LGBTQ Triumph: McKenna to be first Lesbian Supreme Court Chief Justice
Petition: OHA Trustee's Wife Using Charter School Funds for 'improper personal expenses'
SD19: Aquino Quits Senate to Join Lobbying Firm
DHS: Reduced SNAP Benefits Begin October 1
U.S. Sen. Schatz to be featured speaker at Grassroot, Appleseed housing forum
HPU, UH Ranked by US News for 2026
NASED finally gets around to signing Aloha Stadium Demolition Contracts
Expungement: Judiciary Workshop helps hide arrest records, makes Bench Warrants disappear
Judge To Decide Fate Of CEO Accused Of Illegal Campaign Donations
CB: … A state judge says she’ll decide within 30 days whether the case of a Hawaiʻi businessman accused of funneling money through subordinates should proceed or be dismissed.
Prosecutors allege that JL Capital CEO Tim Lee reimbursed employees for donations they made to the mayoral campaigns of Keith Amemiya and Kym Pine in 2020. State law prohibits political donations in the name of anyone other than the source of the money.
But Lee’s defense attorneys argued that those “purported” reimbursements in this case don’t fall under that law because the source of the donations originated with the employees, not with Lee. They asked the court to dismiss the case on Wednesday.
“The inquiry ends there,” Tommy Otake, one of Lee’s lawyers (and Michael Miske’s lawyer) said during the hearing Wednesday. “It’s unambiguous. The law doesn’t cover reimbursements.” …
(IQ Test: Do you believe him?)
“Asking someone to make a donation is not criminal at all,” Otake said….
Prosecutions in campaign spending cases like this are rare in Hawaiʻi. One other case against former Mitsunaga & Associates secretary Teri Ann Otani is proceeding in state court….
KITV: Circuit court debates legality of Hawaii real estate developer's 2020 campaign donations
read … Judge To Decide Fate Of CEO Accused Of Illegal Campaign Donations - Honolulu Civil Beat
Committee Chairs do most of the Talking At Hawaii Legislature
CB: … All told, Rep Sam Kong spoke just 1,300 words last session …
It is … far fewer than the number of words spoken by Kong’s House colleague, David Tarnas, who is the most loquacious legislator at 173,639 words. …
An analysis of who chatted the most and least during the 2025 session shows it is committee chairs who do the most talking. They include Tarnas, chair of the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, and Karl Rhoads, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
That makes sense. Like the judiciary committees, the Senate Ways and Means Committee (chaired by Donovan Dela Cruz) and the House Finance Committee (chaired by Kyle Yamashita during the 2025 session) are considered the most important committees and they hear the greatest number of bills. They also make the Top 10 Most Talkative list….
read … Look Who's Talking — Or Not — At Hawaiʻi's Legislature - Honolulu Civil Beat
$712 per person: KIUC plans to spend up to $52M to reduce wildfire hazards on Kauaʻi
HPR: … The Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative is planning to spend up to $52 million to reduce wildfire hazards between now and 2027.
That estimate is part of KIUC’s official wildfire mitigation plan, which is under review by the Public Utilities Commission.
The utility has yet to share if and how customers' bills may increase to pay for the costs of the utility’s plan…
(DO THE MATH: $52M / 73,000 population = $712 per person.)
read … KIUC plans to spend up to $52M to reduce wildfire hazards on Kauaʻi | Hawai'i Public Radio
Trump Administration Defends Case Against Hawaii Climate Suit
BL: … The Justice Department has a right to protect its federal authority over US greenhouse gas emissions from state-based legal action, according to a new opposition brief in the government’s lawsuit against Hawaii.
Climate tort litigation against oil and gas majors that Hawaii was preparing to file threatens federal interests and authority over interstate pollution, the federal government said in the Wednesday brief.
The case, filed at the US District Court for the District of Hawaii, is aimed at preventing the Aloha State’s climate tort lawsuit, which would join the thicket of other cases pending nationwide looking to put companies on ....
read … Trump Administration Defends Case Against Hawaii Climate Suit
Proposed Honolulu ‘Downtown Business Improvement District’ nears approval
SA: … In written testimony submitted to the Council on Monday, Kevin Crummy, chief investment officer of California-based Douglas Emmett Management LLC, stated the new special improvement district will do nothing to stop homelessness and crime that continue to plague downtown.
“Many of the bill’s proponents, who testified before the City Council, believe that an expanded Business Improvement District (BID) will help alleviate safety issues and homelessness in downtown Honolulu,” Crummy wrote. “However, the existing BID has been in place for over 20 years and has been unable to solve these same problems on Fort Street Mall.”
“Therefore, we do not believe that expanding the BID will result in different outcomes,” he wrote. “We do believe that meaningful reductions in homelessness and crime require the expertise and authority of government-led homelessness prevention services and the Honolulu Police Department. A BID alone simply cannot solve these complex social issues.”
Crummy stated Douglas Emmett “would encourage the proponents to first revamp the existing BID before undertaking an expansion.” …
read … Proposed Honolulu ‘Downtown Business Improvement District’ nears approval | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Proposed Hawaii County pay hikes advance
HTH: … The Hawaii County Salary Commission on Wednesday decided to put its proposal for a four-tiered pay raise for the county’s top officials before the public.
The panel edited a Finding of Facts document drafted by Deputy Corporation Counsel Cody Frenz, the commission’s legal counsel. After the agreed-to changes, the most important fact remained unchanged: The body is linking the proposed pay hikes to raises recently negotiated by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the white-collar public sector union….
read … Proposed county pay hikes advance - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Maui ‘Cool Schools’ Disaster Skipped the Hottest Classrooms
MN: … On Maui, the program spent more than $26 million to cool 229 classrooms, but none in hot South Maui….
