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Feds Investigating At Least One Prison Guard's Actions In OCCC Killing
CB: … The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a “target letter” to a state corrections officer signaling his actions are under investigation in connection with the beating death of an inmate — allegedly by other prisoners — at the Oʻahu Community Correctional Center two years ago, Honolulu Civil Beat has learned.
And it may not be the last such letter sent in the case.
Federal interest in the death of inmate Chris Vaefaga was confirmed Tuesday by state Deputy Attorney General Adrian Dhakhwa, who indicated to Circuit Court Judge Paul Wong the federal government is scrutinizing the actions of corrections officers involved in the case.
Inmate witnesses have testified the fatal beating made a huge amount of noise that attracted the attention of prisoners in the jail module, but they say corrections officers did not intervene and that Vaefaga’s body was not discovered until hours later — long after a shift change for guards.
Three inmates are on trial for manslaughter in Vaefaga’s killing, and during a discussion of witness testimony in the case, Wong asked Dhakhwa if there is “any hint of federal interest” in the events surrounding Vaefaga’s death.
“With regards to the ACOs, yes,” Dhakhwa replied, referring to adult corrections officers. He did not elaborate, and no further information was available on the nature of the federal inquiry….
read … Feds Investigating At Least One Prison Guard's Actions In OCCC Killing - Honolulu Civil Beat
Witness fear dominates jail killing trial as testimony continues
HNN: … Trial resumed Tuesday for three Oahu Community Correctional Center inmates accused of leading a gang that beat a fellow inmate to death.
A detainee who alerted authorities to the beating was reluctant to tell the story for fear he’d be accused of collaborating with authorities.
The code of silence enforced by violence is making the trial a real challenge for prosecutors. Their witnesses are afraid of retaliation by other inmates and afraid of prosecution for crimes they committed while in custody.
Alleged “Murder, Incorporated” gang leaders Bronson Tuitelelepaga, his brother, Aaron Tuitelapaga, and Manu Sorenson are on trial for manslaughter after the gang allegedly killed Christopher Vaefaga in July 2023 while Vaefaga was on a drug binge.
Threats to witnesses led Judge Paul Wong to bar their identification on television and to bar a person who made faces at a prior witness ….
read … Witness fear dominates jail killing trial as testimony continues
Secret Aloha Stadium Contracts Are Set For Final Vote
CB: … The Aloha Stadium Authority plans to vote Wednesday on whether to approve hundreds of millions of dollars of redevelopment contracts, a big step forward in the long-stalled $400 million project to rejuvenate the surrounding area and open a new home for the University of Hawaiʻi’s football team.
The contracts were awarded last fall to the lone bidder, Aloha Hālawa District Partners, a group of about a dozen organizations that include Stanford Carr Development and Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co.
Despite the project’s high profile and high cost, little is known about the agreements beyond the broad contours. The agenda for Wednesday’s special board meeting allows for testimony, but contract documents haven’t been made available to the public and much of the board’s discussion is expected to take place out of public sight during an executive session.
The contracts up for a vote include the ground lease agreement, the stadium development and operations agreement, a larger master development agreement that entails the planned surrounding neighborhood and a shared infrastructure agreement.
The contract amounts have not been disclosed…
Board members were given access to the documents last Friday, Stadium Authority vice chair Andrew Pereira said in an interview, and he spent hours poring over them during the weekend. As of Tuesday afternoon, he just had to finish reading the stadium development agreement.
“Everything I’ve seen is living up to expectations,” he told Civil Beat…
Once signed by all parties, the contracts will be considered officially executed, allowing demolition of the old stadium to start as soon as the end of August. The contracts will be available to view online by the public after they are executed, according to Pereira and Stadium Authority spokesperson Samantha Spain.
In general, Public First Law Center executive director Brian Black said, Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine Law requires that draft documents be made public when they’re given to board members. But it’s arguable whether that applies when — like in the case of the stadium contracts — those documents are under negotiation, he said.
Black said in this case the documents will likely be public soon anyway, but it would be nice if the Stadium Authority made them public before voting on them…
read … Aloha Stadium Contracts Are Set For Final Vote - Honolulu Civil Beat
New stadium needs new appropriation
SA: … Hawaii’s Constitution places a strict three-year limit on GO bond-funded appropriations, such as that of the stadium, which must be encumbered within a maximum of three years. The Constitution is the fundamental law of the state, and it may not be overridden by any statute, rule or administrative directive.
The $350 million was appropriated through Act 248 (2022), the supplemental budget bill, which amended Act 88 (2021), the biennial budget bill. Act 248 did not create a new lapse date. Instead, it used the lapse date from Act 88, which states that appropriations for CIPs “which are unencumbered as of June 30, 2024 shall lapse as of that date.” In other words, June 30, 2024 was the hard deadline.
