CWS Sex Assault Suit: Two sisters sent to same Foster Home Molesters
Pain: Proposed Reapportionment Plans For Oahu Mean Some Incumbents Actually Face a Challenge
CB: …several of the House Democrats who would be threatened politically by the proposed maps have been at odds with House Speaker Scott Saiki, including state Reps. Sharon Har, Roy Takumi and Daniel Holt…
The East Honolulu House district that would disappear is now represented by Democratic state Rep. Bert Kobayashi,…who is part of the leadership faction that rules the state House, said he is unclear what role Saiki had in developing the initial maps, if any. “We don’t know what happened, and who led who,” he said.
“It could have been that the members of the (reapportionment) technical committee didn’t know what they were doing,” Kobayashi said. “I mean, ignorance and incompetence has been a reason many times for what happens at the Legislature.” …
The new maps would place Kobayashi in the same House district as fellow Democrat Mark Hashem, but Kobayashi predicted that there will be “dramatic changes,”….
in Leeward Oahu, where the new maps would combine Democratic state Reps. Matt LoPresti and Sharon Har in the same district, setting up a Democratic primary between those two incumbents.
LoPresti alleges he is being targeted by Kevin Rathbun (blablabla) …
In Pearl City, Takumi and fellow Democratic state Rep. Gregg Takayama were also combined into the same district under the new maps, potentially setting up a primary race there….
Takayama, meanwhile, has been weighing a run for the state Senate, hoping to represent the Pearl City and Pearl Ridge neighborhoods that elected the late Sen. Breene Harimoto. But the new maps would essentially block that plan.
If Takayama made a bid for that district next year, he would face Democratic state Sen. Bennette Misalucha in the primary….The proposed new maps adjust the Senate district boundaries in a way that neatly excludes Takayama from Misalucha’s district. That was done by slightly expanding the district now held by Democratic Sen. Clarence Nishihara to include “a couple blocks” of the Momilani neighborhood near Waimano Home Road, Takayama said. That is the exact area where Takayama lives….
The proposed new maps would also combine Holt and fellow Democratic state Rep. Takashi Ohno in the same district, and Holt said he will be lobbying the commission to seek changes to prevent that….
Another lawmaker who said he may be forced to move is Democratic state Rep. Adrian Tam. The proposed new maps would separate Tam from almost all of the Ala Moana and Waikiki district Tam now represents, and would place him in Saiki’s mostly Kakaako district.
Tam said in a written statement on Sunday that unless the maps are changed, he is planning on moving so that he can continue to represent most of the Waikiki and Ala Moana neighborhoods he represents today….
In the Senate, meanwhile, the preliminary maps put freshman Democratic Sen. Laura Acasio in the same Hilo Senate district as longtime Sen. Lorraine Inouye. That would set Acasio up for a very difficult primary race with Inouye, who is a former Hawaii County mayor….
Insiders at the Capitol suggest the new Hilo maps may be linked to some hard feelings when Acasio hired Kim Coco Iwamoto to work in her office during the legislative session this year. That was just months after Iwamoto nearly ousted Saiki in the 2020 Democratic primary….
RELATED: Naming Names: New Hawaii Election Districts Endanger Eight Incumbents
read … Proposed Reapportionment Plans For Oahu Could Mean Painful Political Fallout
Small number of city employees terminated for non-compliance with vaccine mandate
HNN: … When the city and state announced the vaccine mandate for their employees about two months ago, several first responders sued, fearful that they going to be fired because of their opposition.
But the latest data provided by the state and city doesn’t back up those concerns. The state said only three of its 13,000 executive branch employees have been terminated for rejecting the vaccine mandate.
And the city said only five workers were fired for refusing the vaccine or for failing to fill out vaccine attestation forms. It employs about 10,000 workers.
“Not one police officer has been terminated, not one firefighter has been terminated, not one ambulance person has been terminated,” …
City Human Resources Director Noel Ono testified that of the 948 medical and religious exemption requests with the city, 370 have been approved and it’s still waiting for more information from 106 applicants. About 358 have not yet been reviewed….
Added city Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi:
“I have heard some unusual situations where individuals who are requesting for individual exemptions are also being monitored via their Facebook posts to see what they do on a daily basis,” she said.
