Tag Archive | "hawaii-county"
Property tax increases looming in counties across the state, Native Hawaiian remains at issue on Oahu, Kauai, state health subsidy aims to stem…
The tax increase on people who own their homes but don't live in them was presented as a way to protect resident homeowners from additional taxes. Farmers and hoteliers joined forces Monday to decry tax increases they say hit the county's two main economic drivers the hardest. The public sent a unanimous message to the Hawaii County Council at a Monday night hearing: Don't raise real property tax rates. The Maui County Council voted unanimously Monday to fix the real property tax rates as it had last discussed them in April, but two members voted with reservations. A forensic anthropologist has confirmed that remains found by Army contractors Friday at a Schofield Barracks construction site were human remains, the Army said Tuesday. More than five years after opening for business, the Keeaumoku Street Walmart and Sam's Club have seen the end to a legal challenge to their construction. Wailua path project delayed amid Hawaiian protest Hawaii's special election wraps up this weekend, but what happens after the next Congressional Representative is chosen? Tax collections needed to pay the city's share of a planned elevated commuter rail line are running flat year-over-year with two months to go in fiscal 2010. If they continue at their current pace, transit tax collections are headed for a third straight year of little to no growth. Small businesses in Hawaii are getting a big boost. The state says hire someone who is collecting unemployment right now and we'll help you pay for them. As owners of a small home construction business in Waimanalo, Ozzy and Shontaz Naweli say one of the primary roadblocks to hiring new workers is the cost of providing health care. In 2009, 95 percent of the applications were approved, meaning a record high 33,678 firearms were registered last year, outpacing the previous year by 30 percent. The value of building permits authorized in Hawaii County increased in March, compared with the same month last year, while the number of permits decreased slightly. A group of around 20 volunteers worked diligently last Friday to cultivate a small piece of land that soon will thrive with papayas, bananas and taro. This is not a farm or backyard–it’s in the heart of urban Honolulu at the Institute for Human Services (IHS) homeless shelter.
Continue reading...Live-aboards hit with stiff rent increase, surfboard chomped by shark, coral regrowing in harbor, U.S. Justice looking at Star-Bulletin bids, more…
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Boaters living on their vessels at Ala Wai and Ke'ehi small boat harbors are facing a more than 330 percent increase in rent, forcing many of them to rethink their living options. An estimated 14-foot-long tiger shark chomped the tail end off a local surfer's board yesterday afternoon in Hanalei Bay, witnesses said. Bids to buy the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, including several that involve assets not for sale, are being reviewed by the U.S. Justice Department, according to sources familiar with the deal. Voters will decide this fall whether to give the state Legislature the power to divert money intended for tax rebates to help finance a "rainy day fund" for economic emergencies. The world’s largest real estate services firm says retail vacancies in Hawaii are at a four year high. CB Richard Ellis said vacancies rose 1.1 percent in the past year. No shopping carts, and no tents without a permit - that's the ban Honolulu police started enforcing on Monday at Oahu city parks. Officials at Waters of Life Public Charter School hope summer classes will help bring to a close a difficult chapter for the school. Fire gutted three classrooms in "G" Building at Kahului Elementary School early Sunday, forcing officials to scramble for space and supplies to allow displaced teachers and students to hold classes today. Where once coral was destroyed to build a harbor, it has regrown, presenting a new environmental obstacle to its expansion. Hawaii County administration argued against yet another County Council attempt to address infrastructure inadequacies, claiming a policy is in place to deal with those problems.
Continue reading...Live-aboards hit with stiff rent increase, surfboard chomped by shark, coral regrowing in harbor, U.S. Justice looking at Star-Bulletin bids, more…
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Boaters living on their vessels at Ala Wai and Ke'ehi small boat harbors are facing a more than 330 percent increase in rent, forcing many of them to rethink their living options. An estimated 14-foot-long tiger shark chomped the tail end off a local surfer's board yesterday afternoon in Hanalei Bay, witnesses said. Bids to buy the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, including several that involve assets not for sale, are being reviewed by the U.S. Justice Department, according to sources familiar with the deal. Voters will decide this fall whether to give the state Legislature the power to divert money intended for tax rebates to help finance a "rainy day fund" for economic emergencies. The world’s largest real estate services firm says retail vacancies in Hawaii are at a four year high. CB Richard Ellis said vacancies rose 1.1 percent in the past year. No shopping carts, and no tents without a permit - that's the ban Honolulu police started enforcing on Monday at Oahu city parks. Officials at Waters of Life Public Charter School hope summer classes will help bring to a close a difficult chapter for the school. Fire gutted three classrooms in "G" Building at Kahului Elementary School early Sunday, forcing officials to scramble for space and supplies to allow displaced teachers and students to hold classes today. Where once coral was destroyed to build a harbor, it has regrown, presenting a new environmental obstacle to its expansion. Hawaii County administration argued against yet another County Council attempt to address infrastructure inadequacies, claiming a policy is in place to deal with those problems.
Continue reading...Advocates, unions seek huge GET tax hike, governor, unions still sparring over furloughs, Hawaii County Band pleads for its life, state population…
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Advocates for the poor and members of Hawaii's largest public worker unions rallied at the state Capitol on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to hike the general excise tax 1 percent. Advocates for the poor and labor union workers rallied yesterday for an increase in Hawaii's version of the sales tax as anti-tax demonstrators urged the government to back off. Despite two new proposals aimed at ending Furlough Fridays for public school students, the issue does not seem any closer to being settled. Hours after education officials and Gov. Linda Lingle announced competing proposals to end teacher furloughs in Hawai'i's public schools yesterday, it was already clear that no breakthrough was at hand. Two competing plans have been released, to end Furlough Fridays in Hawaii schools. The Board of Education and teachers union Tuesday reached tentative agreement to end public school teacher furloughs. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said today that Kmart Corporation will pay $120,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age discrimination suit involving a 70-year-old pharmacist at a Honolulu store. Kaua'i County and UPW officials yesterday signed a supplemental agreement on an automated refuse collection service for up to 3,200 homes in Puhi, Lihu'e and portions of Hanama'ulu starting July 1. Kaua‘i County and United Public Workers signed an agreement Tuesday that clears the path for a “milestone” program to replace traditional three-worker trash collection teams with mechanized, side-loading trucks operated by a single employee. The opening day of the Maui County fiscal year 2011 budget review Monday was a day of pie charts, spreadsheets and phrases like "tightening belts" and "sharing the pain." Members of the Hawaii County Band gave perhaps the most important performance of their lives Monday, yet there was nary a musical instrument in sight. The Hawaii County Band accounts for a scant one-tenth of 1 percent of the county's $375.3 million budget. But Monday night, it consumed 96.7 percent of a three-hour County Council hearing on the budget. Hawai'i's population grew an estimated 0.7 percent per year from July 1, 2000, to July 1, 2009, a slight decrease from the previous decade, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released yesterday. The 1960s show tune "Hey Big Spender" may as well be dedicated to Hawaii households because we are third in the United States, according to a new report by Bundle.com. A West Hawaii Realtor says the real estate market has reached bottom, but a long-time appraiser thinks the market, while showing improvement, has yet to stabilize. As an 18-month trial period allowing leashed dogs on a section of the multi-use path draws to a close, canine-lovers in favor of permitting their furry friends on the entirety of Ke Ala Hele Makalae are pushing for county action. Self-described pragmatists, who favor looking forward instead of back, tend to be skeptical of those ever-vocal members of our community who set out to save the crumbling, peeling, faded remnants of what once vibrantly surrounded us.
Continue reading...State lawmakers continue dealing with grim economic figures, Kauai flora, fauna, added to endangered list, fees going up, more top Hawaii news
Thursday, March 11, 2010
State spending cuts significantly have worsened the effects of the global economic downturn in the Islands, according to several Hawai'i economists who spoke to more than 150 advocates, lawmakers and others at the state Capitol yesterday. Lawmakers appear poised by the end of the legislative session in April to approve a bill to increase the "facility charge" all customers have to pay on their car rental bills from the current $1 a day to $4.50 a day. Nearly one out of every six Hawai'i workers was either unemployed or underemployed last year The state's resort real estate market is not out of the woods yet, but Honolulu analyst Ricky Cassiday said he believes he has detected signs that it finally touched bottom in the last quarter of 2009. Maui's hotel occupancy rate jumped to 67.5 percent in January from 59.8 percent in the same month last year. For the state as a whole, occupancy rose from 63.1 to 66.5 percent. As a Child Welfare Services specialist on the Big Island, Patrice Bell has seen spending restrictions and budget cuts reduce her office size by about one-third. For more than 15 years, medical hope for House Clerk Pat Mau-Shimizu was sitting next to her on the House floor — C.J. Leong, House assistant clerk. The federal government added 48 species found only on Kauai to the endangered species list yesterday, boosting the number of species classified as such by the Obama administration from two to 50. Native flora and fauna on the verge of extinction for more than a decade have officially been added to the federal list of threatened and endangered species, according to a press release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wednesday Mitsuo "Mits" Shito, a strong public housing advocate at the state Legislature, died of natural causes last month. He was 79. Fire rescue crews say tiger sharks are hampering their search for a missing surfer on Oahu's North Shore. State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa formally filed nomination papers Wednesday morning to run for the First Congressional District in a special election. Hawaii County's cost to prepare for the recent tsunami threat: $274,067. In stark contrast to last year, only one Hawaii County Council member is attending the National Association of Counties convention in Washington this week Reacting to a study saying Kona coffee farmers lose $14.4 million to blenders each year, some processors and sellers claim changing state law to ban the practice of blending Kona coffee or require more Kona coffee in blends would negatively impact farmers, jobs and profits. The $39 million project will take two years to complete and there will be construction delays, but the end result should be shorter commute times for those driving between Puhi and Lihu‘e, state officials said. Starting May 11, Hawaii Island builders will have to observe a newly enacted county code that demands higher energy efficiency in newly constructed houses and, in some cases, in older houses undergoing renovation.
