Go to Sen. Shimabukuro’s New Blog

To accommodate the number switch in senate district from 21 to 22, Senator Shimabukuro has decided to start a new blog, maileshimabukuro.com, at https://bit.ly/senmaile. For the latest blog posts, please log in and subscribe to her new blog. Mahalo!

HCB: Fred Dodge Made a Difference in Leeward Oahu

By Alyce Dodge, Honolulu Civil Beat, 15 April 2022

His children continue his work and love of aina, peace and justice.

Fred Dodge died April 3, but his work lives on. 

Physician and activist Fred Dodge, who was well known in the Leeward community, died on April 3 after a long decline. He was 90.

Frederick Arthur Dodge was born in 1931 in Trenton, New Jersey. He was the first one in his family born in the United States. His parents and three older siblings were immigrants from Europe.

KITV4 Update: Resolution urges HPD to create a new patrol district for the Waianae coast

Marisa Yamane, KITV4, 5 Apr. 2022

On Tuesday, the Hawaii Senate Ways and Means Committee unanimously passed the resolution, un-amended.

The next step — SR78/SCR88 will go before the full Senate, and if adopted, will cross over to the House for its consideration.

Original story on 4/4/22:

HONOLULU (KITV4) — Should the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) create a new patrol district specifically for the Waianae coast? A resolution is urging that to happen.

KHON2: Tougher laws proposed for illegal game room operators

Manolo Morales, KHON2, 5 Apr. 2022

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Two men and a woman were sent to the hospital overnight after a shooting in Ewa Beach. The suspect remains on the loose.

Honolulu Police say it happened in an illegal game room on Hanakahi Street. No arrests have been made.

HCB: Future Of Oahu Landfill Is Uncertain After Committee Rejects Alternatives

Christina Jedra, Honolulu Civil Beat, 5 Apr. 2022

The city has until the end of the year to choose a new landfill site.

The future of Oahu’s municipal landfill at Waimanalo Gulch is again in question after a committee charged with helping to choose a location for its replacement rejected all the options it was given.

On Monday, the Landfill Advisory Committee voted against recommending any of the six proposed sites, citing concerns that a landfill in those locations could contaminate the island’s drinking water, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The city is under orders to choose a new location by the end of the year.

PBS-HI: DHHL Special Funding 3/24/22

Daryl Huff, Department of Hawaiian Homelands Special Funding, Insights on PBS Hawai’i, 3/24/22

The Department of Hawaiian Homelands has been criticized for years over its failure to provide homes to Native Hawaiians. Thousands of people have waited decades for a shot at owning a home on their ancestral lands. Some have died waiting. State lawmakers are poised to pass historic legislation that would provide $600 million to help solve this problem. Panelists include: Tyler Iokepa Gomes, Department of Hawaiian Homelands, Deputy to the Chairman; Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D), Kalaeloa, Nānākuli, Maiʻli, Waiʻanae, Mākaha; Blossom Feiteira, Maui Island and Hawaiian Homelands Beneficiary, Former Association of Hawaiian Homelands President; and Tom Yamachika, Tax Foundation of Hawaii. Original airdate 3/24/22.

KITV4: Leeward Oahu lawmaker fighting to get more police resources

State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D-Waianae) says it can sometimes take an hour for police to respond to calls.

Waianae Community Seeking Increased Police Presence
[KITV, 4/2/22]

SCR88/ SR78 and SCR49 /SR44, introduced by Sen. Maile Shimabukuro, urge for the creation of a District 9 police district to cover the needs of the Waianae Coast.

Currently the Waianae Coast is included with District 8, which stretches from Waipahu to Kaena Point. It includes the growing communities of Ewa, Kapolei, Makakilo,etc.

SA: HHL financial-assistance proposal stirs debate

Hawaiian Home Lands financial-assistance proposal stirs debate
Dan Nakaso, Star-Advertiser, 27 March 2022

Proposals to infuse $600 million to help clear the backlog of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries include different ways to provide financial assistance to Native Hawaiians willing to remove themselves from the waitlist of 28,700 beneficiaries.

“It’s great we’re trying to give a whole variety of options for the people on the waitlist,” said state Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D, Kalaeloa-Waianae-Makaha), chairwoman of the Senate Hawaiian Affairs Committee.

KITV4: Hawaii lawmakers weigh in on Ketanji Brown confirmation hearings

By ‘A’ali’i Dukelow, KITV4, 21 March 2022

HONOLULU (KITV4) — Citing her extensive experience as a judge, as well as her prior decisions, African American Lawyers Association of Hawai’i president Leslee Matthews calls Ketanji Brown Jackson an overly-qualified candidate for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Ketanji Brown Jackson

“We need people in the legal profession that care about people,” Matthews said, pointing out Jackson’s confirmation hearings come as the Supreme Court decides on several issues that will impact Hawai’i residents, including women’s right to whole healthcare.

SA: Native Hawaiian homestead nonprofit buys Kauai affordable rental property

By Jayna Omaye, Star-Advertiser, 18 March 2022

A Native Hawaiian homestead nonprofit recently purchased an affordable rental property on Kauai, advancing a first-of-its-kind project. The nonprofit’s leaders say the initiative is an effort to keep more rentals at affordable rates, particularly during the economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Homestead Community Development Corp., which seeks to grow rural economies on or near Hawaiian home lands, closed on the six-unit Halenani Street Apartments in Lihue, in December. It cost about $825,000.