The report found that the initiative was a well-intentioned but poorly executed effort (achieving the real goal). Meanwhile, (as evidenced by the fact that) seven project consultants raked in at least $25.3 million, an average of more than $3.6 million each. The amount could be more because DOE provided the auditor “incomplete and not-100% reliable data” to account for state expenditures on the program….
On Maui, the schools that received air conditioning were located in Central and West Maui. Kaunakakai Elementary on Moloka’i is listed, but no classrooms received air-conditioning, even though nearly $320,000 was spent for design of units.
According to the audit, 229 classrooms in Maui County were cooled at a cost of $26,184,373, an average of $114,342 per classroom. No South Maui schools were included in the program, despite Kīhei Elementary and Lokelani Intermediate classrooms being among the warmest in the state….
Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association President Osa Tui Jr. called the solar-powered air-conditioning program a “disaster.” He said he feared it could make legislators more reluctant to fund other education initiatives. “This only perpetuates the idea (proves the fact) that the department is given too much money and that government is wasteful,” he said. “It’s fiascos like this that cause problems elsewhere in the system.”
CLUE: HSTA was front-and-center pushing this boondoggle, now they pretend to be uninvolved.
read … Maui public schools included in flawed, $100 million-plus solar air-conditioning initiative : Maui Now
Drowning leading cause of death for Hawaii kids
MN: … Drowning is the leading cause of death for Hawaii children ages 1 to 15 years old, according to the state Department of Health.,…
Department officials said congenital anomalies were second, followed by influenza and pneumonia, suicide, malignant neoplasm and heart diseases. According to the department, less than 2% of Hawaii’s second-graders have the basic skills to avoid or recover from drowning.
As a result of drowning statistics, the state has developed the 2025 Hawaii Water Safety Plan to help to reduce the numbers. For the report, go to bit.ly/4p3o7h3 ….
MN: Maui tops in state drowning rate | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News
MN: Rescue tubes praised for helping in a pinch | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News
read … Drowning leading cause of death for Hawaii kids | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News
Skyrocketing road deaths could inspire state highway patrol
HNN: … “Over time, we could move to kind of using the DLE, the Department of Law Enforcement, in partnership with the police to do more kind of highway patrol,” he told Hawaii News Now Sunrise Monday.
Blangiardi says he would welcome the help.
“If we can enforce and get more officers out there, our motorcycles, speed traps, wherever you want to call them, I’m going to be a strong advocate for that,” he said….
Hawaii transportation director Ed Sniffen said the agencies will cooperate.
“The sheriffs are not going to take over for what the police departments are doing, but they can enhance their operations,” Sniffen said. “If they can’t be at a certain location that we’re seeing data suggest that is a high potential for crashes, the sheriffs could maybe could go out there instead.”
The state also wants to expand powers to seize vehicles and jail chronic offenders, Sniffen said.
“We’re looking at trying to stem these recidivism in bad behaviors, excessive speeds, drunk driving, people driving without licenses, people driving with tickets, hundreds of tickets on their system,” Sniffen said….
CB: E-Bikes In Schools: Hawaiʻi Politicians Call For Restrictions - Honolulu Civil Beat
KHON: Hawaii schools urged to ban e-bikes on campus
read … Skyrocketing road deaths could inspire state highway patrol
Building and solar permits delayed in Honolulu with launch of new software system
HNN: … Permits are piling up in Honolulu just weeks after a new system was put in place to try and speed up the process.
The city Department of Planning and Permitting said the $5.4M HNL Build system, which was paid for using federal funds, launched on Aug. 4.
It has not been a smooth transition from the 27-year-old previous system so far.
The city admits there have been challenges with the change.
Between Aug. 4 and Sept. 18, the city issued 352 building permits. In the same time span last year, 1,932 were issued, five times the current amount.
“This is having a really big impact,” said Rocky Mould, executive director of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association.
Mould said solar permit applications are usually simple. “We had a really good, instant online permit process with the city and county before this, and we’re hoping to get back to that and actually improve that even more.”
Solar permit requests in particular have shot up as homeowners rush to beat the Dec. 31 deadline for federal tax credits of up to 30% off the cost of installation and equipment….
Since the HNL Build went online, the city has issued 721 permits for solar, compared to 1,045 last year….
read … Building and solar permits delayed in Honolulu with launch of new software system
Emergency homes for 900 Maui wildfire survivors
HNN: … A celebration was held Wednesday for nearly 900 Maui wildfire survivors who moved into a new temporary housing site in Lahaina.
Three hundred twenty families have moved into Ka Lai Ola, a safe and stable housing development, with more on the way.
The $187 million complex has 450 homes that will eventually house up to 1,500 survivors.
The state says the 57-acre community symbolizes resilience and healing for those who lost their homes in the August 2023 Maui wildfires.
Officials say the homes were built for survivors who were not eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.
Developers say a project of this size would normally take about six years to complete, but the urgency to help displaced residents pushed work to finish in about 18 months….
CB: Immigrant Lahaina Fire Survivors Terrified By ICE Presence - Honolulu Civil Beat
MN: State-run Ka Laʻi Ola temporary housing for Lahaina fire survivors is finished; 450 units soon-to-be full : Maui Now
read … State officials, families celebrate the delivery of homes for Maui wildfire survivors
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