Chin to Campaign on the Job for 9 More Weeks
Why save the Hawaii Aquarium Fishery?
Hawaii--Lowest Family Salary in USA
UH Releases Results of Campus Rape Survey
KSBE: Time to Silence the Victims of Homosexual Child Molester We Let Run Rampant for Decades
SA: …(After losing his $1M bought-n-paid for judge) CEO Jack Wong has been willing to take the heat from the public to protect (screw) the victims of this terrible tragedy from as much media exposure (by silencing them as much) as possible. The recent apologies from both Wong and Chairman Micah Kane were to the Kamehameha ohana, yet those critics who were demanding this apology then shared it with the world (and we wanted to make all of this just go away).
To take the time to sit with these alumni and listen, cry and pule, proves how far Kamehameha has come. To continue to dwell in the past is counterproductive. (Translation: We apologized. That’s all you deserve. Sit down and shut up now.)
Let’s move forward, look to the future and give (ignore) these alumni the privacy they deserve and let the healing begin. I believe — I know — that my school will and is doing the right thing (after doing the wrong thing for 55 years)….
read … Schools’ apology opens way to healing
Caldwell Can’t be Bothered to Spend Millions In Federal Affordable Housing Aid
CB: Honolulu is losing millions of dollars in federal funds that could provide housing for homeless people and other aid to poor communities because it’s not spending the money fast enough.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in a recent report deemed Honolulu a “high-risk grantee” because it’s failed to meet federal regulations requiring that the money be spent within certain time frames. The report evaluated the city’s performance from June 2016 to June 2017.
The federal grants have been used to fund apartments for seniors and provide interest-free loans to help families afford down payments. They’ve paid for projects as varied as a youth center in Nanakuli to a gymnasium in Waipahu.
Chandler said more than 1,000 local governments receive the federal grant money and it’s rare to miss the mark two years in a row like Honolulu. The city also has the distinction of failing to meet deadlines across all four HUD grants that the city administers.
The city also has the distinction of failing to meet deadlines across all four HUD grants that the city administers.
The city also hasn’t been able to spend nearly $1.5 million from a new federal housing trust fund that the state manages….
Overall, the city lost nearly $5 million in federal money last year that could have been used for housing. That’s on top of $1.45 million the city had to return last summer in response to a critical federal audit.
HUD concluded that the city is on track to fail to meet deadlines for the third year in a row, with an estimated $18 million in unspent grant funding expected next summer.
The November report found the city didn’t spend $2.3 million to support low-income housing, despite having more than eight years to do so.…..
The city also lost $1,425,000 million to support affordable housing production from a relatively new federal program, the Housing Trust Fund. The money is supposed to help extremely low-income households, including people at risk of homelessness….
Due to Honolulu’s poor performance, HUD is going to give the city $6.3 million instead of $7.2 million.
“The city could have applied 100 percent of that money toward some kind of homeless activity,” Chandler said. “Instead we lose $815,000.”
More money could be lost if the city doesn’t address concerns about particular projects raised in a report last fall. The city is also at risk of losing another $100,000 in two other federal grant programs intended to help homeless people and people with HIV/AIDS….
The 2016 audit of the city’s grant management found that the decentralized administration of the money “created dysfunction, inefficiency, and wasted grant funds.”…
PDF: HUD Report
read … Mismanagement
57 Defendants in Homeless Court first year – 18 Accept Shelter
SA: …In its first year, 57 homeless defendants — all accused of low-level, nonviolent crimes — appeared before the Community Outreach Court Project, as it’s officially known….
Through plea agreements reached between the Prosecutor’s and Public Defender’s offices, the court was able to clear its docket of 601 cases by having the defendants serve a total of 676-1/2 hours of community service rather than face jail or fines that are unlikely to be paid, according to the prosecutor’s office….
Nine defendants so far have found housing, nine went into homeless shelters, 11 got jobs, five began substance abuse treatment and two received driver’s licenses or learner’s permits, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
At the same time, two participants quit or decided the program wasn’t for them, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, and one was removed after allegedly committing another offense….
Last session the Legislature provided $445,000 for each of the next two years to hire staff to expand the program beyond downtown.
($445K/18 = $24,722 each)
By the middle of 2017, both the Prosecutor’s and Public Defender’s offices were praising the project after it cleared a backlog of 268 cases and got four homeless defendants housed, including a man who had been homeless for nearly 30 years….
read … Court ends first year of decriminalized homelessness
More than 800 cases of child sex abuse reported in 2017
KHON: …Recently there’s been a growing number of reports of child sex trafficking. The justice center dealt with 162 cases last year….
The Children’s Justice Center serves around 1100 children a year. If you’d like more information about the center, here’s their website: http://histatechaptercjcs.org/
read … More than 800 cases of child sex abuse reported in 2017
Honolulu Rail Recovery Plan Remains A Work In Progress
CB: …HART’s board has declined to approve the plan for the $9 billion project until more details are fleshed out….
“It wasn’t necessarily complete, but that doesn’t mean it’s a static document,” Robbins told Civil Beat on Friday. “We can still take comments and approve it.”…
Robbins said he’s optimistic that rail’s federal partners will approve the plan sometime before June 30. That’s the city’s deadline to avoid borrowing extra money to make up for the withheld federal money, he said.
“We will have to answer a lot of questions and make a lot of revisions, but I’m highly confident,” Robbins said.
HART and FTA officials so far have discussed the plan over the phone, but Robbins said he pressed this week for the two rail-oversight agencies to hold face-to-face meetings either later this month or in early February.
“We’ve been very patient up until now,” Robbins said Friday. “Now we’re starting to push.”…
read … Honolulu Rail Recovery Plan Remains A Work In Progress
Mafia News: Hanabusa formally launches campaign for governor
HNN: …The announcement came four months after Hanabusa made it known she intended to run for the seat in 2018, squaring against incumbent David Ige….
Sources told Hawaii News Now in July that several powerful (mafia) Democrats who were formerly aligned with the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (a redundant statement) had been urging Hanabusa to run against Ige, saying he had failed to take a leadership role on several of Hawaii's hotbed issues….
Reality: www.TheRealHanabusa.com
read … Bye Bye Hanabusa
Rancher, community activist Harold 'Freddy' Rice dies
HNN: …Well-known Big Island rancher and community activist Harold "Freddy" Rice has died.
Rice reportedly died of a stroke while on Maui last week.
He's known for a legal battle against the state to end race-based elections for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
In 1996, he filed suit against the state saying the use of public tax funds to pay for Hawaiian-only elections was unconstitutional.
Rice vs. Cayetano went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled in Rice's favor.
Critics of the lawsuit claim that Rice's actions were anti-Hawaiian in nature, and put the programs and funding of OHA at risk.
"The Freddy I know was very fond, very respected of the Hawaiian community in a long standing and very sincere way that it seemed to be -- to an unknowing person -- appear to be contrary to that," Dr. Billy Bergin said.
"Even though it was not necessarily a popular effort that he led, he really did it on behalf of wanting to have a clear pathway for forward movement of the Hawaiian community without any disruption that could be recalled due to constitutional issues," Bergin added….
WHT: ‘Freddy’ Rice dead at 83: Waimea rancher challenged race-based voting
read … Rancher, community activist Harold 'Freddy' Rice dies
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