Keli’i Akina: Fed-up with Government? -- “Let`s Change It!”
NextEra: Kouchi Asks for Formal Opinion from Attorney General (Full Text)
Hawaii Timeshares: Highest fees in USA
Ige Signs Three More Bills into Law
Hawaii #1 for Distracted Driving
Hawaii became a U.S. Territory July 7, 1898
Senate to Hold Revocable Permit Hearing
Report on UH lab explosion reveals deep, systemic safety failures
HB2772: UH Rape Policy Now Written into State Law
Maui hospital workers’ payout bill a ‘sweetheart’ deal
SA: It’s unfortunate and a great disservice to all public sector workers that the Star-Advertiser’s past few editorials about Senate Bill 2077 and Gov. David Ige’s announcement to place it on the veto list were rife with cynicism (forthrightness) and misleading (accurate) information, based on assumptions and prejudices toward hard-working (a clear understanding of) public employees….
Yesterday: HGEA: Our Hospital Job Trust is More Important Than Your Lives
Flashback: Hospital Reform? Randy Perreira Says "F*** You"
read … Randy Perreira: Know Him by What he Denies
After 20 Years of Torture, Lahaina Hospital Breaks Ground for Construction
MN: …Living an hour's drive away from Maui Memorial Medical Center, the Valley Isle's only acute-care facility, West Maui residents have been vying for a hospital on their side of the island for nearly 20 years. But while there was a lot of local support, residents struggled to find an organization willing to fund it. Hoyle was the first person who believed in the project and decided to invest in it, according to Pluta.
In 2009, after tireless efforts by Newport and the West Maui community, the state of Hawaii awarded the project a certificate of need, which allows health care providers to establish new facilities. Many had said the certificate would be impossible to acquire, Pluta recalled.
"Against all odds, we've done things that people said never could be done," he said.
In 2011, Newport lost its financial backing and was forced to split ways with the West Maui Improvement Foundation. However, Hoyle was able to secure financing in 2013 and pushed the project through the proper channels. By 2015, the project had acquired unanimous Maui County Council approval for a community plan amendment, zoning and state district boundary changes.
According to Hoyle, the hospital will be the first built in Hawaii since the North Hawaii Community Hospital was constructed on the Big Island in 1995, and the first new hospital on Maui since Maui Memorial came into existence in 1952….
read … 20 Years
Corrupt ex-Liquor Commissioner and ex-HPD Charged with Child Molestation (No. 1)
KHON: …James Rodenhurst Jr. was arrested by state sheriffs last Tuesday and charged with first-degree sex assault and third-degree attempted sex assault.
According to court documents, the acts allegedly involved a juvenile under the age of 14.
This is not Rodenhurst’s first run-in with the law.
In 2007, he was sentenced to 17 months behind bars for accepting up to $500 a week for nearly a year to protect illegal operations at two Honolulu nightclubs.
He is also a former Honolulu police officer….
read … Corrupt
Retired police officer charged with assault in bar shooting (No. 2)
KHON: …In April 2015, Anson Kimura was at a bar on King Street when his gun went off. He was off duty at the time.
The bullet hit a 40-year-old woman in the abdomen. She was hospitalized in critical condition.
The Honolulu Police Department called it an accidental discharge.
Kimura retired from the department the following month, in May 2015.
According to court documents, Kimura did “recklessly cause serious bodily injury,” which led to a second-degree assault charge….
read … Shooting
Ex-HPD officer sentenced to 3 months in jail for Stolen Car Racket (No. 3)
SA: Former Honolulu police officer Landon K. Rudolfo is going to jail for three months followed by three months of home confinement for knowingly buying and selling a stolen sport utility vehicle.
U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson handed down the sentence Wednesday. He gave Rudolfo until November to turn himself in to begin serving the sentence. This allows Rudolfo time to complete an elevator mechanic apprenticeship….
Another former police officer, Roddy Takao Tsunezumi, testified during the trial that he sold Rudolfo a 2000 Toyota 4Runner in 2011 for $3,000, after negotiating the transaction when both men were on the job at HPD headquarters. Tsunezumi said he told Rudolfo that the 4Runner was stolen and Rudolfo didn’t care.
Convicted car thief Jeremy Javillo testified that he stole the SUV that Tsunezumi sold to Rudolfo. He also said he switched the 4Runner’s vehicle identification number plate with one that was not stolen.
Rudolfo sold the SUV in 2013 for $6,500.
As part of his sentence, Rudolfo must reimburse the original owner and insurer of the 4Runner $6,560.
When Tsunezumi and Javillo testified, both men were serving 33-month federal prison sentences for an unrelated extortion scheme….
read … Jail
HPD Officer Charged with Assault in Road Rage Incident (No. 4)
SA: …On Tuesday, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against officer Keoki Duarte, charging him with unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, attempted unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and third-degree assault.
Duarte allegedly assaulted truck driver Jonard Escalante, 26, of Kalihi, at about noon on Dec. 7.
Escalante said he accidentally hit Duarte’s car while changing lanes on Farrington Highway near the Kahe Power Plant and pulled over. Duarte, who was off duty at the time, got out and began shouting and swearing at Escalante, then punched Escalante’s passenger door.
Escalante said he was apologizing, but Duarte came to the driver’s door, opened it, grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
Duarte pushed Escalante, who was pleading for him to stop, to the ground multiple times and punched and kicked him, then began choking him until he began to black out, Escalante said.
“I tap him to let me go because I cannot breathe,” he said by phone Wednesday.
Escalante said Duarte let him go after another driver who had stopped intervened. He said he doesn’t know what would have happened if the other driver had not shown up.
Escalante didn’t know his attacker was a police officer until after other officers responded….
read … 4 in one Day, a New Record!
Emotions and Irrational Behaviors: Honolulu City Council Aborts Leadership Shake-Up
CB: The Honolulu City Council voted Wednesday to shelve a bill that would have given the position of vice chair to Joey Manahan from Kalihi instead of Ikaika Anderson from Waimanalo.
“I’m glad that this is being done today,” said Councilwoman Kymberly Pine from West Oahu. “I was very disappointed personally (with) the events that took place over the weekend.”
Last week, Anderson proposed a resolution that would have given Pine the job of vice chair. Councilman Trevor Ozawa introduced one the same day that would replace Anderson with Manahan.
Before voting on the measure, Ozawa took issue with a newspaper article that noted a disagreement between Ozawa and Anderson during a recent zoning and planning committee meeting chaired by Anderson.
Ozawa left the meeting early and the hearing had to stop and resume later because there wasn’t quorum. (You can watch the meeting on Olelo here — jump to 13:20 to see what happened.)
On Wednesday, Ozawa said the leadership change wasn’t initiated due to a personal dispute and said he’s committed to “working together in a professional and respectful manner.”
“Sometimes our emotions get the best of us,” said Council Chair Ernie Martin, noting that emotions “may impose irrational behaviors on some of us.” ….
read … Shake-up
Housing First reports a 97% success rate
SA: Housing First rental units didn’t work out for five homeless people out of 166 placed in the program on Oahu last year.
Two people who had gotten units were later incarcerated, two were “noncompliant with landlords” and the other left voluntarily.
But the overwhelming majority, or 97 percent, given Housing First units last year are still housed, according to a University of Hawaii study released Wednesday….
Housing First funded units for 176 people, representing 115 households, last year. Only 166 homeless people, representing 105 households, were surveyed because the other 10 were also part of the state’s Housing First program.
As reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in November, the preliminary results of the study by Barile and Smith showed that compared to when they were homeless, Housing First participants reported having more days in which they felt better, had more energy and were more active. They reported having fewer stressful days and experienced more days when they were generally satisfied with life and had hope for the future.
The study released Wednesday added one more important detail: Housing First worked for 97 percent of the people.
“These are individuals that have a lot of support around them and more or less come with guaranteed rent that will be on time, that’s essentially guaranteed by the state,” Barile said. “If I was a landlord — and this is my honest opinion — these are the people I would rent to. I would definitely rent to someone who has this support compared to those that don’t and may or may not be able to pay rent each month.” ….
“Housing First gave me my self-respect back,” said Thomas Lamberton, 55, who shot a picture of the cardboard he used to sleep on near the state Capitol. “It worked for me.”
Lamberton could not remember whether he spent six years or eight years on the street, mostly the result of alcoholism.
Now that he’s been sober for 17 months — and living in a Housing First rental unit for seven months — Lamberton said he has a different attitude about life.
“I never want to go back to the street,” he said.
Right next to the photo Lamberton shot of his old cardboard bed sits another one he shot of his new, real bed in his Housing First apartment….
SA: 2 Kakaako parks beset by the homeless closed for cleanup
read … 97%
Sweet Vacation Memories: Homeless Leave Needles Behind After Using Waikiki Lifeguard Towers to Shoot Up
HNN: New blue "No Trespassing" signs warn that the area around lifeguard tower 2B at Kuhio Beach is for lifeguards only.
Trespassers can now be prosecuted….
"At times, they're actually smearing things on the tower. And also we've found things like knives and needles under the towers as well," he said.
A lifeguard also recently stepped on a needle.
Rigg said lifeguards treat injured beachgoers under the tower so it needs to be clear and clean as possible….
Tower 2B is the one most frequently used by homeless people, so it got "No Trespassing" signs first. Lifeguards also recently put up a fence around it….
read … City takes new steps to address growing homeless problem on Waikiki Beach
Dopers decide: Marijuana or Oxy? Decisions, Decisions
AP: …’Patients’ fill significantly fewer prescriptions for conditions like ‘nausea’ and ‘pain’ in states where medical marijuana is available, researchers reported today in one of the first studies to examine how medical cannabis might be affecting approved treatments.
Prescriptions for all drugs that treat pain combined, from cortisone to OxyContin, were nearly 6 percent lower in states with medical marijuana programs. Anxiety medication was 5 percent lower.
The result was a drop of more than $165 million in health care spending in states that had medical marijuana programs running in 2013, according to the analysis of national Medicare data. The savings would equal 0.5 percent of the entire Medicare program’s drug budget if medicinal cannabis was available in every state, the authors projected….
HA: Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Prescription Medication Use In Medicare Part D
read … Drugs
Council Entices Homeowners To Build Accessory Dwelling Units
CB: The Honolulu City Council green-lighted a bill Wednesday that waives building permit and sewer hookup fees for homeowners who want to build accessory dwelling units — secondary rental units on their property….
Overall, the city has received 125 applications since Caldwell approved the measure last fall.
But 40 applications were rejected because there wasn’t adequate sewer capacity. Eight didn’t move forward because of lack of road access, and seven were rejected due to zoning and association restrictions.
The city rejected just one due to lack of water hookups. The remaining 34 applications are still being processed….
read … Entice
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