Putting a human face on Hawaii's doctor shortage
Ethics: How Maile Shimabukuro Illegally Campaigns at Nanakuli School Parade
Drunk With Power: Rep. Har Refuses Debate 'in the tavern or bar of her choice'
Love-Hate Relationship with P3
Ige: No Housing in My Plan for new Aloha Stadium
SA Column: … the $350 million of general obligation bond funds to plan, design and construct a new stadium in Halawa allows us to build the stadium as quickly and simply as possible. A straightforward design/build approach will be far simpler than negotiating a public- private partnership to design/build/finance/maintain for the entertainment district, a move that would still require the state to provide potentially tens of millions of dollars in availability payments or subsidies to the developers for many years.
We are not starting from scratch. We will build the best possible stadium for $350 million at the current stadium location to minimize infrastructure costs. We will build on the environmental and planning work already completed. Last month I accepted the final environmental impact statement for the project, which contains the necessary analysis of options and identification of mitigation measures to move the new stadium forward.
I have not given up on the larger vision of providing new housing and other activities on the site, but we must live within our means and within the current constraints of the site….
SA Editorial: Stadium mired in leadership chaos
read … New conditions called for new Aloha Stadium direction
Hulu Lindsey: OHA Wants Residential Development of Kakaako Makai
SA Column: … we are currently revisiting the restriction on residential development of the Kakaako Makai parcels of land. While no decision has been made regarding residential development, the restriction on what OHA is permitted to build is glaring when across the street, other developers have been allowed to build properties that yield the kind of profits that would go a long way towards OHA being able to meet the needs of our beneficiaries….
read … OHA takes stock of Kakaako Makai
Shortened rail route means more buses needed for Kakaako station
SA: … The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation estimates 80% of passengers arriving by rail would continue east by bus during the morning peak period….
(Simple Solution: Split it up. Have some bus lines depart E on Ala Moana from Chinatown station.)
read … Shortened rail route means more buses needed for Kakaako station
Water board investigating how to clean Red Hill tanks pollution
SA: … the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has launched a study to determine whether it will be feasible to treat water tainted by various petroleum chemicals and turn it into something clean and safe to drink.
Treating such contaminants promises to be a complicated process that will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars and might yet prove too costly to undertake, according to BWS officials….
“It’s so incredibly critical that we take this on,” Board member Na‘alehu $$$ Anthony said at a recent BWS meeting….
BWS, environmental groups commemorate anniversary of reported Red Hill fuel leak
Dozens reflect on Red Hill fuel leak, call for action
Environmental groups gather on anniversary of Red Hill fuel spill
read … Water board investigating how to clean Red Hill tanks pollution
Slow-Walking Lunatic Asylum--23 Empty Beds
SA: … State health officials say that a staffing shortage at the Hawaii State Hospital is preventing the opening of the last of six units at its new 144-bed psychiatric facility, which was completed last year, leaving 16% of beds empty.
The staffing problem is the latest snag for the $160 million facility in Kaneohe, which was built to provide better security and ease overcrowding. In prior months, health officials said delays in completing new policies and procedures and design flaws discovered after the building was turned over to the Department of Health in April 2021 had delayed the transfer of patients. By the beginning of this year, the DOH had hoped to have all the units full by May, when it planned to transfer the patients with the highest security needs into two units on the first floor.
The DOH would not say which unit remains unoccupied or whether it is for patients requiring enhanced security….
Hawaii island resident Lynne Farr said she’s worried the State Hospital might not be housing its most violent patients in the new building. Her husband, Shingo Honda, an acclaimed artist, was murdered in 2019 and the perpetrator, Michael Cecil Lee, was sent to the hospital after being acquitted by reason of insanity. Lee admitted to kicking and hitting Honda, 75, until he stopped breathing, according to news reports. Farr said her husband was killed after bringing Lee coffee and an umbrella during a heavy downpour.
Farr said that she had inquired as to whether Lee had been relocated to the new building, but was told that patient privacy laws prevented the state from disclosing that information.
“The new facility is much improved for security. I would like to know what security he is in,” said Farr. “There are other murderers in there that are just as crazy as he is.”…
The new facility was built in large part to improve safety. There had been hundreds of incidents of patients assaulting staff or other patients over the years. A 2014 state Senate report warned that the ongoing assaults could eventually result in a death if safety problems weren’t addressed.
read… Staffing shortage cited as latest delay in fully opening Hawaii’s new psychiatric hospital
Homeless Dude Flies in from Oregon, Gets Free Flight Back Out
HTH: … A 70-year-old homeless man has been reunited with his family on the mainland thanks to the efforts of an advocate and Hawaii Police Department community policing officers.
The man, Rex, boarded an American Airlines flight from Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole on Oct. 3 to make his way to Oregon, said Regina Weller, executive director of the nonprofit 808 Homeless Task Force….
“Rex came here in January 2022. He lived in a small town, an artist’s colony in Oregon for many years, 50 miles outside of Eugene, Oregon,” said Weller….
read … Going home: Advocate, police help homeless man, 70, reunite with family
Housing buyout program enables victims of 2018 Kilauea eruption to get on with their lives
HTH: .. “We’re very proud that we’ll likely have more than 100 closings by the end of the year,” Myers wrote. By the end of September, there were 290 active applications from primary homeowners, 189 from secondary homeowners, and 137 from owners of undeveloped parcels….
read … Housing buyout program enables victims of 2018 Kilauea eruption to get on with their lives
Election News:
QUICK HITS: