Fed Wreck Back Again?
Hold on to Your Wallet: HDOT releases transportation GHG plan
Milk Recall: Nine Children Sickened at Just One Elementary School
Falls of Clyde removed from Honolulu Harbor
Hawaii Joins Democrat States' Tech Anti-Trust Lawsuit
Defensive Gun Use Proves Armed Citizens Aren’t ‘Vampires’
Bill 60: Authorize Skyline to double in size--expand to Waikiki, Manoa, West Kapolei
KHON: … Lori Kahikina, CEO and executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit, hopes to expand the project further through Bill 60.
The completed Skyline could include routes to West Kapolei, UH Manoa and Waikiki, shared Kahikina.
“If Bill 60 does pass it grants HART the authority to continue to extend the minimal operable segment, which is right now East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, and hopefully, the full locally preferred alternative, which is West Kapolei to University of Hawaii with a spur to Waikiki,” Kahikina said….
(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Haven’t you had enough of rail?)
read … HART director: Skyline could expand to Waikiki, West Kapolei
Oahu Transit Services: Contract talks continue with TheBus drivers
SA: … Negotiations between the two sides resumed this afternoon until about 6:30 p.m.
“Today, each side presented their proposals and there was robust, respectful discussion that led to a few tentative agreements on specific sections of the contract,” Yu said. “We both agreed to review each other’s proposals and resume our discussions next week.”
Yu said both sides have the same goal.
“We all recognize TheBus is essential for thousands of Oahu residents,” he said. “Riders rely on TheBus to get to work, school, and healthcare appointments. To help reach an agreement, this past Monday, OTS proposed to the union that an independent, third-party mediator help to facilitate our negotiations.
“OTS remains strongly committed to an expeditious resolution. “We hope we can continue to make progress in our upcoming collective bargaining meetings scheduled from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1.” ….
read … Oahu Transit Services: Contract talks continue with TheBus drivers | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
OHA Trustees Kill Proposed Pay Raise For CEO On Paid Leave
CB: … The trustees voted unanimously against giving Stacy Ferreira a 35% pay raise, saying the proposal was premature and flawed….
read … OHA Trustees Kill Proposed Pay Raise For CEO On Paid Leave - Honolulu Civil Beat
Dela Cruz Pork Kitchen: Hawaiʻi DOE Wants Another $30M For A Facility That Hasn’t Been Built
CB: … The Department of Education plans to ask state lawmakers for more than $30 million in additional funding next year to retrofit 19 school kitchens in Central Oʻahu so they can serve meals prepared at a centralized food facility.
The request will raise the tab to at least $85 million for the department’s planned 17,500-square-foot mega-kitchen in Whitmore Village, a food processing operation that is intended to provide a blueprint for similar operations statewide as part of efforts to boost local food production.
The centralized kitchen and the surrounding Central Oʻahu Food and Agricultural Hub are at the fulcrum of what Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, who represents the area and chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, has dubbed the “Nourishing Hawaii’s Future” initiative.
At least one lawmaker, however, is concerned about the ballooning cost of the massive facility, which is slated to be completed in fall 2027.
The education department had justified centralizing operations because it said it would be too expensive to renovate existing kitchens to be able to process locally produced food.
Rep. Amy Perruso is concerned the centralized kitchen is poised to eclipse the cost of renovating the existing kitchens, leaving the state with an inflated bill for what she believes is an ill-conceived project….
read … Hawaiʻi DOE Wants Another $30M For A Facility That Hasn’t Been Built - Honolulu Civil Beat
Maui Planning Commission backs higher Lahaina building limit, parking reform
MN: … The Maui Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend that the Maui County Council approve a bill that would increase the maximum allowable building heights for new construction in the post-disaster Lahaina National Historic Landmark District from 30 to 35 feet.
The measure, proposed by the Department of Planning, aims to provide greater flexibility in the rebuilding of fire-devastated Lahaina. The old 30-foot limit has complicated plans for projects such as the state-sponsored, 200-unit Front Street Apartments, a workforce housing effort designed at 32 feet tall. Adhering to the stricter cap would sacrifice housing density and opportunities for local families, according to the Planning Department….
read … Maui Planning Commission backs higher Lahaina building limit, parking reform : Maui Now
Hawaiʻi expands protections for midwives after court challenge; Maui midwife returns to practice
MN: … This year, House Bill 1194 significantly reformed the regulation of midwifery in Hawaiʻi, primarily by making the licensing framework permanent while removing criminal penalties and protecting Native Hawaiian traditional practices. The measure formally regulates the profession of midwifery for public safety while ensuring access to care and respecting cultural traditions.
The new law explicitly clarifies that the practice of midwifery by unlicensed individuals is not subject to any criminal penalty. Violations of licensure requirements are now civil offenses punishable by fines, removing the threat of imprisonment.
The act explicitly affirms that the “practice of midwifery” does not include Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices as protected under the state constitution. This provides a legal exemption for traditional practitioners….
Kiʻinaniokalani Kahoʻohanohano, who served her Maui community as a traditional midwife for 20 years before rstate laws forced her to stop, can now return to her practice without fear of prison time.
The State of Hawaiʻi has agreed to end a legal challenge, which midwife advocates are hailing as a significant victory that protects Native Hawaiian midwives and reverses laws that threatened traditional birthing practices and severely limited access to skilled midwifery care across the islands….
SA: State agrees to let midwives practice without penalties | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Hawaiʻi expands protections for midwives after court challenge; Maui midwife returns to practice : Maui Now
Robot Cops: Honolulu police looking into using AI in body worn cameras
KHON: … “No suspect, right, something that happened overnight, 50% of officers’ cases that they respond to are those types of cases, so it takes up a lot of time. An officer takes that report, they sit on the side of the road and literally they’re typing that report, it could take 30-40 minutes to write that report,” he said….
CB: Honolulu Police Could Start Using AI To Write Reports - Honolulu Civil Beat
Survivors of gay-on-gay domestic violence face unique obstacles
SA: … October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, when we shine a light on this complex issue. Sadly, studies show that LGBTQIA+ people experience intimate partner violence at similar or sometimes higher rates than heterosexual people. The 2020 ALOHA Study (Assessing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Violence in Hawaii), the first to provide a detailed assessment of intimate partner violence among Hawaii’s LGBTQ community, found that respondents were five and 10 times more likely, respectively, to report physical and sexual intimate partner violence than Hawaii’s general population….
read … Column: LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence face unique obstacles | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Honolulu police looking into using AI in body worn cameras
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