Hanabusa: Elect Me and I Will Build Massive Festering Homeless Tent Cities Everywhere
HDoT Negativity: Ferry not Feasible
Overcharged: Why Healthcare Costs Too Much
Red tape tally long overdue
Bizarre News: Hawaii State Hospital Obtains Re-accreditation
Traffic & Pedestrian Fatalities Down for 2017
Hawaii Most Integrated State in USA
Survivors, Witnesses Still Haven’t Ratted out the Four Known Sex Abusers in Legislature
KITV: …Corrine Moreno can remember a life of fear: walking on eggshells in the house she shared with an abusive husband.
Eventually, she killed him.
In an instant, she went from victim, to defendant.
"All it said was I stabbed my husband and that I was the bad guy. There was no motive or reason behind that. So it looked like I was the bad guy. That was the only time I fought back because my son's life was in danger," Moreno said.
For Island News employee Diamond Badajos, it was her aunt, beaten to death by the woman's boyfriend on a residential street in Kailua.
"I never really get emotional but hearing all these stories, it kind of hits home and you relive it all again," Badajos said.
These are difficult stories to tell.
But they are being told, as the Domestic Violence Action center launched its new year with a media summit.
After a wave of women came forward in 2017 with stories of violence and sexual assault, CEO Nancy Kriedman wants domestic violence to be front and center in the upcoming election season.
"Domestic violence is a problem of academic proportion, it touches communities throughout the island, throughout the state. It is costing the community an enormous amount of money, it is impacting the hearts and spirits and health of island families. We have to address it," Kriedman said. ….
Flashback: Sex Harassment: Hawaii Legislators Admit Covering up Four Cases
read … Domestic violence survivors share their stories at media summit
Report: Coco Palms Grifters have no claim
KGI: …Noa Mau-Espirito and Charles Hepa have said throughout the eviction case that they have vested ownership rights by virtue of Hepa’s descent from Deborah Kapule, the last queen of Kauai, But a newly revealed title history of Coco Palms shows that Kapule’s family lost ownership rights in 1883.
Ironically, Kapule’s descendants were removed from ownership of land on which much of Coco Palms now lies as a result of an ejectment case brought by the last member of Kapule’s family with legal claim to the land against Junius Kaae, who had apparently leased the property. In 1883, the supreme court of the Hawaiian Kingdom ruled in Kaae’s favor, awarding him legal title to the property that now includes much of the Coco Palms resort.
These details emerged in a five-page sworn declaration signed last August by Colleen Uahinui, lead senior title abstractor in the Historic Title Services Department of Title Guaranty of Hawaii, Inc., in Honolulu. The company is a dominant issuer of title insurance in the state.
The Hawaiian Kingdom supreme court ruling in favor of Kaae appears to have rendered nonexistent any ownership connection between Kapule’s descendants and Coco Palms….
read … Report: Occupants have no claim
State tax collections forecast to rise Thanks to Republican Tax Cuts
SA: Economic experts in charge of forecasting Hawaii’s tax collections say the state’s revenue will grow at a slightly higher rate than expected, citing in part an anticipated stimulus effect from the Republicans’ federal tax cuts.
The state Council on Revenues voted Monday to revise its year-over-year growth prediction for the current fiscal year to 4.5 percent growth from 4.3 percent.
That modest increase would amount to roughly $13 million to $14 million more in collections for the fiscal year that ends June 30, and would put the state on track to collect close to $6.6 billion this year in taxes….
News Release: ADVISORY HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE HOLDS BUDGET BRIEFING
read … Stimulated
Hawaiian Airlines saving $140M Thanks to Republican tax cuts
SA: …Hawaiian Airlines said it’s beginning new service to Long Beach, carried a record number of passengers in 2017 and will save in the range of $90 million to $140 million due to the corporate tax cut that goes into effect this year.
The state’s largest carrier said today that it will begin nonstop flights between Honolulu and Long Beach beginning May 31….
Hawaiian’s first flight with its A321neo aircraft debuted today with a flight from Kahului to Oakland, Calif. The airline will add service between Maui and Portland on Jan. 18 followed by flights between Lihue and Oakland on April 11, and between Kona and Los Angeles in the summer….
The airline also said it expects its operating revenue per available seat mile in the fourth quarter to be at the favorable end of its prior guidance range due to a stronger-than-expected close in bookings. It also raised its estimates for gallons of jet fuel consumed due to higher-than-expected payloads….
