Normally, hearing that the Maui Police Department recently purchased ice machines for its stations in Hana and Lanai wouldn’t inspire me to write a story. But when I heard that the department used asset forfeiture funds to buy the machines, I got to work. Civil asset forfeiture is one of those grotesque things governments do that riles both left and libertarians–the left … [Read more...] about The Maui Police Dept. bought crime-fighting ice machines with asset forfeiture funds
Riki Hokama
Maui County Council Budget and Finance Committee approves park concessions/naming rights bill
In his 1996 novel Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace imagined a future in which everything corporations sponsored everything in society–including time itself. Numbered years gave way to the “Year of the Whopper,” “Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad,” “Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar” and so forth. It’s funny on its face, but given government’s increasing reliance on corporate … [Read more...] about Maui County Council Budget and Finance Committee approves park concessions/naming rights bill
SAFE Action Fund-backed Maui County Councilmembers still screwed in committee rosters
One of Maui County Council Chairperson Mike White's surprising concessions in the wee hours of the Jan. 2-3 County Council organizational meeting was to back off his ruthless, vindictive restructuring of the panel's many committees to zero out the voting power of four councilmembers: Alika Atay, Elle Cochran, Don Guzman and Kelly King. Their crime, of course, was being backed … [Read more...] about SAFE Action Fund-backed Maui County Councilmembers still screwed in committee rosters
Just how much power will Maui County Councilmembers backed by the SAFE Action Fund actually get?
New/old Maui County Council Chair Mike White has scheduled a fascinating public hearing for Monday, Jan. 16. Because Councilmembers Elle Cochran, Kelly King, Alika Atay and Don Guzman pushed back so hard on White during the Jan. 2 meeting in which he once again won the Council Chair job, White relented on one of his more hardline proposals–paving the way for this … [Read more...] about Just how much power will Maui County Councilmembers backed by the SAFE Action Fund actually get?
UPDATED: Mike White becomes Chair after contentious 13+ hour Maui County Council meeting
Mike White is once again Chair of the Maui County Council. Though the Jan. 2, 2016 Organizational Meeting of the Maui County Council stretched past 13 hours, this was never really in doubt. Nor was there any doubt that White–who is also the general manager of the Ka`anapali Beach Hotel–would strip away the independence of the ostensibly apolitical Office of Council Services … [Read more...] about UPDATED: Mike White becomes Chair after contentious 13+ hour Maui County Council meeting