Elections: 319 Candidates Pull Papers
Property Taxes Cost Hawaii $1070 per Person
Trump Approves Volcano Disaster Proclamation
Hawaii Property Insurance Association Still Selling ‘insurance’ in Lava Zone
HTH: …Insurance companies have begun placing moratoriums for new policies in areas affected by the ongoing lower Puna eruption.
Gordon Ito, state insurance commissioner, said residents should still be able to get insurance through the Hawaii Property Insurance Association, which he described as the “insurer of last resort,” after he issued an order cancelling that organization’s moratorium….
Related:
read … Insurers respond with moratoriums
Cost Controls? HART Laughs at Legislature
SA: …The contract specifies the ceiling amount — $400 million — but by virtue of this being an “Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)” contract, it is signaling the job’s many unknowns. That’s worrisome, even if this urban corridor has long stirred trepidation.
As recently as mid-October 2017, HART CEO Andrew Robbins and project director Sam Carnaggio valued the utility-relocation contract at about $200 million. Now, a half-year later, best-guess variables have potentially doubled the estimated value of this contract.
The state Legislature imposed tighter money-managing oversight when it OK’d rail’s second financial bailout in a September special session….
Hanabusa: Mafia Candidate Complains About Lack of Transparency
read … New rail contract bears watching
West Maui Hospital to be Built with State Support –State of Wisconsin
MN: Developers of the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center currently are preparing another bond float and hope to begin construction in June.
Brian Hoyle, president of developer Newport Hospital Corp., said Thursday that there is a 15- to 16-month construction period, which makes completion in December 2019 still “a reasonable date.”
As part of the bond issuance process, a public hearing is required to gauge community support for the hospital. It has been scheduled for 9 a.m. May 22 in Room 212 in the county building in Wailuku. The county Department of Finance is holding the hearing.
Hoyle emphasized that while the informational meeting is being held on Maui, the county and the state will not be guaranteeing or subsidizing the $69 million bond. The nonprofit West Maui Hospital Foundation, of which Hoyle is board president, will own and operate the hospital.
The foundation is seeking private bond funding through Wisconsin Public Finance Authority, which will serve as a conduit to issue the municipal bond and be able to offer funds in $100,000 chunks of federally tax-exempt investments, most likely for institutional lenders….
Meanwhile: Will Legislators Give $25M to Scam Satellite Launch Company?
read … New West Maui Hospital bond float in works
Hawaii Legislators Add Obamacare to State Law
RN: …Hawaii is poised to become the latest state to preserve provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a safeguard against the Trump administration’s attacks.
A bill passed this month by the state’s Democratic-led legislature prohibits insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and allows young adults to stay on a parent or guardian’s plan until age 26. The legislation bars insurers from charging women more for coverage simply because of their gender.
The measure was sent to Gov. David Ige (D), whose office said Thursday the bill will undergo a policy and legal review. Any bill that is not vetoed by July 10 will become law with or without the governor’s signature….
read … Trump Won’t Stop Attacking Obamacare. That’s Why Hawaii Democrats Moved to Protect It.
Coal-powered Honolulu Electric Vehicles
IM: …In the late 1980s, the State made a conscientious effort to diversify away from petroleum. Hawai`i Electric Light Company (HELCO) went to geothermal. (Which is protested relentlessly.) Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) went to coal. (Barely a peep.)
Recharging Electricity Vehicles in Honolulu with grid-based electricity means putting coal in your tank.
HECO signed the AES power purchase agreement (PPA) on March 25, 1988. The coal facility went online in 1992. The facility in Campbell Industrial Park is a baseload unit. The thirty-year contract expires on September 1, 2022….
Meanwhile:
read … Coal-powered Honolulu Electricity Vehicles
Another Hawaii Lunatic Did not Have Guns Confiscated
KHON: …An arsenal of weapons and ammunition found in a Waikiki hotel room landed a man in the hospital, but not in police custody.
We're told a 38-year-old man had posted "suspicious messages" on social media, prompting the FBI to ask HPD to perform a welfare check.
Police tracked him down Thursday night and, upon arriving at the hotel room, found the guns, 18 knives, and more than 800 rounds of ammunition and shotgun shells.
Investigators also found bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms, a mask, and psychiatric medications in the room…. (Why were his guns not confiscated when he got those prescriptions.)
Police found all of the guns were registered to the man. The weapons were confiscated. …
(Strategy: If lunatics are allowed to keep their guns, they will do crazy things which can be exploited as an excuse to take away the Second Amendment rights of sane people.)
Related: Did Hawaii Fail to Report Schizo Patient to Federal Gun Database?
read … Man found in Waikiki hotel room with fully loaded weapons, ammunition
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