November 20, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, November 20, 2025

November 20, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:14 PM :: 157 Views

Hirono Leads 130 Democrats in Support of 'Transsexuals' invading Girls Sports

Tourist Control Methods Spread to Four More State Parks

Hawaii lawmakers call for cowardly colleague to step forward in bribery investigation

HNN: … “I think the public has a right to know,” Belatti said, adding that the issue would be “bottled up” if lawmakers don’t push forward.

Souza agreed: “There could be a cover-up and that’s what we’re trying to figure out at this moment.”

“Because of the inconsistencies, because of the lack of candor, we need to have public hearings to show the public that, hey, this is what’s really going on, and we’re not hiding the ball,” Souza said.

Both women have faced pushback over their efforts to identify the legislator and learn more. They have publicly said they are supporting the petition that calls for public hearings.

But they said this could all be smoothed over if the legislator comes forward to explain the circumstances of the case.

“I absolutely think it’s dividing us,” Belatti said, “but I think what’s worse is that it’s only causing the public to distrust government more. Whoever this individual is needs to step forward and reveal themself and then take accountability for his or her actions.” …

Meanwhile Senate President Ronald Kouchi has not made any public comments on the matter and has not responded to any of HNN Investigates’ requests for a position.

“That is troublesome,” Belatti said there should have been a joint statement from both leaders by now.

Camron Hurt of Common Cause Hawaii agreed: “It’s been absolute crickets from the Senate.” ….

read … Hawaii lawmakers call for colleague to step forward in bribery investigation

OHA More Bluster than Strategy

CB: … the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, however, thinks that Green has been too friendly.

He’s responded by appointing a committee comprised mostly of Native Hawaiians to advise him

OHA Chair Kai Kahele calls the possibility of the federal government using eminent domain a “tired tactic colonizers have used for generations.”

Strong language pushing all the right buttons, but more like bluster than strategy. Tired or not, the ability to claim land without negotiations is too ominous to ignore. Kahele and the rest of OHA can’t simply wish it away.

There are several reasons why the military negotiators might not just take what they want….

SA: Editorial: Pursue upsides in Army land talks | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Neal Milner: Some Tricky Negotiations For Josh Green & Co. - Honolulu Civil Beat

Ghetto Lottery: With Cops Silenced, $1M in Winnings after Criminal runs from police, crashes car into ditch

CB: … Honolulu could pay up to $1 million to settle with the family of Iremamber Sykap, a 16-year-old ~~teenager~~ (armed robber) who was fatally shot by Honolulu police in 2021 after a high-speed pursuit.

A City Council committee voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of settling, although Council Chair Tommy Waters said he believed the officers were acting within the scope of their duties.

Waters said if the civil case were to go to trial, the police officers — who had previously faced criminal charges — would not be able to testify and defend themselves because anything they said in court could be used against them if prosecutors decided to refile charges. There is no statute of limitations on murder, he said, and the officers could be recharged at any point.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to settle this case,” he said. “I’m going to vote yes but with reservations.” ….

KITV: Honolulu City Council agrees to settlement of 16-year-old boy shot dead by police | Crime & Courts | kitv.com

read ... Fatal Police Shooting: Teen’s Family Could Get $1 Million Settlement - Honolulu Civil Beat

High traffic fatalities test city's Vision Zero plan

ASD: … In January, the Honolulu City Council adopted an “O‘ahu Vision Zero Action Plan,” a proposal to enact various infrastructure upgrades, public education initiatives and more to reduce traffic crashes that cause severe injury or death to near-zero over the next 15 years.

Over the 11 months following the adoption of the plan — but before any of its proposed improvements could be implemented to any meaningful degree — traffic fatalities have soared. As of Nov. 17, there have been 74 traffic fatalities, outstripping the 54 total road deaths throughout the entirety of 2024.

Representatives of the Department of Transportation Services and Honolulu Police Department discussed on Wednesday the high number of fatalities and how the Vision Zero plan could prevent them.

