Saiki Updates House Committee Assignments
House Finance Announces Hearing Schedule
While Locals Flee, Useless Hawaii Make-Work Projects Will Require Workers From The Mainland
CB: … The bright spot on the horizon for Hawaii is construction, but it won’t be driven by home building, said UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham.
There are about $4 billion in government construction contracts planned at Pearl Harbor alone, he said. Federal funding will also flow into the state from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the response to the deadly Maui wildfires. And the Honolulu rail project is expected to award a contract for the downtown portion of that project later this year.
UHERO’s projections have real visitor spending declining by about $1 billion this year, “but that’s completely made up for by construction activity,” Bonham said. Construction here totals about $1.5 billion in a normal year, “and now we’re talking about $3 billion or $4 billion going forward,” he said.
But Hawaii won’t be able to supply enough workers to handle all of that construction work, Bonham said.
“Our labor force is declining, our population is continuing to decline, and so we have essentially recovered consistent with the size of our population and our labor force,” Bonham told the committee. “We’ve lost about 20,000 people from, say, 2018 to today. The labor force is down about 15,000 people.”
“You can’t hire people if they’re not there,” Bonham said….
SA: Construction on Ka Haku by Hilton Club restarts | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
read … Hawaii Construction Boom Will Require Workers From The Mainland
Housing panel makes first development decision
SA: .. The Build Beyond Barriers Working Group, established by Gov. Josh Green via a July emergency proclamation that has since been amended and extended several times, granted a school impact fee waiver to a developer converting a downtown Honolulu office midrise into 52 rental apartments.
The action taken during a Dec. 20 meeting represented the panel’s first approval for a housing project since meetings began in August….
read … Housing panel makes first development decision
HPD Car-Chase Cut-off Rules Make Chases More Dangerous, not less
HNN: … Honolulu police may have violated their own policies in the fatal pursuit of armed fugitive Sidney Tafokitau.
A former department executive said halting the high-speed chase might have prevented injuries to officers and innocent bystanders.
However, the chief and mayor are defending the actions of police commanders.
There’s no doubt that Monday’s chase put the public at risk from stray bullets and speeding cars.….
REALITY: Criminals run from the police wildly BECAUSE they know the police are ordered to cease pursuit when the chase gets too wild. The chase termination policy makes chases MORE dangerous, not less.
read … ‘They forgot their mission’: Fatal chase violated HPD pursuit rules, former deputy chief says
Soft on Crime: Gunman killed by Honolulu police was free on bail
SA: …The 44-year-old felon who was fatally shot by Honolulu police after an islandwide manhunt that left two officers hospitalized with gunshot wounds was free on $75,000 bail after he was charged in November with six gun crimes.
On Monday, attempted murder suspect Sidney Tafokitau, who had 18 prior state convictions, was killed, and two officers — a Crime Reduction Unit officer with five years of experience at HPD, and a patrol officer who joined the department two years ago — needed surgery and “remain hospitalized,” police said Tuesday.
HPD officers recovered an unregistered AR-15 rifle that Tafokitau used to shoot at them….
read … Gunman killed by Honolulu police was free on bail
Big Island Woman Killed Despite A Restraining Order Against Ex-Boyfriend
CB: … A woman killed by her ex-boyfriend on the Big Island had obtained a temporary restraining order against him, the latest case to “raise concerns” about the effectiveness of such protective measures for domestic violence victims.
On Monday, 42-year-old Elizabeth Fernandez was found dead at her home in Kealakekua, and the body of her ex-boyfriend was found outside, according to Big Island police. He appeared to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and had a rifle next to him. …
Tafokitau, also known as “Sydney Tavatitau” and “Pepe,” was charged Nov. 24 in state court by felony information and nonfelony complaint, according to state court records.
Prosecutors announced their intention to seek an extended prison term for him if he was convicted.
Tafokitau, who stood 6 foot 1 and weighed 212 pounds, was banned from owning guns after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2001 for six robberies. In 2002 he also was convicted of felony gun crimes….
read … Big Island Woman Killed Despite A Restraining Order Against Ex-Boyfriend
UH president won’t say if he was drinking before crash
SA: … The president of the University of Hawaii system declined to say whether he was drinking at a New Year’s Eve dinner before he hit a parked car and flipped his 2021 Toyota Rav4 early Monday.
David K. Lassner, 69, the 15th president of UH’s 10-campus system, was not administered a breathalyzer test after he veered right to avoid oncoming traffic and hit the parked car while on his way home from dinner.
He was not hurt, neither was anyone else, and he refused treatment from Emergency Medical Services technicians at about 1 a.m. on Edna Street….
read … UH president won’t say if he was drinking before crash
Gender-neutral terms, not ‘mom’ or ‘dad’
SA: … It’s going to take some getting used to: A new Hawaii law requires gender-neutral language on official certificates documenting birth and marriage. That means you won’t see the terms “husband” and “wife,” but instead “married couple” or “spouse”; no “brother” or “sister,” but instead “siblings.”
The big change: Terms “mother” and “father” being sidelined, replaced with “birthing parent,” and “non birthing parent.” The term “paternity” will be replaced with “biological parentage.” A “stepfather” will now be known as the “birthing parent’s spouse.” “Uncle” and “niece,” “aunt” and “nephew” will be known as “a person and child of person’s biological siblings.” Confused yet? …
read … Gender-neutral terms, not ‘mom’ or ‘dad’
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