After Kiddie Porn Indictment, Kamakana Villages Residents Demand New Management
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted September 28, 2024
Territorial Bank Rejects Buyout from 'Unnamed Investors'
AGAIN: Another CWS Nightmare--Abused Girl Starved and Beaten to Death
CB: … On June 13, four months after Geanna Bradley died, emergency responders were called to a home somewhere on Oahu. There, they found a child aged 3 years and 11 months who weighed a mere 29 pounds. The average weight of a 4-year-old is 40 pounds.
This girl had bruises at different stages of healing on both lower legs, left thigh, back and trunk. The medical staff noted an adult-sized handprint bruise on her buttocks and a “massive” bruise on her left hip and abdomen. The Honolulu Police Department noted more bruises on her arm and ribs.
She was pronounced dead 18 minutes after being admitted to the hospital. In her short life, she had suffered from extreme pain and mental distress and exposure to domestic violence, a panel of experts later found. She didn’t get enough food, clothing, education, medical care or supervision. And she had been given dangerous drugs.
There were no press conferences or releases. In Geanna’s case, the legal guardians were arrested right away and officials talked to the media about what they had found. But HPD is still investigating this case and will say nothing. As far as the public knows, it never happened.
The only reason I know about it is that the Public First Law Center used Hawaii’s open records law to get a report by something called a multidisciplinary team. This is a group of experts — a pediatrician, psychologist, nurse and social workers — convened to review child abuse deaths and make recommendations to the state’s Child Welfare Services about how to avoid them.
The Department of Human Services provided a copy of the report to the law center, which shared it with me. But most of it is blacked out. …
Under “Type of Case,” one of the checked boxes is “Reabuse on an open (active) or closed case.”
But later the report states that the girl “was not receiving any services prior to her death.”
The logical conclusion is that the state did have an open case involving this family, but closed it before the girl was killed….
That case got me thinking about what other states do to inform the public when a child dies of abuse or neglect. My far from exhaustive research found that California, Florida, Rhode Island, Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey and Colorado — unlike Hawaii — post such information on the internet.
DHS gave me three paragraphs on the death of the 5-month-old in Waianae, only because I asked for it. But Colorado, in a case I opened at random, posted seven pages on the internet about an abuse case that did not even involve a fatality. Among the copious, detailed information was an assessment of the state’s strengths and weaknesses in handing it.
Colorado law requires these disclosures. The state’s general assembly emphasized “a need for agency transparency and accountability to the public” in child abuse cases “when the child or family has had previous involvement … with the state or county within three years prior to the incident.”
The Hawaii Legislature, which has done no oversight of these high-profile child abuse deaths, should pass such a law and put an end to the state’s silence….
read … John Hill: An Abused Child's Hidden Death - Honolulu Civil Beat
Trickery: Will you be suckered into Voting to Give More Pay Raises to the Honolulu City Council?
CB: … Honolulu voters will get a say on how City Council members’ salaries are determined, a response to widespread criticism over the 64% raises given to them last year by the city salary commission.
(And they think you will now vote to give them regular 5% raises on top of the 64%. ARE THEY RIGHT ABOUT YOU? Let’s find out.)
The nine council members used to make about $69,000 per year. That changed in 2023 when their position got a dramatic raise to about $113,000 per year.
Now, the public has a chance to cap (ensure) council member raises (continue into the future) and change the process through which they’re determined (so council members pay will be tied to public employee contracts, thus creating a conflict of interest.)
The charter amendment, which only affects council member salaries not other city employees, would do three things.
1. It would remove the ability for council members to vote on their own salaries,
2. it would tie council member raises to collective bargaining raises and
3. it would cap (FUTURE) council member raises at 5%. Last year’s raise was about 64% (and will not be rescinded).…
(Are you falling for this trick? We will find out on Nov 5.)
read … Voters To Decide Pay Raises For The Honolulu City Council
Survey: Maui Residents Say County Response To Lahaina Fire Falls Short
CB: … About two-thirds of Maui County residents responding to a Civil Beat survey say Mayor Richard Bissen and the County Council have not done a good job helping the island recover from the deadly Lahaina wildfire a year ago.
Most residents polled also think private property rights should be the top consideration in rebuilding Lahaina and a wide majority cite housing they can afford as the primary issue facing the county. Most support Bissen’s (pretend) plan to turn 7,000 short-term rentals into long-term housing….
Survey takers were also asked an open-ended question: To list what they believed to be the most pressing issues facing Maui.
By far, at 56%, Maui residents named housing and affordable housing. The rebuilding of Lahaina and recovery from the fire was a distant second at 22%. Those were followed by the cost of living/inflation (19%), economy/jobs (14%), homeless issues (14%), tourism (11%), wildfires and prevention (7%), the government and mayor (5%), helping Lahaina fire victims (5%), water issues (5%), people moving away (4%), crime/drugs (4%) infrastructure (4%), vacation and short-term rentals (3%), health, medical and insurance (3%) and environment and sustainability issues (3%)….
IM: Hawaiian Electric Financial Fire Risk is Clearing Up | Ililani Media
read … Civil Beat Survey: Maui Residents Say County Response To Lahaina Fire Falls Short
Lahaina: Push is on to eliminate all Front Street Businesses
SA: … Shayne Kahahane wants to see far less priority given to restoring commercial businesses in Lahaina and more focus on increasing green space and public access to water and reconnecting Lahaina to its Hawaiian history and culture.
(TRANSLATION: Lahaina Strong is switching spokespeople after Hawai’i Free Press exposed their methamphetamines connections.)
“Lahaina should become more of an open space for the community, and its ties to Hawaiian history and culture are what’s most important,” Kahahane said. “If there are businesses, they should be local. Lahaina should be for the residents.”
