Kaka’ako Makai: House Will Not Hear OHA Upzone Bill
Kahele, Case Bills Propose National Heritage Sites for Hawaii
COVID-19 in Hawai‘i: Addressing Health Equity in Diverse Populations
HART: Defective Train Wheels Are A ‘Major’ Problem And Possible Safety Issue
CB: … The wheels on Honolulu rail’s train cars don’t fit properly where the transit line’s tracks cross together, project leaders disclosed Tuesday. It’s a “major” and “expensive” defect that could delay the system’s interim opening by another year.
The flaw in the Hitachi Rail-manufactured wheels requires the driverless train cars to drastically reduce speed at track crossings along the line, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s interim director, Lori Kahikina, told City Council members Tuesday.
Those crossing are known as “frogs” because they resemble that part of a horse’s hoof, she added….
Materials posted for the public meeting put the total price tag at $12.4 billion, with a budget shortfall of nearly $3.6 billion….
“At the risk of getting beat up again, I’m going to share with you folks. I didn’t mean to bring it up today. This thing affects the opening” of the line, she said.
Kahikina, who became HART’s interim director in January, said that she and rail’s new second-in-command, Chief Operating Officer Rick Keene, first heard about the problem a couple of weeks ago.
HART officials first learned of the problem late last year, she added….
On Thursday the agency’s board is also slated to get an update on construction. There’s a slide in that presentation labeled “Track Issues.”…
There are five such frog crossings on rail’s west side, Kahikina told the council Tuesday. That 10-mile stretch runs from the fields east of Kapolei to Aloha Stadium…
read … HART: Defective Train Wheels Are A ‘Major’ Problem And Possible Safety Issue
Cataluna: We can talk about Asians but Raybuck can’t
Cataluna: … Oh, poor Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck. He stepped right into the trap. He was feeling like such a Kauai insider that he thought he could get away with making offensive racial comments, like some old-timer who says stupid things that everyone tacitly agrees to brush off because, ah, Uncle T-Ray has a good heart, cannot help.
Small towns will trick you like that if you’re not careful. There are levels of belonging, classifications of behavior, unwritten rules for who gets to say what and in which context. After a couple of years in a small town, you might feel supremely comfortable and welcomed, you might even feel like you have an all-access pass, but try to sling some stupid, hurtful remarks as though you’ve proven your benevolence and can get away with anything, and that insider-pass gets yanked very quickly. Pulled over. Blue lights. Hands on your head, toes on the line ….
HPR: Anti-Asian Discrimination, Locally and Nationally
read … Kauai Police Chief's Racial Stereotyping Was Accepted In the Past, But Never OK
Bill that would bar suspension of public records requests during emergency advances
WHT: … A state Senate bill that would bar the governor or county mayors from suspending requests for public records or vital statistics during a declared state of emergency passed its first committee hurdle in the House.
Senate Bill 134, Senate Draft 1, introduced by Sen. Dru Kanuha, a Kailua-Kona Democrat, passed the House Pandemic &Disaster Preparedness Committee on Tuesday by a 9-0 vote, with one amendment….
Rep. Linda Ichiyama, an Oahu Democrat and the committee chair, amended the bill to specify that Hawaii Revised Statutes section 127 A-13(3), which gives the governor or mayor “the power to suspend any law that impedes … the expeditious and efficient execution of … emergency functions,” won’t be in conflict with the exemption stated in the measure.
The committee approval comes exactly a year after Gov. David Ige signed a proclamation during the coronavirus pandemic that suspended the state’s Uniform Information Practices Act, a law that specifies government records are open to public inspection with limited privacy exceptions….
There was no in-person video testimony during Tuesday’s hearing, but there were 22 pages of written testimony submitted, mostly in support of the legislation.
Organizations submitting testimony in favor of the measure include the Big Island Press Club, Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Common Cause Hawaii, Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter and All Hawaii News….
“OIP’s observation has been that … many agencies have been continuing to respond to UIPA requests in a timely manner, but others have simply not responded and apparently do not intend to do so as long as the suspension of deadlines remains in effect,” Kakazu Park wrote.
Joe Kent, executive vice president of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a conservative think tank, submitted testimony labeled “comments only” — but called Ige’s suspension of open records and sunshine laws “an extreme response that was not taken by any other state.”
“Open government is not only at the core of our constitutional principles, it is also essential to uphold public faith in our leaders, their decision-making and in the democratic process,” Kent wrote….
read … Bill that would bar suspension of public records requests during emergency advances
SB912: Lawmakers look to claw back felons’ pensions
SA: … Former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha is set to begin a seven-year prison sentence next month for felony convictions relating to his use of police officers to help frame his wife’s uncle. But that won’t stop his $9,700 monthly pension payments that come with having served 33 years on the police force.
The payments have fueled debate in recent years about Hawaii’s practice of continuing to pay out retirement benefits to public employees who commit serious crimes related to their jobs. Hawaii lawmakers are looking to curb the benefits this year through legislation that would allow a court to order half of an employee’s pension to be forfeited if they are convicted of a job-related felony.
Senate Bill 912 has sailed through the full Senate, and on Tuesday it passed the House Labor and Tourism Committee. The bill still faces additional hearings in the House of Representatives, but a similar measure introduced by House Speaker Scott Saiki passed the House in 2019, an indication that the proposed legislation, which has been introduced numerous times over the years, could succeed this year….
read … Lawmakers look to claw back felons’ pensions
Hawaii’s Unemployed Must Clear Up Earlier Benefit Snafus Before Getting Federal Dollars
CB: … Minor mistakes that led to overpayments of a few hundred dollars can hold up much more substantial relief for struggling families….
read … Hawaii’s Unemployed Must Clear Up Earlier Benefit Snafus Before Getting Federal Dollars
Aloha Stadium replacement plan includes maintenance risk shift
SA: … Long-term maintenance expenses for a new stadium on Oahu would be preset under the state’s plan to replace Aloha Stadium using a private partner.
The state Department of Accounting and General Services expects to soon solicit proposals for a private partner to build a new stadium in Halawa and maintain it for 30 to 40 years, while the Stadium Authority, a state agency, would operate the new facility, as it does now with the existing stadium.
Paying for a new state-owned stadium could be at least partially done upfront by the state, which has appropriated $350 million to help replace the stadium and possibly cover some costs for the same partner or a different partner to lease and redevelop much of the 98-acre Halawa site with commercial uses such as housing, retail, restaurants and hotels in what would be called the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District….
DAGS said a partner that builds a new stadium would be paid pre-agreed amounts of state money over 30 to 40 years as a way to essentially repay the partner for any of its own stadium development costs as well as the cost to maintain the facility to “prescribed standards.”
Also, these pre-agreed payments could be reduced if the stadium developer does not maintain the facility in line with contracted standards, according to Chris Kinimaka, public works administrator at DAGS.
Related: Is the Aloha Stadium Deal a Criminal Offense?
read … Aloha Stadium replacement plan includes maintenance risk shift
COVID Justice: Man accused in alleged ‘sexual assault spree’ released following high court order
HNN: … A man accused in what prosecutors called a “sexual assault spree” is roaming free this week after being released, despite multiple charges.
Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm warned the public to be vigilant about 37-year-old Randy Jacob.
Prosecutors say he was first arrested on March 3. Since then, Jacob has been arrested and charged multiple times, often for fourth-degree sexual assault.
In four of the incidents reported, prosecutors say he allegedly groped women’s breasts and buttocks without their consent. The incidents happened in the Downtown area, between the Longs on Bishop Street and the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building.
Jacob was also arrested and charged for harassment after allegedly grabbing a woman by the arm and attempting to pull her close to him, prosecutors say.
The prosecutor’s office said that after each arrest, Jacob appeared in court. Prosecutors wanted him to remain in custody or committed to a mental health treatment facility, but a recent order from the Hawaii Supreme Court allowed for him to be released by a District Court Judge due to the degree of the crimes.
“It is imperative that people like Jacob be held in custody or committed to mental health treatment, whichever is appropriate, in order to protect the public,” Alm said. “I am calling upon the Supreme Court to amend the order so innocent people are not re-victimized while their charges are pending.” …
HNN: KPD: Kauai woman found with 37 grams of meth arrested, later released
KHON: Honolulu man narrowly escapes being shot in botched carjacking -- According to Honolulu Police Department’s Crimemapping website, there were two weapons-related incidents, six cars reported stolen and nine cases of people driving stolen vehicles within a half-mile from Pensacola and Lunalilo.
read … Man accused in alleged ‘sexual assault spree’ released following high court order
Former public school teacher indicted for alleged sexual assault
HNN: … Nolan Santa Ana, 63, was arrested and charged with third-degree sexual assault for allegedly touching a female student in 2015.
Sources say the accuser was a pre-teen student at the time of the alleged crime.
Santa Ana has since been released on $10,000 bail.
The Department of Education confirmed Tuesday that Santa Ana retired two years ago from Highlands Intermediate School….
read … Former public school teacher indicted for alleged sexual assault
HPD Lawsuit Settlement: Teen Arrested By Classmate’s Father To Receive $150,000
CB: … Honolulu taxpayers will pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit in which a Honolulu police officer was accused of wrongfully arresting a 15-year-old who was allegedly being bullied by the officer’s son at school.
Honolulu City Council members are slated to approve the settlement at their meeting on Wednesday….
read … HPD Lawsuit Settlement: Teen Arrested By Classmate’s Father To Receive $150,000
Big Island to get 3 Hydrogen Buses deemed “risky to operate”
WHT: … The first bus is a 2014 Eldorado 29-passenger Aero Elite vehicle that was donated to the county by the University of Hawaii Natural Energy Institute after it was converted from diesel power and upgraded to fuel cells that run on hydrogen fuel.
That bus will be subject to a test drive on Oahu next week, Carreira said. Should that test go well, it will be repainted with Hele-On colors and transported to the county — on the county’s dime — and drivers and mechanics will undergo training sessions for the new equipment.
A fueling station, using hydrogen fuel produced at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, already was installed in Kailua-Kona. Carreira said that station can fully refuel a bus in 10 minutes.
However, while the bus can be fueled on the island as early as May, the infrastructure necessary to maintain and repair the fuel cells will still be absent. That repair infrastructure will cost at least $1 million to install, Carreira said.
Because of this, Carreira said it will be risky to operate the bus for the time being because any damage or failure of the vehicle will be irreparable until the infrastructure is installed. She did not offer a time frame Tuesday for that installation.
Another two hydrogen buses also are scheduled to be sent to the island: a pair of shuttle buses were donated by Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. However, Carreira said they still require additional upgrades before they can be sent to the island from Oahu….
read … Hawaii County’s 1st hydrogen bus should be on the island within 6 weeks
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