Affordable: Green Signs 'Shot Clock', other pro-development bills
Baked to order: New cottage food rules
Pay for No Work
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted July 25, 2025
Trump: “Tulsi’s the hottest person in the room”
CB: … Tulsi Gabbard was recently in the doghouse with her boss for going public with her assessment that Iran was not close to developing nuclear weapons just before he launched a bombing attack based on the opposite belief. But it turns out all she had to do to get back in his good graces was accuse former President Barack Obama of treason.
She doubled down on that Wednesday, releasing a report that she said shows further evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy” on the part of Obama and others to falsely imply that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump get elected.
OK, the report was produced a few years ago by House Republicans, but still, Gabbard’s job approval rating at the White House is clearly on the upswing.
“She’s the hottest person in the room right now,” Trump said to House Speaker Mike Johnson at a White House press briefing Wednesday.
Johnson, by the way, gave House members an extra day of summer recess to avoid dealing with any more pesky calls for the release of the Epstein files, so you may see Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda back in the islands even as the Senate stays in session for one more week.
Case will be conducting one of his “Tele-Talk Story” events Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Here’s how to listen in and submit advance questions….
REALITY: Archives -- Tulsi Gabbard
Read … The Sunshine Blog: The Ghost Of Fat Boy Okuda - Honolulu Civil Beat
Police: State AG has Kamehameha Schools theft case
HTH: … A theft case involving hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly stolen from Kamehameha Schools Hawaii is now in the hands of the state Department of the Attorney General.
Hawaii Police Department Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins, commander of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division, told the Tribune-Herald last week the case was referred to the AG in February “for further investigation and potential prosecution.”
Kamehameha Schools Hawaii filed a report with HPD on Nov. 16, 2023, alleging a former employee stole more than $360,000 from the Keaau campus.
The alleged embezzler hasn’t been arrested, charged or identified — nor do state or federal court records show a civil lawsuit in connection to the alleged theft.
In an email sent to the school community shortly after the thefts were reported in 2023, M. Kahealani Nae‘ole-Wong, the school’s headmaster, said a “comprehensive internal investigation” led by school attorneys prompted campus officials to go to the police.
“This individual’s conduct is shameful, inexcusable and a betrayal,” Nae‘ole-Wong wrote in the email. “This was someone known to us, whom we educated and entrusted to serve alongside us.”
Crystal Kua, a Kamehameha Schools spokeswoman, on Friday said Kamehameha Schools officials, “appreciate the care and consideration law enforcement is giving to this case, and we are cooperating with the investigation.”…
Read … Police: State AG has Kamehameha Schools theft case
Hawaii’s Pathetic State Judiciary: Baby Killer out on work release after 13 years
HNN: … Ezekiel Wakinekona pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2012 for the death of his three-year-old cousin, Marley Makanani, who was found bruised and partially submerged in a bathtub in a Waimea home on Hawaii Island.
The judge gave him 20 years.
This week, 13 years into that sentence, Marley’s family got a text message, saying Wakinekona was on unsupervised furlough.
“In my years of practice as a prosecutor, public defender and a judge on the bench, I’ve never seen an ‘unsupervised furlough,’” said retired circuit court judge Randal Lee, who is now an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at Hawaii Pacific University.
Lee said in his experience, inmates who are allowed to work are always supervised on the job.
“The person would either be paroled, but not furloughed. But even if you’re paroled, you’re assigned a parole officer, so it’s supervised,” Lee said….
We did get an explanation from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The department told HNN in a statement that … “Wakinekona is currently housed at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center Hale Nani Facility. He is a work furlough inmate and his security status is “community.”….
FLASHBACK: Child death arrest 01-17-12
Read … Text message meant to inform crime victims causes confusion about an inmate
We're Being Watched And We Don't Care
Cataluna: … The Hawaiʻi Speed Safety Program began an introductory phase from March 1 to April 29. This phase was later extended to October. In the first few weeks, the program was mailing citations out at a rate of 30,000 a week. (The cameras are located in the downtown Honolulu area and the full list can be found here.)
Twenty-five years ago, the idea of cameras catching drivers in the act of speeding was absolutely untenable to Hawaii residents. It was on the front page of the newspaper every day and hundreds of letters to the editor expressed opposition. There was so much emotional opposition to “big brother” cameras spying on drivers and being cited without the face-to-face interaction of being stopped by flashing blue lights and an actual uniformed police officer that the “van cam” program was nixed after it was approved by the Legislature and implemented by a contractor, who then got a multimillion-dollar payout when the state pulled the plug on the program.
