Babylon Bee challenges Hawaii law criminalizing political memes, satire
Guilty on All Counts: Big Island Affordable Housing Fraudsters
Lawsuit Alleges More Affordable Housing Fraud
Matt Elliott selected as the next UH Mānoa athletics director
Honolulu Sewer Fee Hike: How They Voted
CB: … Households on Oʻahu will pay more in sewer fees over the next six years after the Honolulu City Council on Wednesday narrowly approved a measure seen as a compromise after months of debate over how to minimize the impact on consumers.
Half the households in Honolulu use around 6,000 gallons of water and pay $100 a month for sewer services, according to county estimates. That will rise to an estimated $160 by 2031, with changes starting on New Year’s Day 2026.
It’s the first increase of its kind since 2016 and falls short of the increase proposed by Mayor Rick Blangiardi administration – a 115% increase over the next 10 years, starting at a 10% hike.
In a 5-4 vote late Wednesday, the council approved a plan from the budget committee with lower increases over a shorter time period. Councilman Augie Tulba, who voted yes with reservations, said the increases “remain a heavy lift for many families.”…
Scott Humber said in an emailed statement. “We believe the version passed by the Council represents the best path forward for the Sewer Fund and Wastewater Program.”
Council member Andria Tupola voted against the bill, saying the rate increases would impose a heavy burden on struggling households in her district in West Oʻahu.
The other no votes were Council members Esther Kiaʻāina, Scott Nishimoto and Tommy Waters. Val Okimoto and Radiant Cordero voted yes with reservations. Dos Santos-Tam and Matt Weyer were the only two aye votes….
read … Honolulu Sewer Fees Increase Approved In Narrow City Council Vote
Mercado Kim News: Thomas Aiu Tries for Chief Again
SA: … Logan attended Wednesday’s police commission meeting with members of his uniformed command staff.
Retired HPD Lt. Alexander Garcia testified before the commission Wednesday, thanked Logan for his service, and wished him the “very best.”
“I’m a big fan of the mayor’s. I think he’s a great mayor … He’s kind of like Frank Fasi 2.0, he gets things done. He’s a great leader. But I think in this case he’s overstepped his authority … He’s done a disservice to this department,” Garcia said.
Blangiardi was “out of order” in talking Logan into retiring but it “is what it is,” Garcia said.
“By bringing in that letter and going out and saying Ben is going to be the next interim chief, it’s mind blowing. It’s just wrong,” Garcia said. “I know he’s well intended … but as they say the road to hell is paved with … good intentions. And he’s doing a disservice to Ben. I know Ben, I’ve known him for 30 years, he’s a good guy, I think he would do a good job but he’s not here. You got this whole row of people here (gesturing to Logan’s leadership team) who are good candidates for the next interim or permanent chief. All in this room right here and he’s (Blangiardi) bypassed them … That’s the perception that we get.” …
The chief of the Hawaii Police Department will not step down from his post ahead of a decision by the Honolulu Police Commission about who will serve as interim chief of the Honolulu Police Department.
Hawaii police Chief Ben Moszkowicz is one of two applicants for the interim position after Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced HPD Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan’s retirement on Monday and “strongly” recommended that Moszkowicz becomes the interim chief.
Moszkowicz and Thomas K. Aiu, a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (Mercado Kim) agent with a law degree, have applied for the interim job with the Honolulu Police Commission.
Blangiardi reached out to Moszkowicz on May 30 to ask if he would consider returning to HPD as its interim chief. Moszkowicz and Blangiardi spoke again Monday when Moszkowicz expressed interest in applying for the position.
Blangiardi told him that he would strongly recommend him for the post but the decision was the police commission’s to make.
Moszkowicz told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that there is an intergovernmental movement process that allows county and state employees to switch employers. “That is what I used to move to the Hawaii Police Department in January of 2023. Whether or not that option is available depends entirely on what the Hawaii Police Commission decides,” Moszkowicz said. “I understand and welcome the chance to compete for the position and sent them a letter of interest for the Interim Chief job in Honolulu.”
On Monday, Moszkowicz sent an internal memo, obtained by the Star-Advertiser, to Hawaii police officers and civilian employees announcing he would leave the department.
Moszkowicz then decided not to step down and will allow the police commission process to play out in Honolulu and on Hawaii island….
REALITY: The Secret History of the Mercado Kim Crime Family
read … Interim Honolulu police chief appointment on hold | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Honolulu City Council adopts HART’s $968M budget
SA: … HART’s budgets, expected to take effect July 1 if signed by Mayor Rick Blangiardi later this month, show marked increases to debt service on the project’s loans as well as increased labor costs for the over-$10 billion Skyline construction.
The rail agency previously indicated other higher costs as well.
HART officials indicated that due to the awarded contract of $1.66 billion for City Center Guideway and Stations, or CCGS, meant to take the rail line to Kakaako by 2031, the project’s capital budget is expected to rise from $482.4 million in the current fiscal year to more than $526.9 million for 2026 — a 9.2% increase.
In August, HART awarded the CCGS contract to Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini Corp. to design and build Skyline’s last 3-mile segment to Halekauwila Street.
But rail staffers say because of the large contract — about $360 million above original estimates — certain rail-related projects might need to be temporarily deferred.
Meanwhile, the Council’s anticipated vote on the mayor’s proposed $5.14 billion budget package did not immediately occur.
Following daylong back-and-forth discussions, the Council took a meeting recess after 5 p.m. Wednesday. As of press time, no formal vote had been taken after disagreements erupted between the Council and city staff over budgetary issues.
Those issues included Council Chair Tommy Waters’ floor draft of Bill 22 — the executive operating budget — which looked to redirect previously appropriated but unused, or “lapsed,” city departmental funds to bolster the city’s sewer fund, as a way to defray the cost of anticipated multiyear sewer fee rate increases expected to start July 1….
BEST COMMENT: “Prior to the acceptance of the CCGS bid, the total project cost to the civic center was just under $10 billion. It is now at a little over $10 billion. The remaining Full Funding Grant Agreement balance is $369 million. Concerns about the president potentially taking away that remaining funding have come up at board meetings.” – Natalie Iwasa
read … Honolulu City Council adopts HART’s $968M budget
Key amendments proposed for vacation rental phase-out bill ahead of Council committee hearing
MN: … The committee posted an agenda for a meeting beginning at 10 a.m. Monday in the Council Chambers on the eighth floor of the Kalana O Maui Building in Wailuku. If past attendance at Maui Planning Commission meetings on the same issue are any indication, then overflow crowds can be expected.
Mayor Richard Bissen, who introduced Bill 9 more than a year ago, is scheduled to provide opening remarks before the Housing and Land Use Committee on Monday.
As introduced the vacation rental phase-out bill would eliminate about 7,000 such visitor accommodations in apartment-zoned districts. The measure aims to reclaim much needed resident housing in apartment areas where thousands of units provide vacation accommodations to visitors – most often at prices higher than long-term rentals.
Adding new wrinkles to the already heated debate are Committee Chair Tasha Kama’s proposed bill amendments. One would delay the implementation of the phase-out until July 1, 2030. Another would exempt validly existing time-share units or time-share plans from being phased out. And a third would require the director of the Department of Finance, with the assistance of the Department of Planning director, to provide notice to appropriate real property owners of the uses being phased out and other relevant information….
read … Key amendments proposed for vacation rental phase-out bill ahead of Council committee hearing : Maui Now
Lahaina Front Street building manager fights looters again and again
MN: … the extensive overhaul is nearly complete. On June 16, Cherry’s neighbors will be able to return to one of the few residential buildings on Front Street that did not burn to the ground.
“One of the hardest things, too, is that (my wife) and I have been unsettled for almost two years,” Cherry told the Hawai‘i Journalism Initiative. “Our apartment still hasn’t been finished. … It’s been a stressful time. But at the same token, I’ve met a lot of great people, and what I’ve accomplished here is what I’ve been wanting to do.”
The 42-unit building opens at a pivotal time, as the Maui County Council prepares to decide on Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposal to ban more than 7,000 short-term rentals for certain condominiums in apartment districts, including Lahaina Roads. Only seven of the units are owned by permanent residents. The rest are part-time residents or owners who operate their units as vacation rentals.
“Whether or not that’s going to happen or not, that’s still down the road,” Cherry said. “But the main thing is … they just want the people to be able to have access to their homes again.”
Lahaina Roads was built in 1969, according to property tax records, and is located at the Wahikuli end of Front Street near the old Chart House restaurant. It includes 33 one-bedroom units, six two-bedroom units and three two-bedroom penthouses, Cherry said. …
as wind whipped debris across the property and the fire drew closer, Cherry was rushing through the apartment building knocking on doors and begging people to evacuate. Nearly everyone fled to safety, with the exception of two elderly couples who refused to leave.
“It’s already black, dark, I’m talking to him through smoke and embers and I’m telling him, ‘you got to go. We got to go,’” Cherry recalled.
Unable to convince the couples to get out of the building, Cherry and his wife evacuated just as the fire reached one of the houses separating them from the highway.
Cherry and his wife returned the next morning to find the building still standing and the two couples miraculously still alive. The fire had rushed right through the open living room windows of Cherry and his wife’s apartment, and while it didn’t burn anything, it left the entire unit covered in blackened soot.
