WaPo: China’s cyber army is invading Hawaii, Guam -- Target BWS?
Green Questions Water Rate Hikes After They are Approved
The Adults are the Cheaters: Hawaii Teachers Learning how to use AI to Fake Student Success
CB: … Jade Pham recently learned that artificial intelligence isn’t the best at solving math problems with students.
Pham, a student services coordinator at Kawananakoa Middle School, said she instructed ChatGPT, an online AI tool, to show a student how to solve a word problem, only for the website to produce the wrong answer. …
(IDEA: Rewrite the word problems to make them more AI-friendly so students can fake it.)
Before this year, Cindy Reves knew how to catch plagiarized work. The McKinley High School teacher said she would take a phrase from an essay, enter it into a Google search and find the original work a student had claimed as their own.
Now, Reves said, it’s much harder to know if her students are submitting work that’s not their own. Software meant to identify AI-generated work has low accuracy rates, and Reeves said it’s difficult to make the distinction on her own.
(TRANSLATION: Students are informed that teachers will not ding them for their AI essays.)
Reves is already thinking of classroom policies that would explain when it’s appropriate to use AI in her class. It’s a daunting task, Reves said, adding that she would benefit from DOE guidance on how to develop these regulations. …
At this time, the Hawaii DOE is referring schools to its technology acceptable use policies, as well as AI-related resources offered by the International Society for Technology in Education, said Winston Sakurai, curriculum innovation branch director of the office of curriculum and instructional design….
(TRANSLATION:It goes all the way to the top.)
read … Hawaii Teachers Face 'Daunting Task' Addressing AI Use In Classrooms - Honolulu Civil Beat
Wildfires: Sonoma County Achieves 98% rebuild-- What About Lahaina?
CB: … The close relationships forged after residents lost nearly 1,500 homes in their community — and more than 5,000 in Sonoma County as a whole — helped them pull off something of a miracle: today, more than 98% of homes in the neighborhood have been rebuilt….
RELATED August 24, 2023: Do Lahaina Property Owners Have the Right to Rebuild?
RELATED Oct 22, 2023: Right to Rebuild? No Building Permits Issued Since Lahaina Fire
read … California Wildfires: Can The Future For Lahaina Be Seen In The Past? - Honolulu Civil Beat
Water Rate Hikes: Why didn’t Green Speak up BEFORE they were approved?
SA: … On Dec. 1, four days after the BWS approved a 5.5-year increase in water rates ranging from 8% to 10% yearly, the state Department of Health (DOH) and Gov. Josh Green piped in, publicly declaring that the state had “secured” up to $75 million in federal funds and hinting that the BWS need not have sought such a hefty increase.
“The BWS’ decision to raise water rates by about 50% may create a hardship for many residents,” Green said in a DOH news release. “It’s important for the BWS to take advantage of available federal funding to reduce the costs it passes on to Oahu residents.”
No debate there. But what’s extremely puzzling is why the DOH and Green did not speak up sooner and make this information known before the BWS voted on the rate hikes. Putting the apparent squeeze on BWS after the fact is poorly timed, especially if it could have made a difference in easing the increases, which had been on the table for months….
Related: Green Questions Water Rate Hikes After They are Approved
read … Settle funds issue to ease water rates
Lahaina school replacement 2-3 months away
SA: … Late February or March is the earliest that a new temporary school being built to replace the King Kamehameha III Elementary School campus lost in the Lahaina fire will be ready for students and teachers to occupy, based on an Army Corps of Engineers timeline.
Construction is already underway, but the school opening is further off — and closer to the May 30 end of the state Department of Education school year — than at least some observers initially thought it would be.
Col. Jesse T. Curry, recovery field office commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, had said at a Sept. 26 news conference that the temporary campus in Pulelehua, near Kapalua Airport, would take around 95 days to build, but it was unclear then when that countdown would start. Some other media reports suggested that the site might be completed around the end of the current calendar year.
On Nov. 4, Aina Pono, a Native Hawaiian organization based in Waianae on Oahu, was awarded a $53.7 million contract by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build the temporary school in Pulelehua.
The land was prepared in late November, and modular units are being sent from Oahu, Washington and California. DOE updates are compiled at 808ne.ws/3uSOoHj. More information on the Maui response by the Army and the Army Corps of Engineers can be found at facebook.com/HonoluluDistrict and 808ne.ws/41jQlbG….
The lease agreement for the Pulelehua site is for up to five years ….
read … Lahaina school replacement 2-3 months away
Scare Tactics: Toxic elements found in collected ash last month from Lahaina fire
MN: … Elevated levels of arsenic, lead, antimony, cobalt, and copper have been found in wildfire ash collected last month in Lahaina, the state Department of Health reported on Sunday.
(CLUE: Don’t eat ash.)
The ash samples were collected on November 7 and 8 from 100 properties in Lahaina, which had been constructed from the 1900s to the 2000s.
The Health Department and its partners have consistently communicated that the wildfire ash and dust are toxic and should be avoided, a news release said.
The Lahaina data validates that the primary contaminant of concern is arsenic, a heavy metal that adheres to wildfire dust and ash. This finding reinforces the need to diligently follow recommendations to reduce potential exposure, the department said.
“These data validate that the Lahaina ash contains toxic substances,” said State Health Director Dr. Kenneth S. Fink. “While the concentrations of these substances are lower than the Kula ash results, they are still elevated and it continues to be extremely important to take precautions. The risk remains greatest from ash ingestion. (CLUE: Don’t eat ash.) Inhaling disturbed ash and dust is also a potential route of exposure. We’ve been closely monitoring air quality in Lahaina and air sampling in Kula during debris removal which have been reassuring.”…
REALITY: Toxins? What Toxins? Maui Air Monitoring and Sampling Shows Good Air Quality > Hawaii Free Press
read … Toxic elements found in collected ash last month from Lahaina fire
Maui looking at up to $100K for ohana unit construction
SA: … Maui was experiencing a housing crisis even before thousands were left in dire need of shelter from the Aug. 8 wildfires.
Which explains why in June — two months before the fires that destroyed scores of homes in Lahaina and Upcountry — the Maui County Council approved in concept a measure that would offer tens of thousands of dollars to property owners who want to build an accessory dwelling unit, often called an ohana unit.
On Friday the Council will consider a bill establishing the criteria for the ‘Ohana Assistance Pilot Program, which will offer grants of up to $100,000 to build an accessory dwelling unit, or second farm dwelling, for long-term occupancy…
read … Maui looking at up to $100K for ohana unit construction
Ordinary Citizens Can Get Laws Passed In Hawaii. Here's How
CB: … Believe it or not, as the Hawaii Legislature prepares for its upcoming 2024 session, if you take initiative now and commit to seeing a good idea through from beginning to end, your idea could become law in just a few months from now….
read … Ordinary Citizens Can Get Laws Passed In Hawaii. Here's How
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