Former death row inmate on trial for sex trafficking charges in Hawaii
367 Guns Turned in at 'Buyback' Event
Hensel: How Trump is Affecting UH
Sister’s testimony offers clues to what happened to Ariel Sellers' body
SA: … The Nov. 17, 2021, grand jury proceeding transcript in the murder of Isabella Kalua includes the testimony of her older sister, who was 12 at the time, providing chilling details of what she said happened the night of the 6-year-old’s death and what may have happened to the girl’s body.
The transcript was attached to a motion filed in February to dismiss the murder charge filed by Lehua Kalua, Isabella’s adoptive mother, and oral arguments were scheduled to be heard Monday. But the hearing was postponed to April 28 due to the unavailability of the deputy prosecutors on the case.
The then-12-year-old, eldest of four daughters of Melanie Joseph and Adam Sellers adopted by Lehua and Isaac K. Kalua III, answered questions from Deputy Prosecutor Erica Candelario during the Oahu grand jury proceeding….
Following Isabella’s death, the sister said the Kaluas went to different beaches and bathrooms every other day, “poured this green stuff into the toilet,” purchased from a store next to the Ice Palace, Home Depot and a “cleaning store.”
“She told me to watch if somebody’s coming,” the girl said.
While at the beaches, Lehua Kalua washed pots, which were burned inside. “I don’t know what they were doing,” she said.
The girl recalled her mother cooking “foils on the grill” and a 12-pack of hot dogs.
“I don’t know what was in the foils, but she put it in with the hot dogs. And after it cooled off we took it to the dump.”
She said the hot dogs were burned, were not eaten and her mom “trashed the foils” and took the barbecue grill to the Waimanalo dump….
The family also got a puppy “because we had the cage that Isabella died in, so they wanted to make like it was for the dog,” the 12-year-old said.
She testified, “Mom would choke her, putting her chin on the crib rim,” causing burn marks, said the eldest, who testified she had also been subjected to that treatment.
The girl said Lehua Kalua had not fed Isabella for five months, nor would allow her to feed her sister. If caught, the sister said she would get into trouble.
The sister said she was often kept home from school to “watch the kids and clean up.”
“When Mom wanted me to watch Isabella, we were duct-taped together” about three times, she said, and Isabella had been duct-taped in the cage “maybe twice.” ….
Kalua told the sister-in-law, who lived with the girls, she never wanted Isabella but that Child Welfare Services wanted the sisters to be together.
Maili Taele, a CWS social worker, testified she helped place Isabella and her older sister on Feb. 8, 2019, with the Kaluas, as part of a foster care system, and later their two younger sisters.
She said she did face-to-face visits once a month, “except for COVID,” when they did video meetings by FaceTime….
She testified she addressed the issue of Isabella’s missing school with her guardian ad litem, the resource caregiver and with the school.
She said Lehua Kalua “made an excuse that she was sick.”
The social worker talked to her doctor about the girl’s thinning hair.
She did a referral of a multidisciplinary team through Catholic Charities to address Isabella’s broken bones in 2019 and 2020, which found the accidental explanation plausible, so CWS did not confirm abuse.
Taele did monthly home visits until the adoptions were finalized in February 2021, but made a home visit in April 2021 for the younger sibling.
Taele noticed Isabella was never playing with the other children, and Kalua would say she was either sleeping, sick or at school.
On Aug. 24, 2021, Taele received a text from Kalua saying her husband had COVID-19 and was quarantined 15 days, so they did a Zoom meeting. In September 2021, Kalua said the quarantine was extended 10 days. Taele asked for in-person meetings outside the home, but Kalua insisted on rescheduling.
On Sept. 13, 2021, Kalua called Taele screaming, wailing and sobbing Isabella was missing….
PDF: TRANSCRIPT (begins on pg 18)
read … Sister’s testimony offers clues to what happened to Isabella Kalua’s body | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaii’s ‘Renewable’ Fossil Fuel Get Rich Scheme
IM: ... Hawaii was destined to become the “ethanol capitol of the world” under Republican Governor Linda Lingle. We would produce so much ethanol that we would export ethanol around the world and make lots of money.
There was a little problem. Hawaii’s Renewable Portfolio Standard law passed in 2001 stated that if a renewable energy product was made from both renewable energy and fossil fuel inputs, only “the proportion attributable to the renewable means shall be credited as renewable energy.”
