12 New Members Appointed to HTA Board
Tariffs Drive up Non-Residential Constuction Costs
Aloha Stadium Shrinks, completion date for slips to 2029, demolition to begin without all contracts in place
SA: … The Aloha Stadium Authority board voted unanimously today to initiate a ground lease agreement with Aloha Halawa Development Partners which will begin work on demolishing the old stadium by the end of August, but the positive development was tempered by news that the projected completion date for the new stadium is being pushed back to 2029.
“It has to do with the (blablabla),” said Brennon Morioka, former stadium authority chair, who is also dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Engineering and Gov. Josh Green’s special advisor on the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District project….
The projected (new joke) completion date is now March 2029 instead of the (old joke) fall of 2028….
Also, the capacity of the football, soccer and rugby stadium — originally set for 25,000 — is now planned to be 22,500, including 10 luxury boxes, Morioka said.
AHDP will also sign a stadium operational agreement with NASED officials by the end of August, but two other pieces of the contract are not needed to be fully agreed upon now for AHDP to begin demolishing the condemned stadium and start developing the new one, Morioka said.
“We are still going through the legalese on those,” he said….
ASD: New plans for Aloha Stadium revealed
SA: Aloha Stadium opening pushed to 2029 | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
KITV: New Aloha Stadium completion delayed to March 2029, demolition begins soon | Business | kitv.com
CB: New Aloha Stadium Opening Date Delayed To 2029 - Honolulu Civil Beat
KHON: Board approval moves Aloha Stadium project forward: Completion date moved to March 2029 “Looking at [the contractors’] schedule, the current environment of tariffs and material supply chains, and just looking at their whole sequencing of construction, we came to the date of March 2029 as being something we all felt was realistic, achievable, and that we are all comfortable moving forward with,” Morioka said.
KHON: Aloha Stadium Swap Meet isn't moving -- yet
read … Aloha Stadium demolition to start soon; completion date for new facility now 2029 | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Federal Justice: Molester Coach Gets 33 Year Sentence -- State let him get away with it for 20 years
CB: … Punahou fired Yuen from his coaching job in 2004 for sexual misconduct. Basketball players filed police reports and received restraining orders against him while he was volunteering with Punahou’s team.
So how did Yuen’s misconduct go largely unaddressed while he moved from coaching at the private school to teaching in the state education department for nearly two decades? Yuen continued coaching youth basketball until 2022, four years after he quit teaching when the Department of Education began investigating allegations of sexual abuse.
Neither Punahou nor the education department would talk about the case. Yuen and his lawyer, Alen Kaneshiro, declined to comment.
So it’s impossible to tell whether, for instance, counselors and administrators at Punahou who learned of the allegations against Yuen reported him to the police or the state’s Child Welfare Services, as they would have been required to by law.
It’s unknown if the police or CWS ever investigated Yuen, or what the outcome was. Neither HPD or CWS would share information.
Likewise, the state Department of Education would not say what steps it took to check Yuen’s background before hiring him in 2007, such as calling his former employers at Punahou or looking into the restraining orders former students had filed against him.
The application process requires DOE teachers to disclose if they’ve been fired from past jobs and complete a criminal background check. But criminal background checks don’t typically include police reports, and DOE wouldn’t say what the screening process uncovered in Yuen’s case.
Two state laws passed last year are intended to strengthen student protections by requiring schools to complete investigations of teachers accused of misconduct and add educators’ names to a registry if they’re found guilty of abuse. Public and private schools are barred from hiring teachers once they’re added to the statewide database.
But it’s still too early to say how well these laws will work. Other states have had a hard time getting schools to comply.
And Hawaiʻi’s new laws include no penalties for ignoring requirements around investigating and reporting teachers….