MN: Airline ‘looking at’ more Maui flights
read … Hawaiian Airlines starting Long Beach service, saving up to $140M from tax cut
Maui County Needs 13,949 Affordable Units
MN: …Statistics from the state Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism’s 2015 housing demand report indicate Maui County will need to produce 13,949 affordable housing units by 2025 to keep up with demand.
According to the county Department of Housing and Human Concerns, seven projects are currently under construction, which could provide 1,046 units.
Fourteen additional projects are in the planning and entitlement phase. If these projects come to fruition, it could add 3,000 more homes to the county’s affordable housing inventory in the near future.
Forecasts, however, are usually overly optimistic. In 2017, only 60 affordable housing units were added, and just 400 are projected to be completed in 2018….
read … Council’s work in full swing as the new year begins
Why Oahu’s Rural Homeless Have Often Been Undercounted
CB: …50 tents tucked in the forest around Wahiawa… Even though he’s been homeless for 30 years, Garcia said he’s only been included in the count in the last two years….
the number of homeless identified in the region that covers Wahiawa to the North Shore rose from 221 in 2016 to 385 the following year, a 74 percent increase.
The upper Windward district, which stretches from Kahuku to Kaneohe, saw an even greater spike, a 122 percent increase in one year….
“There were always people there. We were just not counting them,” said Scott Morishige, the state homeless coordinator.
By contrast, the overall state count of the homeless went down slightly in 2017….
Those involved in the count agree it’s an imperfect measure.
“I have to be frank, HUD doesn’t require much of us,” said Partners In Care Director Jen Stasch. “But what I heard from the community when I became the director is we need more information.” ….
News Release: ADVISORY HOUSE COMMITTEE TO HOLD BRIEFING ON HOMELESS SOLUTIONS
read … Why Oahu’s Rural Homeless Have Often Been Undercounted
Shelter-Refusing Tweekers Push to Reconquer Kakaako Makai
SA: After being closed for three months to repair damage caused by homeless campers, Kakaako Waterfront Park reopened Monday at 6 a.m., and by about 7:30 a.m. one person was already attempting to set up a tent….
The state shut down all Kakaako parks in October, citing safety concerns primarily at Kakaako Waterfront Park due to vandalism, a series of dog attacks and fires blamed on homeless people camping along the waterfront. Deputy sheriffs had swept about 180 homeless people from the area to repair vandalized plumbing and electrical poles and damaged grass.
New signage at the park lists as prohibited camping, washing clothing, accessing electricity and building fires among others.
Deputy sheriffs were patrolling the park Monday and are expected to monitor the area throughout the week….
Kamemoto said about $200,000 was allocated for the repairs to the park….
HCDA has hired a private security team to patrol the grounds to enforce park rules and prevent the return of homeless campers. Louisville, Ky.-based Block by Block was given a yearlong, $300,000 contract that ends Dec. 1 to monitor all Kakaako parks, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Block by Block will provide outreach and property storage services, said Kamemoto….
Lee said it was bad before the park closed, noting that loose dogs roamed the park. She recalled how she enjoyed watching sunsets at the park before the area became inundated with homeless encampments…
Housing for Homeless: Affordable housing community prepares to open for families in need
read … Invasion Coming
Online Anti-Crime Group Wants To Be A Political Force
CB:…Since its founding in July 2014, Stolen Stuff Hawaii has grown into a social media group of 102,313 members….
“Stolen Stuff lets you know what is really going on in our city. It’s a movement,” says Jonathan Young, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors Hawaii….
Now Kitchens wants to harness Stolen Stuff’s loyal following to lobby the Honolulu City Council and the Hawaii Legislature for stronger laws to deter crime and to help people protect themselves.
“I want Stolen Stuff Hawaii to have such an impact that lawmakers say, ‘Whoa, we have to deal with this,’” Kitchens says….
His plan is to start slowly to prepare to introduce proposals a year from now to the 2019 Legislature. He is gathering information from members on the Facebook site to get their views on topics such as legalizing Tasers and decriminalizing marijuana.
“Let’s see what we can come up with. Remember contribute simple easy ideas. Let’s get some wins in first before we go big,” Kitchens writes on the Facebook site.
He says he is interested making Tasers legal to allow Hawaii residents to better protect themselves from assaults.
He favors the decriminalization of marijuana “to reduce the strain on our justice system, reduce our jail and prison populations and free up law enforcement resources.”…
read … Political Force
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