WSJ: Hawaii 'Down to Earth' Markets Tied to Ponzi Scheme
VIDEO: Gabbard's 'Frosty' Confirmation Hearing
Gabbard Attended Pro-Russia Conference in Rome--then invented story about Terror Watchlist
Jail Guard Pleads Guilty to Importing Illegal Fireworks--via jail mailroom
Hawaii AG Sues to Overturn Trump Funding Freeze
'50,000 Batteries' -- Green Signs 'Renewable' Energy Executive Order
Schatz, Cruz, Murphy, Britt Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Keep Kids Safe, Healthy, off Social Media
‘He’s a liar.’ Green calls out Kennedy’s bullsh*t
HNN: … “I never gave any public statement about vaccines. You cannot find a single Samoan who will say, ‘I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy,‘” he said. “I went in June of 2019. The measles outbreak started in August. Clearly I had nothing to do with the measles.”
On CNN, Green was asked to respond to Kennedy’s clear denial of Green’s accounts.
“May I?” Green said to host Erin Burnett. “He’s a liar, and it’s bulls---, because he went there and he met with the anti-vax leader, supported that person who was spreading all of this misinformation, and that guy got arrested.”
As lieutenant governor, Green went to Samoa in 2019 to vaccinate thousands of people after 83 people died during a measles outbreak. He blames for Kennedy spreading misinformation after two children died from being accidentally injected with a reagent instead of the vaccine….
At the hearing, Kennedy said the two children died from the vaccine and that’s what caused people not to get vaccinated.
“The government in Samoa banned the MMR vaccine,” Kennedy said under vigorous questioning by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. “I arrived a year later when vaccination rates were already below any any previous level.”
On MSNBC, Green responded, “It’s, it’s bulls---.”
On that program, the governor also disputed Kennedy’s claim there wasn’t proof the 83 deaths were due to measles.
“Most of those people did not have measles. We don’t know what was killing them,” Kennedy said.
Green said his knowledge was firsthand: “I put my hands on a child who was still warm from her fever, but she was deceased.”
Sen. Wyden interrupted Kennedy, accusing him of trying to downplay a well-documented history of vaccine denial.
“He’s trying now to play down his role in Samoa. That’s not what the parents say. That’s not what Gov. Green says,” Wyden said.
Also in the hearing room, but in support of Kennedy, was former Oahu resident Army Maj. Mandy Feindt.
“It was exciting,” she said. “It was exciting to be in the room.”
Feindt said she was supporting Kennedy because he supported her family and others exposed to spilled fuel in their water from Red Hill….
read … ‘He’s a liar.’ Green outraged after Kennedy denies role in Samoa measles outbreak
OHA Salary Commission Approves 62% Trustee Pay Raises
CB: … Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs stand to receive big pay raises this year, the first salary increase the nine-member board has seen in eight years.
The OHA Salary Commission, which acts independently of the trustees, voted unanimously on Wednesday to boost trustees’ annual to $91,560. The chair of the board would make $100,308.
No one testified in opposition to the salary increases, while Trustee Brickwood Galuteria spoke in favor of them.
In recent OHA board meetings, trustees have questioned whether the pay would apply retroactively. Ian Custino, the commission vice chair, said Wednesday it would not.
“We would support retro pay. We wanted retro pay, but we were told that is outside our scope as a commission,” Custino said….
Jan 27, 2025: “The OHA Salary Commission is considering a proposal to boost trustee pay to just over $91,000, a 62% increase over their current $56,000 annual salaries. The chair would make about $100,000 a year, a 50% increase.”
read … OHA Salary Commission Approves Trustee Pay Raises
OHA’s Kakaako Makai Bill On The Move
SA: … A contentious bill to largely undo a state law prohibiting residential development on the peninsula in Kakaako drew almost two-thirds more support than opposition at an initial public hearing Wednesday.
Three Senate committees received nearly 400 pages of written testimony on Senate Bill 534, and after a three-hour hearing deferred a decision on the legislation until early next week….
About 40 individuals or organizations opposed the bill.
Among supporters testifying in person was former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who once opposed housing in the area known as Kakaako Makai.
“I’ve really come full circle now all the way with Kakaako Makai,” he told about a dozen senators at the hearing at the state Capitol. “If we don’t have housing in the urban core, if we do not make for housing in Kakaako Makai, what we’re telling everybody is, ‘you don’t count.’”
