Miske’s death may terminate some criminal proceedings
Years Later, Kilauea lava flow disaster recovery efforts still haven’t started
20% Kickback Legalized? Nan Scores $150M DHHL project by teaming up with Kali Watson Crony
SA: … The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has selected a developer with ties to the agency’s leader to build out a big part of a homestead community on Hawaii island.
Kalaniana‘ole Development LLC is to build 125 homes and 400 house lots at DHHL’s master-planned Villages of La‘i ‘Opua community in Kealakehe near Kailua-Kona under a development agreement with the agency.
The work, estimated to cost around $150 million, represents the first major project for the year-old company led by Patti Tancayo, who spent over two decades working with DHHL Director Kali Watson running a nonprofit affordable-housing development firm before Watson was appointed in early 2023 to head DHHL.
(CLUE: Normally state employees get a 20% bribe for steering a contract. Have they now found a way to make the bribe legal?)
Tancayo, a DHHL beneficiary who also is a former housing and community development supervisor at the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, formed Kalaniana‘ole Development in December 2023 with the owner of Nan Inc., one of Hawaii’s largest construction companies.
“Launching Kalaniana‘ole Development with La‘i ‘Opua Villages as our first project is both a privilege and a profound responsibility,” Tancayo said in a news release announcing the award. …
(TRANSLATION: We’ve never built anything. Good thing we’re just fronting for Nan, eh?)
Tancayo and Watson worked together for over 20 years, and when Watson was appointed by Gov. Josh Green to head DHHL in March 2023, Tancayo became president and CEO of HCDB. Later, she formed Kalaniana‘ole Development with Nan Shin, founder and owner of Nan Inc.
Shin serves as board chair for Kalaniana‘ole Development, and Tancayo is president and CEO….
A second piece of work on La‘i ‘Opua to be carried out by Kalaniana‘ole Development is infrastructure for almost half of the 200-lot Village 2. DHHL is committing $39.2 million largely for the company to develop infrastructure for 90 lots in Village 2. The company also is to develop homes on those lots for beneficiaries using private financing.
Developing the other 110 lots in Village 2 in addition to Village 1, slated for 200 lots, would be subject to additional funding from DHHL.
Kalaniana‘ole Development also was selected to develop a water source needed for future parts of La‘i ‘Opua other than the second phase of Village 4. The company is receiving funding for site assessment, drilling and test work. Water system development is subject to additional funding not yet allocated by DHHL….
DHHL BACKGROUND:
NAN BACKGROUND:
read … DHHL project goes to developer with ties to the agency’s leader
My Battle with Tulsi Gabbard’s Cult Followers in Hawaii
ST: … Gabbard, then in her mid-30s, had grown up in, and appeared to remain socially and politically immersed in, Science of Identity, whose devotees worship a man named Chris Butler (born Kris, with no middle name). Although today she typically dodges questions about Butler, Gabbard had publicly celebrated him as her “guru dev” at a 2015 gathering of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, or Hare Krishna). And she has never disavowed him or spoken critically of him. I also came across pictures and video clips posted by Butler followers on social media that placed Gabbard at more recent, private Science of Identity events in Windward Oahu. Most Gabbard congressional staffers were also followers of Butler, as are her parents, sister, ex-husband, current husband, mother-in-law, and others close to her ….
ST: Part 2: My Battle with Tulsi Gabbard’s Cult Followers in Hawaii
CB: Has Tulsi Gabbard Bid Hawaii A Last Aloha? - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … My Battle with Tulsi Gabbard’s Cult Followers in Hawaii
For 'Renovation Aloha,' Permit Violations Are The Cost Of Doing Business
CB: … Husband and wife home flippers Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama have a low tolerance for delays.
On their HGTV reality show “Renovation Aloha,” a lag in a tile shipment or a contractor’s laziness threaten the profitability of turning Oahu eyesores into million-dollar listings.
“Our margins are razor thin on this house, so we gave ourselves a timeline of 12 weeks max,” Tristyn said of a termite-infested property in Mililani.
As the show has gained popularity and gears up for a second season, viewers have taken to social media to ask: On an island plagued by notoriously long permitting times, how is it that the Kalamas are getting their permits approved quickly enough to renovate, sell their properties and turn a profit?
The answer is simple: They’re not.
For each of the eight properties featured on the show’s first season, the couple began renovating before a single building permit was issued, according to a Civil Beat review of public records. Instead, they applied for permits but forged ahead with their work before the approval came in. In many cases, the homes were sold with sparkling new kitchens, glamorous bathrooms, new decks — none of it permitted. …
read … For 'Renovation Aloha,' Permit Violations Are The Cost Of Doing Business
HPD corporal charged with making false reports to law enforcement goes before judge
HNN: … When Judge Tracy Fukui asked the attorney about the status of the case, Cameron Holm responded, “We are requesting a continuance judge. We just need some more time reviewing the discovery before we decide whether we’re going to waive or demand jury trail.”
