October 22, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

October 22, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:43 PM :: 196 Views

Hawaii's Only Oil Refinery $100M 'Renewable' Fuels Deal

Even on Fare-Free Weekend, Rail Ridership falls short of Blangiardi's 25,000

Blangiardi signs Bill 51 establishing Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District

Hawaiʻi’s 5-cent beverage deposit program for 20 years plagued by fraud and failure, State Auditor says

MN: … For two decades, Hawaiʻi’s Deposit Beverage Container program has been run as an “honor system,” reliant on unverified self-reported data and plagued by alleged fraud, State Auditor Leslie Kondo told a state Senate committee during an informational meeting Thursday….

Marrero criticized the state’s recent move to mandate expensive third-party audits for distributors — a measure intended to address the long-standing problem of unverified data and non-compliance.

Under Act 12, enacted in 2022, beverage distributors must develop and submit an internal control process for Health Department approval, and they are required to obtain independent audits in odd-numbered years.

Marrero estimated the cost of the audit to his business at $15,000 to $20,000 per location (multiplied by Maui Brewing’s two locations on Maui and two on Oʻahu, $60,000 to $80,000) while his smallest location pays only $48 in annual fees to the program.

“I think this was just an unintended consequence of the legislation, not an intentional hurting of small businessmen,” Marrero said, arguing that the true fraud risk lies with the redemption centers, not the distributors and wholesalers….

2025: Twenty Years of Hawaii Recycling Fraud
2025: Those Nickels Add Up!
2023: 20 Years of Fraud--With Tokuda out of Legislature, DoH finally begins to check up on Recycling Companies
2022: Tokuda Elected to Congress
2022: Real Recycling: H-POWER continues to record high landfill diversion rates
2022: Auditor: City Still Locked in to Expensive Recycling Contracts
2019: Tokuda-Connected Recycler Busted for Fraud
2019 -- Naming Names: Hawaii Politicians Profit from Sub-Minimum Wage Sweatshops for the Disabled (excerpt) … Sen Tokuda, from 2006 through 2008, registered a for-profit company, Charitable Ventures, Inc, at the same Sand Island address as her private sector employer, Reynolds Recycling. Tokuda’s Reynolds connection may also explain how recycling programs have gotten away with so much fraud for so long as documented by the Hawaii State Auditor….
2018: Auditor: DoH 'Loses' Paperwork--Kills Investigation of PKF Recycling Audit
2018: Hawaii Recycling is Polluting China--But No More as of May 1
2017: State Recycling Program: A Decade of Fraud (Part 6)
2017: Audit: City Loses $36.5M by Not Recycling Paper and Plastic into Electricity
2017: Recycling Company Cited for Water Pollution
2015: Auditor: State Policies Create Barrier to Glass Recycling
2015: Auditor: Fraud-riddled HI5 Program Ripped off by Whole Foods Market for 6 Years
2014: Busted: Hee Famly Tied to Massive Waste Dumping Scheme
2014: Auditor: Unclear What Glass Recycling Program is Supposed to Accomplish
2013: HI5 Program Loses $28M: Audit Points to Fraud and Abuse (for the 4th time)
2012: Audit Needed: Hawaii Consumers Pay $400M for Recycling

read … Hawaiʻi’s 5-cent beverage deposit program plagued by fraud and ‘honor system’ failure, State Auditor says : Maui Now

Homeless Lunatics get revolving door at overcrowded state hospital

HNN: … Hawaii State Hospital is operating at 30% over capacity, creating a revolving door for homeless people with mental illness who commit minor crimes, officials told state senators Monday.

The overcrowded facility has become overwhelmed by non-violent mentally ill people arrested for minor offenses like sleeping in parks or trespassing. A law enacted five years ago set time limits on how long individuals can be held for evaluation, forcing early releases before treatment is complete.

“They are expedited and they need to be released after seven days,” said hospital administrator Mark Lindscott….

Hospital admissions have increased to over 600 per year, with two-thirds of patients having been hospitalized previously and at least 22% experiencing homelessness. People being evaluated make up 18% of the patient population….

“We try to connect them with IHS (The Institute for Human Services), other places so that they actually have a good discharge plan and a safe one. They often self-sabotage,” Lindscott said.

The overcrowding prevents people who need commitment but haven’t committed crimes from being admitted.

Prison facilities cannot accommodate the overflow due to inadequate mental health resources….

The Hawaii Department of Health has moved about 100 patients to other facilities, but senators say the measure is insufficient.

“I wanted the public to know how dire it was at the Hawaii State Hospital. We are trying to find solutions to decompress what is going on,” said Sen. Joy San Buenaventura….

(IDEA: Bring the Honu program inside the gates of the State Hospital to create bed space to keep these mental cases longer.)

read … Offenders of minor crimes face revolving door at overcrowded state hospital

Kapahulu Barricade: Convicted meth dealer Got a Second Chance -- and guess what happened

CB: … Over the course of three videos, one of which lasted nearly an hour, Morris talked openly about shooting at police serving a warrant at his house, acknowledged selling drugs, listened to anti-police rap music, interrogated people on the phone about who might have “ratted” him out, and asked for his family to be flown over from Kauaʻi….

