November 22, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Saturday, November 22, 2025

November 22, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:20 PM :: 244 Views

State-funded marketing is not the answer to low tourist turnout

Hawai'i AG Demands Trump Admin Allow Food Stamps for Non-Citizens

Hawaii: 60% of violent crime goes un-solved

KHON: … In 2024, data showed Hawaii solved 40% of violent crimes reported to police — down 12 percentage points from 2014, when the state’s solve rate sat slightly above the national average.

“Our clearance rates continue to go downward every year,” said Marshall Clement, director of the Justice Center. “We haven’t seen a reversal in the past 60 years — especially for murder, rape and aggravated assault.”

He estimated that over the past three years alone, Hawaii has accumulated:

17 unsolved homicides
More than 3,000 aggravated assaults
1,200 sexual assaults
1,700 robberies

Law enforcement leaders told lawmakers the biggest challenge is staffing, and in this case, particularly among detectives.

According to briefing documents, Hawaii now has 55% fewer officers per 1,000 violent crimes than it did in 2013….

The issue extends beyond sworn officers. Hawaii Deputy Attorney General Michelle Puu told lawmakers the state does not have enough:

Crime scene analysts
DNA and drug analysts
Lab technicians
Updated lab equipment

“Our labs can’t test certain alcohol samples, and drug-analysis equipment isn’t sophisticated enough,” she said, adding that many critical tests must be outsourced — sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars.

The shortages are felt statewide.

Hawai‘i County Police reported a 29% clearance rate last year with 522 violent incidents. While aggravated assaults and robberies were solved at or above average, homicide clearance was just 17%, with cases often taking more than a year to be solved….

read … State violent crime solve rates have fallen

Associate of Hawaii’s Notorious Lum Crime Family sentenced to 14 years prison over illegal donations to Obama campaign

HNN: … Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees (an associate of Hawaii’s notorious Lum crime family) was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign….

LUM CRIME FAMILY BACKGROUND:

read … Fugees rapper Pras Michel sentenced to prison over illegal donations to Obama campaign

SHOPO Fail: Kauai Police Commission picks another outsider as new chief

HNN: … The Kauai Police Commission selected San Diego Police Department Deputy Chief Rudy Tai to be the next chief for the Kauai Police Department.

But he must still pass a series of checks before being sworn in as the department’s ninth top cop.

After a six-month search that yielded 42 applicants, the four finalists for the job were only named in the agenda posted on Friday, Nov. 14.

The commission interviewed all four candidates one week later, on Nov. 21, before voting to offer the job to Tai….

“The Kauai Police Department is suffering from huge internal problems as a result of the former chief of police, and we know that any external baggage that is brought to the department with an incoming chief of police is not going to help that problem,” said Nicholas Schlapak, president of SHOPO….

read … Kauai Police Commission votes on new chief amid union concerns

HART proposes $1.07B total budget for fiscal ‘27, a 10% increase

SA: … The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s proposed operating and capital ~~budgets~~ (bonfires) for fiscal year 2027 will total nearly $1.07 billion — 10.4% above the agency’s current total ~~budget~~ (bonfire) of $968.3 million adopted in June, rail officials say.

The HART board of directors’ Finance Committee on Friday approved both proposed budgets (bonfires), which will tackle increases to debt service on the rail project’s loans and pay for new contracts that include park-and-ride lots and other station facilities for the over-$10 billion Skyline ~~project~~ (coal seam fire), agency reports state.

The rail agency’s total operating budget for 2026 will rise to nearly $177.6 million — an increase of $2.8 million, or almost 1.7%, over the rail agency’s current $174.7 million spending plan.

Of that more than $177 million amount, $172.6 million — or 97% — covers debt service expenditures, reports state.….

read … HART proposes $1.07B total budget for fiscal ‘27, a 10% increase | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Teacher Workforce Housing Project in Mililani back on track

KHON: … “I’m absolutely thankful that the state and the SFA, the developer, listened to the Mililani community to relocate the project,” said Danielle Bass, Mililani Neighborhood Board chair.

The housing project is now broken up into two wings. It’ll feature 94 units with one and two bedrooms, a community room, fitness room, courtyard and dog park….

read ... Teacher Workforce Housing Project in Mililani back on track

DoE/DAGS Bureaucracy Slow to Fix Classroom ‘sewage’ leaks

KHON: … Teachers at a Big Island elementary school are speaking out about ongoing plumbing issues that have been causing problems for years.

They said sewage is leaking from the ceiling onto the students.

Kealakehe Elementary School teachers said they have been dealing with out-of-order restrooms and sewage leaking from classroom ceilings for years, with no permanent fix.

“The custodian came in to look at it, they didn’t really tell us what was wrong, just that there was a leak in one of the bathrooms and they would smell was like, not good,” said Kealakehe special education teacher Rabayah Akhter. “Fecal smell and a little bit of just like, like wet things that are old and wet.”…

The solution to fix the issues is not as simple as calling a private plumber — the request has to go through the Department of Accounting and General Services.

“They came and ‘fixed’ it, but they didn’t rip out the plumbing. They fixed one spot and the leak just moved further down the piping to a new space. It’s no longer just a deluge down the wall. It’s now out into the middle of classrooms,” said Jill Jacobs, a Kealakehe third-grade teacher. “Because of the protocol of DOE, we have to go through DAGS. The school can’t just call up a plumber and be like, ‘Hey, can you send somebody out immediately?’ And our school isn’t allowed to just call up and be like, ‘We’ve got this emergency situation where sewage is leaking on children, come fix this.'” …

SA: Plumbing leaks plague a Kailua-Kona elementary school | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

BIN: Kealakehe Elementary teachers concerned about ongoing plumbing issues in third-grade building : Big Island Now

read … Hawaii school teachers speak out against ‘sewage’ leaks

Unofficial Security Guard Arrested At 'Hell Hole' Honolulu Office Building

CB: … After fending off her landlord’s attempt to evict her, Enshaquawa Moore on Friday morning was hoping to check on her apartment at 1136 Union Mall. Instead, she says she was denied access to the building and thrown to the ground by a social media influencer who has been acting as an unlicensed security guard for the landlord.

Honolulu Police Officers arrested Elijah Kāla McShane on harassment charges following an incident at 11:36 a.m. at the troubled building, police records show. McShane was later released….

ILind: More on the plight of Union Plaza tenants | i L i n d

read … Unofficial Security Guard Arrested At 'Hell Hole' Honolulu Office Building - Honolulu Civil Beat

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