Lyon Bribery: $240K to Buy DHHL Contract?
Honolulu Ranks 72nd for Fiscal Health
Honolulu 4th Deepest 'Sinkhole City'
Legislative Preview: This Week's Bills on the Move
Hawaii Family Forum Legislative Week in Review
Applicants Wanted for State Campaign Spending Commission
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted February 3, 2019
174 Homeless flock to Iwilei rest stop—Only 8 use social services
SA: … The number of homeless adults, children and pets using the city’s Punawai Rest Stop, a “hygiene center” in Iwilei, has steadily grown in less than a month of operation — from eight people on the first day to 174 on Thursday.
They include a homeless seventh-grader from Washington Middle School who got tutored in math after Punawai Rest Stop opened Jan. 8, to Prince Gregg, 37, who was charging his cracked cellphone Friday while using one of Punawai Rest Stop’s desktop computers to scroll the internet.
Gregg said a relationship breakup on Hawaii island forced him to move to Oahu three weeks ago (uh-huh), where he first tried living at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and is now sleeping on the streets of Waikiki….
Punawai Rest Stop’s services had been used 993 times by homeless people as of Tuesday. It’s unclear how many were repeat visitors….
In just the first week, the number of daily showers went from eight on the first day to 74 just five days later.
However, no more than eight homeless clients on any given day have taken advantage of the on-site social services provided by Mental Health Kokua, which has a $1 million contract with the city to operate Punawai Rest Stop for one year, with an option to extend the contract up to four additional one-year terms….
(Solution: Apply more force.)
SA: Push back against hard-core homeless
read … Homeless flock to Iwilei rest stop but few use social services
Far Fewer HPD Officers Were Fired Or Suspended Last Year
CB: … Those recommended for discharge often end up keeping their jobs through arbitration. That’s what happened with eight officers whose cases closed in 2017….
PDF: 2018 Disciplinary Report HPD
read … Far Fewer HPD Officers Were Fired Or Suspended Last Year
HB424: Annual Whine About Private Prisons Already Dead in Legislature
CB: … House Bill 424 would have required the state to start reducing the number of inmates it sends to private prisons on the mainland by July and to stop the practice altogether by 2035. (Translation: Release lots of criminals and transfer the rest to UPW-controlled prisons in Hawaii.)
After a public hearing on the measure Friday, Rep. Gregg Takayama, chairman of the House Public Safety, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, called it “laudable to bring inmates back,” but said it was “unrealistic” for Hawaii. He deferred further action, effectively killing the bill….
(Really Obvious Question: How are CCA prisons morally different than Hawaii’s UPW-controlled prisons?)
(Answer: CCA Prisons are morally superior because they are less corrupt, less expensive, and better run.)
read … Looks Like We’ll Still Be Using Private Prisons On The Mainland For A While
Many chafe at tourism growth
SA: …“Laie Point is a microcosm for what’s happening all over Hawaii,” James said. “We’ve got cars lined up and down our neighborhood. Tour buses regularly block our driveways and unload tourists onto our properties. We’ve got illegal vacation rentals, ‘monster’ homes, tourists sleeping in vans. One of our sea cliffs recently collapsed, probably from encroachment into the (shoreline) setbacks. The neighborhood is so crowded that emergency responders struggle to get in and out.”…
read … Many chafe at tourism growth
Russia Today: ‘Kremlin’s crush’ Tulsi Gabbard goes full tilt
Russia Today: “…she may not even get as far as debating them in public with the other Democrat nominees, if her campaign is dead on arrival….”
“…scrutiny and an airing of their skeletons….”
“…the overall coverage of Gabbard has been uncharacteristically toxic….”
“…On Friday, came NBC’s coup de grace….”
“…accusations of meddling and being branded a “Russian troll” and presumably sanctioned….”
“A few of our analysts saw some chatter on 8chan saying she was a good 'divider' candidate to amplify….”
“…The Russians have found their new favorite US candidate for president in 2020, Tulsi Gabbard, the only US member of congress who supports genocidal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Check out the Russian troll explosion under the NBC news story reporting this….”
“…Is Gabbard just a stumbling novice with odd views, or is the media trying to systematically bury her….”
(Answer: “Both”)
Greenwald Feb 3, 2019: NBC News, to Claim Russia Supports Tulsi Gabbard, Relies on Firm Just Caught Fabricating Russia Data for the Democratic Party
BI: Tulsi Gabbard accuses NBC of trying to smear her as 'Kremlin stooge' to 'discredit' her 2020 campaign
read … ‘Kremlin’s crush’ Tulsi Gabbard goes full tilt
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