July 28, 2022 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, July 28, 2022

July 28, 2022 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:33 PM :: 1829 Views

VIDEO: Cayetano, Kahele Hold Joint Press Conference to Question Green Finances

Branco Illegally Coordinating with Dark Money Groups?

HNN: … A candidate for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District is being accused of using a new tactic to attract so-called “dark money” advertising by mainland Political Action Committees.

It’s illegal for candidates to directly collaborate with independent PACs, but experts and his opponent say Patrick Branco is openly soliciting for mainland advertising and dictating what the ads should say.

The campaign website for Branco includes a page for media, which experts say lays out exactly how mainland political groups should help in his race.

The approach appears to be the product of an emerging campaign tactic known as Red Boxing….

read … Hawaii congressional candidate accused of using ‘shameless’ tactic to woo dark money ads

After All the Hype, only 50% of DoE Students Apply for College Aid

CB: … Before Covid-19, the state Department of Education set an ambitious goal of getting 90% of Hawaii’s high school seniors to fill out the FAFSA in 2020.

This year, roughly half of seniors in public schools filled out the form, almost exactly the same as last year. Having rates stay the same or go up a little actually represents a big success, given the challenges of reaching families in the last year, said Cobb-Adams, who helps lead weekly virtual workshops on the FAFSA for students and families across the state.

“The challenges to FAFSA completion, the challenges to student engagement, to getting parents in the same place as their student, have been astronomical this year,” Cobb-Adams said.

Students cannot fill out the FAFSA without assistance from their parents or guardians, who have to provide financial information and sign the form.

Before the pandemic, the Pacific Financial Aid Association sponsored a statewide FAFSA day when some school sites would host hundreds of families in a single day. Hawaii P-20 also made regular visits to high school cafeterias to encourage students to fill out the application and provide in-person help.

Most of that work has been virtual for the last two years, and families have not responded to online outreach at the same rates, Cobb-Adams said. Hawaii P-20 only reached 361 families with virtual workshops in the last year, despite offering them twice a week between October and May.

The virtual workshops have been a boon for some schools on neighbor islands, including Baldwin High School on Maui. Completion rates at Baldwin jumped 11% this year, a change that the school’s college counselor says was spurred in part by the increased virtual offerings.….

read … Hawaii Schools Are Struggling To Get Seniors To Apply For College Financial Aid

Rolling Blackouts Coming in September: Hawaiʻi’s only coal-fired power plant receives final shipment of coal

HPR: … Hawaiʻi’s only coal-fired power plant received its final shipment of coal on Wednesday. “The Flying Tiger” cargo ship arrived at port in Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor around noon.

A Hawaiʻi State Energy Office spokesperson said the ship was carrying what will be the last delivery of coal for the AES Hawaiʻi power plant, the largest single source of electricity on Oʻahu.

It’s set to end operations in September after three decades of use.

The state plans to replace the plant’s power generation with 100% renewable energy, but supply chain issues and other delays have hindered progress.

(TRANSLATION: Rolling blackouts coming.)

Gov. David Ige told HPR that the final coal shipment represents “a huge step forward in Hawaiʻi’s transition to clean energy.”

“Renewable energy projects to replace coal are coming online with more on the way. Even as we face challenges in making this transition, it’s the right move for our communities and our planet," he said in a statement….

(TRANSLATION: I know rolling blackouts are coming and I am OK with that.)

SA: Oahu coal power plant nears shutdown

read … Hawaiʻi’s only coal-fired power plant receives final shipment of coal

City appeals decision it must pay attorney fees of convicted police chief

ILind: … The Hawaii Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the Honolulu Police Commission’s decision that it was legally obligated to pay attorneys fees for former Police Chief Louis Kealoha’s after he was charged for his role framing his wife’s uncle on bogus charges of stealing the chief’s mailbox, and lying as part of the subsequent coverup.

The police commission, following a contested case hearing, granted Kealoha’s request for attorneys fees in the mailbox case, but denied a second request stemming from additional financial fraud charges involving only the chief and his wife.

By this time, the federal trial was already underway, and the city appealed the commission ruling. The circuit court upheld the commission’s decision, and the city appealed again, this time to the Intermediate Court of Appeals, which again upheld the commission’s decision.

The city appealed once again, this time to the Supreme Court. The Police Commission responded, urging the court to deny the city’s petition. But on Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case….

read … City appeals decision it must pay attorney fees of convicted police chief

Kaua‘i Police Department Deputy Chief Olsen forced out by SHOPO

TGI: … Kaua‘i Police Department Deputy Chief Stan Olsen announced last week that he would be resigning from the Kaua‘i Police Department effective Aug. 26, citing personal reasons….

(Translation: He’s an outsider and SHOPO drove him back out.)

SHOPO President Bobby Cavaco filed two complaints related to the situation with the Kaua‘i Police Commission — one aimed at Olsen and the other alleging that Raybuck displayed favoritism and preferential treatment towards Olsen in the matter.

Cavaco said Tuesday that he plans to continue pursuing the complaints following Olsen’s resignation.

“The chief, and Deputy Chief Olsen as well, still need to be held responsible for the handling of that whole situation,” said Cavaco.

(Translation: SHOPO is going to drive the Chief out next.)

read … Kaua‘i Police Department Deputy Chief Olsen resigns amid union criticism

DHHL official: New funding could result in 3,000 to 6,000 homesteads

HTH: … Between 3,000 and 6,000 new homestead lots could be developed with $600 million allocated to the Department of Hawaii Home Lands this year.

During a livestreamed interview Wednesday, DHHL Deputy Chair Tyler Iokepa Gomes said there are still some open questions about how specifically the $600 million — the single largest allocation of funding in the department’s history — will be spent….

Those questions, Gomes said, will be answered in a strategic plan to be published in December. However, he added that the department has determined that the “vast majority” of the funds should be used to produce single-family homesteads, which he said 76% of the 28,700 Native Hawaiians on the DHHL’s waitlist want.

Gomes said a small portion of the funds also would be used for onetime payments to DHHL beneficiaries who don’t want a DHHL-provided homestead, “or other creative ideas,” depending on what beneficiaries want.

read … DHHL official: New funding could result in up to 6K homesteads

6% of Job Applicants are Dopers

SA: … About 1 in 30 people tested positive for THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, during the first half of this year, according to data released earlier this month by Diagnostic Laboratory Services. During that same period, detection of synthetic urine jumped by nearly a quarter to 1.6% of samples….

During the first half of this year, 1 in 100 people tested positive for amphetamine; 1 in 330 people tested positive for cocaine; and 1 in 1,000 tested positive for opiates. DLS’ quarterly sample size typically includes 7,000 to 10,000 drug tests….

read … Use of fake urine on the rise in Hawaii workplace drug testing

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