Barbers Point Air Museum: State Seeks Contractor to Destroy Historic Airplanes
Public Invited to a Washington Place Christmas
VIDEO: Keli'i Akina and Augie Tulba Talk Story
How State Reform Efforts Are Transforming Juvenile Justice
Green Junk: ‘Cool Schools’ ACs Already Broken Down
KHON: ... In came solar-powered air conditioning contraptions and when the new school year started in the heat of August 2017, the students had high hopes for low temps
“Some just did not work, some did break,” Grach said. “One of the classrooms I have has an A/C but it only works one time a day, so sometimes the teachers doesn’t even decide to turn it on in our class, so it’s really hot, and it’s right after weight training.”
As of the beginning of this school year, 16 units were not working, on systems that cost an average of $40,000 grand per classroom in the $100 million statewide push.
Waialua’s experience is not isolated. Other schools on Oahu and the neighbor islands have had trouble.
“We’ve got to find at the end of the day what it’s going to take to fix the broken ones,” said Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association union. “In some cases, to be energy efficient, they actually made sure you couldn’t open the windows, so when the A/Cs break down it’s actually hotter than it was before.”…
The Department of Education spokesperson would not tell me how many A/C-related repair requests are in the system right now statewide, only vaguely answering “repairs at schools are ongoing and are in various stages.”
Even when they’re up and running, schools with the solar A/C have had to get used to limited run time.
“They were designed for probably about a five hour school day, which took a little while for the teachers and staff to get used to,” Okamoto said.
So is there a better way? The D.O.E. hopes so with its “School Directed A/C” push — (after blowing $40K per unit on green junk systems) allowing basic and affordable window units ($400 ea—ie 1/100th the cost incurred to comply with the dogma of the eco-religion) as long as a school verifies its electrical system can handle the load. That’s something many more are able to achieve after a widespread lightbulb change (DoE just now discovered LEDs—20 years after the rest of the world) that slashed school energy usage recently…
Nearly 60 schools have finished the electrical assessment and about 100 schools have assessments scheduled. At least 200 window units had gone in as of the last unit count in August. The D.O.E. tells KHON2 that it plans to take another installed-unit tally at the end of this quarter.
Whether it will outpace the 1,000-classroom push from a few years back — which yielded about 1,300 cooled rooms — remains to be seen, but no one doubts it should be cheaper on the install. As of this fall about 4,800 out of Hawaii’s 11,000 classrooms had no A/C.
“Things can be done much, much cheaper,” Rosenlee said. “You can probably do a classroom for $2,000 where before it cost $100,000. If a wall unit falls apart after 10 years, then you can replace it. It’s easy to look back now and say we should have done this 5 years ago.”
YES it is easy. WE TOLD YOU SO. Flashback 2016: Full Text: Contractor Offered Cool Schools at $5990 per Classroom—Was Ignored by DoE
read … About The Suffering You Endure to Practice Your Religion
Court Orders Release of Teacher Discipline Records
CB: … In response to a Honolulu Civil Beat lawsuit, First Circuit Court Judge Bert Ayabe last week signed a summary judgment order that requires the Hawaii Department of Education to release the names and investigation records of teachers who were fired or suspended between April 2017 and April 2018.
Beyond those suspended or fired, the order also requires that DOE release records for investigations of alleged misconduct with the names of those investigated, witnesses and any students redacted.
In total, the order applies to the records of 34 “closed” misconduct cases…
PDF: Court Order
read … Why Civil Beat Fought For Teacher Discipline Records
Telescope Protesters Brainwash Kamehameha Students Daily
SA: …if you want to be an astronomer, better study Spanish….
read … Kamehameha students learn about aloha aina with help from Mauna Kea leaders
Vacation rentals: Oahu supply dropping amid city crackdown
SA: … Ordinance 19-89, which took effect Aug. 1, makes it illegal on Oahu to advertise a vacation rental that is not properly permitted or not inside a hotel-resort zone. It also raised fines for recurring short-term rental violations to $10,000 per day from $1,000 per day.
Since Aug. 1 the city Department of Planning and Permitting has issued 225 letters, known as notices of violations, to short-term rental owners, of which 131 have been corrected, said DPP spokesman Curtis Lum. Only 14 “notice of order” letters, which come with potential fines, have been issued by the city to owners who failed to take timely corrective action, Lum said….
According to a vacation rental report released recently by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Oahu’s supply of available vacation rental unit nights in October dropped 5% since a year ago. Most of the drop came outside of Waikiki. Oahu’s supply of vacation rentals outside of Waikiki fell 23.4% in October.
Meanwhile, Maui, Hawaii island and Kauai all posted double-digit gains in supply of vacation rentals in October and September — as did Waikiki, where more of the vacation rental inventory is permitted and where recent legal proceedings have caused the city to back off regulating some mixed-use buildings, such as the Waikiki Banyan.
In October, Waikiki vacation rental supply was up 23% from October 2018. The results were even stronger than in September when the supply of available Waikiki vacation rental unit nights rose nearly 19%…
Kloninger said October’s supply was higher than in September when vacation rental supply on Oahu had dropped to 241,811 unit nights, a 7% decline from the prior year….
read … Vacation rentals: Oahu supply dropping amid city crackdown
Legislative Agenda: Quickly Raise Minimum Wage Next Year
CB:… House Bill 1191 HD1 SD2, proposing to increase Hawaii’s minimum wage to a phased-in $15 per hour, from its existing $10.10 per hour….
Thus there is no need or reason to “submit another bill,” and no reason that thousands of local residents have to yet again submit testimony, take off work and endure the often arcane practices of the Legislature — only to wind up at the same exact place.
Upon the opening of the 2020 Legislative Session, leadership in the House and Senate could simply reconvene the Conference Committee, amend HB 1191 HD1 SD2 as needed to remove any sections that are problematic, and pass it to the floor for a full vote….
read … Legislature Could Quickly Raise Minimum Wage Next Year
Legislative Agenda: Oahu Gun Crimes Double—will be exploited for gun control
KITV: … Armed robberies, kidnappings and a shooting all happened on Oahu over the weekend, and each crime was committed with guns.
Last year, there were 84 arrests for weapons charges on Oahu, but over the past six months, there were more arrests than all of 2018….
Five years ago, there were 288 violent crimes committed using firearms throughout the year, but the rate has increased to average one a day statewide….
Rhoads has been at the forefront of legislation aims to control gun violence and is a supporter of the red flag law that will take effect January 1. It will allow people to petition the court to take away a person's guns temporarily, if that person is a danger to themselves or others.
"We aren't trying to get rid of guns completely, but there are some people we don't think should have them," added Rhoads.
In addition to the new law that will take effect, Senator Rhoads plans to introduce additional legislation that will tighten up Hawaii's gun laws even more...by closing loop holes for certain types of weapons or ammunition….
Big Q: Do you think Hawaii has gotten less safe, compared with the past year or two?
HNN: Truck hit by gunfire during Nanakuli road rage incident
read … Big increase in guns being used for Oahu crimes
Marijuana Dispensaries Panic over Decline in Vape Sales
SA: … The U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) principal deputy director, Anne Schuchat, cited additives such as vitamin E acetate, used in illicit THC-containing vaporizing products, and the increased availability of “do-it yourself” online videos for the growing number of lung illnesses. Based on the CDC’s October data, about 85% of those sickened reported using vaporizable THC products obtained from illegal sources.
The CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a “chemical of concern” among those diagnosed with EVALI. Lab tests of lung fluid samples collected from 29 EVALI patients revealed vitamin E acetate in all of the samples. While it appears that vitamin E acetate is the primary culprit, there is insufficient evidence to rule out other chemicals still under investigation.
Rigorous state Department of Health (DOH) oversight ensures that Hawaii has a safe, effective and high-quality program designed to help those suffering from any of the 11 approved ‘serious’ ‘medical’ conditions.
However, these safety assurances do not apply to cannabis products obtained outside of state-regulated dispensaries.
Cannabis users are strongly advised to steer clear of any vaporizable product obtained from unregulated sources such as family, friends, online or retail stores, street dealers and anyone making THC-containing products at home….
(Translation: Keep buying our vapes or we will go BK.)
read … Scared about vaping THC? Choose safe, regulated products
Grievance filed over the safety risk outdated radios pose to Kauai sheriffs
HNN: … The union says the Department of Public Safety is putting them and the public at risk when they transport dangerous prisoners. That’s because the radios that the deputies use to communicate are still analogue.
The union says the radios should have been upgraded from analogue to digital years ago, to make them compatible with other first responders.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association says the current radios only have a radius of 1.3 miles from the courthouse, so if there is an emergency, it would be difficult to call for help. …
read … Grievance filed over the safety risk outdated radios pose to Kauai sheriffs
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