These Hawaii Cities Have the Highest and Lowest Cost of Living in 2024
Will US Supreme Court Hear 'Spirit of Aloha' Gun Rights Case?
Hawaii seeing a summer COVID-19 surge
SA: … COVID cases in Hawaii continue to rise, with the state Health Department on Wednesday reporting a daily average of 175 new cases per day over the week.
Hawaii’s average positivity — or percentage of all tests positive — continued its ascent to 16.7% on Wednesday, up from 15.9% the previous week. By contrast, the average positivity rate May 1 was at just 4.3%.
In Honolulu, the average positivity was even higher than the statewide average, at 20.1%.
While no new COVID-related deaths were reported Wednesday, the number of residents visiting emergency departments and landing in hospitals continued to rise.
The average number of hospitalized COVID patients in Hawaii reached 127 per day this week, the highest level since the summer surge last August. An average of six COVID patients per day were in ICU.
The percentage of patients visiting emergency departments with COVID in Hawaii also rose to an average of 5.0% as of Friday, with the highest rate among residents ages 75 and older.
“We’re still in a rising stage with some signs of slowing across the indicators, so we should peak in a week or two,” said Tim Brown, an infectious disease expert with the East-West Center in Manoa. “After that I expect a decline over the next month to month and a half.”…
read … Hawaii seeing a summer COVID-19 surge
Public funds are paying for Millionaire Miske’s expert witnesses
ILind: … Hines acknowledged he was being paid $250 an hour. Hines said he was hired by Miske’s defense attorneys, but that he is paid by “the court,” and not by Miske. He said he had been working on his testimony since June 6, and had been putting in “very long days.”
After the jury left the courtroom for their next scheduled break, Judge Derrick Watson pointed out that saying “the Court” is paying Hine’s fee is “incorrect,” and directed Panagakos to correct it.
When the trial resumed, Panagakos explained that the federal Criminal Justice Act allows defendants to apply for funds from a separate account set up for this purpose that is not controlled by the court.
The Criminal Justice Act provides federal funds for attorneys, experts, and services necessary to adequately represent indigent defendants.
Miske, however, retained his own defense attorneys, who are not being paid by public funds, at least as far as I can see in the court record.
After a bit of searching, I found the answer in a federal court guide to administering the Criminal Justice Act ….
read … Public funds are paying Miske’s expert witnesses
SB3202: The Honolulu City Council Fought A Bill Requiring Greater Neighborhood Density. Now It Must Carry It Out
CB: Senate Bill 3202 allows neighborhoods to be built more densely, permitting up to two accessory dwelling units on residential lots occupied by single family homes starting in 2027.
Gov. Josh Green signed the bill into law last month, flanked by advocates such as Sterling Higa from Housing Hawaii’s Future, Ted Kefalas from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz….
… Counties are now required to make the new law a reality, to the dismay of Honolulu City Council members. In March, they voiced their objections during a two-and-a-half hour committee meeting and then issued a resolution in opposition. Language in the resolution’s original version, which council members removed, warned of “slum”-like conditions and “the proliferation of disease vectors.”
State lawmakers passed the bill anyway….
The council had already been considering allowing more density on residential lots, council member Esther Kiaʻāina said.
“Ours does more to incentivize multigenerational family and deter outside investment,” she said. …
State lawmakers knew that the counties might resist.
They held a handful of private, informal meetings during the session whose invitees included the housing committee chairs, county council chairs and planning department heads.
“People can be more candid in a meeting like that with their concerns,” House Speaker Scott Saiki said.
Saiki said that it’s unusual to hold private meetings like this when crafting a bill. Housing bills go through the Legislature every year without as much fanfare.
But this bill’s focus on zoning, which can have more of a visible effect on neighborhoods than infrastructure or funding, made it different from previous state efforts to help build more housing, he said.
“That’s why this bill was really different. And that’s why it generated so much interest. And that’s why we had to spend extra time working with all of the counties on the final version,” he said. …
The bill tries to address something that the Honolulu City Council is already working on, Kiaʻāina said.
One accessory dwelling unit and one ohana unit would be allowed on residential lots as part of the council’s revamping of the island’s land use ordinance, which dictates everything from the height of wind turbines, where housing can go and where beekeepers can keep their bees.
This is different from the state’s requirement of allowing two accessory dwelling units per lot because an ohana unit would be restricted to the main house owner’s family members.
It would do a better job of keeping locals on-island than allowing three unrelated families to live on the same lot, Kiaʻāina said. She thinks this change to the land use ordinance amendment could fulfill the state’s requirement anyway….
“I’m in no rush to draft legislation to implement that bill,” Kiaʻāina said, adding that she plans to hold an informational briefing as the 2027 deadline gets closer. …
In the meantime, the council hopes to finish work on the land use ordinance over the coming months to allow more density in areas zoned for apartments. That’s another requirement in the state’s bill.
Currently, more density is allowed in some residential zones than in some apartment zones. That helped promote the building of so-called monster homes with more than 20 bedrooms in quiet neighborhoods, council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam said.
He’s been thinking about this issue since before he was elected in 2022, and introduced a resolution with Kiaʻāina telling the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting to start thinking about how to densify apartment districts….
read … The Honolulu City Council Fought A Bill Requiring Greater Neighborhood Density. Now It Must Carry It Out
Bill 23: Honolulu ethics panel lauds bill clarifying gift-giving rules
SA: … Bill 23 is supposed to tighten existing rules that bar city workers from accepting gifts valued in excess of $50, also clarifying which gifts may be solicited or accepted.
The measure, introduced by City Council Chair Tommy Waters and Vice Chair Esther Kia‘aina, is meant to prohibit city employees from soliciting, accepting or receiving gifts from lobbyists or other third-party sources in relation to their official duties. The Council formally adopted the bill June 5….
