Let legislators know how much you appreciate tax cut
Hawaii Family Forum Primary Election Update
EPA: 'Emergency response missions on Maui are complete'
DHHL Finally Dumps Al Hee's Scam Phone Company
EPA Orders Shutdown of Seven Cesspools at Maui County Facilities
Lahaina: New Lawsuit Filed as ‘Global Settlement’ Collapses
CB: … A group of Maui wildfire victims has sued several of Hawaii’s largest insurance carriers, alleging the insurers are wrongly seeking compensation from a limited litigation settlement fund before the fire victims are fully compensated for their damages.
The suit, which was filed Friday in Circuit Court on Maui, is important because it centers on what sources say is the main obstacle preventing a global settlement of nearly 500 lawsuits related to the Aug. 8 fires, which destroyed much of Lahaina and killed 102 people.
Defendants in the wildfire litigation include Hawaiian Electric Industries and its utility subsidiaries, the State of Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaiian Telcom, Spectrum Communications and Kamehameha Schools.
Following a week-long mediation session in late June, a Los Angeles-based mediator proposed a global settlement of the litigation. Plaintiffs would have received more than $4 billion under the agreement, sources familiar with the litigation say. …
The mediator had set a Friday deadline for the parties to agree to participate in the settlement.
While most of the defendants were on board ahead of Friday’s deadline, there was, sources say, one major sticking point: how plaintiffs – specifically insurers versus fire victims – would divide proceeds of the proposed settlement.
Insurers have paid out billions of dollars in claims so far and, in separate so-called subrogation lawsuits, have said they should be reimbursed for the claims they’ve paid before all the individual plaintiffs are completely paid off for their damages. But plaintiffs say they are the real victims of the fire and that they should be made whole before insurers get paid.
With the insurers and individual plaintiffs at an impasse, Friday’s deadline passed without a deal, and the plaintiffs filed their suit. Sources familiar with the litigation say the suit could help break the impasse….
B: Maui wildfire victims sue insurers over proposed $4B settlement
PDF: maui-victims-v-insurers-suit.pdf 252 pages (documentcloud.org)
read … Maui Fire Victims Sue Insurers To Make Sure They Get Fully Paid In Any Settlement
Failed Maui wildfire settlement based on Ripping off Insurance Companies for $1.4B
SA July 19, 2024 … An all-encompassing settlement of litigation over the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires remained tentative this morning but is being complicated by the proposed distribution of settlement proceeds.
Gov. Josh Green said in a statement this morning that some mainland parties to pending lawsuits against the state, Maui County, Hawaiian Electric, several landowners and other defendants are asking for too much of the settlement, and that he is insisting more go to families affected by the fire that destroyed most of Lahaina.
(IQ Test: Do you believe him?)
“The settlement hasn’t been finalized yet, but we are working on it 24/7 to reach a positive resolution in the very near future,” Green said.
“There are some parties on the mainland that are simply asking for too much of the settlement, resources that I insist must go to families who were devastated by the fire,” Green continued. “I will personally call them out by name next week if they hurt Hawaii’s people or further delay this agreement.” ….
(TRANSLATION: The ‘mainland parties’ are not doing their part to keep HECO out of bankruptcy.)
KHON: Maui’s corporation council anticipates an executive session with Maui county council may be necessary to discuss county liabilities.
KITV: $4 billion proposed settlement reached over Maui wildfire lawsuits | News | kitv.com
CN: Proposed $4 billion Maui wildfire settlement hits mainland snag
read … ‘Mainland parties’ holding up $4 billion Maui wildfire settlement, Green says
Lahaina: ‘One ‘Ohana Fund’ hasn’t paid out a penny
SA: … Separate from the pending litigation settlement, there is a $175 million fund that was created by the same defendants led by the state to resolve or avoid litigation over the Maui wildfires faster than what might be achieved in court.
This One ‘Ohana Fund, also known as the Maui Wildfire Compensation Fund, was made available to people who lost a relative, or people who suffered serious injury, in the Lahaina fire.
Green announced the fund in November, and it began accepting applications March 1.
Through the fund, surviving family members who lost loved ones can receive $1.5 million. Payments to people who suffered severe injuries will be determined by the fund’s administrator, retired Judge Ronald Ibarra, but will be less than $1.5 million.
A window to participate in the fund closed Monday. As of the cutoff, 35 claims involving someone who died in the fire, and 12 personal injury claims had been received.
So far, Ibarra has approved eight claims, and the rest are pending review.
Decisions on the pending claims, and payment of claims, are expected within 90 days.
Hawaiian Electric is the biggest contributor to the fund, committing up to $75 million. The other contributors are the state ($65 million), Kamehameha Schools ($17.5 million), Maui County ($10 million), Spectrum ($2.5 million), Hawaiian Telcom ($2.5 million) and West Maui Land Co. ($2.5 million).
