Green Appoints Water Commissioner and Circuit Court Judge
Jones Act Loophole Allows Puerto Rico to Finally Access American Natural Gas--Hawaii Next?
February: Canadian Tourism Down Only 1.4%--Spending up
Carpenters Union PLA 'Shakedown' of HECO Exposed
CB: … Jim Kelly, HECO’s vice president for government and community relations and corporate communications, said the union had previously threatened to undermine HECO’s effort to rehabilitate itself financially unless the company agreed to enter a 20-year project labor agreement with the union. …
Colin Moore, a political scientist with the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization, said it was unusual to see two of Hawaiʻi’s most powerful institutions brawling publicly….
Leroy Chincio Jr., business manager and financial secretary of the IBEW Local 1260, accused the carpenters of trying to poach work for which electricians have the expertise. “It’s just totally and utterly bullshit,” he said. “We’ve been the exclusive bargaining agent for Hawaiian Electric for 82 years, and we’ve been good partners.” …
Hawaiian Electric Co. and an influential labor union got into a high-profile political fight Thursday, exchanging accusations that the union was engaged in a “shakedown” and the utility was trying to soak ratepayers with a new fee.
The unusually bold accusations came after the Hawaiʻi Regional Council of Carpenters launched a media campaign opposing legislation that HECO has proposed to help shore up the beleaguered company’s credit rating.
The union said the measure would hurt working people who already pay the nation’s highest electricity rates.
The carpenters’ opposition reached a crescendo on Thursday when the prominent political consulting firm Strategies 360 sent news media the results of a union-sponsored poll that found the public opposed HECO’s proposal by a 3-to-1 margin.
HECO immediately shot back on Thursday, questioning the validity of the poll and the carpenters’ motive for releasing it.
The carpenters throughout the current legislative session have opposed measures to help HECO raise money to address future wildfires by imposing a new fee on customers, which the utility could then issue bonds against. The measure also would limit liability the company could face from a future wildfire….
HNN: Heated dispute erupts over disaster recovery fund for HECO
SA: Carpenters union bashes Hawaiian Electric | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … HECO Accuses Carpenters Union Of 'Shakedown'
Maui County property assessments drive taxes up
MN: … The proposed budget is about 25% larger than the $1.2 billion budget passed by the council for fiscal year 2025.
“I’ve already received a lot of complaints from property owners who say the assessments are exceedingly high,” Lee told The Maui News.
The council plans a series of hearings and Council Committee discussions on the proposed budget. The first, the Council’s Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development, is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday in the council chambers in Wailuku.
Lee said that while Mayor Bissen has proposed decreases in tax rates for owner-occupied properties, overall property tax payments have apparently gone up for some owners because of rising assessments….
read … Maui County Council member Alice Lee to look into assessment complaints
Hawaii Travel Crisis Grows: Corruption, Resignations, Defunding Risks Ahead
BH: … HTA Board Chair Mufi Hannemann stepped down after a state audit revealed that two nonprofits he leads—the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and Pacific Century Fellows—received unpaid perks from the state-run Hawaii Convention Center. Both groups held events there while Hannemann chaired the board that oversees the facility.
A few days earlier, Interim HTA President and CEO Daniel Nahoopii resigned. Nahoopii led HTA’s executive team, while Hannemann chaired its governing board. In his resignation letter, Nahoopii cited “persistent political interference from external agents” and stated that the environment at HTA had become hostile, characterized by “conflicting political agendas, inconsistent direction, and decisions that often appear driven by external pressures rather than the long-term interests of Hawaii.”
The board has temporarily appointed Caroline Anderson—currently HTA’s planning director—as interim CEO. She now holds three major roles simultaneously, while the agency operates with no permanent executive leadership in place….
This constant turnover has left HTA struggling to implement long-term strategies, undermining its ability to address Hawaii’s complex tourism needs and challenges. There have been 11 directors at HTA in 27 years, yet there remains no stability….
We have written more than one hundred articles, documenting HTA’s overlapping leadership, questionable spending, and inconsistent tourism strategy. Time and again, themes of cronyism, political favoritism, and policy instability have surfaced, eroding the credibility of an agency tasked with promoting and balancing Hawaii’s travel industry…
Lawmakers are now weighing Senate Bill 1571, which could strip HTA’s board of decision-making power and reduce it to an advisory role. That move—once unthinkable—now seems increasingly plausible as the agency’s reputation unravels in real time. One can’t help but wonder if another round of defunding for Hawaii tourism isn’t next.
read … Hawaii Travel Crisis Grows: Corruption, Resignations, Defunding Risks Ahead
Hannemann Resigns As Chair Of Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority Amid Freebie Inquiry
CB: … Tourism executive and former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann resigned as chair of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority Thursday after questions were raised over possible inappropriate use of HTA resources by two nonprofits he leads.
