31 Proposals to Stop Fraud, Drug Trafficking, and Bribery by Public Officials
Hilo Housing Cost Half of Statewide Median
DBEDT Economic Projections Unchanged
2022 Honolulu City Lights opening night set for Saturday, Dec. 3
Blangiardi Nominates New DPP Director
Former sports anchor, union official sentenced to probation for his role in corruption scandal
HNN: … Former KHNL sports anchor and union official Russell Yamanoha has been sentenced to two years of probation and was fined $5,000 for his role in a union corruption scandal.
Yamanoha, the former assistant business manager for the IBEW Local 1260, was convicted in 2019 for helping rig union votes….
The union rigged the votes to increase membership dues to fund the lavish lifestyle of Yamanoha’s former boss Brian Ahakuelo. Critics said that given his news background, Yamanoha should have known better.
“It’s just very distressing to have someone with a background in news and journalism to be that in a position where he looked the other way at something that obviously was wrong,” said investigative reporter and blogger Ian Lind.
The judge could have sentenced Yamanoha to up to a year in prison but didn’t because of his cooperation with federal prosecutors in helping to convict Ahakuelo on 69 counts of embezzlement, wire fraud and conspiracy….
read … Former sports anchor, union official sentenced to probation for his role in corruption scandal
Red Hill Leak: Actually, There Is Security Camera Footage, Navy Says
CB: … The U.S. Navy says there was a functioning security camera nearby when an estimated 1,100 gallons of concentrated firefighting chemicals leaked at Red Hill on Tuesday – a reversal of statements made earlier this week.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Navy Adm. John Wade said there were no cameras positioned at the leak location and he wasn’t aware of any video footage. Operators later reported that they identified two cameras near the leak site, the Navy told Civil Beat after an inquiry Thursday evening….
One camera was positioned outside the door of Adit 6, the entrance to the tunnel in which the leak started, according to the Navy. The leak supposedly occurred 40 feet into the tunnel but caused contamination outside the tunnel entrance, officials said on Wednesday. Crews have already packed over 100 drums — 55 gallons each — with contaminated soil and have excavated asphalt and concrete.
That camera can see about 10 feet into the tunnel when the door of Adit 6 is open, the Navy said.
A second camera located inside the tunnel, 200 feet away from the release site, was not functioning and was also not pointed in the direction of the leak, the Navy said….
HNN: The military says the spill happened 40 feet inside the mauka tunnel near what’s called Adit 6.
read … Red Hill Leak: Actually, There Is Security Camera Footage, Navy Says
Judge Tosses Lawsuit Challenging Kauai’s Termination Of Youth Drug Treatment Contract
CB: … Chief Judge Randal G.B. Valenciano dismissed the case when the former director of Hope Treatment Services failed to respond, skipping out on a series of court dates. The company’s lawyer withdrew from the case in October.
When Grove Farm donated nearly six acres to Kauai County in 2015, the land gift was specifically intended to host the island’s first inpatient drug treatment center since Hurricane Iniki wiped out the last one nearly 30 years ago. …
Kauai County canceled its contract with Hope Treatment Services to operate a new 16-bed youth rehabilitation center in the spring of 2020, citing problems with the company’s “performance and responsiveness.”
The ousted operator sued over the contract breach, alleging that the county unjustly benefited from the service provider’s investments in the building. The lawsuit alleged that Kauai County seized control of the $7 million taxpayer-funded inpatient adolescent treatment center and then repurposed the building as an isolation center for people infected with COVID-19, effectively barring Hope Treatment Services from the premises.
Built in 2019, the facility has never opened to help the drug-dependent youth it was built to serve….
read … Judge Tosses Lawsuit Challenging Kauai’s Termination Of Youth Drug Treatment Contract
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