The Worst Transit Projects
$100M Green Fee Slush Fund: Green Appoints Advisory Council
Maui County releases 2025 human services assessment report
Chinatown suspect paid $290K by the City just before acid attack
KHON: … The man accused of throwing acid on a pedestrian in Chinatown on Aug. 8 recently received a large payment from the City and County of Honolulu.
Marquis Johnson, 34, sued the City and a Honolulu police officer in 2022, alleging misconduct after he was wrongfully detained by police in Waikiki in 2020.
According to court documents, Johnson said he was assaulted by the officer while handcuffed. The federal civil rights suit was settled for $290,000 and was approved by the Honolulu City Council in June 2025.
The City said his subsequent arrest for the acid attack has no impact on this settlement….
read … Chinatown acid attack suspect paid $290K by the City
Hawaiian Electric Company Rates Increases Are Expected
IM: … Two major processes are underway to enable the second five-year PBR period to start on January 1, 2027.
“Re-basing” refers to the process of recalculating or resetting the utility’s rate base—the value of property and investments on which a regulated utility is permitted to earn a specified return. This process establishes a new baseline for calculating allowable earnings and rate recovery. An alternative approach being considered by HECO is determining the new rate base through a streamlined rate case.
In either case, revenue requirements will increase and thus rates will rise….
read … Hawaiian Electric Company Rates Increases Are Expected | Ililani Media
Why opening a restaurant in Hawaii can be a bureaucratic and financial nightmare
PBN: … While high operating costs and labor shortages have always plagued owners, experts have identified lengthy permitting times as an unnecessary, preventable obstacle that harm restaurants….
read … Why opening a restaurant in Hawaii can be a bureaucratic and financial nightmare - Pacific Business News
Judge in Hawaii considers legality of restrictions on access to abortion medication
AP: … The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to overly restrict access to mifepristone, a medication for abortions and miscarriage management, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union argued Friday in a lawsuit by a Hawaii doctor and healthcare associations challenging the legality of the restrictions.
They are asking a judge to find that the FDA violated the law by restricting a safe medication without scientific justification, but stop short of flat-out seeking an immediate elimination of the restrictions, which currently include special certification for prescribers and pharmacies and requiring patients to review a counseling form.
Plaintiffs are taking the “more modest approach” to give the agency an opportunity to correct its errors, Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in court.
U.S. District Judge Jill Otake in Honolulu didn't say when she would issue a ruling….
read … Judge in Hawaii considers legality of restrictions on access to abortion medication - ABC News
Hawaiʻi County Police Commission explores strategies for filling police chief vacancy
BIN: … The Hawaiʻi County Police Commission discussed the process of hiring a new police chief during its monthly meeting on Friday, but with four members missing it will discuss requirements for the position at its next meeting in September….
According to Simmons, the one-year residency requirement was waived by the commission in 2022, which led to concern from commissioners Wendy Botelho and Lloyd Enriquez.
“I want to look at criteria from 2022, especially about the residency,” Botelho said. “I don’t want to waive it. I would want them to live here more than that. I’ll be here for 10 more years. I’m not going anywhere, and I want someone who has that same investment and many people in my district feel the same way.”
(TRANSLATION: Keep it local. An outsider might get wise to our games.)
At the end of August, Acting Police Chief Reed Manuha will become the interim chief of police on Sept. 1, after Moszkowicz ends his tenure on Aug. 31….
HTH: Residents, commissioners weigh in on search for next police chief - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
read … Hawaiʻi County Police Commission explores strategies for filling police chief vacancy : Big Island Now
Navy cleaning Red Hill pipelines in preparation for … what?
SA: … The Navy’s Red Hill closure task force is cleaning up miles of pipelines in preparation for their eventual removal, a key step in efforts to shut down the facility for good.
“We’re on path, you know, making good progress,” said Rear Adm. Marc Williams, the naval engineer that has been tasked with the day-to-day operations of the closure task force. “We’re now into seven of the 14 tanks that were operational.”
(CLUE: Re-imagine this as a massive overhaul project designed to support operations for another 80 years.)
The underground fuel farm contains 20 massive tanks that were built to collectively store up to 250 million gallons of fuel at full capacity. Built during World War II, the facility was meant to protect the military’s Pacific fuel reserve from enemy attacks. A series of pipelines connect the tanks to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, in what’s regarded as an engineering marvel…..
But in 2021, fuel from the facility contaminated the Navy’s Oahu water supply that serves more than 93,000 people. Thousands of residents reported serious rashes, gastrointestinal issues and other ailments.
