How the Jones Act helps thwart ‘Buy American’ policy
SB2695 SD2 HD1 a needless delay tactic for cryptocurrency
‘Empty homes’ tax resolution has good intentions, but that’s all
Study: Hawaii most 'inclusive' state
Where Hawaii Ranks: American cities with the highest rents
KIUC Rate Hikes Far Lower than HECO's
$19.6 Billion cost of Batteries to power Oahu for Three Cloudy Days
SA: … a utility scale battery farm under construction at Kapolei is instructive. At a cost of some $200 million, the battery farm (once charged from whatever source) will provide about 3% of Oahu’s total demand — for one day.
$200M x 33 = $6.6B for 100% for one day x 3 = $19.8B for 3 days
If half of Oahu’s electricity demand in 2045 is be provided by other sources on cloudy days (such as some solar production, wind, HPOWER and homeowner batteries), this battery farm would provide only 6% of demand. Will it take 16 of these battery farms to achieve dependable power for one day? Or 48 for three cloudy days? …
($200M x 48 = $9.6B)
read … Can 100% renewable energy by 2045 be reliable, affordable?
TAT to become Slush Fund for Eco-Activist groups
SA: … Some Hawaii lawmakers want to channel $30 million annually from state visitor accommodation taxes to benefit local natural resources including parks, beaches and marine habitat.
A joint House of Representatives committee voted unanimously Tuesday for a bill that would do this through a proposed new commission, led by the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s CEO, by distributing the money via grants to nonprofit organizations and county and state agencies.
The measure, Senate Bill 775, received heavy support from environmental advocates as well as from several visitor industry stakeholders. But some dissent exists over the proposed commission and special fund.
read … Slush Fund
Taxpayer Rebate is Back -- $300
SA: … Hawaii taxpayers may still yet get tax rebates this year, and the amount for many could be $300 instead of the $100 that Gov. David Ige proposed in January.
Two influential state lawmakers who chair the financial committees at the Legislature announced today that they intend to deliver state tax rebates totaling about $250 million.
Rebates would be $100 for individuals with incomes of $100,000 or more along with $100 for each of their dependents.
For taxpayers who earn less than $100,000 a year, the rebate would be $300 and the same per dependent, meaning a family of four in this category would receive $1,200.
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Sylvia Luke, chair of the House Finance Committee, announced the plan on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight Hawaii online live-stream program.
Dela Cruz said the plan is still a work in progress and could be carried out in a bill that is still alive at the Legislature….
CB: Some Hawaii Taxpayers Could Get A $300 Check From The State
SA: WATCH LIVE: State Rep. Sylvia Luke and Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz join the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s ‘Spotlight Hawaii’
read … Lawmakers aim to triple size of rebates for most Hawaii taxpayers
Fired Navy captain privately raised Red Hill concerns, but had a different story publicly
HNN: … Capt. Albert Hornyak became the commanding officer of Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center last August. Two months later, in a video news release, Hornyak discussed the May 6 release of jet fuel at the facility that was initially reported as more 1,600 gallons.
Months later, that leak is believed to be as much 19,000 gallons of fuel.
“The primary cause of the release was operator error,” said Hornyak, in the military’s video news release. “However, I’d like to note that the system operated as designed to minimize the amount of product release as well as maximize the amount of product that was captured,” he added.
Despite his statements, in an email weeks earlier to the US Pacific Fleet commander, he warned about pressure surges in the pipelines. Hornyak wrote that on Sept. 29, contractors heard a loud noise similar to the one heard during the May 6 incident and immediately shut down operations.
Hornyak wrote the next day “a sagging pressure condition” was present in all three pipelines.
“Based on the May 6th event as well as this most recent event, I believe there are multiple valves in the Red Hill pipeline system are potentially leaking,” he added….
The next month after Hornyak wrote his October email, there was a second major leak in late November. Both leaks last year are believed to be the cause of the current contamination….
read … Fired Navy captain privately raised Red Hill concerns, but had a different story publicly
Who Needs Rail? Kalihi Transformation with or without Line
CB: … Commercial property values have spiked along the rail line since the tax to build the project went into effect. But rail didn’t create that new value, local analysts say….
read … ‘Nobody Knows What’s Going On’: Kalihi Is Transforming Despite Uncertainty About Rail
Survey: Big Island doctors face many challenges
HTH: … Doctors on the Big Island can’t afford to take patients who have Medicare and Medicaid due to low reimbursement rates.
“There’s a struggle with low reimbursement rates, there’s taxes on small service providers, so community members are putting off care,” Lisa Rantz, president of the Hawaii State Rural Health Association, told a Hawaii County Council Committee on Tuesday.
read … Survey: Big Island doctors face many challenges
Firefighters get pay raise, HPD up next
KHON: … Firefighters have been without a contract since July 2021. The new four-year contract calls for no pay raise for the first year, 3% for the next year and 4% for each of the following two years. The Hawaii Fire Fighters Association President Bobby Lee said it bodes well for HPD, which will go into arbitration next month…..Cavaco said the raise, combined with a new schedule of working 3 to 12-hour shifts a week will go a long way in attracting and retaining more officers….
KHON: Officer whose son is accused of murder remains on regular duty
HNN: Move to 4-day workweek allows Oahu’s most elite lifeguards to expand their reach
read … Firefighters get pay raise, HPD up next
Murder suspect, son of Honolulu police officers, did not receive special treatment, Chief Rade Vanic says
SA: … In response to a question from commission member Richard Parry about what happens when the child of a police officer becomes a murder suspect, Vanic said that Nainoa Damon, 19, was not living with his mother and stepfather at the time of the shooting….
Vanic said Damon was not in regular contact with his mother, a Honolulu Police Department sergeant in Wahiawa. His stepfather is an HPD corporal in Kalihi.
“Right now our investigation does not indicate at this time that they were involved in any way or interfered with the investigation in any way,” Vanic said. “Of course that is still part of our ongoing investigation, however, they are not on any type of special assignment. They continue their regular assignments.”
Police previously said that once his mother learned Damon was wanted in connection with the Tantalus slaying, she reached out to him and helped persuade him to turn himself in. Damon was arrested March 19 after walking into the Wahiawa police station with his defense attorney….
HNN: HPD interim chief reveals new details on Tantalus murder suspect’s police officer parents
read … Murder suspect, son of Honolulu police officers, did not receive special treatment, Chief Rade Vanic says
Commission Says Honolulu Should Fund Defense For Cops In Lindani Myeni Killing
CB: … Police officers Garrick Orosco and Brent Sylvester are named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed the week after Myeni was killed…..
HNN: Taxpayers to fund defense team for officers who fatally shot Lindani Myeni
read … Commission Says Honolulu Should Fund Defense For Cops In Lindani Myeni Killing
Eviction cases on the rise as Hawaii tenants struggle to stay in their homes
KHON: … According to The Mediation Center of the Pacific, more than 2,000 eviction cases were opened since August on Oahu. But only 887 cases were mediated….
read … Eviction cases on the rise as Hawaii tenants struggle to stay in their homes
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