The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has announced its ‘Ahahui grants program which provides financial assistance to support nonprofit organizations hosting communi
Panel: Hawaii Justice System Needs Better Data Collection - Honolulu Civil Beat
Panel: Hawaii Justice System Needs Better Data Collection
Government agencies also need to get better at sharing their data, including information on arrests and demographics, experts say. Reading time: 4 minutes.
Hawaii needs to collect more and better data, share that data between agencies, and actually start implementing policy proposals on reducing prison populations if it ever hopes to make meaningful reforms to the state’s criminal justice system.
Those are some of the major takeaways from an hour-long panel discussion, the second in a series from the state Judiciary titled “Confronting Racial Injustice.” Panelists during Friday’s event included Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm, Erin Harbinson, the executive director of the Criminal Justice Research Institute and RaeDeen Keahiolalo, the principal of Magma LLC.
Former OHA Finance Chief Sues Over Whistleblower Retaliation - Honolulu Civil Beat
UPDATED: The former official alleges that he was targeted for raising concerns over the office’s finances. Reading time: 4 minutes.
A former official at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has sued the agency as well as its former chief executive officer alleging whistleblower retaliation and “corrupt and unlawful practices.”
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in First Circuit Court by David Laeha, former chief financial officer of OHA, details several instances in which Laeha was allegedly ordered to complete improper payments for contracts and was blocked when he tried to report instances of harassment of himself and others.
In whistleblower suit, former OHA executive claims he was fired for questioning spending
Former OHA executive files whistleblower lawsuit, claiming he was fired for highlighting questionable spending By Rick Daysog | January 27, 2021 at 5:52 PM HST - Updated January 27 at 6:30 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - A former high-ranking Office of Hawaiian Affairs executive has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the organization.
David Laeha, OHA’s former chief financial officer, alleged that former OHA CEO Kamanao Crabbe began to retaliate against him just months after he was hired in 2017 and eventually fired him in 2019.
His suit alleged that he was fired because because he questioned why OHA was not properly reporting millions of dollars in expenditures to state lawmakers and to the public.
Realities of the digital divide
Credit Ilihia Gionson / Hiehie Communications
Even as more of our everyday lives take place online, roughly 10% of Hawaii residents do not have internet in their homes. High rates of unemployment over the course of the pandemic have forced many families to cut back and prioritize groceries and rent over home internet subscriptions. Families in low-income communities have also reported that low credit scores make them ineligible for free connectivity programs through telecom companies. Brad Bennett of the Kuauli Digital Opportunities Initiative discusses his organization s work in expanding access to computers in Hawaii s rural communities.
Listen