November 4, 2023 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Saturday, November 4, 2023

November 4, 2023 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:59 PM :: 2992 Views

Restoring Lahaina’s Economy: Time is of the Essence

Oahu Judicial Vacancy -- First Circuit Court

DoH Hosts Healthy Hawaiʻi Strategic Plan 2030 Summit

Public Input Sought for City’s First Climate Adaptation Strategy

HECO Finally gets Around to Announcing Wildfire Safety Strategy

Ernie Martin bribed by North Shore Developer’s Lawfirm?

ILind: … “As you can see from the DPP report, Mr. Martin personally introduced the 2018 Major SMA (Reso 18-245) for Hanapohaku. Just a few weeks after pushing that resolution through the Zoning and Housing Committee (November 7, 2018) and full Council (just one week later!) on November 14, 2018, a meeting that Mr. Martin chaired — and while still a City Council member – on December 28, 2018, Mr. Martin accepted a job offer at the law firm representing Hanapohaku, which he had been negotiating for several months.

“He resigned from Council two days later and started work at the firm on January 3, 2019. He has since been a highly paid attorney for Hanapohaku LLC (with his partner Terry Lee of “Lee & Martin,” Exhibit B to DPP report), and has recently been personally lobbying some or all of you City Council members for this project extension but was not a registered lobbyist when he met with you. Mr. Martin and Mr. Lee registered with the City Ethics Commission as lobbyists for Hanapohaku only on October 16, 2023,’ two days before the Zoning Committee hearing and only after the community raised this issue.

“This LATE registration does not erase the ethics violations. In fact, the belated registration is another admission of the ethical violations that have continued to taint this project.”

In a footnote, Antolini provides a link to the transcript of a deposition by Martin in which he describes how he came to work for the law firm representing the develop of this project. Those who appreciate this kind of detail can find the deposition here.

In the deposition, Martin says the possibility of taking a position with this firm was first raised in the spring or summer of 2018, well ahead of pushing the matter through the council….

read … Conflict of interest questions raised about Ernie Martin, former City Council chair

Moving to mainland: “To actually work to live instead of living to work is amazing"

CBS: … Doreen Hall is among the thousands of native Hawaiians who decided to leave the state with her family because of rising prices in the area. Each year, 15,000 native Hawaiians leave the state for the mainland, which now boasts a larger Hawaiian population than Hawaii itself. There are fears that rebuilding from the wildfires that ravaged Maui over the summer will lead to even more displacement. …

Shantashia and Richard Pelen, who have five children, are among the many who are out of options. Richard Pelen said the state's cost of living - the highest in the country - makes it "impossible for us to give our kids something out here." …

"By going to the mainland, we can put our kids in a home that we can call ours," Richard Pelen said. …

"We can enjoy to live here. We can breathe," Hall said. "We can afford the mortgage payments. To actually work to live instead of living to work is amazing." …

read … Why native Hawaiians are being "pushed out of paradise" in their homeland

Many Lahaina homeowners lack adequate insurance coverage to rebuild

HNN: … In another emerging barrier to recovery in Lahaina, many homeowners are discovering they don’t have enough insurance coverage to rebuild.

The problem is so widespread even the state senator who wrote the insurance laws may also come up short of what she needs to rebuild her home.

Condominium owners in Lahaina have the most complicated insurance situation. Most have one policy on the contents of their apartment and another policy, held by the association, on the whole building. But some of those associations don’t have enough coverage.

One of those impacted was the 189-unit Aina Nalu.

“Many of us probably relied on the board of directors, and Hawaiiana management to help make sure that we had appropriate insurance, but nobody expected a fire either,” Baker said.

“So it’s a sad lesson that we learned.”

The president of the Aina Nalu Homeowners Association, Jim Blaha, said the board was aware it needed more coverage. “We were in discussions with our insurance agent to improve our insurance coverages,” Blaha said. “Unfortunately, our timing was really bad.”…

(CLUE: Get a lawyer from outside of Hawaii who specializes in getting insurance companies to pay out. Suddenly the money will appear.)

read … Many Lahaina homeowners lack adequate insurance coverage to rebuild

The Deadly Maui Inferno, hour by hour

NYT: … The New York Times used video evidence, data and interviews to reconstruct the wildfire that raged through what was once Hawaii’s royal capital….

read … THE DEADLY MAUI INFERNO, HOUR BY HOUR

Guam and Hawaii are in strike range of Pacific Su-57 Squadron

BMC: … The Su-57’s combat radius, expected to be more than twice those of the U.S. F-35 and F-22 fifth-generation fighters, is predicted to considerably expand following the integration of Saturn 30 engines later this decade. This development, in combination with the new missile with a range of 3500km, potentially allows these fighters to engage targets previously beyond reach for conventional tactical aviation units….

read … Guam and Hawaii are in strike range of the 1st Pacific Su-57

Lahaina Fire News:

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