Public Hearings re TMT All this Week
Hawaii Gun Permits Down 10.8%
Opioid Settlement: How will Hawaii Waste $78M?
$100M Tax Hike: City to hold virtual public meetings for new Storm Water Strategic Plan
Emergency Management Bill raises eyebrows over power to suspend media coverage
HTH: … A bill is in the works to strengthen and align local emergency powers more closely to those of the state during declared emergencies.
Bill 195, likely to be taken up in a County Council committee next week, was sponsored by Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz. She said her work in the community during the 2018 Kilauea eruption and then the coronavirus pandemic gave her a “passion for emergency preparedness and response.”…
But one provision has raised eyebrows for some in the media, including prominent Honolulu First Amendment attorney Jeffrey Portnoy.
Under additional powers the mayor may exercise during a declared emergency is the power to, “suspend electronic media transmission,” “to the extent permitted by or under Federal law.”
… Kierkiewicz said the measure could include local broadcast as well as internet media, and is an additional emergency power granted to county mayors via HRS 127A-13.
“There would have to be significant justification and massive coordination with federal and state agencies and our Corporation Counsel to necessitate such an action,” Kierkiewicz added….
“Taken at face value, it’s pretty draconian — and unconstitutional,” Portnoy said. “We’re not under martial law. … It’s a provision you would find in China or Iran or Turkey.”
In general, Portnoy added, “at a time of crisis the last thing you’d want to do is cut off information to the public.”…
UPDATE: Committee postpones emergency management bill: Questions surround media suspension and civil disturbances
read … New emergency management law in the works: Bill raises eyebrows over power to suspend media coverage
4 Days Before The Primary, More Than 186,000 Hawaii Voters Have Already Turned In Their Ballots
CB: … With less than a week to go before the primary, Hawaii voters had returned about 186,000 ballots out of more than 730,000 that were sent out statewide.
This translates to an overall rate of about 25.5% returned, with Oahu and the Big Island so far leading the turnout at a little over 26% of ballots having been returned by Tuesday, four days before the primary….
Kauai County had collected 7,631 ballots as of Monday, with 120 of that coming in-person, said County Clerk Lyndon Yoshioka.
Honolulu County had collected 130,795 ballots as of Monday, with 1,077 of that coming in-person.
Hawaii County had collected 29,561 ballots as of Tuesday, with 298 coming in-person as of Monday, according to Henricks.
Maui County had collected 18,025 ballots as of Monday, according to County Clerk Kathy Kaohu….
read … 4 Days Before The Primary, More Than 186,000 Hawaii Voters Have Already Turned In Their Ballots
Redacted Navy Red Hill log shows ‘critical’ system warnings began hours before May 6, 2021 fuel spill
SA: … At about 6:10 p.m. May 6, 2021, a tremendous amount of pressure surged through piping at the Navy’s Red Hill underground fuel facility, rupturing two joints and blowing off a 500-pound, 6-foot section of pipe. About 20,000 gallons of fuel came gushing out. The fuel eventually would come to contaminate the Navy’s drinking water system in November, sickening hundreds of military families.
That much has been confirmed by the Navy’s investigation into the water contamination, released June 30. But a Navy document provided to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser shows that on the morning of May 6, hours before the spill, a constant barrage of alarms began going off within Red Hill’s Automated Fuel Handling Equipment program, an inventory control system used by the Navy to track fuel in real time and detect leaks.
The alarms began at around 7 a.m., according to the May 6 AFHE alarm log, around the time that Red Hill workers began transferring fuel from Red Hill tanks, and persisted throughout the day. In addition to lower-level “notification” and “warning” alarms, the system logged dozens of “critical” alarms, beginning as early as 7:26 a.m….
The log is heavily redacted. While it includes the time stamp of the alarms and their priority level, the Navy classified the descriptions of the alarms as “security information.” The state Department of Health, which has regulatory authority over the facility, said that it had received an unredacted copy of the log but that it could not release it publicly under federal law because of the Navy’s classification….
read … Redacted Navy Red Hill log shows ‘critical’ system warnings began hours before May 6, 2021 fuel spill
Keith Kaneshiro trial is pushed back to March
SA: … “The United States understands the defense will seek a continuance to the fall of 2023 or early 2024,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Y. Chiang. “While we do not agree to that request, we defer to the Court’s discretion on the matter.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Orabona told Porter’s court Tuesday that the government sought a March 2023 start. The government’s case would take 10 to 12 trial days to present, Orabona said in court Tuesday….
read … Keith Kaneshiro trial is pushed back to March
Rising concrete prices to impact Hawaii construction and development
KITV: … To make concrete, you need cement, and like almost everything, the price of this material is going up dramatically. Industry experts predict a 30 to 60 percent increase in concrete prices by the end of this year and into 2023.
Construction experts say the dramatic increase in concrete prices could be $200 per cubic yard or more in Hawaii. ….
(Clue: ‘Rail’)
read … Rising concrete prices to impact Hawaii construction and development
The Most Expensive Gas in the US Is in Hawaii, Not California
B: … California has ended its reign as the US state with the most expensive gasoline, at least for now. That honor now goes to Hawaii, where the average pump price stands at $5.414 a gallon -- less than 2 pennies above California’s, according to data from auto club AAA. While the national average has fallen for 57 straight days after surging to a record in early June, the Golden State and Aloha State remain the only two places with prices above the $5 threshold….
read … The Most Expensive Gas in the US Is in Hawaii, Not California
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