Ige Selling Judgeships? Nominates Campaign Manager for Appeals Court
Gabbard Bill Would Require U.S. to be 100% fossil free by 2035
Mauna Kea: DLNR Helicopters to Exterminate Sheep Again
Low voter turnout gives special interests even more power
In Hawaii #MeToo is Fake
CB … (They have plenty of time to protest Trump, but ….) the #MeToo movement in Hawaii has a less bold expression because of the (insert two paragraphs of excuses here)….
Since #MeToo gathered strength nationally, only one Hawaii politician, former state House Speaker Joe Souki, has lost his job….
I’ve written before about whether the late U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, in the #MeToo environment, would have politically survived the detailed description by hairdresser Lenore Kwock of how he lured her to his Waikiki apartment in 1992, forced her to have unwanted sex, and afterwards continued to grope her during his appointments at a hair salon. Inouye denied the allegations.
At the time, only two legislators came forward to support Kwock, Democrat Annelle Amaral and Republican Cynthia Thielen. Hirono, then a state representative, was among the many women lawmakers who chose to ignore Kwock’s allegations.
“I make no excuses for what I or others did in the past,” Hirono said Saturday. “People can point fingers. But I am focused now on moving forward to make life safer for women (exploit this issue for partisan purposes).”
Amaral is no longer a legislator but she is still active in the House Women’s Coalition.
“Even if allegations of sexual violence by Inouye arose today, leaders in the state Legislature would continue to protect him,” Amaral said. “That’s what happens when you have the dominance of a single political party.”…
Local 5 communications organizer Paola Rodelas says #MeToo has made some female hotel workers braver, such as Jackelyn Bautista, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel room maid who filed a complaint against a member of the Saudi Arabia royal entourage after the man allegedly grabbed and threatened her.
The hotel said it reported the incident to the police immediately, but Rodelas said union members were disappointed when the hotel allowed the Saudi guest to stay until the scheduled end of his visit instead of making him check out immediately….
Meanwhile:
read … Taking The #MeToo Movement To The Next Level
Tupola agrees to include lieutenant governor candidates in debate
SA: …Democratic Gov. David Ige and his Republican challenger, Rep. Andria Tupola, will participate in a live televised debate hosted by KHON at 9 p.m. Oct. 15 that will include their lieutenant governor running mates. It was uncertain last month whether the debate would happen as tensions between Tupola and Marissa Kerns, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, spilled into public view.
The format will include a moderated debate between Ige and Tupola, which will be interspersed with a separately moderated question and answer session with Kerns and state Sen. Josh Green, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, according to KHON. The debate will last an hour….
Former Sen. Sam Slom, for years the lone Republican in the state Senate, acknowledged the ongoing party infighting that has hampered the party’s success, but said the party has good candidates. He is supporting both Tupola and Kerns, who he endorsed this week.
“The party has not been strong, but you known technically neither has the Democratic Party. They just don’t wash their dirty laundry in public,” he said. “The Democrats are smart because they will get their people elected and then they will fight. We fight first and don’t get our people elected.”…
read … Tupola agrees to include lieutenant governor candidates in debate
‘Monster-house’ plan would kill multi-generational homes
SA: …Proposed lower density limits through reduced FAR (floor area ratio), increased setbacks, more on-site parking and unreasonable turnaround requirements will unfairly penalize multigenerational families.
The economic incentive for investors to build “monster houses” is simple: We don’t have a sufficient supply of housing to meet the current and future demand. The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism forecasted demand for additional housing units on Oahu at 25,847 units between 2015-2025. That would require 2,584 new units per year.
According to the latest Calendar Bulletin, from 2015, found on the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting website, 963 permits were issued for 892 single-family homes and 124 two-family homes. But, it’s not clear whether these are new addresses or rebuilds, so it could be significantly less than 1,016 units. We are falling further behind every year.
This lack of supply is also why Hawaii has the highest percentage of multigenerational households in the nation. As referenced in a May 2017 Honolulu Magazine article, “Before & After: How This Family Remodeled Their Home for Multigenerational Living:” … 11.3 percent of family households in Hawai‘i consist of three or more generations — the highest in the U.S. and almost double the national average of 5.8 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”
The city is proposing to aggressively reduce dwelling size to prevent “monster houses.” Ironically, this will have the unintended consequence of reducing overall housing supply by preventing families on Oahu from building multigenerational homes. Stronger enforcement of existing laws, not curtailing one’s ability to provide shelter for family, is a way to prevent these illegal apartment buildings in residential neighborhoods.