SA: U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele calls for return of Makua Valley land

By Mindy Pennybacker, Star-Advertiser, 18 March 2022

U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele has introduced legislation requiring the cleanup, restoration and return of 782 leased acres of Oahu’s Makua Military Reservation used for live-fire training from 1942 to 2004 to the state of Hawaii.

Named the Leandra Wai Act in honor of the late cultural practitioner and co-founder of Malama Makua, a Native Hawaiian community group that has for decades sought to protect and restore the valley’s unique environmental and cultural resources, the bill authorizes appropriations be made to a trust fund that would be created to achieve its purposes.

KITV4: Bill to remove military from Makua

“Citing ‘serious damage to ‘aina,’ native Hawaiians, Kahele introduces bill to remove military from Makua”

By ‘A’ali’i Dukelow, KITV4, 17 March 2022

HONOLULU (KITV4) — For decades, Makua Valley has been the center of forced evictions and mass protests as the United States military conducted training on 782 of its acres. 

A 65-year land lease between the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the army is set to expire in 2029. However, Congressman Kai Kahele introduced legislation on Thursday proposing to return the Leeward O’ahu valley to the state of Hawai’i. 

The United States military has used Makua Valley as a practice arena since the 1920s, including live fire training that, “inflicted serious damage to this ‘aina and the people whom Makua is so important,” Kahele argued. 

HNN: Hundreds gather to mourn girl, mother killed in Nanakuli crash — and to call for action

By Ben Gutierrez
HawaiiNewsNow, 3/3/22

Hundreds turned out in Nanakuli on Thursday evening to mourn a girl and her mother who were killed in a weekend traffic crash.

But many also were galvanized to send a message against speed and driving under the influence — a message they hope can finally be turned into more action and fewer traffic deaths.

KITV4: OHA pushes legislation to up payment from public land trust revenue to $78.9M a year

OHA pushes legislation to up payment from public land trust revenue to $78.9M a year
By ‘A’ali’i Dukelow, KITV4, Feb 15, 2022

HONOLULU (KITV4) — A measure in the state legislature is proposing to increase the yearly allotment of funds to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) from public land trust revenue from $15.1 million to $78.9 million.

OHA agreed on $15.1 million with the legislature as an interim amount in 2006 after years of litigation.

KHON2: Lawmakers work to save neighborhoods ahead of severe weather

Before the storm: Lawmakers work to save neighborhoods ahead of severe weather
by: Kristy Tamashiro, KHON2, Feb 21, 2022

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Heavy rain in January turned Paakea Road in Waianae into a river.

“A lot of people are stranded for at least a week,” said Sophie Flores-Manansala, a Waianae resident. “They couldn’t get out and go to work. They couldn’t get onto the bus. The buses wouldn’t come. It was flooded.”

State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro is working on a solution in the form of funding major upgrades and repairs to the areas streams, canals and drainage ditches.

KITV4 & KHON2: House & Senate Certificates at the Buffalo Big Board Surfing Classic 2/19/2022

SA: Legislation would help victims exit sex trade

Hawaii legislation would help victims exit sex trade with $2,000 per month
By Dan Nakaso, Star-Advertiser, 2/14/22

“Everyone can agree that people who want to stop prostituting themselves should be able to do so immediately.” -Khara Jabola Carolus, Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women. Photo contributed by Khara Jabola-Carolus.

“Everyone can agree that people who want to stop prostituting themselves should be able to do so immediately.” -Khara Jabola Carolus, Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women. Photo contributed by Khara Jabola-Carolus.

SA: Cafe opens on Hawaiian home land in Anahola

By Jayna Omaye, Star-Advertiser, 5 Feb. 2022

Workers and helpers Robin Danner, front, Norman Solomon, Kongi Faagai, Ikaika Kirifi and Wyatt Kamoku pose for a selfie in the Anahola Cafe kitchen. Photo COURTESY HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP.

Wyatt Kamoku used to wake up at 3 a.m. to make the nearly 30-mile trek across Kauai for his job. Kamoku, who lives with his family on Hawaiian home lands in Anahola, cooked breakfast at a restaurant in Poipu Beach.

But now he’s taken on a new role much closer to home. Kamoku was hired as lead chef of the Anahola Cafe, a restaurant opened in October by the nonprofit Homestead Community Development Corp., which seeks to grow rural economies on or near Hawaiian home lands. Now, he said, he can walk or bike to work in about five minutes.

SA: Hawaiian homestead bills advance at state Legislature

Hawaiian homestead bills advance at state Legislature
By Andrew Gomes, Star-Advertiser, 4 Feb. 2022

A plan backed by most Hawaii lawmakers to give a historic sum of money to ramp up development of homesteads for potentially thousands of Native Hawaiians took two initial steps forward Thursday at the Legislature.

Separate committees in the state House and Senate unanimously voted to advance a pair of bills aimed at delivering $600 million this year to the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands so the agency can dramatically reduce an immense backlog of around 28,700 beneficiaries waiting for homesteads.

HCB: Should OHA Get A Bigger Share Of Hawaii’s Public Land Revenues?

By Blaze Lovell, Honolulu Civil Beat, 28 January 2022

Updated: The ceded land revenues, which make up a significant chunk of OHA’s annual budget, go to fund programs for Hawaiian beneficiaries.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is again asking the Legislature for a greater share of revenue generated by lands formerly held by the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Not only that, OHA also wants the state to pay out $638 million the office said it’s owed after being shortchanged on land revenue payments over the last decade.