If Housing Costs in Honolulu Are Bad Now…
Now That Cash is on the Table, ‘Unity march’ de-emphasizes Telescope Opposition
SA: …Sam King of Imua TMT remarked, “It is our understanding that the march today is not about TMT but is a celebration of the Hawaiian people. We love that and support it. To those who are trying to turn the Aloha ‘Aina march into an anti- TMT demonstration we say the following: At this point, marches are not helping achieve a resolution.”…
KHON: “Today is not just about Mauna Kea. Today reminds us that we unify not just as a people. It’s that when we band together and we stand as one whether the issue has something to with aloha aina, or something to do that is relevant to our home, that we as a people will rise up and assume our kuleana,” Wong-Kalu explained.
read … Unity march tinged by TMT opposition
Mauna Kea Protesters Camp is Dwindling
Cataluna: … A weekday at the base of Mauna Kea, where kia‘i have been keeping construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope at bay for close to three months, can be relatively quiet. The massive crowds that have been there on weekends aren’t there every day, but all the infrastructure is in place, like the field kitchen and medical tent, the recycling bins and rows of fastidiously cleaned portable toilets. It is quiet, but it is not deserted. The core group is there…
read … TMT standoff can spark change of hearts, minds
Ethics Board to weigh in on TMT conflict question
HTH: … When your son works for NASA, and your wife works for Subaru Telescope, does that mean you have a conflict of interest if your office prosecutes criminal cases arising from protests over constructing the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea?
That’s the question elected county Prosecuting Attorney Mitch Roth is asking the county Board of Ethics in a petition scheduled to be heard Wednesday. Petition 2019-07 seeks an advisory opinion from the five-member appointed board….
read … Ethics Board to weigh in on TMT conflict question
Hawaii Democrats need to prepare now to avoid chaotic 2020 presidential preference poll
Borreca: … Remember how a lack of planning made the 2008 and 2016 Hawaii presidential preference polls an excruciating exercise in participatory democracy for Hawaii Democrats trying to get into the early presidential action?…
Enter the crucial 2020 presidential preference poll to be held April 4 and featuring mail-in balloting.
Everyone who is a registered voter and a registered Democrat will be mailed a ballot to be filled in and mailed back. Registering to vote and get in on the preference polls action can be handled online.
The plan still needs the approval of the Democratic National Committee, says interim chairwoman of the Hawaii Democratic Party Kate Stanley….
“Our plan is governed by rules of the DNC. We can’t just do any old thing we want,” Stanley said, adding that she thinks the mail-in ballot for a presidential preference primary appears to be unique….
read … Hawaii Democrats need to prepare now to avoid chaotic 2020 presidential preference poll
Charter schools growing while DoE Enrollment Shrinks
MN: … Charter schools make up just a small chunk of the educational landscape, especially on Maui, but they are growing faster than other public schools in Hawaii. Most of the state’s 37 charters are on Oahu and Hawaii island, with five on Kauai and one on Molokai. Maui has only two charter facilities.
Statewide, 11,877 students attend charter schools, up 2.8% over last fall. They account for 6.6% of overall public school enrollment, which dipped by a barely perceptible 0.2% to 179,331 this year….
Hawaii Technology Academy, the state’s largest charter school, offers “blended learning,” a mix of online classes taken at home and face-to-face instruction. It serves 1,285 students statewide. The academy’s Maui enrollment surged to 189 students this year, up from 99 three years ago.
Kihei Charter School’s student body of 689 on the state’s official count date represents a 31% rise over three years and makes it Hawaii’s fifth-largest charter school. Enrollment has since ticked up to 701 students, and an additional 151 students remain on its wait list, mostly for kindergarten through third grade.
“I think the school is thriving because it’s personal,” said Ellen Federoff, dean of students. “Every teacher knows every student’s name. We have the opportunity to get to know our students better because we’re kindergarten through 12th grade. They become ohana.
“This facility helped, too,” she added with a grin, standing on the school’s rooftop deck where seniors were taking a break with a sweeping coastline view, shaded by solar panels….
“Most of my friends are taking college classes now, and they’re juniors,” he said. “That kind of work ethic rubs off on you, and I’m sure it rubs off on other people. I think that Kihei Charter has such a positive environment that it allows them to sort of blossom.
“If it wasn’t for Kihei Charter,” he added, “I definitely would have considered dropping out and pursuing my GED. This school has given me a lot of opportunities. I think about that every day. I’m grateful for that.”…
PBN: Hawaii DOE student population drops amid bump in charter school enrollment
read … Maui charter schools growing faster than others in Hawaii
Nearly 1 in 10 Big Island emergency warning sirens inoperable
HTH: … Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno said that as of the Oct. 1 test, nine of the 92 sirens installed in communities around the island were not working.
One of the sirens that remained silent for the test is located in Napoopoo Village, where the 2011 tsunami devastated the area surrounding Kealakekua Bay, even ripping one home off its foundation and sending it out to sea.
“We need our sirens working,” said Napoopoo resident Karen Anderson.
At 11:45 a.m. on the first business day of the month sirens are tested. An official neighborhood contact is called by Hawaii County Civil Defense to confirm the siren was heard.