Proposed changes to density will take away as much as 40 percent of the buildable area currently allowed on all new and existing homes on the entire island of Oahu. While this reduction will hit especially hard those families that must resort to multigenerational living, it affects everyone — particularly homeowners with small, odd-shaped or sloping lots. These changes will potentially make it unfeasible or completely impractical to build. If building more housing is a priority, it seems this effort is only putting up more barriers.
Why are we penalizing good families for the few bad actors violating our current zoning laws? ….
read … ‘Monster-house’ plan would kill multi-generational homes
Josh Green Exploits Police Shooting in Attempt to gain Control of Homeless Project
HNN: … The Honolulu H-4 project is supposed to provide the homeless everything from mental heath and drug treatment to hygiene and even housing. But two years after the city purchased a building in Iwilei to carry out that vision, it’s still unknown when all of that might come together.
Green, who is running for lieutenant governor, is also the H-4 Board president.
The non-profit is one of several organizations that have submitted proposals to run a large portion of the facility. Green says he’s frustrated the city hasn’t made this a top priority and is taking so long to make a decision. …
HHC: TV news finally starts sniffing at Iwilei homeless center debacle
read … City moving too slowly on project that would help mentally ill on the streets
Hindered by Inability to Lock Mentally Ill in Lunatic Asylum, Police Reduced to Begging, Offering Rides
KHON: … Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell says he spoke with HPD chief Susan Ballard about the recent shootings. She told him they mostly involve either someone on drugs or with mental illness.
"We need to come up with more programs to get these, what I'm gonna say, a lot of hardened people in our urban core who we all see wandering around our streets and some of them are dangerous," said the mayor.
Mental health experts tell us reaching out to homeless with mental illness has been terribly difficult because they don't want any help. But there are programs out there that have had some success.
Among them is H.E.L.P. which is an acronym for Health Efficiency Long-term Partnerships. Plain clothes officers team up with outreach workers and get the homeless to seek the services they need. In some cases offering them a ride to the facility.
"When HPD teams up with social service workers, we see that as one of the best solutions possible because the outreach workers have the skill and the ability to talk with people who need help and the HPD officer will add their clout to that situation," said Trisha Kajimura, executive director of Mental Health America of Hawaii.
She says any outreach that can identify and help the mentally ill is a positive step for the whole community. Many of the mentally ill are victims of violent crimes themselves.
The city says 111 homeless have taken part in the HELP program, either by going to shelters or receiving treatment since it started on April 4.
The H.E.L.P. program is is done mostly in the downtown and Chinatown areas. The mayor says he would like to see it expand to other areas and would be happy to put more resources into it. …
H247: Homeless Dude Arrested for UH Hilo Sex Assault
read … Not Enough HELP
Tranny Gets Another Prize for Something or Other
HNN: …Wong-Kalu also is the chair of the Oahu Island Burial Council, which addresses issues of unearthed iwi kupuna, ….
Said to be her most influential work however is her time spent with Hālau Lōkahi Public Charter School as the cultural director from 2001 to 2014. (Then the school was shut down for corruption.) There, she incorporated a rigorous Hawaiian culture-based education program which empowered a whole new generation of scholars….
2015: Oahu Burial Council Chair on Payroll of Kakaako Developer
2017: Former Charter School Principal Charged with Theft
read … They Like Giving Each other prizes
Federal judge awards former OCCC inmate $30K for 2015 beating
KHON: …A federal judge has awarded a former Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate $30,000 for a December 2015 beating by an adult corrections officer.
While there have been larger awards for prison beatings, the man’s attorney said the verdict will send a message because it orders the prison guard to pay $25,000 of the award….
He said he and his cellmates first swore at at ACO Patrick Sooalo, who was a much larger man….
“The only way we’re going to stop this is if the guards know they can be personally dragged into court and potentially have to pay this,” Rapp said….
read … Federal judge awards former OCCC inmate $30K for 2015 beating
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