Kekai Keahi also wants to see more green space and more Hawaiian history and culture restored to Lahaina, with an emphasis on incorporating shade trees and other plantings such as native plants and trees — a priority survey takers put at the top of their second-tier concerns.
While the survey did not address Lahaina’s famous banyan tree, Keahi said that “it’s a symbol of colonialism” and should come down because it was planted by people associated with the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. The tree was planted in 1873 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries in Lahaina….
Kahahane’s and Keahi’s views were popular among survey respondents, whose second-tier priorities included highlighting Native Hawaiian culture, making Front Street more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly, and improving shoreline access.
Rebuilding the commercial areas ranked above restoring Mokuula, the former home of King Kamehameha III that was rediscovered under a baseball field at Lahaina’s Maluulu o Lele Park. Those who supported business restoration said West Maui visitors need something to do when they visit and that residents need jobs.
However, Gov. Josh Green, who signed an executive order Aug. 8 returning Mokuula to Lahaina, spoke about the importance of that moment to restoration efforts Sept. 19 during the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s annual convention….
REALITY: Meet the Meth Gang Behind ‘Lahaina Strong’
read … Officials sort priorities to devise Lahaina recovery plan
State leaders look to Kauai park to learn how to manage overtourism
HNN: … The North Shore Shuttle launched in June 2019, and it plays an important role in managing visitor and vehicle numbers on Kauai’s North Shore.
The route starts at the Waipa park and ride, and goes to Haena State Park — about a 30 minute drive, with shuttles running every 20 minutes.
“Today we’re doing over 500 a day in the shuttles and its reduced the congestion on the roads by storing all these cars here,” said Joel Guy, executive director of the Hanalei Initiative.
This, along with a reservation system, a daily cap on the number of visitors, and steeper fines for illegal parking have all helped the area heal from decades of overuse and overcrowding.
It’s a topic that’s going to be discussed at the upcoming Hawaii Tourism Conference at the Hawaii Convention Center where best practices and lessons learned will be shared.
“Before the management system, there was over 80 to 100 rescues every year via helicopter flying people out of this area because it was just out of control, and since management, the number has gone down to zero,” said Guy….
read … State leaders look to Kauai park to learn how to manage overtourism
Financing Falls Through: DHHL abandons low income beneficiaries in desperate effort to acquire Kauai rental complex
SA: … Courtyards at Waipouli, the 82-unit complex that DHHL wants to buy despite pushback from existing tenants and some agency beneficiaries, would no longer be reserved for beneficiaries with low and very low incomes as previously planned.
Under the revised plan, Courtyards apartments would be almost entirely for moderate-income beneficiary households….
“This is a bad idea,” Sherri Cummings, a DHHL beneficiary, said about the Courtyards plan during a Sept. 16 Hawaiian Homes Commission meeting. ”Put us back on the land.”…
Existing Courtyards tenants also have criticized DHHL’s plan, which would displace them but require DHHL to subsidize their rent for replacement housing for up to 42 months if it is more than rent at the Courtyards.
Commissioners approved the revised plan in a 6-2 vote. Voting no were Dennis Neves, the commission’s Kauai representative, and Lawrence Lasua, representing Molokai….
the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency that allocates the tax credits on a competitive basis for affordable-housing projects, isn’t expected to select DHHL’s project for financing because it didn’t score well against other projects.
So DHHL now intends to seek a roughly $22.5 million loan insured by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development along with a HUD Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant. A roughly $10 million loan from HHFDC also would be sought.
Additionally, DHHL intends to use $25 million it has from HUD’s Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act, which was part of the earlier financing plan.
If the funding is obtained and DHHL completes its purchase, income limits for beneficiaries would be the median income on Kauai, and in some cases up to 80% of the median.
Kauai’s median income ranges by family size from $92,900 for a single person to $175,200 for a family of eight. At 80% this range is $74,320 to $140,160….
read … DHHL shifts strategy to acquire Kauai rental complex
Longshore workers might go on strike, which could cause shortages of popular goods
HNN: … Longshore workers at East and Gulf Coast ports could go on strike Tuesday, which could choke off many popular products ….
read … Longshore workers might go on strike, which could cause shortages of popular goods
For Real this Time? State receives 6 bids to remove Falls of Clyde
SA: … The difference between earlier requests for proposal and the latest one is that the Falls of Clyde, a national historic landmark, is no longer on the state or national registers of historic places. The ship was delisted from the state register in November and from the national register in February.
Friends President Bruce McEwan said the ship was neglected by Bishop Museum for nearly two decades before the nonprofit was formed in 2008 to preserve and restore it. Despite proposing detailed dry-dock and business plans in 2014, he said DOT undermined its mission and has made unsubstantiated statements about its safety.
McEwan said that after the state impounded the ship in 2016, members of the Friends group were still able to maintain it until 2019.
”Any deterioration from early 2019 to date is solely the responsibility and the fault of the Harbors Division,” he said in earlier interviews.
The ship’s plight galvanized support from Scotland, and a new group, Falls of Clyde International Ltd., launched a campaign to bring it back to its birthplace. The group said it did not submit a bid in response to DOT’s request for proposals due to the requirements set for this round of proposals.
“It is with great regret, that we have to announce that we shall not be offering a submission to the current RFP for the removal of the Falls of Clyde from Honolulu,” said the group’s founder, David O’Neill, in a Sept. 18 Facebook post. “After nearly nine years of offering solutions to DOT (Harbor), once again they have in their latest RFP document, made it impossible for a small heritage group like ours, to meet the crazy terms and conditions they have now imposed.”…
PBN: Hawaii State Department of Transportation provides update on Honolulu Harbor improvements - Pacific Business News (bizjournals.com)
read … State receives 6 bids to remove Falls of Clyde
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