The Democratic-controlled Legislature saw a quick fix. In 2006 the state law was changed. No matter how renewable energy is created, it is always 100% renewable. Add a drop of renewable fuel to fossil fuel and the entire product becomes renewable energy.
Two years later, Hu Honua Energy popped up. Forests could be clear-cut with diesel-powered equipment. The trees could be pulverized into wood chips. The wood could be burned. The electricity could be sold to HELCO as 100% renewable energy.
Today, the law remains. Hawaii can achieve 100% renewable energy by clear-cutting tropical rainforests around the world and burning the vegetation in Hawaii. Thus, achieving a 100% renewable energy future is easy.….
(IQ Test: Renewable energy is a fraud: T/F?)
read … Hawaii`s Fossil Fuel Get Rich Scheme | Ililani Media
Commission manipulates aquifer data to jack up cost of housing in West Maui
MN: … State water management officials fear (want you to be fooled into believing) some aquifers in West Maui might be showing signs they are surpassing their sustainable yield in pumping water, raising questions about water allocations for future developments.
(TRANSLATION: This is a lie designed to increase the cost of housing. The purpose is to block construction of rental units near the Lahaina fire zone.)
Officials with the state Commission on Water Resource Management say (want you to be fooled into believing) they’re starting to notice salinity levels in Napili and Kaanapali rising in certain instances with more pumping.
(TRANSLATION: This is a lie designed to increase the cost of housing. The purpose is to block construction of rental units near the Lahaina fire zone.)
Based on the studies (lies, they want you to be fooled into believing) it could be an indicator that the quantity being pumped might not be sustainable, officials said.
(TRANSLATION: This is a lie designed to increase the cost of housing. The purpose is to block construction of rental units near the Lahaina fire zone.)
In the last 20 years, West Maui has received less rainfall, and the department is tracking the situation. At Honokohau Stream, the mean daily flow has decreased by 11.5% in the last 20 years, according to the study.
(REALITY: All of this is a fraud designed to restrict land availability and force the cost of housing up. The Maui mountains are big bags of water which could easily be tapped to supply residential uses. If you are fooled by their rhetoric, you will be forced to move to the mainland.)
KITV: Water concerns cast uncertainties over new developments in West Maui | News | kitv.com
SA: Hawaii water commission nominee garners flood of support | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Commission reviews aquifers in West Maui
Voting Blind: Why Lawmakers Don't Know The Cost Of Bills Before They Vote
CB: … Hawaiʻi is the only state that lacks legislative fiscal analysis of bills. This year lawmakers may take a step toward fixing that….
Putting legislation to a vote without knowing what it will cost is not how other state legislatures operate.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, every other state uses some version of what are called “fiscal notes” to detail the cost of legislation as bills move through the lawmaking process. Hawaiʻi does not….
Instead, the Hawaiʻi Legislature generally relies on cost estimates from the state administration or private entities, an arrangement lawmakers themselves described in 1990 as “an inherent conflict of interest.”
“If lawmakers are going to do something ambitious, they need to know how much it’s going to cost,” said Josh Goodman, senior officer for state fiscal health with The Pew Charitable Trusts….
To that end, lawmakers this year may finally be taking a step toward adopting a system of fiscal notes with House Concurrent Resolution 61. That measure calls for the Legislative Reference Bureau to study how five other states and the District of Columbia use fiscal notes, and how they could best be used in Hawaiʻi.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to consider HCR 61 on Tuesday….
read … Voting Blind: Why Lawmakers Don't Know The Cost Of Bills Before They Vote - Honolulu Civil Beat
More than 400 bills still alive as end of Legislative Session nears
KITV: … We are two weeks away from the end of the legislative session, and the fate of many bills is still up in the air.
Just over 2 dozen bills passed their third and final reading without any changes. But lawmakers disagreed over more than 400 bills and those disagreements have to be worked out over the next 2 weeks in order for those bills to survive….
Lawmakers work out their disagreements during this final conference period in the Legislature before final bill readings in the House and Senate….
"Here at the State Legislature, over 3000 bills a year are introduced. No one reads them all. It is impossible to dig into and understand each of them, and the entire session is basically this winnowing process. It's the sprint to the finish where bills are dying due to deadlines," stated Chang ….
read … More than 400 bills still alive as end of Legislative Session nears | Local | kitv.com
Green Signs Two Gun Bills into law—two more pending
SA: … Gov. Josh Green has signed into law two bills regulating guns in the islands and is considering two others as the state Legislature this year moved to strengthen Hawaii’s already strict firearm laws.
