The Budget Is Signed
UH Regents: Elections out of the norm
People Just Disappear Here: Human remains found--one of more than 230 people missing in Hawaii
KITV: … Maui county police officers were called to a property off Keanuhea Street in Kula for a report of human remains found earlier this week.
Wailuku Patrol Officers and detectives from the Criminal Investigation Division are still conducting their investigation on what happened and the body is yet to be identified.
The body was found wrapped in plastic.
Maui resident and advocate, Kimberlynn Scott said rumors are circulating the remains found on Wednesday belong to a male. However, she wants to emphasize that is what the community is saying and not Maui County Police.
Kimberylnn Scott lost her daughter in 2014. Charli Scott was five months pregnant when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Remains like her jawbone and her fingertips were located but not her entire body.
“Charli is still missing. We only found a couple parts of my daughter. Cases like this call me to the forefront, like could this be my daughter,” said Kimberlynn Scott.
Since her daughter's death, Scott has become an advocate for missing people. She said her organization has an idea of who this missing person may be based on proximity of where they were last seen.
Scott is working with 37 families on Maui who have a missing family member and she believes there are more than 70 missing people on Maui now.
According to National Missing and Identified Persons System (NAMUS), more than 230 people are missing in the state of Hawaii.
“There are cases that get shelved after a month or two….
read … Human remains found on Maui, missing persons advocates emphasizes this problem in Hawaii
Tax Hikes Coming: Will Empty Rail be issue in 2024 Elections?
Borreca: … The fourth mayoral infatuation with rail was by Mayor Mufi Hannemann. He went after the big bucks needed for rail, getting the state Legislature to approve a new tax directed to pay rail construction costs..
All that love doesn’t come cheap. If the city is going to hitch up to rail, someone will have to pay for it.
In 2013, Kirk Caldwell took over and he also had to find the money to continue the rail love going.
Rail construction expenses and overruns are now expected to cost about $9.9 billion.
The big change now is that rail is no longer an abstraction; it is a functioning train. As Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in opening ceremonies: “This is truly a momentous and historic day for the island of Oahu. Today’s announcement marks the culmination of decades of hard work, perseverance and overcoming difficult challenges of every kind.”
Blangiardi will soon be running for reelection. So far no serious opponents have surfaced, and if they do, the one constant will be how much do you love rail.
The most serious attempt to break up the Honolulu mayors’ love affair with rail failed when former Gov. Ben Cayetano ran for mayor on an anti-rail platform, and lost.
Going forward, potential opponents will have to decide if a fight over rail is worth it. What would be the political benefit you gain by being against the train that has decades of mayoral support?
Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii Public Policy Center, agreed when I asked him about it, adding that barring low ridership numbers or significant operational problems, the existence of rail is no longer a city political issue.
“Now that the rail is open and operating, talking about what should or should not have happened years ago won’t give the mayor’s opponents much leverage,” Moore said….
read … With rail finally open, thanks to mayors’ support, it becomes less of a burning political issue
Tom Brower Attackers Rewarded with Free Apartment and Cash Benefits
SA: … homeless for years and had histories of abuse — often from childhood — along with mental health and substance abuse problems…Many homeless parents said family values were nonexistent in Kakaako because their children felt (correctly recognized they had been) betrayed (for a meth rock) and (therefore logically) did not respect them….
Some had been homeless for years and had histories of abuse — often from childhood — along with mental health and substance abuse problems. Others were families with young children whose parents worked but could not afford housing at market rates….
The community was horrified by images of unsupervised toddlers wandering the streets of Kakaako and living in cramped, unsanitary conditions among chronically homeless adults with mental health and substance abuse issues, often with criminal histories….
Many parents said family values were nonexistent in Kakaako because their children felt betrayed and did not respect them. Several were living in their vehicles, at risk of having them towed because of overdue registration and safety check fees, putting them one step away from ending up on the street.
Problems quickly arose with so many packed into crowded, unsanitary conditions where people frequently defecated into buckets and illegally and dangerously tapped into water and power lines.
And there was violence.
Then-state Rep. Tom Brower, who represented the area, was photographing and video-recording the encampment on June 29, 2015, at the intersection of Ohe and Olomehani streets when a mob of as many as 10 people chased him into a row of bushes at the doorstep to the Children’s Discovery Center, where Brower fell as he was beaten in front of children and their parents.
The attack forced government officials and the community at large to confront the results of inaction in addressing homelessness and the sometimes unintended consequences of sweeps and enforcement.
The beating left Brower with a cut near his right eye, facial swelling, bruised ribs and scrapes on his leg and hand. Two of his alleged assailants were cousins, ages 14 and 17.
(CLUE: Attacking Brower was the smartest thing they had ever done.)
