Lava Covers Four Corners, Hundreds of Homes Cut off
Auditor: OHA Openly Violates HRS10-17 Nepotism
Sam King: Its Time to Fix OHA!
Public Hearing: New Rules for Scheduling Surf Contests
Conservative Forum of Hawaii Closes Books After Decade of Activity
State IT: Several Measures Await Governor’s Signature
2017: Google Generates $171M of Economic Activity in Hawaii
Auditor: Two Years Later State Scores 2-2-1 on IT
The California Stupidity Fund, Part 2
Ige, Kim: Lava Victims Need Permanent Homes – not Tent Cities
SA: …On Friday, Mayor Kim said he is planning a rapid re-housing initiative for refugees from the eruption, which on May 3 began forcing the evacuations of homes in the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens. It’s a project the governor said he has discussed with Kim.
It’s uncertain how many of those people, and others from surrounding areas cleared out as the flow descended toward the ocean, will be able to return home for the longterm, or will have resettlement options with family members elsewhere on the island.
But it’s likely there will be enough long-term displacement by the eruption that government help will be essential, in partnership with businesses and community groups.
Kim said the new community can be modeled after the development that sprang up soon after Hilo was devastated by a tsunami in 1960.
The result was a new subdivision built outside the tsunami zone for those made homeless. The district, encompassing what’s now the Kaikoo Mall and Kanoelehua Industrial Area, (and the most important part, Waiakea Uka) can be seen as a thriving success of that emergency action.
The mayor said he wants to do this to give the displaced a sense of hope for the future, a laudable aim. Whether or not the county could come close to equaling the six-month time frame, it’s good to keep the bar held high….
(Fronting for Hanabusa) …State Rep. Joy San Buenaventura…proposed that Ige enable the establishment of an “ohana zone” (Homeless Tent City) for resettlement of evacuees, either in tandem with or independently of enacting the recently passed bill allotting $30 million for such zones statewide….
Ige said there have been discussions of possible short-term encampments for evacuees — “Something more than a tent but less than a home,” he said — that could provide a modicum of security. But he said that once the safety of displaced residents is assured, the emphasis needs to be on creating a more permanent replacement of the homes that were lost…..
As Explained: HRS 171-93: Law Allows Swap of Lava-Covered Lots for State Property in Zone 3
read … Evacuees need rapid rehousing
Shapiro: Building in Lava Zone no Different than Building Rail in Inundation Zone
Shapiro: …Some would argue this slow-motion disaster began more than a half-century ago, when the state and Hawaii County allowed developers to subdivide the land on Kilauea’s active east rift and homeowners began to build on the cheap-but-risky lots….
But those who chose to live in the inundation zone were well aware of the risk and embraced the sense of pioneering — and sometimes necessity — in taking it. They pride themselves on being tough, resilient and respectful of nature’s forces.
Over the years, lower Puna became home to a diverse population of retirees, hippies, Vietnam vets, pakalolo outlaws, off-the-gridders and local families who could afford to buy land and build a house nowhere else in Hawaii’s inflated market.
In an island state with land that is limited and expensive, most of us take risks to live here.
We build homes and businesses in flood and tsunami inundation zones and along eroding coastlines where it’s only a matter of time before the ocean claims the buildings and infrastructure.
As housing costs skyrocket, developers beckon us to live in towers of micro-apartments the size of a small garage — often at higher prices than lovely three-bedroom homes in lower Puna with beautiful yards on large lots.
In modern Hawaii, risk is a way of life, a matter of picking your poison: You can risk being overrun by lava or you can risk going crazy from claustrophobia — or worse, homelessness.
In Kakaako, speculators are buying eight-figure condos that will almost certainly face inundation from rising sea levels within a few decades. Likewise, the city is placing key stations for its $10 billion rail systems in locations where they could be swamped 25 years after opening….
Related: Report: Hawaii’s Billion-Dollar Consensus Proves Nobody Really Believes in Sea Level Rise
SA: Stop building homes in lava hazard zones
read … Hawaii risks include slow-moving natural, man-made disasters
Fear-Mongering Anti-Geothermal Activists Hope End to Plant
SA: A controversial geothermal power plant that supplies about a quarter of the Big Island’s electricity was forced to shut down as lava from Kilauea Volcano threatened the property. Now opponents want to keep it closed — permanently….
Supporters, however, say opponents are spreading misinformation about the facility and that the technology for tapping underground steam and hot water via deep wells is considered safe.
“There are many in the community who use fear-mongering as a tactic against a variety of resources here,” including geothermal, said Bill Walter, president of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce.
Richard Ha, who has been involved with Big Island agriculture for the past 40 years, said he disagrees with the position that the PGV site should be permanently closed. “Geothermal is a resource that we should use,” he said. “The closer you are to the rift zone, the more steam you get.”
Walter, Ha and others view geothermal as part of the answer to weaning Hawaii from heavy dependence on fossil fuels, describing it as reliable, cheap and safe. The PGV plant taps the underground steam and hot water to power turbines that produce electricity….
