Hawaii is the Worst State for Teachers
‘Kept in Dark’ -- Big Island Police chief search continues
HTH: … The nine-member commission, which currently has one vacancy, is tasked with appointing Hawaii County’s next police chief following the retirement of 40-year HPD veteran Paul Ferreira on Sept. 1. Paul Bugado, who served as deputy chief during Ferreira’s nearly six years at the helm, is serving as acting chief while the process to select a permanent leader continues.
“We have asked at this time to be left in the dark,” said Police Commission Chairman John Bertsch during the panel’s meeting Friday at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona. “I don’t know how many applicants we have or how many applicants have met the minimum qualifications, and that is purposeful.”
(The purpose is to pick an insider who is just as compromised as the officers he supervises and therefore can be trusted not to reform them.)
He said the commission did not asked for such information because the panel doesn’t want any appearance of being biased when it compiles a list of questions that’ll be distributed to the applicants by the Department of Human Resources amid its review of the applications received during the four-week recruitment period that opened Aug. 1.
“HR will send the commission back the list of (qualified) applicants along with their responses,” Bertsch said. “We will then go through each and every one of those responses and then begin to discuss who our lead applicants are and do the hard task of trying to figure out the best executive leader for our department moving forward.”
Once the top candidates have been selected, the commission plans on holding at least one public forum, although the number of forums and locations have yet to be determined. Bertsch also hopes to use new technology to increase access for the community.….
read … Police chief search continues
Will Pro-Tourism Activists Block ANOTHER Dairy Farm?
CB: … Go to the neighborhood grocery in Honolulu, and it’s hard to find a gallon of milk for less than $7.
But Bahman Sadeghi is hoping to change that. The chief executive of Meadow Gold Dairies, which Sadeghi acquired in 2020, has a long-range goal of bringing back Hawaii’s dairy industry.
He reckons that by producing milk locally, Meadow Gold can lower the price of a gallon of milk by 20%.
“The fundamental piece is producing local milk and processing locally,” Sadeghi said. “We process all the milk that is produced here locally today, which is from one farm. But that’s a very small portion of the total market size.”…
He estimates that shipping costs add $1.80 or more to the price of a gallon of milk, so getting rid of those costs could be a boon to consumers.
To that end, Sadeghi is plunging back into farming. Meadow Gold bought more than 600 acres on the Big Island for a dairy farm and to grow feed. These include 450 acres near Hawi, acquired from Parker Ranch, and 160 acres near Pepeekeo.
But buying farmland is just the first step. Getting approvals from the government and neighbors is a much bigger obstacle….
In 2018, after being slapped with fines from the Hawaii Department of Health amidst complaints from neighbors about run-off water carrying feces and urine, the 1,800-cow Big Island Dairy announced it would cease operations.
(Translation: It wasn’t tourism-friendly)
Around the same time, Hawaii Dairy Farm announced it would discontinue efforts to start a dairy farm on Kauai. The company attributed its decision to forgo building the 557-acre, pasture-raised dairy in Mahaulepu on regulatory hurdles. The project had also faced litigation over alleged Clean Water Act violations….
(Translation: It wasn’t tourism-friendly)
read … This New Dairy Owner Says Local Cows Can Bring Down Hawaii’s Milk Prices…
Plan to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use in Hawaii takes shape
SA: … The most comprehensive strategy yet to legalize adult recreational cannabis use in Hawaii is being prepared for state lawmakers ahead of next year’s legislative session starting four months from now.
Over the past several months, a task force dominated by state and county government officials has been shaping pieces of a cannabis legalization plan based on extensive research partly focused on practices and impacts in other states, public testimony and input from stakeholders that include Hawaii’s 6-year-old regulated medical cannabis industry.
The 15-member task force, created by lawmakers in 2021 through a bill that didn’t attract much public attention, is working to produce recommendations including a possible draft bill for establishing a dual legal cannabis system for medical use by patients and recreational use by adults.
State Rep. Ryan Yamane, who led the creation of the Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force, expects that the group’s work product will represent the best chance to legalize adult recreational use of cannabis in Hawaii, where lawmakers have unsuccessfully tried to achieve the goal for years….
read … Plan to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use in Hawaii takes shape
Instead of forcing bums into housing, City to open free wound clinic to address results of incessant bumfights
SA: … The city plans to open a free wound-care clinic in Chinatown in November to primarily serve the homeless. The clinic would be the first official collaboration between the city and the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Homeless Outreach &Medical Education, or H.O.M.E., program….
“They’re not going to remember when they have appointments and things like that, and as long as they can just drop in, they know where we are and they know they can drop in anytime to get the services, then I think they’re more likely to come by for medical care.”…
SA: More Homeless Mayhem--Honolulu police open attempted murder investigation in Ewa Beach
read … City to open free wound clinic to address needs of homeless
Election ballots to be mailed starting Oct. 17
SA: … Honolulu election officials said last week they will mail general election ballots to Oahu voters Oct. 17 and 18.
In addition, ballot drop boxes at 15 locations across Oahu will open Oct. 18 through 7 p.m. Election Day, Nov. 8.
read … Election ballots to be mailed starting Oct. 17
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