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HART, City Underestimated Cost Of Rail Work By $1.3 Billion, P3 Prices Show
Details released Tuesday on the now defunct Honolulu rail “P3” effort show the actual price to complete the rail line’s final four miles and eight stations, plus build a mid-route transit hub in Pearl...
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What Did HPD Do To Prevent Another Kealoha Scandal? Not Much, Chief Says
Since Honolulu’s former police chief was found guilty of multiple felonies, the department has done little to prevent future chiefs from abusing their police power, according to Police Chief Susan...
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Hawaii Supreme Court Releases Cachola Arbitration Decision
An arbitration decision released late Wednesday concludes that a grainy surveillance video showing Honolulu police Sgt. Darren Cachola beating his girlfriend in a Waipahu restaurant in 2014 was really...
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Some Honolulu COVID-19 Services Will Continue Into 2021, Mayor Says
Honolulu will use some of the city’s rainy day fund to continue COVID-19 testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine services it offered this year using federal CARES Act money, Mayor Kirk Caldwell...
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Honolulu Rail Project Is Left Without A Leader As HART Ousts Robbins
The writing has been on the wall for a couple of months, but on Thursday the local board overseeing Oahu’s faltering rail transit project made it official. Andrew Robbins is out as executive director...
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Covert Honolulu Police Unit Targeted Former Medical Examiner
A secretive intelligence unit used by former Honolulu police chief Louis Kealoha to frame a family member was deployed again by his successor, Chief Susan Ballard, last year to carry out a surveillance...
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Police Commissioner: HPD Surveillance Of Medical Examiner ‘Raises Some Red...
The Honolulu Police Commission plans to question Chief Susan Ballard about a covert surveillance operation in 2019 that targeted Medical Examiner Christopher Happy at the behest of Mayor Kirk...
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Honolulu Rail Manages To Keep Its Federal Funding – For Now
Honolulu’s struggling rail project will avoid losing $250 million in federal funding that was slated to expire Dec. 31, after the state’s Congressional delegation stepped in and helped secure a...
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Some Honolulu Police Officers Are Doubling Their Salaries With Overtime
Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard has criticized her officers’ overuse of federally funded overtime during the pandemic, but she’s been allowing her officers to double their salaries with overtime...
View ArticleSLIDESHOW: This Santa Carries On Despite The Pandemic
Five years ago, Don Gonzales found his calling as Santa Claus when his long white beard caught the eye of a photo studio owner at an Oahu mall. “She looked at me and said, ‘Is that real?’, and I looked...
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Are Open-Book Tests Making It Too Easy To Become A Honolulu Police Officer?
Recruits at Honolulu’s police academy who are learning the fundamentals of law enforcement are now taking open-book tests to qualify them to become police officers. The city’s police school Ke Kula...
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Lori Kahikina Pegged To Lead HART As Interim Director
As the city’s Environmental Services director, Lori Kahikina helped oversee the multibillion-dollar overhaul of Honolulu’s aging sewer system. Kahikina also became entangled last year in the rail...
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Police Fatally Shoot Windward Oahu Man
Honolulu police fatally shot a man while attempting to serve a warrant in Ahuimanu Monday morning. The 45-year-old’s death is the fourth this year at the hands of officers with the Honolulu Police...
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Kirk Caldwell’s Legacy As Honolulu Mayor Is Marred By Rail And Homelessness
When Mayor Kirk Caldwell was running for mayor in 2012, he promised to help the homeless, “build rail better” and be a dependable leader for Honolulu. Eight years later, as the mayor eyes a run for...
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Honolulu Mayor-Elect Blangiardi Announces Key Appointments
Rick Blangiardi, who will be sworn in as the next mayor of the City and County of Honolulu Saturday, announced top leadership and Cabinet positions on Tuesday. Danette Maruyama Michael Formby will...
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Outgoing Mayor Caldwell Defends Millions Spent On Pandemic Policing
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell says he has no regrets about allocating millions of dollars in federal funding to the Honolulu Police Department through the CARES Act, despite reports of overtime abuse...
View ArticleSLIDESHOW: 2020 — The Year In Photographs
The post SLIDESHOW: 2020 — The Year In Photographs appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.
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New Honolulu Mayor Warns Road Ahead ‘Is Not Going To Be Easy’
Rick Blangiardi was sworn in Saturday as Honolulu’s 15th mayor, taking over the reins at city hall as Oahu grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and economic crises. “This is not going to be an easy...
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For The Honolulu Rail Project, 2020 Was The Year The Wheels Fell Off
The designs weren’t ready. Construction was delayed. The bids were too high. Tax revenue dropped. Federal funds never arrived. The CEO was let go. And despite some rosy predictions, no part of the...
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Conspiracy Charge Dismissed Against Katherine Kealoha Victim
U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright granted federal prosecutors’ request Monday to dismiss a conspiracy charge against Ransen Taito, one of Katherine Kealoha’s victims who pleaded guilty in...
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