Corruption Reforms: What They Left Out
PEW: Hawaii Still Not Meeting Pension Funding Obligations
Overtime Games: HGEA grab for 4-day week for state employees is actually a 3-day week
HNN: … The idea would be for many state workers to work four 10-hour shifts instead of the traditional five 8-hour shifts. Lee argues it would create better quality of life for workers and potentially allow some offices to stay open longer.
The union representing state workers says whether the legislature acts or not, it's going to be something they'll fight for at the bargaining table.
"If there is an office or a division that is looking as this kind of compressed week we'll work on deal directly with them and we can do that any time of the year," said Randy Perreira with the Hawaii Government Employees Association….
(When holidays and leave days are factored in, Hawaii public employees already have a 4-day week. So this proposal would actually create a three day week. It will also multiply opportunities for gaming the overtime and leave systems and it will increase the value of paid holidays, leave days, and sick days by 25% -- 10hr paid vs 8 hr paid. Notice how none of these things were mentioned in the article?)
REALITY: Hospital Crisis: How to Use Union Work Rules for Fun and Profit
read … Hawaii considers 4-day work weeks for state employees
State reapportionment pits two sitting Hawaii senators against each other
KITV: … State Sen. Lorraine Inouye announced her candidacy for the Big Island's first senate district, a seat currently held by (anti-telescope) Sen. Laura Acasio (aka ‘Little Miss Impeachment’).
The election between two incumbent senators comes after reapportionment changed Inouye's home district. She will now run for the seat she held from 1998 to 2008, which mostly covers Hilo and the lower Hamakua Coast….
Fascinating factoid: Acasio's office Manager, Kristine Kubat, is a 9-11 Conspiracy Theorist
Flashback: Senate: Ige Appoints Anti-Telescope Activist who Wanted Him Impeached
read … State reapportionment pits two sitting Hawaii senators against each other
Prosecutor describes doctor at center of Kealoha scandal as leader of drug ring
HNN: … The federal drug trial against Big Island doctor Rudy Puana, which includes allegations of drug parties and illegal prescriptions linked to the Kealoha scandal, kicked off Thursday with his ex-wife being called as the first witness.
Lynn Puana, also a doctor, read and interpreted pictures of prescriptions and medical notes that the government put on a screen for the jury of 12 plus alternates to see. The prescriptions were for hundreds of opioid pills to various people the Puanas were close.
Among them: Katherine Kealoha, Puana’s sister. The disgraced ex-city prosecutor is also expected to testify against him.
Puana pointed out that some of the notes in the files of patients had her signature, but she said the signature was forged. She said the signatures were in her ex-husband’s handwriting….
SA: Katherine Kealoha to be a witness in case targeting her brother
read … Prosecutor describes doctor at center of Kealoha scandal as leader of drug ring
Senate Set To Vote On Making State Police Shooting Board Permanent
CB: … A bill that would make the Law Enforcement Officer Independent Review Board a permanent state fixture cleared its final committee vote on Thursday, setting it up for a full Senate vote.
House Bill 1239, which passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee with unanimous support, would set four-year term limits for members of the board, which reviews fatal police shootings and makes recommendations on whether officers should be criminally prosecuted.
If the bill is not ultimately signed into law, the nine-member board will automatically disband by July of this year.….
So far, the only group that has come out to publicly oppose the measure is the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, which branded the panel “another bureaucratic board” in testimony submitted ahead of Thursday’s committee hearing….
read … Senate Set To Vote On Making State Police Shooting Board Permanent
Oahu Crime Wave after COVID Mass releases of Criminals
HNN: … A filmmaking nonprofit group, a Christian store, and two restaurants. What do they have in common? They've all had their glass doors and windows smashed in by criminals in the last week. Those are the latest victims in what appears to be a property crime wave on Oahu.
Here's a sample of property crimes that have recently taken place from Kaneohe to Kaimuki. At the Hawaii Filmmakers Collective (HFC) at 5:15am on Wednesday morning, security cameras caught the suspect throwing a rock at one window, cracking it, then throwing it again, breaking the other window, "shattering the glass and causing thousands of dollars in damage to our little nonprofit run by volunteers," describes Executive Director Jana Park Moore.
HFC was one of two targets that morning. "Two hours later what appears to be a different individual picked up a large stone in front of our neighbor's business and threw it in front of their window as well," she continues. It's a Christian business called 808 Maintenance and Flooring.
On the other side of the island last week, burglars hit two restaurants at Windward City Shopping Center in Kaneohe. Same M.O.: Criminals used a rock to smash the glass….
These stores are part of a disturbing crime trend. The Honolulu Police Department crime map of Oahu property crimes, shared weekly, shows all property crimes were up from the same period five months ago, which is the furthest back we could search.
From March 24 to 30, there were 362 thefts, 295 vandalisms, and 52 burglaries. Compare that to October 24 to 30, 2021, when there were 295 thefts, 127 vandalisms, and 50 burglaries.
A glass repair shop, All World Glass, says anecdotally, it's been hired to replace a lot more broken windows and doors over the pandemic, at mostly restaurants and jewelry stores….
read … Police statistics show property crime is up
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