January 18, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Current Articles | Archives

Saturday, January 18, 2025

January 18, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:07 PM :: 934 Views

Vigilance key to protecting historic state income tax cut

Spending restraint tagged as best way to protect 2024 state tax cuts

City partners with UHERO to launch Subsidized Housing Tracker

Trump should bypass support for the protectionist Jones Act

Shakedown: DelaCruz, Kim Torture Hensel for Four Hours

HNN: … Hensel and her team were soon on defense over football after asking for $3.2 million for the Manoa athletics program.

(CLUE: When Legislators put of a fake show over a few million dollars it is because they expect a contract of that size to be directed to a crony.)

Sen. Donna Kim, who chairs the Higher Education Committee, said the figures about football revenue verses the costs of the entire department were hard to follow, so the true condition of the department was hard to judge.

“This is kind of confusing,” Kim said. “Can you folks come back to us and give us a breakdown of the deficits?”

(TRANSLATION: I’ve got cronies. They need contracts.)

Ways and Means chair Donovan Dela Cruz wanted to see a way out of the red ink.

“Do you extinguish that?” he asked. “What’s the timeline and the plan?” …

(TRANSLATION: I’ve got cronies. They need contracts.)

“I understand what you are saying,” Kim said. “But the overall picture is whether or not you know Hawaii needs to continue to look at being a D-I football program or are we looking at something else?”

(TRANSLATION: I’ve got cronies. They need contracts.)

Hensel seemed to respond that taxpayers will have to support the program.

“There’s obviously a significant public investment in sports in this state, and the University of Hawaii is the sports program of the state with no professional sports team,” she said. “And if there is an absence of state investment in that, it will be increasingly difficult under these new circumstances with the NCAA to continue to function at a level of excellence that’s necessary.”

Hensel said her team has been actively working on the situation.

“We will have a plan,” she said. “We have to have a plan.”

Senators were not fully satisfied, but they gave UH a couple of months to come up with a new plan for athletics.

(TRANSLATION: I’ve got cronies. They need contracts. We will hold this over your head until the end of the Legislative session.)

The hearing continued for nearly four hours, covering programs and campus issues at university and community colleges statewide.

SA Headline: New University of Hawaii president receives warm welcome from senators | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (LOL!)

read … New UH president fields tough questions about athletics programs

Shakedown: Who will have final say over Mauna Kea decisions? State or stewardship authority?

BIN: … On June 30, 2028, following a five-year transition period, the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority will assume responsibility from the University of Hawai‘i for the more than 11,000 acres atop the Big Island volcano of Mauna Kea that is sacred to many Native Hawaiians.

(CLUE: This is all about giving contracts to cronies.)

But will this authority have final say on management decisions, including conservation use permits?

The answer is no if Hawai‘i Island Sen. Lorraine Inouye gets her bill passed.

This week, Inouye reintroduced legislation, which she first tried to get passed last session, that gives the state Board of Land and Natural Resources the ultimate jurisdiction over the oversight and stewardship authority. Senate Bill 6 comes with a stipulation that the board must uphold its duty “to protect the traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians as articulated in the Hawaiʻi State Constitution.”

Permits, ranging from recreation to filming to research, including telescopes, are required for the conservation district on Mauna Kea. They currently are managed by the state and University of Hawai‘i’s Center for Mauna Kea Stewardship in Hilo….

during the transition period, the new authority does not have any oversight responsibilities. But members of the authority expect that will change when it takes over management of Mauna Kea from the University of Hawaiʻi….

The Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority intends to support opposing legislation, said John De Fries, executive director of the authority.

(De Fries. See? Told you. HTA v2.)

The authority’s legislation, according to De Fries, would reaffirm what was stated in Act 255, the law that created the 12-person authority with 11 voting members in 2022….

The stewardship and oversight authority, made up of leaders from all sides, now is in its second year of the 5-year transition period, with the issue of the final say of management decisions yet to be ironed out.

The University of Hawai‘i currently holds the master lease and subleases to other organizations, which will continue until the lease’s expiration in 2033. After the master lease’s expiration, the authority will be able to grant new leases. …

FLASHBACK: After FBI Raid, CNHA Demands Hawai'i Free Press 'Cease Operations'

read … Who will have final say over Mauna Kea decisions? State or stewardship authority?

Shakedown: State lawmakers grill Hawaii agriculture officials over funding, contracts

KITV: … Tensions rose during a meeting on Friday afternoon with state lawmakers and agriculture officials discussing efforts to manage invasive species.

(CLUE: When Legislators put of a fake show over a few million dollars it is because they expect a contract of that size to be directed to a crony.)

After a presentation from Dept. of Agriculture Chair Sharon Hurd, Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole asserted, "I just have trouble with the community having confidence in your ability to allocate and encumber and get all this money out the door, when what we're being told on this slide right now is not being validated by the Dept. of Accounting and General services." …

Hurd responded, "These funds in the contract process, we should have contracts done for at least 52% of them in the next three weeks and we will have all the other funds... encumbered or obligated, which means they will not lapse."

Rep. Lisa Marten questioned why an eradication contract was awarded to Terminix, mentioning local entities could not apply for the request for proposals because it was limited to private pest control companies.

(TRANSLATION: Terminix is not qualified to kill bugs but her hippie activist anti-pesticide supporters are qualified.)

"I'm just super concerned that we are leaving ~~the experts~~ (my cronies) behind who are trying to serve ~~the public interest~~ (themselves) and instead, asking for-profit companies with very little experience and expertise, to not only do the job but then even make policy decisions," Marten pressed.

(IQ Test: Are you laughing?)

