SB295: Tougher Penalties for TRO Violations
Operator Syndrome: Hidden toll on first responder life
SMA Commissioners Exploiting Lahaina Fire to Kick Rich Guy off Island
HNN: … “I’m seeing mega mansions coming up all around me that will compound and create parking and congestion in an area that we fled,” said Kelli Keahi, who was the first homeowner to obtain a rebuild permit in the Special Management Area.
(TRANSLATION: I am allowed back in to paradise. You are not.)
Washington State resident Stanley Deal retired as President and CEO for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He first built his contemporary-style retirement home in the Lahaina National Historic Landmark District in 2018.
(CLUE: It was OK in 2018.)
Deal says he wants to build it back like it was before it burnt down, but more fire resistant.
… many community members, even commissioners, say the design does not fit Lahaina’s historic quality.
“It is beautiful. When I drove past it the first time, I said, wow, that’s a really nice building. But I didn’t place that building in Lahaina. That is a building I would imagine somewhere else,” said Vice Chair Ashley Lindsey.
(TRANSLATION: I judge your home unworthy. You are cast out of paradise.)
Some fear the modern-style home could also push up property taxes and are opposing the rebuild of his swimming pool because of the lack of water….
They said they have been given a blank slate to re-envision how Lahaina should look and said they are planning now for future generations.
“I agree this is a well-designed building. I hear the testifiers and my fellow commissioners that this is a detraction from everything that we see and know in Lahaina,” said Chair Kimberly Thayer.
(TRANSLATION: I judge your home unworthy. You are cast out of paradise.)
Commissioners deferred taking action on Monday and compiled a list of requirements Deal and his architect must complete before bringing it back to them for another review….
(TRANSLATION: We judge your home unworthy. You are cast out of paradise.)
KITV: Former Boeing executive questioned over plans to rebuild Front Street home | News | kitv.com
read … Boeing executive faces backlash over rebuild of Lahaina home
Japan Trade Deal Negotiations Fail
YN: … Despite early White House signals suggesting a trade deal with Japan was imminent, negotiations in Washington, D.C., ended without an agreement, highlighting Japan’s ongoing concerns and reluctance to concede ahead of domestic elections. Conflicting messages from U.S. officials and resistance from global partners like China suggest bilateral trade talks will be protracted, casting doubt on President Trump’s ambitious “90 deals in 90 days” goal…
READ … Trump had a ‘test case’ for trade negotiations with Japan. The failure to reach a deal now has analysts wondering if any will be signed
9 projects with over 800 housing units could get funding from Maui County for construction, rising costs
MN: … Maui County wants to spend its $43.5 million Affordable Housing Fund on nine projects with 843 units of mostly rental housing in the next fiscal year, including a rental project in Kīhei with social spaces for seniors, a Nāpili apartment complex for fire-displaced families and a major housing development in Kahului with a civic center and commercial space.
The projects were listed in the Housing Department’s annual report about how it plans to use the Affordable Housing Fund in the new fiscal year that starts July 1. They include eight on Maui and one on Lāna‘i that are either under construction, in the planning stages or aging projects in need of repairs. The Maui County Council is currently reviewing the budget and could potentially go over the proposed funding for the projects today, according to council staff. …
(TWO CLUES: Chris Flaherty and Ev Dowling.)
read … 9 projects with over 800 housing units could get funding from Maui County for construction, rising costs : Maui Now
Hawaiʻi May Cut Grass On More State Land To Prevent Spread Of Wildfires
CB: … Hawaiʻi’s wildland firefighting teams may soon have the authority to cut vegetation and establish firebreaks on significantly more state lands to reduce the risk of wildfires spreading into urban areas.
State law currently limits those efforts to forest reserves and lands under the control of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Senate Bill 223 would expand the state’s authority to take fire-prevention measures on all state lands and nearby areas to prevent what happened to Lahaina in 2023, when a fire that started on private land owned by Kamehameha Schools raged out of control and destroyed the town, killing more than 100.
A conference committee will convene Wednesday to hammer out a final draft of the bill….
read … Hawaiʻi May Cut Grass On More State Land To Prevent Spread Of Wildfires - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii set to pay $750,000 in wrongful death settlement
SA: … The state Legislature is expected to approve a $750,000 settlement in the 2019 wrongful shooting death of an unarmed, disabled, homeless man by an on-duty state deputy sheriff, who was not criminally held responsible but since faces scrutiny in the deaths of two more people in 2021 and 2022 while a police officer in San Diego.
Delmar Espejo, 28, was shot in the back at close range and killed on Feb. 18, 2019, at the state Capitol rotunda by former Deputy Sheriff Gregory Bergman.
The victim’s family filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the state and Bergman on Feb. 17, 2021. A jury awarded $2.27 million to Espejo’s mother, Cresencia Espejo, including $1.52 million in punitive damages….
read … Hawaii set to pay $750,000 in wrongful death settlement | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Plaintiff Attempts to Interfere with Police Chase, then Sues Officers
SA: … An amended federal civil complaint alleges nine Honolulu police officers beat a 25-year-old man after knowing he wasn’t the prime suspect in a Jan. 1, 2024, pursuit and gunfight with an attempted murder suspect.
Five Honolulu police officers were not charged by Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm for using force on Tevita Cadiente, who they found running toward a police shootout with an attempted murder suspect who shot two officers….
Cadiente knew Sidney Tafokitau, a 44-year-old attempted murder suspect who shot his ex-girlfriend with an AR-15 assault rifle on Jan. 1, 2024, before leading officers on a daylong, islandwide manhunt while shooting at them.
The roughly 100-mile chase involved about 62 police officers and one of HPD’s MD 500E helicopters.
Tafokitau shot and wounded two officers on University Avenue before he was shot 23 times by police. He died at the scene. Alm decided in December the officers were justified to use deadly force.
Amid the chaos, Cadiente was intercepted by police as he ran toward where Tafokitau confronted officers for the final time. Cadiente and Tafokitau are both tall, Polynesian males with facial hair who were wearing similar patterned shorts.
Cadiente allegedly knew Tafokitau, whom he called “Pepe” from “the clubs.” Cadiente was aware Tafokitau was being chased by police and “ran out to record it,” according to the police investigation of the alleged beating.
Cadiente admitted to having Tafokitau’s name and number in his cellphone under the name “Nuketown.” Police found no evidence that Cadiente was helping Tafokitau….
(IQ Test: On a scale of 1-10 how ridiculous is that last sentence?)
read … 9 HPD officers are named in civil suit alleging brutality | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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