Most-read article: ‘Why is Hawaii so expensive?’
New Administrator for SHPD
Concealed Carry Ruling Boosts Property Rights?
Another Alleged Maui Bomber Arrested--also a repeat offender
Millions in Rail Cost Overruns Hidden in Operating Budget—every year
SA: … The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation must submit its annual operating and capital budgets to the city administration for fiscal year 2026 by Dec. 1.
On Friday a preliminary review of HART’s budgets, which take effect July 1, showed marked increases to debt service on the project’s loans as well as increased labor costs for the nearly $10 billion Skyline project to Kakaako.
According to HART budget information, 2025’s total operating budget will rise to $175 million — an increase of $36.6 million, or 26.5%, over the rail agency’s current $138.3 million spending plan.
Of that $175 million, $169.7 million — or 97% — is composed of debt service expenditures.
That includes $129 million in principal payments on outstanding general obligation bonds — an increase of $40.8 million over the current fiscal year, reports indicate.
But the agency notes $40.3 million in interest payments on debt equates to a $4.6 million decrease compared with the current fiscal year.
Conversely, total labor costs are budgeted at $1.36 million — a $220,000 increase, or 19.3% higher than the current year.
read … HART forecasts nearly 27% budget increase | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
Mauna Kea telescopes ripped out as ritual ‘acknowledgment of privilege’
LAT: … “Nothing is forever,” said Gregory Chun, executive director of the Center for Maunakea Stewardship at the University of Hawaii and a Native Hawaiian.
“It was important for these two facilities to come down, not just because they were not productive anymore, but because it’s an acknowledgment of the privilege of being up there. You were pau — you were done. So, you can go home now.”
(TRANSLATION: We ripped two perfectly good telescopes out and got ‘political correctness’ in return.)
Prized for its altitude, dark skies and low humidity, Mauna Kea still hosts 11 other telescopes. The facilities have brought Hawaii international acclaim in astronomy and have helped to boost the local economy.
Now the Caltech telescope moves to Chile with a new name (the Leighton Chajnantor Telescope), new instruments and the opportunity to reestablish itself on the cutting edge of astronomy.
(TRANSLATION: We are relocating the telescope to Chile where science is appreciated.)
Sunil Golwala, director of the observatory and a physics professor at Caltech, said the team has learned from their time on Mauna Kea and that the Chile site is farther from population centers and not regarded as sacred….
(HERE is a list of the things the CSO did on Mauna Kea.)
Over its roughly three decades of observations, the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory had played a key role in several scientific breakthroughs in astrophysics.
The observatory was first designed to detect some of the most unexplored wavelengths of light, between a third of a millimeter and 1 millimeter — much longer than visible light.
The telescope, with its fellow Mauna Kea resident the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, discovered that Earth is basking in light from excited molecules living quietly in interstellar space.
Toward the turn of the century, an upgraded Caltech Submillimeter Observatory started making maps of the sky. It was a “quantum leap in capability,” said Golwala.
This allowed scientists to map everything from dust in the interstellar medium to the largest scale of structure in the universe, galaxy clusters….
(QUESTION: What did we trade that away for?)
(ANSWER: Anti-Telescope Rap Video: Swinging Baseball Bat "In the blessed era of Max Holloway")
read … Mauna Kea telescope Scientists reflect on lessons learned after dismantling
Data consultant on how Native Hawaiians are getting priced out of paradise
HPR: … The Conversation talked to data and technology consultant Matt Jachowski about his conference presentation titled “Aloha Means Goodbye": why Native Hawaiians have left the islands in droves….
read … Data consultant on how Native Hawaiians are getting priced out of paradise
No timeline for Hawaii Supreme Court to rule on evidence in Dana Ireland murder case
HNN: … There is no set schedule for when the Hawaii Supreme Court will decide if newly acquired evidence in the 1991 Dana Ireland murder case should be turned over to the Hawaii Innocence Project.
The state’s high court could take up to a year to issue a ruling, but Brian Black, executive director of the Public First Law Center, said the events have been moving at a faster pace than usual.
“If they agreed on what the outcome could be, they could enter an order that says, courts do this and we’ll give you a better explanation at a later date,” Black said.
“It’s always going to take time for that final opinion to come out and really explain their rationale.” ….
read … No timeline for Hawaii Supreme Court to rule on evidence in Dana Ireland murder case
AES Hawaiʻi claims successful bat deterrent system at Oʻahu wind farm
HPR: … "We have a bat deterrent mechanism on the turbines that sends out ultrasonic. You can't hear it with the human ear, but the bats can hear it, and that will keep them away from the turbine," Larsen said.
She said that since the start of operations in December 2020, there has only been one bat strike….
read … AES Hawaiʻi reports successful bat deterrent system at Oʻahu wind farm
Convicted Felon Edmund Silva Sells Another Fake Hawaiian Kingdom Ambassadorship to Nigerian Prince
TDL: … Prof. David Appointed Ambassador of the Sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii to Nigeria….
LI: Professor Oluwafemi Esan is the founder of El-ROI London University, the first Black private owned American University in London. He became the first Nigerian British Citizen to be Appointed by His Royal Majesty King Paki Silva of The Sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii as the Ambassador for London and European Union in 2022….
read … Prof. David Appointed Ambassador of the Sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii to Nigeria. – THISDAYLIVE
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