Ige Appoints Kawashima to First Circuit
Akina Endorses Sam King for OHA Trustee
UHERO: US recession will weigh on Hawaii’s recovery
Consider TMT changes to lessen impact on Native Hawaiians, EPA urges
SA: … In its comments, the EPA encouraged the NSF to include analysis of other locations beyond its proposed site, which is near and just below the 13,796-foot Mauna Kea summit. Other locations to be considered, it said, should be decommissioned telescope sites and other areas already disturbed by development.
The EPA also recommended that other design options be considered to lessen the overall impact of the telescope, including the supporting infrastructure.
The agency also asked the NSF to compare and contrast the environmental impacts for both Mauna Kea and the TMT alternative site in the Canary Islands and even conduct additional studies, if warranted, to produce comparable information for both locations.
“As cultural resources are so important at the Hawaii location, we encourage the NSF to include a comparison of impacts to cultural resources between the Spain and Hawaii locations in addition to any other alternatives identified,” the letter says.
The EPA pointed to recent executive orders by President Joe Biden that direct federal agencies to advance equity and justice for underserved communities, including Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander communities. The orders seek to eliminate barriers to equity and justice for those populations.
The EPA also urged the NSF to align its work with the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, newly created by the state Legislature, that will assume sole responsibility of the astronomy precinct from the University of Hawaii following a three-year transitional period.
Gov. David Ige recently named his appointments to the 11-member authority, which includes a mix of Native Hawaiians, cultural practitioners and representatives of the state and other institutions, who must still win state Senate confirmation.
In its letter, the EPA said the new oversight authority should be “a critical partner” in the environmental process to ensure the draft EIS, as well as a final decision and any potential construction, would be in line with the authority’s planning efforts, including the future framework for astronomy development….
read … Consider TMT changes to lessen impact on Native Hawaiians, EPA urges
Are Rail Cracks a Four Year old Problem or a Seven Year Old Problem?
KHON: … She said cracks were first noticed in December 2018, however, KHON2’s report of damage to parts of the guideway on Kualakai Parkway in Kapolei go back to 2015….
“So if Hitachi is done with all the trial running tests, they meet their 98.5% in the first quarter of next year, the hammerhead cracks are not solved, we are not opening,” said Kahikina. “We are not transferring to DTS until this is settled.”…
VIDEO: Kahikina AARP Presentation Sept 22, 2022
read … Update on cracks in columns along Honolulu’s rail line
Hawaii Commission Fines Kai Kahele’s Campaign For Illegal Solicitations
CB: … The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission fined U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele’s gubernatorial campaign $1,000 for improperly soliciting donations from lists of donors who had contributed to Gov. David Ige’s 2014 run for governor.
The commission took just minutes to vote unanimously on leveling a fine against Kahele’s campaign. The campaign will have two weeks to pay the fine. Kahele wasn’t present at the meeting….
The commission also unanimously approved a package of new proposals to submit during the next legislative session, which is slated to start in January.
One proposal seeks to close a loophole that allows legislators to use their campaign funds to donate to other legislators. That practice is generally banned, but lawmakers can buy up to two tickets to their colleagues’ fundraisers in order to funnel money between campaigns.
“The commission found this has led candidates to building factions and buying influence,” Kam said.
Under the proposed bill, there would be exceptions for governor candidates and their running mates to donate to each other.
Another proposal would ban all elected officials from accepting campaign contributions during any regular or special session of the Legislature. This year, lawmakers banned fundraising events, but still took in more than $500,000 to help bolster their campaigns this election season.
The commission is also proposing a bill that would expand Hawaii’s law banning campaign donations from government contractors. The current ban only applies to companies with contracts.
The proposed bill would expand that prohibition to the principal officers of those companies and the officer’s family members. A similar ban would also be extended to recipients of state grants…
SA: U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele to be fined $1,000 for violating Campaign Spending law
read … Hawaii Commission Fines Kai Kahele’s Campaign For Illegal Solicitations
After $1B Work, Honolulu Still 2nd Worst Airport in USA
HNN: … The 2022 North America Airport Satisfaction Study ranks the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport as the second worst large airport in the continent. Only Philadelphia International Airport ranked worse….
read … The state has poured $1B into Honolulu airport upgrades, but travelers aren’t impressed
Sex offender registrations increasing in Hawaii
KITV: … Officials at Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center said the number of registered sex offenders in Hawaii increased a little since last year.
Convicted sex offenders are required to register in-person at the Hawaii State Attorney General’s – and provide their home address, car information and place of employment.
Currently, there are more than 3,000 register sex offenders in the state. 30 of them involve sex abuse of a minor, according to research by Safehomeorg.com….
read … Sex offender registrations increasing in Hawaii
Hawaii Correctional Systems Oversight Commission: “We have people in there and are trying to get them out”
CB: … Some of the inmates at the packed Hilo jail have been stuck there because they could not post bail in amounts as low as $15, and conditions at the facility are so poor they rival conditions at the infamous Rikers Island in New York City, a Hawaii corrections oversight panel was told Thursday.
(Translation: It is like a jail in jail.)
Christin Johnson, the oversight coordinator for the Hawaii Correctional Systems Oversight Commission, said she has visited nearly 50 prisons and jails across the country, “and I have never seen one in this condition — ever. It was just pretty terrible, to be frank.”
Johnson, who was recently hired by Gov. David Ige to staff the commission, has been touring state correctional facilities in recent weeks as part of her introduction to the system, and she has already been warning that conditions at some do not meet minimum legal requirements established by the federal courts….
The goal is “we have people in there with $15 bails, $20 bails, $30 bails, and so really looking at that, and highlighting them and trying to get them out,” she told the commission….
(Translation: Their families want them to stay in jail)
read … Some Inmates Were Stuck At The Hilo Jail Because They Couldn’t Post $15 Bail
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