Janus: Hawaii union law potentially unconstitutional
New international maritime cabotage study released
American Samoa Airline Cabotage Reform Coming
DBEDT Report: Top 20 Occupations in Hawaii
DoE Passes Buck While Girl has Seizure
HNN: … Grandma says "K" was coming home from Queen Kaahumanu Elementary School, and that ride, she says, could have been her last.
“The problem I’m having is they didn’t inform me of anything. Neither the aid, nor the bus driver,” Grandma expressed.“They didn’t take her out of her seat belt. They could have killed her.”
The school bus is operated by Roberts Hawaii, and contracted by the school. Despite having a health aid on board, Grandma says, she had no idea her granddaughter needed help.
“I sent my 34-year-old daughter out to see what was so long, and see why “K” wasn’t coming in the house, and she comes in the house carrying “K” in a seizure,” Grandma said.
Grandma says it may have been avoided if "K's" symptoms she was feeling that day were caught early on, but it was already too late.
1 “They sent her to the health room, 2 the health room people weren’t there. 3 They send her back to her class, and 4 her teacher puts her on the bus.”….
(This is how the DoE handles medical issues with your children.)
Related: Secret Report Ties Hawaii Youth Suicide Rate to HSTA Grab for HGEA Positions
SA: State Dept. of Education (pretends to) review actions over student seizure
read … Mindless Bureaucracy
UH’s New Rules Would Bring Big Changes Atop Mauna Kea
CB: The university wants to keep private vehicles off the summit and require permits for big gatherings….
most of the testifiers’ anger focused on broad restrictions that UH proposes for everything from playing musical instruments and using cell phones to shooting video for commercial use. Rule violations could trigger banishment from the area and fines of up to $2,500 for the first infraction….
outside of UH’s jurisdiction, Hawaiian homesteader Malani Alameda was manning a “guard shack” built without authorization on state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ property bordering the summit access road. Wearing an official-looking “kanaka ranger” shirt, Alameda said DHHL personnel recently partially dismantled the structure…
OHA: UH’s proposed rules fall short of ensuring appropriate stewardship of Maunakea
read … UH’s New Rules Would Bring Big Changes Atop Mauna Kea
New Program to Keep Homeless Criminals out of Jail
CB: … Designed to treat the underlying issues that perpetuate poverty, the city’s partly launched Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program was established to provide intensive case management to low-level criminal offenders and people who regularly interact with police but don’t commit crimes.
All told, 30 people have entered into the city’s new LEAD initiative, starting the rollout of a program announced by Gov. David Ige in April.
But none of them have been diverted from jail — one of the program’s central promises.
That’s because law enforcement and LEAD organizers still haven’t struck an agreement over what crimes should be eligible for diversion. Instead, the program is now open only to people who interact regularly with police but have not broken the law.
“My understanding is they are very close to working out an agreement,” said state homeless coordinator Scott Morishige.
The Honolulu Police Department did not answer a request for comment.
Providing low-level offenders with services instead of jail time is the central point of LEAD, which is funded by the Legislature with a recurring annual allocation of $200,000.
Honolulu police arrested thousands of people in 2017 who could have potentially benefitted from social services. All told, 60 percent of everyone arrested by HPD last year suffered from serious mental illness or severe substance abuse.
Often jail time does people in this population more harm than good. So the Legislature moved to fund the LEAD program, in part, to help move people off the streets and keep them from continually cycling through the criminal justice system.
But right now the only way to get into the program is if a police officer sees someone who could benefit from social services — but has not committed a crime — and opts to bring an on-call social worker to the scene. …
read … Cops and Social Workers Join Forces To Get Homeless Help — And Off The Street
HPD Retiree Charged with Sex Assault
KHON: …A retired Honolulu Police Department sergeant who had been working as a driver’s license examiner was arrested today for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman during a road test.
Corbett Roy, 59, was charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and a single count of harassment. He was released after posting $1,000 in aggregate bail.
The abuse allegedly occurred on Sept. 20 during a road test administered in Kaneohe….
The woman says Roy was the examiner when she took the road test in Kaneohe last week. She says Roy grabbed her right hand and forced her to touch him while at a stop sign. She slapped his hand and told him to stop. She says he then put his hand on her legs.
"So I slapped his hand again. What are you doing? Stop!" she said.
"What did he say?" KHON2 asked.
