Auditor Dings Hawaii ERS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report
Green Signs SB933, HB420, HB431
Katherine Kealoha’s Dope Dealing Brother Schemes to Get out of Prison
HNN: … Rudolph Puana wants his 90-month sentence reduced because he has a tumor and needs surgery.
The former Hawaii Island medical doctor was convicted on 38 counts of distributing oxycodone and fentanyl, conspiracy and gun crimes. He is currently serving his sentence at FCI Englewood, a low security federal correctional center in Littleton, Colorado.
Puana’s exact medical condition was not disclosed in a hearing Wednesday morning, but his attorney said he has a tumor (notice it doesn’t say ‘cancerous’) and surgery is scheduled in the next few weeks.
(Free jailhouse surgeons are the best!)
According to the court records, the Bureau of Prisons already denied his request for compassionate release in May. That’s why the attorney is now asking United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright to reconsider the sentence….
If his request is granted, he would reside in Greenwood Village, Colorado, with his family….
Read … Former doctor convicted of drug dealing wants early release due to medical condition
Deed Restrictions to Create Locals-Only Housing Market?
CB: … half of homeowners (51%) would consider selling their homes at a discount to a local buyer, even if they received a higher bid from a competing, outside buyer.
Deed restrictions would create a locals-only housing market by restricting housing owner-occupancy (and potential tenants) to a specific, constitutionally defined pool of people. When done right, they tether housing costs to the buying power of a local resident, not the whims of an international housing market.
Mechanisms like the deed restriction proposals that faltered at the Legislature this year (House Bill 739 and House Bill 740) could serve as models for such schemes, even at the county level.
(CLUE: The only way this would make a substantial impact is if the State created 1000s of subdivided lots on Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Kona side of Big Island, and Kauai and sold them fee simple to local buyers under the deed-restriction program. IDEA: Restrict ownership to 18-year residents.)
... for a locals-only housing market (57% of all individuals under 35 support this proposal ….
OS: Hawai‘i Wants to Purchase Voluntary Deed Restrictions to Preserve More Homes for Locals
Read … The Housing Numbers Keep Talking. We Must Listen - Honolulu Civil Beat
Maui Fires Settlement: Kamehameha Schools Poised To Pay $872 Million
CB: … A state court will decide soon whether to allow one of Hawaiʻi’s oldest and largest charitable trusts to settle claims related to the fires that destroyed Lahaina….
Read … Maui Fires Settlement: Kamehameha Schools Poised To Pay $872 Million
Maui County Slow to Correct Fire Death-Trap Lahaina Roadways
CB: … The county several weeks ago purchased property that would allow for the extension of Aki Road through an area of the Kuhua Camp neighborhood that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers a critical pathway. The County Council on Tuesday also unanimously voted to approve the purchase of several small parcels that are important for efforts to extend Dickenson and Kuhua streets to the south.
However, some county leaders and residents say they’re frustrated at how long it’s taking to complete the most urgent road extensions in one of the deadliest and hardest-hit areas during the fire.
It will probably be several years before the county is able to extend Kuhua Street to the north and connect it to Keawe Street. Had that route been in place during the wildfire, along with the Aki Street extension, nearly three dozen victims in the Kuhua Camp neighborhood — the largest concentration of people who died in the disaster — may have actually survived, according to computer modeling that the Army Corps provided last year to Maui County planners. …
MN: Public meetings focus on future of Lahaina streets | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News
Read … Plans To Improve Lahaina Evacuation Routes Are Slowly Inching Forward - Honolulu Civil Beat
Lawsuit to Challenge $50M Legislative Slush Fund?
SA: … There was some reluctance in the 76-member Legislature with having four lawmakers determine grant awards with no public meeting requirements for a special legislative committee of sorts.
Three Democrats in the House voted to approve the bill with reservations, including Rep. Dela Au Belatti, who called it “constitutionally deficient.” Voting against the bill were five of eight Republicans in the House: Reps. David Alcos, Diamond Garcia, Lauren Matsumoto, Christopher Muraoka and Elijah Pierick.
In the Senate, the bill passed 23-2, with two of three Republican members voting no: Sens. Brenton Awa and Samantha DeCorte.
Green said he doubts that anyone will challenge the legality of the new law because it would harm nonprofits serving residents in need.
“I think if we do see lawsuits against this bill, it would be pretty cynical,” he said moments before signing the measure….
