Catherine Cruz / HPR
The Honolulu rail, planned to stretch from Kapolei to Ala Moana, is projected to cost $12.4 billion more than triple the 2008 projection of $4 billion. While the project faces funding shortfalls and numerous delays, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has been trying to reach the literal and figurative finish line.
The Conversation spoke to a number of government officials, critics and organizations about the state of the rail.
HART rail document reveals 27 alternative plans to complete project - May 10, 2021 | Full Article
Credit Catherine Cruz / HPR
A public records request from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii uncovered a rail report that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit tried to keep confidential. In it was an analysis of 27 alternatives to the original plan including an underground tunnel and shifting the line to Nimitz Highway.
Full Show, May 10, 2021
Sierra Club on recent fuel leak at U.S. Navy s Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility | Full Article
The Navy said the 1,000-gallon spill was contained and did not leave the facility. The Sierra Club said the spill underscores the threat of future spills and the risk to our drinking water. Attorney David Kimo Frankel represented the environmental group in a hearing earlier this year. He argued against giving the military a permit to operate the facility that the Navy claimed is critical for national security.
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Louis Herman, University of Hawaii at West Oahu professor
Herman said he has known the producer and star of the documentary Craig Foster for over 20 years.
Foster consulted with Herman and even interviewed him for the movie about the power of immersive wilderness and more. But the interviews from Herman and others were not included to keep the narrative on Foster’s relationship with the octopus.
Credit University of Hawaii West Oahu
“I think the main star is the octopus and the ocean,” Herman said. “What I do as a philosopher and a teacher, a political activist is explain things and make connections between the small story and the big story and the larger situation. But that doesn’t necessarily belong in the film.”
Blangiardi Nominates Former Mainland Officer To Honolulu Police Commission - Honolulu Civil Beat
The mayor says he wants someone on the commission who has empathy for law enforcement officers. Reading time: 3 minutes.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi is nominating former mainland police officer Larry Ignas to the Honolulu Police Commission, the mayor announced on Hawaii Public Radio on Monday.
The mayor said he had sought to put a retired police officer on the commission, which oversees the Honolulu Police Department, investigates complaints and will hire the next police chief.
“Larry Ignas has a really great background,” he said. “He spent 20 years with the East Chicago (Indiana) Police Department, has been living in Hawaii for over 25 years, highly regarded person in this community, and we’ll see where that goes.”
The Hawaii Housing Authority opens the waitlist
A large number of state subsidized housing units will become available starting this Friday. The Hawaii Public Housing Authority is making available the first of 250 units in subsidized projects across the state. It also recently reopened the lists for Section 8 housing. We talked to Executive Director Hakim Ouansafi about how he and his team have fared during the pandemic.
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