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Friday, November 21, 2025

November 21, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:38 PM :: 100 Views

Bill 42: After Decade of Uber/Lyft, Honolulu Council to Deregulate Taxis?

Sportsmens Alliance argues that Hawaii gun laws violate the Second Amendment

East Maui Streams: BLNR Defers Decision on how to make a Decision about how to Decide

PSD Vaccination Case Resolved

Still no Master Contract for Aloha Stadium

ASD: … NASED and AHDP have yet to formalize a master development for the 98-acre site, but interim stadium manager Chris Sadayasu and board chair Eric Fujimoto both shared during Thursday's meeting that negotiations have been progressing consistently.

"We are very close on a lot of the terms, but I think as we continue to negotiate that, we're shooting to bring it to the board in next month's board meeting," Sadayasu said during Thursday's meeting. "The demolition and dismantling work, they're still ramping up to get that going. But the main thing is that we're still on schedule to deliver the new stadium in March 2029."

(IQ Test: How hard are you laughing?)

One of the first physical steps towards building the new stadium will be dismantling the current one. January 2026 remains the time period in which that would begin.

"I'm optimistic that we can bring an agreement towards the board," Fujimoto said.

(IQ Test: How hard are you laughing?)

Potential items that could be presented at the December meeting include an updated rending to reflect the planned 22,500 seats at the stadium, though Fujimoto says that will be at the discretion of the developer….

(TRANSLATION: These fast-moving cutting edge dudes are still thinking about maaayyyybeee making an architectural drawing of the proposed 22,500 stadium design. Maaayyyybeee.)

read … December looms large as Aloha Stadium pushes towards dismantling in 2026

Very Predictable Split over swing vote successor for late Council Member Tasha Kama

MN: … Evan Dust, Kama’s son-in-law and senior executive assistant, opened public testimony by relaying the late council member’s final request.

“I promised my mother-in-law, Tasha Kama, that I would do everything humanly possible to see that her dying wish was fulfilled,” Dust said. “She asked me, in her final days to reach out to Kauanoe Batangan to finalize a conversation that they had had several times over the past year.”

Dust urged the Council not to use the vacancy to alter the political balance of the body. (Kama had been a member of the Council’s five-member majority.)

“I believe doing so would be a visible dishonor to the memory of your late colleague,” Dust said.

Supporters of Batangan highlighted his educational background, which includes degrees from Stanford University and Columbia University, and his work in government following the August 2023 wildfires.

Rick Nava, the executive director of the West Maui Taxpayers Association, noted Batangan’s work in the County Office of Recovery….

Support for Kamekona came from (the usual suspects) ….

Following public testimony, the council began questioning candidates. Lee called a lunch recess until 2:30 p.m. after hearing introductory remarks from Batangan.

Later, the meeting is expected to recess until 9 a.m. Nov. 25, at which time the Council is scheduled to vote on the selection. If (After) a majority of the eight remaining council members are unable to make a decision, the appointment (of Kamekona) will be made by Mayor Richard Bissen….

read … Community divides over swing vote successor for late Council Member Tasha Kama : Maui Now

‘Fund the Police’ -- Police across the state set to receive largest raises in nearly 2 decades

HPR: … More police officers in the state are getting approved for a new four-year contract that would increase their base pay by nearly 27% — the biggest raise they’ve received in at least 17 years.

(FLASHBACK: Remember 2020: “Defund the police - Wikipedia” Already down the memory hole of failed ‘progressive’ ideas.)

On Wednesday the Hawaiʻi County Council voted to approve the “across-the-board” raises, which will cost the county a total of $57.3 million by the end of the contract in 2029.

Police officers across the state are subject to the same raises, which will come in 5% annual raises, pay increases based on years of service, and a one-time retention bonus.

In September the State of Hawaiʻi Organization of Police Officers, or SHOPO, secured the compensation package for officers following a decision by an independent arbitrator. The union represents about 2,700 officers statewide.

County councils are in the process of formally approving the contracts for their respective police departments.

Earlier this month the Honolulu City Council approved the contract for Oʻahu’s officers, resulting in a $221 million increase during the course of the contract.