Continue reading...Officials defend tsunami evacuation, lawmakers still looking for money, more top Hawaii news
Monday, March 1, 2010
Scientists acknowledged they overstated the threat but defended their actions, saying they took the proper steps and learned the lessons of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami that killed thousands of people who didn’t get enough warning. Businesses lost thousands of dollars when the tsunami warning forced them to shut down Saturday. This was not a drill. As a very real tsunami threat loomed off the coast, Hawaii County Civil Defense proved its ability to smoothly evacuate sleepy residents early Saturday morning. The county's Emergency Operations Center resembled a well-oiled war room Saturday. County officials responded to some reports of overflowing sewers, but no other damage was reported following the small tsunami that struck Maui and the rest of the state Saturday. No money would be allocated for smoking prevention activities from the Hawaii tobacco settlement special fund under a bill moving in the state House to deal with the state budget crisis. Kauai County officials announced that the Anti-Drug Office was awarded a $1.2 million grant for underage drinking prevention programs. Most of Hawai'i's more than $1 billion in federal stimulus money is going toward projects that many would agree help the economy, or to people who have recently lost their jobs. Lawmakers are considering a measure that would eliminate junior kindergarten in Hawai'i public schools and move up the date children are eligible to enter kindergarten, changes that would require thousands of late-born 5-year-olds to wait an additional year before they can start school. The first public school built like a shopping mall is taking shape on the Leeward Coast and is slated for a grand opening in January.
Continue reading...Legislature won’t gamble on casinos, congressional election set, flag flap continues, most TAT to counties restored, Kauai mayor satisfied, more…
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The state House Finance Committee agreed last night to defer a bill that would have allowed a casino on O'ahu, as lawmakers discarded gambling as an option to help with the state's budget deficit. State House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro said a move to legalize casino gambling is dead at the Hawaii Legislature this session. The state's four county mayors applauded the move by House lawmakers to leave in place most of the money they receive from the hotel room tax. Each year the state forgoes about $835 million in revenue by giving companies and individuals a break on the general excise tax, exempting everything from aircraft engines to shipbuilding. The State House Housing Committee Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to force planned communities to allow residents to fly Hawaiian and American flags without restrictions. Room 325 at the State Capitol was full of military veterans. One held an American flag. Others wore red, white and blue. All of them had the same mission. Responding to a request from lawmakers to cut another 5 percent from its budget, the state Board of Education worked into the night identifying programs that could be trimmed. The election to fill U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie's 1st Congressional District seat will be held May 22, according to state elections officials. Hawaii County has launched its first high-tech effort to sell real estate, with a Web site that went live late last week advertising 738 acres in Hamakua. A Hilo pharmacist foiled an armed robbery Tuesday morning, with a little help from his friends. Hawaii Island residents and doctors keep coming back to the issue of access to care -- or lack thereof. He didn’t give himself a specific letter grade for his first full year as Kaua‘i’s mayor, but Bernard Carvalho Jr. made it clear that he is happy with the results thus far. When Towne Development of Hawaii started selling affordably priced homes in its 2,000-home Kehalani subdivision in Central Maui in the 1990s, customers would wait in line for hours to get on the buyers' list. Crew members of SubAviator were packing up to leave Mala Ramp on Tuesday, but they may well come back. A proposed reduction in force affecting state Department of Human Services workers on Kaua‘i will be discussed Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e.
Continue reading...Native Hawaiian sovereignty bill to be considered Monday, state dumps 4k mentally ill, leaf blower ban considered, flag flap intensifies, more Hawaii…
Friday, February 19, 2010
A version of the Akaka bill could be up for a vote on the floor of the U.S. House next week. Legislation aimed at lessening the increase employers are expected to pay in unemployment insurance taxes cleared the state House yesterday. About 4,000 Medicaid clients with severe mental illnesses will no longer get mental health services through the state under changes set to start taking effect this summer, but instead will get treatment from their health insurers — a switch that some worry will leave clients with reduced or no mental health care. Some state politicians are fighting to keep local jobs for local workers. House Speaker Calvin Say has introduced a bill that would require 80% of workers hired for public works or construction contracts be Hawaii residents . An attempt by House Republicans to force a vote on a bill to allow flagpoles in planned communities turned into a fight over procedure on the chamber floor. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday will deliberate a bill to prohibit the use of gas leaf blowers. Hawaii County Council members fortunate enough to win re-election this year won't be rewarded with an automatic 2 percent pay raise. Parts of three county agencies would be combined into a new transportation department in a restructuring plan Mayor Billy Kenoi plans to submit March 1 with his annual budget. Mayor Billy Kenoi will get a little help on his frequent lobbying trips to the state Capitol, thanks to a $50,000, five-month contract awarded Tuesday to Honolulu consultant Okudara & Associates Inc. Acquiring land has largely been the hitch in attempts to start up renewable energy facilities in Hawai‘i, and the difficulties are only exacerbated by current subdivision requirements, Rep. Mina Morita says. Maui County sued the Merrill Lynch brokerage Wednesday to "gain access" to $32 million it had invested in a kind of pooled security - akin to a mortgage-backed security - called a Student Loan Auction Rate Security. When it comes to the fight over the water in East Maui's streams, the public debate over recent years has almost always involved plenty of flowing tears.
