainly transform the state into one blazing hot solar market.

But things started out slowly. In a recent article for the Honolulu Civil Beat, Marco Mangelsdorf, who is president of ProVision Solar and also teaches energy politics at University of Hawaii at Hilo, noted that from 2001 through 2007 a total of only 386 NEM systems were installed across the state. By 2011, that number had risen to 9,625 and this explosive growth has had unexpected consequences.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Hawaii’s homeowners and businesses are now producing nearly 140 megawatts of their own power, or the equivalent of a medium-size power plant. This has theHawaiian Electric company worried that all this do-it-yourself solar power could threaten parts of the electrical grid if the power generated by homeowners in some areas starts to exceed the output from power plants.

MORE: Katrina-Ravaged Neighborhood Reemerges as 'Largest Solar Housing Development in Southeast'

Part of the problem is that each island has its own separate power grid, so it’s not easy to quickly compensate with power generated elsewhere. The Times reported that, “The result, if not carefully managed, can be computer-killing power surges (in cases of excess generation), flickering lights, isolated blackouts or worse,” and quoted Robert Alm, executive vice president of Hawaiian Electric, as saying, "It can crash the entire system."

“The electric utilities will not let the system crash,” Mangelsdorf told TakePart. “In principle, it’s not that complicated: the grid is finite. Therefore, the amount of power, from whatever sources, feeding into the grid has to be finite. The big debate is over the mix. Any typical power grid must have a certain percentage of what they call ‘firm’ power, i.e., not solar or wind non-firm, variable power.”

He added that, “While there’s interesting stuff going on in the labs as far as this ambiguous thing called a ‘smart grid,’ I don’t believe that any techno fixes are going to keep up with the reality on the ground as far as circuit after circuit reaching saturation and being closed to more DG [distributed generation] penetration. Others appear to have more faith than I do in the practicality and timeliness of the techno fixes.”

Power surges aside, elected officials are also concerned about the effect of the state’s renewable-energy tax credit on overall revenue forecasts. Hawaii offers a 35 percent state income tax credit for homeowners and businesses that install PV systems, and that incentive can be used in combination with a 30 percent federal tax credit. The Honolulu Star Advertiser stated last month that the cost of the state tax credit has grown from $34.7 million in 2010 to $173.8 million in 2012.”

In fact, the Civil Beat reported earlier this month that the Hawaii Department of Taxation has issued new rules that “effectively restrict the number of tax credits that homeowners and solar companies can claim on solar arrays.” And they predict that the fight against the tax department’s new rules is certain to be a focus of lawmakers when their legislative session begins in mid-January.

Considering all that’s at stake—for homeowners, solar companies, and environmentalists—it should be an interesting fight.

Commentary: With the current costs of electricity, it's not surprising that solar electric  power panels are suddenly appearing on local homes in Hawaii. Consumes are truly benefitting because they save a nice bundle of money each year, verses paying the local electric company. Hopefully other states follow suit.

Associated Press/Audrey McAvoy - In this Oct. 18, 2012, photo, Wade Hicks, Jr. poses for a photograph outside the pass office at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The 34-year-old from Gulfport, Miss. was stranded in Hawaii for five days after he found out he was on the no-fly list and wouldn't be allowed on an airplane until he was abruptly removed from the list with no explanation. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii is a paradise for most visitors. But it was Wade Hicks Jr.'s prison for five days.

The 34-year-old from Gulfport, Miss., was stranded in the islands this week after being told he was on the FBI's no-fly list during a layover for a military flight from California to Japan.

The episode left Hicks scrambling to figure out how he'd get home from Hawaii without being able to fly. Then he was abruptly removed from the list on Thursday with no explanation.

It also raised questions beyond how he landed on the list: How could someone on a list intelligence officials use to inform counterterrorism investigations successfully fly standby on an Air Force flight?

Hicks said he was traveling to visit his wife, a U.S. Navy lieutenant who's deployed in Japan. He hitched a ride on the military flight as is common for military dependents, who are allowed to fly on scheduled routes when there's room.

Hicks said that during his layover at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent told him he was on the no-fly list and wouldn't be allowed on a plane.

"I said, 'How am I supposed to get off this island and go see my wife or go home?' And her explanation was: 'I don't know,'" Hicks said.

Hicks said he was shocked and thought they must have had the wrong person because he doesn't have a criminal record and recently passed an extensive background check in Mississippi to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

But the agent said his name, Social Security number and date of birth matched the person prohibited from flying, Hicks said. He wasn't told why and wondered whether his controversial views on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks played a role. Hicks said he disagrees with the 9/11 Commission's conclusions about the attacks.

A Homeland Security spokesman referred questions to the FBI Terrorist Screening Center, which maintains the report. A spokesman for the center declined to comment on Hicks' case. The government doesn't disclose who's on the list or why someone might have been placed on it.

The list of roughly 20,000 people and about 500 to 600 Americans includes names and classified evidence against suspected terrorists who are not allowed to fly in U.S. airspace.