Maui County councilmembers in October approved the package, which will cost the county $37 million.

Kauaʻi County Council is scheduled to vote next week on a $14.9 million pay increase for police over the next four years….

read … Police across the state set to receive largest raises in nearly 2 decades | Hawai'i Public Radio

SHOPO: Kauaʻi Police Commission Picks One Local and One outside Finalist—plus two tainted placeholders

CB: … The finalists include Teresa Ewins, a former police chief in Lincoln, Nebraska; Roderick Green, a Kauaʻi police captain; Robert Larson, a police captain in Reno, Nevada; and Rudy Tai, a deputy police chief in San Diego. A fifth unnamed candidate pulled out of the running.

(CLUE: Green, Larson and two placeholders)

The seven-member commission’s decision is expected to begin a new era for a department that has struggled with sinking morale and a high rate of officer vacancies. …

In a 70-page letter to Kauaʻi Police Commission Chair Walton Hong, (SHOPO President) Schlapak assessed the finalists’ backgrounds, noting that the commission’s short list includes candidates that “will set us back.”

In an interview Thursday, Schlapak questioned how much commissioners knew about the candidates’ backgrounds before advancing them to the short list of finalists, which was made public last week….

(CLUE: They knew. That’s how they worked the choice out to one qualified local candidate and one qualified outside candidate plus two placeholders.)

In Schlapak’s letter Wednesday to the commission, he describes Ewins as a candidate with the potential to bring “chaos and controversy to the island.” He points to an active civil rights lawsuit in which one of her former employees accused her of retaliatory termination as the Lincoln, Nebraska, police chief after the officer called out a culture of discrimination against female cops. The legal complaint is one of several filed in recent years that alleges sex discrimination within the Lincoln Police Department.

The letter also criticizes Ewins for resigning from the Lincoln Police Department’s top post in 2023 without warning or explanation…. Prior to her two-year tenure as the first female and first openly gay police chief for the city of Lincoln, Ewins spent 26 years with the San Francisco Police Department….

(TRANSLATION: Placeholder candidate.)

The police union president’s letter also raises concerns about Tai, pointing to a sexual misconduct scandal involving former San Diego police officer Anthony Arevalos, who was convicted in 2011 on multiple charges, including soliciting bribes and preying on women during traffic stops.

Tai was Arevalos’ direct supervisor in the 1990s when Arevalos was allegedly involved in a sexual misconduct incident involving a mentally disabled woman, according to a 2014 news story in the Voice of San Diego. Tai gave Arevalos a verbal warning, according to the story. The incident was not formally documented. This light-handedness, the letter speculates, could have allowed the officer’s misconduct to continue….

(TRANSLATION: Placeholder candidate.)

The union letter raises no serious concerns with Larson, but argues he lacks sufficient executive leadership experience.

“Coming in as an outsider is an exceptional challenge,” Schlapak wrote. “Becoming a first-time CEO is an exceptional challenge. Being both while heading an organization that needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up is going to border on impossible.” ….

(TRANSLATION: SHOPO will never support any outsider, no matter how qualified.)

The union letter voices no issues of concern regarding Green, the only internal candidate in the pool of finalists. But it urges the commission to seek to understand whether he has the broad support of his fellow officers….

(TRANSLATION: SHOPO endorsement.)

PDF: SHOPO letter to Kauai Police Commission | DocumentCloud

read … Kauaʻi Police Commission Narrows Search For New Chief To These 4 Finalists - Honolulu Civil Beat

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Information is Spreading

IM: … fuel oil should be replaced with gas ….

read … Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Misinformation is Spreading | Ililani Media

Hawaiian Air Stripped of GE Tax Exemption

NLR: … In a case of homecourt advantage may not be worth much, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that a vendor’s aircraft-part sales to local company Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. (“Airlines”) do not qualify for the exemption for sales of aircraft parts because the gross proceeds received by the vendor were not “received from the servicing and maintenance of aircraft.” In re Tax Appeal of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. v. Hawaii Dep’t of Taxation, Dkt. No. CAAP-24-0000496 (HI Ct. App. Nov. 10, 2025).

Airlines agreed with its parts vendor that it (Airlines) would be responsible for the payment of General Excise Tax (“GET”) due on its purchases of aircraft parts from vendor. The Hawaii Department of Taxation (“Department”) audited vendor and determined that vendor owed GET on the sales to Airlines. Airlines paid the GET to the Department under protest, sought a refund with a claim that the aircraft parts are exempt maintenance costs, and pursued an action to recover monies paid under protest (“Payment Under Protest Action”). When the Department failed to respond to the refund claim, Airlines sued for a refund in Tax Appeals Court. The trial court ruled for the Department, and Airlines appealed….

read … Hawaii Appeals Court Rules Aircraft-Part Sales Not Exempt

Tenants in low-income building face massive rent increases

HNN: … Goley has until Dec. 1 to respond. She survives on $1,157 a month from Social Security. Her current rent is $1,100; she pays $337 and Section 8 covers the remainder.

Under the new notice, her monthly rent would jump to $1,950.

Talking with neighbors, Goley said she discovered a troubling pattern: Section 8 tenants were hit with the steepest increases, while others saw only small adjustments.

“I found out that everyone on Section 8 got the large increase, but only the people not on Section 8 got the $100,” she said….

read … Tenants in low-income building face massive rent increases

Slow-Moving Honolulu Officials Are Doing Little To Help 'Hell-Hole' Tenants

CB: … In the case of DOHO Suites, a commercial tenant, District Court Judge Thomas Haia ordered Union Mall Development to restore electricity to DOHO Suites’ floors. That hasn’t happened. Additionally, Haia ordered Union Mall Development to not restrict DOHO Suites’ access to its floors. That, too, hasn’t helped, as Union Mall Development staff continue to hinder DOHO Suites’ tenants from entering the building, according to DOHO Suites’ principal, Rex Matsuo.

Police tell him they can’t enforce Haia’s order, Matsuo said. In a written statement, HPD acting Maj. Henry Roberts said officers are instructed to review any documentation provided to them on scene and to enforce all valid court orders.

“If any person reports criminal activity, including assault or unlawful entry, officers are required to initiate a case and conduct the appropriate investigation,” Roberts added.

Particularly frustrating, Matsuo says, is that Haia already has found Union Mall Development in contempt of court for not restoring services. A spokesperson for the judiciary declined to comment.

Matsuo’s next court date is in January. But to Matsuo, that seems like a long time to wait.

“It’s up to the judge to decide what to do,” he said. “The cops can’t do anything.”

City Officials Have Been Slow To Act

The Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting also appears hamstrung. In a letter filed as part of Tsuruhara’s request to put a third party in charge of the building, DPP director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna outlines a raft of notices issued against Union Mall Development for violations such as unpermitted construction and change of use from office to residential.

None of the notices “have been accepted to date by the responsible party, Chad Waters,” Apuna wrote.

Mike Formby, managing director for Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, said the city has concerns about code violations in the building — and the potential for bad outcomes.

“There’s a high risk something could happen,” he said.

The city is seeking permission from Union Mall Development to conduct inspections, Formby said. If the city can’t get permission from the owner, Formby said, it will obtain it through the courts — although he didn’t say when that would happen.

If the building were deemed unsafe, Formby said the city’s Department of Community Services would help tenants find new housing….

read … Honolulu Officials Are Doing Little To Help 'Hell-Hole' Tenants - Honolulu Civil Beat

Limited backyard hens will be allowed in residential areas on Big Island — and their eggs can be sold

BIN: … After two postponements and a few amendments, the Hawai‘i County Council unanimously passed a bill that allows a limited number of backyard hens to be housed in residential areas, and for people to sell eggs non-commercially.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Council Member Heather Kimball, the creator of Bill 52, addressed some of the concerns that were voiced during public testimonies on the measure, which included criticism over the number of birds being allowed, the coop requirement for the hens and the prohibition of selling eggs or birds.

Council Member Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said the last two to three weeks on social media have been interesting, with some comments claiming the bill prohibits chickens across the island and government overreach.

“The bill does exactly the opposite,” he said….

read … Limited backyard hens will be allowed in residential areas on Big Island — and their eggs can be sold : Big Island Now

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