Mayor Pleased by Dismissal of Myeni Shooting Case
Public Safety Power Shutoff watch: Hawaiian Electric monitoring wildfire risk conditions
Brighter Futures, Stronger Ties: US Nonprofit Drives Educational Progress in Strategically Situated Micronesia
Visitor Arrivals Down 1.8% for June 2025
Wildfires: Maui PD Releases Final After-Action Report
Numbers Show Beginning of Long-Term Tourism Slowdown
SA: … The numbers prove that visitor industry leaders were right to anticipate a summer slowdown, and give credence to their concerns that the softness will linger to the end of the year and beyond. The planned shutdown of the Hawai‘i Convention Center for at least 2026 and 2027 to complete $100 million worth of repairs will cause the loss of millions of dollars in group bookings and reduce the compression that leads to increased occupancy and increased pricing power for all Hawaii hotels.
Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawai‘i Hotel Alliance, said the booking pace was very short in June and some hotels managed to catch up with occupancy, but the average daily room rate was off about 18% from what hoteliers had budgeted across the islands.
“People did come from California, but at a much lower rate than we would normally get,” Gibson said. “We are fortunate to have a lot of kamaaina businesses on top of what we normally have.”
Results were mixed across the islands, with visitor arrivals on Oahu, Hawaii’s busiest visitor market, dropping 3.9% from June 2o24. Hawaii island’s arrivals fell 1.6%, and they dropped 13.6% on Molokai and 37.5% on Lanai.
Arrivals to Kauai rose 3.5% and arrivals to Maui grew 5%; however, most of Maui’s gains were about recovering from the lingering effects of the devastating Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires.
Gibson said July is doing a bit better than June in terms of rates; however, August is way off.
“We aren’t keeping pace with inflation and that means that hotels will not make their proposed budgets for the year,” he said. “It may mean a slowdown in capital projects, which makes it harder to compete when other destinations are doing better and investing.”…
Related: Visitor Arrivals Down 1.8% for June 2025
Read … Hawaii tourism cools off this summer as arrivals dip | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Abercrombie Behind Challenge to Case
TDB: … State Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole announced this week that he would challenge Rep. Ed Case, a fellow Democrat and longtime Hawaii politician who has always been one of the party's more conservative members of Congress during his two stints on Capitol Hill.
"We desperately need urgency, energy, and passion to make things happen that actually help us," Keohokalole, who at 41 is more than three decades Case's junior, said in his kickoff. Another speaker, former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, went after Case's record by telling the crowd, "You're not an independent if you're voting with Donald Trump."
(Laugh Line: Abercrombie put Tulsi Gabbard in Congress. Now he wants to put Keohokalole in Congress.)
Case, who reiterated that he's running again for the safely blue 1st District, shrugged off the criticism. The incumbent told Hawaii News Now that he took issue with what he saw as Keohokalole's argument that "I owe 100% of my votes, 100% of my positions, to one part of the Democratic Party." …
FLASHBACK 2012: To Stop Mufi, Mrs Abercrombie Joins the Chris Butler Cult
Read … Morning Digest: Conservative Hawaii Democrat earns high-profile primary challenge
Aloha Stadium demolition expected to start in late August
KITV: … Aloha Stadium is expected to start its demolition process by the end of August.
The contract agreement with Aloha Halawa District Partners, the developer of the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District that will replace the decades-old Halawa stadium, is expected to be signed by mid-August.
The timelines for both developments were revealed at the Aloha Stadium Authority meeting on Thursday, July 31. The developer hopes to open the new stadium and five accompanying buildings by the University of Hawaii football team's home opener in 2028.
“We are taking the state's expectations and marrying that with the developer's ways and methods and then putting that in a whole big box that's transparent and accountable, so that's a huge challenge,” said Chris Kinimaka, a special projects manager for the state Department of Accounting and General Services. “So for your analogy, last time we were at the 10-yard line, we're now first and goal with enough energy to take this through."….
SA: Aloha Stadium Authority board fills 2 top positions | Honolulu Star-Advertiser AHDP leader Stanford Carr did not attend the meeting but verified the timeline Thursday. “We are pushing hard and are on the 1-yard line,” Carr said in a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We are endeavoring to sign by the 15th and mobilize to start (demolition) by end of August.”
ASD: Optimism remains ahead of looming Aloha Stadium contract deadline
KHON: 'We're ready to go': developer contract almost ready, crews preparing for demo of Aloha Stadium
Read … Aloha Stadium demolition expected to start in late August | Local | kitv.com
Hawaiʻi Needs Lawyers. Now, Mainland Attorneys Can Practice Here
CB: … To help address serious staffing shortages at the state public defenders’ and county prosecutors’ offices, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court is allowing licensed attorneys from other states to work at these agencies without taking the state bar exam.
