over $3M

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

lava evacuees only get "talk story sessions" and surveys to "identify the need"?

Don't forget, the two murals in Pahoa which celebrate the ever changing natural world we live in, an environment that enriches our lives to such an extent most of the federal disaster relief money can pay for projects and non-law enforcement elsewhere.

And we got a parade.

[2liveque]

EAZY $$$

[kalakoa]

Some great stuff here:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/08/22...inue-soar/

"We have very little cushion," said Hawaii County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy.

"If we already accured $3.2 million in the span of two weeks, we can't sustain that number beyond 60 days. We don't have that kind of budget."

Good to know.

"That money can go to so many other things and so many other needs in the County of Hawaii, whether it's our homeless or other services or law enforcement," said State Sen. Kai Kahele who represents Hilo.

Outright offensive, considering Kahele has been fanning the flames.

Hawaii County's finance director says she plans to submit bills to the Attorney General's Office this week, but she's unsure how long it will take the state to cut the checks.

It's also unclear where the attorney general will get the money.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

"That money can go to so many other things and so many other needs... ," said State Sen. Kai Kahele

Really? One of the officials who right from the start gut and replaced other needs with police overtime now has a revelation?

[Seeb]

With most economists preceding a recession. All the money going out for this, plus the tourists scared away by news about protests. It’s going to be back to the whole furlough Friday thing

[TomK]

Don't forget the cost to taxpayers in general for the current observatories sitting idle for four weeks yet still having to pay all their operational costs. That's a few million dollars more. And the cost to private companies and their employees who lost business when the mountain was closed off. The economic loss is much greater than $4 million.

[Kaimana]

Tomk- Tax payers pay for the observatories operational costs?

[TomK]

Yes, in most cases. Taxpayers throughout the world. I'm curious, how did you think observatories were funded?

[Kaimana]

I thought you meant the county was paying for it.

I assumed they were paid for by a mix of private and public funding through watch time and the private entities that hold stakes in the observatories. Am I wrong on that?

Actually another random question, are there any private companies(not counting private colleges) that pay for watch time or is it only Government entities and schools paying for watch time?

[TomK]

I don't have percentages but would guess something like 95% of all the MK observatories costs are paid by government agencies from around the world. Keck has a significant amount of its costs paid via a private foundation.

As to your last question, I'll give my general answer. Each partner of an observatory provides money for operational costs. In return, each partner is given a proportional amount of observing time at that observatory. Astronomers from those countries then go through a peer-reviewed process to get some of that observing time. They do not pay any costs to the observatory, their observing time is free as long as it has gone through that review process. That means the best science gets done and the scientist in charge of the project doesn't get charged any money - essentially it's free for those who come up with great science projects.

This way, all the countries involved in an observatory allow their best scientists to achieve the best scientific data possible in a way that is equitable with their government's funding.

As for private companies, as long as their aims are for pure blue-sky research and not military-related, then yes, they can also get time at the observatories as long as they contribute to the observatory's costs.