So Many Pools, So Little Truth: Inside Maui’s Water Crisis Theater
Fraud and Misrepresentation: IDG Geothermal Schemers Get Cold Reception from Hawaii County Council
Maui lawmakers give green light to food trucks and kitchenettes
Green Issues Emergency Proclamation for Wildfire Season
Student Jones Act Essay Contest
Maui County Clears Out Homeless Meth Addicts (again)
Need $600K? Maui County Launches New Federally Funded Fire Recovery Program
Hawaiʻi State Workers Must Answer for Taking Girl from Her Mother
CB: … State workers are not immune from liability in a civil lawsuit that alleges they staged a “grab and go” operation to transfer a girl from her mother on the Big Island to a biological father she barely knew on Kauaʻi, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
The state argued that the Department of Human Services workers had no reason to believe that their actions were unconstitutional and so should be protected by the principle of “qualified immunity.” That’s the idea that public officials cannot be held liable for official actions unless they violate clearly established rights that they ought to have known about…
The 9th Circuit did not rule on the merits of the case. The unpublished opinion just found that, depending on the facts introduced at trial, a fact-finder could conclude that the girl “was not in imminent danger of serious bodily injury” when the state took her without a court order.
The circuit court affirmed an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright, and the case will now return to Seabright’s court.
“The incident was not a basis for removing the child,” said Eric Seitz, David’s attorney. “They could have gone to a judge.”…
It’s unknown whether CWS continues to remove most children with court orders. A law enacted in 2024, which went into effect July 1 of this year, requires CWS to seek a judge’s approval unless the removal is necessary to protect the child from serious harm likely to occur before it can get a court order.
Marilyn Yamamoto, a longtime advocate for parental rights in Hawaiʻi, said she was mostly pleased with the new law but is skeptical that CWS will follow it.
“It could be a long time before we find out if they’re cheating,” she said….
2022: Federal Court Ruling Outlines Hawaii CWS Kidnapping, Conspiracy
Read … Hawaiʻi State Workers Must Answer For Taking Girl From Her Mother - Honolulu Civil Beat
Trial run for rail’s airport extension delayed, HART says
SA: … Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s plan to begin trial operations for Skyline’s airport extension this month has been delayed, HART officials say.
Segment 2 — built to run from the old Aloha Stadium in Halawa, past the airport, to the Middle Street Transit Center in Kalihi — is scheduled to open for public ridership by Oct. 1.
But HART Project Director Vance Tsuda on Friday told the board of directors’ Project Oversight Committee a setback arose due to the lack of necessary documentation for Hitachi Rail Honolulu JV’s testing protocols involving driverless trains and their need to safely move along the newest stretch of the more than $10 billion rail line.
Trial operations were to be completed by the end of the month, he said.
“That was supposed to start July 7,” he explained. “Because the documentation and safety certification isn’t complete for the (communications) subsystem, that has been delayed.”
He said, “Hitachi continues to submit documentation; there’s roughly 22 documents that need to be completed before we can start trial operations.”
Still, he claimed trial operations may start as soon as next week.
“It has not impacted the end date as of yet,” Tsuda said…
Read … Trial run for rail’s airport extension delayed, HART says | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Another Phony ‘Water Scarcity’ Story
PBN: … Hawaii Island leaders discuss the top business issues in West Hawaii and most issues circle back to the lack of affordable housing, a shortage exacerbated by a limited amount of fresh groundwater….
(CLUE: There is no shortage of fresh water anywhere in Hawaii. The mountains are full of untapped aquifers. These stories are designed to make you accept more limitations of the supply of developable land in order to drive prices up, thus benefitting the Ali’i Trusts as they sell land to develop luxury estates and resorts. If you believe there is a water shortage, you are tricking yourself into leaving Hawaii.)
Read … Housing, tourism and jobs top of mind for Hawaii Island leaders - Pacific Business News
Native Hawaiian family moves into first DHHL home on Maui in 17 years
HNN: … The Riley ohana are the first to move into the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ first turnkey residential project on the Valley Isle in 17 years.
Riley has been waiting for this day for 38 years.
Their home in the Puuhona Homestead is one of 137 homes along Honoapiilani Highway in Waikapu.
The average lot is 7,500 square feet.
She said it is a dream come true after Maui’s high cost of living forced her and her husband to relocate to Arizona two and a half years ago.
“In our old age, we just figured the pricing here, we didn’t want to live struggling. We did that already.”
DHHL acquired the 47-acre parcel through a land transfer with the Dowling Company in exchange for affordable housing credits from the County of Maui….
2021: Sweet Deal for Maui Developer--DHHL Affordable Housing Credits
Read … Native Hawaiian family moves into first DHHL home on Maui in 17 years
Hawai‘i County Police Commission appoints Reed Mahuna as interim chief – activists seek leverage against ICE
BIN: … During the Commission’s monthly meeting on Friday, the members voted 6-2 to appoint Mahuna. Commissioners Jacob Tavares and Wendy Botelho opposed the appointment, wanting to solicit letters of interest for the position from within the department….
Mahuna was named Acting Deputy Chief on July 1, 2023, and permanently appointed as Deputy Police Chief on Jan. 16, 2024….
During the Friday police commission meeting at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center in Kona, several testifiers spoke about finding a chief who will cancel agreements with Immigration and Customs and Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations….
HNN: Interim Hawaii Police Department chief named
Read … Hawai‘i County Police Commission appoints Reed Mahuna as interim chief : Big Island Now
Hawaii's speed calming device data shows it works
KHON: … “There was a period in time where the Farrington Highway corridor every month, every week there was a fatality, a terrible accident, and all of these things can be prevented and its not a secret that people using Farrington Highway use it as a race track,” said Rep. Darius Kila (D) House Transportation Chair and also represents Nanakuli and Maili in West Oahu.
State data shows that between 2014 and 2021, there were 34 traffic deaths on Farrington Highway between Nanakuli and Makaha.
Since 2022, there have been nine fatalities in the area, none have been speed-related since 2022.
“This goes to show that these are the physical cues to change people’s behaviors,” Rep. Kila said. “And as I said, Farrington Highway was the proof of concept in Nanakuli to show these things work.”…
Read … Hawaii's speed calming device data shows it works
Trump cuts not enough to wipe out Hawaii Public Broadcasting
SA: … Bill Dorman, vice president and news director for HPR, said it will lose at least $525,000 in CPB funding, a number that could grow.
“We will survive, definitely, but we will also absolutely feel the cuts if these go through,” Dorman told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Meredith Artley, CEO of HPR, wrote in a statement that the station will now have to “pull from reserves” in the budget, launching an emergency “Protect HPR campaign” for two days, on Wednesday and Thursday, seeking donations from the public to help support the station.
“HPR’s total loss could climb over $900,000 in increased programming and infrastructure costs, with other stations struggling to pay their share into an interconnected system,” Artley wrote. “This rescission is an attempt to weaken and destroy local public media across the nation.”
Ron Mizutani, president and CEO of PBS Hawaii, said that it will lose approximately 20% of its budgeted revenue.
“We projected 20% of our annual revenue in FY25 would come from CPB — which comes to us in a grant,” he told the Star-Advertiser in an email.
Mizutani wrote in a statement that the station has been faced with a choice, “to fold up the tent and go home or reaffirm our mission of public service by being a multi-media organization that informs, uplifts, and unites. We choose the latter.” …
HNN: PBS Hawaii, Hawaii Public radio respond to federal funding cut for public broadcasting
Read … Federal cuts leave Hawaii stations scrambling | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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