The court issued an order in June establishing a two-year pilot program to allow lawyers who are licensed and in good standing in other states to work in Hawaiʻi without getting their state license. The program will only apply to those working in criminal litigation at government agencies, including the state Attorney General’s Office, the county prosecutor offices or the Office of the Public Defender.
All four county prosecutors, as well as Attorney General Anne Lopez and state Public Defender Jon Ikenaga, signed a letter that was sent to the court in January proposing the idea as a way to help them recruit more attorneys. …
L: Hawaiʻi Launches Limited License Reciprocity Pilot to Tackle Lawyer Staffing Crisis | Law.com
ATL: Hawaii Opens Public Defender Program To Out-Of-State Lawyers - Above the Law
Read … Hawaiʻi Needs Lawyers. Now, Mainland Attorneys Can Practice Here - Honolulu Civil Beat
Big Island Mayor Says State Won't Meet 2050 Deadline To Wipe Out Cesspools
CB: … The Big Island’s new mayor says there’s no way Hawaiʻi can meet its 2050 deadline for converting the state’s 83,000 cesspools to septic tanks.
Since his island is home to well over half of those cesspools, Mayor Kimo Alameda’s perspective carries weight in the debate over the 2017 law….
The deadline stems from Act 125, which was aimed at curbing tens of millions of gallons of sewage pollution from flowing daily into Hawaiʻi’s ocean and destroying its coral reefs….
He suggests the mandate needs some revision. Not all cesspools are alike. Some are too far from the ocean to be problematic …
Read … Big Island Mayor Says State Won't Meet 2050 Deadline To Wipe Out Cesspools - Honolulu Civil Beat
No charges for lifeguard who was arrested after stopping career criminal in Waikiki
SA: … The Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney said it will not charge a 44-year-old city lifeguard who was arrested this week after stopping a man with 76 criminal convictions from harassing Kuhio beachgoers.
Lifeguard Christopher Kekaulike Kam was arrested Monday on suspicion of felony assault after reporting an altercation with Tommy Joe Chiles, 60, a convicted sex offender who was allegedly drunk and challenging beachgoers to fights.
“The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney declined charges in an assault 2nd (degree) case involving a Waikiki lifeguard because there was credible evidence to show that he acted in self-defense,” Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser in a statement. “The alleged victim in that case, Tommy Chiles, was arrested for disorderly conduct for allegedly attempting to fight with people on the beach.”
Kam, who has more than a decade of experience with Honolulu Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services, is on leave pending investigation, which is standard procedure.
Chiles was convicted in a July 5, 1988, case of felony sexual assault and is documented on the state Department of the Attorney General’s sexoffenders. ehawaii.gov database. He has a pending misdemeanor assault case brought by a woman on June 18. Chiles has 399 criminal cases and citations and 76 convictions, according to state court records and the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.
(And yet somehow the State of Hawaii Judiciary manages to get him back out on the street again and again.)
Chiles’ convictions include two for second-degree felony sex assault; four for misdemeanor assault; domestic violence; two for criminal trespass; resisting arrest; misdemeanor criminal property damage; two for second-degree terroristic threatening; 11 for disorderly conduct; eight for harassment; indecent exposure; three for drinking liquor in public; open lewdness; 21 for violating park rules; third-degree promoting a detrimental drug; misdemeanor theft; and littering.
Waikiki police and Kam know Chiles from previous encounters. Chiles — who has no local address and is 5 feet 9 inches and 140 pounds — was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct….
Read … No charges for lifeguard who stopped career criminal in Waikiki | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Thieves target business, homes during tsunami evacuation
KHON: … “Especially because we’re at Maui Mall — we’re 200 yards from Kahului Harbor, where the news said the biggest water fluctuation was happening and — you worry about business, right?” Vincent said.
A few hours after locking up, Vincent said a car pulled up outside his store. Thieves smashed a back window with a sledgehammer and climbed through, grabbing whatever they could….
On Oʻahu, one family made a startling discovery when they returned home around 10:50 p.m. that night and found a man inside their home. He was later arrested by police….
Read … Thieves target business, homes during tsunami evacuation
Socialists Love Hawaii’s Soft-on-Crime System
MJ: … Politicians and activists mused whether Hawaii—a pioneer for women’s and girls’ rights as the first state to legalize abortion and ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—might also have found a way to stop locking them up. “Another world is possible,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted after learning of the news. “Now do the boys,” one of her followers added….
HPR: Mother Jones reporter on Hawaiʻi's innovative program to keep girls out of prison | Hawai'i Public Radio
Read … A Revolutionary Way to End the Incarceration of Girls – Mother Jones
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