Ige touts ocean energy conversion, inspections lag for medical providers, voter registration hits record as election nears, Bureau of Conveyances digitizing records, Kenoi-Kim transition hits bump, Maui financial data goes online, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Gov. David Ige throws shaka Saturday at Hilo Veterans Day parade © 2016 All Hawaii News

Gov. David Ige said he is interested in the commercial use of ocean thermal energy conversion to help achieve the state’s 100 percent renewable-energy goal. Star-Advertiser.

A key division within the state Department of Land and Natural Resources that handles real estate transactions is halfway through a project to convert more than 170 years of vital state records into a permanent digital format. Pacific Business News.

Some of Hawaii’s medical providers haven’t had safety inspections for as long as four years as the state struggles to keep up with oversight responsibilities with a shortage of health inspectors. Star-Advertiser.

More Hawaii residents have registered to vote this year than ever before. The ease of online registration, offered for the first time in Hawaii this election cycle, might explain the increase in the total electorate  to 749,917. Civil Beat.

A look at early voter numbers in Hawaii indicates this may be a good year for voter turnout. KHON2.

Clinton, Trump Donors Include Some Familiar Hawaii Names. Individual gifts from the islands totaled $2.2 million to the 2016 presidential candidates. Civil Beat.

The death of one of Hawaii’s congressmen has led to an unusual ballot and voter confusion in urban Honolulu. The rare double election means residents in the 1st Congressional District are selecting someone to fill the late U.S. Rep. Mark Takai’s seat for the two-month unfinished term and someone to represent the district for the next two years. Associated Press.

Over the years, solar energy has become part of the landscape of Hawai‘i. But contraction in the industry has left some customers in the lurch. Hawaii Public Radio.

Oahu

A lawsuit alleging that military families were not informed of high levels of ground contamination before they moved into their Kaneohe Marine Corps Base housing has been settled. Star-Advertiser.

A number of congressional, legislative and City Council races are on the ballot, but if a spot check on early voting at Honolulu Hale is any indication, it’s the presidential race first and foremost on the minds of many Hawaii voters. Star-Advertiser.

Mayoral Campaign Weekend Update. Caldwell identifies seven “whoppers” from Djou while the challenger unveils plans for parks and housing. Civil Beat.

The University of Hawaii’s flagship campus has narrowed down its finalists for chancellor. The Chancellor Search Advisory Committee identified two finalists, John V. White and Sonny Ramaswamy for the open chancellor position at UH Manoa. White and Ramaswamy will participate in a final round of interviews this month. Garden Island.

Car dealership sues Honolulu firm renting parking spaces. Star-Advertiser.

Fall victim’s family prepares to sue Ala Moana Shopping Center. KITV.

A frustrated Manoa homeowner says the land surrounding is home is sinking and causing structural damage. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii

Mayor-elect Harry Kim’s administration hasn’t even taken over yet, but the County Council is already trying to stave off a possible purge in the Office of Corporation Counsel. West Hawaii Today.

Mayor-Elect Harry Kim Talks Transition With Council. Big Island Video News.

As Mayor Billy Kenoi pushes to see other projects finished before his term is up, county-paid overtime has become an issue for some elected officials. Hawaii County Councilman Aaron Chung has been trying to organize a briefing on the subject for a few weeks. Big Island Video News.

Big Island restaurants yet to fail Health Department inspections. Tribune-Herald.

TMT wants to resume construction in 2018: Pace of contested case could impact deadline. Tribune-Herald.

A Japanese government delegation spent Saturday touring Hilo and discussing emergency response practices with Hawaii island officials as part of the first-ever international World Tsunami Awareness Day. Star-Advertiser.

A Hawaii developer plans to begin construction on a Malama Market-anchored shopping center on the Big Island in Feburary, the developer confirmed to Pacific Business News.

Friends of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden nonprofit formed to save sacred space. West Hawaii Today.

Maui

Members of the public will now be able to more easily access Maui County financial performance data, thanks to new open data software, county officials announced today. Maui Now.

“Keep Upcountry Upcountry” has been a rallying cry against creeping urbanization in Maui’s paniolo country, and that call resonates with Maui County Council candidates Napua Greig-Nakasone and Yuki Lei Kashiwa Sugimura. Maui News.

Both candidates for the Maui County Council’s Kahului residency seat emphasized balance in decision-making across the issues, with the incumbent touting his support by both the old political guard and the new progressive groups while his opponent talked about speaking for the old-timer “local people.” Maui News.

