Green Makes First Judicial Appointment
Hawaii most expensive state to live in--86% Higher than US Average
Dela Cruz Manipulation? Senate Committee Rejects Green's Pick for DBEDT
Nominee for State Planning Director responsible for Oahu’s High Electricity Costs
Honolulu police officers charged over car chase
Oʻo Award for Digging out ‘Affordable’ Housing Scam
Hu Honua Decision Based on 'Right To A Life-Sustaining Climate'
Pentagon: Red Hill Defueling on Track
SB490: State’s new Department of Law Enforcement grabs for Honolulu PD Territory on DHHL Lands
CB: … DHHL wanted the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 490, which would have given the Hawaiian Homes Commission its own police powers, allowing the chair to hire law enforcement officers dedicated to Hawaiian homelands. The bill died after passing two committees.
The initial ask was $500,000 dollars.
The problem, DHHL testified, is that police responses to crime on the homelands are “inconsistent across the different counties.”…
Patty Kahanamoku-Teruya, a Hawaiian Homes Commission member and chair of the Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board, has been particularly vocal in calling for the bill. She says HPD officers sometimes refuse to step onto Hawaiian homelands to enforce against game rooms, saying it’s not their jurisdiction.
DHHL publicized HPD’s bust of a Waimanalo game room in 2021, but similar coverage is hard to find.
“We continue to hear from beneficiaries that there’s no enforcement” against drug distribution, game rooms, abandoned vehicles and squatters, Kahanamoku-Teruya said.
“Usually the police will go, ‘That’s a state property. Where’s your enforcement team?’” she said ….
The state’s new Department of Law Enforcement opposed the bill’s initial version, saying it ran contrary to the Legislature’s decision to consolidate state law enforcement by standing up the department last year.
DLE came around when the next version of the bill moved the officers under its roof.
(BINGO!)
The Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations said it was “extremely concerned” about crime on the homelands but questioned DHHL’s priorities.
“DHHL has a well-known and deplorable history of fulfilling its core mandate of issuing homestead lands to native Hawaiian beneficiaries,” SCHHA testified. “Not only would it be inadvisable to further distract DHHL from its core mission, its current capacity is simply unable to operate a statewide law enforcement division.”…
By Tuesday, the revised version of the bill sought $1.1 million to fund 12 full-time law enforcement officers dedicated to Hawaiian homelands but free to act elsewhere too. The bill ended up in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, where Rep. David Tarnas deferred it after identifying the jurisdictional confusion….
SB490: Text, Status
read … Cops Have Jurisdiction On Homelands, But DHHL Says Policing Is Patchy
Senators Reject Governor’s Pick For Economy Chief But Give Thumbs-Up To New DHHL Director
CB: … Senators Reject Governor’s Pick For Economy Chief But Give Thumbs-Up To New DHHL Director
A Senate committee rejected the nomination of Gov. Josh Green economic chief on Thursday, a decision that could make it difficult for the governor to advance parts of his agenda on affordable housing and could toss the future of Aloha Stadium and tourism marketing into limbo.
The Senate Energy, Economic Development and Tourism Committee voted 4-to-1 against Chris Sadayasu’s nomination to lead the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism.
A separate committee gave preliminary approval to Kali Watson, Green’s pick to lead the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Both nominations still must go before the full 25-member Senate in the coming weeks, unless Green withdraws Sadayasu’s nomination….
(CLUE: Sadayasu’s #2, Dane Wicker, is Sen Dela Cruz’ business partner and former Chief of Staff. Maybe Wicker will become #1 now.)
SA: Senate committee rejects Green’s second Cabinet nominee
SA: Hawaii lawmakers divided over governor’s latest nominees
read … Senators Reject Governor’s Pick For Economy Chief But Give Thumbs-Up To New DHHL Director
The Hawaii Tourism Authority Is A Step Closer To Being Dissolved
CB: … Hawaii lawmakers moved toward dramatically reshaping how the island state markets itself as a tourist destination on Thursday, when a joint House committee voted to approve a Senate bill dissolving the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The bill, which the House committees on tourism and economic development passed with amendments, would transfer the tourism authority’s functions into an office under the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The measure faces two more House hearings before it can pass out of the chamber.