The 14-year-old’s mother, Rose Pu‘u, had been living homeless with her four boys for seven years in Kakaako. She acknowledged the mistakes she had made and a past that she said included domestic violence.
A year after the attack, Pu‘u and her sons got a (reward) fresh start when they moved into a two-bedroom, two- bathroom “Housing First” apartment in Aiea, where the family received a range of social services for issues such as money management, job assistance and applying for government benefits ….
(Lesson: It pays to attack a legislator.)
read … For 45 years IHS has provided aid to homeless in innovative ways
29-year-old arrested for allegedly stealing tools from Iwilei Home Depot has long criminal record
KITV: … A 29-year-old man was arrested Thursday afternoon after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools at a Home Depot in Iwilei.
Patrick Aceret-O'Sullivan, 29, was arrested on three counts of second degree theft and a warrant.
In an Instagram video that went viral on Wednesday, two men are shown cutting the locks off items and loading them into carts and walking out of the store. It is estimated that they stole $3,000 worth of tools.
Aceret-O'Sullivan previously committed second degree theft in December 2017 after stealing $750 worth of merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue. He was given four years probation for the charge….
2018: O’Sullivan found bound, burned and shot near gigantic chop shop in Wahiawa -- remains hospitalized; witnesses wanted
2019: Aceret- O’Sullivan is wanted for a $20,000 bench warrant for failing to appear for an arraignment and plea hearing on Aug. 12 2019.
read … 29-year-old man arrested for allegedly stealing tools from Iwilei Home Depot
Hilo Harbor Project Would Wipe Out Dozens of Small Businesses
HTH: … About 50, including state Sen. Lorraine Inouye and County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy, attended the meeting conducted by officials and consultants with state Department of Transportation Harbors Division….
“There are 26 businesses that are going to be displaced,” said Gadd, who noted his firm either owns or controls four of the five parcels the state wants to acquire. “There’s maybe 100 workers there. Where are these people going to go? Some people can’t even go anywhere. You’re disrupting the whole community, and you’re not even touching upon it.”…
“That appraisal that you did is grossly undervalued,” Gadd said. “Those values are not even close to the value. We’re going to lose substantial income by this project.
“There’s a church in there. There’s a certified kitchen. There’s a restaurant. You didn’t even include these businesses.”
Those businesses include: Maikai Auto Body & Paint, Hilo Auto Sales & Rentals, Hilo Food Hub, Ocean Front Kitchen, Service Rentals and Supplies Inc., and Zion’s House of Praise Holiness Church….
read … ‘We have skin in the game’: Hilo Harbor land acquisition plans questioned by community, businesses
Drone shows expand as safe alternatives to fireworks
SA: … Glen John Nakata, 20, of Kailua-Kona, suffered fatal injuries Tuesday when the fireworks “launcher” he was holding over his head went off. On Jan. 4, Kenneth Meyers, 28, of Wahiawa, died after being struck in the face by fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
Honolulu Emergency Medical Services responded to 12 fireworks-related calls of burned hands, shrapnel wounds and face injuries during the most recent New Year’s Eve, and last week’s fireworks ignited multiple brush fires, including one on Maui that burned about 50 acres.
The Kahala Hotel and Resort hosted the state’s first drone show on New Year’s Eve and plans to do it again at the end of 2023.
“We decided to use drones as a new and innovative way to celebrate the New Year as well as provide our community neighbors with an environmentally friendly show, free from smoke and loud booms,” Lyle Uehara, the hotel’s commercial director, said in an email…
BIN: Illegal Fireworks Task Force: Who needs it?
read … Drone shows expand as safe alternatives to fireworks
Guru of the run-and-shoot gets run down and shot
Shapiro: … I was perplexed by the online response to the arrest June 30 of former University of Hawaii football coach June Jones on suspicion of drunken driving.
There really wasn’t much to the story. Jones was stopped by police at 9:28 p.m. at the corner of Kilauea and Waialae avenues while driving home from dinner, and was released later that night on $500 bail.
“I was speeding and got stopped,” Jones, 70, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “That’s all I need to say right now.”
The lack of lurid details didn’t stop anonymous commenters from generating their own as the story spread nationally because of Jones’ status as a former coach of several NFL teams in addition to his record run at UH, which ended in 2007 with a 12-1 record and a Sugar Bowl appearance.
His character was attacked, and a previous traffic accident in which Jones almost killed himself running into a concrete pillar was rehashed. Old rumors of romantic indiscretions were floated anew.
His indisputably high-end coaching skills were disparaged, and critics took side trips into ripping current UH coach Timmy Chang as well as former coaches Nick Rolovich and Norm Chow….
read … Guru of the run-and-shoot gets run down and shot
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