Hawaii Ranks 4th for Homeless per Capita
Kealoha Case: Fentanyl Dealing Ex-Cop is Getting Record Wiped Clean
CB: … For the past several years, Alan Ahn, a former Honolulu police officer who was convicted on felony drug charges in 2017, has been quietly trying to seal his criminal record from public view.
Now it looks like he might succeed.
In 2019, Ahn, who had already served his 60-day jail sentence, persuaded First Circuit Court Judge Edward Kubo to allow him to change his plea in the case to “deferred acceptance,” which would allow his record to be expunged so long as he continued to stay out of trouble.
Kubo’s decision came despite the fact that a previous judge in the case, Rom Trader, had denied a similar request in 2017 during Ahn’s sentencing hearing….
Ahn’s case in particular is one that involves a high degree of public interest in large part because it’s tied to one of Hawaii’s most notorious public corruption scandals.
Ahn and a co-defendant in his case, Tiffany Masunaga, were key figures in a federal investigation targeting former Honolulu prosecutor Katherine Kealoha and her brother, Rudy Puana, an anesthesiologist who operated a pain clinic on the Big Island.
According to federal prosecutors, Puana had been running a prescription drug ring and was providing fentanyl to Masunaga in exchange for cocaine….
When Ahn and Masunaga were arrested in 2015 with Puana’s fentanyl in their possession, Kealoha, who was married to then-Honolulu police chief Louis Kealoha, worked to steer HPD’s investigation away from her brother….
State licensing data shows that in 2022, before he obtained his expungement certificate from the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office, he had obtained a license to work as a security guard….
read … An Ex-Cop Who Went To Jail On Felony Drugs Charges Is Getting His Record Wiped Clean
Roseanne Barr Considering Running for Governor of Hawaii as Republican
OK Mag: … During a sit-down with failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, the controversial sitcom star admitted that she's thought of running for governor of Hawaii following the government's response to the devastating wildfires….
"They're gonna keep their property, I swear," she continued, referring to her pals in Hawaii. "If I have to come down there and kick some a-- and run for governor."
Lake immediately encouraged the Roseanne star to run, saying: "We need some good America First governors is what we need."…
"Here comes another GOP losing an election and claiming it was rigged," one sarcastic social media user wrote, while a second added, "Hasn’t the state suffered enough? Haven’t we?"…
CB: Several online outlets picked up the video of Barr’s podcast with Kari Lake
read … Roseanne Barr Considering Running for Governor of Hawaii
Toxic? Antivaxxer Lorrin Pang Tries to Scare Lahaina Homeowners Away from their own Properties
HNN: … Dr. Lorrin Pang, with the Maui DOH, said it’s the bare minimum to ensure safety for people going into buildings. The concern is with toxic dust or soot from the Aug. 8 wildfires that melted through things like TVs and walls. That soot is now believed to be lying on the ground with potential toxins.
Pang said they don’t know just how dangerous the toxic dust may be.
“They want to go in. There’s going to be dust. How much dust is too much dust, we do not know,” said Pang. “I would tell them read what happened after 9/11. They thought there would not be long-term side effects, but the cancers show way later for people who worked that day.”…
2021: Maui Senator: The County's State Health Director Should Be Fired
2014: Lorrin Pang Chemtrails (again)
2011: Lorrin Pang flogging ‘Chemtrails’ conspiracy theory
read … Quack, Quack, Quack
Solar Batteries High on List of ‘Hazardous’ Materials being used as Excuse to Keep Homeowners Away
KITV: … As of Thursday, September 21, the EPA cleared out 869 parcels out of the remaining 1,598 parcels on Maui. The EPA will work to clear the remaining residential parcels in the coming weeks. Officials say the 144 commercial parcels identified by the EPA will take longer to clear out. The EPA has already completed work in Kula and removed hazardous waste from 681 properties in total. Work continues now in Lahaina and Olinda, Maui. The EPA still needs to search 711 residential properties in Lahaina and 26 in Upcountry.
Hazardous materials being removed include: compressed gas cylinders, pesticides, fertilizers, ammunition, lithium-ion batteries and solar battery storage on homes.Any hazardous material removed is being held at a staging area in Ukumehame Beach Park. After all structures have been searched and cleared, the EPA will ship the materials to landfills off-island….
read … EPA continues removal of hazardous waste | News | kitv.com
Two Cost Increasers: How ‘Planners’ Make Ala Wai Pedestrian Bridge into a $63M Harp
CB: … Opposition from the mauka side of the canal has largely dialed down, said Ruby, who had collected about 100 signatures from mauka residents opposing the project. At this point, she said, her main opposition is against what she sees as the bridge’s tall, gaudy design along the banks of the Ala Wai canal, which from some angles would obscure the view of Diamond Head.
“We’ve come 50% to accepting a low, modest bridge,” Ruby said. Part of this acceptance is because federal funding has already been granted for a bridge at that location, she added, but costs could be brought down further with a lower-profile build.
A modest pedestrian bridge could be built. But that would require placing supports in the water, and Nouchi said (cost increaser #1) DTS chose to avoid that in favor of a “clear span” so that paddlers would not have to navigate around pillars.
(IQ Test: Are you laughing?)
(cost increaser #2) Any pillars would need to be larger than the ones supporting McCully, Kalakaua, and Ala Moana bridges, he said, because Ala Pono would be built higher to avoid being overtaken by flooding.
(IQ Test: Are you laughing harder?)
read … Some Residents Question The Steep Cost For The Ala Wai Pedestrian Bridge
MECO Conditionally Offers Financial Compensation for Outages
IM: … Maui Electric Company recently sent an insert in all utility bills. The second page stated, “Should you experience a power outage, you have the right to file a claim for compensation for any loss caused by that outage.”…
If the claim is rejected by the utility, a claimant can file a formal or informal complaint with the Public Utilities Commission as per Hawaii Administrative Rules starting at HAR §16-601- 66.
The complaint can take several years to resolve….
read … MECO Conditionally Offers Financial Compensation for Outages
Lahaina Fire News:
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