HTA Board Positions Open
VIDEO: HFD Chief Hao on the Māʻili wildfire
42 More Homeless Beds Available in Iwilei
SHOPO Bags Three Chiefs—Swing and a miss on Maui
KITV: … Nicholas Schlapak, with SHOPO said, "I think in the case of Kauai, an incoming chief should be aware of the fact that they do have a very good department. They're full of a lot of good officers and investigators that should have a say in input of what's going on there and you can't just take a thumbprint from the mainland….
(TRANSLATION: We engineered this situation to get rid of outsider chiefs. We are still working on Maui.)
March, 2025: Crackpot Lawsuit is all it takes--Maui Mayor and SHOPO make Complete Fools of Themselves Trying to get rid of Chief Pelletier
Big Q: Should Hawaii Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz been allowed to withdraw his resignation? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
KITV: Hawaii police chief changes raise safety concerns across islands - YouTube (A bunch of talking heads all pretending SHOPO didn’t engineer the triple ouster.)
KHON: How Hawaiʻi's counties choose their Police Chiefs
Read … Hawaii deals with unchartered territory with 3 police chief vacancies this year
Hawai‘i County Police Commission to discuss appointment of interim chief at next meeting
BIN: … At its next meeting on July 18 in Kona, the Hawaiʻi County Police Commission will discuss the selection of an interim police chief to take over for Ben Moszkowicz, whose last day as chief is Aug. 31.
The commission also will discuss the next steps to hiring a new chief.
On Thursday, the eight-member commission, with one vacancy, voted 4-4 not to accept the Moskowiczʻ retraction of his June 4 resignation. Moskowicz needed one more vote in his favor to keep his job that he has had since January of 2023….
Read … Hawai‘i County Police Commission to discuss appointment of interim chief at next meeting : Big Island Now
Could this Hawaii community be the next Lahaina? Some residents fear a similar wildfire fate
SN: … When there's enough rain, the mountain-framed expanse of vacant land behind Calvin Endo's house looks like the lush and verdant landscape that makes tropical Hawaii famous. But in the summer, when the jungle of eyeball-high invasive grasses and spindly tree branches fade to brown, he fears it could become a fiery hellscape.
This isn't Maui, where most of Lahaina burned down during a massive wildfire in August 2023. Endo’s duplex is in Waianae on the west side of Oahu.
But Waianae and Lahaina have a lot in common. They're both situated on parched western island coasts, with road access pinched by topography, and are bastions of Native Hawaiian culture. Both have sections crisscrossed by overhead power lines atop aging wooden poles, like those that fell in high winds and caused the Lahaina fire.
There's even a Lahaina Street through the heart of Makaha, Endo's neighborhood along the Waianae coast.
“It can happen to us,” said Endo, who moved to the Makaha Meadows subdivision in 1980, soon after it was built. “We can have a repeat of Lahaina if somebody doesn’t do anything about the brush in the back.”
In recent days, two wildfires a few miles away, including a July 6 blaze that left a 94-year-old woman dead, proved his worst fears could become reality….
Read … Could this Hawaii community be the next Lahaina? Some residents fear a similar wildfire fate
To Clear Out Zombies, City Council considers ‘Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District’
SA: … A revamped taxing entity involving downtown Honolulu property owners hoping to (push out drug addicted homeless criminals) increase public safety, improve local infrastructure and promote economic revitalization in an area that’s been hard hit in recent years is now being floated as a new City Council measure.
Introduced as Bill 51, the proposal would update and rename the existing Fort Street Mall Special Improvement District to the Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District.
That action would expand the new district’s boundaries to include an area bounded by Nuuanu Avenue, South Beretania Street, Richards Street, and Nimitz Highway, the bill indicates. And it also would include an adjacent commercial block bounded by Queen, Mililani, Halekauwila and Richards streets….
Read … City Council considers ‘Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District’ | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Maui Council advances bills for agricultural tourism and food trucks in ag districts
MN: … The Maui County Council moved forward two bills this week aimed at bolstering island agriculture, but one — Bill 75, which seeks to establish agricultural tourism — sparked a debate over safeguarding indigenous Hawaiian cultural practices from commercial exploitation.
In a less contentious move, Bill 76 received unanimous final Council approval to allow food trucks or trailers of 1,000 square feet or less as permitted accessory uses on farms in Maui County’s agricultural district. It now heads to Mayor Richard Bissen for his signature, veto, or to become law without his signature.
Also passed on second reading was Bill 104, which would permit kitchenettes (with long-term occupancy and added parking) and restrict wet bars in residential/rural zones on Maui and Lānaʻi, along with conforming definition updates.
For more than an hour, council members discussed Bill 75, a measure to establish agricultural tourism as an accessory use in the agricultural district. Ultimately, it passed first reading with an 8-1 vote. Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez cast the dissenting vote. With amendments, the bill now advances to second reading at a future Council meeting, where it will face a final vote….
GRIH: Maui Bill 76: Restore Farmers' Food Truck Rights
MN: Food trucks, trailers approved in Maui agricultural district | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News
Read … Maui Council advances bills for agricultural tourism and food trucks in ag districts
Hawaii homeowners face hurricane insurance challenges
PBN: … Hawaii homeowners face a shifting insurance landscape, as some carriers implement restrictions on hurricane coverage and proximity to shorelines ….
Read … Hawaii homeowners face hurricane insurance challenges - Pacific Business News
Honolulu regulators decide not to issue any violations for railing collapse at Moana Surfrider
KITV: … Honolulu regulators have decided to not issue any violations to the owners of the Moana Surfrider hotel in Waikiki after railings from one of its rooms collapsed to the beach below.
The railing collapsed in late Jan. 2024 and amazingly did not land on anyone, falling right in between the beach chairs.
The debris only caused some minor injuries.
The city's Department of Planning and Permitting told Island News that it authorized emergency repair work on the railings while it processed a building permit application for the work….
Read … Honolulu regulators decide not to issue any violations for railing collapse at Moana Surfrider | Business | kitv.com
Jury selection to begin in civil trial over fatal police shooting in Nuuanu
SA: … Jury selection begins Monday in a civil trial against the city and Honolulu police officers for the death of Lindani Myeni, an unarmed Black man shot and killed by police in a Nuuanu neighborhood.
The Honolulu City Council rejected a proposed $1.5 million settlement of the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Myeni’s widow, resulting instead in a trial.
Myeni’s widow, L. Lindsay Myeni, and mother of their two young children, filed a complaint April 2021 against the city, unnamed officers of the Honolulu Police Department and unnamed defendants who may have contributed to or are responsible for the fatal injuries her husband received.
Officers shot the 29-year-old former South African professional rugby player four times the night of April 14, 2021, at or near 91 Coelho Way, a vacation rental property adjacent to, and shares grounds with, the ISKCON Temple, with similar driveways and hedges….
Read … Jury selection to begin in civil trial over fatal police shooting in Nuuanu
Hawaii wannabe Trumpshooter Ryan Routh offers himself for prisoner swap with US adversaries in letter shared by judge
WE: … Ryan Routh, the second alleged would-be assassin of President Donald Trump, told the Florida judge presiding over his case on Friday that he wants to offer himself to Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea as part of a prisoner exchange with one of the foreign adversaries.
Routh’s offer was shared in a letter he addressed to United States District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee….
Read … Ryan Routh offers himself for prisoner swap with US adversaries in letter shared by judge
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