FULL TEXT: Whistleblower Exposes PUC Parties with HECO Execs--“We are setting ourselves up for the largest cost increase to consumers in history"
Feds Rule on Campaign Spending Complaint Four Days after Hawaii Republican Convention tosses out Crazies
Former CEO of Guam Helicopter Company Sentenced to 405 Months in Federal Prison for Criminal Aviation Violations
Green Adds One More Bill to 'Intent-to-Veto' List
Bills that passed the Lege now on the edge
FAIL: State extends deadline for Aloha Stadium agreement (again)
HNN: … The state’s New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District team announced Tuesday that it’s now pushing back its original self-imposed deadline by a month to reach a finalized contract agreement with Aloha Halawa District Partners-- the development group led by Stanford Carr.
(TRANSLATION: We don’t have enough money to pay them.)
They originally planned to have a deal in place by the end of this month, but they’re now targeting mid-August…
(TRANSLATION: We don’t have enough money to pay them.)
Leaders say attention to detail is critical, especially when dealing with such a complex and massive project that’s expected to cost at least $400 million and span nearly 100 acres.
(TRANSLATION: We don’t have enough money to pay them.)
“I don’t think we knew really how many thousands of pages we’d have to go through to get all of these details down,” said state Department of Accounting and General Services special projects manager Chris Kinimaka. “This extension again is out of an abundance of caution to make sure we enter this agreement properly for the benefit of the state and our developer and all the community. we don’t want to start and then start stumbling over all of the agreements we just executed.”
(TRANSLATION: We don’t have enough money to pay them.)
The state says the demolition schedule also remains in-tact. Starting at the end of August, the stadium will be dismantled piece-by-piece over the course of 10-months.
(IQ Test: Are you laughing?)
The Stadium Authority is scheduled to meet Thursday…(to hear stories and excuses, but not be too inquisitive)….
May 18, 2025: “Six Weeks to Deadline -- Sketchy, Blurry Plans to Pay for Aloha Stadium”
KHON: The word “delay” is familiar to the project. A previous stadium plan, which targeted a 2023 opening, was pushed back due to legislative hurdles and the COVID-19 pandemic.
PBN: Aloha Stadium redevelopment contract negotiations delayed - Pacific Business News
P3: Hawaii stadium P3 deadline extended
Read … State extends deadline for finalized Aloha Stadium agreement
East Maui Water: Usual Suspects grift for control so they can force you to leave island
MN: … State Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Carmen Lindsey said Maui County should own the major conveyor of water in East Maui and Upcountry areas.
The comments by Lindsey, a former chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, were made after an announcement this month that the private agricultural business Mahi Pono has taken over full ownership of the East Maui Irrigation, a system of ditches and tunnels that once conveyed diverted water from streams to sugar plantations for nearly 150 years.
“It should be owned by the County of Maui so that the water can be distributed more fairly with everyone considered, including Mahi Pono,” Lindsey said.
(TRANSLATION: It should be owned by the County of Maui so they can use it to choke off development, thus driving up the cost of buildable land and profiting the alii trusts. Yes, you will have to move to Vegas, but the alii trusts’ profit margins are more important than you.)
Lindsey said the irrigation system is in bad shape and it’s going to take money to maintain and repair it….
(TRANSLATION: “Contracts”)
Read … Shift in East Maui Irrigation stirs complaints about control | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News
School Choice Works Wonders: How Hawaiʻi's School Transfer System Allows Parents to Rescue Their Kids from Bad Schools
CB: … Roughly 13% of Hawaiʻi students received a geographic exception last year. The process was created in 1996 to give students access to special programs not offered at their neighborhood school or attend campuses in a location more convenient for their parents. Over the last two decades, however, parents have increasingly (rightly) used it to send their children to better-rated schools, often in more affluent neighborhoods.
‘Critics’ say the application process lacks transparency (punishes failing schools for their failure, as if this was a bad thing) ….
Read … How Hawaiʻi's School Transfer System Leaves Students Behind - Honolulu Civil Beat
Governor Says He May Veto Bill To Reduce Judges' Pensions
CB: … Gov. Josh Green has made a last-minute change to his list of possible veto targets, announcing Tuesday he may reject a measure that would reduce pension benefits for future Hawaiʻi judges.
Green on June 6 released a list of 19 measures he was considering vetoing, but amended that list by adding Senate Bill 935 as another measure he might reject.
The deadline for the governor to announce which bills he may veto was Tuesday, and Green has until July 9 to actually issue the final vetoes.
SB 935 drew sharp criticism from some prominent players in the Hawaiʻi legal community, including Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justice Mark Recktenwald and former state Attorney General Margery Bronster….
RELATED: Green Adds One More Bill to 'Intent-to-Veto' List
Read … Governor Says He May Veto Bill To Reduce Judges' Pensions - Honolulu Civil Beat
Maui zoning code must serve residents
SA: … During then-Mayor Alan Arakawa’s final term, the County of Maui initiated a comprehensive overhaul of Title 19. Since 2017, mayors have come and gone. Title 19, meanwhile, remains a web of vague and outdated language.
The Planning Department has adapted in response to setbacks in its Title 19 rewrite, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 wildfires and understaffing issues. Instead of completely overhauling the code, their goal is to create a revised version of Title 19.
The conventional wisdom is that bureaucracy is largely responsible for Maui’s notoriously slow permit-granting process, but Title 19 is significant, too. The crux of the rewrite project is to modernize the code and eliminate redundancies.
