Forgotten Honouliuli: Jack Burns, Police Spy
Liberate Hawaii Homebuilding
Two Judicial Vacancies on Maui
OHA offering $250,000 in grants to nonprofits
OIP: OHA’s PIG is a Dead Duck (UPDATED)
Gut-and-replace in court (again)
SA Editorial: …“Deceptive practices that radically change bills before the final vote deny the public any meaningful voice in the legislative process and reflect a fundamentally undemocratic disregard for citizen voters,” the complaint said.
In response to Portnoy’s gut-and-replace allegation, state Sen. Donna Kim retorted: “That happens a lot, but it didn’t happen in this case.”
This isn’t the first legal attempt opposing gut-and-replace. In September 2018, Common Cause Hawaii and the League of Women Voters of Honolulu sued to demand a stop to the practice. That suit was dismissed earlier this year in state Circuit Court, but plaintiffs vowed to appeal.
Common Cause had noted: “Over the years, legislators used ‘gut and replace’ to transform conservation, health care and tax relief for low- income people into bills that helped the private sector and special interest groups.”
Even diligent legislative participants and observers are hard-pressed to follow 11th-hour, closed-door deals. In the public interest, lawmakers should cease this shady maneuver, with or without court order. All citizens, not just the well-heeled and connected, deserve fully transparent law-making….
PDF: Portnoy Complaint
Background:
read … Gut-and-replace in court
Hawaii medical team returns after 48-hour Samoa trip
SA: … A team of 76 health care workers and support staff descended upon the distressed nation in an unprecedented campaign to ensure the population of nearly 200,000 was immunized from the highly contagious virus that has killed more than 60, mostly children, and infected more than 4,000….
There were empty roads, shuttered storefronts and still neighborhoods as the independent nation of Samoa, roughly 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii, declared a state of emergency and complete shutdown of government and business operations while vaccination teams went door-to-door through dirt-road villages to find residents still susceptible to the disease.
Volunteers packed into vans and pickup trucks with containers full of syringes and medicines looking for red flags and clothes hanging on gates, poles and crosses in front yards, a sign that someone in the home was not vaccinated.
With little rest or time for eating, volunteers were able to immunize nearly 34,000 residents over two days….
“I was very impressed by the willpower and solidarity of the Samoan people and their willingness to sacrifice to address this disease,” he said. “They shut down their entire country. All government officials were here to help, and the families all put out the red flags and were ready and waiting for us when we came. It was like a no-holds-barred attack on the measles.”…
read … Hawaii medical team returns after 48-hour Samoa trip
Streak of Oahu record home sale prices may be coming to an end, report indicates
SA: … A report from the Honolulu Board of Realtors released Friday lists median home sale prices this year through November as ever-so-slightly down or flat.
For single-family homes, the median price is off 0.6% for the 11-month period — $785,000 this year compared with $790,000 last year.
For condominiums the figure is $425,000 for both time frames. …
read … Streak of Oahu record home sale prices may be coming to an end, report indicates
Lanai: Overpriced Solar Farm to be Terminated?
MN: … On Lanai, there is an existing solar facility, Lanai Sustainability Research, a 1.2-MW with 1.25-MW battery storage system, which started operating in December 2008. In October, the facility agreed to pay MECO $15,000 a month to cover $360,000 in overcharges when its battery system was down.
Of that total, $11,000 will account for the battery system being inoperable, a cost that will remain in effect until the battery is replaced or the power purchase contract is terminated. Another $4,000 will be applied until the $360,000 in overpayments is recovered or the agreement is terminated, at which time the company would have to pay the rest of the remaining balance in a lump sum.
Decker said that MECO is evaluating its options regarding the project, including selecting a larger project and terminating Lanai Sustainability. An incentive to MECO terminating the contract is the high price it is paying for power, $0.28276 per kilowatt-hour through 2033. Two recently proposed solar projects on Maui have power prices pegged at 8 and 11 cents a kWh.
read … Molokai, Lanai renewable energy bids solicited
Pearl Harbor Day
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