Hawaii federal special education profile updated
Got a Fake Service Animal? Hawaii Civil Rights Commission Lawyers Can Help
2018’s Most & Least Stressed Cities in America
How Charles Djou Is Keeping His Hand In Honolulu Politics
CB: …The former Republican congressman, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Kirk Caldwell in 2016, is backing several City Council candidates….
Related: Leaving GOP, Djou Eyes Council, Mayoral Races
read … How Charles Djou Is Keeping His Hand In Honolulu Politics
Council Bills: Tear Down Newly-Constructed Affordable Housing ‘Monsters’
SA: …The two latest bills to address the issue are:
>> Bill 50, which imposes stiffer penalties on contractors or homeowners who violate the interim moratorium on large-scale houses, established under Bill 110 (2017) in March to allow DPP time to come up with more permanent rules for monster houses.
Introduced by Council members Ernie Martin and Carol Fukunaga, Bill 50 also would make the moratorium retroactive to all building permits of large-scale houses issued from Jan. 1, 2016. It also calls for the demolition of new or renovated dwellings, or at least the portion in violation, if construction work continues after a notice of order is issued. A landowner, contractor or other responsible party also would be barred from applying for another building permit for a year….
>> Bill 53 increases the amount of fines to parties that erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove or convert a structure without the necessary permits.
Introduced by Council Zoning Chairwoman Kymberly Pine, the civil fine would be $2,000 for starting work on a project without a building permit and then $10,000, or 10 times the value of the building permit, whichever is greater, if work continues after a stop-work order is imposed. Additionally, DPP and the responsible party would be barred from “negotiating down” the amount of the fine as is now often the case….
Bill 33, which would make the law clear that the city can order the demolition of structures constructed while under a stop-work order, is not on the agenda….The bill was introduced by Council Planning Committee Chairman Ikaika Anderson…
KITV: City Council committee advances "monster homes" bill
SA: Tighten reins on ‘monster houses’
read … Council panel to hear more ‘monster house’ bills
Bag Ban: Just another example of politicians sticking it to the average guy and handing the money to businesses
Cataluna: …The point was for all the City Council members to look like they’re saving the earth, regardless of whether they really are. If the City Council really wanted to take care of nearshore reefs, they would make super-sure the city wastewater treatment plants don’t spill poop water into the ocean every time there’s a big rain.
It can be said that 15 cents a bag is not much to spend to save the aina. But buying a paper bag doesn’t save the aina. Neither does buying heavily packaged merchandise and shoving it all into a cloth bag. Furthermore, it feels like a raw deal to spend $250 on nice school clothes for the kids and then have to shell out another 15 cents to the merchant for a bag to carry the clothes from the store to the car. Yeah, we can suck up the fee, but it’s just another example of politicians sticking it to the average guy and handing the money to businesses. No wonder every store is happy to play along….
read … Purchasing a bag only makes stores more green
Star-Adv Jumps on Next Wave of Eco-Hysteria: ‘Best to ditch plastic straws’
SA: …Senate Bill 2285, which would make selling and distributing plastic straws here illegal — violators would be slapped with fines and mandatory hours of community service labor, such as litter pickup in public places — cleared the Agriculture and Environment Committee, but flat-lined in the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees….In a rematch of debates about phasing out plastic bags and polystyrene foam food containers….
State Sen. Mike Gabbard said recently that he intends to revive the straw bill for the 2019 Legislature’s consideration. Ideally, the plastic straw should be outlawed statewide. However, due to the struggles businesses in our island-based economy face in making ends meet, an “only-upon-request” intermediate step could be palatable….
USA Today: That anti-straw movement? It's all based on one 9-year-old's suspect statistic
read … Best to ditch plastic straws
Global Warming to be Excuse for Higher Insurance Rates
IM: Jeff Shonka serves as the President and the Chief Executive Officer of First Insurance Company of Hawai`i, Ltd., the oldest and largest property and casualty insurance company in Hawai`i. Shonka addressed the Honolulu Climate Commission yesterday….
…“Traditionally in insurance, both risk assessments and risk-based pricing give tremendous weight, to past events when attempting to anticipate the cost of future losses. With climate change, we`ve seen we can no longer count on history as being a guide to the future. Historical data no longer serves as a reliable predictor of future events.
“Sea level rise along with high water tables are leading to more flooding and shore erosion. Future events are expected to be of greater severity and they also happen with higher frequency.
“We`re already seeing paradigm shifts for which the past provided no warning. For example, Tropical Storm Iselle, in 2014, dispelled the myth that the Big Island was safe from hurricanes and tropical storms. In July 2016 tropical storm Darby, made landfall on the Big Island again, close to where Iselle made landfall just two years earlier.
“We`ve also seen increased and unusual high wind losses, for First Insurance and the industry, on O`ahuʻs windward side. From 2008 to 2012, the average personal property wind losses at First Insurance was in the $500,000 range per year. Relatively small. From 2013 to 2017, average personal property wind losses at First Insurance were over $4 million per year. Quite a jump in that time frame. (Translation: “We had two hurricanes, so Al Gore is entitled to another ‘massage’.”)
“Of course, we also saw this with the historic flooding on Kauai earlier this year. These out-of-the-ordinary events are becoming the new normal and forcing the industry to change how we analyze underwriting and price risk. The risk to Hawai`iʻs economy and our way of life are already beginning to make themselves known.
read … Hawai`i Insurance Policies Affected by Climate Change
State Agrees To Upgrade Public Housing For Disabled After Federal Probe
CB: …The Hawaii Public Housing Authority has agreed to upgrade living units to meet accessibility standards, resolving a federal investigation that unearthed hundreds of violations last year.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development investigated the Housing Authority in response to a complaint filed two years ago by Louis Erteschik, head of the Hawaii Disability Rights Center.
Representatives from HUD, the Housing Authority and the Disability Rights Center signed a voluntary compliance agreement this month that lays out a three-year process for evaluating and upgrading public housing units to ensure they meet federal regulations….
read … State Agrees To Upgrade Public Housing For Disabled After Federal Probe
A one-way ticket for homeless to Waianae's coast
HNN: …Since April, 80 homeless individuals have been voluntarily moved off of the streets, according to city officials…..Just last Thursday, 23 people were relocated from a Honolulu park and into shelters across the island….
Of those 80, about 17 have been transferred to the shelter operated by U.S. veterans at the Waianae Civic Center, and of the 17 taken there, 11 remain.
Three people relocated with family members, one person decided to go to another shelter, and only two left the shelter to unknown whereabouts.
City officials maintain that the trips to shelters on the Leeward coast are based on the homeless individual's prerogative, and that very few of the homeless people taken there left the shelter.
"One of the principles of Housing First and the Caldwell administration is that clients who agree to go into shelters and receive services are provided a choice of where they would like to go," the city's statement read.
"The city never forces anyone to go where they don’t want to, as this would not lead to successful outcomes and be against the law."….
read … A one-way ticket for homeless to Waianae's coast
Big Island Double Rate of Opioid Prescriptions
HTH: …In 2016, Hawaii County led the state in the rate of opioid prescriptions with 66.4 prescriptions per 100 people, twice the state rate….
…The response then, said Dr. Diane Logan, clinical psychologist and substance use coordinator at West Hawaii Community Center, is to prescribe the pills as needed, as well as taking a more measured approach for how long a patient’s acute pain is expected to last.
Using those and other practices at the clinic has meant West Hawaii Community Health Center has seen a “huge reduction” in how many controlled substances are coming out of the clinic.
When it comes to opioids, it’s meant about 125,000 fewer doses in 2017 than just one year before. The number of opioid prescriptions also dropped in that same time frame by about 14,000….
read … Tighter safeguards, increased awareness and expanding reach among upgrades in opioid battle
Hawaii extends federal Title IX protections to LGBTQ students
TP: …The Hawaii legislature passed a law earlier this month ensuring the federal sex nondiscrimination protections found in Title IX extend to cover LGBTQ students as well.
It’s a novel approach that mitigates the conflict over whether the protected category of “sex” applies to “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Severalfederal courts have ruled in recent years that Title VII’s employment protections and Title IX’s education protections on the basis of sex do extend to LGBTQ people. Conservatives argue, conversely, that because members of Congress have tried to pass bills enumerating “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as separate protected categories of identity, it’s proof that they don’t belong under the umbrella of “sex.”
The Hawaii law, HB 1489, recognizes that these two arguments aren’t in conflict with each other. It provides a “state corollary to Title IX that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation, in any state educational program or activity, or in any educational program or activity that receives state financial assistance, without regard to whether the educational program or activity also receives federal funds.”
Essentially, the law stipulates that even if the federal government is not enforcing Title IX to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination, the state of Hawaii will…
It's the first such law in the country….
read … Hawaii extends federal Title IX protections to LGBTQ students
Lesbian Child Molestation Charged at Boys and Girls Club Maui
MN: …According to court documents, the girl testified the kissing and another sexual act in March 2017 occurred at the Central Maui location of the Boys & Girls Clubs.
The girl was 12 at the time. Satoafaiga was assistant director of the Central Maui clubhouse, according to court documents.
Kelly Pearson, chief executive officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui, said Monday that Satoafaiga is no longer employed by the organization….
According to court documents, a police detective informed Satoafaiga on April 26, 2017, that she was being investigated for allegations of sexual assault involving the girl.
The girl testified that about six months later, on Oct. 27, that Satoafaiga called the minor and asked her to meet at a location adjacent to the Central Maui clubhouse, according to court documents. Satoafaiga took the girl to Kahului Harbor, then dropped her off at Keopuolani Park. She was not found that evening but was located the next morning at Satoafaiga’s house, according to court documents….
read … Charged
HPD offers amnesty program for bump stocks
KHON: As of July 9, Hawaii state law prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale, transfer and possession of trigger modification devices.
This includes bump fire stocks, multi-burst trigger activators, trigger cranks and other devices designed or functioned to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic firearm.
Under an amnesty program, owners have 30 days, or until Aug. 8, to turn in the devices to the police. Owners may take the devices to the nearest police station or call 911 to have them picked up by an officer….
SA: Hawaii amnesty program for bump stocks ending soon
read … HPD offers amnesty program for bump stocks
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