Anderson is the contact person in Napoopoo. She said the siren has not worked for the last four to five months….
Magno said he was aware of the siren failures, however, he said that the state’s Emergency Management Agency is responsible for the maintenance, repair and replacement of sirens across the state.
County workers will perform small repairs such as replacing batteries, but the rest must come through the state agency either through contracted work or sending crews from Honolulu to fix problems, he said. He was told that contractors want too much money, so the state opts to fix them in-house.
But that is taking precious time….
read … Nearly 1 in 10 Big Island emergency warning sirens inoperable
Community wants alternatives for Ala Wai project
SA: … Oceanit, an engineering consultant, has come up with more alternatives to a controversial Ala Wai Canal flood management plan to protect Waikiki and several other Oahu neighborhoods from flooding.
The federal government has offered to pay $220 million of a $345 million Army Corps of Engineers’ project that would build walls and berms around the canal and put huge flood-control structures in the upper reaches of the watershed.
Instead of that, Oceanit said, the community prefers flood gates and pumps and retractable walls to control flooding at the Ala Wai Canal. They also support underground detention basins in the upper reaches of the watershed and dryland and wetland plots to dissipate energy and hold flood waters. They also urge dredging and cleanup of the canal.
Other suggestions include: ecosystem restoration such as green infrastructure, water quality improvement, stream maintenance, repurposed storm water and creating an Ahupua’a of Waikiki recovery to control flooding in surrounding neighborhoods that wasn’t addressed in the corps’ plan.
Oceanit provided the update Tuesday during an evening meeting at Ala Wai Elementary School that drew some 150 people….
Just in the last year, pushback against the project has resulted in the formation of a Honolulu City Council permitted interaction group, protests and even a lawsuit filed by the group Protect Our Ala Wai Watersheds. The group’s motion for a preliminary injunction is slated to be heard at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 21 before state District Judge Jeffrey Crabtree….
SA Editorial: Get more input on Ala Wai flood plan
read … Community wants alternatives for Ala Wai project
City Council puts brakes on OCCC relocation plan
SA: … Skeptical members of the Honolulu City Council voiced reluctance to approving a Plan Review Use permit that would clear the way for the proposed facility, which would, like the current OCCC, primarily house pre-trial detainees.
They told state administration officials at a Council Zoning, Planning and Housing Committee on Sept. 26 that the request is premature because it lacks details, including a firm source of funding. They also said they don’t want to get into the middle of a firestorm between Ige and the state Legislature.
The concerns led the committee to delay a vote on Resolution 19-136, which would grant the state a Plan Review Use permit closing the existing Kalihi facility and relocating to 29 acres at what’s now the state Department of Agriculture’s Animal Quarantine Station about a mile away from the existing Halawa Correctional Facility.
Committee Chairman Ron Menor said Thursday that he’s not yet decided whether to hold a vote on the matter in the coming months or wait until after the Legislature signals its intent when it meets early next year.
Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, whose district includes Halawa, grilled Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda, project architects and the Department of Accounting and General Services over the lack of specifics about the plan.
“It just seems kind of premature at this point to be granting approvals … when we really do not have a final determination as to what the scope of the project should be as well as the potential financing alternatives given that a relatively major redevelopment is now being proposed for a location that is right down the road from this area,” Fukunaga said, referring to the state’s New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District….
Councilman Tommy Waters said the state should take a harder look at relocating OCCC to the state Circuit Court parking lot on Pohukaina and South streets in Kakaako. It makes sense for pre-trial detainees charged with a crime and awaiting trial to be housed near the Circuit Court building and near the District Court facility several blocks away, he said.
Waters, a criminal law attorney, said prisoners being driven from Halawa “are always late.”….
SA Editorial: Don’t delay moves to replace OCCC
read … City Council puts brakes on OCCC relocation plan
Global Warmers Push Debunked Scheme to Sue Big Oil
SA: “…Hawaii should do as Rhode Island and over a dozen U.S. cities have done (unsuccessfully): sue fossil fuel companies for deceptive practices and public nuisance…”
Reality: Hawaii to Sue over Global Warming? UH Law School Debunked
read … Fossil-fuel companies that caused climate change should pay for it
Bill Proposes To End Herbicide Use By Hawaii County
BIVN: … The County of Hawaiʻi will no longer use herbicides to maintain parks and roads, if a new bill is approved by the Hawaiʻi County Council.
Kona councilwoman Rebecca Villegas introduced Bill 101, which would prohibit the County from using herbicides on parks, roads, bikeways, sidewalks, trails, drainageways, and waterways.
If the bill is passed, the list of prohibited herbicides will include glyphosate, the active ingredient found in Roundup Pro. It will also prohibit County use of several other products as well, like Atrazine, Ronstar, and Dual II Magnum….
HTH: Measure sponsored by Kona council member would restrict county’s use of toxic herbicides
(Silly Councilmembers, rules are only for the seed industry.)
read … Bill Proposes To End Herbicide Use By Hawaii County
So Many Democrats Want Impeachment that Even Gabbard had to Flip-Flop
Shapiro: … Enough voters are alarmed that even the calculating Gabbard had to recognize the gravity of the moment….
read … Trump brought the House impeachment inquiry on himself
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