Rep. Sean Quinlan, chairman of the House Tourism Committee, said it was important that the new office clearly focus on destination management, not marketing ….
read … The Hawaii Tourism Authority Is A Step Closer To Being Dissolved
Hu Honua News: Senate Bill to Disrupt PUC Approval Process is Dead
IM: … The State Senate passed SB 72 to fast-track approval of two Big Island projects: Hu Honua and the Hawi Wind Farm. The bill was authored by Senators Lorraine Inouye, Donovan Dela Cruz, and Glenn Wakai.
The bill included two phrases in the same paragraph implying a causal effect where none exists. “Delays in receiving approvals from the public utilities commission... renewable energy projects take multiple years to develop.”
The bill ignored the fact that the PUC approval process for an uncontested power purchase agreement is the shortest phase in the total time to bring a project online.
The bill ignored the fact that Hu Honua would raise rates, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and promote money-driven backroom deals.
The bill asserted that governmental efficiency is required to bring new renewable projects on line. The solution: bypass the approval process for some projects. Fast track all other projects.
The bill did not mention a primary reason for recent delays: supply chain disruptions.
The bill also did not mention recent PUC decisions to increase the efficient review of contracts for renewable energy.
The House triple referred the bill to three separate hearings. The first committee declined to hear the bill. Deadlines have passed. The bill is dead….
read … Senate Bill to Disrupt PUC Approval Process is Dead
Dwayne Yuen’s child pornography indictment: Is there more to come?
KHON: … Attorney Alexander Silvert, author of “The Mailbox Conspiracy,” joins producer/host Coralie Chun Matayoshi to discuss:
--whether Yuen could be charged with not only possessing, but manufacturing child pornography
--if convicted, factors that could affect sentencing guidelines (e.g. number of photos/victims, offer of money, threats)
--how state legislation allowed victims a window of time to bring civil actions against perpetrators long past the statute of limitations
--why the FBI is asking other potential victims to come forward….
read … Dwayne Yuen’s child pornography indictment: Is there more to come?
Computer science mandate for Hawaii public schools?
SA: … A bill to require the state Board of Education to determine whether computer science should become a requirement for public school graduation is moving through the state Legislature.
But while there are few arguments against the general idea, stumbling blocks for the bill include how to make space in existing graduation requirements for computer science along with other additional subjects, such as financial literacy, some key lawmakers wish to see offered or required at Hawaii’s public schools….
(IDEA: Do both and eliminate gender diversity studies.)
The latest version of House Bill 503 would require BOE to work with the state Department of Education to “conduct an analysis on the need, impact, and feasibility of making computer science a graduation requirement” and determine whether it would “be in the best interests of public school students and the public” to do so. The proposal would also require a report to the Legislature and appropriate funds for teacher professional development in computer science.
(KEY QUESTION: How will DoE hide its failure?)
GT: Hawaii Bill Proposes Compsci as Graduation Requirement
read … Computer science mandate for Hawaii public schools debated
Navy discloses another Red Hill spill of Fire Fighting Foam
SA: … Approximately 1,500 gallons of concentrated firefighting suppressant containing toxic chemicals spilled at the Navy’s Red Hill underground fuel facility on Dec. 7, 2019, the Navy disclosed to regulators this week, bringing the number of known spills at the facility to three and elevating concerns that dangerous chemicals, called PFAS, still may be lurking in the environment as a result.
The fire suppressant, called aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, is used to suppress fires caused by flammable liquids such as fuel but also poses its own risks….
The 2019 spill at Red Hill was disclosed by the Navy this week as part of an extensive request for information from the EPA for details about past releases of AFFF at the beleaguered facility. The agency’s law enforcement arm requested the information after the Navy announced that on Nov. 29, 1,300 gallons of AFFF concentrate had spilled at Red Hill….
The document also lists another spill of approximately 5,000 gallons of “AFFF-impacted water” that was released in an underground pump house on Sept. 29, which was first reported by Honolulu Civil Beat in December based on information provided by a former Red Hill employee….
read … Another One
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