Report: Maui County plumbing rules hinder Lahaina Rebuild
Insurance Institute: How to make the New Lahaina More Fire Resistant
Unions pursue law changes to boost membership
HPD Coverup? Police allegedly called to scene of Waianae shooting before it happened—did nothing
SA: … In 2021 and 2022 Hiram James Silva Sr. “threatened to shoot” the Keamo family, said Michael Green, attorney for 42-year-old Rishard Kanaka Keamo-Carnate, who shot and killed Silva Saturday. …
Green said his client, who lived in the home on Waianae Valley Road where Silva shot five people Saturday night, believes Silva was trying to drive the front loader, packed with 55-gallon drums of fuel, into the house, hold the 15-20 people inside at gunpoint, and set the house on fire.
When Silva started shooting, the 15 to 20 family members and friends at the Keamo home Saturday night for a party cowered in the backyard seeking shelter, Green said. The only thing that stopped Silva from getting into the house with that equipment was the eaves of the house, he said.
“Then (Silva) got out (of the front loader) and started shooting holes in the barrels. He was going into the house … he was going to keep people there and set the place on fire … there was a party that night (on Silva’s property), somebody (from the Keamo family) went over there to talk to them … the cops got there (earlier in the night) but the cops couldn’t get in because (Silva) had his gate closed,” said Green.
(NOTE: KITV reports yesterday, Chief Logan claims HPD received no calls to site prior to the shooting. Who is lying here?)
“Then the guy (Silva) went nuts. This isn’t one on one where someone says ‘he shot first.’ This guy was bent on a massacre,” the attorney said. “The five people (were) the tip of the iceberg. He was going to set the place on fire.”
A Honolulu Police Department spokesperson told the Star-Advertiser that a review of calls for service Saturday night did not indicate that officers were called to Silva’s 19-acre property at 85-1383-C Waianae Valley Road, prior to the gunfire….
KITV: Honolulu police NOT called to Waianae home before deadly mass shooting -- Honolulu police confirm they were not called to this disagreement between neighbors, which eventually turned deadly, until after the bullets started flying. "In 2024 we didn't get any calls for responding to that area, whether a loud party or racing or anything. The prior years there may have been calls for loud parties or other things," said HPD Chief Joe Logan.
HNN: Medical Examiner’s office identifies victims in deadly Waianae Valley shooting (hawaiinewsnow.com)
CB: The 3 Women Killed In Waianae Shooting Are Remembered For Their 'Love And Aloha'
read … Waianae attacker threatened to shoot his victims’ family twice before, attorney says
HART City Center Guideway Already $432M over Budget
CB: … The bid for that contract with the Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini Corp. was about $300 million more than HART had budgeted for the work. Known as the City Center Guideway and Stations (CCGS) contract, it includes three miles of elevated rail line and six rail stations. ($300M over budget)
The extra money needed for the new contract will cause the total estimated cost of rail to slightly increase once again, from $9.933 billion today to $10.065 billion, according to HART staff. It will also require deferral of some rail-related construction work until the city can find more money…. (DO THE MATH: $10.065B - 9.933B = $132M + $300M = $432M over budget)
Board members were briefed on possible strategies for saving money, including reducing “contingency” funding that is held in reserve to cope with unexpected cost increases on major contracts, and deferring rail-related work that the HART staff does not believe is immediately needed.
HART said in a written statement that “generally speaking, several projects are being considered for deferral … but final decisions about deferrals have not yet been made. No project that is being considered for deferral will have a significant impact on the traveling public.”
Near the top of the list is a proposal to save more than $60 million by delaying installation of seven units of Static Synchronous Compensation Equipment, known as “STATCOMs.” Those are supposed to stabilize the voltage of the electrical supply in West Oahu when the rail line is busy.
Hawaiian Electric Co. raised concerns more than five years ago that the electrical supply in the area around the rail line might be affected as the electric Skyline trains accelerate out of the stations.
The rail system’s four-car trains will need brief bursts of electrical power as they leave the 19 stations along the line, and utility officials warned the circuits on the power grid are not designed for that kind of abrupt change in load….
Another proposed cost-saving measure would be to defer work on what is known as the makai entrance to the Waipahu or Pouhala rail station above Farrington Highway. It was unclear from the presentation to the board exactly how much savings could be had by delaying that work….
Rail supporters have been arguing for years that “they’ve spent too much money to stop,” said Roth, who has been a rail skeptic.
“That’s their case,” he said. “They may be using a whole lot of words and waving their arms when they’re using them, but it boils down to ‘We can’t stop now.'” …
SA: Off the news: HART must post contract meeting minutes | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … HART Scrambles To Free Up Cash For Rail’s Push Into The City Center
Agencies answer how $3 billion in recovery aid being used on Maui
KHON: … the discussion centered greatly on FEMA and how to provide quicker housing solutions to streamline the building process and provide permanent housing.
“The cost our here to build is over $900K per square foot to build. So itʻs a million dollars per house to rebuild out here which does not make it feasible, within my authority right now, to do that. Our authority right now focuses on temporary solutions,” FEMAʻs Bob Fenton told the committee….
