Hawaii most expensive state to raise a child
Young Bros Wants ANOTHER Massive Rate Hike--Hearings Set
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted April 5, 2025
Unions Angered by Carpenters ‘Blackmail’ Campaign
SA: … HB 982 has little to do with the carpenters’ real goal, according to Leroy Chincio, business manager and financial secretary for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260, which has the exclusive labor agreement with Hawaiian Electric.
The carpenters threatened to launch their publicity campaign against HB 982 — and Hawaiian Electric — unless the company signed a 20-year project labor agreement exclusively with the carpenters union, cutting out the IBEW, Chincio said. He called the carpenters’ campaign against limiting Hawaiian Electricity’s financial liability “blackmail.”
(CLUE: Extortion is a felony. IDEA: Jail.)
“They want an exclusive project labor agreement or else they would hold the bill as hostage,” Chincio said. “If the carpenters union got what they wanted, it would cut out all of the other unions, too. Wow. They want it all.”
“While we may not agree with everything Hawaiian Electric does,” Chincio said, “the health of the company affects our members, also. And this bill is best for ratepayers in the long run. It’s good. They (Hawaii Carpenters Union) wen’ on one propaganda, making it about something else because they didn’t get one PLA.”
This session, as HB 982 moved through the Legislature, the Hawaii Carpenters Union, Hawaiian Electric and the IBEW agree that the carpenters leadership approached Hawaiian Electric with its proposal for a 20-year project labor agreement.
Hawaiian Electric has no experience with so-called PLAs, uses IBEW for its unionized work and said it needed more time to consider the proposal while asking whether it was possible to limit a potential PLA to, say, five years, Kelly said.
Taketa, instead, made it clear there was no room for negotiation, Kelly said.
Taketa characterized the carpenters’ proposal as a “take-it-or-leave-it deal” that would lead to a public campaign to generate public sentiment against HB 982 — and Hawaiian Electric — if the company turned it down, Kelly said.
Without a project labor agreement in place, and with HB 982 still alive, the carpenters then unveiled a website two weeks ago called nohecobailout.com….
The carpenters’ campaign against Hawaiian Electric has angered its fellow trade unions, which offered a rare, public rebuke Thursday.
The Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO — composed of IBEW and other island labor unions — blasted the carpenters for what it called “a smear campaign reeking of mainland politics and misinformation.”
The Trades Council said the Hawaii Carpenters Union wants to “secure an exclusive labor agreement with Hawaiian Electric Company that would exclude other construction trades unions from the work they perform.”…
Gino Soquena, executive director of the Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, said in the statement “that the Carpenters are known for poaching other trade unions work, and this would allow them to do that.”
Chincio, of the IBEW, told the Star-Advertiser that in all his years on jobs for Hawaiian Electric — which have involved tearing up concrete, digging holes for poles, wiring them for service and pouring new concrete — “we’ve never had carpenters since the beginning of time, going back to Thomas Edison.”
Pereira, of the Carpenters Union, could not immediately identify any work that union carpenters currently perform for Hawaiian Electric….
A compromise for legislators could include the possibility of deferring both SB 897 and HB 982, Moore said….
HB982: Text, Status
SB897: Text, Status
read … Bills drive union challenge of Hawaiian Electric | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Child abuse cases in the islands rise between 2023, 2024
KHON: … Throughout 2024, the CJCs in Hawaiʻi were able to track a total of 1,839 cases of child sex abuse, felony physical abuse, sex-trafficking, internet crimes against children and children who saw a violent crime unfold. This number is an increase of seven cases compared to the numbers from 2023….
Over the five-year period of 2020 to 2024, a over 9,600 cases of this nature were reported in Hawaiʻi. However, due to underreporting, the actual number of such cases are suspected to be more than double that.
Friends of CJC says that the most prevalent form of child abuse in the islands is sexual assault, but there has been a noticeable increase in severe physical abuse. Severe physical abuse has increased on Maui, more than doubled in West Hawaiʻi and dramatically increased on Oʻahu…..
Research shows that one in six boys and one in four girls will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18, with only 10% of affected children disclosing their abuse to others….
read … Child abuse cases in the islands rise between 2023, 2024 | KHON2
How will Abolition of US DoE Affect SPED Students?
CB: … A recent executive order from the administration also aims to dismantle the U.S. DOE, and the administration has proposed shifting special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services. But the health department doesn’t have the staff or expertise to hold states accountable for following federal special education laws, said Meghan Burke, a professor at Vanderbilt University….
Trump has proposed shifting special education oversight from the U.S. DOE to the Department of Health and Human Services….
A reduction in federal oversight may make it harder for Hawaiʻi families to receive support and resources for their children, said attorney Keith Peck, who leads the Advocacy Project providing legal representation to families seeking special education services.
Federal funding is currently tied to Hawaiʻi’s compliance with special education laws, Peck said, but he’s worried the new administration may provide states with more flexibility and less accountability on how the money can be spent.
“If the funding is no longer linked to allowing the parents to assert their rights and dispute against the Department of Education, if the (Hawaiʻi) DOE no longer has to comply with those protections, then nobody will have any protections,” Peck said. …
In Hawaiʻi, the federal government has provided a variety of aid, such as training sessions teaching staff how to resolve disputes with parents over special education services and collaborations with national centers to expand access to preschool for students with disabilities, said department spokesperson Krislyn Yano. The department declined an interview for this story. …
The U.S. DOE also has a regulatory branch, the Office of Civil Rights, dedicated to processing complaints from students who file claims of discrimination based on gender, race, age or disability against their schools. As of January 2025, Hawaiʻi had 32 pending cases in both public schools and universities, 17 of which had to do with students’ disabilities. …
JD Hsin, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, said recent staffing cuts to OCR and the closure of seven regional offices will make it much harder for the remaining employees to handle families’ complaints and ensure states are providing special education students with the services they need. As of January 2025, OCR had over 12,000 pending cases that could take years to close and required in-depth investigations involving families, schools and federal attorneys….
2023: Special Education Teacher Accused In Sexual Abuse Case - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … Hawaiʻi Is Failing Special Education Students. Federal Cuts Could Make It Worse - Honolulu Civil Beat
$28,500 to COFA Migrant Denied Gun Permit By HPD
CB: … The Micronesian plaintiff sued the state, arguing he was denied fundamental rights protected under the U.S. Constitution….
read … $28,500 To COFA Migrant Denied Gun Permit By HPD
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