"He just didn't say anything," she said.
Later on, the victim says Roy forcibly kissed her on the lips. She says she wanted to get back to the DMV but she wasn't sure how.
"I was already shaking. I feel like I'm harassed, violated. I was shaking already, I'm scared," she said.
She says he even continued harassing her the following day with several calls and texts. …
read … License examiner charged in alleged assault
Stolen Truck Chase and Crash—Multiple Felonies Got out after one year so he could have Another Chance to do it again
HNN: …The crash took out two light poles along the highway and snarled rush hour traffic in Windward Oahu for hours.
According to Neill-Mesiona’s criminal history, he’s had multiple outstanding warrants totaling more than $40,000. Sources say officers were already looking for him Tuesday. By the time they found him, he had already allegedly stolen the truck.
Neill-Mesiona’s six prior convictions include felony assault and theft. In 2013 he spent a year behind bars for those crimes.
After jail time, a judge placed him on Hope Probation, which is a stricter level of probation usually for drug addicted offenders.
Court documents show over the past several years, he was arrested eight times for failing to comply. A warrant was issued in June when he became a fugitive.
Sources say before allegedly fleeing on foot, he attempted to carjack another driver before escaping into the bushes….
read … Soft on Crime
Psycho Slasher Out After 4 years
HTH: … A 32-year-old man who stabbed three people in Hilo 4 1/2 years ago, critically injuring two, was granted conditional release from Hawaii State Hospital to a secure group home geared toward the mentally ill.
The ruling Wednesday by Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto paves the way for the hospital to release Varaha Mims to the State Operated Specialized Residential Services unit, which is on the Kaneohe, Oahu, campus of HSH, or other state-approved secure mental health group facility that provides the highest level of supervision….
Mims was acquitted in April by reason of insanity of two counts of attempted second-degree murder and a first-degree assault charge.
In a midnight rampage May 23, 2014, Mims stabbed Skylar Nelson, then 28, and Sarah Steinbrecher, then 27, outside Hilo Town Tavern. He then fled on foot to Wainaku and stabbed his former landlord, Raghunatha John Giuffre, then 49.
Nelson and Giuffre were hospitalized with critical injuries but since recovered. Steinbrecher was treated for her wounds and released….
Nakamoto ordered Mims to stay away from Hawaii Island without the court’s permission (Oahu thanks you for this)
read … Soft on Crazy
Hawaii’s Andria Tupola Speaks at NYU
NYU News: …Tupola brought her campaign platform to Manhattan on Thursday, speaking at an event hosted by the NYU College Republicans….
Tupola makes it a point to stress her individuality over party ideology and wants to shed the stereotypical Republican image placed upon her.
“It’s been interesting to have this label on me that has connotations I wasn’t aware of because I’m a very different person,” Tupola said. “A lot of Republicans think I’m way too liberal because I’m a very loving person, and I talk about stuff that’s important to me, like the arts and getting more music programs. I think that my mannerisms throw people off. A lot of people on social media say to me, ‘I wish your personality matched your party.’”
Many listeners at the event saw Tupola as a refreshing candidate to her political party.
“She’s just very real,” Tisch senior Asha Rampertaap said. “Even though our party has been winning, I feel that there needs to be a human being inside every politician, and I feel like that has been missing. Everything is so partisan right now, and I think that’s really hurting the country as a whole.”
Tandon senior and NYUCR Secretary Nick Suri thinks Tupola could help unlock the future of the party.
“The way she represented the Republican Party is the way I think Republicans should represent themselves, in terms of not being boxed into things,” Suri said. “That is the Republican party that needs to be shown more. We’re not just a party of old white men, there’s people of color, there’s young people, and others that have their own opinions.”
But some students weren’t impressed. NYU Law student Peter Luning Prak felt that Tupola merely voiced empty promises.
“She’s obviously a charismatic person, but I was unimpressed with her policy positions and the lack of explanation for them,” Prak said. “I’m in general mistrustful [sic] of politicians who disguise their policy positions with feel-good language.”…
read … Hawaii’s Andria Tupola Speaks at NYU
Can Hawaiian Activists Collect Rent from Salesforce.com?
BB: Chief equality officer recognizes that `there is more work to be done.’ (Translation: ‘Yes.’)
read … Salesforce's Hawaii Obsession Provokes Debate Over Appropriation
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