No fund applicants with approved claims have accepted payment offers yet. Accepting a payment requires the claimant to dismiss any litigation over the fires and forgo future litigation over the fires….
read … Efforts drag on to finalize $4 billion Maui wildfire settlement
27-time Convicted Felon will never commit another felony
HNN: … The suspected bank robber who was fatally shot by police early Friday following a barricade in Waikiki had 41 convictions, 27 for felony crimes.
That’s according to a Honolulu Police Department spokesperson.
Police had been searching for Eric J. Walsh — and officers went to Waikiki apartment building on Thursday afternoon because they suspected he was there, HPD Chief Joe Logan.
Sources said the 56-year old was identified as the man who robbed a bank on July 3 in Kaneohe. On July 8, another bank was robbed in Kailua. And on July 16 in Aiea, there was a third bank robbery that Walsh was accused of committing….
(REALITY: Walsh was killed by the ACLU. If he had been kept in a nice safe prison, he would be alive today.)
Walsh’s convictions stretching more than a decade include crimes of car burglary, car theft, terroristic threatening, identity theft, theft, and using a stolen credit card.
His most recent conviction resulted in a four-year probation sentence last November.
(See? Told you.)
read … Suspected serial bank robber killed by police had dozens of prior convictions
“It was always how you can accommodate the criminal”
HTH: … Since the fatal crash, Shoemaker-Hassey — then free on $75,000 bail — was arrested in Kailua-Kona on July 19, 2023, on suspicion of DUI, driving after his license was suspended for DUI and without insurance.
He was released from custody pending investigation, and those charges haven’t been filed.
In addition, Shoemaker-Hassey was arrested Sept. 17 on suspicion of driving after his license was suspended for DUI and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
According to a motion to revoke his bail filed in October by prosecutors, Shoemaker-Hassey was pulled over by police near the Triangle Park parking lot on Kuakini Highway in Kailua-Kona after officers spotted him driving with “an unconscious female passenger in his vehicle, who was later determined to be suffering from an overdose related to opiate use.”
The motion stated that Shoemaker-Hassey’s “continued operation of a vehicle in defiance of his license suspension, as well as allegations of drug use connected to operating said vehicle,” indicate he “poses a serious danger to the community.”
No charges were filed in that case, but Shoemaker-Hassey’s bail was raised to $175,000 and he remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Recently retired 3rd Circuit Chief Judge Robert Kim in April denied a motion to free Shoemaker-Hassey on supervised release — a form of cashless bail — or to reduce his bail.
Also since the collision, Shoemaker-Hassey was cited or arrested for the following offenses, and later convicted: using an electronic mobile device while driving on Oct. 12, 2022; speeding, 69 mph in a 55 mph zone on Oct. 23, 2022; inattention to driving, driving left of center and disregarding a solid white line on Oct. 27, 2022; and reckless driving and disregarding solid white and solid yellow lines on Dec. 1, 2022.
Shoemaker-Hassey has a trial scheduled for Sept. 3 in the fatal crash case, and a hearing on pretrial motions set for Aug. 12.
A plea deal has been extended by prosecutors, in which Shoemaker-Hassey would plead guilty or no contest to manslaughter and second-degree reckless endangering and the remaining counts would be dismissed.
The state also would not oppose Shoemaker-Hassey being sentenced as a young-adult defendant, in which the maximum sentence for a Class A felony manslaughter conviction would be eight years’ imprisonment. Manslaughter usually carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Shoemaker-Hassey and his attorney, Jason Kwiat, have been given until July 31 to accept the plea deal or make a counteroffer.
The offer doesn’t sit well with Steve Freedman, who sent a scathing email to county Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen and several deputies, including Charles Murray III, the prosecutor assigned to Shoemaker-Hassey’s criminal case.
“I have experience(d) first-hand all the proceedings,” Freedman wrote. “Never once was there a thought about our family, it was always how you can accommodate the criminal.”…
read … Husband of crash victim sues other driver, blasts plea offer - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
David Letterman, Jill Biden, Josh Green to Headline Biden Fundraiser
AP: … David Letterman will headline a fundraiser with President Joe Biden in 10 days at the home of Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press, a sign that his campaign is forging ahead despite continued calls for the president to bow out of the 2024 race.
The fundraiser on July 29 will feature the longtime late-night host, plus Biden and first lady Jill Biden, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not yet been made public. The campaign has at least 10 other fundraising events over the last 10 days of July….
HNN: Green to host Biden fundraiser in Martha’s Vineyard as president resists calls to bow out
read … David Letterman To Headline Biden Fundraiser
Election News:
QUICK HITS: