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Saturday morning’s alert that mistakenly advised of a incoming ballistic missile unleashed an islandwide adrenaline spike that’s likely to still be buzzing when the 2018 Legislature opens Wednesday. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency is slated for a public what-went-wrong briefing, 10 a.m. Friday at the state Capitol.
Meanwhile, lawmakers should focus on buzz-worthy proposals to tackle our daunting homelessness and housing shortage problems. The Ige administration, which wants to add 10,000 new units to the inventory over four years, is requesting $100 million for construction of affordable housing.
Families move into reimagined plantation village
Kahauiki Village, a plantation-style community, is now open to homeless families ready to embrace a bygone approach to affordable housing in Hawaii. Among the 30 families that last week moved into prefabricated homes on the 11-acre site, between Sand Island and Keehi Lagoon Park, were several jubilant children.
Kahauiki’s kids will be able to enroll in an on-site preschool and day care center, and their parents will get job opportunities at United Laundry Services, Y. Hata &Co. Ltd. and Lion Coffee. At capacity, the village, which echoes operations that many decades ago sustained plantation villages, will include about 630 residents living in one- and two-bedroom rental units that go for $725 and $900 per month. Kudos to the private-public partnership that forged this opportunity for struggling families.