The judge agreed and gave the defense an additional two weeks to review the evidence.
The case is scheduled to be back in court Dec. 17.
Tuesday’s proceeding came nearly 15 months after Isala crashed his subsidized police vehicle into the back of a motorcyclist at a stoplight near Aloha Stadium. Records show the 62-year-old rider suffered a concussion and serious spinal injury from being dragged down Kamehameha Highway….
read … HPD corporal charged with making false reports to law enforcement goes before judge
Miske cause of death still a mystery
SA: … The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Hawaii, announced Tuesday that no determination of foul play or suicide has been made in the death of Honolulu businessman and crime boss Michael J. Miske Jr.
The 50-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell Sunday and later pronounced dead….
The Chief Medical Examiner of the City and County of Honolulu conducted an autopsy, but the exact cause of death remains under investigation….
ILind: For the record: My past reporting on the Miske case | i L i n d
read … Local crime boss’s cause of death still a mystery | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Will Miske Family Sue over Jail ‘Suicide’?
CB: … Lawsuits over jail and prison suicides have proved to be quite expensive for the state.
A judge awarded the family of Joseph O’Malley $1.375 million in 2022 in connection with his suicide at Halawa Correctional Facility, and lawmakers agreed that same year to pay $550,000 to settle a lawsuit over the death of Daisy Katsitati.
Katsitati, 26, hanged herself at the Maui jail on Oct. 12, 2017. According to written testimony submitted to lawmakers by the state Attorney General’s office, Katsitati suggested to a jail guard that she be placed on suicide watch, but “no action was taken to get her medical help or to put her on suicide watch.”
Another lawsuit over a suicide at OCCC was filed earlier this year over the death of Diamond Simeona-Agoo, 21, who hanged herself at that jail in 2022.
At the Federal Detention Center on Oahu, convicted crime boss Mike Miske Jr., 50, was found dead in his cell on Sunday, an apparent suicide. That death is still under investigation and an autopsy pending….
SA: Local crime boss’s cause of death still a mystery | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … A Suicide At The Oahu Jail Prompts A Lawsuit By The Inmate's Family
PUC: Justice = Free Electricity?
IM: … The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission issued a letter announcing that they will hold a second public meeting addressing disconnections on Monday, December 9, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to noon via WebEx.
RMI, formerly known as Rocky Mountain Institute, is a consultant to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in several proceedings. RMI wrote a draft memo on “Pathways to Disconnection Reform in Hawaii.”
Several community organizations that work directly with customers experiencing disconnection will make presentations in this second disconnection meeting.
They include Catholic Charities, Hawaii Workers Center, Honolulu Community Action Center (HCAP), City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Economic Revitalization (OER) Rent and Utility Relief Program (RURP), and the Salvation Army. Presenters.
Each organization “will share their perspectives, experiences, and recommendations on addressing utility disconnections and supporting affected communities. “
The Commission letter indicates that perhaps for the second time in recent months, as part of a community public relations approach, the Commission is renaming a proceeding.
The title of the Commission letter is “Docket No. 2022-0250, Energy Equity and Justice.” The word Justice being added to the name of the proceeding for the first time.
read … Public Utilities Commission Holds Public Meeting on Disconnections | Ililani Media
Kauai Council Sworn in Despite Election Challenge
TGI: … the council was sworn in by Judge Randal Valenciano on “the first working day of December” at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall.
The inauguration took place despite a challenge of the Kauai County Council race by Hawaii State Elections Commissioner Ralph Cushnie that is sitting at the Hawaii Supreme Court.
The challenge that was filed with the Hawaii Supreme Court on Nov. 25, with at least 30 other voters, alleges that “an overage did occur” during the 2024 General Election, and the overage caused a difference in the election results.
Holland, according to the final 2024 Elections Summary, finished in seventh place with 12,041 votes, edging out incumbent Council Member Ross Kagawa by 108 votes….
read … Holland is newest council member
How City Landfill Process is Designed to Continue Waimanalo Gulch
SA: … The city is walking a tightrope as it prepares to reveal next week “three potential paths” for creating a new landfill on Oahu. Problem is, not one of the locations scouted since 2022 as an alternative is legally viable.
After eliminating sites on federal land, and sites that run afoul of federal law (in a flight path) or common-sense state prohibitions (tsunami zone sitings) — and nixing sites over an aquifer or near a water source for drinking water, on prime ag land, on a fault line, or (absolutely not) on Oahu’s West Side — all remaining options violate Hawaii’s Act 73. That state law prohibits a landfill within a half-mile buffer zone for residences, schools and hospitals, or in a conservation district.
As Mayor Rick Blangiardi put it in a Tuesday message foreshadowing the city’s Dec. 10 announcement: “There are no universally acceptable landfill sites on Oahu.” That’s a fact that the people of Oahu must come to grips with, in taking a position on the city’s next move (recipe to continue at Waimanalo Gulch, as we have intended from the start) ….
read … Editorial: Decide quickly on necessary landfill | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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