Kawakami Announces Run for LG

LNG for Hawaii: Green Receives JERA Proposal

Regulating Political Deepfakes: First Amendment Lessons from Hawaii’s Unconstitutional Effort

Red Flag Legislation Scheduled in Committee Wednesday and Friday

Hawaii Sues to Save 'Gender Ideology' in Housing

Even With Storm Raging, Outreach workers find homeless drug addicts refuse shelter--thus proving (again) that only FORCE can end homelessness

HPR: … Raspotnik has been homeless from five to eight years, and she lives on the side of Farrington Highway in Mākaha, Oʻahu. She, like many others living in encampments during a storm, refuses to seek shelter….

(CLUE: “Methamphetamines.”)

People experiencing homelessness in Hawaiʻi are most vulnerable to extreme weather because they often live in low-lying areas such as beaches, under bridges and on cliffs.

Honolulu firefighters on Thursday rescued four people who had been living under a bridge, where the Mānoa and Palolo streams meet in Mōʻiliʻili.

That’s an incident that Corinna Lagaret, the outreach director for Kealahou West Oʻahu, wanted to prevent. She and her team of three people have been working 24/7 since they got word of the storm last week….

One woman lives on the cliffside of a bridge in Mākaha with her dog. Lagaret and her team came to offer her shelter, but she declined. Instead, she took them up on the offer of a waterproof poncho.

Lagaret worries about the safety of people living in high-risk areas. But she said she can’t force them to go to a shelter.

“My main concern is the water and erosion, for her safety,” Lagaret said. “Plus, she only has one little tarp for shelter.”…

SA: Editorial: Unsafe flotilla must be cleared | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Outreach workers find many homeless people chose to ride out the storm | Hawai'i Public Radio

Kona Storm Showed Weaknesses in HECO Grid

IM: … Do disaggregated results show that specific communities bear a disproportionate share of reliability impacts while paying the same rates as customers who experience more reliable service?

Are the HECO Companies allocating the right resources in the right places so that all sectors can have reliable power?

read … Kona Storm Showed Weaknesses in HECO Grid | Ililani Media

Navy continues ‘degassing’ of Red Hill facility fuel tanks

SA: … After initially resisting demands to close the facility, the Pentagon formed Joint Task Force Red Hill, which spent more than a year making repairs to the facility and pipeline system connecting it to Joint Base Pearl Harbor and removing the fuel. It successfully completed its mission in March 2024. Since then, JTF-RH’s successor, Navy Closure Task Force Red Hill, has been working to close the facility for good.

Tank 12 is the tenth of 14 that will undergo the degassing process. Six of the facility’s 20 tanks were already empty and out of service before defueling began.

The Navy began removing gasses from the tanks in the summer of 2024, starting with Tank 8. Community members were vocal about concerns at the time that releasing the toxic gas into the atmosphere would threaten surrounding neighborhoods.

The facility’s former fuel director, Shannon Bencs, attended a February 2024 meeting of the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative and asked officials how they would approach community safety as the tanks are cleared of gases and chemicals.

“Now that you’ve de­fueled the tanks and the pipelines, now there’s poisonous toxic fumes in those tanks, and the only way to vent them out is through the top of Red Hill,” Bencs said, warning that it will be “extremely toxic, and it will flow down to Halawa Valley and down to Pearl Harbor.”

The Navy posted air quality monitoring equipment around the facility and has been working with the state Department of Health on planning degassing operations. Emissions have to comply with the DOH’s limit of 38 parts per million by volume in toxin detections.

NCTF-RH said in a statement Monday announcing the degassing of Tank 12 that there are currently nine air quality monitoring stations “strategically located in and around” Red Hill, including one at the Halawa Correctional Facility. The stations continuously track air quality, measure emission levels, and gather real-time atmospheric data, including wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure, the Navy said…

read … Navy continues ‘degassing’ of Red Hill facility fuel tanks | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Lahaina Rebuild Disturbs Newly-Registered Burials

CB: …  the majority of the property that the government awarded them was divided into smaller parcels and auctioned off to Pioneer Mill Co. and other owners in the early 1900s, according to the lawsuit. Acason purchased undeveloped land from the sugar company in 2014 with knowledge of the burial sites, the lawsuit says….

The iwi kūpuna were officially registered with the historic preservation division in 2018, according to the lawsuit, and the family has continuously cared for the remains ever since.

In August 2023, the Lahaina wildfire exposed several burial sites that had previously been obscured by vegetation. The family applied to register the remains with the state the following year, but the historic preservation division has not formally acknowledged the request, according to the family’s lawyers. …

read … Iwi Kūpuna Desecrated During Lahaina Fire Cleanup, Lawsuit Says - Honolulu Civil Beat

Tourism Industry Pushing to Block Resumption of Aquarium Fishing

CB: … state lawmakers hope to finally pass an outright ban in this year’s legislative session, after several prior attempts, that would stop the fish collections on the Big Island altogether. The proposal has gained some early traction and sparked a lengthy debate on the House floor last week. The House passed HB 2101 with a vote of 43-8, sending it over to the Senate for consideration.

In the Senate, the bill has been referred to four committees — a sign that it could face more resistance there.

At the same time, state aquatic resource managers are moving ahead with their own rules to revive Big Island collections of fish for the first time since 2017. Specifically, they propose issuing a limited number of permits — seven — to Big Island collectors…

read … A Do-Or-Die Moment For One Of Hawaiʻi's Most Contested Trades - Honolulu Civil Beat

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

1. Hundreds of Hawaii bills pass an important milestone this session | Politics | kitv.com

2. Understanding HECO`s Profits Through Analogies | Ililani Media

3. These 8 bills could impact daily commutes if they become law:

4. (20+) Let’s be clear — we are NOT against... - Hawaii Firearms Coalition | Facebook

5. (20+) OPPOSE HB2062 – Senate Hearing... - Hawaii Firearms Coalition | Facebook

6. Hawaii Projects $24M in Damage, Long Recovery From Kona Low

7. Mayor Bissen seeks $15 million in emergency funds for storm repairs : Maui Now

8. Allow Food Banks To Buy Locally Grown Food Directly - Honolulu Civil Beat

9. Column: Housing proposals don’t help kamaaina | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

10. Off the news: Public input sought on bus, rail upgrades | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

QUICK HITS:

1. Big Q: Do you blame NATO countries for not coming to the U.S.’s aid against Iran? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

2. Meli James Is Rewriting the Rules for Hawai‘i's Entrepreneurs - Hawaii Business Magazine

3. ‘Unprecedented’ flooding triggers condo collapse in Kihei | Hawaii News Now

4. TSA warns small airports may close amid shutdown | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

5. As flood waters recede, Kīhei is left with a muddy mess, coastal erosion and road damage : Maui Now

6. Maui Food Bank coordinates airlift of 2,000 pounds of food to Hāna : Maui Now

7. Wastewater discharge reported at JBPHH, UV-treated water released offshore | Hawaii News Now

8. Maui preschool scrambles to clean storm debris before students return | Hawaii News Now

9. Maui braces for weeks-long recovery after Kona low, prepares for incoming storm | Honolulu Star-Advertiser