Entries for June 2024

... bills introduced and votes cast in Congress ....

... SB 3109 tackles the long-standing waitlist to provide housing to DHHL beneficiaries by extending a $600 million special fund ....

... The positions and appointees are listed below; House and Senate appointees also are included ....

... if Honolulu were to revise upward all the other development standards as well — the minimum setbacks, the height limits, the maximum lot coverage and minimum lot widths and depths — the number of newly legal units could skyrocket ....

... Intent to Veto: HB 1800, which is the state’s budget bill, and HB 40, which is the bill that puts $300 million into our rainy day fund and $135 million into the pension accumulation fund .... 

... For 40 years, the Chevron precedent has been the backbone of administrative law, limiting judicial decision-making in favor of agency 'expertise' ....

... This year our freedoms were expanded with the passage by our state lawmakers of important legislation. Those expansions covered taxes, housing and healthcare ....

... as of Monday, July 1, 2024, Bikeshare Hawaiʻi has turned over its oversight role of the Biki bikeshare system to DTS ....

... The remade Lahaina will be a tourist-oriented animation of the pre-plantation era when the economy was based on slaughtering lots of whales ....

“HPD is taking this seriously and attempting to determine whether Branco may have indeed been able to contact Kalua while in jail.”

"...There's going to be some pain...."

... Sinaloa and its rival, the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, known as CJNG — run drug pipelines through California and Nevada to flood Oahu with meth and other drugs, including fentanyl ....

... The settlement provides benchmarks for a greenhouse gas reduction plan that will be overseen and enforced by a court through 2045 ....

...Gorsuch said “a handful of federal judges” couldn’t “begin to ‘match’ the collective wisdom of the American people” in deciding policy solutions for homelessness....

... those standards only apply where there's a takings claim present. And there's no takings claims here ....

... Rebecca A. Copeland, Brian A. Costa, Dyan M. Medeiros, and Steven R. Nichols to the Circuit Court of the First Circuit .... 

... tourist count down 4.8%, spending down 4.0% ....

... the Hawaii Supreme Court hears oral arguments ....

... Seventeen plaintiffs are asking for $7 million ....

... Advocates to keep the stairs told the court that demolishing them will threaten the state's official mammal, the Hawaiian hoary bat. ....

... After a federal court struck down the ban, the Hawaii Legislature approved an amendment to the ban that prohibits only the concealed carry of bladed weapons ....

... Cowden had made the entire incident about herself ....

... The county cannot ignore the constitutional rights of Maui property owners in its race to address its housing problems ....

... virtually all local economists realize the main cause of Hawaii’s housing crisis is the state’s extremely high number of land-use and other housing-related regulations that have hindered homebuilding ....

... requires large commercial and multi-family buildings to annually report aggregate energy and water utility data to the City and County of Honolulu ....

... we would expect to see significant–possibly double digit–declines in condominium prices on Maui ....

... will apply to all coffee product inventory sold to the public or displayed at retail stores in Hawai‘i ....

"The group's primary objectives are to draft and propose substantive legislation and policies that can be enacted in the upcoming legislative session."

... to support the 200 households (more than 500 individuals) currently residing in Non-Congregate Sheltering (NCS) hotels, the NCS program has been extended until June 30, 2024 ....

... The Leeward Planning Commission voted favorably on a bill that would make it easier for beekeepers to expand their businesses ....

... Competitive bidding?  No need ....

... Here are some of the traps I’ve seen ....

... we don’t know what we don’t know ....

... bills introduced and votes cast ....

... Al Hee was convicted was criminal tax fraud in 2016, which resulted in the FCC and HPUC stripping SIC’s ability to receive USF subsidies ....

... increase the appropriation for the COVID hazard pay contingency to $115 million ....

... affected by severe storms, flooding, and landslides from April 11 to April 14, 2024 ....

... Governor Josh Green, M.D., notified legislative leaders and stakeholders of his intent to veto 17 bills passed by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature during the 2024 session ....

... industry experts discuss the rising costs of condo insurance ....

... The young plaintiffs are more likely to move to Las Vegas because of this settlement ....

... Hilo vs Haleiwa ... or ... Kapolei vs Makawao ....

... Wilson v. Hawaii, a prosecution for carrying a handgun without a license ....

... arson, armed robberies, drug trafficking, chemical attacks, and murder plots ....

... Almost every day, there are articles and studies being published that illustrate why this protectionist maritime law needs to be updated ....

“...Increasing the maximum value of the credit is a good idea because it would offset some of the effects of increased assessments...."

... Mayor announces the departure of Kēhaulani Pu‘u from the Department of Parks and Recreation ....

... $1 million might not be enough to get you through your retirement ....

... Hawaii's population increases by 66.4 percent during high season due to overtourism ....

... Hawaii taxes beer at $0.93 per gallon ....

... Area prices were up 0.7 percent over the past two months, up 5.2 percent from a year ago ....