“Basically, we lost everything inside,” he said.
For nearly three weeks, they looked after the two other couples and monitored the property. They used pool water to flush the toilets, solar panels to charge their phones, and removed parts from the barbecue grills so they could cook. One couple finally left on day 12, and the other on day 16. During their stay, Cherry said he chased looters away four times.
After the other couples agreed to leave the burn zone, Cherry and his wife moved to a nearby hotel room. They checked on their apartment when they could. On Thanksgiving morning, they returned to find the door wide open and some of their belongings looted — “anything and everything they can carry.” They spent the holiday eating Ritz crackers and peanut butter, staying there for the next eight or nine days out of fear the looters would return.
Eventually the building’s insurance company arranged for the stairwells to be boarded up and locked and a fence was placed around the entire complex. …
Repairing the building was the next biggest challenge. Rebar expanding from the heat had split the concrete in places. A rental car that caught fire in the garage damaged the electrical and plumbing systems. Loads of debris had blown onto the property.
Cherry said his relationships with contractors that went back to his time at Napili Point came in handy. They fixed the concrete, which constituted the majority of the work, repainted the once-pink building in white, and repaired the damaged electrical system. County officials helped restore water to the building in the months after the fire, but the pressure varied depending on work taking place in the area.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for each and every contractor that came on-site because they worked their butts off for us,” Cherry said. “They just nonstop, every day, kept after it.”
He and his wife moved back to their unit in June 2024…
To Cherry’s knowledge, no one has sold their unit since the fire. He said he thinks the county’s decision on the short-term rental bill will likely determine for some owners whether they keep or sell their units….
read … Residential building that survived Lahaina fire on Front Street set to reopen later this month
Blackmail: Dela Cruz, Kim Threaten UH Cancer Center (again)
SA: … The UH Cancer Center is not just a building — it is a lifeline. It is one of only 73 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers in the nation, and the only one in the Pacific. This makes it one of the top 4% of cancer centers in the United States. Even more importantly, it is the only one with a deep and unwavering focus on the unique cancer disparities faced by Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. The center exists to serve all of us.
During the last legislative session, a bill was introduced in the Senate but was deferred because UH President Wendy Hensel agreed to review the current operational and financial status of the UH’s Kakaako campus. In this context, discussions have arisen about an administrative restructuring of the UH Cancer Center, including a potential “merger” with the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). While details of this “merger” remain unclear, one thing is crystal clear: preserving the UH Cancer Center’s autonomy and independence is essential to its continued success.
Its independence is not just symbolic — it is fundamental. Maintaining autonomy is a key requirement for the center’s NCI designation, which brings millions of federal research dollars, access to clinical trials, and opportunities for innovative treatments to Hawaii. Autonomy is what allows the center to meet rigorous national standards for governance, scientific leadership and community-focused research. Without that independence, its ability to serve the people of Hawaii could be seriously compromised.
Our support is deeply rooted in personal experience and lived stories from our community….
REALITY: VIDEO: $4000 Dela Cruz Campaign Contribution buys Shouting Match in Hilo
REALITY: The Secret History of the Mercado Kim Crime Family
read … Column: Hawaii needs world-class, independent cancer center | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
New jail: Green says he will not knuckle under to ACLU
HNN: … Demonstrators claim of Hawaii’s jail population, 40% are homeless, 30% are native Hawaiian, and 60% are there because they can’t afford to post bail to get out.
“We are not bad people, but we are caught up in bad systems,” one advocate said.
In a statement to HNN, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said about 7% of OCCC inmates identified as homeless, while roughly 64% did not enter an address, which does not equate to homelessness.
DCR also said conditions are “substandard and deplorable” and a new facility will have a “humane, culturally sensitive and effective rehabilitative model.”
Demonstrators called on Green to instead use funds on bail reform, supportive housing, and community-based care for mental health and substance addiction issues.
They say the state can’t invest in a historic expansion of community-based treatment and build a new facility at the same time.
But Green said his administration is already doing restorative justice.
“That’s what I’m all about, which is rehabilitating people who are living on the streets, making sure our homeless population that are wrestling with addiction don’t get arrested and incarcerated,” Green said.
He added that a new jail ensures the safety of inmates, guards, and the public.
“When somebody commits a terrible act of violence, I’m going to make sure that we honor what the judges decide and juries decide and incarcerate those people because we see people get harmed. There are some people that have to be incarcerated. And there are a lot of people that have to be helped and heal. It’s my job to strike that balance and so I will not buckle to pressure when you know when other people’s safety is on the line,” Green said.
Green added he’s also considering acquiring the federal detention center, which will increase the state’s jail capacity….
(CLUE: FDC is not for sale. If the State bought FDC, it would be destroyed because UPW would be in charge of it. The best option is to continue leasing unused cells at FDC overseen by federal guards.)
ASD: Prison reform coalition urges Gov. Green to halt OCCC "superjail"
read … Civil rights advocates urge governor to stop building new $1B jail
DAGS now part of project to repair Hawaiʻi Convention Center's leaky roof
HPR: … Gov. Josh Green just signed a bill into law that stands to change the way we manage tourism in this town.
Senate Bill 1571 makes the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority Board of Directors an advisory board again, no longer a policy-making board, following criticism about governance and oversight.
One issue high on the priority list is the contract for the Hawaiʻi Convention Center repairs.
Keith Regan, the state comptroller at the Department of Accounting and General Services, has been tasked with taking over the project of fixing the flagship venue's leaky roof.
Regan may be well-positioned to do that, given that he previously served at the HTA before taking on the job as director at DAGS. He said the deadline for bids may have to be extended past June 20….
HNN: Spotlight Now: Gov. Green and state comptroller Keith Regan
read … DAGS now part of project to repair Hawaiʻi Convention Center's leaky roof | Hawai'i Public Radio
Capitol, Convention Center, Stadium Are All Great Landfill Sites
CB: … According to the state comptroller, “The internal guts of the building, the mechanical and the electrical systems, are beyond their life and need to be replaced so that we prevent any sort of potential major building failure and shut down.”
Hundreds of millions of dollars. So what? Our one-of-a-kind State Capitol is too important to give up on. But solve both problems. Make it dual-purpose for government and trash.
The Capitol borders Iolani Palace, but that’s no problem. Show me a rule that says a landfill can’t be built next to a palace.
A Capitol landfill would be a perfect tribute to the help the legislators have been in solving this landfill location issue. Last session, the legislators set out to make the problem harder to solve. And they succeeded. Auwē! they proclaimed. No site over an aquifer because the garbage might leak.
The Capitol is already full of experienced seepage managers who can help. For years its entrance pools leaked. For years the state tried to fix them but failed. The problem was never solved. The water disappeared because the pools disappeared. No more leaks because no more water.
Instead, the pools were covered with glass tiles. Was this unfixed, now-dolled-up space a sign of a failure?
Not so! As State Comptroller Keith Regan announced, the waterless was now “an incredible piece of artwork” and “part of the new transformative process at the Capitol.”
Calling a failure a transformation — that’s the kind of positive thinking we need for the landfill search….
read … Neal Milner: Capitol, Convention Center, Stadium Are All Great Landfill Sites
HSTA Member Guilty of Child Molestation
HTH: … According to court documents, Franks on Nov. 9, 2021, and Feb. 10 and Feb. 14, 2022, engaged in “sexual penetration” with a minor girl born in 2009.
DeWeese on Thursday issued her findings of facts and conclusions of law.
Franks is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 18. He faces a possible 20-year prison term for each charge….
Franks most recently worked as a student services coordinator at Konawaena Middle School. He was first employed with the department in 2008 as a special education teacher.
According to the state Department of Education, the offenses didn’t occur on a public school campus.
DOE spokesman Derek Inoshita told West Hawaii Today in October 2023 that Franks was no longer a DOE employee, having left the department in January 2023.
Inoshita could not comment on why Franks left the department due to employee privacy laws….
read … Former Kona teacher guilty of sexually assaulting minor - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
New Hawaii law aims to better protect children from torture
HNN: … Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 281 last week into law, clearly defining torture and designating it as Class A felony, the most serious type of felony.
The measure was supported by child welfare advocates to better protect children and other vulnerable people subject to torture by their parents or guardians.
The Honolulu prosecutor’s office had asked for the measure, with four active high-profile cases involving the alleged torture and death of children, including 6-year-old Ariel Kalua and 10-year-old Geanna Bradley….
“Across the state, prosecutors have seen heinous crimes involving children who suffered acts of torture committed against them by their parents or those who have a duty to protect them,” said prosecuting attorney Steve Alm.
“The laws that we had to fight these crimes did not adequately address the criminal conduct exhibited in these cases,” Alm said.
Those convicted now face a maximum 20-year prison term….
read … New Hawaii law aims to better protect children from torture
Oahu jail on lockdown as officers search for contraband
HNN: … The Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) said the search at Oahu Community Correctional Center was necessary to “root out contraband and illegal activities.”
DCR said the search involves over 60 adult corrections officers from all Oahu facilities.
The lockdown will be lifted after the entire facility is searched, officials said.
(CLUE: If this is real, they will need a 20’ container.)
read … Oahu jail on lockdown as officers search for contraband
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