Continue reading...Hawaii’s Big Island Lava Is On The Move Again!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
From March 2008 until very early this January, lava was steadily flowing to the ocean at the end of Highway 130 in Kalapana on Hawaii’s Big Island. Lava had been flowing through self-formed tubes to the ocean, but the tube system was most likely blocked or collapsed which stopped the flow to the ocean. The good news is that lava is still visible! Since lava was no longer flowing through the tubes to the ocean, it was forced to break out onto the surface closer to the source near the Kilauea summit. You can see the lava flow down the pali (hill) from the Hawaii County lava viewing point at the end of Highway 130 in Kalapana. The lava flow down the pali is distant, but still very impressive! The Hawaii County lava viewing point continues to open daily at 5pm. (Note that you must arrive by 8pm to enter the viewing point.) For best lava viewing, ideally you need to be there at sunset and watch it as the night becomes darker. If you are headed to the Big Island to see lava, please review these useful articles: How to find out what’s going on with the Big Island lava flow Advice for viewing the Big Island lava flow I wonder what’s next for Kilauea’s lava flow? I’m no volcanologist, but I would guess that if lava continues to flow at the pali, it will eventually make it’s way down to the ocean and once again form a tube system. It will be exciting to see what happens. In the meantime, check out this video of the current lava flow on the pali. This video was shot by a brave volcano chaser on January 31, 2010. He’s up close and personal with the lava — more so than the general public is advised to be. (Email subscribers, click here to watch the video.) © Go Visit Hawaii – Republication of this entire post is prohibited without prior permission. Using extracts of less than 100 words are permitted with full attribution and link back to GoVisitHawaii.com .
Continue reading...Gas prices higher, UH faculty ratifies contract, tourism rebound slow, surf’s up, more Hawaii news
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Hawai'i drivers are probably paying more at the pump than they would have been if the state's controversial gasoline price cap had not been suspended in 2006. A recovery in Hawaii's visitor industry, the state's top economic engine, is at least two years out despite improved performance in December and a respectable year-end finish. A high-surf warning is in effect for most north- and west-facing shores of the state. After months of contentious negotiations, UH professors overwhelmingly ratified a six-year contract yesterday that cuts costs for the university in the short term to tackle mounting fiscal woes, but also restores a 6.7 percent pay reduction after 18 months, promises lump-sum payments to reimburse money lost in the pay cuts and includes something in the last two years of the agreement that workers don't hear a lot these days — a pay increase. Unionized faculty at the 10 University of Hawaii campuses have ratified a new contract that cuts their pay by about 6.7 percent over the next 18 months but returns the money lost over the course of the six-year agreement. The votes are in, and the University of Hawaii's Professional Assembly has overwhelming voted to ratify a new contract with UH. W.H. Shipman Ltd. has gone to court to stop an adult video and lingerie store from operating in a shopping center across from Keaau Middle School on the Big Island. Hawaii will soon see a lot of red, in its blue territory. On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) kicks off its winter meeting in Waikiki. A state House committee on Tuesday gave first-round approval to two proposals to try to reduce a tax hike many businesses said will either force them to close or to lay off more employees. The Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on a bill that seeks to address a drastic increase in unemployment insurance tax rates, as well as drafted its own legislation that it hopes will gain support. Ten percent of Hawaii County's workforce was unemployed in November, the most recent month for which the numbers are available, according to the county's Research and Development Department. It took some getting used to recycling, but now the Big Island is the No. 1 county user of the Hawaii Deposit Beverage Container Program, said officials from Hawaii County's Department of Environmental Management. For a while, Maui's weather has been going through warm-and-cool, hazy-and-clear cycles characteristic of El Nino conditions, according to Glenn James, senior weather analyst with the Pacific Disaster Center in Kihei. The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Board of Directors on Tuesday approved three resolutions necessary for the co-op’s application for a $168 million loan to fund numerous projects in coming years.
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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