Good evening, Hawaii. The Hawaii Department of Health fined the U.S. Navy $8.7 million, but it didn’t have anything to do with Red Hill. The Navy is accused of repeatedly discharging sewage into the ocean near Pearl Harbor. Our partner, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, reports that former defense contractor, Martin Kao, changed his plea to guilty in federal court Tuesday. He is accused of making illegal campaign contributions. And Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida today, bringing Category 4 Hurricane winds and dangerous storm surges. Ian is expected to weaken tomorrow. Here are the most important stories you need to know.
Your Weather Planner
Localized sea breezes will favor interior clouds and showers this afternoon, especially over portions of Oahu, where a few locally heavy showers will be possible. Land breezes will bring clearing to most areas tonight and allow the focus for showers to shift offshore. A mid-level ridge builds on Saturday, and a transition to a more classic land/sea breeze pattern happens during the first half of next week. Throughout this time, interior clouds and isolated showers will be favored each afternoon, followed by land breezes and clearing each night.
Today's Big Stories
1. Hawaii Department of Health fines Navy $8.7 million for discharging sewage into ocean
The Hawaii Department of Health issued an $8.7 million fine to the U.S. Navy for repeatedly discharging sewage into the ocean near Pearl Harbor, according to a news release.
The DOH issued a Notice of Violation and Order based on findings from an inspection on July 26, 2022. The fine of $8,776,250 was based on 766 counts for the Navy’s wastewater treatment plant discharging pollutants above permitted levels, 17 counts for the unauthorized release of wastewater and 212 counts for operation and maintenance failures.
The DOH ordered corrective actions for critical violations. This will involve evaluating the condition of the wastewater treatment plant and repairing any issues, repairing the ultraviolet disinfection system, testing all valves to ensure functionality, obtaining a root cause analysis for effluent pump failures, and more.
2. DHHL selects 10 proposals for legislative package
After considering some 30 legislative proposals submitted by the public, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has selected 10 that it will recommend for inclusion in the governor’s 2023 legislative package.
The Hawaiian Homes Commission reviewed and approved the 10 draft proposals at its September meeting.
The proposals will next be submitted for review by the Department of the Attorney General, the Department of Budget and Finance, and the governor. If approved, they will be included as proposed bills in Gov. David Ige’s final legislative package to go before the legislature next year.
In its call for submissions in July, DHHL requested that the proposals be good public policy for the department and that they address operations, programs, regulations, processes, budget, and/or resources and create a benefit or an advantage for DHHL, the trust, or trust beneficiaries, or otherwise correct a deficiency.
3. Shimabukuro fined for ethics code violation
The Hawaii State Ethics Commission announced Tuesday that it had resolved an investigation of state Sen. Maile Shimabukuro related to a public appearance she made in her official capacity as a legislator that also involved the distribution of goodie bags promoting her reelection campaign.
According to information provided by Shimabukuro, who represents District 21 (Kalaeloa, Honokai Hale, Ko Olina, Nanakuli, Maiili, Waianae, Makaha, Makua), the senator attended a June 4 parade celebrating several Nanakuli School athletic teams to present legislative certificates and deliver a brief speech.
The commission found that the incident represented a breach of the State Ethics Code’s Fair Treatment Law, which prohibits a legislator from using his or her position for personal benefit.
Shimabukuro admitted the violation, cooperated fully and was “forthright and candid in speaking with the Commission’s staff,” the report stated. She was fined $300 for the violation.
4. Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Former Hawaii defense contractor pleads guilty
A former Hawaii defense contractor and prominent political donor admitted to conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions to a political action committee and a U.S. senator while hiding the scheme from regulators.
Martin Kao, 49, former head of Martin Defense Group LLC, formerly known as Navatek LLC, changed his plea Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Kao pleaded guilty to conspiring to make unlawful campaign contributions to a candidate for Congress and a political action committee, making unlawful campaign contributions and causing the submission of false information to the Federal Election Commission, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kao is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 9 and faces up to five years in prison on each count.
