October 28, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

October 28, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:17 PM :: 274 Views

Final request: Kama asks Council to name Kauanoe Batagan as her successor

Hegseth in Hawaii--Update on Purge of Generals (in China)

OHA sets aside $6.1 Million for emergency relief to protect Native Hawaiian families amid federal shutdown

No EBT Card Refills November 1, Obamacare Policy Premiums to Soar

SA: … the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP — will be suspended beginning Saturday because of the federal government shutdown.

The suspension affects over 160,000 SNAP recipients across the islands, or more than 80,000 households, according to the state Department of Human Services.

As long as the shutdown continues, no additional SNAP funding will be added to Electronic Benefit Transfer cards needed to make SNAP purchases — although participants can still spend any remaining October funds in November….

“All November 2025 SNAP benefit allotments are suspended effective Nov. 1, 2025, and will remain suspended until sufficient federal funding is appropriated or the agency issues updated direction,” DHS said Monday….

Also this week, the estimated 23,000 Hawaii residents who receive their health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace should receive notices of how much their premiums will rise, according to the state Department of Health.

They are scheduled to face an average 12% increase in 2026, according to the Health Department.

But if enhanced federal premium tax credits are not renewed, many residents could see their net monthly costs roughly double, depending on income and plan type, the Health Department said….

UPDATE: Hawaii Joins 22 States Suing to Keep Welfare Cash Flowing

SA: Editorial: State must act to fill fed aid gaps | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Hawaii braces for suspension of SNAP | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

CWS Prepares Litany of Excuses for Upcoming Legislative Session

CB: … dealing with all of the needs Yamane describes will be costly…

… state funding for new programs will be in short supply in the years ahead….

… Government agencies across the state including DHS are anxiously watching the dramatic upheavals in the federal government this year ….

… The Green administration has already told state departments to refrain from spending 10% of their existing budgets, and added a requirement that any new spending of more than $200,000 authorized in the state budget get the governor’s approval….

…“We are working internally to assess what our priorities would be and what resources would be, so I don’t have a specific ask right now,”….

… “What’s happened is that the department — maybe rightfully — is saying they need to go internally to fix things on their own, privately,”….

… Senate Health and Human Services Chair Joy San Buenaventura considered a bill late last session to create a CWS oversight commission, but said she wants to give Yamane more time to make changes. “To me oversight is like a hammer, and Ryan just got in,” San Buenaventura said. “I want to see what his programs come up with first before we do the oversight commission.” ….

Nonprofits that have worked with CWS say they’ve had a hard time getting insurance coverage.

The nonprofits themselves are worried they may lose funding, and in some cases they have been unable to hire staff to provide the kinds of services DHS needs.

Two years ago, the non-profit Partners in Development and the state ended a contract for services that included recruiting foster families. That important task has been handled in-house ever since.

“There was no vendor at the time willing to take over that contract two years ago,” Yamane said….

read … Hawaiʻi's Child Welfare Reform Efforts Bump Up Against Budget Fears - Honolulu Civil Beat

Demolition begins as Kawaiahao Church prepares for reburial of ancestral remains

HNN: … Historic downtown Honolulu church will remove concrete structures before returning more than 630 ‘iwi kupuna to the ground ….

read … Demolition begins as Kawaiahao Church prepares for reburial of ancestral remains

State tax office on going after 18 vacation rentals that skip out on TAT

HPR: … It's been almost five years since the counties began getting serious about passing new laws to make the regulation of vacation rentals easier.

The Conversation spoke to the state tax office about a recent legal notice listing the names of 18 people or entities that were in violation of the law by not disclosing their tax information in their advertising on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.

“What you saw was the legal notice with regard to the aspect of the transit accommodation law that basically requires people to display their tax registration numbers,” said Gordon Zane with the special enforcement division for the Hawaiʻi Department of Taxation….

read … State tax office on going after vacation rentals that skip out on TAT | Hawai'i Public Radio

Hawaiʻi Mom Sues Boys & Girls Club For Not Protecting Child From Abuse

CB: … Staff members of a Boys & Girls Club after-school program in Honolulu did nothing to address reports that one student was bullying and sexually assaulting another young boy for nearly four months, according to a lawsuit filed by the boy’s mother.

The boy complained to staff about the incidents, which occurred between November 2023 and March 2024, as did his sister and parents, but no one intervened, the suit alleges.

The staff members not only failed to protect the boy, who was 10 at the time, from danger, but the complaint says they did not comply with state law that mandates adults who supervise children to report allegations of sexual abuse to authorities. …

In 2020, Victoria Satoafaiga, a former director of the Boys & Girls Club Maui, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor sexual assault and custodial interference after being accused of kissing and sexually penetrating a 12-year-old girl between August 2016 and April 2017. …

In 2017, Eirik Stevens, a former volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club of Kauaʻi, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting two girls, ages 7 and 8. …

PDF: Boys and Girls Club Complaint | DocumentCloud

read … Hawaiʻi Mom Sues Boys & Girls Club For Not Protecting Child From Abuse

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