Schatz begins island town hall tour, Gabbard building campaign chest, state unveils mapping program, potholes pique Honolulu motorists, Bernie backers take over local Democratic Party, Maui council chairman cleared of ethics charge, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, Facebook photo by Cynthia Pope Fritts

Hawaii's U.S. Senator Brian Schatz is in the islands offering his perspectives on everything from Trump to Syria. More than 500 community members packed a room at Chaminade University Monday for Schatz's first Honolulu town hall this year. KITV.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz nimbly fielded questions on a range of weighty policy issues ranging from internet privacy, health care, North Korea’s nuclear threat and the situation in Syria during a mid-day town hall meeting at Chaminade University’s Richard Mamiya Theatre in Kaimuki today. Star-Advertiser.

Should U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard choose to run for re-election next year — or for some other federal office — she’s already got $2 million to spend. Civil Beat.

Hawaii Police Agencies Struggle To Equip Officers With Body Cameras. Civil Beat.

The House of Representatives recently passed Senate Bill 174, which seeks to allow people to qualify for medical marijuana if they suffer from lupus, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or arthritis. Garden Island.

A state House member is seeking input about legislation that would make vote-by-mail standard protocol in Hawaii. Tribune-Herald.

Maps identifying everything from the locations of homeless shelters to ahupuaa boundaries are now available online to the public thanks to a partnership between the state Office of Planning and the Office of Enterprise Technology Services. Star-Advertiser.

Federal grant money is being offered to Hawaii nonprofit organizations, public agencies and federally recognized tribal groups for initiatives that serve rural areas. Star-Advertiser.

North Korea tensions, disease not deterring isle tourists. Star-Advertiser.

Commentary: What Your Lawmakers Are Getting Away With. There are even more tax increases than usual making their way through the Hawaii Legislature. Civil Beat.

Hawaii chef Sam Choy is gearing up for another luau at Facebook’s Meno Park, Cali., headquarters next month after working with Google — another one of the world’s most influential companies — for many years. Pacific Business News.

Bank of Hawaii is pulling its ATMs out of McDonald’s systemwide after being a fixture in the fast-food restaurants for more than two decades. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

Oahu’s streets get sorry marks from likely voters, with only 1 percent ranking them as “very good.” On the other end, 26 percent of those surveyed in the latest Hawaii Poll said Oahu streets are in “very poor” condition. Star-Advertiser.

Sales of single family homes doubled in parts of Honolulu this March. KITV.

Hawaii Island

Several Kona residents on Monday pushed back against a proposal to build a 306-unit condominium development in Kahaluu. West Hawaii Today.

Fueled by the 2016 Bernie Sanders movement, a new wave of leadership is taking over the Hawaii County Democratic Party. West Hawaii Today.

Planning for the last extension of Saddle Road is moving ahead, though it remains unclear when construction funds will be available. Tribune-Herald.

A bill aimed at increasing housing opportunities for Hawaii Island’s farm workers moves into conferencing this week, marking the latest hurdle cleared for the measure. Tribune-Herald.

The new attorney for "Peter Boy" Kema's relatives says the state's Department of Human Services should be held accountable for the decision to return the 6-year-old to his abusive parents 20 years ago, despite multiple warnings that the child's life could be in danger. Hawaii News Now.

A case of a harmful honey bee disease has popped up on the Big Island. Hawaii Public Radio.

Maui

An ethics complaint against Maui County Council Chairman Mike White has been dismissed. Maui News.

A notice has been issued for the opening of applications for the affordable rental housing lottery at the County of Maui’s Kulamalu Hale. Maui Now.

Kauai

Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry has his eyes set on leading the department in the city where his career in law enforcement began — Honolulu. Garden Island.

Polystyrene foam food container ban advances, Ige releases new set of budget cuts, marijuana crop in the ground, lawyers reject judge reconfirmation measure, repairs coming to Mighty Mo, Kauai GOP holds Lincoln Day Dinner, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Polystyrene food containers at farmers market © 2017 All Hawaii News

A proposal before state legislators that would ban foam food containers drew considerable support at a packed hearing last week. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige has proposed across-the-board cuts to his $28.5 billion spending plan for the next two years due to tax revenues coming in lower than expected. Civil Beat.

Hawaii lawmakers tackle affordable housing, health, fishing. Associated Press.

Prominent lawyers including former Attorney General Margery Bronster turned out in force at a hearing last week to oppose requiring Hawaii judges seeking to serve more than one term on the bench to be reconfirmed by the state Senate. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii authorities may have been violating their own state law for years by issuing commercial fishing licenses to thousands of foreign workers who were refused entry into the country, The Associated Press has found.

State Sen. Glenn Wakai has directed a series of scathing attacks at officials with the Hawaii Tourism Authority in recent months, but denies the suggestion he may be using his office to retaliate or pursue a personal agenda after his wife resigned from her executive position at HTA following disagreements with management. Star-Advertiser.

A review of a critical audit issued five years ago that revealed a lack of oversight and accountability over the hiring and compensation of so-called casual hires at Hawaii public schools finds few improvements have been made. Star-Advertiser.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Anti-Immigrant Sentiment ‘Disheartening’. The U.S. Supreme Court Justice, in Honolulu for a UH law school program, spoke to high school students Saturday. Civil Beat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that the value of vegetable crops produced by commercial farmers statewide rose 6 percent to $47.9 million last year from $45.2 million the year before. Star-Advertiser.

Commentary: U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard overreaches in lofty comparisons with Mink and Eisenhower. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

One of Oahu’s state-approved medical marijuana dispensaries has started growing Hawaii’s first legal cannabis plants, and anticipates sales can begin in early summer. Star-Advertiser.

The contentious proposal to spend a share of Oahu rail tax dollars on state transportation projects is still alive in the state Senate after all. It’s one of a host of ideas the chamber might pack into the bill that aims to rescue the island’s beleaguered rail project. Star-Advertiser.

Reports about Honolulu’s ongoing rail issues can seem to come in alarming and disjointed bursts. Hawaii Public Radio.

Environmentalists and businesses are being given an opportunity to develop a proposal to stiffen Oahu’s plastic checkout bag ban. Star-Advertiser.

Effective immediately, commercial activity is being shut down along most of the eastern Oahu coastline from Makapu’u to Kailua. KHON2.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, the key state agency that regulates such utilities as Hawaiian Electric Co., is consolidating its staff into one building next year, the head of the agency told Pacific Business News.

The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has spent more than a decade trying to make higher and better use of its only land in urban Honolulu: a former bowling alley in Moiliili. Now state lawmakers are considering helping to kick-start redevelopment of the site. Star-Advertiser.

New video shows the moments right before Honolulu police officers shot and killed a man inside a stolen vehicle on Saturday. Hawaii News Now.

The USS Missouri Memorial Association, the nonprofit owner of the “Mighty Mo” in Pearl Harbor, has embarked on a $3 million project to repair some extensive corrosion high up on the superstructure and add some historical features to the 887-foot battlewagon. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii

As the March 1 deadline approaches for Mayor Harry Kim to submit his preliminary budget to the County Council, the administration is working feverishly trying to cover a roughly $12 million difference between anticipated revenue and anticipated expenses. West Hawaii Today.

The National Park Service is asking the state Commission on Water Resource Management to step in and designate the Keauhou Aquifer, which covers a vast region from Makalawena Beach to north of Kealakekua Bay, a water management area. A hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the West Hawaii Civic Center. West Hawaii Today.

Sammy Hagar, take heart. Saddle Road motorists can’t drive 55 either. West Hawaii Today

Mauna Kea’s oldest telescope will get a makeover later this year, but an internal upgrade will have to wait for additional funds. Tribune-Herald.

The County has responded to complaints of static electricity shocks at island playgrounds, officials said at this week’s council committee meetings. Big Island Video News.

Bills that would create the first-ever community economic district on Hawaii Island are inching their way toward a final form. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. says it still needs around 115 million gallons of water per day for its plans to transform most of its 36,000 acres formerly used for sugar cane into diversified agriculture. Maui News.

Maui Electric Co. is marching toward 100 percent renewable energy for Maui County, and that will come without an undersea interisland cable, utility President Sharon Suzuki told about 75 people during a community discussion Thursday night at the University of Hawaii Maui College. Maui News.

Tens of thousands of introduced plants present in Hawaii. Maui News.

Kauai

Kauai County is the first in the state to convert all its streetlights from high pressure sodium lights to energy-saving LED lights as a result of a joint project between the County of Kauai and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative. Garden Island.

90 attend GOP Lincoln Day Dinner. Garden Island.

Project to fix Alaka‘i Swamp boardwalk in full swing. Garden Island.

From educating beachgoers about conditions to responding to swimmers in distress, Kauai’s roving patrol unit is protecting the island’s unguarded beaches. Garden Island.

Molokai

The clock is running on the Maui County Council’s yearlong deadline to take action on the Molokai Community Plan update, which has been sitting in the council’s Planning Committee docket since May 4. Maui News.

Officials search for hooked monk seal, Hawaiian hawks wounded, Board of Regents bails out athletics department, mulls new UH president, military tests missile, business groups give Legislature good grade, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian monk seal with fish hook courtesy NOAA

State conservation officials on Maui are looking for an injured Hawaiian monk seal with a fishhook lodged in its neck. Star-Advertiser.

