Forgotten Honouliuli: Jack Burns, Police Spy
City announces next five town hall meetings on proposed sewer fee increases
Affordable Housing: City Touts 'Year of Progress'
Light tunnel and brand-new displays to commemorate 40th anniversary of Honolulu City Lights
Dec 15 Deadline for Maui Interim Housing Program
DOH Approve State's 25th Medicated Marijuana Dispensary
How 1898 Annexation of Hawaii upset Japan’s plans of occupation
USNI: … Japan had long seen Hawaii as part of its Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Before that term was even coined, as early as the 1870s, Japanese Foreign Secretary Taneomi Soejima reportedly “considered taking over the [Hawaiian] Islands.”3 In 1889, Japan prepared a secret 100-year plan to take over “American and British possessions in the Pacific, including Hawaii.”4 Japanese activist Keishiro Inoue “urged throughout the 1890s that Japan must rule Hawaii in order to protect itself in the Pacific.”5
These plans were fueled by the large number of Japanese who had emigrated to Hawaii to work in the sugar industry. From the late 1800s to the mid-20th century, the Japanese became Hawaii’s largest ethnic population, 160,000 strong by 1941.6 Tokyo regarded these expatriates as a form of territorial expansion, if not a forerunner of occupation.
By the 1890s, Hawaii’s leaders who overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy knew that “Hawaii was fair game for some colonial power, and rather than see their investments . . . fall under control of England, France, Germany, or Japan . . . they opted for a permanent tie with America through Annexation.”7 Japan opposed annexation. Its minister in Washington, Toru Hoshi, disingenuously assured Secretary of State John Sherman that “Japan ‘did not have and never did have’ designs upon the integrity and sovereignty of Hawaii.” In fact, Hoshi had recommended to the Japanese Foreign Minister that, to prevent annexation, “a strong naval armament should be at once dispatched for the purpose of occupying the islands by force.”8
Japan’s warship Naniwa was sent to Honolulu to discourage annexation. But that hastened passage in part to keep “Hawaii from Japan’s clutches.”9 As the prominent U.S. Senator George Frisbie Hoar declared before Congress, if Hawaii was not annexed, it “will fall . . . prey to Japan, not by conquest but by immigration. This result all parties agree that we must prevent.”10 Annexation in 1898 may have upset Japan’s plans of occupation, but it did not stop them….
RELATED: Forgotten Honouliuli: Jack Burns, Police Spy
read … Japan’s Doomed Plans to Invade and Occupy Hawaii
Lahaina residents hopeful as momentum builds in burn zone
HNN: … Residents of Lahaina say they feel they have reached a major milestone in the rebuilding process.
Many more houses are taking shape, even in neighborhoods where the county struggled to ensure they would be safe and modern.
The jigsaw puzzle of houses and lots in Kahua Camp, just mauka of the iconic Pioneer Sugar Mill smokestack, seemed like the biggest challenge for the county and in need of change because so many people died there during the 2023 wildfire.
Until recently, Kahua Camp resident Jesica Cadiam and her neighbors in were in limbo as the county struggled with whether the former plantation subdivision could be rebuilt safely.
More than 40 people died in Kahua when they were trapped by dead-end streets, fallen trees and abandoned vehicles. Closely packed homes and heavy vegetation also fed the flames.
That led to discussion of new evacuation routes, a land swap to expand lot sizes and taking properties to widen roads.
Cadiam participated in community meetings with county officials who heard from residents that they didn’t want changes that would cut into their lots.
“We did meeting after meeting, and they surveyed most of the residents in the area, and they said that they would like to keep most of their property,” she said….
Maui County Public Works Director Jordan Molina said the other message was the urgency to get homes rebuilt.
“The priority came clear for us was to try and get people stabilized back on their properties as quickly as possible. That became paramount very early on for us,” he said.
The plan that emerged included a ban on street parking with many residents adding parking on their own lots. They would have to build their houses to updated codes but keep their old floorplans, even if that put houses closer the property lines and neighbors than the current laws allow….
It led to some homeowners, especially those able to rebuild based on existing plans, to get permits through the expedited system set up for Lahaina and operated by contractor 4LEAF, Inc.
Next to Cadiam’s lot, her neighbor already had the cinderblock lower floor standing….
Molina said the county also used computer modeling to simulate evacuations which showed that, with two new entrances to the subdivision to be acquired by the county, residents could escape another fire….
The county and state Department of Health waived requirements to replace cesspools, because the county is promising to bring in a sewer system in a few years.
In other places, like near the shoreline, homeowners are giving up square footage because of shoreline setbacks and size thresholds….
