July 7, 1935: Moscow orders first Communists to Hawaii
Only 1,245 passengers ride Rail on first day they had to pay
Green Signs Dozens of Bills
Oahu Park water reduction efforts exceed expectations
HHFDC Gives Solar Farm Control of Waianae Affordable Housing Complex
Green Seeks Comment on Oahu Judicial Nominees
Homeless Medical Respite Fills up in One Month
Need $60K to Pay Your Mortgage?
Tax Hike for More Rail Construction Coming: Rail CEO looks to extend rail surcharge as Ridership Drops to Nearly Zero
HNN: … On Wednesday, Skyline saw a truly pathetic 1,245 riders, (CLUE: TOTAL FAIL) the city reported….
Despite the disappointing figures, rail leaders are already looking ahead to expanding the system — with the help of extension of the state rail tax surcharge.
(Reality: We could have bought each rider a single family home near their destination for 10% of what it cost to build Rail.)
encouraged by the nearly 72,000 riders in the first five days, Kahikina feels emboldened to ask for more — an extension of the excise tax surcharge and hotel tax contribution beyond 2030, when they’re set to expire.
“I always knew when I came in that would be the next big ask but there was no way I could go next door to ask them until I could show them we are a different HART,” Kahikina said….
SA: Rail ridership falls as paid service begins
read … Rail CEO looks to extend the system — by extending rail surcharge
Maui GET increase guaranteed to hurt poorer residents by increasing their rent
MN: … the county is already collecting a lot more in taxes. In the upcoming fiscal year, the county will be collecting about $100 million more in property taxes than the current year, during which it collected about $50 million more than the year before that. The county clearly has the money to pay for “housing infrastructure” without a new tax.
More important, the best way to encourage new housing is not to tax and spend, but to reduce regulations on homebuilding. Maui County has among the highest levels of homebuilding regulations in the country, according to a University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization brief, so tinkering at the margins via a tax increase to fund government-managed “housing infrastructure” programs is sure to be less effective than just allowing private homebuilders to do what they do best — build homes.
Also, ironically, an increase in the GET could affect rental prices, which doesn’t say much for a tax that ultimately is supposed to help lower housing costs.
Reducing housing prices, of course, is a good goal — which Mayor Bissen and the County Council should energetically pursue — but making life more unaffordable for everyone is not the best way to do that….
read … Maui GET increase guaranteed to hurt poorer residents
Rail Contractor Sues HART Over Construction Delays
CB: … The contractor hired to build the 5-mile airport segment of the Honolulu rail line is suing the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, alleging HART’s failure to address problems with the relocation of utilities along the line has caused expensive construction delays.
Contractor Shimmick/Traylor/Granite Joint Venture alleges HART’s actions are a breach of its contract with the company, and is seeking more than $99 million in damages and interest.
STG alleged in the lawsuit filed Thursday that HART was warned well in advance about issues related to utilities in the path of the project, and HART told bidders it was aware of the danger and was coping with of the problem.
“HART’s description of utility coordination as an ‘Achilles heel’ has proven, albeit unfortunately, accurate,” according to the lawsuit. “This suit is the direct result, and HART has only itself to blame.”…
STG was awarded an $886 million contract in 2016 to build four stations and about 5 miles of elevated track from Aloha Stadium to Middle Street….
SA: Builder of Skyline’s ‘airport’ segment sues city
June 2023: Rail Contracts for Downtown Electrical Reconnections--One Billion and Counting:
read … Rail Contractor Sues HART Over Construction Delays
Mitsunaga: My Lawyer Gave us Protection from Feds
CB: … The CEO of a Honolulu engineering firm, Mitsunaga is facing charges of trying to buy the prosecution of a former employee. If convicted of bribing former prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, the 79-year-old could go to prison for the rest of his life.
(Translation: Running down the clock.)
But in new court filings, Mitsunaga’s legal team said the investigation and grand jury process led by San Diego-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat was so crooked that the whole case must be thrown out.
Nina Marino, Mitsunaga’s Los Angeles-based attorney, is accusing prosecutors of “intruding” into the attorney-client relationship Mitsunaga and his employees had with the firm’s lawyer, Sheri Tanaka, who is charged in the case.
Marino says prosecutors also accepted false (Translation: ‘True’) testimony before the grand jury and misled witnesses into thinking they were not targets of the investigation in order to secure their testimony. They were later charged. (Translation: Offered then leniency to roll over.)
It all amounts to “outrageous prosecutorial misconduct,” Marino wrote. …
In Mitsunaga’s case, Marino says the feds secretly targeted Tanaka for more than a year, even as they knew she was representing Mitsunaga in the same grand jury investigation….
