Maui Council Aide Supports Hana Lynch Mob Attackers
Hawaii Taxpayer Refunds Go Out Next Week
2022’s Most & Least Ethnically Diverse Towns in Hawaii
Registration Open for 2022-2023 Hawaii LifeSmarts Competition
Weed and Seed is a Joke: Laughing Criminals Avoid Prison
HNN: … More than a year since the start of Chinatown's latest "Weed and Seed" program, more than 300 people have been charged with felonies, misdemeanors and other crimes.
But many of them quickly return to the streets -- and back to no good.
"You've seen criminals that repeatedly do assault and drugs with 30 to 50 to 60 arrest records -- and they're on the streets," said Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, head of the Chinatown Business & Community Association. "Why are they on the streets? Why aren't they in mandatory treatment programs? Get them off the streets." …
"There have been a lot of arrests in Chinatown. People are prosecuted. We have asked for a geographic restrictions repeatedly and have not been successful," he said.
In announcing today's start of the "Safe and Sound Waikiki" program -- city officials made a plea to the judiciary to help them reduce crime in the state's top tourist destination by granting geographic restrictions -- banning repeat offenders from returning to the areas where they commit crimes….
(Better Idea: Put them in a prison.)
read … City struggling to weed out crime; calling on courts for stiffer consequences
Artificially Created Crisis: Overcrowding at HCCC ‘a serious and immediate concern’
WHT: … A report by the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission details the effects of chronic overcrowding at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo….
The visit by Sakai and Johnson was at the main campus. On Aug. 25, the three buildings there — Punahele, Komohana and Waianuenue — had a head count of 259, more than 100 more inmates than its design capacity of 152 individuals, a 170% occupancy rate.
“Nearly every cell, each originally designed for one person, had three or four individuals housed. The back area of Punahele had approximately 15 men housed with mattresses on the floor,” the report stated.
Johnson looked into four cells being used to house women, which she said “appeared to be in a hallway … potentially used as intake or short-term housing.”
She described one cell as a “dry cell,” meaning it had no toilet or access to water, housing at least five women on mattresses on the floor. Johnson asked how long they had been housed there. One woman replied a month while the others said they’d been there two weeks….
(This is why the soft on crime crowd obstructs prison and jail construction. So overcrowding can be exploited to keep criminals on the streets.)
read … Overcrowding at HCCC ‘a serious and immediate concern’
Civil Beat Asks Judge To Force Hawaii To Identify Prison Inmates Who Died Behind Bars
CB: … Other states routinely identify inmates who die in custody, but Hawaii refuses to do so. That prevents the public from learning how most of those inmates died…..
(IDEA: Identify inmates who die or commit new crimes while out on bail, furlough, parole or probation.)
read … Civil Beat Asks Judge To Force Hawaii To Identify Prison Inmates Who Died Behind Bars
Study: Bums Less Likely to Get COVID
CB: … Data collected from Hawaii and several other states shows that Covid-19 spread more slowly among homeless people compared with the general population…..
read … How Homeless People Have Weathered The Pandemic In Hawaii
A ‘Tremendous Need’ For Affordable Housing In Hawaii Leads To Long Waitlists
CB: … With many Hawaii residents priced out of the real estate market on Oahu, affordable housing projects are filling up as fast as they can be built. That means waitlists may be anywhere from six months to three years….
Hawaii Affordable Properties, a local property management company, oversees 5,000 rental units in the state, including some built by the City and County of Honolulu.
Applicants are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, with units usually becoming available only when someone is evicted or moves out, McEnroe said, adding that occupancy rates are about 100%….
KITV: Hawaii's affordable housing crisis growing as many wait for years on wait lists
read …. A ‘Tremendous Need’ For Affordable Housing In Hawaii Leads To Long Waitlists
Council Bill 43 Attacks Builders of Apartment Buildings
SA: … The Honolulu City Council is taking up a measure to target “monster home” development which would impose higher fines and blocks on permit applications for continuous violators of building codes. However, questions from builders have yet to be addressed.