“Two and a half years,” she said. “In the beginning, they were like, it’s gonna be five years, five to 10 years.” …
Cadiam says another big factor in a more content state of mind is that her family and most others finally have longer-term housing solutions, so they can be comfortable while they wait to come home….
BACKGROUND: Do Lahaina Property Owners Have the Right to Rebuild?
read … Lahaina residents hopeful as momentum builds in burn zone
FEMA seeks vacant lots for temporary housing for Maui fire survivors
SA: … The Federal Emergency Management Agency is reaching out to property owners in West Maui, seeking vacant lots to place temporary housing units for wildfire survivors.
The agency is particularly interested in leasing land in or near Lahaina that will remain undeveloped for the next two to three years, providing an opportunity for property owners to support recovery efforts.
FEMA is pursuing two types of housing solutions to aid those displaced by the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires. For homeowners participating in FEMA’s Direct Housing program, there is an option to place an Alternative Transportable Temporary Housing Unit on their property, which allow survivors to live on-site while rebuilding their homes, provided the property meets certain requirements, including sufficient lot size and being located outside of high-hazard coastal floodplains….
(CLUE: Normally this is done within days of a disaster. But Green did not request FEMA trailers until April, 2024 calling them ‘undignified’: Big ask for FEMA homes for Maui fire survivors meets resistance | Honolulu Star-Advertiser.)
read … FEMA seeks vacant lots for temporary housing for Maui fire survivors
Miske’s death also ends an assault case against him in state court that was ready for trial
ILind: … The death of Mike Miske in Honolulu’s Federal Detention Center last week ends a long-running felony assault case in state court stemming from an incident outside his M Nightclub 12 years ago.
The charges, assault and criminal property damage, were the first serious criminal charges Miske had faced since a flurry of felony convictions in the mid-1990s when he was only about 20 years old. He served a period of probation after those convictions, launched Kamaaina Termite and Pest Contol in 2000, followed by other businesses over the next decade. Miske had survived several subsequent federal investigations, but he had emerged from those without being charged. But the Galmiche assault, which was followed by several others over the next few years, drew additional federal law enforcement attention and provided initial impetus to the FBI’s investigation that finally brought down the Miske Enterprise, which was dubbed “Operation EM-EM” when it got underway in early 2014….
read … Miske’s death also ends an assault case against him in state court that was ready for trial
Aunt of missing Maui woman says she’s parting ways with rest of family
HNN: … The aunt of missing Maui woman Hannah Kobayashi announced she is parting ways with the 30-year-old’s mother and sister.
Larie Pidgeon said in a statement that there were some disagreements in how funds were being used.
“I saw no need to use the funds on a lawyer rather than a private investigator, as I believe every resource should be dedicated to finding Hannah,” Pidgeon wrote in a statement. “I chose not to lawyer up and risk having my voice silenced in the fight for her.”
She clarified that she is not associated with their GoFundMe account, which has since raised nearly $48,000.
Pidgeon also announced that she will be traveling to Mexico to search for Kobayashi.…
read … Aunt of missing Maui woman says she’s parting ways with rest of family
Input wanted on proposed Skyline, TheBus and Handi-Van fare changes
HNN: … The Honolulu Rate Commission will be accepting public testimony on proposed changes at their Dec. 10 meeting in the Manoa Falls Conference Room.
To attend virtually via Zoom, click here.
Proposed changes include:
- Increases in monthly pass fares for Adults and Youth
- Increases in annual pass fares
- Decreases in monthly pass fares for Hawaii resident Senior, Medicare, Disabled and Low-Income riders
There are no proposed changes to single fares for Adult, Youth and Senior HOLO card users.
For full details on the proposals click here …
read … Input wanted on proposed Skyline, TheBus and Handi-Van fare changes
Blangiardi administration skeptical of bill to ban single-use plastic bottles
SA: … “As a practical matter, coming out of COVID, there remains sensitivity to serving water to guests in non-single-use containers for health and sanitation reasons,” he wrote. “When and if non-plastic single-use water containers are available at commensurate prices, the administration will make the shift on or before Dec. 31, 2026.”
Formby noted an “additional matter,” too.
“(The) administration does not believe it an appropriate use of the Council’s time to file resolutions for the use of single-use plastic containers on an as-needed basis,” he wrote. “We would hope the language, in whatever form the Council finds acceptable, would permit the administration to make these (decisions) on an as-needed basis following the policy outlined by Council.”…
“The beverage industry is an important part of Hawaii’s economy — and one of the few remaining industries still manufacturing on the islands,” American Beverage Association Vice President of State Government Affairs West David Thorp told the Council in written testimony. “Unlike most consumer products, many of our beverages, aluminum cans and plastic bottles are manufactured and distributed in Hawaii by local workers.”….
read … Blangiardi administration skeptical of bill to ban single-use plastic bottles
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