Sovereignty Activists team up with Chinese Communist Front Group
TWO YEARS LATER: Lahaina Emergency Housing Village finally nears completion
MN: … the off-the-grid, 88-unit temporary village that initially was expected to take six months to build now is approaching the two-year mark.
The delays and increased costs — including a frustrating effort to connect to a permanent water source — have bumped the budget from $14 million to $20 million for the project on a 10-acre property at the corner of Kuihelani Highway and Puʻunēnē Avenue.
(DO THE MATH: $20M/88 units = $272K per unit. $14M/88 units would have been $159K per unit.)
And while the project has taken much longer than anticipated, officials of ʻOhana Hope Village still believe it’s needed, especially with federal emergency housing aid for some survivors set to expire early next year.
The village’s first 44 units were completed in the spring with about 120 people from 33 households now living in them. The only unoccupied unit is used as a model to show prospective families or house volunteers, Kelly said.
Kelly said the remaining 44 units are expected to be completed by the end of August, if needed materials arrive (!). Survivors then would be able to move in by the end of September…
MN: Temporary housing projects grow with many Lahaina wildfire survivors still in need
Read … Better late than never: ‘Ohana Hope Village nears completion 2 years after Maui wildfires : Maui Now
Audit Finds State Has Fallen Short On Driver Ed Programs
CB: … Only about half the state’s public high schools offer the training teens are required to receive before getting a license….
June, 2025: Hawaii Driver Education: 59 Years Without a Plan
Read … Beth Fukumoto: Audit Finds State Has Fallen Short On Driver Ed Programs - Honolulu Civil Beat
Ala Wai Watershed Improvement District has new trick—Hide the Tax Hike
SA: … Howe said contrary to prior versions of the group’s draft bill, which he claimed date back many years, the newly revised measure for a AWW District does not include funding via assessments to property owners, or individual parcel IDs, located within the Ala Wai Watershed.
The prior version had involved a 115-page addendum to the older draft bill, listing what appeared to be thousands of potentially taxable land parcels.
“All of the things that have happened, like the sewer rates going up and everything, has led us to this new revised draft,” Howe said. “So we talked with Protect Our Ala Wai Watersheds (group), and they were really helpful in helping update this bill.”
Those updates “excluded all of the tax,” he added.
(CLUE: They’ll come back for that later.)
Instead, the proposed AWW District may access “local state or city and county grants” to fund and maintain restoration activities, Howe said.
As currently drafted, the AWW District would have its own board of directors — provisionally conceived as having no more than 18 members, including 13 voting and five nonvoting board members….
Read … Nonprofit pushes for new Ala Wai Watershed District | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
TRUMP NEWS:
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:
QUICK HITS: