Toxins? What Toxins? Maui Air Monitoring and Sampling Shows Good Air Quality
There's No Going Back To Lahaina For This Family
CB: … Maui’s housing market is so tight that Mike and Andreza haven’t been able to find a new place they can afford to live, period, let alone a place in their price range with a landlord willing to accommodate the daily parade of their tail-wagging clients.
So for the last four months the Cicchino’s have bounced around FEMA-funded hotel rooms — some luxurious, others dinky and dated — while forging an as-of-yet fruitless search for a new rental home that will allow them to reopen their dog care business.
“The second that we say we have a doggie business, you know, then it’s kind of a no-go, especially since a lot of these places are getting 40, 50, 60 applicants,” Mike says.
The family is lodging in Kahului at the Maui Seaside Hotel. Mike says he and his wife are eager to settle into more permanent accommodations, something that feels more like a home and less like a boxy room with no kitchen. Adding to his stress is the pressure he says he feels from some disaster relief volunteers to move on from the federal government’s emergency shelter program, which expires in March.
“Every time I talk to Red Cross, they kind of encourage me, ‘Well, why don’t you just leave the island?”
read … There's No Going Back To Lahaina For This Family - Honolulu Civil Beat
Lease Expiration is Opportunity to Grift Money from DoD
CB: … In conversation after conversation I’ve had about the military’s future in Hawaii, the end of the military’s multiple leases were repeatedly called “the elephant in the room.”
The elephant is also an opportunity that courageous leaders in Hawaii have to shape (their own cash flow into) the future, instead of having it shaped for them.
For the first time in a long, long time, the people (political insiders) of Hawaii have the opportunity to have a say (get money) in what has traditionally been a one-way relationship….
The leases for the state land under several military installations expire in 2029. The military has leased the land for a dollar a year for the past six decades….
The Department of Land and Natural Resources needs to sign off on the continued occupation of those lands. Most notable of the leases is the Pohakuloa Training Area between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Pohakuloa is a few miles away from the encampment that stymied the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea. What worked at Mauna Kea in 2019, could likely work again….
read … Naka Nathaniel: What If The Navy Gave Much Of Pearl Harbor Back To Hawaii? - Honolulu Civil Beat
Drunk Cop lied after crash that seriously injured motorcyclist
HNN: … After HPD denied HNN Investigates public records request for the body camera footage, we helped the injured motorcyclist through the process of getting a copy himself.
We then had that video reviewed by a retired traffic commander who says the Corporal started feeding his colleagues inaccurate information the moment they arrived on scene.
On Sept. 22 at 9:21 p.m. body camera footage shows an officer pulling up to the scene of a crash on Kamehameha Highway near Aloha Stadium. The moment she steps out of the vehicle, it appears she sees a familiar face.
“Oh, you’re here,” said the officer.
Isala responded, “It’s a fled scene.”
“Basically he’s saying it’s not his fault,” said Lt. William Hankins.
Hankins is a retired traffic commander who served 30 years with Maui PD. He has experience working both as a DUI and fatal crash investigator.
“Unit 1 is cop talk for responsible driver. Isala is saying he’s not Unit 1,” Hankins said. “The information he’s giving that officer is completely inaccurate.”
According to the 87-page accident report, investigators eventually determined Isala did cause the crash.
Keep in mind that same report said Isala was already on last chance probation for another incident HPD refuses to talk about.
Records show Isala provided his colleagues with at least three different stories about the circumstances leading up to the crash that left 62-year-old Randy Sagario with what he describes as road rash, a concussion and serious spinal injury.
Two of those stories involve a third driver, Isala claimed caused the collision, before fleeing….
read … HPD corporal placed on restricted duty, had police powers removed after crash that seriously injured motorcyclist
2 HPD Officers Disciplined For Working An Unauthorized Side Job On The Clock
CB: … Pohaku, who had been with the department since 1987, told internal investigators that one of the company supervisors had asked him to guard the building because he was worried about a disgruntled former employee who had threatened the office.
Pohaku started the security job in June 2018 and Montez came on in September of that year. They were paid as independent contractors and “hung out” at the property in uniform to provide “presence and peace of mind,” the report says. Some weeks, Pohaku worked every day, including weekends.
read … 2 HPD Officers Disciplined For Working An Unauthorized Side Job On The Clock
School facilities executive departs after half-billion dollar in projects due to lapse
HNN: … DOE’s list of construction projects, that were approved by the legislature, but will expire adds up to $465,996,405.
