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Thursday, December 11, 2025

December 11, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:24 PM :: 164 Views

Hawaii’s Concealed Carry is a Fraud

Hawaii County Announces Six Affordable Housing Projects

New Report Illuminates Geothermal Cooling Potential in Hawaii

Kalaupapa, site of Catholic saint history, reopens to visitors

“It’s not a threat, and it’s not extortion”

CB: Honolulu Managing Director Mike Formby texted council members Val Okimoto and Radiant Cordero in September that he would withhold funding to their districts if they voted against the mayor’s choice for housing director.

Formby says the message was meant to start a conversation, but the leader of a government watchdog group in Hawaiʻi described the political play as immoral and unethical.

The texts’ existence remained private for months until Okimoto mentioned the interaction last week as the council voted to approve Kevin Auger as director of the Department of Housing and Land Management.

“A written message from a senior administration official indicated that the release of my district appropriations will be contingent on the outcome of this vote,” Okimoto said during the meeting. She noted that the council’s ability to confirm mayoral appointees needs to remain independent from outside executive branch influence. …

… “It’s not a threat, and it’s not extortion,” Formby told Civil Beat of the September texts, adding that he was confused about why Auger’s confirmation process dragged on for so long. “It’s an opportunity for us to say, ‘What is going on?'”

(CLUE: Know them by what they deny.)

Camron Hurt, who leads the government watchdog group Common Cause Hawaiʻi, disagrees.

“It is completely disgusting for a member of the mayor’s body to try to coerce members of the legislative branch of the city in that way,” Hurt said. “Not only is it disgusting, it’s unethical, immoral, and the mayor should reevaluate who he has around him if he doesn’t want to be seen as immoral.”

Hurt said he’s not surprised somebody would try to use coercion in politics, “but to do it that blatantly, that bold, that sloppy, that mistrusting?” He called Formby’s behavior “extremely unbecoming,”….

read … Here Are The Texts A Honolulu Official Sent Threatening Funding Over Vote - Honolulu Civil Beat

On July 4, 2026 Hawaii’s Slow permitting process may Kill Wind and Solar Developers

CB: … Under Trump’s new “Big Beautiful Bill,” construction has to start on Mahi Solar and the other local wind and solar projects by July 4. They then need to be providing power to the grid within four years or else they won’t get the federal credits they’ve been counting on.

Without the credits, local energy and utility officials say, the renewable energy those projects aim to provide won’t be affordable in a state where consumers already pay the highest energy costs in the country.

Construction on Mahi Solar, Wescoatt said, actually started earlier this year. However, he and others added that the permit and approvals processes on such clean energy projects can often take years….

read … Expiring Tax Credits Could Hamper Hawaiʻi's Pivot To A Clean Energy Future - Honolulu Civil Beat

A&B merger is end of isle ‘Big 5’ era

SA: … Longtime kamaaina remember an era when the “Big Five” dominated Hawaii — companies born of missionary and sugar-plantation roots that connected not just economy but also myriad aspects of this young state’s evolution, from land use to politics. Of the five, only Alexander &Baldwin remained unsold and uninterrupted in its 155‑year history — but that now changes under a new $2.3 billion merger, the largest commercial real estate deal in Hawaii history.

A&B will merge with Honolulu-based MW Group, Blackstone Real Estate and DivcoWest in a transaction expected to clear in spring, taking the publicly traded A&B private.

The opportunities abound, given A&B’s rich real estate portfolio that includes 21 retail centers, 14 industrial assets, four office properties and fee interests in 146 acres of leases. Many are popular consumer-facing, grocery-anchored properties: Kailua Town, Manoa Marketplace, Pearl Highlands Center, Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center and Kunia Shopping Center, to name just a few. So clearly, residents and visitors alike will have a stake in — and care about — how the new mega company operates its properties….

BH: Wall Street Paid $2.3B For Hawaii And Visitors Will Pay Next

read … Editorial: A&B merger is end of isle era | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Priced out of paradise: Hawaii families build new lives in Utah

HNN: … Thousands of Hawaii families have relocated to Utah, driven by the state’s high cost of living but maintain strong cultural connections through businesses, religious networks and community organizations….

read … Priced out of paradise: Hawaii families build new lives in Utah while efforts grow to bring them home

Hawaii Senator pushes for stricter social media age limits as debate grows

KITV: … Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz is urging Congress to move quickly. He is pushing for stricter nationwide age limits and enhanced platform safeguards for minors.

“The more they addict your kid, the more money they make,” Schatz said. “These things are more powerful than a 14-year-old’s brain. They just are.” …

read … Hawaii Senator pushes for stricter social media age limits as debate grows | News | kitv.com

USDA: Hawaii can restrict soda purchases for SNAP recipients

SA: … U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said today that she has granted waivers to six additional states, including Hawaii, allowing them to prevent the use of food stamps to purchase certain items, like soft drinks and candy.

The administration of President Donald Trump has now allowed 18 states to implement a variety of restrictions on low-income recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps.

Rollins and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have urged states to adopt the restrictions as part of the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda….

read … USDA: Hawaii can restrict soda purchases for SNAP recipients | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Homeless People Are Dying On Oʻahu because we do not FORCE them into housing and treatment

CB: …Darlene Mayo, 52, died on a sidewalk near a Koa Pancake House in Wahiawā of severe anemia likely due to a chronic lice infestation.

Aris Garcia died of methamphetamine intoxication on a canal embankment behind a public transit hub in Kalihi. He was 79.

Nichole Seymour, 40, died of pneumonia and a lung infection on the south lawn of the federal office building and courthouse on Ala Moana Drive. …

(SOULTION: Reopen the insane asylums. Put the insane back inside.)

read … More Homeless People Are Dying On Oʻahu. Can We Reverse The 'Crisis'? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Honolulu mayor seeks Taiwan’s help to rebuild crime-plagued Chinatown Cultural Plaza

HNN: … Blangiardi wrote a letter to Taiwan’s president, President Lai Chin-te, in March.

“The Chinese Cultural Plaza has become a hotspot for illicit activities, including homelessness, drug use, and violent crime,” he wrote.

“I actually said to them in a very nice way, you don’t have a right to be a slumlord in our city. This is owned by the Taiwan government,” Blangiardi told Hawaii News Now.

Blangiardi said he wants the plaza renamed as “Taiwan Cultural Plaza” and redeveloped as a cultural and commercial destination, but said he’s gotten the run around….

read … Honolulu mayor seeks Taiwan’s help to rebuild crime-plagued Chinatown Cultural Plaza

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