Convention Report: Hawaii Republican Party Selling HQ
Hawaii Legislative Session Adjourns, Marking the Defeat of Several Anti-Gun Bills
IBEW 1186 Employee Hit With $44K Embezzlement Charge
Case Dismissed: Hawaii Libraries Can Still Distribute Porn to Minors
SB2919: Hotel Industry 'worked hand-in-hand with community partners and the government'
Lifelong Criminal who just received $12.5M settlement from HPD arrested for new gun, drug crimes
SA: … A 38-year-old man allegedly disabled and awarded $12.5 million dollars after he sued the city following a traumatic brain injury suffered in a police pursuit was charged today in connection with a Saturday afternoon shooting in Kapolei.
On Saturday at about 1:13 p.m., Jonaven Perkins-Sinapati, a convicted felon with more than 40 arrests and citations, allegedly fired a gun in a residential area near the Ewa Makai Middle School.
He was arrested at 91-5431 Kapolei Parkway. Perkins-Sinapati is being prosecuted by the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney’s career criminal division.
No one was hurt in the shooting and police allegedly found ammunition and methamphetamine on Perkins-Sinapati ….
HNN: Man who received $12.5M settlement from HPD arrested for gun crimes
CB: The Price Of Police Misconduct Claims In Honolulu Is Going Up - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … Man awarded $12.5M by city charged in Kapolei gun, drug case | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
What Would Criminal Lawyer Need to do to Fake $12.5M Injury?
SA: … His attorney in the civil case, Michael Green, previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Perkins-Sinapati would never work again and could not participate in physical activities with his kids.
Perkins-Sinapati allegedly ”has little use of his left arm and hand.”
He “struggles to speak clearly and displays behavior that is comparable to stroke victims” who lose partial or total control of critical functions, Green previously told the Star-Advertiser.
(IQ Test: How hard are you laughing?)
Green told the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that “none of Jonaven’s injuries were ever fake.”
(TRANSLATION: All fake.)
“All of the testing he received by the City’s expert corroborated the deficits he has sustained regarding the speech, the use of his left arm, his ability to ambulate. This was not a drive-by shooting. There was no one shot at,” said Green. “I would call his stroke not severe, but certainly a stroke that the experts say will cause him to need long term care for the rest of his life. But the City through line and verse verified and checked with their expert that the injuries were real and paid accordingly.”
(Obvious Question: How was this process corrupted?)
Ian Scheuring, Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s deputy communications director, told the Star-Advertiser in a statement that the city “engaged in extensive discovery to evaluate Mr. Perkins-Sinapati’s claims arising from the injuries he sustained from the accident and settled the case based upon evidence the City substantiated.”
(Obvious Question: How was this process corrupted?)
read … Man awarded $12.5M from city charged in gun, drug case
Mitsunaga Jailhouse Slip-Fall in Bid for Release
HNN: … An 82-year-old co-defendant in the “pay-to-play” trial against Honolulu’s former city prosecutor was injured ahead of his transport Monday from the Federal Detention Center to court, delaying the high-profile trial for the day.
Businessman Dennis Mitsunaga fell at the detention center and had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for a cut on his head.
(IQ Test: Is this an accident?)
He has been in FDC since he was arrested on April 19.
A magistrate judge then ordered him detained for the duration of trial for alleged witness tampering and obstruction.
Mitsunaga’s attorney, Nina Marino, had been arguing for his release since telling the court that the jail wasn’t giving him proper care given his advanced age and his medication. Marino said she’ll be filing a request for the trial judge to reconsider bail so her client can go home….
read … Kaneshiro bribery trial delayed after 82-year-old co-defendant is injured in jailhouse fall
Is this a van used in the kidnapping of Johnny Fraser?
ILind: … Lance Bermudez, who pleaded guilty of being part of Miske’s racketeering enterprise and other crimes in September 2022, said admitted in his written plea agreement that on July 30, 2016, he had been contacted by Jason Yokoyama, manager of Miske’s M Nightclub, who asked for Bermudez’ help in getting rid of a Sienna van. Yokoyama drove Bermudez to Hawaii Kai and showed him where the van was parked on the street. Later that night, Bermudez said he and Dae Han Moon returned to Hawaii Kai, where he stole the van, then drove it out towards Ewa, parked under a freeway overpass, and set it on fire. He then returned to Honolulu in a car he had been driving. He said he was paid $3,500 to get rid of the van….
read … Is this a van used in the kidnapping of Johnny Fraser? | i L i n d
How Much Money Will Liquor Commission Pay to Stay Corrupt?
SA: … DiPasquale said his clients want fundamental changes at the Liquor Commission.
He said those changes relate to the release of a June 29 report by Hui Chen, a strategic adviser to Honolulu’s managing director, which rendered scathing results of a months-long review of Liquor Commission policies and practices in enforcing liquor laws on Oahu.
The commission approved the review in February after “ongoing complaints” relating to its Enforcement Services Section. Understaffing was among the problems. As of Feb. 15, 2023, there were seven active liquor enforcement investigators, according to the review, which is one-third of the investigator positions available.
