Honolulu rail costs rise $114M, Kauai plans wood-burning power plant, Hawaii County council chairman clears election ethics charge, Oahu landfill decision delayed, remains found on military site, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Honolulu rail route courtesy photo

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation now estimates that contractor delay claims, change orders and new expenses tied to the court-ordered construction shutdown of the rail project will cost the city more than $114 million, the City Council was told Wednesday. Star-Advertiser.

The discovery of more human bones in Kakaako along the rail route will mean more delays and more costs to the $5.2 billion dollar project. Hawaii News Now.

Ben Cayetano says the bus rapid transit system he plans to implement instead of rail if elected mayor will be in line for some of the same federal funding as the project it's replacing. Civil Beat.

Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners urged the head of the Honolulu rail authority on Wednesday to find a way to leave burials and other human remains in place when they are discovered along the rail route. Star-Advertiser.

The effects of a state law forcing foreclosure actions in Hawaii to go through the judicial system continued to slash the number of properties going through the process in September, as the number of foreclosure filings dropped 72 percent compared to the same month a year ago, according to RealtyTrac. Pacific Business News.

State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim said she has sent University of Hawaii at Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple a letter asking him to "clarify" some of the statements he made to the Senate Special Committee on Accountability on Oct. 2. Star-Advertiser.

State roundup for October 11. Associated Press.

Oahu

A resolution urging Mayor Peter Carlisle's administration to proceed with plans to continue using the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill was shelved by the City Council's Public Works and Sustainability Committee after it received written testimony from West Oahu leaders opposing the idea. Star-Advertiser.

Honolulu City Councilman Tom Berg was fined $250 by the state Campaign Spending Commission on Wednesday for failing to disclose that he had received 24 T-shirts from a campaign supporter. Star-Advertiser.

A former staffer for City Councilman Tom Berg has claimed in a sworn affidavit that he collected $28,643 in city salary for 77 days of work he actually performed for Berg’s political campaign. Hawaii Reporter.

Honolulu City Council member Tom Berg tongue-lashed his former chief of staff Wednesday morning as he defended himself during a tense Campaign Spending Commission meeting. Civil Beat.

A new federal study of security failures at Honolulu International Airport in 2010 partially blames Transportation Security Administration officers for the lapses but mostly faults top TSA managers for poor planning and supervision. Hawaii Reporter.

Three residential high-rises could start coming out of the ground at Ward Centers in 2014 as part of a revised master plan transforming 60 acres of retail and industrial businesses into an almost entirely new neighborhood dominated by condominium towers and twice as many shops and restaurants. Star-Advertiser.

A pre-20th Century linear fish pond once owned by Victor Ward is the inspiration for an open-air plaza that's the centerpiece of redevelopment plans for 60acres of Kakaako land owned by the Howard Hughes Corporation. Star-Advertiser.

Waihonua at Kewalo, a half block from Ala Moana Center, has been under construction for months. In recent weeks, workers came across a burial site with 18 sets of human remains some believe are of historic significance to Hawaii. KHON2.

Beginning Monday, the Haleiwa-bound lane of Karsten Thot Bridge in Wahiawa will be open for afternoon rush-hour traffic as major repairs continue. Star-Advertiser.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will conduct controlled underwater explosions of unexploded ordnance on Thursday that will close Mâlaekahana State Recreation Area. Hawaii News Now.

Unexploded Ordnance Found Off Oahu’s N. Shore. Civil Beat.

Hawaii

A divided county Ethics Board couldn’t muster the votes Wednesday to proceed on a request forwarded by state Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago for an investigation into County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong’s involvement in the county Elections Division. West Hawaii Today.

The county Board of Ethics today deadlocked on whether it should pursue an investigation into whether County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong may have been inappropriately involved in the operations of the county Elections Division. Big Island Now.

Human skeletal remains have been discovered at Pohakuloa Training Area, an Army spokesman said Wednesday. Tribune-Herald.

A call has been issued for Native Hawaiian individuals or organizations with ancestral claims or cultural affiliation with human remains found recently in the US Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area. Big Island Now.

The two men running for Hawaii County mayor highlighted actions their administrations took to help the island’s poorer residents at a forum Wednesday night in Waimea. West Hawaii Today.

The owners of the only trail to Papaikou Mill Beach have made an offer that may be hard for Hawaii County to refuse. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

A hui of beachfront homeowners in Spreckelsville wants to move ahead with installing rock groins at a beach along Stable Road, replacing temporary sand-filled "geotubes" that were laid two years ago to slow beach erosion. Maui News.

A project is being proposed to protect a stretch of beach along Stable Road in Central Maui. Maui Now.

A conversation on plastic pollution comes to Maui this week in a series of presentations planned across the island. Maui Now.

Maui hotel rooms were occupied at a rate of 75 percent in August, a 3.9 percent increase over the same month in 2011, Hospitality Advisors reported. Maui News.

Kauai

A company plants to generate electricity for Kauai by burning wood chips from trees grown and harvested on the island. Garden Island.

A renewable-energy developer building a wood-fired power plant on Kauai has finalized its financing plans and is scheduled to begin construction early next year on the facility that will provide an estimated 11 percent of the island's electricity needs. Star-Advertiser.

The Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday by a 4-2 vote approved a request of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney to apply for a federal grant to establish a Keiki POHAKU program. Garden Island.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai‘i, was honored Wednesday on Kaua‘i for a lifetime of public service in Washingont, D.C. Garden Island.

Obama a shoo-in in Hawaii, state Elections Office to handle Hawaii County elections, state Senate continues to grill university officials, Oracle's Ellison to make Lanai a sustainability laboratory, Hawaii to benefit from visa-free travel for Taiwanese tourists, state shoulders 3rd highest debt, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

President Obama, former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, 2009 courtesy photo

The state that provided President Barack Obama his largest margin of victory in 2008 likes him over challenger Mitt Romney 62 percent to 30 percent. Civil Beat.

Hawaii will likely welcome more visitors from Taiwan now that the U.S. has eliminated a visa requirement for Taiwanese citizens, state officials said Tuesday. Associated Press.

The first major boom in Taiwanese travelers to Hawaii as a result of the nation's newfound visa waiver status should start to hit next spring. Star-Advertiser.

A new study found that Hawaii has the third-highest per-capita state debt in the nation, with each person’s share of the state debt standing at $29,062. Pacific Business News.

Senators took the University of Hawaii's Board of Regents members to task Tuesday for failing to play a stronger role in holding UH administrators accountable and for keeping questions about the institution's direction behind closed doors. Star-Advertiser.

State senators began a briefing investigating the University of Hawaii's failed Stevie Wonder concert Tuesday by admonishing a lawyer hired by UH for not providing them an answer to a key question: a complete breakdown of the costs incurred because of the concert fiasco. Hawaii News Now.

Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple was greeted with skepticism and, at times, derision Tuesday by a state Senate panel looking into the University of Hawaii's handling of the ill-fated Stevie Wonder concert and its fallout. Star-Advertiser.

The special Hawaii Senate hearings into the University of Hawaii following a botched Stevie Wonder benefit concert clocked in at seven and a half hours ending late Tuesday. Civil Beat.

State senators investigating the failed University of Hawaii Stevie Wonder benefit concert appearance today repeatedly questioned why UH officials and attorneys have withheld information from the public. Hawaii Reporter.

There's a new price tag being put on the table for the cost of the botched Stevie Wonder concert at UH Manoa. At the second senate hearing into the matter, senators say the fallout has now topped $1.1 million dollars. KHON2.

What did you know, when did you know it, and why can't we get straight answers to our questions? That sums up the seven and a half hours of grilling of University of Hawaii regents and other highly paid people in-charge. KITV4.

Former state Sen. Anthony Kai Ung Chang, described as a statesman who was instrumental in shaping Hawaii environmental laws, died Tuesday morning. He was 68. Star-Advertiser.

State roundup for October 3. Associated Press.

Oahu

The Honolulu City Council budget committee passed a resolution tonight to authorize the sale of 12 rental housing complexes to a private company. KHON2.

Honolulu mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano’s alternative to elevated rail has a $1.8 billion budget, which is $700 million more than the cost estimate he revealed last week. Civil Beat.

Bright Light Marketing is closing its downtown Honolulu office by mid-December while its staff of five public relations executives continue on as independent contractors, according to a letter sent to clients from the firm’s Owner/President/CEO, Lynette Lo Tom. Pacific Business News.

Eight Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients, in town for a convention of the war heroes, paid tribute Tuesday to four World War II aviators who were at one time based at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa and singled out for bravery "above and beyond the call of duty." Star-Advertiser.

Governor Neil Abercrombie welcomed more than 50 of the nation's 81 living Medal of Honor recipients at Washington Place on Tuesday night. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii

The state will take over operations of the Nov. 6 General Election in Hawaii County, state Chief Election Officer Scott Nago announced Tuesday. West Hawaii Today.

The state Office of Elections will take control of the November general election in Hawaii County, an unprecedented move that reflects a lack of confidence in Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi. Star-Advertiser.

State elections officials say they will take back oversight of Election Day voting on the Big Island because problems relating to the Aug. 11 primary have not been adequately addressed. Civil Beat.

State shakes up Big Island County elections office. KITV4.

Jim Waugh and Charlene Prickett say they want to find a “third way” to resolve a dispute over a trail to Papaikou Mill Beach that runs through their property. Tribune-Herald.

A group opposed to plans to modify the Lower Hamakua Ditch with plastic pipe today gained the support of several members of the County Council. Big Island Now.

Faced with the loss of funding from its parent agency, the Joint Astronomy Centre is offering to anybody interested a rare opportunity to take over a working Mauna Kea telescope. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

It'll be at least another year before landowner Alexander & Baldwin turns over a 50-acre plot in Kahului to Maui County officials for affordable housing, a community center and park. Maui News.

The County of Maui is the recipient of a distinguished budget presentation award for the 2012 Maui budget document. Maui Now.

A Hawaiian Airlines flight enroute from Seattle to Kahului today returned safely to Seattle after pilots received a "low quantity" indicator for the jetliner's hydraulic system, a Hawaiian Airlines spokesman said. Maui News.

Kauai

A sewage spill estimated to be between 50 and 100 gallons of raw wastewater shut down a Hanapepe pump station and closed Hana Road on Tuesday. Garden Island.

Office of Youth Services Executive Director David Hipp, on a letter dated Friday to the Kaua‘i County Council, denies he had advised the county Office of Prosecuting Attorney to stop referring youth to Hale ‘Opio’s Kaua‘i Teen Court program. Garden Island.

A busload of students from the Boys and Girls of Hawai‘i took advantage of the week-long break from school to participate with Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr., Tuesday during the Walk and Talk Story with the Mayor program. Garden Island.

Containers that once transported goods to and from the islands will be converted into new homes on Kaua`i. Educators and community leaders are teaming up to create a self-sustaining community with recycled homes, renewable energy and community aquaponics. Hawaii Public Radio.

Lanai

Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison spoke publicly about the island of Lanai Tuesday for the first time since buying the Hawaiian island in June, saying he plans to turn it into a laboratory for sustainability. Pacific Business News.