Hannemann told the board shortly before noon that “the best thing for me to do is to step down as chair, and then I will have to think whether I want to stay on the board, because the reputations of those incredible, important organizations have been put into question.”
The HTA board then elected board member Todd Apo as its new chair.
HTA board members on Tuesday questioned Hannemann at length about the Hawaiʻi Lodging and Tourism Association’s public safety conference at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center on Dec. 6, 2023, and a meeting of the Pacific Century Fellows at the convention center on May 15 of last year….
read … Hannemann Resigns As Chair Of Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority Amid Freebie Inquiry
HPD confirms command changes after communication breakdown during Waikiki gun fight
HNN: … According to Honolulu police, an argument between two groups of men escalated into a shootout, forcing spring breakers to duck for cover.
While no one was hurt, police sources confirm three businesses were struck by stray bullets.
That night, HPD never alerted the public to the danger despite there being two gunmen on the loose.
At last week’s police commission meeting, commissioners wanted to know why.
Chief Logan told them, “My understanding is that the chain of command, because they couldn’t find a complainant, because nobody was injured, there was no further — it wasn’t a continuous, active shooter running around in Waikiki at that point in time. They dropped the ball, really, and they didn’t rise it up to our level.”
Logan went on to say, “It should have gotten up to my level. So I’ve had conversations with those who are in charge.” …
HPD says Assistant Chief Ryan Nishibun was the commander of the Central Patrol Bureau which oversees Waikiki. HNN Investigates confirmed he’s been in that role since 2021.
Officials tell us Nishibun will swap positions with another commander, Assistant Chief Aaron Takasaki-Young, who has been in charge of the Administrative Bureau since 2022….
HNN: Waikiki shootout suspect pleads not guilty, placed on house arrest
read … HPD confirms command changes after communication breakdown during Waikiki gun fight
It Took 8 Pedestrians Struck At This Intersection For The City To Act
CB: … Walking was a big part of Evelyn Araki’s life. The 90-year-old woman wore Vibram Fivefingers shoes, which made her feel like she was barefoot, to stroll around her Salt Lake neighborhood. For about a decade she crossed busy Salt Lake Boulevard and headed under the H-1 freeway as she walked to her job at the airport, where she greeted Japanese travelers.
And she died walking, struck in a crosswalk by a pickup truck turning left near her condo in 2019.
Soon after, residents and a state representative asked the city to figure out how to protect pedestrians from vehicles at the intersection of Ala Lilikoi and Ala Ilima streets where Araki was killed. The city said no changes were needed.
Since then, at least seven more people have been struck there by vehicles turning left from Ala Ilima onto Ala Lilikoi.
Now the city says it will install a left turn signal — exactly what the neighborhood board requested after Araki’s death six years ago and again last year.
“We got the runaround for years,” board member Joseph Omura said….
read … It Took 8 Pedestrians Struck At This Intersection For The City To Act - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii fentanyl deaths quadrupled in 4 years, experts warn of more potent version
KHON: … “It was so bad about two years ago that we’re seeing five overdoses a day sometimes or more,” said Dr. James Ireland, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services Director.
“Not just in Chinatown, but throughout Oahu neighborhoods, hotel rooms, illegal game rooms,” he added.
In 2023, two people died and three others were hospitalized after a suspected unintentional overdose at a Waikiki hotel.
“Sixty- percent of the state’s fentanyl from about November 2021, through early 2024 was recovered in west Hawaii island,” said Capt. Edwin Buyten, Hawaii Island Police vice division….
Since 2020, fentanyl related deaths in the state have quadrupled.
In 2020, the state had 26 deaths; in 2021 there were 48 fentanyl-related deaths; in 2022 there were 79 and in 2023 there were 107.
Yabuta said Maui had the most deaths in 2023….
“Today we’re seeing maybe one overdose a day or maybe one every couple of days,” Dr. Ireland said.
But a more powerful form of fentanyl has reached Hawaii’s shores. Experts warn it’s 100 times stronger and claimed one life in 2024.
“You’ve seen 20 pounds of Carfentanil seized by our law enforcement here in Hawaii, that’s enough to kill every citizen or resident in the City and County of of Honolulu, that’s how powerful it is,” Yabuta explained….
KHON: Hawaii addiction expert outlines fentanyl crisis, what can be done | KHON2
read … Hawaii fentanyl deaths quadrupled in 4 years, experts warn of more potent version
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