Controversial New VA Director to Host Kauai Town Hall Meeting
OHA community meetings to update on Corrupt Kakaʻako Makai planning process
UH Manoa Prof Demands Colleges ‘Stop Hiring White Men’--Unless They're Trannies
Two days left to vote in the 2017 Neighborhood Board elections
‘US Built’ Matson Ships Return from Chinese Shipyard
Retaliation: Supreme Court Upholds Hanalei Land Seizure
HB451: DHHL Answers Questions on Blood Quantum Reduction
No Skin in the Game: Honolulu Council Refuses Hotel Property Tax Hike
CB: …Resolution 17-70 would have increased property tax rates for hotels and resorts from $12.90 per $1,000 of assessed value to $13.40, generating $6.53 million annually for general city operations.
Instead, committee Chair Joey Manahan suggested the committee maintain current rates in hopes that visitor industry representatives will be more willing to work with city lawmakers later if the city must come up with funds for the $10 billion rail project.
read … No Skin in the Game
New Story: HART Now Says it will Run out of Money in January
AP: …Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation interim CEO Krishniah Murthy and the board on Thursday discussed how the project will run out of money in January.
Board members debated asking the Honolulu City Council for permission to issue up to $350 million in bonds. But some said they should consider issuing more bonds than that.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Yu says $350 million in bonds would last until June 2018….
read … Another Moving Number
Honolulu Police Commission Finds Self-Created Excuse to Eliminate Citizens Selection Panel
CB: The Honolulu Police Commission on Wednesday scrapped the idea of forming a citizens selection panel to help evaluate candidates seeking to become the city’s next police chief.
The decision was at least partially the result of (As an excuse to grab control of the process for themselves, the Police Commissioners used) fallout over commission Chairman Max Sword’s decision to nominate reality TV star Beth Chapman for a spot on the committee. (Then they had a good laugh at how easy it was to create a crisis and then solve it in a way which gives them total control over the Chief selection process.)
On Wednesday, Sword acknowledged that Chapman’s nomination served as a distraction and during the public portion of the commission meeting said that the citizens panel selection process had “overshadowed” the objective of selecting a new police chief. (He enjoys talking s**t to you while he kicks your ass.)
He also said that the ultimate decision should stay with the commissioners. (There he goes again)
SA: Without laughing, Sword claimed he had not known about Chapman’s criminal record until informed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … A Set-up Job
Shakedown: Judge Refuses to Order Greenmailers off Coco Palms Site
KGI: A motion that would have ordered two Hawaiians — who claim 17 acres of Wailua land as theirs via (insert excuse here) — to stay away from property was denied by a Fifth Circuit judge Wednesday….
The state filed the motion against Noa Mau-Espirito and Charles Hepa, claiming the defendants have been trespassing since March 17.
But in an earlier interview, Mau-Espirito said he claimed the Wailua property in spring 2016.
Mau-Espirito, who says he is a descendant of King Kaumualii, and a group of about 25 of his formerly homeless family members, continue to live on Coco Palms property.
“According to the tax map key, which is maintained by the state and the county of Kauai, it does list the properties are owned by Coco Palms Hui LLC,” said Ashley Uyeno-Lee, district prosecuting attorney. “According to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs the Business Registration Division, it does list Mr. Chad Waters and Mr. Tyler Greene as managers.” ….
Based on 70 pages of paperwork (written by who?) Mau-Espirito and Hepa submitted to the court that argues they are the owners of the Wailua property, Soong wants to give the state an opportunity to file a response.
Simple Solution: Just pay them off
read … Greenmail
Forbes: Maui 5th Least Affordable, Honolulu 13th
MN: Maui has joined the ranks Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, cities famous for their movie star residents, company tycoons and the wealthy. The Valley Isle is one of the least affordable places to live in the United States.
In a recently released list by Forbes, Maui is No. 5 out of 20 least affordable housing markets, even beating out Los Angeles.
On Maui, the percentage of average weekly wages required to pay down a median-priced home is 92.8 percent, according to the list presented in a slide show on Forbes’ website.
According to the Realtors Association of Maui, in March the median price of a single-family home in Maui County soared to $756,000, one of the highest monthly benchmarks in more than a decade…..
read … Affordable
Caldwell Claims Honolulu is Just Like a Sanctuary City
HNN: …Honolulu is not one of these so-called 'sanctuary cities,' but it is close.
"We're doing everything that is requested by a sanctuary city status without actually declaring that we're one. And I think it's all in the actions and not just the words," Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said….
Honolulu City Councilmembers have asked the mayor and HPD not to use any county resources to help the federal government enforce immigration law.
Mayor Caldwell and Acting Police Chief Cary Okimoto say they won't, unless the feds ask for help with specific cases.
Reality: ‘Sanctuary State?’—Hawaii Dems Pass Toothless Resolution to Fool Base
read … Caldwell Lies
Alleged child sex trafficker won't face charges
HNN: …Pegues- Santos said she was sold online and forced to walk the streets of Waikiki. It wasn't until an officer recognized her as a missing child that she was able escape and be reunited with her family.
Almost immediately, she began working with the FBI and HPD.
"When this first happened, when I talked to HPD, I was calling them at least once a week. 'Got an update? Got an update?' she said. "Then it got to the point where they stopped answering their phone calls."
It was six years, she says, before she heard from the Honolulu Prosecutor's office. If she was still willing to testify, they were ready to take the case to court.
This week, things changed.
Pegues-Santos says she was blindsided by news that the statute of limitations had run out for the most serious charge. Prosecutors also told her they felt the kidnapping charge would be too hard to prove.
"Then it's 'Well, we only got two counts of rape,' when I was raped at least three times a day. As a child," she said. "No baby should ever have to go through that."
Pegues-Santos says the grand jury wasn't even told about the worst abuse. In the end, jurors said there wasn't enough evidence for any charges.
"Instead of holding law enforcement accountable for the length of time it took to go to court, they blamed Nene. And it wasn't her fault," said Kathryn Xian, Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery. "She did everything right. She did everything immediately. She complied with law enforcement from the very start."
read … Soft on Crime
Marijuana Applicants Should Stick to One of Four Lies to Maintain Veneer of Medicality
KGI: Dr. Gerald McKenna says the policies regarding medical marijuana in Hawaii are getting ahead of themselves.
“We have about four recommendations for marijuana that’s currently available and medically supervised, but the state has moved many other conditions for marijuana laws that we have, at this time, absolutely no scientific evidence to support it,” said the CEO and medical director for McKenna Recovery Center. “There’s a disconnect.”
(Translation: Marijuana users should be able to get what they want with the four existing lies. They don’t need an entire menu.)
McKenna was a guest speaker at the Kauai Rural Health Association’s “Medical Marijuana Law and Impact on Businesses” conference Wednesday at Kauai Community College….
“We’re not saying that marijuana used as medicine is a bad idea, but I think that we need to apply the same rigorous study to that as we would to any other medication coming on that market, and that hasn’t happened,” he said….
AP: Gabbard part of joint effort to decriminalize marijuana
read … Medical, LOL!
Iwi Found under Waikiki Hotel Renovation Site
HNN: …A complaint filed in Circuit Court said about April 22 excavating work claims work on an elevator shaft at the site of the Pacific Beach Hotel unearthed two sets of human skeletal remains.
The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation wants construction stopped until an Archaeological Inventory Survey is completed.
The former chair of the Oahu Island Burial Council agrees.
"In 2017, there is no excuse as to why someone would not do their due diligence," Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu said.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Paulette Kaleikini. She claims the Department of Land and Natural Resources and other entities did not have an archaeological monitor present when the bones, known as iwi, were discovered….
DLNR would not comment on the court filing that quotes a 2014 plan prepared for the Pacific Beach Hotel. It said, "the potential of unearthing human remains within the project area is very high."
Flashback, 2015: Oahu Burial Council Chair on Payroll of Kakaako Developer
read … Buried
Police Called After War Activist Harasses Teachers at Charter School
ILind: …Hawaii County police this week read longtime peace activist (9-11 trooother) Jim Albertini his rights prior to questioning him about a disorderly conduct complaint filed by a Hilo charter school. (Jim Albertini is a convicted felon and federal ex-convict once tagged as a "psychopath" by Hawaii Federal Judge Samuel Wilder King.)
The complaint was made by the principal and secretary of Connections Public Charter School, who reportedly were “alarmed” by a telephone call last week from Albertini, according to Albertini’s account of what he was told during questioning by the police.
Albertini first learned of the complaint on Monday, when he was contacted by a Hilo Police Officer C. Sugimoto. He voluntarily appeared at the Hilo Police Station the following day for questioning.
“Officer Sugimoto first read me my rights and I signed a consent form to be questioned. Officer Sugimoto then told me that I was being investigated on a possible “Disorderly Conduct” complaint filed by Connections Public Charter School (PCS) Principal John Thatcher and the school secretary, Candy Alverado,” Albertini later reported.
The complaint was apparently prompted by Albertini’s telephone call to the school last Friday, during which he requested (demanded) the email addresses of teachers who took their students to an April 20, 2017 Earth Day event at the Pohakuloa Training Area, a public relations event sponsored by the U.S. Army.
(When Republicans are President,) Albertini and others have been calling public attention to the (non-existent) potential hazards posed by the previous us of depleted uranium during military training at Pohakuloa going back to the 1960s. (DU is not dangerous if a Democrat is President.)
SA: Yet Another Worthless Anti-Military Screed
Flashback: Hawaii DLNR gives 11 acres to 9-11 truther group
read … Anti-American War Activist
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