Auditor Rips OHA Land Acquisitions--Making it up as they Go Along
Four Anti-Gun Bills Left
Supreme Court Rejects Hu Honua -- Scheme Would Add $10.97 to monthly electric bill
CB: … In a searing rebuke to Hu Honua, the Hawaii Supreme Court has denied the company’s appeal of a Public Utilities Commission decision, saying the state was correct to reject the biomass project’s bid to operate on the Big Island.
The court handed down a unanimous 5-0 ruling on Monday saying it found no error in the commission’s conclusion that allowing Hu Honua to fire up would not be in public’s best interest.
Hu Honua’s major shortcomings are the 8 million metric tons of air pollution it would emit over 30 years by burning eucalyptus and other trees, as well as the higher cost of energy consumers would be forced to pay, adding some $10.97 to their monthly bills.
The commission “has a duty to act in the public interest,” and that’s what it did last May by voting 2-1 to reject Hu Honua’s long sought-after quest for a power purchase agreement to sell energy to Hawaiian Electric, the court found….
read … Hawaii Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Big Island’s Hu Honua Power Project
State begins Maunakea transfer from UH with newly nominated stewardship team
HPR: … On July 1, a transition period begins, transferring control over Maunakea to the authority, and away from the University of Hawaiʻi.
Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority Chairman John Komeiji said the group needs consultants to get the ball rolling on the kuleana, or responsibility, they have been tasked with last year under Act 255….
The board wants to spend $4 million over the next two years on consultants for project management, community outreach and independent counsel. The six staff positions that are planned need to be approved by the governor and the legislature.
Authority members have not yet been confirmed by the Senate, which has complicated matters like taking an official position on pending legislation….
Senate Bill 81, introduced by Hawaiʻi Island Sen. Lorraine Inouye, would keep authority over conservation lands on Maunakea under the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
"It takes away from the autonomy of this authority," Komeiji said. "If we're basically making recommendations and someone else can override our decision making. Then I believe that is not what was intended in the creation of this authority."
Komeiji is one of the eight nominees awaiting a confirmation hearing before Sen. Lorraine Inouye and members of the Senate Water and Land Committee.
read … State begins Maunakea transfer from UH with newly nominated stewardship team
Economic cost of 3 years of COVID-19
SA: .. Three years have passed since, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization dubbed COVID-19 as a global pandemic. That day Hawaii’s Council on Revenues projected a loss of $225 million to the state budget for the next year.
That sounds pretty small-ball in hindsight, once the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization calculated a $7 billion loss to the accommodations and food-services sector from 2020 to the end of this year….
read … Economic cost of 3 years of COVID-19
HPD chief: 38 concealed-carry gun permits approved so far
HNN: … Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan said the department has received a little more than 800 concealed carry applications so far.
Logan added 38 licenses were approved as of Monday.
That’s up slightly from three weeks ago when Logan told the City Council that about 30 licenses were granted….
read … HPD chief: 38 concealed-carry gun permits approved so far
In The Line Of Duty? Kealoha Ruling Raises Questions About Public’s Obligation To Cops
CB: … the ruling’s impact on officers facing more ordinary misconduct charges is yet to be determined.
Even if officers exceed their duty by using “unreasonable force or driving at excessive speeds” to arrest someone, McKenna wrote, “representation should be available because the officer was initially acting to perform the officer’s duty as a police officer.”
The law in question, 52D-8 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, provides for the legal representation of police officers prosecuted for a crime or sued in a civil case “for acts done in the performance of the officer’s duty as a police officer.”….
HPD Chief talks about how he plans to deal with violent crime
Honolulu police chief discusses changes coming to HPD
read … In The Line Of Duty? Kealoha Ruling Raises Questions About Public’s Obligation To Cops
Can courts order involuntary treatment for chronically homeless individuals?
HNN: … Attorney Christopher Thomas joins producer/host Coralie Chun Matayoshi to discuss:
the rights of chronically houseless individuals with disabling conditions like severe mental illness or substance abuse
different legal actions that can help them, including civil commitment, guardianship, and assisted community treatment
how assisted community treatment “street medicine” works
proof required for a family court judge to issue an Order to Treat, that can include involuntary medication….
read … Can courts order involuntary treatment for chronically homeless individuals?
Convicted Rapist who ‘reclaimed’ DHHL land step up pressure campaign ... with a bulldozer
HNN: … Over the weekend, one protester ― De Mont Manaole (Conner)― used an excavator to clear a long-vacant, four-acre DHHL parcel that was overrun by weeds and nonnative trees.
“This land was just wasting away. It’s just growing ... overgrown with invasive species,” said Manaole (Conner).
“It’s sad that they’re not taking care of it.”
Manaole, (Conner) a second generation Native Hawaiian on the DHHL’s waitlist, “reclaimed” the land in protest to the department’s sluggish pace of building housing for Native Hawaiians….
Flashback: Conner 'earned' a chance for parole in 2004, after spending 21 years behind bars
LinkedIn: Conner kitted out with shiny new Hawaiian names
read … Protesters who ‘reclaimed’ DHHL land step up pressure campaign ... with a bulldozer
Wait times back to normal at Hilo Airport following issue at security checkpoint
KITV: … Wait times at the security checkpoint at Hilo International Airport were over two hours long for the past few days after one of the lanes went down, Saturday, transportation officials said. The issue also caused flights to be delayed and some even cancelled.
The state transportation department says equipment failures led to many people having to wait in lines for as long as two hours over the weekend and into today.
The issue prevented the Transportation Security Administration from screening carry-on bags.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) was out providing seating and water for passengers in the waiting area.
Technicians and equipment was called in from the mainland to resolve the issue.
The lane was restored and re-opened around 11:45 a.m. on Monday….
read … Wait times back to normal at Hilo Airport following issue at security checkpoint
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