Thursday, November 21, 2024
Hawaii Daily News Read

Current Articles | Archives

Monday, August 28, 2017
August 28, 2017 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:43 PM :: 3270 Views

Trump has the authority to modify existing monument boundaries

3 Things That Could Derail The Honolulu Rail Bailout

CB:When the Legislature takes up a $2.4 billion bill to bail out the struggling Honolulu rail project on Monday, the carefully crafted deal faces three main obstacles.

Two were almost sure to arise in the face of the proposed deal; a third surfaced late last week, accompanied by a flurry of dueling news releases and memos from Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and members of the Legislature.

Lawmakers are suspicious that Caldwell is trying to rake in more money from taxpayers than the project actually needs.

Hotel operators insist visitors will stay away from Hawaii if the price to stay here rises any higher.

And neighbor island political leaders say it’s just plain unfair to tap their hotels and visitors to pay for a train on Oahu.

Any of these issues could derail the rail bill when lawmakers convene on Monday to start what’s expected to be a five-day session….

CB: “Da talk is still goin’, goin’, goin’, not da train! Da bugga is still parked in da train barn in Waipahu.”

read … 3 Things That Could Derail The Honolulu Rail Bailout

Rail Skeptics Booted from House Finance Committee

SA: Two members of the powerful House Finance Committee were abruptly replaced Sunday in a partial House reorganization launched just a day before the start of a high-stakes special session to try to bail out the financially troubled Honolulu rail project.

State Reps. James Tokioka and Isaac Choy, who have both been publicly critical of House leaders’ proposals for funding rail, were notified by Vice Speaker Della Au Belatti on Sunday morning that they will no longer serve on the Finance Committee.

Choy (D, Manoa-­Puna­hou-Moiliili) contends he and Tokioka were removed to grease the tracks for the controversial rail bailout bill, and to minimize discussion and criticism of the measure this week.

“I think they want the hearing to go very, very smoothly and quietly without any debate or discussion, or any kind of thought,” Choy said.

The five-day special session of the state Legislature convenes today….

read … House reorganizes on eve of special session on rail

Rail Crooks Saved: Lawmakers Drop ‘Forensic’ Audit

CB:“The clearer the audit objective the better the audit report will meet the needs of the organization,” said Kahn….

John Woolley, deputy legislative auditor with the Washington State Legislature’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee, agreed. Woolley said the key is for lawmakers to clearly frame the questions they want the audit to answer.

“You’ve got to be very attentive to the way you phrase the question,” Woolley said. “What are you perceiving as a problem that’s driving this question?”

Rail critics had asked HART to conduct a forensic audit to figure out why costs had ballooned and whether fraud or malfeasance had occurred under HART’s watch.

The current bill does not require a forensic audit…. (See how this works?)

read … Audit

Pay ACLU Lawyers $75K to House Homeless in their Homes

HNN: Would you let a homeless person live in your backyard? What if you got paid to do it?

Honolulu City Councilman Joey Manahan is looking into what it would take to make that a reality.

The idea is simple: Provide homeowners with cash to build a rental unit in their backyard. The agreement requires the homeowner to rent the space to someone who is homeless. To jumpstart the process, permitting would be streamlined.

"We'd have to vet it through committee and council but you know what I'd like to do is introduce a resolution and discuss it and see if it's something that w are willing to do here," said Manahan.

It's a program Los Angeles County launched last week. There participants are given up to $75,000 to go towards construction. Others who already have a unit are eligible for up to $50,000 in subsides to bring it up to code.

(Great.  Lets start with the homes of ACLU lawyers.)

read … Could homeowners be the answer to Hawaii's homeless crisis?

Abercrombie Rants Raves Against Anti-Big-Wind Activist

CB:The former governor takes exception with how he was portrayed in a recent Community Voice about the Big Wind renewable energy project….

read … Hot Air

Liberals to Establish Think Tank in Hawaii?

SA: …plans are in the works to create a nonpartisan “Hawaii State Budget and Policy Center” at the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice to provide data to help guide policy decisions.

Hawaii would be the 43rd state to establish such a center in tandem with the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities….

read … Liberal Think Tank

QUICK HITS:


Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii