Voting starts Tuesday, Case and Cavasso debate, rail audit pending, Maui and Kauai mayoral candidates profiled, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii ballot testing ©2018 All Hawaii News

Walk-in absentee voting for the general election begins Tuesday and runs through Nov. 3. Registered voters are allowed to visit any early walk-in voting location in their county to cast their ballot. Star-Advertiser.

Does Hawaii Need a Constitutional Convention? Every 10 years Hawaii voters are required to decide whether or not to call for a convention to amend the state constitution. A Constitutional Convention, or ConCon, hasn’t happened in Hawaii since 1978. Hawaii Public Radio.

The Hawaii Supreme Court on Friday threw off the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment that would have established a surcharge on investment property to help fund public education. Associated Press.

Ed Case and Cam Cavasso bring familiar names to congressional race. Star-Advertiser.

Why GOP Congressional Candidate Cam Cavasso Won’t Quit Running. The former legislator hasn’t won an election since 1988, yet he keeps taking on Hawaii’s Democrats in federal races. Civil Beat.

Democrat Ed Case and Republican Cam Cavasso squared off with the general election just around the corner. It was a lively showdown between two candidates hoping to earn a seat on Capitol Hill. Hawaii News Now.

Who’s Who On The Ballot For The Office Of Hawaiian Affairs. Up for grabs are three OHA at-large seats, as well as seats representing Maui and Oahu. Civil Beat.

The contested case hearing alleging ethics violations against Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Rowena Akana will start Monday morning despite attempts in court last week to block or delay the proceeding. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii Couple Faces Deportation Of Adopted Sons With Down Syndrome. A federal agency says their parents, Ryan and Francheska Grogan, failed to prove the adoptions met legal requirements. Civil Beat.

Marriott, Kyo-ya to meet with hotel workers union over contract negotiations. About 2,700 Hawaii union hotel workers have been on strike since Oct. 8 after negotiating for higher wages, better benefits and job security. Pacific Business News.

Oahu

Time is running out to resolve a series of disputes between the Hawaii State Auditor and staff at the Honolulu rail project, and that time crunch may limit how much the public will learn about what has gone wrong with rail. Star-Advertiser.

Former city Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha is faking an illness to delay her trial next month on multiple counts of bank fraud, according to federal prosecutors. Star-Advertiser.

Community and federal government in conflict over opposing plans for Aiea site. The state is trying to fast-track plans to develop a $70 million veterans home mostly funded by the federal government, but a last-minute decision on where to build the facility has created a backlash. Star-Advertiser.

Younger patients prefer urgent care clinics, and health care providers are delivering. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii Island

Ag survey reports nearly $28M in damages caused by eruption. Fewer than 50 Big Island farmers reported nearly $28 million in total agricultural damages in a survey of farmers affected by the Kilauea eruption published last week. Tribune-Herald.

Bulldozing begins on Highway 137; temporary road over lava rock to be used by landowners, area residents first. Tribune-Herald.

Salary Commission finds setting salaries a tricky business. Among their ranks are a physician, a retired stockbroker, two engineers and a tax manager. Four of the eight are former government employees and one works for a consulting firm doing business with the county. West Hawaii Today.

Innergex Renewable Energy wins two Hawaiian Electric solar-plus-storage project bids: Public presentations set for Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 to discuss Waimea project. West Hawaii Today.

A series of free presentations planned around the Big Island intend to educate residents and health care professionals about medically assisted death in the “Our Care, Our Choice” Act, which goes into effect Jan. 1. Tribune-Herald.

Trashing tires tiresome for county. Hawaii County doesn’t consider tires rubbish, but that hasn’t stopped residents from abandoning them on roadsides or dropping them off at transfer stations in defiance of official policy. West Hawaii Today.

Small farm homesteads are planned for a former sugar plantation site. The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands wants to reduce a backlog of beneficiaries waiting for homesteads by offering a new kind of land lease: small farm sites. Star-Advertiser.

Maui

Mayoral candidates give preview of administrations. In the lead-up to the Nov. 6 Election Day showdown, mayoral candidates Elle Cochran and Mike Victorino have dished on issues ranging from housing to agriculture to tourism and the economy. Maui News.

Hawaii’s only farmer serving as a lawmaker at the state Capitol is questioning Gov. David Ige’s pledge to double local food production by 2020, and Rep. Lynn DeCoite believes legislators should be shifting more taxpayer dollars from tourism into agriculture, which makes up less than 1 percent of the state’s total budget. Maui News.

An activity center with ziplines, a giant swing, tightropes and other challenges is being proposed for a portion of the former Experience at Koele Golf Course on Lanai. Maui News.

Kauai

In Kauai Mayor’s Race, Rapozo Faces Uphill Battle Against Kawakami. The County Council chairman looks for a turnaround after being significantly outpolled by the former state representative in the primary. Civil Beat.

The Elections Division of the Office of the County Clerk will begin offering late voter registration and early voting services in the basement of the Historic County Annex this week. Garden Island.

An abandoned Kauai church that transformed into a gym this June helped youth stay off of drugs and out of trouble; but without the proper permits, the facility had to shut down. Hawaii News Now.

And then there were 6. It was feeding time at the predator-proof nesting area on Kauai’s North Shore, but one of the Newell’s shearwater (‘a‘o) chicks didn’t show up for breakfast. Garden Island.

Hawaii House seeks 200 temps for 2019 session, Caldwell signs monster home bill, humpback whale sightings down, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Window washers at Hawaii Convention Center ©2018 All Hawaii News

Hawaii Convention Center anticipates more robust 2019. Business at the Hawaii Convention Center, which turned its first profit in 2016, has softened as the facility celebrates its 20th anniversary. Star-Advertiser.

Construction industry enjoys unexpected growth to help boost Hawaii’s economy. Hawaii’s construction industry should provide a little more oomph to the local economy this year than previously expected, according to a report by economists released Friday. Star-Advertiser.

Ed Case And Cam Cavasso Far Apart On Kavanaugh Nomination. Hawaii’s top candidates for the 1st Congressional District found common ground on the Jones Act and the Honolulu rail project but disagreed about marijuana legalization and Native Hawaiian sovereignty during a forum Friday hosted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Civil Beat.

Mazie Hirono, the Hawaii senator in the national spotlight for her blunt criticisms of male behavior surrounding the controversial Supreme Court nomination said questions about one of her own male political allies with a checkered domestic past are nothing more than “more manufactured moral outrage led by the Republican leadership.” West Hawaii Today.

State House of Representatives Hiring for 200 Temporary Positions. The House of Representatives is accepting job applications for the 2019 Legislative Session. Maui Now.

Humpback whale sightings are becoming less common in the Hawaiian Islands. Associated Press.

State’s Hawaii Department Dashboard recognized by global company. KITV.

Air seats expected to increase 7% through October. Scheduled nonstop air seats to Hawaii between August and October increased 7.2 percent to 3.1 million seats, with a 24 percent increase in scheduled service to the Big Island to 282,542 seats. Pacific Business News.

Oahu

Builders of so-called illegal monster homes and other city building code violators now face stiffer penalties under a bill signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Thursday. Star-Advertiser.

Second dock unusable at USS Arizona Memorial. The shoreside dock at the memorial’s visitor center is sinking, making it too risky for visitors to get onto the boats. Star-Advertiser.

Docks at the WWII Valor memorial partially submerged after taking on water. That led to the cancellation of boat tours Sunday. Hawaii News Now.

Boat tours at Pearl Harbor suspended for at least a week while crews fix sinking dock. KHON2.

Families filled the Kapolei High Cafeteria this weekend hoping to be selected as awardees of land in an upcoming subdivision. Lots in this subdivision are a part of the East Kapolei 2 master-planned community being developed by the DHHL on the Ewa Plains. Hawaii News Now.

This Waianae Homeless Camp Is Going Legit. Residents, who fought off state plans to sweep the camp at the Waianae Boat Harbor, want to create a new self-made village for up to 300 homeless people. Civil Beat.

Can Hawaii’s Oldest Dive Bar Survive Chinatown’s Invading Hipsters? The owner of Smith’s Union Bar in Chinatown, opened in 1935, worries his landlord won’t renew the bar’s lease. Civil Beat.

Three Hawaii public school teachers were named today as finalists in a nationwide competition sponsored by Farmers Insurance and all three could win $100,000 each for their schools if they get enough support from the public. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii Island

A lawsuit filed by a Big Island group seeking to limit helicopter traffic over the island will go before the U.S. Court of Appeals in November. Tribune-Herald.

A panel debated the upcoming November ballot question, “Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?”, during a forum in Hilo on Thursday night. Big Island Video News.

Proponents for and against a proposed amendment to the state constitution that aims to better fund public education debated merits of the upcoming ballot measure during a moderated panel forum Thursday at the Arc of Hilo. Tribune-Herald.

Years after the development of a preservation plan designed to protect historic properties at Laaloa Beach Park, a subcommittee of the county’s Cultural Resources Commission is pushing the county to make full implementation of that plan a priority. West Hawaii Today.

Puna Councilwoman Jen Ruggles sent a letter to the CEO of The Queen’s Health Systems stating the state’s largest private employer “may have committed the international crime of genocide against aboriginal Hawaiians.” Tribune-Herald.

Maui

The Maui Ocean Center has recently been named among the “Top 10 Aquariums in the World” by TripAdvisor 2018 Travelers’ Choice awards. Maui Now.

Dream of water meter can come with nightmare of added costs. Most homeowners find they can’t afford water system improvements. Maui News.

Lights that will be installed at Central Maui Regional Park in the upcoming months will be on fields farthest away from the Maui Lani subdivision and near the park’s parking lots, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which coordinates the planning and construction for the park. Maui News.

Kauai

The Kauai Chamber of Commerce interviewed 11 of 14 candidates for Kauai County Council, and has posted those interviews on YouTube. Garden Island.

They’re fuzzy, they’re endangered and there are now 19 of them growing in man-made burrows on Kauai’s North Shore. They’re Newell’s shearwater chicks, and they make up the third round of chicks translocated from Kauai’s mountain burrows to a protected nesting site within a predator-proof fence in Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. Garden Island.