1959: Martin Luther King Jr Salutes Hawaii Statehood
Election 2024: Candidate Filing Begins Feb 1
Honolulu’s Skyline rail ridership still paltry, cost now $72 each
Are rolling blackouts the price Hawaii must pay for clean energy?
More Heads Roll at DLNR
CB: … When Dawn Chang sought confirmation last year to serve as the Department of Land and Natural Resources' director, she faced a ton of criticism that she was too closely tied to developers through her former consulting work.
Chang tried to ease those concerns by noting that she’d be the first female Native Hawaiian to hold the job — plus she’d be joined by two Native Hawaiians highly regarded in the conservation community to serve as her deputies: former Hawaii Land Trust CEO Laura Kaakua and a former Department of Hawaiian Homelands planner, Kaleo Manuel.
“This is a historic Native Hawaiian leadership team,” Chang told senators during an informational briefing early last year. “I believe our nomination reflects a recognition of the values that each of us brings to DLNR based upon our respective background and experiences to support DLNR’s mission.”
Well, as most news consumers in Hawaii know, Manuel officially resigned from DLNR earlier this month and no one, including Manuel, will say why he left.
Then, on Friday — exactly one year after Chang touted her leadership team to senators — Kaakua followed Manuel out the door.
Her departure from DLNR was buried at the tail end of a news release from Gov. Josh Green’s office touting the nomination of her successor, Ryan Kanaka’ole. It was sent late in the day, a move that journalists call the “Friday night news dump” when people try to bury unpopular news at the end of the week’s news cycle….
Dec 27, 2023: Kaleo Manuel to depart the Commission on Water Resource Management
Jan 13, 2024: Governor Josh Green, M.D. | Office of the Governor – News Release – Gov. Green Nominates New DLNR First Deputy (hawaii.gov)
read … The Sunshine Blog: Media Angst, Hawaii's Wildly Popular Governor And The Return Of Jesus - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii’s State Mental Hospital Has Long History of ‘Horrifying’ Problems
CB: … the same questions posed in 1887 and 1946 and 1970 and 2014 are being asked again…..
read … Hawaii’s State Mental Hospital Has Long History of ‘Horrifying’ Problems
Oahu public housing projects pretend to advance again
SA: … Three long-delayed Oahu public housing redevelopment projects took big steps forward last week and ‘could’ produce 554 new homes in 2026 and 911 more in 2028.
Most of these 1,465 homes ‘would’ be rentals for low-income households, and represent initial phases of larger plans to redevelop run-down Hawaii Public Housing Authority properties in or near Kalihi: Mayor Wright Homes, HPHA’s administrative campus and two parts of Kuhio Park Terrace called Kuhio Homes and Kuhio Park Terrace Low-Rise.
A portion of one project also ‘might’ include leasehold condominiums for sale to buyers with higher incomes….
(IQ Test: How many times have you heard this story?)
HPHA originally anticipated that all the work at KPT would have been finished by now under a deal with Michaels announced in 2009.
But after the tower renovations were done, remaining work got derailed that was then comprised of replacing 176 low-rise apartments with 450 new homes.
HPHA terminated its arrangement with Michaels in 2017, then revived an amended version in 2019. Now, Michaels plans to develop up to 650 new homes on the Kuhio Park property under a 65-year land lease.
The initial phase with 304 apartments reserved for households with maximum income levels ranging from 30% to 60% of the median is projected to cost $182 million. HHFDC approved a $49 million low-interest loan along with state and federal tax credits that the developer can sell to replace $93 million in bonds provided by the city.
“We are really excited to get moving on this,” Sharon Har, (LOL!) Hawaii vice president of development for Michaels, told HHFDC’s board. “The revitalization of Kuhio Park is finally coming to fruition.”…
2021: Rep Har DUI Arrest: Smelled of Alcohol, Yelled 'Black Lives Matter'
read … Oahu public housing projects advance | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
Hawaii New Car Markups Among Highest in USA
KHON: … Hawaii Ford Mustang 34.3% above MSRP, $12,437 above MSRP ….
LINK: New Hybrids and EVs Fall Below MSRP, Despite Ongoing New-Car Demand - iSeeCars.com
read … The cars with the highest dealer markups in each state
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