Other supporters included Hawaii’s biggest public worker unions, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Kamehameha Schools, which owns four large parcels that would gain entitlements to possibly build 400-foot residential towers if the bill as written becomes law….
The three Senate committees that heard the bill Wednesday were the Committee on Water and Land, the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs and the Committee on Housing.
In past years, the Senate has passed other OHA-backed bills to allow residential development on some of the agency’s land in Kakaako Makai only to have those bills stall in the House, where they were opposed by then-Rep. Scott Saiki, who represented Kakaako and during that time was House speaker or majority leader with great power over bills.
(It’s all worth it because Kakaako joined the Transsexual Revolution. Losing those $1M ocean views is really a small price to pay.)
Saiki lost his bid for reelection in August. This year, 18 representatives in the 51-member House have expressed early support for OHA’s proposed legislation.
House Bill 605, which mirrors SB 543, is a priority for the bipartisan 13-member House Native Hawaiian Caucus, and five other representatives helped introduce the bill. A hearing has not yet been scheduled for HB 605.
At a Friday news conference, Rep. Daniel Holt, co-chair of the caucus, expressed optimism that there will no longer be a standstill in the House over such legislation….
REALITY: OHA’s new Kakaako housing scam: Give 500 ‘Affordable’ Units to Political Insiders
read … Kakaako Makai housing bill attracts a flood of testimony | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Lahaina Fire: Last-Minute Deal Prevents Class Action Lawyers from Airing Dirty Laundry
AP: … Lawyers representing victims of a deadly Hawaii wildfire reached a last-minute deal averting a trial Wednesday to determine how to split a $4 billion settlement….
(CLUE: There still is no settlement deal.)
Before the trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday morning, lawyers met in private with Judge Peter Cahill, who later announced that a deal had been reached late Tuesday. Lawyers are expected to file court documents detailing the agreement in a week.
Some victims had been ready to take the witness stand, while others submitted pre-recorded testimony, describing pain made all the more fresh by the recent destruction in Los Angeles.
“Some folks I’m sure will be disappointed, because in their minds this was their time to share their story,” Jacob Lowenthal, one of the attorneys representing individual plaintiffs, said Wednesday…
The trial was supposed to determine a percentage split between two groups of plaintiffs, including some who filed individual lawsuits after losing their family members, homes or businesses, and other victims covered by class-action lawsuits, including tourists who canceled trips to Maui because of the blaze.
Only a nominal portion of the settlement should go to tourists whose trips were delayed or canceled, Lowenthal said.
“The categories of losses that the class is claiming are just grossly insignificant compared to our losses,” he said….
Separately, the state Supreme Court is considering whether insurers can sue the defendants for reimbursement for the $2 billion-plus they have paid out in fire claims, or whether their share must come from the $4 billion settlement. Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for Feb. 6.
“That is the last big piece that needs to be decided before the global settlement can move forward," Lowenthal said….
(TRANSLATION: The ‘settlement’ can only work if insurers are screwed out of their subrogation rights. This will drive up insurance costs in Hawaii. So we would all pay for this ‘settlement.’)
read … Hawaii wildfire victims spared from testifying after last-minute deal over $4B settlement | Courthouse News Service
Lahaina Rebuild: Maui plumbing rules headed for much-needed update
MN: … people seeking to rebuild their homes that burned down in the August 2023 wildfires have run into this dilemma….
Building homes and making renovations to existing ones — and even wildfire recovery — will soon be easier throughout Maui County, now that Mayor Richard Bissen has signed a bill that was unanimously approved earlier this month by the Maui County Council.
The measure, Bill 146 (2024), directs the Maui Department of Water Supply to update the county’s regulations for water-using appliances — for the first time since 1995 — based on the latest technological advances in plumbing….
read … Op-Ed: Maui plumbing rules headed for much-needed update : Maui Now
8 Criminals on Oahu are detained in immigration crackdown
SA: … HSI agents and ERO conducted “joint operations on Oahu to locate and apprehend individuals subject to removal from the United States,” according to statement to the Honolulu Star- Advertiser from the the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations.
“These individuals, convicted of various crimes, have final orders of removal issued by a federal immigration judge and are therefore ineligible to remain in the country,” read the statement. “They are now in ERO custody pending removal. The Drug Enforcement Administration also assisted in this multi-agency effort to enhance public safety in Hawaii by enforcing federal immigration laws.”