The list can be updated within minutes, so it's possible Hicks was added to the list while in midair from Travis Air Force Base in California to Hawaii.

A spokesman for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's office said passengers who fly standby on military flights are screened against the FBI's list only on international flights. Domestic passengers are screened only through an internal military system, not the Advanced Passenger Information System run by Customs and Border Protection.

"It's scary to know that something like this can happen in a free country. You're not accused of any crime. You haven't been contacted by anyone. No investigation has been done. No due process has taken place," he said.

He got a hotel room at the Pearl Harbor naval base while he worked things out. Being on the list didn't stop him from staying on a base that's home to submarines, cruisers and destroyers.

Hicks said he called politicians in Mississippi and Hawaii and brainstormed ways to get home with friends, speculating on taking a private plane, a cruise ship or even a fishing boat from Alaska. He then got a call on Thursday that he had been removed from the no-fly list.

Hicks planned to take a military flight back to California on Friday to meet his wife, who will be coming from Japan, and said he plans to seek to recoup his added travel costs from the government.

___

Associated Press writer Eileen Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report.

Commentary: It's very shameful that this gentleman had to endure such disrespect from the federal government upon mysteriously ending up on the no fly list. This really makes you wonder whether the current white house administration is hiding anything else pertaining to this gentleman. I really hope this matter gets settled in a respectful manner pertaining to this gentleman.

Hawaii sets insurance minimums for health care

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii has set minimum standards for health care insurance plans that can be sold in Hawaii under new federal guidelines.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced the minimums at a press conference on Monday. Abercrombie says the minimums will help Hawaii lead the nationwide health care transition.

The minimums include things like ambulance services, hospitalization and prescription drugs. The guidelines will take effect in 2014.

Hawaii is among the states that bet correctly that the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold Obama's law. The high court ruled in favor of the law in June.

U.S. Census data from 2010 show 7.7 percent of Hawaii residents are without health insurance. That's the second-lowest rate in the country behind Massachusetts at 5.5 percent.

Commentary: http://www.hmsa.com/ is where you can learn more about the health insurance plan(s) offered in the state of Hawaii. Hawaii's health insurance program is the only one of its kind in the United States, that wouldn't work anywhere else that I'm aware of. Hawaii also offers affordable health insurance for low income families which makes it possible to still get medical care when needed. 

Obamacare is going to amount to be one of the largest tax increases ever seen in the U.S. when it takes effect next year. 

Changes could attract bigger stars to the Blaisdell

The Blaisdell Center is getting a nearly $6 million facelift and about a quarter of that money, is going to an area not even open to the public.

Just over $1.5 million will be going straight to the dressing rooms.

But city officials believe they will see a return on their investment because the dressing rooms could attract bigger stars and shows.

Tom Moffatt has been booking shows at the Blaisdell since 1964. And there's one thing that hasn't really changed over a half a century.

"The dressing rooms have stayed pretty much the same," says Moffatt. "I brought Sammy Davis, and Liza Minnelli, and Frank Sinatra and I remember Sammy Davis had a trailer outside the arena as his dressing room."

That's because the dressing rooms can't accommodate more than a couple people.

"It's like a sports locker room," Moffatt describes.

Over the years, he says the stars have been expecting a little more from the backstage facilities.

"Michael Jackson, we transformed the dressing room to something out of the Middle East. And the Stones, we put in pinball machines and a pool table," says Moffatt.

But now the city is investing $1.6 million over the period of six years in hopes to see big returns.

"And it's to attract the big name stars like Stevie Wonder, maybe," says Ann Kobayashi, Honolulu City Councilmember.

They're also planning to make other improvements like replacing the air conditioning system, improving the concession stands, and repairing the parking lot and roof.

"If the facilities where people get food get improved, people will eat more, spend more, and if big names come in, of course they sell a lot of tickets and that's all revenue for the city," agrees Moffatt.

Most of the repairs are scheduled to be complete by the end of 2014.

"It seems to be working, we have Cirque du Soleil, really big shows and they're selling out too," says Kobayashi.

Moffatt says some big names he's hoping to bring to the Blaisdell are Bruno Mars, James Taylor, and Chicago.

Commentary: Why did it take so long to finally make the required improvements on the Blaisdell center? Why did it take a supposed Steve Wonder concert to finally get the ball rolling? I certainly hope the money spent on improvements is well worth it.

Hawaiian Airlines flight delayed more than 15 hours

A Hawaiian Airlines flight from San Francisco to Honolulu was scheduled to leave at 9:45 Saturday morning but has been delayed and is now set to finally leave at 1:30 a.m local time.

A passenger sent us this photo from the boarding area at SFO.

Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson said the reason for the 15 plus hour delay is because there was a mechanical problem with the plane, and the part needed to be flown in from the east coast.

All 184 passengers got meal vouchers and will get a three hundred dollar travel credit.

Commentary: Another Hawaiian airlines plane could've been flown in quicker, thus the stranded passengers could've been on their to Hawaii. Airlines are certainly doing some strange things lately.