At the time, there were 1,463 businesses licensed with the commission, or 209 licensed businesses for every investigator.
For the plaintiffs in this case, stated changes to procedures include random and equal inspections among all Oahu liquor licensees; use of body-worn cameras for all enforcement investigators during the performance of their duties; use of GPS tracking apps and similar software to identify investigators’ locations on a given day; and payment of damages and legal fees and costs to the plaintiffs.
“We are willing to take a substantial discount of our settlement demand — which was $2.5 million — in exchange for these things, basically agreeing to the conditions suggested by Ms. Chen in her report,” DiPasquale said. “Basically, stop the corruption … or just pay us damages.”
But he asserts demands for change at HLC have gone unheeded. “They want to settle only on money grounds,” he said….
read … Settlement over Liquor Commission lawsuit is rejected
Batteries and Diesel: HECO Seeks ‘Renewable’ Energy Projects for Oahu and Big Island
IM: … Several solar projects are currently being developed on Oahu, including approximately 157 MW of solar and 730 MWh of storage (ie batteries).
Additional projects are being negotiated, including approximately 550 MW of biofuel-based firm power (CLUE: Biofuel is diesel.) and 200 MW of solar plus storage (ie batteries)….
Reality:
read … HECO Seeks Renewable Energy Projects for Oahu and Hawai`i Islands | Ililani Media
High Schoolers Learn About Money Management? After 15 Years, DoE Agrees to a ‘Pilot Project’
CB: … After years of pressure from legislators to make financial literacy a graduation requirement, the Hawaii Department of Education is considering changing high school students’ personal transition plans for the first time in more than 15 years.
Financial literacy aims to help students manage their money and financial decisions and may include lessons on spending and saving, investing and borrowing money.
Starting next academic year, the department has committed to piloting a transition plan that includes financial literacy and a greater emphasis on college and career planning. The plans task students with researching career and academic interests, completing personal statements and building resumes as early as their freshman year.
But some students and education advocates say schools need to do more to make the process engaging and meaningful for high schoolers before introducing new requirements.
“It seems like a really good concept but is used pretty inconsistently across the system,” said David Sun-Miyashiro, executive director of HawaiiKidsCAN….
read … Hawaii Pushes To Ensure High Schoolers Learn About Money Management
Doom Loop: Homeless Meth-heads Destroy 460 Biki Bikes
CB: … Insurance rates are going up for Biki’s for-profit partner, Secure Bike Share Hawaii LLC, and about a third of the 1,400 bikes it started with are no longer in circulation…
Higher rates would be used to replenish its fleet of bikes, some of which are out of commission because they were broken or stolen after the program’s launch in 2017….
Biki’s 120,000 unique riders in 2019 decreased to about 76,000 in 2023…
“… doom loop….” Rates will go up … double its rate from $25 to $55….
in a written statement, spokesperson Travis Ota said that the city Department of Transportation Services is considering giving Biki money for fiscal year 2026, and that the department is looking for federal sources of funding to assist Biki.
Along with its $1 million contribution to Biki’s launch, the city contributes public space to the operation by allowing it to put stations in parking spots along the street.
This setup has drawn criticism that the city gives too many perks to Biki with too little oversight. A 2019 audit determined that Biki cost the city more than $460,000 in lost parking and permit fees….
Biki is hoping to avoid the service cuts that have plagued its peers. That means investing in additional bikes and surviving long enough to eventually purchase electric bikes…
read … Biki's Balancing Act: The Bike Share Company Is Raising Rates While Trying To Attract More Riders - Honolulu Civil Beat
Recreational boaters scramble to meet new insurance requirement
HNN: … Boaters are required to have insurance to moor a boat at any state harbor. But boat owners are now in an uproar over the requirement to get $100,000 in insurance coverage to salvage their vessel if it runs aground, even if the boat is worth less than that.
Many recreational boaters found out just a month ago, when the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation sent a letter saying their mooring permits woudln’t be renewed unless they got the coverage specifically for salvage and removal of a grounded vessel….
“Recently, with all the rash of groundings, the vast majority of times the insurance company said they would not cover it,” DOBOR Administrator Ed Underwood said.
Underwood said insurance did cover the West Maui salvage of the luxury yacht Na Koa, along with the removal of a former Navy boat from a Kihei beach. But the owners of smaller vessels, like M.K. Miller, aren’t sure what to do.
“I dream about getting here, worked hard to get here. And now that I’m here I’m trying to follow the rules, and I don’t know what the rules are,” Miller said.
“I talked to mainland companies, and they kind of laughed in my face and told me a lot of the insurance companies right now want to pull out of Hawaii,” said Guzik….
Underwood said the DLNR is now working with insurance companies to find a solution, and lawmakers might need to rewrite the statute to make it work for everyone involved….
read … Recreational boaters scramble to meet new insurance requirement
Star Alameda, wife of mayoral candidate dies
HTH: … Star Alameda, wife of Hawaii County mayoral candidate Kimo Alameda and a career educator, died Friday. She was 54. According to Kimo Alameda’s Facebook page, Star Alameda was found unresponsive Friday morning….
read … Star Alameda, wife of mayoral candidate dies - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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