(Translation: My shyster was a co-conspirator therefore the entire conspiracy should be untouchable.)
Grand jurors were also given the false impression that Mitsunaga and his colleagues all donated to Kaneshiro’s reelection campaign on the same days, according to Marino. In fact, the dates indicated on campaign finance reports reflect the day on which they were deposited, she said, not when the checks were written….
(IQ Test: Are you laughing?)
read … Businessman Accused Of Bribing Honolulu Prosecutor Points Finger At Feds
DOE spent $168M on bell and alarm system, Nine Years Later more than half of schools still don’t have it
HNN: … More than half of Hawaii’s 255 public schools rely on aging bell, alarm and P.A. systems due to delays in installing promised high-tech upgrades, Hawaii News Now has learned.
The upgrades were supposed to be part of the Department of Education’s Converge Infrastructure Initiative which the DOE has spent at least $168 million on since 2014.
But due to a recent lack of funding, more than a 100 public schools still rely on outdated and failing analog equipment….
The DOE said the groundwork for the program was completed in all schools in 2016.
“One hundred percent of Hawaii’s public schools are on infrastructure with enough bandwidth to make technology a part of learning in every classroom,” said Michael Otsuji, assistant superintendent and chief information officer for the DOE.
But the department acknowledged that it still needs more money to install the upgraded bell and PA system portions at many of its schools.
A DOE source said that installing new Cisco equipment will likely require the rewiring of hundreds of DOE buildings with fiber optic cables, which can cost tens of millions of dollars….
The source said that the department faces a skeptical Legislature, which threatened to audit the Converge IT program in 2019.
That’s because the department used school construction money to fund the program….
Along with the delays, critics said the DOE’s procurement process lacked transparency.
The state Procurement Office’s website only lists four DOE contracts valued at less than $4 million with the department’s main vendor World Wide Technology.
Hawaii News Now requested copies of all Converge contracts last month but the DOE has not yet provided those records….
read … DOE spent $168M on bell and alarm system, but more than half of schools still don’t have it
After Importing Pimp to Hawaii, UH Ken Lawson Speaks Up: Shovel-Wielding Hate Attack “is for nothing”
HNN: … speakers at the presentation dispute the classification of the incident as a hate crime.
“We are definitely not racist where we come from. We learned from our capos of how to live their life in. It just hurts me that my son is paying a price we think is for nothing,” said Chico Kaonohi, the father of Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi.
(CLUE: He just told you that beating a man with a shovel “is for nothing.” Did you hear him or are you making excuses?)
Ken Lawson, the Beyond Guilt Clinic Director, echoed these sentiments, “these young men had already been pled guilty in the state system, but that wasn’t good enough. They’re being used as scapegoats for the white culture to teach everybody else a lesson.” …
Background:
read … Public presentation questions sentencing of men convicted in West Maui hate crime
Honolulu City Council trio formally rejects 64% pay raises
SA: … Three Honolulu City Council members had to formally reject their over 64% pay hikes in writing prior to the start of the new fiscal year, which began July 1.
In the days leading up to the controversial start of the salary increases for Honolulu’s top elected and appointed officials, Council members Augie Tulba, Andria Tupola and Radiant Cordero were each required to submit a memorandum to the city stating their rejection to the expected $44,400 pay bump — to $113,304 from $68,904.
“They do so through a memo submitted to my office voluntarily reducing their salary,” Kenny Amazaki, the city’s administrative services officer, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser via email. “I have asked them to specifically state the amount they want their salary at in their memos.”
To that end, Cordero submitted her memo on June 19, Tulba on June 26 and Tupola on June 30 — all three requesting to keep their annual Council salaries unchanged….
Big Q: What do you think of three City Council members declining 64% pay raises? 73% -- “Exemplary; this issue will affect my vote for Council”
read … Honolulu City Council trio formally rejects 64% pay raises
Honolulu Council Recall Effort Limited by City Charter
CB: …The group of agitated citizens behind the Honolulu 7 Recall effort may need to re-brand that to the Honolulu 3 Recall.
It turns out that the Honolulu City Charter prohibits filing a recall petition against a council member in the first year of their term.
To quote from the charter: “No recall petition shall be filed against an elected officer within the first or the last year of the officer’s term,” states Section 12-103.
The first terms for newly elected council members Val Okimoto, Matt Weyer and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam didn’t begin until Jan. 3. That was also the date that newly reelected Council Chair Tommy Waters began his second term.
Whoops. Four down.