The city denied the allegation….
(Really Obvious Question: Which is more dangerous: COVID vaccinations or One Ton of Cocaine?)
SA: Most Honolulu first responder COVID vaccine exemption requests cite religion
read … Small number of city employees terminated for non-compliance with vaccine mandate
After failing to Infect him with COVID, Antivaxxers Launch Campaign to recall Maui mayor
MN: … Organizers are seeking to collect over 21,000 signatures of support in 30 days — this amounts to the number of signatures required to initiate the recall process of an elected official, according to the Maui County Charter, Article 12….
On Saturday morning, about 200 to 300 people gathered at the Maui County building in Wailuku for the campaign launch where they were able to sign their names on the petition or pick up recall signature packets that can be distributed islandwide.
About half of the 1,000 packets were picked up that morning….
The campaign was launched on Thursday after Sheila Walker initiated and submitted an official affidavit with the Office of the County Clerk to begin the legal process of a recall.
Following an affidavit, a petition must be signed by no less than 20 percent of Maui County registered voters in the last general election; this means 21,586 in-person signatures must be obtained during the 30-day period, County Clerk Kathy Kaohu said.
(Really Obvious Question: Can 21,586 ducks quack in unison?)
If all signatures are gathered, then Victorino has five days to decide whether or not to resign. If he does not resign, then a special recall election may take place where Maui County registered voters can vote for his removal on a day chosen by the council, according to the charter.
If the majority votes for removal, then Managing Director Sandy Baz becomes the acting mayor.
Walker said she’s “a thousand percent confident” that enough support will be gathered to force a recall election, but is worried about the “integrity and legitimacy” of the election itself….
Related: 'Karma is a Bitch' -- Maui Mayor's Office Rips Anti-Vaxxer
read … Campaign launched to recall mayor
Controversial Former Kauai Prosecutor Wants Her Old Job Back
TGI: … When Shaylene Iseri was Kauai County’s top prosecutor almost a decade ago, a half-dozen civil lawsuits named her as a defendant.
The disputes, however, did not play out in a courtroom.
Instead, allegations that Iseri had harassed and retaliated against employees and created a hostile work environment at the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney were resolved with five and six-figure settlements funded by taxpayers.
The largest settlement — a quarter-million dollars — went to then-County Councilman Tim Bynum, who claimed he was the victim of wrongful prosecution.
The settlements relieved Iseri of liability for any wrongdoing. But the sheer volume of the accusations against her, amplified by newspaper headlines and a small-town rumor mill, created a perception that the OPA was a toxic workplace during Iseri’s one-term administration. …
read … Controversial Former Kauai Prosecutor Wants Her Old Job Back
Solar farm planned amid cultural and historic sites including WWII Ewa battlefield
CB: … Another battle may be brewing around a historic Ewa airfield attacked on Dec. 7, 1941.
A Canadian renewable-energy company plans to develop a solar farm in the vicinity of Ewa Field, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and two proposed historic districts connected with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor nearly 80 years ago.
An affiliate of Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. published a draft environmental assessment for the Barbers Point Solar project on Oct. 8…
Ewa Beach historian John Bond, who helped obtain federal recognition of Ewa Field’s historical value for preservation, is concerned that part of the planned solar farm encroaching into the historic district will be harmful.
Bond also opposes another part of the solar farm displacing remnants of a former Navy Seabees Camp.
“I’m not trying to stop the solar farm,” he said. “I’m just trying to make sure the eligible sites get their due consideration (for protection).”
Bond would like to see the solar farm plan reconfigured or reduced to protect historic sites.
“It’s an important point that we fight for this,” he said.
In addition to numerous historic military structures, the planned project area has over 200 ancient Hawaiian cultural features that Innergex would avoid disturbing in most, but not all, instances….
read … Solar farm planned amid cultural and historic sites including WWII Ewa battlefield
100-Year History of Oahu Landfills
CB: … As the city searches for a new site, the Westside offers lessons on how a place can turn into the island’s perceived ‘dumping ground.’….
read … The Next Community To Host Oahu’s Landfill Can Learn From The Westside
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