Last year and through April of this year, the Puna plant generated 29 percent of the island’s power…
The PGV facility has been criticized over the years for releasing hazardous gases, including hydrogen sulfide (Yeah. About 1 millionth of what the volcano releases daily even without the current eruptions). The most serious incident (of organized mass hysteria) came in 1991 when one of its well’s had a major blowout. The uncontrolled venting lasted 31 hours and triggered the (totally unnecessary) evacuation of nearby neighborhoods (in order to maximize the propaganda effect)…..
In the hours and days following that release, residents reported symptoms including headaches, grogginess, shallow breathing, scratchy throats, nausea and fever. (Clue: They were lying.)
Ruderman, the state senator, said no other geothermal plant in the world is located as close to homes as Puna’s. (And nowhere else do cronies subdivide a volcanic rift zone so voters can move in and start NIMBYing.)
“They’re dead,” Leilani Estates resident Sofia Wilt said of the plant. “People are angry.” Wilt bought her home in 2007 but lost it to lava last week….
“It’s been a horrible neighbor,” said Mike Hale, 48, who lived in Leilani Estates for the past 18 years but lost his home last month to the lava….
PDF: A Steady Source of Power
read … Lava flows reignite debate over the safety and future of the Puna Geothermal Venture facility
Gabbard Record on Human Rights ‘Very Disappointing’
Borreca: …Gabbard has grown into the conundrum of Hawaii politics. According to recent polling, Gabbard, 37, is Hawaii’s most well-liked politician, but at the same time, she failed to win the support of the politically potent Hawaii State Teachers Association, which last month endorsed newcomer Sherry Campagna.
“We looked at Tulsi Gabbard’s record and over a period of time her record on human and civil rights got to a point where it was so bad we couldn’t ignore it,” said Corey Rosenlee, HSTA president. “At the same time, Sherry was someone who shared our values.”
Rosenlee, in an interview, said Gabbard’s trip to Syria and meeting with dictator Bashar al-Assad “was very disappointing.”
Gabbard did not condemn recent chemical attacks in Syria, and then did not support Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. after terrorist attacks, Rosenlee added….
Gabbard gave her congressional colleague, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, one of the labor lawyer’s first major endorsements in her campaign for governor, saying Hanabusa has “my confidence, and my vote.”….
Related: Hawaii Teachers Union Backs Campagna Over Gabbard for Congress
read … Politicos rack up political endorsements as election season gets into full swing
Man shot by police was a former corrections officer with a troubled history
SA: …A 55-year-old Waipahu man shot dead by a Honolulu police officer Friday night was involved in a more than six-hour standoff with police at the Leolua Regent apartment complex in September.
Renie Cablay was on leave from his job as an adult corrections officer at Oahu Community Correctional Center at the time of the earlier incident, when he was arrested on suspicion of terroristic threatening for allegedly rushing a neighbor with a machete.
This time, Cablay was armed with a large knife and lunged twice at a patrol officer before he was shot in his second-floor apartment, said Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard during a news conference Saturday at police headquarters….
As of press time, police had not released the names of the dead man or the police officer, but Kevin Cablay, who identified himself as the deceased man’s son in a message posted on Stolen Stuff Hawaii’s Facebook page in response to a video post of the shooting, said his father had “very bad paranoia and a lot of psychological issues within the past two years (that) he literally cannot control.”
“We have tried to get him help over the years but it has been a very difficult journey for him,” Cablay wrote….
Police said the suspect had no prior convictions but did have numerous temporary restraining orders against him….
read … Man shot by police was a former corrections officer with a troubled history
SB2407: Marijuana to be Sold to Drug Addicts
KITV: …The other bills the Legislature passed relating to opioids this session are:
HB 1602 -- Requires the inclusion of a label warning of the risks of addiction and death on the packaging of any opioid drug dispensed by a health care professional or pharmacist.
SB 2407 -- Allows for the use of medical cannabis to treat opioid use. (Check out the opposition testimony)
SB 2244 -- Requires health care providers in the workers' compensation system who are authorized to prescribe opioids to adopt and maintain policies for informed consent to opioid therapy in circumstances that carry elevated risk of dependency. Establishes limits for concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions.
These bills are waiting for the governor to either sign them into law, let them become law without his signature, or for him to veto….
read … Fighting for market share
Mass Eco-Tourism: Tight Parking and Overflowing Porta Potties
SA: Stalled rental cars routinely dot the beautiful green vistas of Waipio Valley, a sacred place where Hawaiian royalty once lived in the Hamakua district of Hawaii island.
They get left there by hordes of intrepid tourists seeking an authentic Hawaiian experience who haven’t learned the importance of investing in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle to navigate the steep terrain….
Alameda said the property and others like it once attracted mostly hikers, but social media has raised its profile and people now come from all over the world. There are speeding cars, tight parking and foul conditions at the portable toilets on the beach, and trespassing is increasing, especially by visitors who want to see Hiilawe Falls. The growing number of nonresident property owners and tourists means residents don’t always know their neighbors….
read … In Hawaii, the growth in tourism is affecting residents’ quality of life
Maui: Real Estate Mogul Controls List of Anti-GMOs Idiots Running in 2018
MN: …in 2016 two first-time candidates for the Maui County Council upset longtime politicians in close races — (Crony Capitalist biofool schemer) Kelly King edged out incumbent Council Member Don
Couch for the South Maui residency seat, and Alika Atay beat (have you met his staffer?) former four-term Council Member Dain Kane for the Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu seat….
“I think people are waking up and saying enough already,” said (the boss) Mark Sheehan, a (multimillionaire) Maui Realtor and chairman of the Sustainable Action Fund for the Environment, a nonprofit super PAC. “We have two parties. We have the voter party and the donor party, and the donor party wins every election.” (And I should know, I donate a lot and so do my business associates.)
With the candidate filing deadline approaching on Tuesday, SAFE and the Maui Pono Network, among others, have already made their endorsements, including (former armed robber) Council Member Elle Cochran for mayor….
Bolstering the push for the ‘Ohana candidates was the creation of the Maui Pono Network, which Deslauriers launched in March after moving back to Maui from Massachusetts in August (move here, immediately start protesting). As of Thursday, both SAFE and the Maui Pono Network had endorsed nearly all the same candidates.
As of Thursday, these candidates are: Cochran for mayor; Atay and King for re-election to their council seats; and Trinette Furtado (Makawao-Haiku-Paia council), Gabe Johnson (Lanai council), Natalie “Tasha” Kama (Kahului council), Tamara Paltin (West Maui council), Keani Rawlins-Fernandez (Molokai council) and Shane Sinenci (East Maui council). Hannibal Starbuck (Upcountry council) was endorsed by SAFE only, with Maui Pono Network yet to choose an Upcountry candidate.
For seats in the state Legislature, both groups have endorsed Tina Wildberger to the 11th District South Maui House seat, Tiare Lawrence to the 12th District Upcountry House seat and Terez Amato to the 6th District West and South Maui Senate seat. Only the Maui Pono Network has endorsed Michael Tengan for the 7th District Senate seat, which includes East Maui, Upcountry, Molokai and Lanai…..
Very Intelligent Comment: “Realtor Mark Sheehan? Ha. Nuff said.”
read … Wipe Out
Maui Council: Will County Voters Get Crack at Manager?
MN: On Tuesday at 10 a.m., the Maui County Council, meeting as the Policy, Economic Development and Agricultural Committee, will study three proposed charter amendments that could find their way on the ballot this November.
Of particular importance is a proposed amendment on County Governance (PEA-10 (2)) that would establish an Office of the Managing Director to function as the chief operating officer for Maui County….
read … Please back amendment
20 Candidates File for Kauai Council—6 for Mayor
KGI: This season’s election cycle is heating up on Kauai, with nearly 20 candidates having officially filed for the County Council race, while six candidates have filed for the mayor’s race.
One council incumbent is still expected to file by Tuesday’s filing deadline.
After the primary election on Aug. 11, 14 council candidates will move on to the general election, as will two mayoral candidates….
read … Kauai Races
‘Complete Streets’ just an excuse for government to spend
SA: …Let’s look at some results starting with Denver, a proactive Complete Streets city: Between 2000 and 2016, the share of those who drive alone changed from 84.9 to 84.5 percent; the share of those who walk or bike grew from 5.5 to 7.2 percent, at the expense of transit share, which dropped from 8.7 to 6.9 percent. These results question Denver’s investment in Complete Streets and $4.7 billion in transit expansion.
Earlier this year, Lawrence Solomon, a Canadian environmentalist, exclaimed, “Ban the Bike! How Cities Made a Huge Mistake in Promoting Cycling.” Bike lanes took parking from neighborhoods and adjoining businesses, increased city congestion and pollution, and drained city budgets. They reduced road capacity, slowed down transit service, inconvenienced courier, mail and supply deliveries, and increased crash risk.
In the case of King Street in Honolulu, the wide bike lane has created multiple hazards due to the high frequency of traffic from driveways that need to clear pedestrians on the sidewalk, bikers in the bike lane and deal with obstructed sight from parked vehicles.
The outcomes for bicyclists aren’t positive either: Compared to walkers, bicyclists inhale more than twice the dirty air adjacent to congested roads due to faster and deeper breathing, and expose themselves to a fatality rate that is eight times higher than motorists….
read … Panos
Caldwell’s Dim Bulbs Slow Business in Chinatown
SA: Chinatown businesses have slowed anywhere from 25-40 percent, and traffic accidents on Smith and Pauahi have increased, according to nearby merchants who recorded these accidents. Not all accidents were reported to police….
SA: Why we need to complete the vision of ‘Complete Streets’
read … Dim Bulbs
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