Last year, the Office of the Inspector General for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a scathing audit of the way in which the Western Pacific Fishery Regional Management Council (WPRFMC, or Wespac for short) had used monies from … Continued
“Council Offended by Removal of Last Vestiges of US Ocean Waters Open to Fishing.” That was the headline on a press release issued June 23 by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council. Members of the panel, the presser stated, were … Continued
Two recent judicial rulings have sent the Land Use Commission back to court. The first, a ruling on May 2 by 3rd Circuit Judge Wendy DeWeese, overturned a Hawaiʻi County law, supported by the LUC, that banned short-term vacation rentals … Continued
Remembering ‘Doc’ Maciolek: Dr. John A. Maciolek (1928-2021), a career biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service and former zoology professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, died at his home last summer in Westlake, Oregon. At UH, Maciolek … Continued
How did a newly minted company get the County of Hawai‘i to purchase 13 acres of land for it? With only $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses the company was able to acquire land valued by the county at $948,200. It later … Continued
Hawai‘i County’s affordable housing policy is a disaster. Other counties have their problems as well when it comes to addressing the shelter needs of households who are priced out of market-rate rentals. But on the Big Island, the insanely complicated … Continued
Above photo: Office of Housing and Community Development administrator Suzan Kunz. Hawai‘i County, like every other county in the state, struggles with the problem of affordable housing. Unlike the others, though, it has a law – Chapter 11 of the … Continued
On the chilly but clear day of December 2, 2016, around 10:30 in the morning, the building housing the old Copper Lounge in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota, collapsed. A contractor working on the first floor had removed two load-bearing … Continued
In January of 2015, barely a month after Luna Loa Developments, LLC, was formed, its sole member of record, Rajesh Budhabhatti, signed onto an affordable housing agreement with the County of Hawai‘i. Terms of the agreement called for Luna Loa … Continued
Photos of grannies making cookies with the kiddos, a grandfather and grandson hand in hand, kicking through fall leaves, and a grandmother reading to a loving child on her lap. These are among the scenes that, the Tenderlycare.org website would … Continued