Kao and his alleged co-conspirators, Clifford Chen, 48, and Lawrence “Kahele” Lum Kee, 52, created a shell company, the Society of Young Women Scientists and Engineers LLC, which they used to make an illegal contribution using government contractor funds to a PAC supporting the election of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
5. Hurricane Ian moves inland in southwest Florida
Hurricane Ian has made landfall in southwest Florida. It made its first landfall just after 3 p.m. today in Cayo Costa, Fla., with max winds of 150 mph. After that, it made a second landfall in Florida, as it moved inland just south of Punta Gorda near Pirate Harbor with max winds of 145 mph.
Along with high-end Category 4 Hurricane winds, Ian will continue to bring catastrophic impacts, including life-threatening storm surge, and coastal and inland flooding to the Florida peninsula. Ian has begun to weaken since making landfall.
Now that Ian is moving over land it is expected to weaken as it move north-northeast. Its current max winds are 125 mph, a Category 3.
Ian is the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental U.S. this year. It will continue to move inland and northeast across the Florida peninsula through Thursday, slowly weakening into a tropical storm by Thursday.
Your Notes for Tomorrow
Thursday, September 29
- Hurricane Ian forecast to continue hitting Florida
- President Biden hosts the inaugural U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit
- Vice President Harris meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol
- House Oversight Committee hearing on abortion restrictions and the threat of a national abortion ban
- Q2 2022 final growth figures published
- What: 'Search for Snoopy: A Peanuts Adventure'
- Where: Ala Moana Center | 1450 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu | 808-955-9517
- Details: This fun, interactive experience takes kids on “The Search for Snoopy: A Peanuts Adventure.” Step into the Peanuts neighborhood and see Charlie Brown’s bedroom, Lucy’s psychiatry booth, even inside Snoopy’s doghouse and more. Tickets.
- What: Girls Night Out
- Where: da Playground Maui | 300 Maalaea Rd., Wailuku | 808-727-2571
- Details: Leave the hubs at home and hang out with your gang, 9 p.m. Sept. 29. Tickets (event is free, but will be $10 at the door).
- What: A Year on the Edge with NPS and USGS
- Where: Kahilu Theatre | 67-1186 Lindsey Rd., Waimea | 808-885-6868
- Details: After a four-month absence, lava returned to the summit of Kilauea at 3:21 p.m. Sept. 29, 2021, and continues to percolate to today. A Hawaii Volcanoes NP park ranger and a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist will share highlights of the current eruption for a scientific and Hawaiian cultural perspective at the edge of Kilauea caldera at the USGS triangulation marker at Uēkahuna, just east of the former Jaggar Museum site, 3 p.m. Sept. 29.
- What: Preschool Storytime
- Where: Lihue Public Library | 4344 Hardy St., Lihue | 808-241-3222
- Details: Keiki ages 3 to 5 and their caregivers are invited to a storytime session at 10:30 a.m. in the children’s area. Must be accompanied by a parent or adult.
For more on these and other events, see this week's HI Out & About.
Watch Live
- Miliani takes on Waianae in OIA girls volleyball 7 p.m. Thursday on OC16 or streaming on the Spectrum News app.
In Case You Missed It
Sisters Lily Wahinekapu and Jovi Lefotu shared the court for the first time in a Hawaii women's basketball full practice on Tuesday. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Championship push begins anew for Hawaii women's basketball team
The net cutting, the trip to the NCAA tournament, the honors from the mayor at Honolulu Hale.
None of it ever happened.
That’s what coach Laura Beeman is impressing upon her defending Big West champion Rainbow Wahine heading into the 2022-23 season, for which Hawaii held its first full practice on Tuesday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH has six weeks to prepare for its Nov. 7 game at Oregon State, its opener to a fairly tough nonconference schedule.
“This is the time when you want a memory at certain times, and then you absolutely don’t want it conscious at other times,” Beeman said. “I don’t want them to remember that we’re champions. I want them to play like we’re not, I want them to work like we’re not.”
She paused and made an allowance.
“When the experience needed to win ballgames comes in, then I want them to remember that we’re champions. So, it’s kind of a give and take.”