Hurd defended the decision by saying, "The decision was made basically due to liability. The pest control operations have the licenses, the business, the registrations and the insurance needed." …

read … State lawmakers grill Hawaii agriculture officials over funding, contracts

The $2 trillion home insurance nightmare is getting even worse

B: … Four years ago, the total difference between harsh reality and what a site like, say, Zillow suggested homes were worth might have been $1.2 trillion, according to one estimate. Now that estimate has grown to $1.7 trillion. Without better foresight and action from policymakers, mortgage lenders, realtors and homeowners, it will keep growing, potentially to $2.7 trillion….

(CLUE: Insurance should cover the cost of reconstruction, not the market value of a home. The underlying land value is usually not destroyed unless the land is rendered unbuildable.)

Annual U.S. insurance losses doubled from $50 billion to $100 billion between 2011 and 2021, according to a report last month by the U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee. During that time, the average U.S. insurance premium rose 44%. Such costs weigh on housing demand and prices everywhere ….

read … The $2 trillion home insurance nightmare is getting even worse

MAGA Cashiers a Check on Tulsi Gabbard as DNI

WSJ: … U.S. intelligence oversight took a turn for the worse Wednesday with the news that House Speaker Mike Johnson fired Ohio Rep. Mike Turner as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Worse, the Speaker seems to have done it at the request of President Trump or his inner circle ….

Mr. Turner has been one of Mr. Johnson’s main supporters in the GOP conference, so the Speaker is sending the wrong message about the rewards of loyalty. It’s one thing for the Speaker to let Mr. Trump dictate to him on policy. But control over House leadership should be the Speaker’s prerogative. His ouster of Mr. Turner is a sign of weakness….

Mr. Turner angered some in the GOP’s isolationist wing with his forthright support for Ukraine. In April 2024, he said Russian propaganda was being repeated on the House floor by Members who claimed the conflict in Ukraine was over NATO.

“To the extent this propaganda takes hold,” he said at the time, “it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian vs. democracy battle, which is what it is.”…

Mr. Turner’s sacking is all the more troubling given Mr. Trump’s nomination of Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Ms. Gabbard cast doubt on whether Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons and has supported a pardon for Edward Snowden, the traitor who leaked highly classified documents and fled to Moscow for asylum.

Ms. Gabbard also opposed Section 702 until she flipped her views last week in order to win Senate confirmation. The danger is that she will minimize threats to satisfy her isolationist policy preferences. She might be less willing to do so if she knows a serious House Intelligence Committee is watching.

Mr. Johnson is expected to replace Mr. Turner with Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford, who voted against arming Ukraine last year. Perhaps he’ll rise to the role. But it’s alarming that Mr. Johnson is letting the GOP’s isolationist wing cashier one of his best committee chairs ….

Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reports that Johnson's ousting of Turner "has left him with an *extraordinarily* angry House Intelligence committee…."

P: Gabbard: one aide to a senior lawmaker told me that, in a secret ballot, she’d lose at least 15 Republicans

MSN: McConnell May Hold Key to Gabbard's Nomination

read … MAGA Cashiers a Check on Tulsi Gabbard as DNI

Lahaina Scheme to Quietly Demolish 1823 Spring House

MN: … Maui County Council members voted unanimously Friday on a bill that could preserve parts of a historic structure ravaged by the 2023 Lahaina wildfire before the site is cleared.

(TRANSLATION: The building is set to be demolished by CNHA contractors working for Army Corps of Engineers.)

Council member Tamara Paltin said the historic Spring House in Lahaina, which was built in 1823 during the missionary and whaling period, should be preserved because of its historical significance….

(CLUE: The stone walls are intact after the fire. Only wooden parts burned.)

“This is the first time we’re hearing of this,” Lem said. “We’ve been working with the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, the county and FEMA. I hope this doesn’t become a problem. We want to work cooperatively.”

The Historic Hawaii Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to preserve historic sites statewide, has also recommended preserving and reconstructing the Spring House.

Foundation Executive Director Kiersten Faukner said the building’s history is important because the Spring House was among the few remaining structures from its time period in Lahaina.

The Spring House was built in 1823 by the Rev. William Richards, who arrived in Hawaii as part of the second company of missionaries. The structure protected a well providing fresh water to the Richards residence, the town and whaling ships that docked in Lahaina.

Richards, who received the support of Keōpūolani, the wife of Kamehameha I, was the first pastor of Wailoa Church and a co-founder of the Lahaina Seminary established in 1831.

The seminary taught royalty and trained native scholars such as David Malo, John Papa I’i and Samuel Kamakau….

read … Approved on first reading, bill could help preserve history of Spring House in Lahaina

$3.75M to Rebuild 100’ of Waikiki Seawall and Walkway

SA: … A $3.75 million repair to a segment of Waikiki’s busy waterfront is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The city Department of Design and Construction project will occur at the Queen’s Surf Beach seawall and adjacent promenade walkway in Kapiolani Park, Ewa of the Barefoot Beach Cafe at 2699 Kalakaua Ave., the city said.

The existing Queen’s Surf seawall — a 7-foot-tall rampart of concrete rock masonry, or CRM, that’s approximately 100 feet long — was damaged in early 2024….

The cavity in the promenade will be filled with concrete, and new walkway light pole foundations are to be constructed to replace the several existing light pole foundations sinking into the cavity, the city said….

(For me but not for thee.)

read … $3.75 million repair project at Queen’s Surf Beach to begin | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Cousin, enforcer of late crime boss receives 3-year federal sentence

HNN: … A cousin and admitted enforcer of crime boss Mike Miske received a three-year federal prison sentence Thursday.

Kaulana Freitas said he conducted illegal activities to stay in Miske’s good favor.

He testified last year about a 2017 chemical attack, and said he followed orders to help release pesticide inside of two crowded Honolulu nightclubs….

read … Cousin, enforcer of late crime boss receives federal sentence

Legislative Agenda:

QUICK HITS: