UHERO: 75% of Hawaii Households Cannot Afford Mortgage
Hawaii 4th Highest State and Local Taxes Per Capita
Pacific Partnership Act to Counter China
Disasters? Hawaii Still not Ready
Disgraced Police Chief Louis Kealoha Still Owes Honolulu $250,000
CB: … The terms of Louis Kealoha’s retirement package were clear: The Honolulu police chief could resign with a $250,000 payout while under federal investigation, but if he were convicted of a crime, he’d have to pay the money back. …
According to Kealoha, the payout was originally going to be $600,000, but it was negotiated down to $250,000….
Since that deal was signed in 2017, Kealoha was convicted in one of Hawaiʻi’s biggest corruption scandals and served prison time. He is now back in the islands on house arrest, as first reported by Hawaii News Now.
But he hasn’t paid back a dime of his severance package, even as he continues to collect his $150,000 annual pension.
The county put a lien on Kealoha’s property but has not been successful in collecting anything yet, according to Ian Scheuring, a spokesman for the mayor’s office.
“Now that he is out of prison, we have other options to consider,” he said. …
(IDEA: He can make a sex tape of himself watching other guys do his wife.)
As part of their sentence, the Kealohas were ordered to pay almost $700,000 in restitution to their victims and forfeit property that represents proceeds of fraud, including their home, a Rolex watch and approximately $230,000.
The city’s existing lien should already apply to the Kealohas’ Salt Lake condo, but the city is preparing an amended lien to specifically reference that property, according to Scheuring.
Katherine Kealoha still owes $18,392.50 in restitution to Gerard Puana and the estate of Florence Puana., according to Puana attorney Eric Seitz’s office.
Louis Kealoha paid his restitution to the Puanas in full but also still owes them $500,000 from a federal civil rights lawsuit judgment….
read … Disgraced Police Chief Louis Kealoha Still Owes Honolulu $250,000 - Honolulu Civil Beat
CNHA-Connected Governor calls Hawaii Tourism Authority ‘hot mess,’ promises reform--What Could Go Wrong?
HNN: … Supporters say new legislation will shift power away from tourism insiders to the public.
With voters complaining about overtourism, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) struggled to shift from selling Hawaii to caring for it.
For lawmakers, like state Senate tourism chair Lynn DeCoite, the last straw was watching HTA leaders turn on each other.
“It’s as if they’re kids in a sandbox throwing sand at each other,” she said. “It’s very upsetting because as I walk in the community and people see me and they said, ‘what is going on with the tourism industry?’”
House tourism chair Adrian Tam said the issues at HTA predated his five years at the Legislature.
“What I’m hoping is that we return to a state of mind within the authority where we are working for tourism and the people of Hawaii and not just focused on our infighting,” he said.
Monday on Hawaii News Now Sunrise, Gov. Josh Green gave an even blunter assessment.
“Well, it’s a hot mess over there,” he said. “I’m going to put in some advisers that are going to be a lot more thoughtful about how we proceed.”
(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Does that mean Green will put CNHA back in charge so they can grab more money?)
Green also pledged to sign Senate Bill 1571 into law.
Since before the governor’s first days in office, there were conflicts at HTA over marketing and management contracts, finding permanent leadership, convention center discounts and finally, the forced leave of chief administrative officer Isaac Choy over an allegedly racist remark made two years ago.
Sen. DeCoite says Choy may have been targeted unfairly.
“The ethnic racism card going back and forth as well,” she said. “Them calling Isaac names, and I can say that because I’ve actually sat in on them saying ‘stupid pake.’”….
TIMELINE:
- Feb, 2023: CNHA Inside Track: Robin Danner Snags Gig in Governor's Office
- Feb, 2023: HTA Splits RFP for US: Marketing vs 'Stewardship'
- Dec, 2022: With Minutes left on Clock, McCartney rescinds tourism contract with Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
- Dec, 2022: CNHA: Josh Green will Give us Tourism Contract
- Dec, 2022: Will Hawaiian Homelands $600M Be Stolen by Hoopili or Walter Ritte?
- Dec, 2022: Anderson: DHHL $600M Could Bail out Hoopili, Koa Ridge
- Oct, 2022: Danner: DHHL Should Stop Building Houses and Buy Molokai Ranch for Walter Ritte
- Oct, 2022: HVCB and CNHA "have found a way forward in partnership"
- Oct, 2022: Dirty OHA Contract is Model for CNHA Takeover of Tourism Marketing
- Sept, 2022: CNHA Terrified of COVID Fraud Investigation
- Sept, 2022: OHA Docs: CNHA Guilty of COVID Fraud?
- Aug, 2022: How Hawaii Tourism Authority Rigged Procurement for CNHA
- July, 2022: (Another) Chief Procurement Officer Flees HTA in Midst of CNHA Scandal
- June, 2022 Fraud: CNHA Should be Banned from Future bidding
- June, 2022: HVCB Protest Focuses on CNHA-Stacked Selection Committee
- June, 2022: CNHA Got Contract by Kicking Tourism Industry Professionals off Committee and Lying About Transition Team
- June, 2022: CNHA Swipes Juicy Mainland Tourism Marketing Contract from HVCB
read … Governor calls Hawaii Tourism Authority ‘hot mess,’ promises reform
Uncertain financial future continues to impact East-West Center operations
HNN: … In a statement provided by the east west center’s interim communications director, they shared they are taking cost-cutting measures that include consolidation of housing for resident graduate students.
About 40 students are being impacted and were notified in mid-April they would have to relocate by the end of May. They were given the option to move into Hale Manoa along with moving assistance upon request….
Adding to the unchartered waters for the center, May 9 was the deadline for employees to decide whether to accept or pass on a voluntary separation package….
The center says just over half of their annual revenue comes from federal funds. So far, this fiscal year, they’ve received about half of their budget appropriation of $22 million.
The total number of employees who accepted that voluntary separation offer is unclear along with the details of that offer. …
read … Uncertain financial future continues to impact East-West Center operations
Honolulu a good place for murder—nearly 50% go unsolved
CB: … Just over half of homicides in 2024 were solved, and the police department’s record for addressing vehicle thefts is far below the national average….
The number of crimes reported in Honolulu dropped by a whopping 28% between 2021 and 2024. But despite having fewer cases to investigate, the percentage of crimes solved by police didn’t improve at nearly the same pace.
Last year, police cleared roughly 21% of the more than 37,000 offenses reported across Oʻahu. In 2020, only about 17% of the island’s 52,045 reported offenses were cleared.
The overall downward crime trend in the last three years has a notable exception: police recorded 37 homicides in 2024, the most of any year since 2020. Last year its clearance rate for homicides was at its lowest in three years — just 57%.
So far this year, HPD has recorded — and cleared — two homicides. But 16 homicides from 2024 still haven’t been cleared, according to the dashboard.
More than half of crimes reported last year involved some sort of theft, including larceny, motor vehicle theft, burglary, stolen property, robbery and embezzlement. Several of these crimes consistently have some of the lowest clearance rates in the department.
Larceny alone made up more than a third of cases last year, about 90% of which went unsolved. While the resolution rate for robbery cases has gone up to about 27%, police closed just 127 of the 1,647 burglaries recorded in 2024 — less than 8%.
The department also consistently solves less than 3% of motor vehicle thefts, significantly lower than the national average of 9.3% in 2022 ….
read … Data Dive: Crime Is Down In Honolulu But Cops Still Struggle To Solve Cases - Honolulu Civil Beat
Sabotaged signal: New images reveal homeless camp around severed cables that cut communication for thousands
HNN: … Photographs snapped by Hawaiian Telcom workers show multiple fiber optic cables cut in two….
(News for tweekers: No copper in fiber optic cables.)
The damaged lines were discovered around 2 p.m. Saturday near Heeia State Park, but officials say impacts from the act of vandalism were felt from Waimanalo to Laie.
We’re told more than 2,000 people, primarily residential customers, were without internet service. Cell phone service was also down for some AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon customers, causing confusion that took a financial toll on some Windward Oahu businesses.
“I lose a lot of business,” said Thai Food Express food truck owner Tommy Thepseanavomg. “They thought we were closed because the phone has been off.” …
Honolulu police launched a felony criminal property damage investigation.
Photographs taken by Hawaiian Telcom crews indicate people (zombies) had been in the area where the severed cables were found. However, it’s still unclear if they had anything to do with the damage….
read … Sabotaged signal: New images reveal severed cables that cut communication for thousands
‘Wasted opportunity?’ Maui Council questions post-wildfire pivot on homeless plan
MN: … Maui County taxpayers spent $240,000 for a “homeless strategic plan,” but that’s not what they got.
On Monday, officials told Maui County Council members that the county’s all-hands-on-deck response to the devastating August 2023 wildfires made creating that plan “infeasible,” leading instead to a “community-informed report” titled “Recommendations to Address Homelessness in Maui County.”
Now, as the county’s housing critical housing shortage continues and homeless encampments crop up in secluded areas, Maui County Council members are questioning the legality of the change in homeless plan’s contracted scope of work. West Maui Council Member Tamara Paltin said a comprehensive homeless plan is needed “now more than ever” after the wildfires. The County’s $240,000 was “misspent,” she said, and a “huge opportunity” to diminish homelessness was “wasted.”
Portland, Ore.-based consultant ECOnorthwest‘s homeless recommendations report was the focal point of discussion during Monday’s meeting of the Maui County Council Water Authority, Social Services, and Parks Committee, chaired by Council Member Shane Sinenci.
The report found that homelessness impacts Native Hawaiians disproportionately, compared with other groups in Maui County. Nearly 1 in 4 of people served by the homelessness support system were under the age of 18. And, while the number of unhoused people in the annual “Point in Time” Count had decreased, year over year, the number of people served by the homelessness system increased.
One of its main recommendations: “Effective coordination and collaboration among all actors within the homelessness support system ensures there are no gaps for people in crisis to fall through. People in crisis experience smooth transitions between different service providers with minimal traumatization or unnecessary duplicative assessments, paperwork and explanations.” ….
In an April 11 letter to Sinenci, Department of Human Concerns Director Lori Tsuhako said the ECOnorthwest report met the “bare minimum” of contractural requirements….
The Cost of Government Commission studied Maui County’s homelessness extensively, and it provided an insight in an appendix to its report:
“There is a constant tension between those who want to exercise compassion to the unsheltered and immediately provide them with food, water, restrooms, showers and medical care, while they are still unhoused, and those who believe such actions merely encourage more and lengthier homelessness. The laudable policy of ‘Housing First’ is futile and cruel if there is not adequate and supportive housing immediately available. Despite years of hard work by the County’s Homeless Program and these dedicated nonprofits, that supply of adequate housing has not been created, and is not close to creation.”
Mike Williams, chair of the Cost of Government Commission at the time it studied homelessness and called for a comprehensive plan, said the ECOnorthwest report and was “extremely disappointed.”
“I was also disappointed by the fact that the county administration didn’t insist on a plan,” he said.
William said the Cost of Government Commission’s report in 2022 listed all the elements that members thought should be in a strategic homeless plan, “and almost none of those were covered in the report.”
“I’m not sure if its the consultant’s fault or the administration’s fault, but we didn’t get a plan, and that’s a real problem,” he said.
On Tuesday, Williams said he’s frustrated that there wasn’t a plan to end homelessness in 2020, or in 2022, when the commission issued its report. Now, “here we are three years later, and we still don’t have a plan. You know, to me, it’s just a shameful part of the situation that we have all these homeless people, and we have the ability to take care of them, and we don’t.”
Williams said he thinks Maui County should construct tiny homes in a program akin to Gov. Josh Green’s signature kauhale initiative, which provides small shelters and support programs to homeless people….
read … ‘Wasted opportunity?’ Maui Council questions post-wildfire pivot on homeless plan : Maui Now
Alm Calls for Veto of HB126: Illegal game room assets in Kalihi turned over to state
SA: … More than $63,000 and assets of other equipment that Honolulu police acquired in an illegal game room bust Thursday will go to the state.
City officials said Tuesday that the Honolulu Prosecutor filed an administrative petition for asset forfeiture with the state Attorney General’s Office to forfeit the cash to the state as the proceeds of crime….
“Asset forfeiture is an important law enforcement tool. It immediately stops the illegal activity, takes the profit out of crime, and supports future law enforcement operations to stop criminal conduct,” Alm said in a statement.
Alm pointed to the importance of House Bill 126 that’s currently awaiting the governor’s signature.
If passed, HB 126 would “prohibit asset forfeiture like the one filed in this case because of new requirements in the law,” Alm said.
“No one should be allowed to profit from crime,” Alm said in a statement.
Vetoing HB 126, the news release said, would “deny criminals — known or unknown — the profits of their crimes and repurpose those profits to fight those crimes.” …
HB126: Text, Status
read … Illegal game room assets in Kalihi turned over to state
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