TRO Against New Police Chief’s son places him in UH Professor's spare bedroom
Team Hickam delivers first baby formula flight
Hawaii Highest COVID Rate in USA
SB2510 -- How Hu Honua Buys the Next Governor
IM: … The bill would also handcuff the Public Utilities Commission, allowing the Governor to override Commission decisions. The idea is that the next Governor would support Hu Honua and would be able to override all deliberative regulatory decisions in favor on ramrodding approvals for one private company….
CB: How A Powerful Lawmaker Forced Through A Contentious Energy Bill
read … Bill to Destroy Hawaii Solar and Wind Industry is on Governor Ige`s Desk
Hawaii Legislature Passes Unconstitutional Bill
IM: … The Hawai`i Senate wanted SB2510 to pass and proposed killing numerous house bills if the house did not agree. The house went along with the senate and passed bill that authorizes concurrent resolutions to alter state law. Allowing laws to be modified by resolutions is clearly unconstitutional.
One provision of SB2510 states:
“Firm renewable generation shall be a minimum of 33.33 per cent of renewable energy generation for each island. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, this percentage may be updated by the legislature pursuant to the following:
(A) By adoption of a concurrent resolution based on data from a study by the Hawaii natural energy institute, as described in section 7 of Act , Session Laws of Hawaii 2022; and
(B) The office of planning and sustainable development shall submit for introduction to the legislature a concurrent resolution for review of the proposed firm renewable energy generation minimum percentage.”
The Hawai`i State Legislature passes resolutions and bills. Bills are a constitutional animal. Article III of the State Constitution addresses the role of the Legislature in enaction laws. Section 14. “No law shall be passed except by bill.” ….
SA Column: Realities of fossil fuels, 100% renewable energy in our future
read … Hawaii Legislature Passes Unconstitutional Bill
Kauai: Brun sentenced to 20 years for Kaua‘i drug trafficking ring
TGI: … U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson sentenced former County Councilmember Arthur Brun to a term of 20 years imprisonment without possibility of parole at a hearing Wednesday morning for charges related to running a drug-trafficking ring on Kaua‘i….
In March, Watson rejected a plea deal Brun had reached with prosecutors, claiming that the 15-year sentence was too lenient….
Then a sitting councilmember, Brun was arrested by Kaua‘i police in Nov. 2019 after a brief car chase, during which he injured a Kaua‘i Police Department officer and threw a one-pound bag of methamphetamine out his vehicle window.
While out on bail, he was involved in a car accident where he crossed the center line, injuring himself, another driver and a 6-year-old boy. At the time, Brun had been transporting meth and cash, according to court documents….
Though he was stripped of his voting rights on the council, Brun continued to receive a salary from the county until Dec. 2020….
CB: Arthur Brun was a sitting Kauai County Council member when he led a methamphetamine ring supplied by an infamous prison gang.
HNN: Former Kauai councilmember sentenced to 20 years in prison for running drug ring
read ... Brun sentenced to 20 years for Kaua‘i drug trafficking ring
Kauai: Retaliation Accusations Could Sink Kai Kahele’s Pick For US Marshal In Hawaii
CB: … A federal retaliation lawsuit that resulted in a $1.8 million settlement against Kauai County in 2020 is raising a barrage of new questions about whether Michael Contrades, who is President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. Marshal in Hawaii, is fit for the job.
Contrades worked for the Kauai Police Department from 1994 to 2019, rising to the rank of deputy chief.
In 2016, he and then-KPD Chief Darryl Perry were named as a defendants in a lawsuit that accused them of carrying out a years-long campaign to discredit, undermine and harass Mark Begley, a fellow assistant chief who had filed a workplace discrimination complaint on behalf of a female officer.
Documents obtained by Civil Beat, including internal emails, official correspondence from county attorneys and transcripts of sworn witness testimony, show that Contrades actively participated in efforts to fire Begley after Begley filed the complaint and to strip him of his authority even though he was on stress leave.
The records show Contrades launched a series of internal affairs investigations into Begley that have since been described by Begley’s attorneys as “frivolous” and “unfounded.”
Many of the allegations in the lawsuit appear to be supported by documents the White House could easily access, including the results of formal investigations by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that found Begley was indeed the victim of retaliation.….
read … Retaliation Accusations Could Sink Biden’s Nominee For US Marshal In Hawaii
Hawaii residents deplete monthly budget 21 days after payday, study reveals
KITV: … A survey of over 3,000 workers in May 2022 across the U.S. found that the average worker depletes their income around 14 days after payday – with workers on Hawaii depleting their paychecks around 21 days after payday.
The survey, conducted by CouponBirds, shows that after the 21 days, Hawaii residents are financially limited or have to dip into savings….
read … Hawaii residents deplete monthly budget 21 days after payday, study reveals
County pays $135,000 to settle defamation lawsuit
HTH: … Hawaii County has agreed to pay $135,000 to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by two former employees who said former county officials besmirched their reputations by telling a newspaper they’d been fired.
Ten years after former Elections Administrator Pat Nakamoto and elections clerk Shyla Ayau sued former County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, former County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi and a private investigator, the county agreed to settle for $135,000 to be divided as Nakamoto and Ayau saw fit, according to the settlement agreement obtained by West Hawaii Today under state open records laws. Nakamoto retired from the county in December….
Reality:
read … County pays $135,000 to settle defamation lawsuit
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