That leaves Esther Kiaaina, Calvin Say and Radiant Cordero as legal targets of the recall effort.
That said, the charter’s requirements make no difference to the recall campaign’s founder, Jack James.
He told The Sunshine Blog on Wednesday that he is well aware of the charter’s wording but that isn’t stopping the effort to get the recall campaign rolling.
“July is a work month for us,” James said, adding he didn’t want to talk about the timing of the overall effort at this early juncture.
The charter’s restrictions on when recall petitions can be filed don’t necessarily prevent the collection of signatures from beginning. And a whole lot of signatures would be needed.….
read … No Total Recall, The Owl And The Hedgehog, And Social Media Tips
'And so we wait': Kauaʻi doctor underscores dialysis needs on island
HPR: … "There's about 150 dialysis patients currently, and I would say that there's 30 that I have currently in the wings, ready to start," Petrillo told the Kauaʻi County Council on Wednesday.
With 18 chairs, there isn't capacity for more patients. "There is no room for 30 patients," he said. "And so we wait."
Dialysis is used by those in or heading toward kidney failure. Treatment is often four hours, three times a week — where machines filter toxins out of the blood to assist the kidneys and usually extend life.
For some, the trip for treatment is too great a barrier.
In one instance, an 85-year-old patient in Kapahi needed to stop treatment because the hour drive to Waimea was too far.
"Her dialysis chair time would be 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., the next day," Petrillo explained. "That is untenable, and she informed me I can't do this, 'I can't accomplish that.' There's no family members and no bus no transportation that can accomplish this."…
TGI: Kidney dialysis patients facing a ‘crisis’ on Kaua‘i
read … 'And so we wait': Kauaʻi doctor underscores dialysis needs on island
More Handi-Van riders denied pickup at home because of Giant truck-Vans foisted on System by Soderholm
KHON: … Kaimuki resident Bert Kato is blind and wheelchair bound. He’s been riding The Handi-Van since 2017, and a smaller vehicle would pull into his driveway to pick him up.
(CLUE: Soderholm manipulated the bidding system to sell gigantic truck-vans to Handi-Van when minivan type taxis would easily do the job.)
That is until 2021 when he was told he has to be picked up and dropped off at the corner. While it’s only a few houses down, for Kato, it’s too difficult and dangerous.
“If you’re blind and you’re a little bit off, your wheelchair goes off of that sidewalk. You’re going to tip over and fall down,” said Kato.
He was told that Handi-Van can pick him up at home if a smaller vehicle is available.
“But every time when I call and I ask, ‘can I be accommodated with a small vehicle’, they say, ‘no you have to wait on the corner’,” said Kato.
Kato has filed an appeal with the company twice, and both times it was denied. So, he hasn’t been able to take the Handi-Van for about two years….
Janice and Edward Fernandez of Wahiawa are in a similar predicament. She’s legally blind, and he’s wheelchair bound.
They’ve been told that if a smaller vehicle is not available, pick up is a block away. The head of the Hawaii Disability Rights Center is asking for help by filing a complaint with the Federal Transit Administration….
read … More Handi-Van riders denied pickup at home
Big Island Wants To Use Opioid Settlement Money To Open Its First Detox Facility
CB: … With more money, the first order of business would be to open the island’s first detox facility, according to the mayor. The administration and the Big Island Substance Abuse Council are considering a location across from the courthouse in Hilo that could be renovated for that purpose.
“If your family member was going through drug overdose, drug addiction, where would you want them to detox? Probably not in a jailhouse,” Roth, a former prosecutor, said during an afternoon press conference.
The need for a detox facility on the Big Island is clear given recent grim statistics.
One person dies of a drug overdose every 11 days on the Big Island, with fentanyl as the leading cause, according to federal data. A total of 320 people in Hawaii died from drug overdoses in 2022 — one every 27 hours. That’s up from 305 in 2021 and 266 in 2020, according to the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
For every fatal overdose, there are approximately 14 non-fatal overdoses making the scope of the problem in Hawaii much wider than what fatality numbers indicate, experts say.
Hawaii island is home to several high-end, exclusive programs aimed at people on the mainland with the financial ability to enroll, according to the Hawaii Island Fentanyl Task Force.
Big Island residents of average means, or those living in poverty or without homes or medical insurance, are generally referred to Oahu or the mainland for detox.
Many don’t go because of insurance and transportation issues, family and work obligations, waiting lists, and other delays. Lack of access to detox delays or prevents recovery, according to the task force….
read … Big Island Wants To Use Opioid Settlement Money To Open Its First Detox Facility
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