Not long after, reports emerged showing that several military officials and personnel who had worked at the site had raised concerns about poor maintenance. The pipelines were badly corroded and many of the tanks hadn’t been inspected in years. Military officials admitted that the facility and pipeline would need heavy repairs and renovations to safely remove the millions of gallons of fuel inside.
The military established a task force of experts from across each military branch led by Vice Adm. John Wade that officially began operations in October 2022. Between repairs, planning and defueling, the mission took 18 months and removed the 104,703,574 gallons inside.
But the long-term closure and remediation is a whole separate beast.
(CLUE: Re-imagine this as a massive overhaul project designed to support operations for another 80 years.)
“Every time we enter a tank, every time, it’s a learning evolution,” Williams said. “We learn something new and use that to carry forward (and) try to go faster, but we’re not worried about going faster for the sake of going faster … we’re not sacrificing thoroughness for expediency.”
Suesse said that “we’re kind of finding that every tank is a little bit of a snowflake, every one is a little bit different and unique … some of those tanks haven’t been opened in a number of years and so they’ve opened up the tanks and they found the kind of infrastructure that needs to be verified that it’s clean (and) make sure there’s no fuel left in those tanks.”…
When Pentagon investigators visited JBPHH in 2022 and asked to see engineering drawings and schematics for the interconnected fuel system, they were directed to a technical library. Their report described it as “disorganized, with documents overflowing into the hallway, a lack of labeling, and piles of engineering drawings scattered on various tables.”
A Navy contractor told investigators there was no one on staff to “collect and integrate drawings from projects that changed the (fuel) infrastructure over time.” Investigators wrote that they ultimately “determined that Navy officials did not have accurate and up to date as-built drawings of … tanks, pipelines, and supporting infrastructure.”…
(CLUE: Re-imagine this as a massive overhaul project designed to support operations for another 80 years.)
read … Navy cleaning Red Hill pipelines in preparation for removal | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Will Congress Rescue Fish Farms from Hawaii State Regulations?
CB: … Advocates for increasing Hawaiʻi’s aquaculture production are buoyed by the introduction of federal legislation that could supercharge the almost $2 billion national fish farming industry, a sector many believe has been neglected (attacked and obstructed) by state authorities for too long.
The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaiʻi, intends to streamline permitting, build the aquaculture workforce, facilitate research and development, and eventually pave the way for offshore, commercial-level demonstration facilities across federal waters.
The draft Marine Aquaculture Research for America Act, or MARA Act, aims to boost production throughout the country to lessen the nation’s reliance on imported products, which account for 75% to 90% of its seafood — and 63% in Hawaiʻi. The legislation is a streamlined revival of a previously failed bill, although aquaculture industry leaders say it may now be primed for success….
read … With Wild Fish Stocks Dwindling, Congress Considers Backing Aquaculture - Honolulu Civil Beat
SHPD Recent Debacles
CB: … According to the SHPD website, the sole archeologist for Oʻahu is Samantha Hemenway, who graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi. Her LinkedIn profile says she joined the division six years ago.
In addition to being asked to process permit paperwork that can run into the hundreds of pages, Hemenway also is expected to take action when something outrageous occurs.
In May, for example, Hemenway was summoned to the scene of a North Shore construction project after human bones were found there. The division issued a stop-work order. After she left the premises, the bones were pulverized into dust, allegedly by errant construction equipment, sparking an investigation by the state attorney general.
This came on top of other recent debacles, including the destruction of the once-charming house on the property that inspired the song “Aloha Oe” and the gutting of the Marconi telegraph station in Kahuku, a national landmark that was once the largest wireless communications center in the world.
Meanwhile, the city has no archeologists on staff at all.
Officials at the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the parent agency to SHPD, said they were unable to comment because SHPD’s administrator was on leave and unavailable for comment. They said they did not know how long the state had been operating with only one archeologist for Oʻahu.
The SHPD website indicates that Hawaiʻi island has three archeologists, Maui has two and Kauaʻi has one….
read … Kirstin Downey: Historic Preservation Division Is Woefully Understaffed - Honolulu Civil Beat
CNHA/Hawaiian Council Becomes Green Energy Schemer
KHON: … The Hawaiian Council (formerly Council on Native Hawaiian Affairs) has appointed Josh Stanbro as chief administrator of Kalāhiki for a new statewide effort focused on energy sovereignty, climate resilience and economic security.
Kalāhiki is designed to give Hawaiʻi families practical help at a time when federal energy and climate programs are shrinking and households are losing millions in benefits….
read … Hawaiian Council sets its sights on energy independence
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