In the videos, Morris says cops arrived at his house around 9 a.m. while he was eating breakfast.

“They came this morning, they pounding on my door. They broke my window and I shoot ‘back’ at them,” he told someone on the phone in one of the videos.

Early in one video, he says he should stop streaming because officers could identify where he is in the house. But in subsequent videos, he is surprisingly candid about his situation.

“I know selling drugs is illegal, OK … doing drugs is illegal. But that’s my fucking … my thing,” he said.

Records show Morris was convicted in 2008 for selling meth and various weapons charges. He was sentenced to 81 months in prison, and upon his release, he was admitted to a residential treatment program at the Sand Island Treatment Center….

At several points in his livestream, Morris asked negotiators for his mother to be flown from Kauaʻi so he could give her a hug before he goes away.

“My father, my mother not gonna be around by the time I get out. They’ll be long gone,” he said. “The time I’m looking at right now, they’re going to be gone.”

Near the end of the last video, Morris talked to a friend on the phone about finding whoever ratted him out “if I get out of this one alive.”

“Come on, man, don’t think like that, man,” the person on the phone told him a little later. “Right now, you can still get out.”

“Not really,” Morris said, pointing out once again that he would be around 70 by the time he gets out. “My body will be old … decrepit. I ain’t going to have nothing to do at 70, bro. Fuck that.”

Throughout the day, neighbors stopped by to check on the scene. Some seemed disappointed they couldn’t get to their homes….

SA: Kapahulu man surrenders, ending 15-hour barricade after deputy sheriff shot | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Officer Shot In Kapahulu Drug Operation; Standoff Is Ongoing - Honolulu Civil Beat

New report shows significant increase in keiki poverty as COVID Money dries up

HNN: … A new national report is raising the alarm about a sharp rise in Hawaii children living in poverty.

The report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows child poverty has risen by one-third since the pandemic.

Nicole Woo, director of research and economic policy at the Hawaii Children’s Action Network, said the increase amounts to about 8,000 more children now living in poverty.

“One of the main reasons for this increase in child poverty is the loss of pandemic supports the federal stimulus and the child tax credit,” Woo said. “Without those kinds of financial supports, families are falling back into poverty in Hawaii and across the country.” …

read … New report shows significant increase in keiki poverty in Hawaii

Reso 262: Honolulu’s transit fares subsidized more as fewer ride

SA: … “It is anticipated that the city will not comply with the farebox recovery ratio policy for fiscal years 2025 and 2026,” Resolution 262 states. “The Council finds that adherence to a predetermined farebox recovery ratio hinders efforts to expand and improve public transportation services, particularly in times of unforeseen circumstances or economic downturns.”

In other jurisdictions on the U.S. continent, public transit fare box recovery policies have been repealed, including at the Maryland Transit Administration and the Denver Regional Transportation District, the resolution states.

And jurisdictions considering repeals of similar policies include Illinois and California, the legislation says.

During the Council’s Infrastructure, Transportation and Technology Committee meeting on Sept. 24, Dos Santos-Tam called on the Blangiardi administration to abandon Honolulu’s transit recovery policy as well.

“It’s basically a policy that says, ‘for the amount of money that we spend on TheBus, that percentage … is the goal to have generated from passenger fares,’” Dos Santos-Tam said. “And since 2000, we have not met this policy. Then, in 2019, because we weren’t meeting that policy … we lowered the percentage, to 25% and 30%.”

He added the city policy offers “no penalty” either…

read … City Council considers Honolulu’s transit fare policy | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Ex-Kauaʻi Cop Accused In Airport Death Lacked Security Guard License

CB: … A fired Kauaʻi police detective later hired to provide security at the Līhuʻe airport did not have a state security guard license when he and two others were accused in the death of a 53-year-old man they had restrained.

The guard’s employer, Allied Universal Security Services, says the certification was not required because he was operating as a law enforcement officer, a category of private employee it says is exempt from the state’s licensing requirement.

However, the contract between Allied Universal and the state Department of Transportation “requires all individual guards, and all agents, operatives, and assistants employed by a guard agency,” to be registered with the state Board of Private Detectives and Guards….

read … Ex-Kauaʻi Cop Accused In Airport Death Lacked Security Guard License - Honolulu Civil Beat

State's Dredging Of Pohoiki Bay – Designed to Fail

CB: … “Unsupported sand, four-to-one slope, no maintenance budget,” he said of the dredging project. “We told them it wouldn’t hold.”….

“We have been working on this project for nine years ….” Laurence said….

According to the agency’s 2023 Environmental Assessment, three alternatives were considered: twin breakwaters ($46 million), full removal of volcanic debris ($40 million), and a smaller $5.4 million channel dredge. The state ultimately pursued the smaller dredge, later expanded under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s cost-share program to a $9.28 million contract awarded to Goodfellow Bros.

The state preferred the full dredge, but funding fell short. “It was important to do something rather than nothing,” Laurence said.

That “something” lasted less than a month.…

The cause, DuPont said, is no mystery. Pohoiki sits in the path of a strong south swell that drives a north-flowing longshore current, pushing sand back across the bay….

read … Will Bailey: State's Dredging Of Pohoiki Bay Fails Quickly And Completely - Honolulu Civil Beat

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