Green promises more transparent government, state pension plan faces $13.5B shortfall, noise detector cameras proposed for Honolulu, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Gov. Josh Green Says He’s Already Taking Steps To Make Hawaii Government More Open. Gov. Josh Green says he intends to use the power of his office to make state government more open to Hawaii citizens, including making changes at the state office that oversees public information if it continues to perform badly. Civil Beat.

Pension fund exec optimistic despite $13.5B shortfall. It’s been an uphill climb for the state Employees’ Retirement System pension fund, but its top administrator says beneficiaries have nothing to worry about even though the fund has a $13.5 billion shortfall. Star-Advertiser.

Lawmakers target personal gains from homestead sales. As the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands gears up to deliver a historic number of new homestead leases, some Hawaii lawmakers want to block existing or former lessees from acquiring more homesteads while long-unserved applicants languish on a waitlist. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii lawmakers’ allowance spending reports moving online. How Hawaii lawmakers spend an annual allowance up to $15,952 for incidental work-related expenses will be easier for the general public to see. Star-Advertiser.

Shortage of truck drivers further threatens Hawaii’s supply chain. The situation was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit hiring across the economy as people lost their jobs or dropped out of the workforce and many moved away from the islands for cheaper living on the mainland. Star-Advertiser.

Lawmakers propose search and rescue reimbursements for illegal hikes. A proposal by Maui State Senator, Lynn DeCoite is moving in the legislature as a bill looking to fine people for their search and rescue, if they trespass illegal hikes or act dangerously on them. KHON2.

Pilot Cesspool Grant Program Announced For Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi has announced a pilot cesspool grant program to help qualified property owners convert their cesspools, or connect to an available sewage system. Big Island Video News. Maui News.

Statewide release of small wasp to battle damaging coffee borer beetle getting closer. The statewide release of a small wasp to battle the devastating coffee berry borer beetle — which causes millions in Hawai’i coffee crop damage — moved another step closer to taking flight.  Big Island Now. Kauai Now.

Oahu

Honolulu mayor's $4.5B budget proposals include $300 homeowner tax credit. Included in the overall package is a one-time $300 property tax credit for qualifying homeowners on Oʻahu. The city estimates it will help nearly 152,000 homeowners, amounting to about $45.5 million. Hawaii Public Radio.

Honolulu Rehab With Lucrative Pay For Top Staff Stiffed Regular Workers, Federal Probe Finds. The agreement with the Department of Labor requires Sand Island Treatment Center to pay back wages of almost $452,000 by Wednesday. Civil Beat.

Excessive-noise detection cameras proposed for Oahu. Sen. Sharon Moriwaki (D, Kakaako-McCully-Waikiki) introduced Senate Bill 588, which would appropriate funds for the Department of Transportation to develop a pilot program to use noise detection traffic cameras to address excessive traffic noise in urban areas in counties with a population of more than 500,000. Star-Advertiser.

Amid high need, affordable housing project for seniors set to open in urban core. Hale Makana O Mo’ili’ili, a five-story affordable housing complex for seniors, is set to open this month and officials hope to quickly fill all available apartments given high need. Hawaii News Now.

Why A $16M Waianae Police Station Sits Largely Empty 7 Years After It Opened. Despite opening in 2016, the Waianae station is a ghost ship, with only one officer to receive walk-ins. One or two officers sometimes come in to file paperwork, but the station’s top floor is unfinished and has no air conditioning, walls or electrical outlets. Civil Beat. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii Island

Bill aims to give some farmers a tax break. Hawaii County might give Big Island farmers a break on their taxes under a new bill to be considered this week. Tribune-Herald.

HCCC strives for improved facility conditions. Conditions at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center have improved over the last six months, but there’s still more to be done, state officials say. Tribune-Herald.

