Measure would compel mediation for land deals ADVERTISING Measure would compel mediation for land deals HONOLULU (AP) — A state lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that could force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg into mediation before he is allowed to buy
Measure would compel mediation for land deals
HONOLULU (AP) — A state lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that could force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg into mediation before he is allowed to buy real estate on Kauai.
State Rep. Kaniela Ing said Friday that Hawaii’s sugar barons employed laws Zuckerberg is using to take land from Native Hawaiians.
He said Zuckerberg is “completing the theft.”
Zuckerberg last month filed lawsuits to identify owners of 14 parcels interspersed with his 700-acre spread so he could pay them and buy the land.
Ownership of the small lots could be split between hundreds and many of them unidentified.
If passed, Ing’s bill would likely take effect July 1. It would apply to Zuckerberg’s cases if they are still ongoing.
Honolulu’s inflation rate doubled in 2016
HONOLULU (AP) — Federal statistics show Honolulu inflation doubled to 2 percent last year, but state economists say the inflation rate remains lower than Hawaii’s historical average.
Economist Eugene Tian said consumers’ purchasing power remains strong despite the jump because of rising personal income and an inflation rate lower than the 2.2 percent average from 1995-2015.
The consumer price index — the most widely used measure of inflation — for Honolulu last year increased from 1 percent in 2015. Last year marked the city’s largest year-to-year increase for inflation since it grew by 2.4 percent in 2012, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tian, the chief economist for the department, said the increase in inflation “is not surprising” because the drop in energy prices from 2015 to 2016 wasn’t as large as it was during the previous one-year period.
Energy prices rose during the second half of 2016, with the cost of gasoline up 11.1 percent and electricity up 5.1 percent.
According to the federal data, Hawaii exceeded the average U.S. inflation rate of 1.3 percent for 2016. The state has had a higher inflation rate than the U.S. every year since 2004 with the exception of 2014.
Auction hosted by Hawaii’s last sugar plantation
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — A California-based company helped auction off equipment and vehicles used at a Hawaii sugar plantation that shuttered its operations at the end of last year.
The two-day auction put on by Global Partners started Wednesday. Items from Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Company that were up for grabs included pickups, farming equipment, machine shop items and microscopes.
Auction officials say about 1,000 people registered online for the event and about 250 bidders attended the auction at a Maui hotel.
There was a 15 percent premium of the bid price for onsite bidders and an 18 percent premium of the bid price for online bidders.
Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Company was the state’s last remaining sugar plantation before it ceased operations last month.