AP: Hawaii lawmakers say Congress should replenish disaster relief fund to help Maui | AP News
MC: News Flash • Mayor Bissen testifies on federal government’s (mauicounty.gov)
CB: Members Of Congress Question Response To Maui Disaster - Honolulu Civil Beat -- Mayor Richard Bissen said the county's "main policy is to put the same people back in the same homes on the same lands.”
read … Agencies answer how $3 billion in recovery aid being used on Maui
CWS Fail: More lawsuits, settlements and verdicts
CB: … the lawsuits, settlements and verdicts against the Department of Human Services for botching their life-and-death job just keep piling up.
The latest: $600,000 to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging the state negligently placed a teenage girl in a Kailua-Kona home where she was sexually assaulted.
Negligent, in the sense that a state social worker placed the girl in that foster home even after the girl’s older sister allegedly warned that she had been sexually assaulted and harassed by a man living there.
By my count, the department in charge of protecting children has shelled out $3.6 million in three settlements and a judgment in the past year, though I might have missed some.
Then there are the pending lawsuits likely to garner even bigger awards, though they will in no way compensate for what happened to the children.
They include Ariel Sellers, a 6-year-old Waimanalo girl allegedly starved and tortured to death by the couple who first “fostered” and then adopted her.
And Geanna Bradley, a 10-year-old Wahiawa girl who perished in sickeningly similar circumstances, allegedly at the hands of her foster parents turned legal guardians….
Background: Foster Care Rape Room: Police Report Blows Away CWS Coverup
read … John Hill: The State Keeps Bleeding Money For Failing To Protect Vulnerable Children
Hawaii Visitor Fee Faces 2025 Comeback: What's Next?
BH: … We suspect the Green fee may grow to be far more than $25.
Recent developments in New Zealand suggest that Hawaii’s previously proposed $25 visitor fee could be just the beginning. On October 1, New Zealand will nearly triple its own Visitor Conservation and Tourism fee from $22 to $62 to ensure that tourists contribute more substantially to public services and the preservation of high-quality experiences while visiting. Those funds will be allocated toward environmental protection. The government believes it will not significantly deter visitors. However, those in the travel industry there have expressed doubts.
New Zealand’s decision to significantly raise visitor fees highlights a growing trend among popular tourist destinations to charge tourists more to cover associated environmental and infrastructural costs. As Hawaii debates its own green fee, New Zealand’s example could be a cautionary tale about the potential for such fees to grow.
REALITY: Green Fee is Unconstitutional -- Crandall v. Nevada - Wikipedia
read … Hawaii Visitor Fee Faces 2025 Comeback: What's Next?
City Council passes Navy resolution over ‘emergency state’ on contamination plume
HNN: … “In May, we saw a little bit. In June, we saw a lot and then after that we didn’t see any of it,” said Ernie Lau, Board of Water Supply chief engineer and manager.
“It’s at an emergency state. We need to know immediately what’s there,” said Tommy Waters, Honolulu City Council chair ….
The Honolulu City Council passed a resolution Wednesday demanding the Navy do weekly water testing and allow for independent testing because of cancer causing chemicals from Red Hill ….
KITV: Honolulu City Council sends Navy strong message about Red Hill groundwater
read … City Council passes Navy resolution over ‘emergency state’ on contamination plume
Charges dismissed in case of the 2019 takeover of OHA’s headquarters
ILind: … Felony charges against six men who took part in a violent takeover of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs headquarters in January 2019, during which two OHA employees were assaulted and others threatened, have been dismissed for violating the defendants’ right to a “speedy trial.”
(Three have criminal records: Drug dealer, drunk, domestic abuse.)
Circuit Court Judge Fa`auuga To`oto`o dismissed the charges during a hearing on August 12 “without prejudice,” meaning that charges can be refiled a the discretion of prosecutors.
It has been 5-1/2 years about a dozen men dressed in red shirts and identifying themselves officers of a Kauai-based group known as “Kingdom of Atooi” stormed the OHA headquarters and violently took control, assaulting two OHA employees and threatening others, while announcing they were there to seize the agency’s assets and arrest “corrupt” trustees.
The six defendants were initially charged with multiple misdemeanors, but those charges were withdrawn after numerous Hawaiian organizations called for charges carrying stiffer penalties. A state grand jury then indicted the six in December 2021 on charges of felony kidnapping, assault, and terroristic threatening….
Background:
read … Charges Dismissed in Sovereignty Activist takeover of OHA offices
Carbon Taxes would enable Hu Honua
IM: … Practically every place that has a carbon tax has also defined burning trees as carbon neutral. Thus, clearcutting forests and burning wood chips has become very popular. As raw data from the proposed Hu Honua project on the Big Island demonstrated, burning trees generates more greenhouse gases per unit of electricity produced than all other methods of generating electricity. Bad accounting schemes make it appear to be a solution…
The historic development patterns on all islands, but particularly on the Big Island are that resort workers travel long distances from cheaper areas to live and the expensive resorts where they work. Bus service is very weak to non-existent in many places. These blue-collar individuals would pay much higher carbon taxes….
Another group that would be hit is diversified agricultural farmers who are already struggling against cheaper imports. All inputs associated with local farming – vehicles, fertilizers, pesticides, processing – would face higher prices while imported food would not have higher costs. The state goal to increase local agriculture would take a major hit….
read … The Lure and Promise of Carbon Taxes | Ililani Media
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