Pod Squad: ACLU Says It’s on ‘Solid’ Legal Footing in Fighting Sweeps
When a federal judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order last week to stop Honolulu’s homeless sweeps, it was only the first battle in a legal war that the American Civil Liberties Union is...
View ArticleIt’s a Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Change the Honolulu City Charter
Not too many people are taking advantage so far of an opportunity that only comes along once every 10 years. Oahu residents have until Oct. 31 to submit proposals to the Honolulu Charter Commission for...
View ArticleIs the City Violating the Law in Destroying Homeless People’s Property?
The day after Labor Day, a small section of the Kakaako homeless encampment was the site of a media spectacle. A throng of reporters and cameramen descended on the area near the Kakaako Gateway Park,...
View ArticleWhy Can’t the State Make Developers Keep Their Promises?
A Honolulu jury recently awarded $27 million to Ewa homeowners who say they were misled by a developer who planned to build a marina near their homes and delivered a lagoon instead. Instead of an inlet...
View ArticleU.S. Navy Has 20 Years to Fix Leak-Prone Red Hill Fuel Tanks
A new agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Hawaii Department of Health, the U.S. Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency outlines a plan to upgrade underground fuel storage tanks...
View ArticleHere’s What Homeless People Have to Do to Get Their Property Back
For Corilynn Wallace, the sweep couldn’t have come at a worse time. It was Nov. 13, 2014, and Wallace was nine months pregnant. She says she was inside her tent when the city’s maintenance crew...
View ArticleKakaako Encampment Braces for the Final Sweeps
With final sweeps set to begin Thursday, people in the densest parts of the Kakaako homeless encampment were preparing Wednesday for their looming eviction. For the time being, though, the sidewalks...
View ArticleWhistleblower Lawsuit Filed Against Honolulu Rail Contractor
A former Ansaldo Honolulu JV safety inspector hired to oversee Honolulu’s $6 billion rail project filed a whistleblower lawsuit last week alleging the Italian-based company was putting its employees in...
View ArticleWill the Sit-Lie Ban Cost Agencies Trying to Help Honolulu’s Homeless?
Honolulu received $9.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to combat homelessness last year, but any future funding could be in jeopardy. That’s because HUD is wielding...
View ArticleMany of Kakaako’s Homeless Are Not Shelter-Bound
Linda Hillier sat on the curb, a can of Sprite at her side. It was early Thursday, and the city’s maintenance crew had just arrived at the corner of Ilalo and Ohe streets, ready to clear out the last...
View ArticleHonolulu Police Chief Sues Ethics Commission to Stop Probe
Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his prosecutor wife, Katherine, are suing the city Ethics Commission to try to stop an investigation into the circumstances surrounding their missing mailbox....
View ArticleKirk Caldwell’s Many ‘Tokens of Aloha’ Came From Influential Parties
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell often gets showered in mochi, manapua and mangoes. But he also gets treated to an occasional free meal or gift basket. While some of these goodies come from colleagues on...
View ArticleWho’s the Special Prosecutor Investigating the Honolulu Police Chief?
A special prosecutor appointed from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego has launched a criminal probe into Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, Katherine, a high-ranking city...
View ArticleHART Board Waiting on Honolulu City Council for Rail Cash
No matter how the numbers are added, subtracted or multiplied when you’re building a railroad that’s behind schedule and over budget there’s only one answer: Borrow money, and lots of it. The only...
View ArticleHonolulu Rail Project Eclipses $6.5 Billion
Honolulu’s future commuter rail line will cost even more than anticipated, according to new figures released Wednesday at a public meeting of the city’s transit agency. The latest project estimate from...
View ArticleEx-HPD Officer Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal Prison for Attacks
Former Honolulu police officer Vincent Morre was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Friday for civil rights violations after attacking two men in a Hopaka Street game room last September. The...
View ArticleBill Slowing Bike Lane Construction Approved Over Bike Riders’ Objections
Trevor Ozawa wants everyone to know he has nothing against bike lanes. He likes bikes, he has biked on the South King Street cycle track, and he even has bruises from doing so. But Ozawa was bike...
View ArticleLawsuit: Coverup In Honolulu Police Custody Death
The family of Sheldon Haleck, who died on March 16 after an encounter with Honolulu police, is suing the department in federal court for the negligent use of force, alleging that officials have been...
View ArticleCity Council Panel Urges State to Fund Repairs for Empty Public Housing
A group of Honolulu City Council members want the state Legislature to appropriate enough money for public housing to renovate hundreds of empty units, according to a resolution approved Tuesday. The...
View ArticleHonolulu Rail’s Big Cash Problem
Construction costs for Honolulu’s commuter rail line have spiraled to more than $6.5 billion; and they could go higher by the time trains actually begin running along the 20-mile corridor, depending...
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