When it was circulated by House Speaker Scott Saiki, House Education Chair Justin Woodson said he and other lawmakers were stunned.
“Many of these projects are specific to health and safety,” Woodson said. “And so how can we better ensure that we are meeting the needs the physical needs of the school so that safe learning can happen in these spaces.”
It’s not clear if the legislators’ frustration caused it, but the Department of Education’s lead executive on school facilities, Assistant Superintendent Randall Tanaka, was relieved of his position Wednesday. One source said Superintendent Keith Hayashi decided new leadership was necessary….
SA: Decision deferred on $10K pay raise for schools superintendent | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
CB: Official Overseeing Hawaii School Facilities Is Out Amid Funding Controversy - Honolulu Civil Beat
PDF: 2023_11_29_spkr_doe_cip_lapses.pdf
read … School facilities executive departs after half-billion dollar in projects due to lapse
DOE: 15 schools fire alarm non-functional--wants $41M
KHON: … In an update to the Hawaii Board of Education, DOE reported …10% of schools did not pass fire inspections for the 2022-2023 school year….
According to DOE, 15 schools’ fire alarms are not working. Those fire systems are now either under construction or in pre-design. The anticipated cost for repairs and replacement is over $41 million….
read … DOE: Over a dozen schools failing fire alarm inspections
Mitchel Miyashiro, charged in teen's hit-and-run death, turns himself in
KITV: … Miyashiro has a lengthy criminal record that includes a dozen arrests for driving without a license.
"Ok it's a misdemeanor, but who pays in the process after this misdemeanor happens? A person that drives without a license?," she said. "Who pays? The victim pays and we pick up the pieces."
State House Speaker Scott Saiki said lawmakers may consider changing that.
"Not just for those who are driving without a license, but also for those who are driving without insurance," he said. "This case was just tragic, but it was also outrageous, because Mr. Miyashiro had over 200 traffic related citations before this collision occurred."…
Miyashiro is currently at OCCC. He is being held on $250,000 bail. His next court date is December 14. …
read … Mitchel Miyashiro, charged in teen's hit-and-run death, turns himself in
New law streamlines building permit process
HTH: … The law, which began life as Bill 84, amends and streamlines parts of the County Code regarding the issuance of building permits and permit extensions, standardizing the time it takes to receive them….
The new ordinance commits the county to a rigid deadline for granting permits. Applicants now will obtain a permit no later than 180 days after the date of submittal.
“In the past, you could ask for a permit and not get it for a year,” said Dennis Lin, community relations administrator for HPM Building Supply, who added that the county gradually has improved efficiency since its adoption of the Electronic Processing and Information Center — or EPIC — online permitting system.
Permit extensions have been similarly standardized. So long as a request for a permit extension is properly submitted at least 30 days before the expiration date, the county must decide whether to grant that request within 30 days of receiving it.
If the county fails to make a decision regarding a permit extension within 30 days, the permit does not expire until that decision is made.
The ordinance also establishes standardized timelines for construction permits to expire. Whereas before, there were two different timelines for owner-builders and contractors — owner-builders were given five years to complete work before their permits expired, while contractors were given three — now both groups have six years.
Permits issued after Aug. 17, 2020, have been retroactively granted expiration dates six years after their dates of issuance.
read … New law streamlines building permit process - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Hawaii Lobbyist Pleads Guilty To Illegal Drug Possession At Vet Clinic
CB: … The politically connected former president of an Oahu veterinary clinic has admitted she improperly obtained drugs for animals using the credentials of an unknowing veterinarian who no longer worked there.
Earlier this year, Alicia Maluafiti was charged with 27 counts of using a Drug Enforcement Administration registration issued to another person, a felony. If convicted, Maluafiti would have faced up to four years in prison for each count.
But on Wednesday, prosecutors agreed to dismiss that indictment in exchange for Maluafiti pleading guilty to a misdemeanor possession charge….
read … Hawaii Lobbyist Pleads Guilty To Illegal Drug Possession At Vet Clinic
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