The two bills signed last week by Green address so-called ghost guns and tougher sentencing for felons who use firearms, while the two under consideration cover gun ownership and county reporting of firearm ownership data.
The various bills garnered passionate testimony from both sides with Hawaii gun advocates citing the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms and others calling for tighter rules to keep people, especially children, safe.
On Thursday, Green signed House Bill 392, which bans ghost guns across the islands….
Green on Thursday also approved House Bill 137, calling for mandatory prison sentences for “violent felons” found in possession or control of a firearm or ammunition.
The bills awaiting Green’s decision include:
>> House Bill 125, which requires gun owners to follow additional storage regulations and calls for anyone selling new or used firearms to inform buyers of those more stringent rules.
>> And House Bill 995, which gives county police departments more time to provide gun ownership data to the state Department of Attorney General. The Attorney General’s Office supported the measure, saying it would not only help police chiefs, but also “give the Department sufficient time to complete the annual report with its existing resources.” …
read … Hawaii to tighten firearm laws
Keeping Christians Out of Schools Could Cost Hawaiʻi $100k
CB: … For over a decade, the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Hawaiʻi has hosted religious clubs at public schools across the state. The after-school meetings, called Good News Clubs, offer free lessons on the Bible and Christianity and are open to all students.
“Our vision is that every child on every island can hear the Gospel by the age of twelve,” CEF’s website says.
But some schools have blocked the Good News Clubs from hosting meetings on their campuses since 2013, setting up CEF’s claims that it faced religious discrimination from the Hawaiʻi Department of Education.
Now, the state plans to pay $100,000 to CEF, according to a settlement lawmakers are currently considering. The settlement also directs schools to provide CEF the same access to their facilities as other after-school groups such as the (gays) ….
BACKGROUND: First Christian Good News Clubs in Hawaii Schools after Court Victory
read … Blocking Religious Clubs At Schools Could Cost Hawaiʻi $100k
How China's Military is Quietly Gaining Control of the Pacific
NW: … China has quietly extended its military reach far across the Pacific by building dozens of ports, airports, and communications projects at key points in a vast region that could shut out the United States and its allies in the event of war, a new report says.
The projects appeared civilian in nature but were in reality "strategic nodes" stretching about 3,000 miles, from Papua New Guinea immediately north of U.S. ally Australia, to Samoa, which lies about 40 miles away from the U.S. territory of American Samoa in Polynesia, according to the new study made available exclusively to Newsweek. The remote, scattered islands of the Pacific were once crucial to American warfighting strategy in World War II, and they could play a role in the next global conflict, too….
read … Exclusive—How China's Military is Quietly Gaining Control of the Pacific - Newsweek
Honolulu DCS Director Scores Free Trip To Poland ‘to approve colors’ of new licenses
CB: … A company that just signed a no-bid contract with Honolulu’s motor vehicle office is hoping to send the agency’s director on an all-expenses-paid trip to Gdańsk, Poland next month.
The contractor, Thales Group, has offered to cover the flight, hotel, meals and other related costs — a $5,000 value — for Department of Customer Services Director Kim Hashiro to visit their facility. Gdańsk is an ancient port city and tourist destination on the Baltic Sea known for building ships and as the amber capital of the world.
Hashiro said the journey is necessary because she needs to sign off on the design of the state’s new licenses and ID cards, including aesthetic elements as well as counterfeit and fraud prevention features such as holographic images.
“It’s a color approval trip,” she said (without laughing or even a smirk!) ….
The sequence of events risks creating the appearance of a gratuity, said Wesley Fong, a member of the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission (without rolling his eyes)…. The Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission doesn’t have jurisdiction over county matters, but if such circumstances presented themselves at the state level, Fong would oppose it.
Jan Yamane, executive director of the Honolulu Ethics Commission, referred questions to the Corporation Counsel’s office. City spokesman Scott Humber said, (without laughing), the Corporation Counsel deemed the arrangement “compliant with the applicable laws as well as the City Council’s gift policy.” …
City officials go on similar trips to manufacturing facilities for other major equipment, including fire trucks, ambulances and buses, Formby said (again without even a snicker). This time, instead of equipment, he said, the director will be assessing “intricate security design features.”…
The director said she will be joined by another motor vehicle official from the Big Island, Naomi O’Dell, who did not return a message left on Friday. ….
