Video: Ige Announces Inter-Island Vaccine Passport System
Irrational Covid Vaccine Fears
HB200: Final Budget Deal Approved by Conference Committee
Ige releases $278M for infrastructure projects
HSTA Outlines Plan to Promote Identity Politics in K-12
Survey: Best Hawaii Towns to Start Small Business
Mayor Victorino Vetoes Bill 10, Saves Affordable Housing
City investigated Nuuanu home at center of deadly police shooting 7 times for complaints
SA: … The four-bedroom, six- bathroom house at 91 Coelho Way where an unarmed burglary suspect fought three Honolulu Police Department officers before being shot to death has been the focus of repeated complaints and unsuccessful government investigations that it was operating as an illegal vacation rental.
The property has changed hands repeatedly between non-Hawaii interests and was once occupied by a company whose owner was served with an eviction notice.
Lindani Myeni, 29, died of multiple gunshot wounds at 91 Coelho Way after the residents said he illegally entered the home Wednesday night, prompting them to call police and leading to the fatal shooting outside.
Attorney Jim Bickerton, who represents Myeni’s family, told a South African news station that the home was an illegal vacation rental and Bickerton did not know why Myeni was there.
Complaints about the home’s alleged use as an illegal vacation rental shed little light on the events leading up to Myeni’s death, although social media has been rampant with theories.
But the killing reveals yet another Oahu property that has been the source of repeated complaints and pleas to shut it down — a phenomenon that has prompted Gov. David Ige to more recently call for a crackdown on illegal vacation rentals as a resurgence of post-COVID-19 tourists causes friction in island neighborhoods.
In 2019 and 2020 the city Department of Planning and Permitting investigated seven complaints that 91 Coelho Way was being used as an illegal short-term rental.
… The property changed hands in 1989 and sold for $850,000; again in January 1993 for $2,657,174 under the control of a corporation that later registered as a foreign investment property; and again in April 2007 when a Nevada corporation took control of the deed for $1,000. A month later a limited-liability corporation paid another $1,000 to take control of the deed.
In 2018 a company initiated an eviction proceeding against Jeffrey A. Dunster, founder and CEO of Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods, citing no “written or oral rental agreement.”
Dunster’s name appears in the database of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the group made famous by publishing the “Panama Papers” probe looking into offshore financing and corporations.
At Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods, in Honolulu, Betsy Maler identified herself as an executive services administrator for Dunster’s business entities. She said Dunster moved out of the Coelho Way property three years ago.
“It is one of the most unfortunate things to happen there,” Maler said. “We have nothing to do with that property at all.”
Another of Dunster’s companies — Hawaiian Legacy Tours — identifies itself as a nonprofit, community service organization. It also lists its headquarters at 91 Coelho Way on Yelp.
Dunster did not reply to emailed questions about his businesses or ownership of 91 Coelho Way.
A private owner took control of the deed in 2018 and could not be reached for comment….
ILind: Bank says site of last week’s fatal police shooting was owned by disbarred attorney Gary Dubin
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read … City investigated Nuuanu home at center of deadly police shooting 7 times for complaints
Honolulu police won’t release footage from shooting of teen in McCully
KHON: … The Honolulu Police Department will not release body camera footage worn by the officers who shot and killed a 16-year-old boy because juveniles were involved.
Spokeswoman Sarah Yoro says the department also won’t release 911 recordings from the shooting earlier this month. Yoro didn’t immediately answer questions seeking additional information.…
Chief Susan Ballard has said previously the department was reviewing footage from more than 50 body cameras….
read … Honolulu police won’t release footage from shooting of teen in McCully
Blangiardi Nominates Former Mainland Officer To Honolulu Police Commission
CB: … Mayor Rick Blangiardi is nominating former mainland police officer Larry Ignas to the Honolulu Police Commission, the mayor announced on Hawaii Public Radio on Monday.
The mayor said he had sought to put a retired police officer on the commission, which oversees the Honolulu Police Department, investigates complaints and will hire the next police chief.
“Larry Ignas has a really great background,” he said. “He spent 20 years with the East Chicago (Indiana) Police Department, has been living in Hawaii for over 25 years, highly regarded person in this community, and we’ll see where that goes.” ….
2018 Bio: Larry Ignas
read … Blangiardi Nominates Former Mainland Officer To Honolulu Police Commission
After DUI Death, Drug Dealer Already out on Streets
HNN: … It’s been about two years since a mother of six took her last breath. Brianne Lee was 32 years old when she was killed by a drunk driver in Kalihi in 2019….
In 2019, 22-year-old Ken Aisek was arrested for negligent homicide, driving drunk and without a license but was released pending further investigation.
It took about 14 months to charge him. After nine months in custody, Aisek pleaded no contest and was released to a drug treatment facility. Aisek has a prior felony drug charge. (Hence the lenience. he’s part of the team.)….
moments before the crash, Aisek was pulled over by police for several traffic offenses. Instead of complying with the officer, he took off, ran a red light, and slammed into Lee’s vehicle.
The Honolulu Police Department conducted an internal investigation and says three officers received disciplinary action for the handling of the case.
Lee’s family is suing the city.
“That is something that we are looking into on behalf of the family, to see whether or not there were other parties involved other than Mr. Aisek, the defendant, to see whether they played a factor into leading to and causing Brianne’s death,” said David Ahuna, the attorney for the family.….
read … Kaneohe family anxiously awaits sentencing of driver responsible of deadly 2019 crash
Search begins for interim superintendent for Hawaii public schools
SA: … Hawaii’s Board of Education is looking for a temporary replacement to take over in August for Superintendent Christina Kishimoto while it conducts a broader search for her permanent replacement.
Applicants for the position of interim superintendent are being sought through April 30. The job is likely to run from Aug. 1 through March 2022, although that could change. ….
read … Search begins for interim superintendent for Hawaii public schools
Berkeley Study: Hawaiʻi Most Inclusive State In the Country
HPR: … A new study out of UC Berkeley ranks Hawaiʻi the top state in the country when it comes to inclusiveness. Researchers looked at factors like income inequality, political representation, and reported hate crimes to determine just how each state treats vulnerable and marginalized groups. …
read … Hawai'i most-inclusive-state
Unintended Consequences – The Kyoto Protocol Fuels the Climate Crisis
IM: … To gain allies in the fight against the climate crisis, bioenergy was defined as carbon neutral.
Not based on analysis, not based on science, but as a political compromise to gain support for adopting the Kyoto Protocol.
Every type of energy produces greenhouse gas EXCEPT bioenergy. Thus, a switch from anything else to any type of bioenergy reduces emissions.
Sweden is often presented as a poster child of the benefits of a carbon tax.
Sweden imposed a carbon tax on 40% of the economy and adopted the highest carbon tax in the world. Sweden saw a drop in REPORTED greenhouse gas emissions while also seeing its economy grow.
The Hawai`i Senate introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 61 (SCR 61) in 2021. “Sweden introduced an extensive carbon tax in 1995, which has since shrunk their carbon emissions by twenty-five percent, while growing their economy by seventy-five percent.”
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) noted, “In recent decades, almost all use of fossil fuels for district heating in Sweden has been substituted with biomass and municipal waste. By 2015 … biomass provided roughly 60% of the fuel for district heating and municipal waste about another 15%; together they supplied three-quarters of Sweden’s district heating needs.”
Thus, Sweden replaced fossil fuels which have scientifically been proven to release greenhouse gases with biofuel which was politically defined to be carbon neutral. Hence, a reduction in GHG emissions, at least on paper.
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency presented the facts in 2000. “The most obvious effect of the carbon tax has been an increased use of biomass in the Swedish district heating system.”
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that biofuel now accounts for 26% of Sweden`s total energy supply.
Analyzing Sweden`s true GHG impact requires a scientific analysis of changes to its forests and all sectors of the economy. A study of the effectiveness of the carbon tax requires an examination of all energy and climate policies. But for many, the buzzwords "carbon tax" are enough.
The carbon tax solution is supported by a broad coalition including economists, climate crisis activists, and large sections of the fossil fuel industry -- BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Ford, GM, Goldman Sachs…..
read … Unintended Consequences – The Kyoto Protocol Fuels the Climate Crisis
More Homeless Mayhem: County spends $90K on campground clean-up, needle removal
TGI: … The county is estimating about $90,000 in repairs and clean-up for ‘Anini and Anahola beach parks after a year of consistent use.
(Swarm of locusts.)
The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation found picnic tables “damaged beyond repair,” rotted shower points, hypodermic needles, as well as fruit and vegetable plants, overgrown vegetation and dug-up areas, Deputy Director Wally Rezentes Jr., said. The money will come out of the department’s budget.
“The figure estimates labor hours, contract equipment rentals, supplies for park maintenance (park caretakers, heavy equipment operators), facilities maintenance crews (carpenters, plumbers, electricians), and park ranger crew members,” Rezentes said….
Some of the work already completed include electrical repair work to lights and lines that were damaged, plumbing repairs, pumping out the septic system and repairing and replacing some of the picnic tables.
The volunteer group Kalalea collected green waste and other debris at Anahola Beach Park after park crews cleaned the area at the beginning of April.
“Once we finish with the Anini cleanup, we will go back to Anahola and remove the debris,” Rezentes said.
Two months ago, the county also installed a new shower system into ‘Anini Beach Park Boat Ramp….
read … County spends $90K on campground clean-up
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