Controversial Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha is enjoying one more month of paid leave before his Feb. 28 “retirement.” But still up in the air is where his $250,000 severance amount OK’d by the Honolulu Police Commission will come from (that’s on top of his pension and benefits). The commission wants it paid out of the police department’s salaries budget, but acting chief Cary Okimoto, interestingly, is balking.

“For the record, I am opposed to the use of departmental monies to fund the severance payment,” Okimoto wrote in a memo to HPD employees, adding: “We have an obligation to the public to maintain public safety and police services, and we will not take any action that could be detrimental to either.” Kealoha might be on his way out, but the dust he leaves behind will take a longer time settling.

New condos going up, and so are prices

Rents are pricier in urban Honolulu than elsewhere and rising — not all that newsy a factoid, but interesting to see it quantified.

ApartmentList.com, the apartment search site, has issued its latest report showing that while rents have plateaued since May 2016 in many cities, they’re still on the rise here. Honolulu urban rents were up 4.9 percent over last year, while up only 0.9 percent for the whole island of Oahu.

Could the new condos in Kakaako have something to do with that?