UH Prof: ‘I Don’t Trust White People,’ They ‘Need To Lose More’
Carving Up the Price of Car Rentals
Honolulu Neighborhood Boards: 47 Vacant Positions Available
Transit-oriented development a Scam Just Like Rail
Shapiro: …If you paid close attention, you had a bad feeling early on that Honolulu rail was in for an ugly ride….
You get the same sinking feeling today that something is seriously amiss with rail’s conjugal partner — transit-oriented development.
City leaders promised TOD would bring the rail line alive with affordable housing, livable communities and better jobs, while reducing urban sprawl and traffic.
As construction costs exploded, the city espoused pie-in-the-sky partnerships in which developers who profit from rail would help pay for it.
Little of this has materialized.
The major development on the West Oahu end of the rail line is the sprawling Ho‘opili subdivision, which could ultimately add more traffic to gridlocked H-1 than is relieved by rail.
In town, a stretch of Kakaako once envisioned for workforce housing is becoming a wall of mostly luxury condominiums, many of which are being bought by wealthy offshore speculators.
Near the planned rail terminus at Ala Moana Center, developers enabled by the city cynically seek to use TOD waivers intended to encourage affordable housing to build hotels….
read … Rail-oriented development wreck can still be prevented
Star-Adv: HMSA Welfare Scheme is ‘Unacceptable Pay Cut’ for Pediatricians
SA: …island pediatricians worry whether a new payment structure now established by the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) will sustain good medical practice.
The doctors in the network for HMSA, Hawaii’s largest health insurance carrier, have been transitioning to the new payment scheme under a program called Mahie 2020….
Dr. Galen Chock, a Honolulu pediatrician, estimated that a doctor will see each infant about 11 times the first year. He calculated that the new payment system would reimburse the doctor about $300 in the first year for a newborn, compared with about $1,000 under the fee-for-service model.
If that estimate is remotely typical, it represents a drastic, unacceptable cut in pay.
It is too early to say with certainty that pediatricians won’t be able to adapt to the system, but there are some physicians — 40-year veteran Dr. Jeremy Lam was one whom Consillio met — who are opting out. Lam decided to retire earlier than he intended…..
Borreca: Hawaii to take big hits under Medicare, Medicaid cuts
read … Don’t cut corners on pediatric care
Historic Home Tax Hike – Political Insiders May have to pay $1000
SA: (Political insiders and other) Owners of Oahu properties designated ‘historic’ residences would need to pay $700 more annually under a bill that has received an initial nod from the City Council Budget Committee.
Bill 52, introduced by Councilman Ikaika Anderson, would increase the “minimum tax” paid by property owners claiming an exemption for a historic home dedication to $1,000 annually, up from the current $300….
read … Bill to raise historic homes tax advances
Styrofoam Ban on Hawaii County Council Agenda (again)
HTH: …A revised bill banning disposable polystyrene — popularly known as “styrofoam” — is coming back to the Hawaii County Council next week.
But the stay could be brief.
Puna Councilwoman Eileen O’Hara, who introduced the bill banning foam food containers, said she plans to ask it be sent to the county’s Environmental Management Commission for further review when the council meets Friday.
She said there’s no sense in rushing the bill and she wants to make sure her colleagues are comfortable with it.
“I have at least five votes (in support),” O’Hara said. “I’d like it to pass with six.”
Six votes in support would make the bill vetoproof.
The revised bill would start the ban on polystyrene products July 1, 2019, a year later than most recently proposed. It also provides an exemption for packaging for raw meat, fish and eggs.
Other exemptions would be for food packaged outside the county, coolers and ice chests, and county facility users under certain conditions…..
read … Foam food container ban back on the table: O’Hara wants county to consider revised bill
Supreme Court Orders John Carroll to Surrender Law License
ILind: …In an order issued Friday, June 30, the Hawaii Supreme Court granted a petition by Honolulu attorney, former legislator, and two-time gubernatorial candidate, John S. Carrol, to resign from the practice of law in lieu of discipline.
The court rejected Carroll’s request to delay his resignation until the end of October, and instead made it effective in 30 days. In addition, the Supreme Court’s order also requires Carroll to pay the cost of the disciplinary proceedings….
He was given 30 days to surrender his license or submit “an affidavit establishing good cause for his failure to do so.” ….
read … Former lawmaker’s case gets complicated
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