The $4 Billion Maui Wildfire “Settlement”
Permitting nightmare on Big Island
SMS Cash Catastrophe: State Contracts in Limbo
LNG fuel for shipping is necessary for regulatory compliance
A Supreme Court case in Hawaii could raise gas costs for us all
Reelect Keli’i Akina: OHA’s only Honest Trustee
SA: … Voters across the state will be able to vote for either incumbent Keli‘i Akina (the only honest Trustee) or challenger Lei Ahu Isa (just another insider like all the rest) for one at-large OHA Board of Trustees seat. In the Aug. 10 primary, Akina received 40,836 votes and Ahu Isa had 30,860 votes….
LINK: The Voter Guide for the 2024 General Election is here!
April, 2024: OHA Above the Law? One Trustee Says 'No'
read … 3 OHA trustee seats up for grabs on Nov. 5
Reelect Roth Hawaii County Mayor: Stop HGEA Money Grab
SA: … In the Aug. 10 primary election, Roth received 38% of the votes compared with 28% for Alameda.
Leadership of the Hawaii Government Employees Association and United Public Workers, the two biggest public worker unions in the state, have endorsed Alameda. …
Moore said those endorsements stemmed at least in part from Roth’s opposition to COVID-19 hazard pay for county workers …
(CLUE: Alameda campaign is just HGEA retaliation.)
Roth has been endorsed by private-sector unions, including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Laborers’ International Union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters &Joiners of America, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the union representing plumbers and pipefitters.
Roth also has been endorsed by the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Association, the General Contractors Association of Hawaii and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce &Industry of Hawaii….
LINK: The Voter Guide for the 2024 General Election is here!
read … ‘Marquee’ Hawaii general election contest is for Big Island mayor
Vote No: Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment
SA: … Even though same-sex marriage is now legal, legislators still have the ability to outlaw it.
Legislators last session passed a bill to propose a constitutional amendment that would strip them of the power.
So the Nov. 5 election ballots will ask voters a one-sentence question: “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?”…
(CLUE: Vote ‘NO’)
read … Hawaii voters to consider 2 Constitutional amendments
The More Restrictive the Voting System, the Higher the Turnout
KHON: … New Hampshire and Wisconsin, despite having generally high turnout rates, have actually become some of the most restrictive states for voters over the last few decades’ worth of election cycles, as determined by the Election Law Journal’s Cost of Voting Index.
Conversely, some of the states with the least restrictive laws have among the lowest voter turnout rates in presidential elections, according to reporting from states that tally their total ballot counts.
States with the lowest voter turnout in recent elections have frequently included Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas — which are considered more restrictive — but also Arizona, Nevada, New York and Hawaii, the latter of which is among the most accessible state for voters, per the Cost of Voting Index….
read … Which states have the highest and lowest voter turnout in presidential elections?
Finalists for University of Hawaii president to meet regents, pick likely coming soon
SA: … The two finalists to become the next president of the University of Hawaii — both mainland administrators with island ties — are scheduled for the first time to meet the full UH Board of Regents on Wednesday ahead of the regents’ decision that’s expected in the days that follow.
Julian Vasquez Heilig, 49, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Western Michigan University; and Wendy Hensel, 54, executive vice chancellor and university provost for The City University of New York, are scheduled to meet all 11 regents, who are likely to interview them separately in executive session during Wednesday’s regents’ meeting.
Their decision will determine who will become the university’s 16th president, replacing retiring President David Lassner, who has been part of the UH system for 47 years and president the last 14….
REALITY: VIDEO: Finalist for UH President pushes 'Critical Race Theory'
MORE REALITY: UH: Hensel Shows she can Outmaneuver Academic Race Hustlers
read … Finalists for University of Hawaii president to meet regents, pick likely coming soon |
Gov Green Moves to Las Vegas
SA: … Trip events, she said, include a presentation on stadium financing with Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority officials, a tour of a hospitality, gaming and entertainment innovation center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and a tour of a Tesla-based underground transportation tunnel system called the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop slated for major expansion under the city.
Green’s schedule also includes a tour of the UFC mixed martial arts organization headquarters, a tour of the Raiders headquarters and practice facility, and a meeting with Carpenters Union of America representatives on the challenges of home building, workforce development and infrastructure financing….
read … Gov. Green meets with Las Vegas Raiders officials
Airports Division Too Busy Buying Influence to Run Airport
Borreca: … Hawaii’s poor airport record is such common knowledge that the former CEO of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz, in 2019 said: “ongoing construction and deferred maintenance at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is taking away from the visitors’ experience.
“I toured this airport with our team this morning … and literally things are coming off the wall,” he said. The former airline chief also pointed to the endless construction projects as another of the Honolulu airport’s problems….
Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power, called Honolulu’s airport “significantly below average in food, beverage and retail.”
The problems are sinking in. The comment section following Wednesday’s Star-Advertiser summary of the J.D. Powers’ report had readers saying such things as: “The airport does still have that old worn vibe … Trash cans to catch leaks and broken fixtures are still visible. I’ve seen new airports. As stated in the article, HNL is the first and last impression for visitors. If Hawaii wants to be a first-class visitor destination, having a third-class airport doesn’t help.”…
REALITY: Naming Names: Airports Division Ran Late-Night Parties Where Hawaii Politicians Raked In Money
read … On Politics: Honolulu’s airport just can’t get off the ground
$1.6B Subsidy to KSBE—TOD Infrastructure Deal
SA: … A state plan is being advanced to foster development of nearly 28,000 new homes around planned city rail stations in Iwilei and Kapalama.
The estimated $1.6 billion endeavor includes roughly $850 million in infrastructure improvements possibly shared by the state, the city and private property owners, and a $750 million or so state office tower project that includes housing.
The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. recently published a draft environmental impact statement for the two interconnected projects geared to support transit-oriented redevelopment and help address a severe lack of affordable housing in Honolulu’s urban core….
BACKGROUND: Rail Stations Designed to Profit KSBE, HECO, First Hawaiian
read … $1.6B state plan aims to boost housing around rail stations in Iwilei, Kapalama
Gig Scraping Perfectly Good Telescopes off Mauna Kea comes with ‘Premier Office in Hilo’
HTH: … The lot, located on East Kawili Street just off Highway 11, formerly was the site of a Bank of Hawaii franchise, which leased the property in 1962. While Bank of Hawaii renewed its 55-year lease in 2017, it declined to do so a second time after that extension ran out in 2021.
Since Bank of Hawaii vacated the lot, the property has been unused and the building boarded up.
Department of Land and Natural Resources Land Division Administrator Russell Tsuji told the land board Friday that Hawaii County at one point had designs on the property for a homeless services building, but ultimately lost interest.
Tsuji said the property is “probably the premier property we have for lease on the Big Island,” based on the current condition of the site, and said the DLNR had planned to auction off a lease to the site.
Instead, the DLNR will grant a 30-year lease to MKSOA at a great discount: the DLNR will waive the authority’s first seven years of rent — determined by appraisal to be more than $95,000 per year — in order to offset the agency’s costs of renovating the building and closing a cesspool on the property.
Lloyd Unebasami, interim administrative services officer for MKSOA, said the authority has about $400,000 set aside to close down the large-capacity cesspool and connect the property to the county sewer.
Unebasami added that the building is ideally located for the authority, and not just in a practical sense.
“We can actually see the mountain from the building,” Unebasami said….
read … Maunakea authority to occupy former BoH building
$1.5M to Family of Criminal who Fought Police and Lost?
Shapiro: … The Council, which had preliminarily approved the settlement 8-1 in committee, postponed final action for further study.
Myeni, a 29-year-old South African, was a former professional rugby player who was found in his autopsy to suffer from Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury common in contact sports.
He displayed strange behavior that day, culminating with following a visiting couple to the Nuuanu home, entering uninvited and making bizarre statements.
He left without taking anything or harming anyone and offered apologies. When police arrived, things escalated rapidly as three officers, without identifying themselves, approached Myeni with guns drawn, flashlights in his face and demands that he get on the ground.
Instead, he attacked and was getting the better of the officers as they tried unsuccessfully to subdue him with Tasers and a nonlethal gunshot. Myeni was severely beating one of the officers, causing injuries that still disable him, when the other two fired the fatal gunshots….
Big Q: Do you agree with the proposed $1.5 million settlement over Lindani Myeni’s death by police in 2021? (82% say ‘NO’)
read … David Shapiro: HPD ire on shooting deal puts Council in dilemma
40-time loser does it again—gets probation: Guess What Happens Next+
HTH: … A 40-year-old fugitive who was the subject of a multiagency manhunt in upper Puna on Wednesday in a Glenwood subdivision has 40 criminal convictions dating back to 2004, according to court records.
Malani Donald Tavui has felony convictions for auto theft, unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle, a firearms offense, promoting a dangerous drug and terroristic threatening. Tavui also has been convicted of violating both parole and probation.
“He’s still being sought,” said Hawaii Police Department Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins, who commands the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division, on Friday. “He’s wanted for numerous felonies. He’s known to be armed and dangerous, known to be in possession of firearms.”
The department’s Special Response Team, which is HPD’s SWAT unit, along with federal partners — including the FBI SWAT Team and the U.S. Marshal Service — were deployed Wednesday morning to execute what police described as “a high-risk search warrant on a wanted fugitive considered to be armed and dangerous.”
The fugitive turned out to be Tavui, who is currently serving four years of probation for a firearm offense, unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle, and two counts of auto theft.
A police spokeswoman said Tavui was wanted on two Parras warrants, which are issued when police are unable to locate a suspect and need to take additional action.
Amon-Wilkins said the offenses Tavui is wanted for are unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle, first-degree theft, firearms charges, habitual property crime, criminal property damage and traffic offenses.
Four “be on the lookout” all-points bulletins, or BOLOs, had been issued for Tavui, the spokeswoman said.
According to Amon-Wilkins, those bulletins “date back several months.”
“We had an incident with him at Central Pacific Bank (in Hilo) last week,” Amon-Wilkins said. “He was suspected to be in a vehicle, and officers tried to contact him. And he fled the scene, struck several vehicles.”…
read … Police: Armed fugitive still being sought - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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