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Thursday, March 16, 2023
March 16, 2023 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 7:46 PM :: 1920 Views

Green Marks First 100 Days as Governor

Unsolved Mysteries releases ‘Hawaiian Homicide’ podcast

House passes state budget for third reading

Hawaii Supreme Court Finds Excuse to Reverse Sex-Trafficking Conviction

Haleakala Insanity: Secretary of Defense Briefed on 700 Gallon Fuel Spill

Kali Watson Tried to Stiff DHHL for $136K Rent

SA: … Fevella said Wednesday that Watson was delinquent on $136,000 of DHHL rent payments for a 5-acre property in Kalaeloa — that Watson eventually paid in December.

Watson’s Hawaiian Community Development Board is required to pay monthly rent of $16,600, plus utilities, but Fevella said that Watson argued that he only had to pay $11,600 per month.

DHHL issued a notice for HCDB to vacate in February 2019, saying the past-due rent was $23,352.10 just in 2018.

Then in March 2020, Fevella said that DHHL sent an invoice of $130,000 to HCDB for retroactive rent between January 2018 and February 2020, which the organization challenged….

Fevella said that Watson asked DHHL to adjust the rent, arguing that HCDB had “turned the Kalaeloa rubbish dump site into a productive piece of property.”

Watson also argued that there is no lease, merely a “right of entry,” and that a 2018 letter he signed is “not binding,” Fevella said.

Fevella said he wrote a letter to DHHL requesting documents related to Watson’s lease.

The next day, on Dec. 29, Watson wrote a check to DHHL for approximately $136,000.

“It is as clear as mud to me that this payment was made because of his upcoming confirmation hearing,” Fevella said. “No other reason.” …

read … Past-due rent of DHHL nominee is a character issue, Fevella says

High court decides two cases involving Maunakea

HTH: … Native Hawaiian advocates won some and lost some Wednesday in a pair of Hawaii Supreme Court verdicts regarding Maunakea.

On the same day, the Supreme Court ruled largely against two Hilo residents but in support of a group of Native Hawaiian residents in two unrelated but similar cases surrounding the jurisdiction of the mauna.

The former case began in 2019, when Hilo residents Ku‘ulei and Ahiena Kanahele filed a petition with the state Land Use Commission, arguing that the use of the land on Maunakea’s summit is inconsistent with how it is zoned….

On the other hand, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of another group of advocates in what Collins called an “unequivocal victory” for Native Hawaiians.

In 2020, Hawaiian activist E. Kalani Flores and his family — together forming the “Flores-Case ‘Ohana” — filed a lawsuit against the University of Hawaii, arguing that its administrative rules impinged on their constitutional right to cultural practices on the mountain.

(CLUE: Cultural Practices = State Religion. This obviously violates First Amendment.)

Like the Kanahele case, the Flores suit also led to a more fundamental question to be determined by the high court: Should the burden of proof for determining whether a law is just or unjust lie with the plaintiff or defendant?

UH argued the former, opining that the Flores-Case ‘Ohana needed to prove UH’s rules are unconstitutional. The ‘Ohana argued otherwise — that because of the state constitution’s protection of Native Hawaiian rights, UH must prove that its rules do not impact those rights.

While the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, concluded that ‘Ohana still has the burden of proving unconstitutionality, it also determined that state agencies must consider the impacts on Native Hawaiian rights in basically every action.

Recktenwald’s opinion revolves around the “ka pa‘akai analysis,” a legal framework stemming from a 2000 Supreme Court case that identifies a governmental action’s potential impacts to Native Hawaiian rights. Recktenwald argued that framework must be applied to administrative rulemaking such as UH’s administrative rules regarding Maunakea….

(RESULT: More Hawaiians will leave Hawaii.)

read … High court decides two cases involving Maunakea 

Activists Try to Stop Kauai Hydro Project Set to Provide 25% of Island’s Power

CB: … A proposed hydro project — the first of its kind in the world — could supply up to a quarter of the island’s power by diverting 4 billion gallons a year from the Waimea River….

Conceived in 2012, the West Kauai Energy Project is an integrated pumped storage hydropower, solar and battery project — the first of its kind in the world. Water diverted from the watershed using plantation-era ditch systems would move between preexisting reservoirs to produce power on cloudy days and at night, reducing the island’s reliance on fossil fuels when the sun doesn’t shine.

The project would give aging infrastructure new life as pillars of the island’s green energy future. Part of the project generates energy by moving water in a closed-loop system and is not in dispute. The subject of controversy is the portion of the system that would divert water outside of the watershed…

read … The Shift To A Green Energy Future Is Renewing Plantation-Era Water Wars On Kauai

Honolulu City Council passes bill designating gun-free areas

SA: … The Honolulu City Council today passed Bill 57, prohibiting the public carry of firearms in “sensitive places” including schools and child care facilities, hospitals and election polling places….

The 13 sensitive places designated in Bill 57 also include city-owned buildings; state and federal buildings; public parks; shelters, including homeless and domestic violence shelters; places frequented by children, including the Waikiki Aquarium; public transit; businesses that serve alcohol; large public gatherings, including protests; concert venues and cannabis dispensaries.