Two endangered Hawaiian hawks were found wounded on the Big Island after apparently being shot with a pellet gun, and federal wildlife officials want to know who is responsible. Associated Press.
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/state/endangered-hawks-shot-big-island.html

The Missile Defense Agency and US Navy sailors completed a successful test of a missile defense system by destroying a target launched in the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii isn't at the bottom of the list anymore when it comes to voter turnout, according to a new study. West Virginia now occupies that spot. Civil Beat.

Hawaii’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in April, the state’s lowest rate since October 2008, officials said Thursday. Associated Press.

State legislators earned some decent grades for the session that ended last week, as much for what they didn’t do as what they passed. Pacific Business News.

Nearly two weeks after University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood announced she would be retiring in September, the university’s Board of Regents is deciding the best way to go about looking for her successor. Star-Advertiser.

The University of Hawaii Board of Regents spent at least an hour and a half meeting behind closed doors in executive session Thursday afternoon to discuss the departure of UH President MRC Greenwood and efforts to find her successor. And the only thing the Regents' leader could say for sure afterwards was that none of the regents wanted her job. Hawaii News Now.

It was the first meeting since MRC Greenwood announced her retirement, and the first chance for board members to talk about a replacement. It began with a call to look for a good communicator in our own back yard. KITV4.

Hawaii vehicle registrations were up 9.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, besting the 8.7 percent national figure. The forecast of 45,750 sales for the year has brightened from a record annual low of 32,668 vehicle registrations in 2010. Star-Advertiser.

July 1 the Hawaii Public Housing Authority begins enforcing smoking restrictions at its 85 properties. From then on smoking will only be allowed in designated areas. Hawaii News Now.

Oahu

The 15-member Board of Regents gave unanimous approval Thursday to plans to retire a $13 million accumulated net deficit, allow the University of Hawaii athletics department to award scholarships to out-of-state athletes based on in-state rates, and receive help from the Manoa chancellor’s office in paying staff salaries. Star-Advertiser.

The University of Hawaii athletic program will have its $13-million dollar accrued deficit absorbed by the Chancellor's office at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, following a unanimous vote by the schools Board of Regents Thursday. Hawaii News Now.

The UH Board of Regents agreed to give the Athletic Department a fresh-start, zeroing out millions in debt after sports lost money for years. But KHON2 found that will not be a one-time cost to the campus — because sports will continue to rely on operational subsidies.

The state tax director assured transit officials Thursday that the city’s rail project, which relies heavily on tax dollars generated on Oahu, will receive its fair share even if the cash does not arrive in steady amounts. Star-Advertiser.

Former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano and other plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that aims to stop Honolulu’s rail project filed their opening brief in their appeal to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s 3,785 pages with attachments. Civil Beat.

Questions about a controversial North Shore development have kept Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s campaign chairman from sitting on a city land use board. Civil Beat.

The number of Oahu’s homeless people is growing at a higher rate than last year, and an important metric, the number living on streets instead of shelters, rose 11 percent, according to the latest Homeless Point-in-Time Count. Star-Advertiser.

For as long as we can remember, Chinatown has been notorious for drugs, homelessness and filthy streets. Some claim nothing has changed–and that it never will. But many Downtown merchants and workers say things have gotten markedly worse starting in January of this year, and key government officials are pushing for change. Honolulu Weekly.

Hawaii

Hilo businessman Ken Fujiyama and Ken Direction Corp. have been ordered to pay almost $10.7 million to a North Carolina bank holding a mortgage on the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort. Tribune-Herald.

Locally, 16 of the 34 fatal crashes that resulted in 38 deaths on Hawaii Island roads in 2012 were attributed to alcohol-impaired driving, according to Hawaii Police Department Traffic Services Section Sgt. Robert Pauole. That equates to nearly half — 47 percent — of fatal crashes here having alcohol as a contributing factor. Sen. Josh Green, D-Kona, Ka‘u, said he plans to bring legislation before the 2014 Legislature to reduce the legal limit in Hawaii to 0.05. West Hawaii Today.

Geothermal relocation requests would be limited to existing homeowners under a bill before the Hawaii County Council. The bill, introduced by Puna Councilman Greggor Illagan, would limit eligibility for the program to anyone who owns a home near Puna Geothermal Venture within 90 days of the bill’s adoption. Tribune-Herald.

State Department of Transportation officials are asking the public to write letters to the Federal Highways Administration in support of funding for the last section of the Saddle Road extension. West Hawaii Today.

Maui

As media mogul Oprah Winfrey goes public in her magazine about her thriving Upcountry organic farm, some Maui farmers expressed mixed feelings about her farm's vision and whether they will have to compete with Winfrey's fame and fortune for a place in an already tough agricultural market. Maui News.

Guy Kaulukukui, senior vice president and Hawaii director of Bio-Logical Capital, said the company is "pleased and flattered" to be mentioned in the June edition of O, The Oprah Magazine that offers details about Winfrey's farm on Maui. Maui News.

After three years and an estimated $15 million in funding by a state and federal partnership, almost all the upgrades to Ma'alaea Harbor are in place and operating. Maui Weekly.

The Kalama'ula Homesteaders Association is anticipating a finding of no significant environmental impact for a project to build a new pavilion and restrooms at Kiowea Park, next to Molokai's historic Kapuaiwa Coconut Grove and about a mile west of Kaunakakai. Maui News.

The Maui Solar Summit 2013 will be taking place on Friday, May 24 at the University of Hawaii Maui College campus. Maui Now.

Kauai

Kaua‘i Chief of Police Darryl Perry says that when a dismissed officer is ordered back by arbitration it presents a problem to the department. Garden Island.

Study seeks solutions to Po‘ipu Road woes. Garden Island.

Road slated for Inouye honor, Hawaii cuts cash assistance, Molokai mulls waste-to-energy plant, House speaker wants legal marijuana, Zuckerman buys pricey Honolulu condos, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Saddle Road, Hawaii Island (c) 2013 All Hawaii News

State Sen. Malama Solomon, a Democrat whose district covers the north side of Hawaii Island from Kona to Hilo, has sponsored a bill renaming Saddle Road the “Daniel K. Inouye Legacy Highway.” West Hawaii Today.

The state of Hawaii is cutting financial assistance payments it provides to more than 5,500 people. Associated Press.

Even with news last week that Hawaii's unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 percent in December, its lowest since October 2008, the state is still a year or more away from regaining all the jobs lost during the recent recession. Star-Advertiser.

The Native Hawaiian Roll Commission hosted the Huli-a-Mahi celebration Sunday at Iolani Palace, said its chairman, former Gov. John Waihee. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaiians honored Queen Lili'uokalani at Iolani Palace on Sunday. It's been 120 years since the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. KITV4.

The newly designated speaker of the state House of Representatives today introduced a bill that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Big Island Now.

State Reps. Cynthia Thielen and Mele Carroll want to limit Hawaii’s power to develop public lands. Associated Press.

Silversword

Scientists say the outlook is bleak for a rare Maui plant if current climate change trends continue. Associated Press.

Hawaii’s only state taxpayer-supported University, the University of Hawaii, increased tuition by 108 percent from 2006 to 2012, and over the next five years, tuition will rise again by 33 percent. Hawaii Reporter.

Hawaii Beverage Hui Opposes Soda Tax. Civil Beat.

It has been less than a month since U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz took office, and while he is still in temporary offices, he says he has settled in and is working to tackle big economic challenges facing the islands. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

Oahu taxpayers will pick up a portion of the tab for President Barack Obama's visit to Hawaii over the Christmas and New Years holidays, specifically for police and ambulance escorts. Hawaii Reporter.

Mark Zuckerman, The world’s youngest billionaire, chairman and CEO of Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), is buying several multi-million-dollar units in a 23-story ultra-luxury condominium under development called ONE Ala Moana, according to a source. Pacific Business News.

The city's exclusive vendor for handling police-initiated vehicle tows on Oahu could be evicted from the Kapolei lot serving as its headquarters because the company owes back rent dating to March and has failed to correct solid waste-related violations at the property, according to a lawsuit filed by the property owner. Star-Advertiser.

A plan to extend Kuakini Street across Lanakila Avenue to join with Keola Street could become a reality this summer. KHON2.

The findings in a federal report on the fireworks explosion that killed five men at a Waikele storage bunker in April 2011 raise concerns not just about a lack of federal rules and guidelines about the disposal of unused fireworks, but about inadequate oversight of employee safety procedures taken by large-scale contractors in general. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii

Citations for the use of cell phones and other electronic devices while driving on Big Island roads almost doubled in 2012 over the previous year. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

One of the unsuccessful applicants for the Central Maui state Senate seat vacated by Shan Tsutsui has filed a complaint with the state Democratic Party chairman about the process to name a successor, assailing the process as "blatant arrogance" and unfair. Maui News.

Kauai

A revamped two-dimensional look at how a tsunami would flood the Hawaiian islands is about to change it all, and with it, a rise in home insurance rates could be looming in the horizon. Garden Island.

Molokai

Aurora Renewable Energy, Inc. has proposed the first combined waste-to-energy/waste-to-product plant to the residents of Molokai as a means of becoming energy independent. Molokai Dispatch.

As the state continues toward its goal of 70 percent clean energy by 2030, Molokai is coming to the forefront of the renewable energy discussion. Hawaii Public Radio.