What crimes the eight committed and where was not immediately made public.
Marsolo pleaded guilty in state court in 2013 to felony and misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to state court records. Faamausili has prior convictions that include impaired driving, disorderly conduct, and driving without a license or insurance….
The state was not involved in “Homeland Security Investigation-related immigration enforcement actions,” according to a statement to the Star-Advertiser from the state Department of the Attorney General.
The Honolulu Police Department did not participate in the federal operation.
“The Attorney General, as the chief legal officer, is oath-bound to enforce state laws and to stand up for constitutional freedoms and the rule of law. Attorney General Anne Lopez will continue to do so,” according to a statement from the department. “If notified of any illegal actions, the Attorney General will assess next steps and uphold the rule of law.” ….
read … 8 on Oahu are detained in immigration crackdown | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Bills would Block Local Police Cooperation with Immigration Enforcement
HTH: … HB 22 would allow state and county law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the federal government for immigration purposes in only limited, specific circumstances.
The measure would prohibit local law enforcers from complying with personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detain or transfer an individual without a judicial warrant….
According to Ilagan, 92 individuals or organizations submitted written testimony in support of HB 22, with 52 opposed.
HB 73 would bar the state and counties from providing land to the federal government for the establishment of any immigration detention facility.
(DSA member and) former state Rep. Sonny Ganaden, an attorney with the Office of the Public Defender, noted there was a World War II internment camp at Honouliuli in Leeward Oahu….
According to Ilagan, 85 individuals or organizations submitted written testimony in support of HB 73, with 40 opposed.
HB 438 would establish a program within the state Judiciary to provide legal representation to individuals in immigration court proceedings….
According to Ilagan, 83 individuals and organizations submitted written testimony in support of HB 438, with 51 in opposition.
And HB 457 requires state and local law enforcement agencies to notify an individual in their custody of their rights before any interview with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on certain matters regarding immigration violations….
According to Ilagan, 81 individuals and organizations submitted written testimony in support, with 48 in opposition….
HBs 22, 438 and 457 will next be forwarded to the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. David Tarnas, (D-Kohala), while HB 73 will be forwarded first to the Water and Land Committee.
Neither committee has yet scheduled hearings on any of the measures….
CB: Immigration Crackdown Begins In Hawaiʻi As Advocates, Lawmakers Push Back - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … Immigration enforcement measures draw support - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Kratom: Will Hawaiʻi ban 'Gas Station Heroin'?
CB: … Rami Kayali first sampled kava in Florida, tasting the Pacific tincture in one of the nation’s many kava bars that have sprouted up over the past decade. But that kava was laced with a Southeast Asian plant extract called kratom, known as “gas station heroin” for producing highly addictive, opioid-like effects.
“It wasn’t explained to me, the difference between the two. It was given some inane name, called the ‘black komodo’ or ‘black pearl’,” said Kayali, who is preparing to open a kava lounge in Honolulu. “They kind of just glossed over the high abuse potential” of kratom.
The kava-kratom cocktail is becoming a convenience store staple in Hawaiʻi, sometimes sold in little blue bottles called Feel Free, and marketed as a soothing mixture to improve mood, reduce stress, relieve pain and boost stamina.
The Legislature is considering bills to regulate the substance in Hawaiʻi, including proposals to prohibit sales to minors and require producers to add disclaimers and register with the Department of Health.…
read … Kava Growers In Hawaiʻi Fear Being Associated With 'Gas Station Heroin' - Honolulu Civil Beat
Harmful Sewage Continues To Pollute Kailua Bay Despite CIP Projects
CB: … Large, costly upgrades are underway for the Kailua treatment plant. But unsafe bacteria levels continue to crop up after strong storms….
…the plant remains vulnerable to sewage treatment problems caused by heavy storm flows, according to City Environmental Services Deputy Director Michael O’Keefe. That’s despite the addition of a giant Kailua to Kāneʻohe gravity sewer tunnel that since 2018 has been storing the excess millions of gallons of rainwater that flood the sewer system on the Windward side of the island….
RELATED: Sewer Fees to go up 224% -- to pay for more ineffectual CIP
read … Harmful Sewage Continues To Pollute Kailua Bay Despite Increased Scrutiny
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