Forced out by SHOPO, Blangiardi and Police Commission--HPD Chief Ballard Resigns
Senate Slams Ige for Holding Back BoE Nominee
Maui Beware!
Mauna Kea Working Group Nominations Extended
Extended Deadline: Judicial Vacancy – Circuit Judge, Circuit Court of the Second Circuit
Hawaii: Committee Passes Retroactive Home-Built Gun Ban
HART Frog Debacle Earns First “What Were They Thinking?!” Award
Rep Ward Questions Inaction on Legislative Pay Hikes
DLNR hands out more dam fines
Senate Compromise Lets OHA Keep its Corrupt LLC Secrets
CB: … The Office of Hawaiian Affairs would continue to get state support and have access to some of its money this year under a proposal that won approval by a Senate panel Friday morning.
On Wednesday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee cut state funding for OHA from $2.5 million to $1.6 million in each of the next two fiscal years.….
"The committee instead decided that an audit of OHA’s LLCs from 2019 would satisfy the audit requirement.
(Translation: Whatever is being hidden in the Exec Session minutes will stay hidden.)
The senators also set aside $200,000 for a follow-up report on how OHA is spending its money." …
(Note: This refers to the CLA Red Flags audit which highlighted indicators of fraud, waste and abuse. The $200K follow-up report is for a "fraud investigation" based on the CLA report.)
OHA LLC Audit Background:
read … Senate Panel Restores OHA Budget
Honolulu airport Baseyard Facility investigation leads to 3 arrests
KHON: … Three State workers were arrested due to an ongoing investigation at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport’s Maintenance Baseyard Facility that began on Thursday, April 8.
State sheriffs arrested two men Thursday and another on Friday for second-degree theft.
The Hawaii attorney general’s office says a search warrant was executed Thursday before the first arrests were made.
A witness says dozens of patrol cars were on the scene and officers seized computers, files and equipment ….
HNN: Officials said David Kaio and Arnold Keawe, Sr. were arrested for theft.
read … Honolulu airport Baseyard Facility investigation leads to 3 arrests
Some businesses are facing a new challenge: Hiring workers back
HNN: … “It’s a good thing,” said Sarah Nguyen, co-owner of The Pizza Press in Pearl City. “But as far as the demand, we don’t have enough people. Our staff is working a lot of hours, a lot of days. We need to add more people.”
Sheryl Matsuoka, a partner for multiple restaurants as well as the executive director for the Hawaii Restaurant Association, said, “It’s been very difficult to fill both the front of the house and the back of the house. But it’s not only me. I’m hearing from all restaurants that everyone is having a difficult time.” …
“We’ve seen a drop in our labor force of roughly 16,000 people since before the pandemic,” Bonham said. “That’s a lot of potential workers that are just not there anymore.”
There are also challenges with child care and safety concerns linger.
But there is some good news.
“The latest surveys from the Census Bureau show that we’re actually hiring at a pace a bit above the US rate,” Bonham said. “That’s consistent with the expansion of tourism that we’re seeing.”
Retailers said they’re seeing different results from their help wanted signs.
According to the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, their members are getting an influx of resumes.
“There’s a lot of unemployed people out there that are looking for a job,” said Tina Yamaki, the president of the organization. “We have a wider pool of people to choose from right now.” ….
KHON: Hawaii restaurants still struggling but some are weathering the storm
read … Some businesses are facing a new challenge: Hiring workers back
Bans On High Capacity Magazines For Guns Fails At Legislature
CB: … Bills to legalize recreational marijuana and collect more data on police use of force also stall. …
read … Bans On High Capacity Magazines For Guns Fail At Legislature
Diamond Head News: Four Homeless Finally Forced into Shelter—Jail
SA: … Early Friday morning, Honolulu Police Department squad cars, a Hawaiian Humane Society truck and a couple of mobile dumpster trucks were near the park entrance.
More than 50 city workers from HPD, DPR and the city Department of Facility Maintenance were deployed in the area, Serota said.
City crews, wearing gloves and face masks, hiked through thorny underbrush and over slippery, eroded dirt slopes, removing tents and makeshift shelters, and personal belongings and trash that had been left behind in improvised campsites. Human and animal waste lay out in the open in places, and the air was thick with dust and flies.
After this kind of day, you needed three showers when you got home from work, a crew member said.
Thirteen removal notices were issued Thursday, and by Friday afternoon four cubic yards of metal had been recovered, 2.52 tons of trash had been collected and hauled away, and nine bins of stored property were being kept by DFM, Serota said.
Four arrests of illegal campers were made, for a combination of park violations and outstanding warrants, he added….
read … Four Homeless Get Shelter
City Homeless Response Lacks Key Element—Force
SA: … The city is planning a new “Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement” — or CORE — approach that will run 24/7 starting this summer to dispatch teams of social workers and medical and mental health specialists to homeless calls, instead of relying on Honolulu police, Krucky said.
An eight-week analysis will review the concept, which has resulted in 30% reductions in calls for service in two unidentified cities, Krucky said….
read … City plans civilian response to Oahu’s homeless population
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