August 8, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, August 8, 2025

August 8, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:48 PM :: 998 Views

Lawsuit: Hawaii Sheriff Deputies Arrested on Charges Trumped-up by own Department—Top Brass infighting led to suicide of Deputy

VA terminates union contracts for most bargaining-unit employees

Two Years Later: Maui County Still Trying to Decide Whether to Let Front Street Businesses Rebuild

SA: … It’s been two years since the nation’s deadliest fire in more than a century burned Lahaina town to the ground and killed 102 people. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its federal, state and local partners have cleared all of Lahaina’s commercial and residential lots, and more than 40 homes have begun to emerge from the ashes. But the process of recovery is proving slower for Front Street’s historic and business district, where some properties must go through more onerous permitting steps, and there are still deep divides about what the future should look like….

… the Maui County Council passed Bill 105, which granted an exemption within the burn zone so that property owners could rebuild nonconforming buildings with nonconforming uses. But he said many Front Street property owners are waiting for the county to hear Bill 110, which addresses the portion of the current county code, which views properties that are completely destroyed and rebuilt as new developments.

“That could trigger things like road widening, sidewalk improvements and undergrounding of utilities or other things that might be required of a new development,” Freeland said. “Many of the properties were built wall to wall with no setbacks or separation, so if they were required to have the current setbacks, it would have a large impact on what could be built and whether or not it’s feasible.”

John Smith, Maui County’s Office of Recovery administrator, said when his office met with the county’s planning, public works, and infrastructure departments to examine the county code, officials quickly realized that “it wasn’t really designed to build back a town.”

“Right now we are trying to adjust those standards to meet what the town wants to be per the community’s request (in the Rebuild Lahaina Plan),” he said. “We are looking to produce some design guideline documents this year so that when the commercial property owners come in they will know just exactly how much land that they will need to give up in order to make the property work and the town come back. It’s not just a zoning issue or a setback issue, it’s also a utility issue.” …

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said securing a $1.6 billion Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after 19 months of effort provides a path forward, and “we are focused on Front Street right now.”

Bissen said “a considerable sum” has now been set aside for infrastructure on Front Street, and the county has started hardening the seawall, which he said is “significant to the rebuilding of Front Street and the commercial area.” …

Read … Front Street wildfire recovery moving slower than other parts of Lahaina | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

2 Years After Deadly Fire, Lahaina Homeowners ‘financially drowned’

CB: … Bit by bit, Jeremy DelosReyes is rebuilding his house in the Lahaina neighborhood he’s called home his whole life. Or at least he’s trying to.

The ʻĀinakea Street house the carpenter shared with his wife and three dogs was completely leveled in the 2023 blaze — the country’s deadliest fire in over a century. They also lost a rental unit on the property that used to provide extra income.

Insurance paid out part of the value of what was lost, around $430,000. But now DelosReyes is on his own. Rebuilding would cost an estimated $1.2 million. And that doesn’t count the roughly $30,000 he’s already spent through the permitting process.

Meanwhile he has to pay his mortgage for the charred property and rent for the couple’s temporary accommodation. He wants to stay in the community where he said his family’s roots go back at least six generations, but he’s struggling.

“Right now, I’m financially … drowned,” he said, and so are others in his community. “We need help.” ….

HNN: Two years on, Lahaina wildfire survivors worry about rents and rebuilding

Read … 2 Years After Deadly Fire, Lahaina Struggles To Rebuild - Honolulu Civil Beat

Four Big Island police officers under investigation for alleged misconduct

KHON: … Four Hawaiʻi County police officers are under investigation for possible misconduct, court records say.

The investigation information comes from filings from the state attorney general’s office, after the county tried to block access to information.

Hawaii Island police commission denies Moszkowicz request to withdraw resignation

According to public record, the attorney general’s office is investigating police misconduct, including whether the officers tampered with physical evidence and committed perjury.

The office filed a subpoena in June to get the Big Island police department’s files, as they look for internal investigation reports and interview records….

HTH: AG seeks records involving 4 cops - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Read … Four Big Island police officers under investigation for alleged misconduct

Visits canceled at Hawaii Community Correctional Center's Hale Nani - Makai due to COVID-19

DCR: … The Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center's Hale Nani - Makai has canceled in-person visitation for this weekend, Aug. 9-10, 2025, due to active COVID-19 cases .…

Read … Public Alert | Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Alerts

A New Jail Is Critical For Hawaiʻi's Correctional System

CB: … We have an outdated Oʻahu facility with deplorable conditions that is decades beyond rehabilitation….

Read … A New Jail Is Critical For Hawaiʻi's Correctional System - Honolulu Civil Beat

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