Hawaii Independent Staff

The ACLU filed a lawsuit today in federal court on behalf of four women who were banned by the state from marrying their fiancés, all of whom are men incarcerated at the Saguaro Correctional Facility in Eloy, Arizona.

May 23 will be the last day of operations for the West Kauai factory.

The city is soliciting bids for a transitional housing project in urban Honolulu.

The City has issued a Request for Proposals to invite agencies interested in partnering on the project, and will provide $3.5 million from the City’s Affordable Housing Fund to acquire and/or renovate an existing structure to provide transitional housing to homeless persons with special needs. A specific project site has not been identified. Funds will be awarded to a nonprofit agency that will be responsible for working with neighborhoods in urban Honolulu to obtain a community consensus that The Pathways Project is an acceptable means to address homelessness in their neighborhood. A specific project site will be identified to implement the project only after a positive community consensus has been achieved.

Sen. Carol Fukunaga, Rep. Karl Rhoads and Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi will host the 9 a.m. meeting at Makiki Christian Church.

They’ve invited city Department of Transportation Services Director Wayne Yoshioka to discuss plans for public safety in Makiki and the Ala Moana areas.

The meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, 9 am, at Makiki Christian Church.

US Naval Secretary Ray Mabus renamed the two Hawaii Superferry vessels – the Alakai and its sister ship, the Huakai, which never entered service in Hawaii waters – on Tuesday.

The selection of the name Guam honors the long-standing historical and military relationship between Guam and the United States.  This relationship began in 1898 when the United States acquired the island from Spain as a result of the “Treaty of Paris” that ended the Spanish-American War.  Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese captured Guam which they occupied until U.S. troops retook the island on July 21, 1944, a date commemorated every year as “Liberation Day”.  Guam continues to host many of the United States’ critical military installations in the Pacific Ocean.

“I am humbled by the vote of confidence the teachers have given me. These are difficult times. We must remain united in the pursuit of what is best for our profession and the children we teach,” Okabe said. “I want to thank those who voted for me and I want all members to know that I will work as hard as I can to do as much as I can for every member of our Association,” he said.

The Associated Press reports that only 22% of the union’s 13,000 members participated in the vote.

The outdoor bar in the center of Honolulu’s Waterfront Plaza office and restaurant complex has closed but may reopen under new ownership.

RIMPAC, the multinational military training exercise, will run this year from June 27 to August 7.

The state is poised to start hiring to fill jobs vacated due to budget constraints. On the list: food safety inspectors, quarantine inspectors, staffers in MedQuest, and more.

Carol Okada, Plant Quarantine Branch Manager:

“We’re dealing with a lot of snakes a lot of reptiles coming in. Hiring these inspectors means that we’ll be back in baggage claim looking at the passengers, looking at the freight forwarders, doing a better inspection.”

Reward total now at $40,000

My name is Gail D. Peeples. I’m one of many who lives at Kea‘au Beach Park along with my husband, daughter, son, son-in-law, and five minor grandchildren. We’ve all lived at Kea‘au Beach for approximately 15 years. We’ve also learned to adjust to living here over all the years.

More than 100 organizations and individuals came together today to oppose Governor Abercrombie’s nomination of Ted Yamamura to the state Commission on Water and Resource Management.

Honolulu’s Occupy encampment expanded into an overt protest of the financial system today.

The Foodbank usually tries to stock themselves with about 20 days worth of food to help distribute to churches and other community centers. Lately, though, the shelves at the Foodbank have become progressively lighter, and the group says they were down to only 8 days worth of meals at one point.

Donate food at their April 21 food drive, at locations throughout the islands.

The candidates are:
• Edward T. Knudson, former executive vice president of student learning at Moorpark College in California;
• Erika L. Lacro, vice chancellor of academic affairs at Honolulu Community College;
• Rafe Trickey, vice president of planning and institutional development at the College of the Marshall Islands.

The State Department of Health announced its intention last month to award a $25,040 no-bid contract to the Healthy Hawaii Coalition, a nonprofit group founded and controlled by Senator Mike Gabbard and his daughter, Honolulu City Councilmember Tulsi Gabbard.

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The group is also absent from the list of Health Department contractors in the State Procurement Office database.

The contract is anticipated to extend to last for one year and will end with the delivery of the vessel to Naha, Okinawa, Japan, where it will provide services to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. Future plans for the HSV Alakai are uncertain, but it is possible the Navy will refit the vessel for military service given its availability.

A new HPD website allows residents to file police reports online.

The new trustee will replace Chair J. Douglas Ing, whose term ends in June. Application deadline is May 18.

The United Nations is sending an expert to the Marshall Islands later this month to assess the impact on human rights of the nuclear tests conducted by the United States between 1946 and 1958. It’s the first ever visit to the country by an independent expert of the UN Human Rights Council.

Naked Cow Dairy, Oahu’s only cow milk dairy, is raising funds to begin cheese production. Their goal is $15,000 – and they’re almost there, with $13,806 raised as of this writing. The deadline to contribute is March 20.

Suppose two dozen or fifty people were in need of emergency hospitalization. If there is no bed for one guy from Kauai in need of help, what will happen to many?

“This is the most mismanaged project in 28 years of office,” Cayetano said today after reading several of the emails to the media. He is running for mayor in 2012, and critical of how his opponents, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle, and former city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell, managed the project.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu has continued the Flood Advisory for the Island of MAUI effective until 12:45 a.m. This Advisory may need to be extended beyond 12:45 a.m. if heavy rain persists.

Water has been reported along portions of Kalanianaole Highway in east Honolulu while a rock slide was reported near Sandy Beach.

Rain is falling on saturated ground and additional periods of heavy rain will lead to flooding.

Kauai has urged some residents in Anahola to move to higher ground. Waioli Church in Hanalei and Kilauea gym are allowing in people needing a place to rest.

The American Red Cross also was opening a shelter Monday evening at the Kapaa Middle School for residents evacuated from their homes.