70% or 82%?
Property Forfeitures and What Our AG is Doing About Them
Dell: No Alienware for Hawaii
Hey, people are still leaving Hawaii because of taxes and overregulation
1853 Hawaiian Mission to Marquesan Cannibals
Five years ago, Mike Miske allegedly masterminded the kidnapping and murder of his son’s best friend
ILind: … It’s been five years since 21-year old Jonathan Fraser suddenly disappeared. The FBI says he was last seen, and is believed to have been kidnapped and killed, on July 30, 2016. His family says he disappeared on July 29. The reason for this apparent discrepancy isn’t clear.
At the time of his disappearance, Fraser and his girlfriend were sharing a Hawaii Kai apartment with Delia Ann Miske, who had been married to Caleb Miske, the only child of Honolulu businessman Michael Miske, owner Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, M Nightclub, and several other companies….
The full story of Fraser’s demise is not known, but fragments have appeared in different documents filed in the federal case against Miske and ten associates.
Norman Akau, one of Miske’s co-defendants, has pleaded guilty and admitted he was offered $50,000 to take part in Fraser’s kidnapping. According to prosecutors, Akau was offered $50,000 to abduct Fraser and drive him to the north shore, then turn him over to another person.
Akau said he turned down the offer, saying Fraser was just “a kid.”
Akau said the offer was made through another Miske associate, Wayne Miller.
In a plea agreement with prosecutors in December 2020, Miller admitted he and others “agreed to assist Miske with carrying out the kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Fraser,” although Miller said he had hoped Miske would eventually drop the idea.
Miller said he did not participate in the murder, “but he assisted in other ways, including by helping Miske with planning and by purchasing items that Miske intended to use to carry out the kidnapping and murder.
According to prosecutors, “Miske directed an Enterprise member to obtain a vehicle for the purpose of transporting Fraser after he was abducted. The Enterprise member did so, ultimately purchasing an white Toyota Sienna van via Craigslist.” …
Miske also paid $425,000 for a 37-1/2 foot Boston Whaler model 370 Outrage, which was then named “Painkiller.” Prosecutors allege Miske directed the boat’s GPS be disconnected so that “Painkiller” could be used to dispose of Fraser’s body.
Late on the day Fraser disappeared, one of Miske’s co-defendants, Lance Bermudez, and another associate drove the van used in the kidnapping “from Hawaii Kai to the west side of Oahu, parked it under a bridge overpass, lit it on fire and left the scene,” prosecutors allege.
“Cell site data from July 30, 2016 established that Bermudez was on the east side of Oahu that evening,” according to prosecutor’s stateents in court documents. “Cell site data further showed Bermudez then traveled to west Oahu where he had set the van on fire. Honolulu police later found the van, engulfed in flames, in that same general location.”
Fraser’s car, a 1994 grey, two-door Honda hatchback, was found a week later near the intersection of Summer Street and Kuliouou Road.
In August 2017, federal agents seized the Boston Whaler “Painkiller” and sent over 100 items for detailed forensic analysis….
Related: ODC Complaint: Megan Kau Worked for Miske and Cop Who Arrested Him
read … Five years ago, Mike Miske allegedly masterminded the kidnapping and murder of his son’s best friend
If the Hawaii Legislature’s here in July, you know it’s a bad month
Shapiro: … The 2021 Legislature ended its prolonged session with Gov. David Ige vetoing 26 bills, lawmakers overturning six of the vetoes and both sides chest-thumping about their accomplishments. Which were basically undoing each other’s work….
read … If the Hawaii Legislature’s here in July, you know it’s a bad month
Hilo Medical Center sees 100% increase in coronavirus hospitalizations overnight
KHON: … Hilo Medical Center (HMC) announced on Saturday, July 31, its emergency department implemented a no visitor policy after COVID-19 hospitalizations doubled overnight.
Officials said COVID-19 hospitalizations jumped from six to 12 patients overnight — a 100% increase — and all of the people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 at HMC are unvaccinated.
HMC officials said there has also been a spike in patients who need testing, examination and treatment for COVID-19. The HMC emergency department will not allow visitors except for pediatric patients 18 years and under and highly critical/end-of-life situations, officials said….
read … Hilo Medical Center sees 100% increase in coronavirus hospitalizations overnight
President’s tough new vaccination rules impact 20K federal civilian workers in Hawaii
HNN: … Some 20,000 federal civilian workers in Hawaii along with on-site contractors are impacted by President Biden’s sweeping new vaccine order.
Under the new rules, they’ll be required to verify they’re vaccinated or face regular testing. Unvaccinated workers will also face travel restrictions and be required to mask up.
Biden outlined the requirements Thursday in an public address, calling the rising-yet-preventable deaths among the unvaccinated an “American tragedy.”
“Right now, too many people are dying or watching someone they love die and say, ‘If I’d just got the vaccine.’ People are dying who don’t have to die,” Biden said. “Want to know how we put this virus behind us? Well I’ll tell you how, we have to get more people vaccinated.” ….
read … President’s tough new vaccination rules impact 20K federal civilian workers in Hawaii
Hawaii Kids Are Heading Back To School to Get Vaxxed
CB: … The new academic year begins Tuesday amid a concerted effort to vaccinate more students and their families via school-based clinics….
The DOH on Monday released updated guidance for schools, urging vaccinations, mask-wearing indoors and in crowded outdoor situations, frequently washing hands, keeping students in small groups when possible and staying home when feeling unwell….
read … Hawaii Kids Are Heading Back To School Despite COVID Surge
Education outreach workers help keiki in unstable housing situations stay in school
KITV: … Each year, the DOE identifies as many as 3,500 children across the state living on the streets or in unstable housing. But outreach workers want to get the word out that there is help for keiki and their families.
Outreach workers are going door-to-door, to beaches and parks in communities where children are living in poverty. They're handing out school supplies, hygiene products and food and then connecting them with other resources.
The DOE is anticipating an increase in students in need this year when the state's eviction moratorium ends on August 6th….
read … Education outreach workers help keiki in unstable housing situations stay in school
Affordable Housing: 24 agencies and departments plus NIMBY neighbors
MN: … From long personal experience as a developer of affordable housing, I can express firsthand the frustration and ambiguity in the entire process. The costs, the time it takes and the continual inability to project a reasonable positive end in an already no/low profit scenario all adds up to a very high-risk venture.
Where one out of over 24 agencies and departments plus NIMBY neighbors can create lost opportunities for the needed homes and great financial loss, it is no wonder why Maui has so few affordable housing units….
TGI: Residents share feedback on Waimea400 planning
read … Affordable housing must be a collaborative effort
With rental eviction moratorium ending Friday, now’s time to seek mediation, payment plan
Borreca: … Stephen H. Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, called it “a terrific scheme” that will keep residents in their homes, repay landlords and “prevent chaos in the courts.”
Maui Democratic Rep. Troy Hashimoto authored the bill and helped steer it through the Legislature. He said the aim was to help both renters and landlords.
Earlier the University of Hawaii estimated that 10,000 households were at least one month behind in paying their rent. Federal help has lowered those numbers.
The rates change by county with a sliding scale on federal assistance. For instance, a single person on Maui making less than $57,400 could get up to $2,500 in rental help if impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. On Oahu, one person earning less than $70,500 a year would be eligible for rental assistance.
Hashimoto said that will make a big difference in getting renters in a position to come up with a plan to pay back the rent they have not been able to pay.
What is key, Hashimoto said in an interview, is that renters ask to start a mediation process….
read … With rental eviction moratorium ending Friday, now’s time to seek mediation, payment plan
Army, community are at a pivot point at training range lease renewals in Hawaii
SA: … The Army is undergoing its biggest modernization in 40 years. The Marines are ditching their tanks. Missiles and missions linking sea, air, land, space and cyberspace — all at once — are the U.S. military’s future in the Indo-Pacific region.
Island-hopping operations are the new marching orders to deter China’s rapid military rise that is concentrated in the South and East China Seas and radiating economically across the Pacific.
Geographically, Hawaii is ideal to practice it all, officials say. And the U.S. military needs to improve quickly.
It’s in this pressure-cooker atmosphere — and with focus on the Indo-Pacific as the Pentagon’s “priority theater” — that the Army is trying to keep nearly 30,000 acres of training lands on Hawaii island and Oahu. The state land leases all expire in 2029….
PDF: The Environmental Notice July 23, 2021
read … Army, community are at a pivot point at training range lease renewals in Hawaii
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