Learn about ways Maui County can support more homebuilding
Clear away legal barriers to hasten Lahaina homebuilding
Four Bills for housing, tax relief at Honolulu, Maui councils
Two Politically Connected Waianae Families Shoot it Out. Four Dead.
SA: … Four people were fatally shot and two were injured after a “neighbor-on-neighbor dispute” between two longtime kamaaina families led to violence with a front loader and gunfire at a gathering late Saturday night in Waianae Valley….
Thoemmes said the investigation is preliminary and ongoing but that records show that officers were called to the area in 2023 for a dispute between the same neighbors. Logan said there were no 911 calls from that area earlier Saturday.
He also said, “I don’t think all the guns involved were registered.”…
The shooting occurred during a dispute between two longtime kamaaina families who live in Waianae Valley, according to Honolulu City Council member Andria Tupola and Waianae Neighborhood Board member Richard Landford Jr., who lives on the makai end of Waianae Valley Road.
Tupola said the shooting occurred “between two families that I know well and many people know well” that have extended families throughout the Leeward side.
During her time in the state House and City Council, Tupola has been to events hosted by both families, such as graduations during COVID-19 and meetings to organize homeless outreach along the Leeward Coast.
“Lots of members of both families have done a lot for our community,” she said. “It’s so tragic.”…
Logan said staffing in the district was at 100% the week before but not over the weekend or Saturday night. Logan declined to provide the exact number of officers who were assigned…
Landford said, because an uncle in one of the families had been talking to Landford and other members of the neighborhood board about settling disputes between younger Waianae residents the “old-school way.”
“Growing up in the old days, you fist it out, shook hands and it’s over,” Landford said. “An uncle would tell the kids, ‘Once you leave the yard it’s over. You cannot call your cousin or brother or father. It’s over. The thing is done and everybody goes home.’ …
read … 4 dead, 2 hurt in Waianae ‘dispute’
Fake it to make it: Esther Kiaaina and Kali Watson Conspire to Stick DHHL with unbuildable Kailua Landslide Parcel
SA: … With thousands of viable acres among all islands, why would DHHL even consider a 10-acre city parcel on Kailua’s Kalaheo Hillside? The soil is adobe clay that expands and contracts with weather conditions and slips downhill when disturbed. Homes have experienced lifted foundations and cracked slabs.
The late 1970s found Kaneohe Ranch quickly selling leasehold land there at a large discount when threatened with a lawsuit based on poor land conditions. Construction will cause more damage to present homes and new homes will suffer the same ….
(CLUE: DHHL beneficiaries must sacrifice to help Kiaaina and Watson fake it.)
read … Letter: Kailua plot not great for planned DHHL housing
Board to review CEO’s contract on Friday, HART says
SA: … “Sept. 6 is the tentative date for the special HART board meeting to consider the executive director and CEO’s contract, subject to quorum,” HART board Executive Officer Cindy Matsushita told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Meantime, Kahikina said details of her next contract — meant to continue her leadership over the nearly $10 billion construction of the city’s rail line to Kakaako by 2031 — would be ironed out soon.
“It was a little slow going at first,” she previously told the Star-Advertiser. “But I am hopeful … (and) we’re still negotiating all of the terms.”
Kahikina said she and her attorney met Aug. 14 with the rail agency’s permitted interaction group, or PIG, formed to investigate and then recommend terms of the CEO’s negotiated work agreement to the full HART board of directors.
“We made a lot of progress,” she said, “so we’re hoping to wrap this up shortly.”…
read … Board to review CEO’s contract on Friday, HART says
Alaska-Hawaiian merger could hit new delay after major airline expresses concerns to feds
HNN: … One of the nation’s largest airlines is raising concerns to the federal government about the planned merger between Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines.
It’s a setback in the nearly nine-month process that seemed close to being finalized. Some experts say it will likely only delay the $1.9 billion deal.
United Airlines does a lot of business in Hawaii, devoting some of its fleet’s largest and most expensive planes to the islands. It’s concerned about what a merger will mean about its existing agreements with Hawaiian Airlines.
According to United, its costumers can gain reward miles even when they fly inter-island on Hawaiian.
Its website also sells flights to and from the continental U.S. that use connecting flights “Operated by Hawaiian Airlines.”
“What it means is that their airline can sell some tickets on that airplane, and both companies make some profit on that arrangement,” said Hawaii Aviation Expert Peter Forman.
“It is a lucrative type of agreement between airlines.”
A letter from United to the DOT expressed concerns about the impact of the merger on these existing agreements ….
read … Alaska-Hawaiian merger could hit new delay after major airline expresses concerns to feds
Gender gap at UH Manoa
ILind: … “Women enrollment almost doubles men, across-the-board, full-time undergraduate, and graduate,” he wrote. “Stunning.”
“This shift in educational attainment will eventually reach the workplace. Women professionals will likely outnumber men almost 2 to one.”
I was able to quickly determine that the data came from a university publication, “2023 -2024 Common Data Set, University of Hawaii at Manoa,” prepared by the M?noa Institutional Research Office (MIRO).
I summarized the data in the table below, highlighting the percentage of women in each student category….
read … Gender gap in higher education
Hotel Workers Strike For Higher Wages And Daily Room Cleaning Work
AP: … Housekeepers and other staff at top hotel chains in Waikiki and Kauai joined thousands of hotel workers on strike in other cities as contract talks stalled….
read … Hotel Workers Strike For Higher Wages And Daily Room Cleaning Work
HPD officers hamstrung by poor judicial policies
SA: … Officers can arrest a person and fill out all the paperwork only to find the perp back on the street later the same day after being advised when they should return to court — as if that happens. They see homeless people on the streets doing all kinds of illegal things and know it is a waste of time to try to remove them. They see the Prosecutor’s Office giving a slap on the wrist to many repeat law breakers….
SA: Letter: Stop showing deference to homeless criminals
read … Letter: HPD officers hamstrung by poor judicial policies
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