Council Chair Tommy Waters introduced Bill 43 to crack down on monster homes, new large structures in older neighborhoods that often illegally rent out rooms for both short- and long-term rentals….
Both the General Contractors Association of Hawaii and the Building Industry Association Hawaii submitted written testimony raising concerns about the measure.
They wanted to know how the bill would affect multi-unit projects with repeat violations per unit, or how people with multiple construction firms would be treated if only one firm becomes subject of the measure….
Another issue they raised is whether the volume of projects under one builder is being taken under consideration. The example they offered is if a builder works on 100 projects a year, they are at higher risk of having multiple violations than one that is doing only 10…
read … Council considers measure to crack down on ‘monster homes’
Hawaii County Council still stuck on suspending electronic communications
HTH: … the clause giving the mayor the power to, “suspend electronic media transmission,” “to the extent permitted by or under Federal law” under a declared emergency remained in the bill after council members couldn’t agree on a proposed substitute.
Nor was there clear agreement on what that language was intended to do, as it was copied from the state law that required the counties to set up their own laws implementing the state law….
read … Disaster management: Council committee clarifies language, still stuck on suspending electronic communications
Hawaii Proud Boys founder agrees to plea deal for involvement in Jan. 6 riots
HNN: … Hawaii Proud Boys founder Nick Ochs has agreed to a plea deal for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Court documents say Ochs will plead guilty to obstructing an official proceeding.
The agreement drops other charges.
Ochs also agreed that the potential sentence could be more than three and a half years in federal prison….
SA: Hawaii Proud Boys founder, accomplice intend to plead guilty to Jan. 6 insurrection charge
HNN: WATCH: New video shows former Hawaii Proud Boy playing active role in Jan. 6 riot
read … Hawaii Proud Boys founder agrees to plea deal for involvement in Jan. 6 riots
Honolulu police officers rarely disciplined for violating policy on body cameras
HNN: … Five years after the Honolulu Police Department started rolling out body-worn cameras to officers, some are still not turning on the devices when required, others are shutting them off when they’re not supposed, and critics say it’s time for tougher penalties for policy violations.
HPD officers are required to activate the cameras when they respond to a call for service or have contact with a member of the public.
But questionable events, now under review for criminal charges, show officers are neglecting to comply or outright disregarding the rules.
Last September, an HPD officer responded to break up a gathering at Maili Beach Park. He followed the BWC policy at first, and his video shows a white Honda sedan exiting the parking lot. The driver honks the horn and peels out.
The officer is then heard on his camera saying “I going chase this (expletive).”
He runs back to his patrol car but before getting in, his hand is shown over the camera lens as the recording stops.
The officer is one of three now facing possible criminal charges after the five people in that sedan were seriously hurt during the alleged chase.
Disciplinary records submitted to the state Legislature show a total of six HPD officers were disciplined in 2021 for violations that included deactivating or failing to activate the body-worn camera. But no one was punished solely for a camera violation….
read … Honolulu police officers rarely disciplined for violating policy on body cameras
National recall on electric buses prompts City to pull fleet off Oahu roads
HNN: … All 17 of Oahu’s new electric buses are off the roads due to a recall over potential leaks in the cooling system, city officials said Tuesday….
DTS has not had any troubles with any of the 17 E-V buses in the Honolulu fleet, but has taken them off the roadways in an abundance of caution until inspections can be completed on each vehicle.
The city said no issues have been reported but they’re inspecting the fleet just to be sure.
Repairs on each bus will take about two days and they’ll be put back into service once finished, officials said….
read … National recall on electric buses prompts City to pull fleet off Oahu roads
Sunscreen Hysteria Bites: Are Hawaii’s Beach Showers in Violation of the Clean Water Act?
UD: … According to a recent study, the facilities are a “point source” of sunscreen contamination and a threat to coral reefs….
read … Are Hawaii’s Beach Showers in Violation of the Clean Water Act?
Election News:
QUICK HITS: