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The Conversation: Friday December 16th, 2016

Pixabay

Divergent Electricity Rates; 2017 Economic Forecast; Stories from Desert Storm; Sports Photography  

HECO Rate Hikes vs. KIUC Rate Decrease: Henry Curtis

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Henry Curtis

Credit Wikimedia Commons
Electricity rates for consumers on Oahu and Kauai are moving in different directions. Why is less clear.

Higher electric bills may be coming for HECO customers. For the first time in six years, Hawaiian Electric Company says it plans to increase rates due to rising internal costs. Meanwhile on Kauai, customers of the island’s utility cooperative are now enjoying an 18% decrease in rates from the level of 8 years ago and the smaller bills have arrived along with a growing renewable portfolio to now over 30%. Life of the Land Executive Director Henry Curtis joins us now with more on this divergent energy story.

Intro Music: Tape Machine by STRFKR
Outro Music: Electric Avenue by The Jamaican Reggae Band

New Book Faded Jeans to Army Greens: Mike Travis

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Mike Travis

Credit Wikipedia
Saddam Hussein ordered many of Kuwait's oil wells set ablaze ahead of the US-led counterattack in the Persian Gulf War.

Young men and women join the Army knowing it will change their lives -- but they can’t know how it will affect them. Mike Travis has written a memoir of his Army years called “Faded Jeans to Army Greens: A Story of Army life from Basic to Desert Storm” and he joined us to share his story and remember a lost friend.

Intro Music: Momma Momma Cant You See by Hard Corps Cadences
Outro Music: Barra Barra by Rachid Taha

Civil Beat Reality Check: Kealoha Case

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Chad Blair

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CC BY-ND 2.0 License

Documents unsealed by the US District Court allege that a retired police officer was part of a conspiracy in the original case involving HPD Chief Kealoha’s stolen mailbox. Civil Beat reporter Chad Blair has the latest reality check.

Intro Music: Gone by JR JR
Outro Music: Three Roses by America

Annual Hawaii Forecast with Asia-Pacific Outlook: Carl Bonham

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Carl Bonham

Credit Wikimedia Commons
The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2006.

This week, the Fed raised its short term interest rate for the second time in 10 years, mortgage rates ticked upward a bit and average American household credit card debt clocked in at a little over 16 thousand. Not good news for Hawaii households...where according to the latest UH Economic Research Organization report, median family income already lags 4% behind pre-recession levels. UHERO executive director Carl Bonham joins us now with more from today’s Hawaii and Asia Pacific forecast.

Outro Music: One Turn Deserves Another by Susan Aglukark

Sports Photographer Robert Beck

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Robert Beck

The sports photographer must capture moments that are here and gone in a millisecond, and his skills depend on quick reactions, but they’re also about relationships with athletes, and Robert Beck, a staff photographer with Sports Illustrated magazine, says it’s those relationships he values the most.  

Intro Music: The Bay by Metronomy
Outro Music: Magic by Pilot

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