Entries for December 2024

... Sale price of $405M for 90.1% of ASB suggests that the sale is a 50%-off giveaway to ASB insiders ....

... dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids, early fills of opioids, and “trinity” prescriptions ....

... the Governor has signed an executive order directing the Department of Health to not use resources to address situations where a 'caregiver' is cultivating cannabis for a 'patient' ....

... It mostly comes down to one thing: housing ....

... $29 million lying around doing nothing ....

... the Judicial Selection Commission is accepting applications and nominations to fill the following anticipated judicial vacancy ....

... a list of laws taking effect on January 1, 2025 ....

... Hawaii has the lowest average disposable income, $5,929 per working resident ....

"... iconoclastic inaccuracies and thought-terminating clichés ...."

... assess the readiness of the Giant Magellan Telescope (Chile) and Thirty Meter Telescope (Hawaii) to move into the major facility Final Design Phase ....

... informational briefings, to be held between January 6 through January 28, 2025 ....

... The race is noteworthy because the ‘pro-development’ candidate Cook, beat the ‘anti-development’ candidate King by 97 votes.  All it took to shift voter sentiment was Lahaina burning to the ground ....

... Honolulu residents have until January 7, 2025 to participate online ....

... OHA Trustees are hoping 2025 will be the year legislators stop laughing at their Kaka’ako Makai upzone bills ....

As presented by Hoku Paoa Stevenson at the Summer Palace....

... The word ‘plan’ occurs 526 times in this report.  The phrase ‘property rights’ occurs zero times ....

... Approximately $1.6B allocated for housing and $480M for restoration efforts ....

... two new Republican Governors ....

... The greatest statewide shortage remains in primary care, with 152 FTEs needed in total across all islands ....

... 118th Congress Decides it's Done ....

... Friday, December 20, 2024 – Candidate and Voter Registration Begins ....

... Deferred doesn’t mean dead ....

... The Honolulu City Council shelved Bill 46 while also approving bills that will actually be effective at facilitating more housing ....

... U.S. maritime jobs disappearing despite protectionist Jones Act ....

... a few requests for the people of Hawaii ....

... UH employees may negotiate and enter into contracts with the UH on behalf of their private businesses ....

... Feds, once again, doing the job the State Judiciary can/will not ....

... The Department of Taxation Requires Employers Decrease Withholding Amounts Beginning January 1, 2025 ....

... The House approved the bill by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 366-34 ....

... “birth tourism” scheme that charged Chinese clients tens of thousands of dollars to help them give birth in the United States to obtain birthright U.S. citizenship for their children ....

... Interior Secretary can approve American Samoa’s constitutional amendments now and in the future without unnecessary steps in Washington, D.C., that other territories do not have ....

... Hawaii will significantly modify its individual income tax brackets ....

... not for the faint of heart ....

... another $365 million is expected to be released by DOT as HART continues to meet the milestones outlined in the grant agreement ....

... the coalition plans to take concrete action by working together to leverage and enforce each state’s existing civil liability and consumer protection laws ....

... highlights FBI Honolulu’s casework in counterintelligence, counterterrorism, cyberstalking, drug and gun crimes, organized crime, violent crimes against children, white-collar crimes, and more ....

... $10.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $10.5 billion in fiscal year 2027, which represents an increase of $620 million (6.3%) in the first year and $664 million (6.7%) in the second year ....

... reforms implemented in 2019 have not reduced pretrial incarceration ....

... Hawaii leads the nation with 88,703 passengers per 100,000 residents. This is 11 times the national average of 7,746 ....

... complex, nonneutral taxes with comparatively high rates ....

... Bureau of Economic Analysis data details disparities in spending power across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas of each state ....

... Hawaii has effectively declared that the Second Amendment, as interpreted in Bruen, does not apply within its borders ....

... Currently, all but eight commercial properties in Lahaina have been cleared and completed ....

... the missed warnings and chaotic response ....

“What’s the biggest break that today’s tax code gives us?”

... the credit for this win goes to you, the people who got involved and made their voices heard ....

... As one of only five U.S. Navy-sponsored University-Affiliated Research Centers, ARL at UH has secured over $175 million in funding since its establishment in 2008 ....

... The Legislature will continue to accept GIA applications until Friday, January 17, 2025, at 4:30 p.m., and final determinations will be made as Council on Revenue forecasts in January and March are published. ...

... Kaiawe fraudulently obtained at least approximately $126,026 in CRUA assistance benefits ....

...  sex trafficking Minor Victim 1 in 2005 and 2006; coercing and enticing Minor Victim 2 to engage in sexual activity in 2006; and producing, receiving, and possessing child pornography of Minor Victim 3 in and around 2020 to 2023 ....