Ernest Balinbin touts his hard work and community involvement through his catering business as some of the reasons he should be elected to the West Maui residency seat on the Maui County Council. Maui News.

Kauai

Criminal liability may not be the first thing on the mind of a farmer designing his irrigation system, but for those in food production, it’s a real business risk that must be assessed. Garden Island.

Dennis Esaki, director of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, resigned from the KIUC board of directors, effective Oct. 31, due to personal and professional reasons. Garden Island.

Debra Wennett says she’s all for safer walkways and bikeways in Hanapepe Town, but she hopes county alterations won’t change the town’s rural identity. Garden Island.

Construction will begin today on the $2.4 million replacement of three bridges along the Mohihi-Camp 10 Road in the Na Pali-Kona state forest reserve. Garden Island.

Hawaii unveils online restaurant inspection tool, Honolulu rail transit head quits amid cost overruns, parents of downed Marine blame military for Honolulu helicopter crash, seed industry drops out of Kauai pesticide study, Maui mayor quizzed on land holdings, busy day today for Hawaii Legislature, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Food inspection placard in Hilo restaurant front © 2016 All Hawaii News

Online tool to access restaurant inspection data, via Hawaii Department of Health. Get link here.

Launched on Monday by the state Department of Health, a restaurant inspection website is intended to supplement the state’s color-coded restaurant inspection placard program initiated in July 2014. Reports on all of Oahu’s food establishments are now available, and the department wants to add reports for eateries on the neighbor islands by the end of the year. Star-Advertiser.

You can now look up restaurant food safety inspection results through an online tool created by the state Department of Health. Civil Beat.

A new website published by the Hawaii State Department of Health lets foodies inspect how Hawaii restaurants and other food service organizations fare in food safety inspections. The website rolled out Monday with data from 7,000 Oahu inspection reports to start, and will be expanded. Pacific Business News.

The Hawaii State Department of Health has launched a new online portal that lets consumers see how Hawaii restaurants and other food service organizations fare in food safety inspections, starting first with Oahu inspection data. KHON2.

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After decades of tough-on-crime policies, Hawaii is one of four states that solve their prison crowding problem by shipping inmates out of state, usually to facilities run by for-profit companies such as Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group.  Civil Beat.

Women would be able to obtain a year’s supply of birth control pills under a bill aimed at improving access to contraception and reducing unintended pregnancies. Star-Advertiser.

State lawmakers prepare for a heavy voting day Tuesday and cleanup Thursday, which is the deadline for bills to pass third reading in their non-originating chamber in order to “cross back” to the originating chamber. Civil Beat.

With less than a week to go before the state Department of Health announces the names of Hawaii's first medical marijuana dispensary owners, applicants are rushing to meet last-minute requirements for background checks. Associated Press.

Will ‘pot’ become too pricey? Some fear dispensaries will limit access and be cost-prohibitive. Tribune-Herald.

In hopes of keeping the ferry issue afloat, the state Senate passed a resolution last year asking transportation officials to study whether Washington state’s ferry system could be used as a model for Hawaii. After seeing no action, the Legislature appears to be ready to do the same again, though this time with a mandate and funding to go with it. Tribune-Herald.

State Sen. Sam Slom will undergo coronary bypass surgery this week, according to his office. Slom, the only Republican lawmaker in the 25-member Senate, was hospitalized last week. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

Don Horner, former CEO for First Hawaiian Bank, is the first political casualty in Honolulu’s struggle to rein in cost increases on its $6.6 billion commuter rail project. Civil Beat.

Don Horner, who once oversaw the state’s largest financial institution, will no longer help oversee the state’s largest public works project. Horner tendered his resignation to Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Monday as the rail agency’s volunteer board chairman, as the transit project faces rising costs and growing uncertainty. Star-Advertiser.

Don Horner has resigned as chairman of the board of the Honolulu Area Rapid Transit Authority.  He submitted his resignation to Mayor Kirk Caldwell today….after a meeting of about 20 minutes at Honolulu Hale. Hawaii Public Radio.

Despite the resignation of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation's chairman, the rail transit system still faces significant challenges and critics said that even more changes are needed. Hawaii News Now.

Honolulu’s rail budget has ballooned over the years. When the project began in 2008, it was estimated at $4 billion. In 2012, that number shot up to $5 billion, and then $5.2 billion two years later. Currently, the project is $2.5 billion over its original budget at $6.5 billion. KHON2.

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The parents of a Hawaii Marine killed in the Jan. 14 crash of two helicopters off Oahu’s North Shore say the CH-53E Super Stallions shouldn’t have been flying because of safety concerns over worn-out Marine Corps choppers. But beyond that, Mike and Lisa De La Cruz say they are angry and maintain that the Marine Corps wasted lots of time in trying to make a recovery at sea that has yielded remains identifications for nine of 12 aboard — but not their son. Star-Advertiser.

Lower-income residents in Honolulu live shorter lives than people in similar circumstances elsewhere in the nation, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Pacific Business News.

Hawaii

State lawmakers passed a bill providing additional funds to combat rapid ohia death. But they are not ready to write the check just yet. Tribune-Herald.

Every Big Island judge has recused, or removed, themselves in the felony theft case against Mayor Billy Kenoi, which led to the assignment of Oahu Circuit Court Judge Dexter Del Rosario. That is also true in the case of where a man allegedly burned the Big Island Drug Court, which is being handled by Maui Circuit Court Judge Rhonda Loo. West Hawaii Today.

Maui

A Kihei resident is asking the Maui County Board of Ethics to seek more information from Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa on possible income from his holdings in Arakawa Farms and three Omaopio Road parcels. Maui News.

Kamalani, a new residential community in north Kīhei, will begin accepting sales applications for its first neighborhood on Sunday, April 17, 2016.  Maui Now.

A crew from Sea Engineering Inc. of Oahu takes a core sample at Maalaea Small Boat Harbor on Friday morning. The sample will help determine the size and depth of new pilings scheduled to be set at the harbor. Maui News.

Kauai

Two seed industry employees have dropped out of a Joint Fact-Finding group that was charged by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Kauai County to evaluate the environmental and health impacts of agricultural pesticide use on Kauai. Civil Beat.

The county is still replacing sand that’s eroding near Pono Kai in Kapaa, even though they just completed a $950,000 project to restore the integrity of the seawall. Garden Island.

Hawaii eyes undersea mining, Honolulu transit deputy worked for winning bidder, Maui preps for GMO fight, state ends year in the black, state struggles with new safety check rules, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

NOAA whale watching ship and humpbacks, courtesy photo

A scientific study says humpback whales in the North Pacific should be looked at as at least five distinct populations, rather than just a single species undergoing recovery. The study, including genetic analysis, goes against the traditional way humpback whales have been counted as one group in evaluating their recovery as an endangered species. The study comes at a time when a Hawaii group is petitioning to remove humpback whales in the North Pacific from the endangered species list. Star-Advertiser.

With the return of the wintering whales to Hawaii, officials from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary are reminding the public to keep a safe distance from the protected and endangered animals. Maui Now.

An unprecedented era of undersea mining deep in the Pacific Ocean is poised to begin, University of Hawaii researchers say, and they aim to help protect the region's biodiversity once that mining starts. Companies and countries around the world have secured at least 12 mining exploration claims across a vast swath of ocean several hundred miles south of Hawaii called the Clarion Clipperton fracture zone, according to a UH news release. Eventually, they could scrape the sea floor in those areas for manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel and other resources. Star-Advertiser.

Brown Water Advisories following heavy rain are not to be ignored or taken lightly, according to Watson Okubo, the monitoring and analysis section chief of the state Department of Health’s Clean Water Branch. Garden Island.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Hawaii ended the most recent fiscal year $844 million in the black. The governor said in a statement Friday the administration has worked diligently to stabilize and grow Hawaii’s economy. Associated Press.

Five weeks into the new program, auto mechanics and vehicle owners are reporting lengthy delays and confusion surrounding the way vehicle inspections are now conducted and documented. The Hawaii Department of Transportation, working with the county motor vehicle departments, rolled out the program Nov. 1 and simultaneously upped the fees for car and truck inspections to help pay for it. Civil Beat.

The two youngest members of the U.S. Senate are co-sponsoring a bill aimed at lowering college costs that includes withholding federal funds from schools that don't meet affordability and quality standards. Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Brian Schatz of Hawaii are planning to introduce the legislation this week. The two are still paying off their college loans. Associated Press.

Oahu
The man who is second in command of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation was until earlier this year a vice president with CH2M Hill, the company that recently edged out other bidders for a $46.1 million engineering contract for the Honolulu rail project that HART is overseeing. But HART officials say Deputy Executive Director Brennon Morioka had no involvement with the agency's decision to award the contract to his former employer. Civil Beat.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has a hefty household income when you factor in his city salary, his paid position on a local bank board of directors, his state pension and the paycheck his wife pulls down. Caldwell earns nearly $130,000 a year as mayor, but also gets paid between $200,000 and $299,999 thousand as a director of Territorial Savings Bank. He also has between $400,000 and $499,999 worth of stock in the company. Civil Beat.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell will be taking questions from the public Monday in a virtual town hall meeting. Hawaii News Now.

A hui of North Shore community members gathered near Laniakea Beach on Sunday to protest the state Department of Transportation's proposal to stop traffic snarls and safety problems in the area by blocking off access to a strip of land along Kame­ha­meha Highway that beachgoers use as a parking lot. Star-Advertiser.

Dozens turned out at Laniakea Beach Sunday to protest the state's plans to barricade the beach's parking lot. And many said the Department of Transportation's proposal to install concrete barriers and shut down the parking lot will worsen the community's already severe traffic problems. Hawaii News Now.

Regardless of what the state eventually decides to do about the volume of visitors stopping to see the turtles basking on the shores of Laniakea Beach on Oahu's North Shore, a group of volunteers continues to watch over the reptiles. Malama na Honu, translated as "care for the turtles," is a nonprofit group created in 2007 to protect Hawaiian green sea turtles, a threatened species protected by federal and state laws. Star-Advertiser.

For the past decade, Waimanalo homeowner Tom Grande has battled the city to try to get a large mound of fill material removed from the hillside just above his residence and in the middle of a dam inundation zone. But Grande, an attorney, thus far has been unsuccessful, and his legal fight has exposed what he says is a troubling gap in the law dealing with dumping of fill on agriculture land. Star-Advertiser.

More wealth shifts to Oahu neighborhoods. Four Oahu ZIP codes crack top 10 wealthiest in Hawaii for the first time. Pacific Business News.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat representing Hawaii's 2nd District, will be the keynote speaker at Hawaii Pacific University's graduation ceremonies Dec. 18. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii

The economy hasn’t always cooperated, nor has the County Council, but as he finishes his fifth year in office, Mayor Billy Kenoi sees more in his win column than he’s lost. Kenoi, who first took office Dec. 1, 2008, and entered his second four-year term Dec. 5, 2012, likes to recount a laundry list of accomplishments. West Hawaii Today.

Forest land boasting one of the largest old-growth koa stands is up for grabs in Hamakua. Known as the “Ohana Sanctuary” by its current owners, the land consists of 3,127 acres of largely untouched forest near Akaka Falls. And it fetches a hefty price of $22 million. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

The Maui County Council on Friday may have ruined the county's opportunity to purchase 186 acres in Launiupoko for a long-envisioned coastline parkway by failing to take a vote on the deal as an end-of-the-month deadline loomed. Maui News.

Some environmentalists and farmers on Maui appear poised for a conflict on a bill to add more regulations on those using pesticides commercially, including businesses involved in producing genetically modified organisms. Star-Advertiser.

Maui County could be joining Hawaii and Kauai counties in creating an ordinance to regulate pesticides and genetically modified organisms by commercial agricultural companies. Maui News.

Current executive assistant to the mayor and former Maui County Council Chairman Danny Mateo was appointed by the Maui County Council on Friday to be the county clerk. Maui News.

Maui Economic Opportunity's paratransit system has, again, come under fire for delays in service, said riders at a meeting last week at the nonprofit. Maui News.

Kauai

Seed companies bolster Keiki Toy Ride gifts. Garden Island.

Hawaii fire inspections to be few and far between

Gov. Linda Lingle today signed SB 564, requested by the State Fire Council, decreasing the frequency from once every two years to once every five years for county fire departments to inspect all public buildings other than schools and airports. Fire chiefs can, however, use their discretion and inspect more often.

Public schools will continue to be inspected annually by county fire departments. Airports are the responsibility of the state.

“This bill would allow a county fire department to inspect buildings according to its fire and life safety risk,” said Kenneth G. Silva, Chair of the State Fire Council and Fire Chief of the Honolulu Fire Department, in March 31 testimony to the House Finance Committee. “As our state community and population continue to grow, fire department personnel have not increased proportionately, thus making it difficult, if not impossible, to inspect all buildings in two years.”

No one testified against the measure, and it received unanimous support on every legislative vote.