HVNP solicits feedback for preferred use of the ‘Great Crack’.  Nearly five years after acquiring it, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will solicit public feedback this year about what it should do with the “Great Crack” in Ka‘u. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

Fate of affordable project to be decided pretty soon. The need for affordable housing and a Native Hawaiian family’s claims of land ownership are coming to a head as a Maui County Council committee has until next month to decide whether to approve a 100 percent affordable rental project in Waiehu. Maui News.

Luxury yacht finally freed from Maui near-shore reef only to sink in 800 feet of water. Nearly two weeks after a 120-ton, 94-foot luxury yacht grounded in Honolua Bay on Maui, a salvage ship and a tugboat from Honolulu finally freed the vessel named Nakoa from the rocky shoreline. Big Island Now. Maui Now. Hawaii News Now.  KHON2. KITV4.

Kauai

Hāʻena's community-based fishing area avoids alterations by the state. A controversial bill to repeal a community-based subsistence fishing area on Kauaʻi quietly died Thursday, after lawmakers failed to schedule a hearing on the bill by Wednesday’s deadline. Hawaii Public Radio.

Kauaʻi Humane Society receives $223,000 state grant for spay and neuter initiatives. The Kauaʻi Humane Society will use $223,000 from its first Grant-in-Aid from the State of Hawaiʻi for spay and neuter initiatives to help decrease the overpopulation crisis. Kauai Now. Garden Island.

Hawaii may have to return $412M in COVID funding, political parties get notice of disqualification, humpback whale count concludes, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Humpback Whale Counts For 2023 Season Completed. A total of 997 humpback whales were spotted from the Big Island, Kaua’i, Maui and O’ahu during specific time periods. 345 volunteers gathered data from the shores of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu and Hawai‘i islands during the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count and from Maui during the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation, the second of three coordinated whale counts between the two organizations in 2023.  Big Island Video News. Big Island Now.  Maui Now.  Kauai Now.

Hawaii government spending could trigger COVID aid payback. The state Department of Budget and Finance is advising the Legislature that $675 million in spending appropriations last year should be delayed in order to avoid triggering a requirement to return $412 million in coronavirus pandemic aid to the federal government. Star-Advertiser.

Over 20 bills to improve government transparency take shape in state House. The bills were part of a package to improve transparency and accountability in state and county government in the wake of unveiled corruption throughout state and county government. Hawaii Public Radio.

Three political ‘third parties’ get notice of disqualification. The States’ Office of Elections released a notice with the intention to disqualify the Aloha Aina Party, Green Party of Hawaii and Constitution Party of Hawaii for falling short in the percentage of votes required by the state to remain active. KHON2.

Studied To Death? Some Say Hawaii Doesn’t Need More Data Before Acting On Overtourism. As Hawaii tourism rebounds three years after being effectively shut down during the pandemic, political, community and business leaders are reprising a question central to policy discussions about the state’s most prominent industry: How many tourists is too many?  Civil Beat.

Bills aim to add ‘tiny home’ sites for homeless.  Bills are moving through the House and Senate that would expand Gov. Josh Green’s vision of creating more communities of tiny homes across the state to house the homeless and provide them with social services to reduce the islands’ homeless population. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu

Mayor Rick Blangiardi offers 5-point homeless plan for Oahu. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s administration has offered its plan to deal with the needs of the nearly 4,000 homeless people living on Oahu. Star-Advertiser.

Contract for Red Hill facility alternatives is an enigma. The company awarded a half-million-dollar, no-bid “public outreach” contract to solicit ideas from the community about possible alternative uses of the Navy’s Red Hill facility once it’s closed for fueling operations is being tight-lipped about how it plans to conduct community outreach. Star-Advertiser.

Waimanalo Road Safety Upgrades Raise Local Concerns About A Community’s Identity. The DOT is installing medians and widening sections of Kalanianaole Highway amid safety concerns, with six pedestrians killed in 10 years. As Oahu’s population balloons and the number of tourists grows, the island’s low-capacity coastal roads that are often the only thoroughfares for rural communities have become increasingly crowded, prompting calls for the state to better manage traffic.  Civil Beat.

Oʻahu's junk vehicle program sees 65% decrease in roadside refuse. According to the city's Department of Customer Services, the program handled roughly 1,600 cars a year prior to 2020. But over the last three years, there has been a steady decline — resulting in the program handling 567 vehicles in 2022, which is a 65% decline. Hawaii Public Radio.

At a cost of $40M, large new wave pool on Oahu nearing completion. A standing wave pool being built in Ewa Beach is set to open next month, but not everyone is giving it a warm welcome. Hawaii News Now.

Lawmakers unreceptive to moratorium on Waiahole Valley rent increases. A legislative committee has declined to support a five-year block on the state raising ground-lease rents for about 100 residential and farm tenants in Waiahole Valley, where tension exists over potential evictions. Star-Advertiser.

Waiawa residents advised of possible contamination from training site. Residents of Pearl City’s Waiawa Road area are demanding answers — and assistance — after learning that the National Guard and the state Department of Health are investigating the possibility that toxic chemicals from fire suppressant used years ago by firefighters at the Hawaii National Guard’s Waiawa Unit Training and Equipment Site may have seeped into their groundwater. Star-Advertiser.

Thousands gather to bid a fond farewell to Aloha Stadium. A new Aloha Stadium is scheduled to replace the old one at the same site in Halawa in 2027, according to the most recent estimate by state planners. The stands have been closed to the public since December 2020 due to high maintenance costs and lack of revenue amid COVID-19 restrictions. Star-Advertiser. Hawaii News News. KITV4.

Hawaii Island

County outlines plan of action: Steps being taken in response to housing credits audit.  A spokesman for Mayor Mitch Roth said the mayor and the county’s Office of Housing and Community Development are working to correct deficiencies pointed out in an audit of its affordable housing credits program. Tribune-Herald.

Business owners voice concerns over proposed district. While testifiers acknowledged that downtown Hilo is in sore need of improvement, many were critical that the bill would put the onus of solving the town’s problems onto business and property owners instead of county administration. Tribune-Herald.

Public Invited To Give Input On New Library, Transit Hub In Pāhoa. There will be a number of opportunities for the public to give input on the future location of a new library and transit hub planned for Pāhoa. Big Island Video News.

‘We are running out of time’. Thousands of grams of pure fentanyl and over 15,000 pills containing the illicit drug have been recovered in West Hawaii over the past 15 months, police officers told County Council members this week. West Hawaii Today.

Maui

Work in watershed aims to curb ocean pollution downstream. Final Pohakea Watershed Plan gets green light. A watershed management plan that addresses the land, gulches and gullies that run from the West Maui Mountains to Maalaea Bay received final approval this week to support the next steps in protecting and restoring water quality in the area. Maui News.

State will bill owner $460K for cost of salvaging yacht from Honolua Bay.  The state has selected a contractor to remove the 94-foot-long yacht that remains grounded at Honolua Bay and will bill the owner for the $460,000 salvage cost. Maui News.

Defueling of luxury yacht on Maui complete, salvage work to begin.  The defueling of the grounded yacht on Maui was completed today, and the task of salvaging the vessel will begin Sunday. Star-Advertiser. Big Island Now.  Maui Now.

Kauai

Can hydropower leave its plantation legacy behind on Kauaʻi?  The Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative is pursuing a multi-year lease for a new hydropower plant on the Waimea River, called the West Kauaʻi Energy Project. Hawaii Public Radio.

Kaua‘i home sales tumble in January.  A confluence of reluctant homebuyers and soft inventory levels led to a rough start to the new year for the County of Kaua‘i housing market. Garden Island.

Hundreds of parking tickets issued in Ha‘ena amid increased enforcement efforts. Last year, the Kaua‘i Police Department handed out more parking tickets on the North Shore alone than they issued on the entire island the year prior. Garden Island.