By June 30, 2024, there was no executed contract for the stadium. There was not even an agreement on core contract terms, such as scope or price. In this case DAGS’s own Accounting Manual makes clear that an encumbrance requires a signed contract, or at least that bids have been received and an award is imminent. None of that had occurred. Talks with a developer may have been continuing, but that is immaterial, as there is no legal or procedural basis for calling that an encumbrance. Without a contract or bid award, the appropriation lapsed ….
read … Column: New stadium needs new appropriation | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Planning panel OKs rebuild of smaller Front Street home after forcing aesthetic changes
MN: … The Maui Planning Commission approved a special management area permit Tuesday for a somewhat scaled-back reconstruction of an oceanfront home on Front Street property owned by a retired Boeing executive and his wife, Stanley and Dilara Deal.
In the end, the most hotly disputed issue: the size of the home was reduced about 10% from the Deals’ proposed rebuild of their 3,617-square-foot home. Stanley Deal agreed to the reduction, which amounts to living space not to exceed 3,255 square feet. Also, the building’s footprint will not allowed to move closer to the shoreline or Front Street ….
(CLUE: All of the Planning Commission aesthetic demands are about projecting an image for tourism marketing purposes. You live in an amusement park.)
read … Planning panel OKs rebuild of smaller Front Street home amid precedent-setting concerns : Maui Now
FAIL: Empty-homes tax destroyed by its own contradictions after $150M illusion vanishes
SA: … Analysis of the tax by consultants Ernst &Young indicates that there are too many loopholes. Hawai‘i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, originally a strong supporter of the tax, has “suspended” its support for the bill because it offers too many exemptions for property owners, and because as presented, the bill is too complicated and expensive to implement — diminishing potential funding for affordable housing that the tax could raise. And the city administration has pooh-poohed the proposition, canceling an Ernst &Young analysis of implementation without even consulting the Council….
…the last draft of Bill 46 left many underwhelmed, drawing headlines because potential tax revenue had been roughly estimated at $150 million higher….
REALITY:
2024: ‘Empty Homes Tax’ Drives Rent up 37%
2019: Debunked: Caldwell’s ‘Vancouver Tax’ Does Nothing to Ease Rental Crisis
read … Editorial: Empty-homes tax needs renovation | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Building Permit Failures to be Foundation for New Bureaucratic Empire?
HTH: … The Hawaii County Council is proposing a County Charter amendment that would create a Department of Building aimed at speeding up the permitting and inspection process and easing the workload of the Department of Public Works — but Mayor Kimo Alameda is not convinced it’s the right approach.
“While I welcome ideas to improve county government, I don’t believe that adding another department is the right solution,” Alameda said in statement to the Tribune-Herald. “The progress we have made within Public Works demonstrates that strong leadership focused on collaboration and teamwork can address many of the problems that we face.” …
“Thanks to our Permitting Task Force, we have significantly cut down waiting times for building and solar permits,” the mayor added. “Creating a new layer of county government would be a waste of our tax dollars. We already have the tools that we need to strengthen county operations and improve services for our residents.”…
The proposed charter amendment, known as Bill 68 and introduced by council members Ashley Kierkiewicz and James Hustace, is in committee and expected to be discussed at the County Council’s Aug. 19 meeting in Kona. If approved, the amendment will be placed on the 2026 General Election ballot for voter approval….
read … New Building Department eyed - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Why This Honolulu Housing Strategy Is Not A 'Super Successful' Program
CB: … The reasons vary: Sewer capacity might be lacking, yards might be too small, property owners might not want to deal with a notoriously slow permitting system and the general headaches and costs construction entails….
Accessory dwelling units – as independent living structures erected on residential properties are known – have been touted as a way to help ease an escalating housing crisis on Hawaiʻi’s most populous island by increasing density.
To encourage the practice, state legislators last year passed a law requiring Honolulu and other counties to allow people to build two of them. Meanwhile, the city is struggling to persuade people to build just one.
A city plan from 2014 estimated between 17,000 and 22,000 rental units could eventually be built, with at least 250 built annually in initial years after a law passed allowing them.
Meanwhile, 1,320 ADUs have actually been built since then, Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting spokesperson Davis Pitner said, averaging a little more than half of the yearly goal….
read … Why This Honolulu Housing Strategy Is Not A 'Super Successful' Program - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii part of 4-layer Golden Dome missile defense network
SA: … The Trump administration’s flagship Golden Dome missile defense system will include four layers — one satellite-based and three on land — with 11 short-range batteries located across the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii, according to a U.S. government slide presentation on the project first reported by Reuters.
The slides, tagged “Go Fast, Think Big!” were presented to 3,000 defense contractors in Huntsville, Ala., last week and reveal the unprecedented complexity of the system, which faces an ambitious 2028 deadline set by President Donald Trump.
The system is estimated to cost $175 billion, but the slides show uncertainties still loom over the basic architecture of the project because the number of launchers, interceptors, ground stations, and missile sites needed for the system has yet to be determined….
read … Hawaii part of 4-layer Golden Dome missile defense network | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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