November 28, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, November 28, 2025

November 28, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:25 PM :: 210 Views

AG Report: Governor’s office fired Isaac Choy for threatening Audit of CNHA’s $27M HTA Contract

State Hospital: Lunatics Allowed to Come and Go, Get Knives, Drugs

CB: … The stabbing death of a staff nurse in 2023 was not the “unanticipated and unprovoked incident” described by Hawaiʻi State Hospital leaders at the time, but the result of chronic safety failures at the institution, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the nurse’s family.

Hospital leaders ignored multiple warning signs, chronic overcapacity and staffing issues, and failed to put basic measures in place to prevent a patient with a violent past from obtaining the knife he used to kill nurse Justin Bautista, the lawsuit says.

The patient, Tommy Carvalho, (a criminal with a good lawyer) was housed in an unsecured unit despite having previously pleaded guilty to assaulting a state hospital worker. He was free to come and go from the hospital grounds unsupervised — even after he failed a drug test — and nothing was done to make sure that he didn’t have a weapon when he returned to the unit on the day of the stabbing.

“The murder of Justin was not an isolated or unforeseeable event but the tragic culmination of a systemic failure by state officials to address long-standing and publicly recognized risks to the safety of hospital employees and patients alike,” the lawsuit states. ….

Dangerously overcrowded at the time of Bautista’s death, the hospital has even more patients today. Late last month, the state’s occupational safety division fined the hospital just over $14,000 for failing to adequately protect workers from violent patients, although the hospital was able to get the fine reversed by arguing that it has better implemented safety policies since the state investigation took place.

Assaults on staff appear to have grown considerably in the last two years. Hospital staff reported more than 320 assaults between July 2024 and September 2025, averaging about 21 a month. …

After Bautista’s death, the Department of Health recommended the state hospital take a number of steps to improve safety, including creating an assistant administrator position to oversee security and forming a rapid response team with additional training to subdue a patient during a violent incident.

The state hospital also changed the staff-to-patient ratio in the transitional unit from 1:5 to 1:3 and increased security patrols around those cottages. Hospital staff started searching patients returning from unsupervised excursions with a pat down, a metal detector wand and a urine drug test.

(TRANSLATION: They proved the family’s point.)

State workplace safety investigators also launched a probe into (coverup of management culpability in) the stabbing but (and, to that end,) closed the inquiry last year without issuing a violation, concluding that the circumstances “were unforeseeable.” …

read … Lawsuit Claims 'Negligence' Led To Fatal Stabbing Of State Hospital Nurse - Honolulu Civil Beat

Geothermal Expansion Will Reduce Electric Cost by 43%

HTH: … Plant officials said electricity from PGV currently costs about 7 cents per kilowatt-hour and could fall to about 4 cents after the new equipment is operational.

(DO THE MATH: 3/7 = 43% reduction)

A public hearing is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m. at the Pahoa Neighborhood Facility as the Department of Health considers PGV’s request to increase its permitted generating capacity from 41 megawatts to 46 megawatts. Residents may offer testimony at the hearing or submit written comments to the DOH Clean Air Branch through Dec. 12.

The request is tied to PGV’s repower project, approved by the Hawaii County Planning Department in January 2024. Under the plan, 12 existing Ormat Energy Converters would be replaced with three more efficient units, which DOH says would reduce volatile organic compound emissions by about 6.36 tons per year….

read … PGV seeks to boost power output by 5 megawatts - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

LNG Push Puts Green Energy Lack of Reliability in the Spotlight

OP: … Hawaii revises its clean energy strategy, signing a preliminary deal with Japan’s JERA to import liquefied natural gas. This step marks a shift from its previous no-gas policy amid rising electricity costs and grid instability. …

read … Hawaii’s Return to Gas Puts Energy Reliability in the Spotlight | OilPrice.com

Can Hawaiʻi Tackle Football's Massive Carbon Footprint? (LOL!)

CB: … Jeff Mikulina, a climate consultant who helped craft Hawaiʻi’s energy policy, says it’s important not to vilify sports events as polluters, but instead take a look at their impact to gain a better understanding of aviation’s role in the state’s carbon footprint.

“People love sports,” Mikulina said. “Let’s not demonize it, but let’s use it as a catalyst to say, ‘How can we travel and enjoy this entertainment and this pastime without burdening our climate?’”

(TRANSLATION: Global warming hysteria is all politics. The warmers advise choosing targets carefully so as to not engender mass opposition.)

read … Can Hawaiʻi Tackle Football's Massive Carbon Footprint? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Promoters Demand taxpayer dollars for Golf Tourneys

HNN: … The state already supports sports with significant investments, including $350 million to replace Aloha Stadium. …

The loss of the Sentry tournament in Kapalua due to a water shortage represents a concerning trend for Hawaii’s dwindling televised tournaments, Rolfing said.

“And I think the domino effect is if you lose another one or more than one, I think it’ll all be gone,” he said.

The PGA is looking to reduce the number of tournaments, and Hawaii’s three winter tournaments compete for TV viewers with football playoffs while also competing with other states willing to subsidize the PGA’s costs.

“States like Utah, South Carolina, they’re putting up $5 million for a golf tournament,” Rolfing said….

The policy of taxpayer-subsidized sports faced an early test at the state Capitol when the University of Hawaii Athletic Department requested $5 million to pay athletes.

“I just want to be competitive and funded so that I can bring in the athletes and then as coaches, we have to do our jobs,” said Wahine Basketball coach Laura Beeman.

When lawmakers asked how much would go to each sport, Athletic Director Matt Elliot said he couldn’t provide details because lawyers were involved.

“To come here and ask for $5 million in a budget crisis, and then to not be transparent about how you’re gonna allocate that money is really shocking if I’m being honest,” said state Rep. Jeanne Kapela….

read … Sporting event survival may demand taxpayer dollars

The money in TheBus

ASD: … What does it cost to run Honolulu’s buses?

The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Service 2025 fiscal year budget was a little over $438 million. Of that, O‘ahu Transit Services, Inc., the nonprofit contractor that manages TheBus and TheHandi-Van, took the lion’s share, taking $325.9 million. A proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year would increase the OTS budget to $341 million.

But where does that money go?

O‘ahu Transit Services lists a fleet size of 542 buses, with an average age of nearly 10 years, along with an additional 180 Handi-Vans.

According to OTS budget documents, the greatest single expenditure in the bus and paratransit budget during the 2025-2026 fiscal year was salaries and wages. Employee pay is projected to cost $168.6 million between July 2025 and June 2026.

OTS states on its website that it employs a total of 1,919 employees. Of those, 1,211 are drivers — 901 bus drivers and 310 Handi-Van drivers.

Other employees include 358 maintenance staff — the majority of which are bus maintenance — 251 support staff and 109 administrative jobs….

read … The money in TheBus

State clarifies Central Maui pumping data; groundwater aquifer limits are under review

MN: … State water regulators have clarified data regarding groundwater pumping in Central Maui, acknowledging that while current withdrawals exceed official sustainable yield limits, those limits are conservative estimates that are now under re-evaluation.

The clarification comes following an Oct. 28 staff briefing before the state Commission on Water Resource Management. The main focus of the briefing was on the water supply impacts stemming from a severe, protracted drought in East Maui….

Under an agreement, East Maui Irrigation (now fully owned by Mahi Pono) is prioritizing the Department of Water Supply’s needs for domestic use, resulting in Mahi Pono receiving no surface water since Aug. 28.

Instead, Mahi Pono has been irrigating crops with groundwater from the Central Maui ʻĪao aquifer system, he said. Strauch reported Mahi Pono has been “ramping up groundwater production” to sustain its operations.

At the October meeting, Jonathan Likeke Scheuer, chair of the East Maui Regional Community Board and its Hawaiian Homes Commission representative, expressed alarm about Mahi Pono’s water withdrawals from the Kahului and Pāʻia aquifers. He noted the water withdrawals were exceeding sustainable yield limits. Sustainable yield refers to the maximum amount of water that can be safely pumped out of an underground source over time.

Scheuer cited figures showing pumping of up to 13 million gallons per day from the Kahului aquifer, which has a sustainable yield of 1 mgd, and up to 25 mgd from Pāʻia, with a sustainable yield of 7 mgd.

Now, however, Andrew Laurence, communications director for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, clarified that the 13 mgd figure for Kahului represented a peak on a single day, not a sustained average….

read … State clarifies Central Maui pumping data; groundwater aquifer limits are under review

Kauhale expansion sparks success stories and scrutiny

KHON: … To date, there are 24 kauhale statewide. They provide more than 900 new beds, along with shelter, stability and support….

The state has invested over $100 million in housing solutions in just two and a half years. They estimated it has saved taxpayers at least $27.5 million a year in Hawaii’s health, human services, public safety and judiciary systems….

But even as the program grows, it’s also under a microscope. Lawmakers have mandated a performance audit, citing concerns over operating costs for off-grid sites and non-bid contracts….

“There have been times where people said, ‘Well, why would you stay off grid?’ and it costs 20 grand in a month. That could be two days in the hospital for one person. We instead had 25 or 30 people getting care and not going to the hospital,” said Green. “When you do something new, people try to assess it and judge it. But we’re the only ones that I know of in the country that have embraced social health, and that means giving people housing as part of their healing. And it’s working, will never be perfect, but it’s working.” …

“Between $300 to $400 a month, and that’s what they’re paying here. So that allows them to achieve upward economic mobility. It allows them to regain their selves, their lives, and actually move into permanent housing,” said Kimo Carvalho, HomeAid Hawaii CEO….

read … Kauhale expansion sparks success stories and scrutiny

How Socialists are Exploiting Union Plaza Hellhole

CB: … When Waters cut off electricity to the entire building, tenants were left literally in the dark. Members of the Honolulu Tenants Union showed up with laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots, and portable batteries so that residents could file temporary restraining orders.

(TRANSLATION: Socialists showed up and gave the squatters a hint that there could be money in suing the landlord. The restraining orders provide lawyers with a list of potential clients and create some legal fiction around illegal squatters with no other legal recognition.)

Weeks later, the power is still off. Meanwhile, some Union Plaza residents have been bravely challenging retaliatory evictions in court with some success, but without legal support, others have been forced to leave without a fight.

(TRANSLATION: Failed plan. Even with socialists lining up potential plaintiffs, no lawyers smell the money on this loser. Meanwhile, the squatters are erratic people who are dissipating, despite the socialists’ efforts to keep this crisis alive so it won’t go to waste.)

For weeks, Union Plaza tenants and organizers at the Honolulu Tenants Union have been sounding the alarm, holding press conferences, and calling for government action….

(TRANSLATION: ‘Progressive’ legislators will try to exploit this in 2026 Lege. But they are inexperienced ideologues who don’t know what they want, so they won’t get far.)

read … Rep. Tina Grandinetti: Union Plaza ‘Hell Hole’ Reveals Systemic Issues - Honolulu Civil Beat

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