Read … Special $50M state fund authorized to help Hawaii nonprofits | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Burden For Preventing Drownings In Hawaiʻi Falls On Counties — And Residents
CB: … Ocean safety efforts are left up to individual counties, leading to big disparities in drowning prevention across the islands. The state does little to help them. …
Read … Burden For Preventing Drownings In Hawaiʻi Falls On Counties — And Residents - Honolulu Civil Beat
Downtown property owners willing to pay for sanitation, safety improvements
HNN: … Bill 51 focuses on creating a business improvement district funded by property owners and investors who say they are willing to pay to help revitalize the area.
Fort Street Mall has been a designated improvement area for five years, and supporters say it’s been transformed. The proposal is to expand the Fort Street district to include all of downtown Honolulu, inside a square formed by Nimitz Highway, Richards Street, Beretania Street, and Nuuanu Avenue.
The larger district effort would be patterned after Waikiki, where staff called “Aloha Ambassadors” keep up with litter, graffiti, and loitering….
Read … Downtown property owners willing to pay for sanitation, safety improvements
Nanakuli residents want more access to emergency road
KHON: … Jensen was visiting his girlfriend in the area on the day of the fire. He says he called 911 and got bounced around from the fire department, to the Navy, to the police department with no luck on getting the gate unlocked or even finding out who’s responsible….
Read … Nanakuli residents want more access to emergency road | KHON2
Trump De-Funds One Tiny Piece of UH Manoa Global Warming Hysteria Generation System
SA: … Noam Vogt-Vincent is a marine scientist at the University of Hawaii, studying how coral reefs will fare in hotter, more acidic oceans. He was also furloughed Monday.
(FACT: The oceans are alkaline. They aren’t going to become boiling vats of acid.)
Vogt-Vincent is from England and said he was thrilled to receive the NOAA fellowship in 2023. He moved to work at the University of Hawaii fully intending to establish a permanent career.
“The U.S. is, or was, the best place in the world to do climate science,” he said. But shortly after the 2024 election results came in, he withdrew his applications for jobs at American universities. “It was pretty clear what the effects on climate science would be,” he said. Now, with the funding cuts to NOAA, he said, “I think that was the correct decision, unfortunately.”
(TRANSLATION: The US Gov’t WAS paying for all this junk science. Now we’re not.)
As a temporary visa holder, Vogt-Vincent said he was comfortable speaking to a reporter because he is moving back to England this week. …
Read … UH marine scientist loses funding in Trump’s NOAA budget freeze | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Global Warmers Claim Waikiki Stormwater Drainage System Will Fail
IM: …A new study published in July 2025 highlights the growing danger. to Waikiki`s infrastructure.
Drainage failure and associated urban impacts under combined sea-level rise and precipitation scenarios by Chloe Obara, Charles H. Fletcher, Shellie Habel & Kayla Yamamoto, SOEST, and Kristian McDonald Forerunner Industries, San Francisco
(TRANSLATION: If you are fooled by our 3’ sea level rise prediction, then you will be fooled by this ‘study.’)
ASD: UH Mānoa study predicts total Waikīkī drainage failure by 2050
Read … Hawaii Study -- Waikiki Stormwater Drainage System Will Fail | Ililani Media
Military watching Chinese naval ship near Hawaii
SA: … The U.S. military has been watching a Chinese naval vessel operating off the coast of Hawaii this week.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Oahu-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command confirmed that it is “monitoring a (Chinese People’s Liberation Army) vessel which was operating in international waters in the vicinity of Hawaii.”
U.S. officials previously have alluded to Chinese intelligence gathering at sea near Hawaii, and also have acknowledged specific instances of Russian naval forces operating near the Hawaiian Islands. Russian operations have included several instances of spy ships sailing near the islands and a large exercise in 2021 that the Russian Pacific Fleet called its largest since the end of the Cold War….
Read … Military watching Chinese naval ship near Hawaii | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Usual suspects gin up ICE Controversy
HTH: … ACLU, questions, etc etc …
KITV: State legislative leaders question program for ICE agents posted at Marine Corps Base Hawaii | News | kitv.com
Read … What is HPD’s role in ICE raids? Island residents, ACLU seek answers - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Controversial CEO of Domestic Violence Action Center Steps Down
CB: … For the organization to start recruiting more attorneys, Lee said, it will have to show that it’s undergone real change and has someone at the helm who understands that advocates can’t give legal advice or interfere in lawyers’ cases.
“Most of the family law bar knows that the advocates and the advocate management and supervisors are basically running wild there, so they’re not going to go there unless they can see a change in the leadership and culture at DVAC,” he said. “This is a hopeful beginning, but it’s only the beginning there.”…
Read … Controversial CEO Of Domestic Violence Action Center Steps Down - Honolulu Civil Beat
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