USDOJ: Hawaii Basketball Coach Sentenced to Over 33 Years for Child Exploitation and Harassment of 10 Victims
2023: VIDEO: FBI Raids Home of former Punahou Basketball Coach
ASD: Victims find solace as former basketball coach Dwayne Yuen sentenced
SA: Hawaii youth basketball coach gets 33 years in sex abuse case | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
KHON: Former coach sentenced for child sex crimes
HNN: Former girls basketball coach sentenced for child sex crimes after ‘years of silence and torture’
SA: Ex girls basketball coach to be sentenced in sex case | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Hawaiʻi Sex Abuse Case Shows How Predatory Teachers Can Go Undetected - Honolulu Civil Beat
Misleading stats obscure health care provider shortage woes
SA: … Hawaii’s health care system rankings and statistics are bewildering. The Journal of Nursing Education identified three Hawaii counties as among the most underserved in the nation for primary care. WalletHub ranks Hawaii 51st, dead last, for physician friendliness.
Meanwhile, U.S. News and World Report ranks us first in health care for outcomes based on Hawaii’s unique demographics and phone surveys, and No. 1 for access to care, because of insurance coverage. But having coverage does not mean you can see a doctor. A patient with a card in their wallet but without access to timely care is not receiving meaningful health care. Our policymakers must believe the University of Hawaii’s Physician Workforce Report, not glossy national publications or insurance companies….
A recent lawsuit has asked the question: Are the contracts between our largest insurer and the people who provide healthcare unconscionable? When you consider the decades of system inadequacy, they are, by any moral standard, unconscionable….
RELATED: Court: HMSA Physician Contracts “oppressive, unconscionable, and unenforceable”
read … Column: Misleading stats obscure health care provider shortage woes | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Last-ditch efforts to kill Honuaʻula project amendments fail amid bickering; controversial development passes final vote
MN: … The verbal clash followed a failed amendment (again, on the same 5-4 vote) by Rawlins-Fernandez to amend the Honuaʻula project bills to require the developer provide 450 workforce housing units. And, an attempt by Rawlins-Fernandez to require a public hearing in South Maui with the assent of three council members.
On that point, Lee noted that a public hearing had already been held, and Office of Council Services Director David Raatz cited an opinion that because a public hearing had been held there was no requirement for a public hearing. Rawlins-Fernandez insisted on seeing the written opinion. After a short recess to locate it, Lee brought the meeting back to order and called for the roll call vote. Rawlins-Fernandez continued arguing her point as the roll call vote was ongoing….
read … Last-ditch efforts to kill Honuaʻula project amendments fail amid bickering; controversial development passes final vote : Maui Now
Sacred Cows: Should Homeless be exempt from Fire Safety Rules?
HNN: … An effort to clear wildfire hazards in West Maui on Wednesday led to a dispute over homeless rights and ended with seven people in handcuffs.
Homeless advocates say those living in Ukumehame near mile marker 13.5 have a right to be there.
County officials say the area is a major fire risk and the project, led by the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), aims to protect lives, property, and the only highway connecting Central and West Maui….
… Abraham said the hazardous items being removed include 160 abandoned vehicles more than 50 loose lithium-ion batteries, more than 200 tires, 20 motorcycles, and 50-gallon drums/tanks with unknown substances.
There are also paint and gas cans, washers, dryers, couches, mattresses, solar panels, a delivery truck, a 20-foot boat, and a mini-bus….
Gwen Brown has lived in the area for 15 years. “…I have no family on the island,” she said….
MN: Wildfire risk reduction work continues in Ukumehame as crews clear hazardous material, brush, abandoned vehicles : Maui Now
read … Work to reduce fire hazards in West Maui leads to dispute over homeless rights and arrests
Attorney facing criminal charges is sued by a former associate
ILind: … The application was rejected by the court in December 2018 due to “irregularities” found in the will. However, Yee says she was not informed of the denial.
Although the application had been denied by the court, Chapman then took Yee’s name and Hawaii State Bar Association credentials, without her knowledge, and used them to create fraudulent Letters of Administration that allowed him to take control of property belonging to Boulette’s estate, including a Nuuanu condominium, and convert the property and cash to his own use.
The complaint claims Yee did not know about Chapman’s “fraudulent conduct,” including the forged changes to the will, or Chapman’s creation and use of fraudulent letters of administration, until she was interviewed by an investigator from the Attorney General’s office in November 2023….
read … Attorney facing criminal charges is sued by a former associate | i L i n d
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