Of those crashes, 22 of them — 30% — have involved pedestrians, despite pedestrians making up only 6% of all commuters on the island, said Germain Salim-Hagihara, planner with Honolulu’s interdepartmental Complete Streets Program. Of those pedestrian fatalities, 17 were people aged 65 or older, and three were children, she said.

“And for every fatality we have about five serious injuries … that is, injuries that change people’s lives,” Salim-Hagihara said.

Salim-Hagihara said speed, inattention and impairment are the leading causes of crashes, but the discussion on Wednesday particularly focused on the first factor….

read … High traffic fatalities test city's Vision Zero plan

Hawai‘i DOE Demands $83,000 in Effort to Hide Data On Gender Equity In Schools

CB: … Lauralee Pierce was taken aback when her daughter came home in September and asked for $300 for bus money. The athletics department at Kahuku High and Intermediate School no longer planned to pay for transporting cheerleaders to football games, Pierce’s daughter said, and families would have to pay for the buses or drive themselves.

The mother of the Kahuku sophomore thought the request was unreasonable, especially since the football team wasn’t being asked to do the same. To see if the school was treating boy and girl athletes equally — something required by a federal law called Title IX — Pierce requested a breakdown of each sports team’s budget and reimbursements over the past three years. She also asked for any policies and documentation the school used to determine which teams received funding and resources.

(CLUE: This is about genuine biological females.)

Last month, the education department told Pierce it would provide the records – for a fee of $83,220. …

(CLUE: DoE would take care of the fake females for free.)

read … Hawai‘i DOE Wants $83,000 To Provide Data On Gender Equity In Schools - Honolulu Civil Beat

Additional ‘recycling’ efforts will cost Honolulu millions

KITV: … "Come 2025, the city will take food waste and manufactured compostable material in the green cart," said Henry Gabriel, Honolulu's recycling program branch Chief, back in the summer of 2024.

Now that pilot project, for six different Oahu communities, has been pushed back to the spring of 2026.

"In order to make that happen, an upgraded composting facility needs to be constructed and that is still under construction," Gabriel explained. "Food waste is different from green waste, it needs to be in an enclosed building as it can attract vectors."

Right now a lot of our food waste gets put in gray bins and sent to H-Power, which burns it and other garbage to make electricity.

(GENIUS LEVEL THOUGHT: Converting garbage to electricity IS a form of recycling.)

"We still receive about 2,000 tons a day, maybe 2,400 tons a day in waste," Gabriel said.

But over the course of a year, that adds up to less than the 800,000 ton minimum H-Power requires.

Why that is important is the city has to pay Covanta, which runs H-Power, $12 for every ton below 800,000.

In years past, the city was typically short by 42,000 tons, which would cost around $500,000.

Last year the cost increased to $600,000, and with more programs reducing waste, the city will end up paying even more.

That is on top of the $70 million the city already pays Covanta each year to burn our waste….

read … Additional recycling efforts will cost Honolulu even more | Local | kitv.com

Hawaiʻi County Council passes first reading of bill to prohibit use of disposable plastic (again)

BIN: … The County Council passed the first reading of Bill 83, which aims to reduce disposable plastic and polystyrene and was introduced by Councilwomen Rebecca Villegas and Michelle Galimba.

The bill covers items that hold, store or contain food or drinks, and serviceware, which is used by food providers, county facility users or organizations.

Any entity selling, distributing, or providing prepared food to the public must use reusable foodware and serviceware, or disposable options that are certified by the Compost Manufacturing Alliance or visibly labeled as compostable with a BPI-certification mark.

The bill’s supporters say it would help Hawaiʻi County meet goals set forth by the county’s Zero Waste Plan and the state’s Aloha+ Challenge Solid Waste Reduction Goals….

HTH: Disposable foodware bill passes first reading - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

read … Hawaiʻi County Council passes first reading of bill to prohibit use of disposable plastic

Locally created AI tool transcribes and dissects government meetings

HPR: … Using artificial intelligence tools to listen in on public meetings is a growing trend across the country. Journalists in Maine and Michigan have used AI to summarize school board meetings and find story leads.

A local think tank is now trying out a tool in Hawaiʻi that it hopes will increase transparency.

Joe Kent is the executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi. He created the Open Hearings tool after he felt he was wasting time and money hiring interns to monitor meetings.

The tool tracks 26 government bodies in Hawaiʻi, from county councils to neighborhood boards….

CB: Hawaiʻi Is Behind The Curve On Artificial Intelligence - Honolulu Civil Beat

read … Locally created AI tool transcribes and dissects government meetings | Hawai'i Public Radio

Merits Brief Informs SCOTUS on Hawaii’s ‘Vampire Rule’

AL: … The brief presents the question: “Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in holding, in direct conflict with the Second Circuit, that Hawaii may presumptively prohibit the carry of handguns by licensed concealed carry permit holders on private property open to the public unless the property owner affirmatively gives express permission to the handgun carrier?”

That’s the “vampire rule,” so called because: Just like a vampire can’t enter a home without being invited, gun owners in Hawaii can’t carry their firearms into stores, restaurants, or businesses unless the owner gives permission.

What that does is create a nearly-impossible to navigate maze of prohibited areas, clearly meant to discourage anyone outside of a state or federal enforcer from bearing arms anywhere.

Upholding Hawaii’s disarmament edict “fails every aspect of the analytical framework established by Bruen,” Beck and Petitioner Co-Counsel Mark W. Pennack argue….

read … Merits Brief Informs SCOTUS on Hawaii’s ‘Vampire Rule’

$125M Ask for 2026 Lege: Local film group unveils (latest round of pretend) plans for new Kapolei studio

KHON: … The (latest version of the non-existent) studio will (not ever) be designed, built, financed, operated and managed by Hawaiʻi Studio Group, with the ‘first phase’ (LOL!) estimated to cost $125 million….

(CLUE: They will ask for $125M Special Purpose Revenue Bonds from Lege.)

Hawaiʻi Studio Group, which is composed of Island Film Group, Stephan D. Smith and Hawaiʻi Media Inc., estimates (LOL!) that the studio will open in spring 2028. (It won’t.)…

HNN: Film studio project near UH West Oahu unveiled

REALITY: 99-1245 Halawa Valley St, Aiea, HI 96701 - Industrial for Sale | LoopNet

read … Local film group unveils plans for new Kapolei studio

Tenants caught in the middle after city cites downtown building owner for illegal residential rentals

ILind: … horrendous living conditions in illegal residential rentals in a derelict commercial building in downtown Honolulu ….

read … Tenants caught in the middle after city cites downtown building owner for illegal residential rentals | i L i n d

Oregon Sewer Commissioners Created Captive Insurance Company so they could vacation in Hawaii

TO: … It’s official: Washington County’s embattled sewer agency will trade Hawaiian beaches for Arizona desert by the end of 2026.

In a move that had been telegraphed for months, the Clean Water Services board of commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to relocate its controversy-producing insurance subsidiary from Hawaii to Arizona, citing financial savings. The vote comes eight months after the company’s location came under scrutiny in the wake of an Oregonian/OregonLive investigation that found that agency executives on the insurance company board stayed at a rotating cast of five-star resorts for annual board meetings and insurance conferences in Hawaii.

Seven trips cost at least $165,000, including $42,000 to send six officials to the Big Island in 2023 and at least $41,000 to send seven officials to Kauai last year, records show. The sewer agency did not send any employees to Hawaii last month for the annual insurance conference.

Following the newsroom’s investigation, the sewer board, made up of the members of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, implemented a slew of oversight measures and the agency’s executive director eventually resigned, privately citing a hostile work environment. The board’s review included requiring the agency to conduct a new domicile review for its wholly-owned captive insurance company, a form of self insurance that is rare among public agencies…

read … Following scandal, Washington County sewer board votes to move insurance subsidiary from Hawaii to Arizona - oregonlive.com

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