CB: Honolulu Council OKs City Director’s Free Trip To Poland - Honolulu Civil Beat -- A Honolulu department head’s trip to Poland next month will be funded by a private company that has signed a no-bid contract with that department after City Council members voted Wednesday to approve the gift.
ILind: This trip is part of her job, not a European vacation | i L i n d
read … Honolulu Director's Free Trip To Poland Raises Ethics Questions - Honolulu Civil Beat
Councilwoman denies public safety conflict over relationship with fire battalion chief
HNN: … Honolulu city councilwoman Val Okimoto said she will not voluntarily leave her position as chair of the Public Safety Committee, and, by law, cannot recuse from issues that affect the Honolulu Fire Department.
Okimoto is in a relationship with a manager at HFD, a battalion chief who is in charge of the helicopter unit.
That unit got a new $10.6 million aircraft last year. Okimoto was not on the council when that purchase was approved, but she told HNN Investigates that she would support the appropriation of another chopper for HFD….
read … Councilwoman denies public safety conflict over relationship with fire battalion chief
Several international students at UH have visas revoked
SA: … In a Friday statement to the 10-campus UH system, President Wendy Hensel said that “a few” of UH’s more than 1,700 international students have had their visas revoked by federal officials.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser confirmed Monday that fewer than five UH students have had their visas revoked….
Other Hawaii universities, including Chaminade University and Brigham Young University Hawaii, did not respond to the Star-Advertiser’s request for information. Hawaii Pacific University said none of its 305 international students had their visas revoked.
A UH spokesperson told the Star-Advertiser that the details of the affected students’ situations were to remain private but that if students need a referral, they would be referred to immigration attorneys.
The New York Times reported Friday that approximately 800 of the nation’s 1.5 million international university students have had their visas revoked, many who have had minor brushes with the law and some who have been targeted due to pro-Palestinian activism….
ICE also clarified that beneficiaries of the Compacts of Free Agreement — migrants from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, who are legally allowed to live, work and study in the U.S. without a visa — “must be convicted of a removable offense before being amenable to removal proceedings.”
But Honolulu-based immigration attorney Neribel Chardon, who said she has not yet had any cases of student visas being revoked, said the immigration landscape remains unpredictable and continues to shift.
“Noncitizens, including COFA, are being detained after an arrest by local police, even if charges are not pressed,” Chardon said Monday. “What happens next will just depend, but they are being detained.” …
RELATED: Hensel: How Trump is Affecting UH
read … Several international students at UH have visas revoked | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Appeals court rules Maui mosquito release can proceed to help control avian malaria
MN: … The Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) has ruled in favor of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the American Bird Conservancy, represented by the Center for Biological Diversity, by affirming the Environmental Court’s ruling that the Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) prepared for a project to use the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) to control mosquito born avian malaria on east Maui was sufficient.
Avian malaria has already led to the extinction of many native birds and is responsible for the near total decimation of several remaining species of Hawaiian honeycreepers. …
“This decision reinforces what we’ve known all along — that Hawai‘i is on solid legal and scientific ground in its effort to save native forest birds from extinction,” said Maxx Phillips, Center for Biological Diversity Hawai‘i director and staff attorney. “The courts have once again made clear that we won’t stand by while avian malaria pushes these irreplaceable species to the brink. Our manu deserve a fighting chance.”…
read … Appeals court rules Maui mosquito release can proceed to help control avian malaria
Transair to resurrect Hawaii cargo business after defeating FAA shutdown
FW: … Freighter operator has been grounded since Boeing 737 crash landing at sea in 2021 ….
Rhoades Aviation, the legal entity flying aircraft under the Transair brand, got a reprieve in November when a National Transportation Safety Board administrative law judge dismissed the Federal Aviation Administration’s move to revoke its operating certificate as a scheduled airline.
FAA officials are now working with Rhoades Aviation to bring it into compliance with federal aviation regulations, as ordered by Judge Alisa Tapia, the agency confirmed on Friday….
read … Transair to resurrect Hawaii cargo business after defeating FAA shutdown - FreightWaves
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