Green Picks Miyake for HD10 Vacancy
Lahaina Fires: Legislative Working Groups Publish Final Report
Hawaiian Environmental Activists and Greenpeace USA Protest Deep Sea Mining Ship
EIS to Cover Navy Training Exercises off Hawaii, California
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted December 16, 2023
We’re #1: Hawaii has highest rates of chronic homelessness, youth without shelter
HNN: … In the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released Friday, Hawaii had the highest percentage of people experiencing chronic homelessness.
On a single night in January this year, more than 76% of the homeless in Hawaii were counted on the streets or in parks and vehicles — the highest in the country, followed by California and Oregon.
Hawaii also had the third highest rate of homeless youth staying in unsheltered locations ….
HNN: Hawaii has highest rate of chronic homeless, youth without shelter (youtube.com)
HUD: HUD Releases January 2023 Point-in-Time Count Report
read … Report: Hawaii has highest rates of chronic homelessness, youth without shelter
Total Fail: After Closing Sole ‘Kauhale’, Green’s Homeless Coordinator Is Leaving Post
CB: … James Koshiba, a nonprofit leader and community organizer heading the governor’s push to dramatically reduce homelessness in Hawaii, is stepping down from his role as the state’s homelessness coordinator next month.
Gov. Josh Green appointed Koshiba to the position last December.
In a brief statement Friday afternoon, the governor’s office said Koshiba had worked to “lay the foundation” for achieving Green’s goal of reducing the number of unsheltered homeless people in the state by half in the next three years.
(TRANSLATION: ‘Lay the foundation’ = ‘Accomplish nothing’)
No reason was given for Koshiba’s departure….He will stay in his current position until Jan. 12 to help onboard his replacement, though it is unclear yet who that will be….
(CLUE: Homelessness is 100% about drugs, 0% affordability of housing. Until you accept this, you will fail to end homelessness.)
SA: Editorial: Homeless need more kauhale | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
read … Green’s Homeless Coordinator Is Leaving Post
More Bluster: Gov. Green again threatens moratorium on short-term rentals
HNN: … The governor said only a few dozen landlords have stepped up to house families in need.
Others told him they they don't trust Lahaina residents, especially those with big families, will treat their units with respect or leave once the program ends.
"They shouldn't be forced to change their model, that's their right to rent to whomever they choose," Green said. "And I will just say this. We don't have enough housing in Hawaii. The short-term market is occupying tens of thousands of houses that we need to put into the workforce."
But short-term rental owners said while they want to help fire victims, they should not have to bear such a huge burden.
"It's going to cost us thousands of dollars a month and that's money I use to live on in retirement," a landlord who didn't want to be identified told Island News. "We are being bullied and we are being threatened if we don't do this then the government is going to knock us down again."
The governor said he needs at least 3,000 short-term rental operators to open their units to house the more than 6,000 people still living in hotels….
read … Gov. Green threatens moratorium on short-term rentals if Maui landlords don't step up
City measures pave way for transit, stadium development
SA: … The Honolulu City Council has adopted two related measures to expand transit-oriented development and rezone 227 acres around Skyline’s Halawa station and the shuttered Aloha Stadium.
The action paves the way for future development of mixed-use business, residential and affordable housing sites near the state’s planned New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District.
The Council’s unanimous Dec. 6 votes on Bill 50, to expand TOD in that area, and Bill 51, aiming to rezone the same spot, allows the city Department of Planning and Permitting to better implement the Halawa TOD Plan, the city says.
Tim Streitz, DPP’s acting administrator for its TOD division, previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the zoning changes are not directly related to any particular project, “although they would support the state’s New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District, or NASED, and Puuwai Momi public housing developments currently being planned in portions of the TOD area,” Streitz said via email.
“Both of these large developments are also planned to include new affordable housing (he said, without laughing).”….
read … City measures pave way for transit, stadium development | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
BLNR grants protesters right to occupy Coco Palms leased-land parcel--Squatters to buy land?
TGI: … A community group fighting to stop the construction of the Coco Palms Resort was awarded joint temporary access rights, along with the developer, for a small piece of disputed state land during a Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) meeting on Dec. 15…..
Holland also does not believe Reef Capital Partners claims that the three parcels, lying adjacent to the state-owned property, will not impact their construction plans.
“I’m not convinced that that’s the truth and neither are our lawyers,” she said, noting that the number of parking spaces they have depends on the number of rooms they can build.
“We’re not convinced that it doesn’t change their access entry points and their parking requirements by which their entire permit is based.”
Holland believes the decision on Friday brings I Ola Wailuanui a step closer to their ultimate goal of having the property turned into a Hawaiian cultural and education center, as well as an agricultural park.
At the meeting, Holland told the board her group has currently raised over $300,000 in pledges for purchases and has been working with financial institutions and angel donors to come up with an estimated more than $10 million needed to complete their aim for a historic restoration of the site.
Following the decision, Chang stated that entities interested in being assigned state land need to show a “demonstration of financial responsibility.”….
read … BLNR weighs in on Coco Palms land parcels issue
Military concludes ‘gravity defueling’ at Red Hill -- 60,000 gallons remain
SA: … The military task force draining the fuel from the Navy’s underground Red Hill fuel facility announced Friday that it had wrapped up the last of its major milestones for the year, completing “gravity defueling” operations.
It will begin the last phase of the defueling in January.
Since October, Joint Task Force Red Hill has drained approximately 104,642,160 gallons from the massive underground fuel farm, which sits just 100 feet above a critical aquifer most of Honolulu relies on for drinking water. On Friday it said it “unpacked” the last fuel from the pipelines that connect the fuel tanks to facilities in Joint Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The facility was built inside a mountain to allow the tanks to use gravity to feed the pipelines connecting Red Hill to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, saving the energy that might otherwise be required to pump fuel through the pipes. According to a news release, “JTF- RH now shifts focus to prepare for the safe removal of the majority of residual fuel, fuel in the pipelines that can’t be drained by gravity, approximately 60,000 gallons. This will begin mid-January, pending regulatory approval.”
The remaining fuel is expected to be mostly removed by the end of January, putting the defueling six months ahead of the deadline the task force had initially set for itself….
read …Military concludes ‘gravity defueling’ at Red Hill as 60,000 gallons remain
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