According to Wong-Nowinski, the new law would also target “prohibited sources” including those “who receive funding from the city” like city contractors, concessionaires, vendors and grant recipients.
“All those folks are automatically prohibited, which means that city officers and employees cannot receive gifts from them,” she said. “So that was a huge win for the commission.”….
On a separate item, the Ethics Commission voted to direct its staff to investigate possible ethics concerns brought by Hawaii Kai resident Natalie Iwasa over the Honolulu Council’s ability to vote on its own salaries as part of its annual legislative budget….
read … Honolulu ethics panel lauds bill clarifying gift-giving rules
Community Foundation Takes Stock With Millions In Maui Strong Funds Still To Spend
CB: … Almost a year after the Maui wildfires, half of the money from Hawaii’s largest recovery fund has been spent, with the major portion going to interim housing projects.
As of June 14, $103 million from Hawaii Community Foundation’s $194 million Maui Strong Fund had been awarded.
Three-quarters of it has gone to seven grantees in amounts between $40 million and $1.35 million….
read … Community Foundation Takes Stock With Millions In Maui Strong Funds Still To Spend
Maui crackdown on overgrown vegetation poised to include big fines and even criminal prosecution
HNN: … The Maui Fire Department hopes to impose fines 500% higher than they can now — and even threaten criminal prosecution when owners repeated neglect threatens their neighbors.
Cutting back vegetation so a fire won’t jump to a neighbor’s property is already required in fire codes, but harsher penalties are coming that could make more owners pay better attention to the law.
Maui County Fire Chief Brad Ventura told the Maui Council Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs, and Planning Committee on Monday the department plans to update the fire code as soon as new legislation is signed by the governor….
read … Maui crackdown on overgrown vegetation poised to include big fines and even criminal prosecution
Maui Will Likely Need To Keep Lahaina Fire Debris In Temporary Landfill Much Longer Than Expected
CB: … A prolonged legal battle is delaying Maui County’s ability to acquire the Puunene property it chose in April as the final disposal site of an estimated 400,000 cubic tons of debris from the Aug. 8 fire in Lahaina.
The eminent domain case over the 20-acre parcel owned by Komar Maui Properties is moving to federal court with a jury trial now set for September 2025. And while county officials hope to resolve the dispute before then, they will likely have to rely on the temporary Olowalu dump site longer than expected before the burned material can be transferred to Central Maui as the community desires.
“We don’t really have a Plan B,” said Shayne Agawa, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Management. “So getting that eminent domain is critical right now. We have airspace for our trash, but we don’t have airspace for the debris and our trash.”…
read … Maui Will Likely Need To Keep Lahaina Fire Debris In Temporary Landfill Much Longer Than Expected
Report: New medical facility needed in Kailua-Kona
HTH: … ECG Management Consultants performed the analysis to assess the health care needs and gaps across the West Hawaii region and evaluate whether and how KCH can relocate health care services.
“Psychiatric, cardiology and primary care are some of West Hawaii’s greatest needs today,” said Clayton McGhan, KCH’s chief executive officer, in a press release. “We are grateful to our partners who will be critical in helping us to address those needs, ensuring that families in West Hawaii can get the medical care they need closer to home.”
The report provided recommendations for a new medical facility closer to the population density near Kailua-Kona.
It identified two feasible locations: the former Kmart location on Kamakaeha Avenue and an undeveloped parcel in West Hawaii Business Park. Both sites would enable the hospital to provide more acute care bed space than its current facility, and the ability to expand its specialized services.
The report estimated the cost of a new facility would range from $544 million to $653 million….
News Release: Hospital Site and Needs Assessment – Kona Community Hospital (hhsc.org)
PDF: KCH Final Write Up Outline v.7.docx (hhsc.org)
read … Report: New medical facility needed in Kailua-Kona
Hawaii Co Drugged-Driving arrests questioned; county auditor forwards complaint to Police Commission
HTH: … Benner told commissioners in his letter that his office “received a notification indicating (HPD) may be engaging in a questionable field practice.”
“Specifically, the assertion was made that the department has adopted a procedural stance wherein individuals found with drug paraphernalia are charged with driving under the influence (DUI).”
Benner’s letter said his office “has not independently corroborated the allegation.”
The auditor said his office reviewed the department’s General Orders on the hawaiipolice.com website, including General Order 606 regarding the department’s arrest policy, “but did not find a policy addressing driving under the influence procedures.”
“Some municipalities do possess general orders addressing DUI procedures,” Benner wrote, and included a link to the Sacramento, Calif., police department website and its General Order 537.01, the policy pertaining to DUI arrests ….
read … HPD’s DUI arrests questioned; county auditor forwards complaint to Police Commission
Soft on Crime: 17-Time loser Out on Streets—Does it Again
SA: … A 26-year-old man was arrested Tuesday after allegedly carjacking a pickup truck in Nanakuli before ramming a police vehicle and trying to steal another car in Kaneohe.
Josiah Weiland-Vierra was arrested at 1:50 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Kahekili Highway and Kahuhipa Street, according to the Honolulu Police Department’s adult arrest log.
He was arrested on suspicion of robbery in the first degree, criminal property damage in the first degree, two counts of terroristic threatening in the first degree, and car theft.
Weiland-Vierra remains in custody while police confer with the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney on potential criminal charges. He has 17 prior state convictions, including seven felonies.
Weiland-Vierra’s prior felony convictions include car theft, assaulting a law enforcement officer, theft, and promoting dangerous drugs….
read … Man, 26, allegedly carjacks pickup, rams police vehicle
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