Simplifying Title 19 will expedite the building permit application process. This could result in positive benefits to affordable housing construction. Shorter plan timelines for developers could significantly increase housing production.
Building an affordable housing project in Maui takes 10 years, on average. Most of this time isn’t spent constructing homes, however. Instead, developers are often caught in an onerous timeline of judicial processes and political pressure. While we need to eliminate the high barrier to entry required to participate in the affordable housing industry, the goal isn’t to give developers more power. The goal is to let local residents build homes for their neighbors.
Title 19 is a microcosm of the internal stasis facing Maui County. The main issue is a culture of “whataboutism.” When someone brings a salient issue to light, it gets bombarded with trivial concerns and stagnates in the legislative pipeline.
For example, in the wake of the 2023 wildfires, Bill 104 was proposed, allowing for the addition of up to two kitchenettes per residence. Its premise is simple: some families now share homes with other families due to the housing shortage.
Maintaining distinct living areas by allowing families to have their own kitchenette would be more convenient. However, the bill met pushback. Critics argued that one additional parking space should be required for every kitchenette.
The conversation shifted to one about housing density. Fears of the “urban jungle of Oahu” began festering. Difficult decisions were not made. The bill stalled.
The logical conclusion to the county’s stasis is pessimism because hoping for action seems pointless. But now isn’t the time to succumb to resignation…
Read … Column: Maui zoning code must serve residents | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawai‘i County sets cell tower regulations, despite outcry
ASD: … Among other things, Bill 24 removes the requirement for cell towers to receive a use permit from the county Planning Department, allowing them to be built at the Planning Director’s approval without going through a lengthy public hearing process. It also allows towers to be built in all zoning districts on the island.
In exchange, the bill establishes a series of requirements determining where and how cell towers can be sited within each zoning district. For example, it requires minimum setbacks from all property lines equal to at least 120% of the tower’s height, and at least 600 feet from any residence or school.
These requirements are more stringent than those on O‘ahu, where freestanding antenna towers only have a required setback of at least one-fifth the tower’s height, or, in the case of towers supported by guy wires, equal to its height….
Read … Hawai‘i County sets cell tower regulations, despite outcry
Honolulu Prosecutor: 2023 HPD Fatal Shooting In Pearl City Was Justified
CB: … Honolulu police officers’ use of force was justified when they shot and killed a man who picked up an unattended police rifle during a standoff in a Pearl City neighborhood in June 2023, according to Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm.
No charges will be filed against the officers, who feared for their safety as well as that of those around them, Alm said Tuesday. Alm said his office did not look into the fact that the rifle was left unattended as part of its investigation.
Alm’s comments came just two days after a fatal officer-involved shooting at Keʻehi Boat Harbor — the first this year — and hours before another took place in Mahaka, in which a 37-year-old man was critically injured….
SA: Deadly force ‘justified’ in 2023 standoff in Pearl City | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
HNN: New graphic images released in deadly 2023 Pearl City standoff
HNN: Active police investigation underway in Makaha, avoid the area
SA: Man, 37, critically injured after being shot in Makaha | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Read … Honolulu Prosecutor: 2023 HPD Fatal Shooting In Pearl City Was Justified - Honolulu Civil Beat
City of Honolulu hit with negligence lawsuit over crash at erased crosswalk
HNN: … “There’s a lot of accidents that happen here,” Reynaldo Pineda said.
Many people in the neighborhood questioned why the city erased the white stripes.
The city told HNN Investigates, “Due to the high volume of traffic and number of lanes on Kapiolani Boulevard, the crosswalk would require substantial improvements, such as a traffic signal to be consistent with federal standards.”
An investment that would cost a minimum of $30,000. Instead of upgrading the crosswalk, the markings were removed.
Data provided by the Department of Transportation Services shows since the stripes were erased in 2020 the number of people hit at this particular crosswalk is trending upward.
Since 2010, there have been a total of eight pedestrian crashes. Five in the 10 years before the markings were removed. And three in the five years after.
“On behalf his mother and Patrick. We have filed a civil case,” Rapp said. “We’re claiming that the city was negligent. That this intersection could have been made a lot safer.”
Now, some residents are also calling on the city to make changes….
Read … City of Honolulu hit with negligence lawsuit over crash at erased crosswalk
Penn asks judge for ‘identity verification’ of his mother
HTH: … Penn is barred by the court order from the Puueo Street home where Shin lives, but has been arrested twice for returning there in the past month.
Shin is listed as the sole owner of the former sugar plantation manager’s home on the county’s property tax website, but Penn twice referred to the domicile as “my house” during Tuesday’s hearing.
Telling the judge staying at hotels is “getting expensive,” Penn asked Ng to ensure Shin provides him “a place to stay while I’m not at my house.”
The judge replied that such an order is “outside the scope of the petition.”
Noting that Aug. 12 is almost two months away, Penn said it’s “too long for me.”
“Can we do it any sooner?” he inquired.
“That’s the next date we have,” Ng responded.
Penn is free on $6,000 bail for three criminal charges — domestic abuse, refusal to comply with the lawful order of a police officer and violating the TRO — all misdemeanors.
In addition to the Aug. 12 hearing, Penn has a date at 8 a.m. July 2 before Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota on the criminal charges….
(CLUE: The insane must be forcibly committed to insane asylums.)
Read … Penn asks judge for ‘identity verification’ of his mother - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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