Bill 57 also requires that in any interaction with a law enforcement officer, anyone carrying a firearm must inform the officer they are carrying a gun and present their firearm license.

If signed by Mayor Rick Blangiardi, the bill will take effect May 1….

HNN: City Council approves bill that would establish firearms-free ‘sensitive places’

SA Column: Protect Hawaii and our peaceful culture from tyranny of guns

read … Honolulu City Council passes bill designating gun-free areas

Bill reinstating process to indict violent offenders awaits governor’s signature

KHON: … Steve Alm, Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney said, “we had no doubt that the Legislature would want to restore what the voters had voted for with a constitutional amendment back in 1982. And, in fact, they did that. So, hats off to the legislature, “

In a statement, Blake Oshiro, senior advisor to Governor Josh Green, M.D., said:

“SB36 is on the Governor’s desk awaiting final legal and fiscal review before he makes his final decision by the March 22 deadline. He is working expeditiously and thoroughly, but we anticipate a decision very soon.”…

read … Bill reinstating process to indict violent offenders awaits governor’s signature

HB1439: Keep Deadbeats in Apartments

TGI: … House Bill 1439 would reinstate policies under a COVID-era pilot program called Act 57, which required landlords to go through a third-party mediation session before filing to evict a tenant. It would also provide up to $5,000 in emergency rent relief funding through the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority.

“This (bill) is actually one of my top priorities,” said Maui state Rep. Troy N. Hashimoto (D-District 10), the bill’s primary author, in an interview with The Garden Island on March 15.

Hashimoto hopes that HB 1439 will continue “the success of Act 57,” which was implemented from August 2021 to August 2022, after the state’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium expired….

read … Deadbeat Delay Law

Needles Glass and Feces: Waikiki Beach Bum Removal Operation Begins Friday 2AM

SA: … Egged said those violating the closure hours will be given a notice that they are trespassing, which will subject them to an arrest if they return. He said those who refuse to leave will face arrest.

He thanked the Waikiki Neighborhood Board for its support of the move, adding “we are getting a lot of expressions of concern over the increase that we have had in homeless in Waikiki.” ….

“It’s our early morning surfers and beach users who have made the most complaints. They come to us and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to be careful where I step on the beach,’” Finley said. “When they put up the tents and go through the trash and trash the place and use it for toilets, that’s what we are trying to get rid of. We want to prevent it from becoming a huge mess so there’s not needles and broken glass and feces around for our residents as well as the people who are paying big bucks for the hotels.”…

read … Enforcement of beach closure hours starts Friday in Waikiki

‘Unfair’: City plan to restrict commercial activities at parks hits opposition

HNN: … The city wants to restrict commercial activities to all city parks. But Bill 19 also repeals the ban on tour buses at Windward Oahu beaches ― and that’s got some residents concerned.

“It’s unfair that our voices are being silenced,” said Waimanalo resident Mialisa Otis, who is in favor of restrictions but said the outright ban for Windward Oahu should stay in place. “This opens up more commercial activity.”

Otis added: “There is a lot of rogue weddings and photography (at Waimanalo Beach). There was one this morning. And one of the biggest problems that we can all agree is the lack of enforcement.”…

read … ‘Unfair’: City plan to restrict commercial activities at parks hits opposition

Vacasa Hawaii Vacation Rentals Tank Amid New Warnings and Losses

BH: … This darling of the stock market has gone from its recent high of nearly $10 a share to a low of $1.13 today in after-hours trading, in a precipitous drop of 88% …..

read … Vacasa Hawaii Vacation Rentals Tank Amid New Warnings and Losses

COVID Money Flow Ends for Working Poor

CB: … Before the pandemic, the 31-year-old’s monthly $1,200 stipend was just about enough to feed herself, her four children and boyfriend. If her budget did not stretch far enough, her friend and coworker Pikake Demotto-Lum – who receives $900 in monthly SNAP benefits – would help her, as Kekahuna had done for her.

Since March 2020, both households received about $400 a month in extra federal money to help them meet the pandemic-related hike in food prices.

Pikake Demotto-Lum, 32, works about 40 hours each week but still uses SNAP to adequately make ends meet. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2023)

Demotto-Lum and Kekahuna’s extra $400 was close to double the average of $213 per month that Hawaii’s 80,000 SNAP-receiving households received through the emergency federal allotments.

Without that money, hunger advocates warn, Hawaii – where 12% of the state’s population received SNAP benefits in 2022 – will hurtle towards a “hunger cliff,” …

read … Hawaii Families Are On The Edge Of A ‘Hunger Cliff’ Now That Extra Foods Stamps Are Gone

Sentencing is delayed in government theft case

SA: … Sentencing for a 57-year-old Kauai man who pleaded guilty to stealing government money and property in connection with $35,000 in personal purchases charged to a government credit card over a four-year period was rescheduled for April 4.

Scott Poland, a former budget analyst with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, originally was due to be sentenced Wednesday by U.S. Senior Judge Helen Gillmor. He was indicted March 10, 2022, on 45 counts of theft of government money and property.

Poland is facing up to 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of probation. The federal probation office recommended a sentence of three years of probation, a special assessment of $200 and $35,000 in restitution to the Fish and Wildlife Service….

read … Sentencing is delayed in government theft case

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