This time, the traffic cams came with a new brand — Speed Safety Program — and became operational without much protest or fanfare. Why the difference? …
Read … Lee Cataluna: We're Being Watched And We Don't Care - Honolulu Civil Beat
Displaced Lahaina fire survivors eager to rebuild with help from $1.6 billion federal grant
MN: … Priority for funding will be given to people based on household income level, starting from 50% of the area median income, then 80% and so on, as well as households with children under age 18 or members over 62 with a disability.
If applicants have received funding aid from other programs, the office said it would take a look at the duplication of benefits during the application process to “help determine the amount an eligible applicant would be awarded.”
Even if they got funding from other sources, residents are encouraged to apply “so that the program can assess eligibility.” ….
Read … Displaced Lahaina fire survivors eager to rebuild with help from $1.6 billion federal grant : Maui Now
So far, looks like Green light for gov reelection
Borreca: … The political analysis shows four more years for Green with a win next year. There is little discussion or even political gossip about a viable opponent readying a campaign against him, no major or even probable candidate Republican or Democratic lining up a campaign.
“It’s no surprise the field looks thin,” said University of Hawaii political scientist Colin Moore in an interview last week. “With a 63% approval rating, Green is tied for the fifth most popular governor in the country.
“That kind of popularity, combined with his fundraising strength, puts him in the most secure position of any Hawaii governor since Linda Lingle’s reelection in 2006.
“At this point, it’s hard to see a major primary or general election opponent emerging. As you know, politics can be unpredictable, but I don’t see any real obstacles to a second Green administration.”…
Read … On Politics: So far, looks like Green light for gov reelection | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Formby: How The Mayor Would Appoint New Police Chief
SA: … Under the mayor’s proposed model, the Commission would be responsible for identifying and vetting a pool of qualified candidates and forwarding a shortlist of finalists to the mayor for review and selection of the chief. Shared selection processes for top public safety leadership positions are commonplace nationwide; they authorize an independent commission to call for and review potential candidates and, ultimately, decide who makes the list of names sent to the mayor for his review. This shared process then empowers the mayor to select the best candidate for chief of police to sit in the mayor’s Cabinet, lead the public safety department, and work collaboratively across all sectors with the managing director and other city leaders appointed by the mayor.
This proposal offers a thoughtful and balanced approach — one that honors the role of the Police Commission while acknowledging the mayor’s Charter-based responsibility for all affairs of the city, most especially, public safety.
At the end of the day, residents should welcome and support a mayor who seeks greater accountability for public safety and give him the shared responsibility he seeks — to work with an independent Commission in choosing the right chief for the job. Public safety is simply too important to be left to the current process that relies exclusively upon volunteer commissioners who meet twice a month to appoint and evaluate a chief of police who reports day-to-day to the mayor and managing director….
Read … Column: Honolulu police chief pick must be shared effort | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Mufi: HTA’s Greatest Achievement was Getting Funding from Legislature
SA: … When we were asked to serve as unpaid board members on the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), we accepted with a sincere desire to contribute to the future of tourism in our state. Amid the public controversy and scrutiny HTA faced what’s often overlooked are the significant strides that were made.
Chief among them was securing $63 million in recurring base funding during the 2024 legislative session — after two years of defunding. This was widely seen as a monumental achievement. Credit goes to former interim President and CEO Daniel Naho‘opi‘i, who worked closely with then-Chair Mufi Hannemann to overcome the perception by some that HTA had lost credibility with policymakers.
Read … Column: Hawaii Tourism Authority’s diligent work achieved much | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Predictably, Hundreds oppose Haleiwa housing project
HNN: … The Honolulu City Council is set to discuss the project on Monday….
(How boring.)
Read … Hundreds oppose Haleiwa housing project
Here’s How The Legislature Is Slow-Walking move to Full-Time
CB: … there was Rhoads in late January killing the latest McKelvey-Chang 12-month Legislature bill to come before his committee “with apologies” to Chang, who sat stoically about 10 feet away.
Rhoads offered no real explanation at the time, saying only, “I do think we have gathered a lot of interesting and useful testimony and analysis and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
On Wednesday he explained it this way: “I was deferring to leadership’s approach, which was study first.”
But soon after Rhoads deferred the bill, “leadership’s approach” was also rejected courtesy of the money chairs.
In 2024, a similar McKelvey-Chang bill died in the Governmental Operations Committee that McKelvey himself chaired.
For some reason, it was one of those rare times that committee members didn’t follow the lead of their chair.
“I frankly misjudged the level of support the bill had,” McKelvey said Thursday.
Where does all this leave us? Like with most governmental reforms, so far legislators are going nowhere, slow, on lengthening sessions.
But they’d best remember this: Less than two years from now, they’re getting big pay raises that will put to rest the notion that being a Hawaiʻi legislator is a part-time job….
Read … Here’s How The Legislature Is Slow-Walking A Reform Hawaiʻi Needed Years Ago - Honolulu Civil Beat
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