The Verified Complaint In Equity: The Declaration Of Independence
The 1840 Hawaiian Constitution and the Fourth of July
Green Finalizes Veto Decisions
Green: 'Big Beautiful Bill' Cuts MedQuest and EBT Cards
Hawaii prison guard gets eight years for sexually abusing inmates
Homeowners Association Harasses Foster Family
DPP to Launch New On-Line Permitting System
Shakedown: How Can Hawaii insiders get money out of US military training lease renewal talks?
AP: … Pohakuloa Training Area spans more than 200 square miles (518 square kilometers). The section in question is only 17% of that total, but it’s critically located in between two larger federal parcels. Troops fire munitions from the state-owned parcel onto federal lands….
…The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force exercise there, as do allied and partner militaries. The Hawaii National Guard accounts for one-quarter of Pohakuloa’s training. County fire and police departments use it too….
The Army prepared an environmental impact statement, including public feedback, that analyzed how the military’s continued use of the land would affect plants, animals and cultural heritage.
On May 9, the state land board rejected it after hearing hours of often emotional testimony in opposition. Among other issues, the board cited …(uhhh)… ‘inadequate inventory of unexploded ordnance and insufficient inventory of ancient burials and associated artifacts’…(yeah, that’s it).
The Army is considering whether to appeal. It could also negotiate a land exchange with the state instead.
(Now we’re talking.)
Such talks can’t begin until the Army finalizes its environmental study with a decision about its plans. The defense secretary’s office then must sign off on acquiring land.
Alice Roberts, U.S. Army Pacific’s program manager for training land retention, said the service has had some informal conversations, including trying to understand the state’s swap criteria.
(See? Told you.)
Buying the land would be a “a big hurdle,” for the Army, she said, because two-thirds of the state House and Senate would need to approve such a transaction.
U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat, said the Army must double down on being good stewards and make up for the military’s past mistakes.
(TRANSLATION: “Contracts.”)
Tokuda wants the military to help increase Hawaii’s housing supply, given that service members occupy 14% of Oahu’s housing stock and that high housing costs are driving residents out. She said it could bolster Hawaii’s water and sewer infrastructure.
(TRANSLATION: “Contracts.”)
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green suggested in an interview with Hawaii News Now that the military could take the land through eminent domain, but Tokuda said she hasn’t heard anyone in the military or President Donald Trump’s administration mention that.
Kaialiʻi Kahele, the chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which advocates for Native Hawaiians, wants to see what federal lands the Army would offer. He wants to know whether it would be willing to reduce the impact of its training, and what sort of clean up and community benefits it would provide.
(TRANSLATION: “Contracts.”)
“We have to get to a point where you do training and then you clean up your mess,” said Kahele, a former congressman who served more than 20 years in the Hawaii Air National Guard and is now in the Air Force Reserve.
(TRANSLATION: “Contracts.”)
“That should be the model of training that respects aina, respects this place and its culture and its people,” he said, using the Hawaiian word for land….
(TRANSLATION: “Contracts.”)
Read … US military wants to keep training on sacred land in Hawaii | AP News
New law cuts retirement benefits for judges
SA: … A measure enacted Thursday by Gov. Josh Green that reduces by nearly half the retirement benefits for future judges comes at a time when the state Judiciary is struggling to find qualified judges, especially on the neighbor islands, and they are facing an increasing number of threats to their safety.
Green initially supported Senate Bill 935, then told the Legislature last month that he might veto the latest version of it. On Thursday, he ended up signing it into law.
The measure reduces retirement benefits for judges appointed on or after July 1, 2031….
Read … New law cuts retirement benefits for judges | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
City ‘struggling to keep up’ with car registration backlog, impacting thousands on Oahu
HNN: . . . There were about 8,000 outstanding registrations in May, which the city has since whittled down to 6,100….
Read … City ‘struggling to keep up’ with car registration backlog, impacting thousands on Oahu
Former Oahu prison guard sentenced to 8 years in prison for sexually abusing inmates
KITV: … Mikael Rivera, a 48-year-old Kapolei man, was sentenced on July 3 to 8 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. Rivera served as a correctional officer at the detention center from 2014 to 2018 where he ordered inmates to engage in sexual acts with him between 2017 and 2018.
Rivera admitted to the sex abuse as part of his guilty plea in March 2025. While on duty, he made a female inmate participate in multiple nonconsensual sexual acts. Rivera also sexually abused two other inmates under his supervision.
According to court information, Rivera attempted to get away with it by leaving cell doors unlocked so that he could enter or escort his victims without being detected.
Before his guilty plea, he fled on the eve of the trial which triggered a days-long manhunt across Oahu….
Read … Former Oahu prison guard sentenced to 8 years in prison for sexually abusing inmates | Crime & Courts | kitv.com
Retired MFD battalion chief reindicted for sexually assaulting minor
HNN: … A retired Maui Fire Department Battalion Chief is accused once again of repeatedly sexually assaulting a minor.
The original charges were dismissed last year, but prosecutors have reindicted the 25-year MFD veteran.
Shawn Rogers, 53, was back in court on Tuesday pleading not guilty once again to accusations of continual sex assault of a minor.
Court documents state the felony abuse started in 2019 when the child was 12 years old and lasted for three years….
Read … Retired MFD battalion chief reindicted for sexually assaulting minor
Police not helping with immigration arrests –but ACLU Still Trying to Turn ‘No’ into ‘Yes’
SA: … The American Civil Liberties Union has filed public record requests asking county police departments to detail how they work with the federal agents making civil immigration arrests in Hawaii.
The Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii police departments are not part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s work to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history, police and federal officials told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of DHS, has agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that focus on “cross-designating task force officers” with the authorities to enforce U.S. customs laws, according to a statement from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson.
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of DHS, has agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that focus on “cross-designating task force officers” with the authorities to enforce U.S. customs laws, according to a statement from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson.
“This cross-designation enables (officers) to participate in a wide range of investigations that address various types of criminal activities, including but not limited to contraband smuggling, cyber-enabled child exploitation, and money laundering,” read the statement, noting that task force officers are not authorized to conduct immigration enforcement….
Read … Police not helping with immigration arrests | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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