How Christmas Came to Hawaii

Green Fee: Court Denies Cruise Lines Motion for Preliminary Injunction

Democrats Name Union Lobbyist, CWS Administrator, and former Senator for HD36 Vacancy

KPD Issues Arrest Warrant in Amber Jackson Homicide Case

Height limits another barrier to rebuilding Lahaina as it was

‘CON laws hurt our community more than they might help’

Hawaii AG Fights to Keep Trannies in Female Sports

Green Names Four to Boards and Commissions

Mitsunaga, Rep Evslin, Rep Alcos among Hawaiʻi's Biggest Tax Delinquents

CB: … some taxpayers have fallen behind or skipped payments and owe thousands — and in some cases millions — to the state. The Hawaiʻi Department of Taxation keeps track of those accounts in a database of delinquent taxpayers.... 

Ex-CEO Dennis Mitsunaga, who founded a high-profile engineering firm known for securing government contracts, owes more than $3 million alongside his former company’s former accountant and its subsidiary, MM International, according to the data. The debts represent unpaid general excise and use taxes….

Republican state Rep. David A. Alcos III, the assistant minority leader, owes more than $1.5 million, according to the data. That represents a combination of individual income taxes, general excise and use taxes — which are levied on imported goods — and withholding taxes….

Kauaʻi Rep. Luke Evslin is also on the delinquency list, owing more than $57,000 in general excise and use taxes….

read … Who Are Hawaiʻi's Biggest Tax Delinquents? Search Here - Honolulu Civil Beat

After Five Years, Iwasa Finally Allowed to Attend Secret HART board meetings

SA: … One member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors has for years been disallowed from attending the rail agency’s most confidential, closed-door meetings.

Natalie Iwasa — a nonvoting member of the 14-member panel who was appointed by former Speaker of the House Scott Saiki in 2021 — has solely been excluded from executive sessions, because she had not signed a “temporary confidentiality agreement.”

Considered an ongoing legal dispute between the city and state, the policy barred Iwasa’s participation in HART’s privileged matters that can include labor negotiations, discussion of property acquisition along the city’s more than $10 billion rail line, or pending litigation filed by outside parties against HART, among others.

But during the HART board of directors meeting on Thursday that all changed.

Led by new Chairperson Kika Bukoski, the board voted to amend and revise its formal rules and operating procedures, particularly those connected to confidentiality agreements, which all board members are requested to sign.

Unlike in years past, Iwasa said she signed and submitted her newly-revised confidentiality agreement to HART on Saturday.

“It’s about time,” she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser of her ability to attend HART’s previously closed meetings, something she’d been unable to do for the past four years. “So I’ve been on the board just shy of five years.” ….

In 2022 the state Department of the Attorney General issued an opinion that the board overseeing the city’s rail project has no legal authority to treat board members differently and require legislative appointees to HART to sign new confidentiality agreements.

But the city’s Department of the Corporation Counsel disagreed, proposing Iwasa sign the confidentiality agreement….

With a term on the board that goes to June 2027, Iwasa said she’d like to pursue more transparency and accountability within the HART organization.

“What I would really like to do is have an anti-fraud policy established by the board,” she said. “I think a lot of people know that already anyway.”

Iwasa noted the city already has an anti-fraud policy.

“So it would be built on that, but basically it would say ‘We don’t tolerate fraud, waste or abuse,’” she explained. “And it would notify people that if they are aware that something looks like it could be abusive or fraudulent that these are the resources they can use to report it, you know, it’s that kind of thing.”…

read … HART board revises closed-door meeting policy | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Domestic Abuse Allegations Prompt Democrats To Scuttle HD36 Legislative Nominee

CB: … The Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi has pulled the name of one of its three candidates to fill a state House vacancy representing Waipahu.

Lynn Robinson-Onderko, the Oʻahu County chair, decided that Inam Rahman should not be on the list that was sent to Gov. Josh Green on Monday for his consideration for District 36. The reason, she said, is that a party member alerted her that Rahman and his wife had been named in Hawaiʻi court documents regarding domestic abuse allegations….

read … Domestic Abuse Allegations Prompt Democrats To Scuttle Legislative Nominee - Honolulu Civil Beat

Baby boomers struggle with housing, food and health risks

SA: … “Hawaii has ranked as the highest percentage of grandparents raising grandchildren in the nation,” ….

“It’s real difficult to pay horrendous rent, on top of food and electricity,” White said….

“We have the highest percentage of three generations living under one roof in the country,” McDermott said, but the traditional is eroding as younger relatives move away because they can’t afford to stay.

Without family support, seniors must hire private caregivers — an expense many cannot afford, even if they can find available workers.

Seniors who sell their homes to pay for long-term care also affect their children’s and grandchildren’s future finances because they won’t have a home in Hawaii to inherit, McDermott said….

The median income for Baby boomers in Hawaii of $96,126 is slighter higher than the overall Hawaii household median income of $94,814…

HNN: ‘Find your community’: Native Hawaiian mother plans return home after 20 years

HNN: Priced Out of Paradise: Hawaii transplants find community, culture in Utah

read … Baby boomers struggle with housing, food and health risks | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Kamehameha Schools announces tuition-free education for all students

HNN: … Pending court approval, all Kamehameha preschools and K-12 campuses will no longer require tuition beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

The change means tuition, which is already largely subsidized by Princess Bernice Pauahi’s endowment, will now be fully covered by the endowment….

“Tuition suggests a transactional exchange. Yet, responsibility at Kamehameha has never flowed from payment. It flows from aloha, ancestral connection, and preparation,” the statement continued.

Currently, families’ financial responsibilities range from nearly $3,000 for modified day preschool to more than $12,000 for boarders.

The school says all tuition collected during the 2025–26 school year will be transferred to the Kaiāulu Fund, which brings educational opportunities to Native Hawaiians beyond Kamehameha’s campuses and preschools.

Kamehameha is currently fighting a discrimination lawsuit filed by Students for Fair Admissions for giving preference to Native Hawaiians.

No word yet on how this change will impact litigation….

BIN: Kamehameha Schools eyes tuition-free education starting with 2026-27 academic year : Big Island Now

read … Kamehameha Schools announces tuition-free education for all students

Volunteers Oversee Hawaiʻi Charter Schools. Fortunately, the DoE Has Little Say Over Them

CB: … Volunteer boards oversee the academics and finances of Hawaiʻi charter schools. But the state has limited influence over who serves on those boards or how they hold schools accountable….

read … Volunteers Oversee Hawaiʻi Charter Schools. The State Has Little Say Over Them - Honolulu Civil Beat

Prison guard’s wife arrested for allegedly threatening Moanalua official

SA: … The 38-year-old wife of a prison guard charged with assaulting Moanalua High School’s associate athletic director on Dec. 4 was arrested on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening today for her alleged role in the assault.

Jamielee Indiana Vinson Noga was picked up by police officers at her apartment in the 900 block of Ala Lilikoi Street at 10:53 a.m. today, according to the Honolulu Police Department’s booking records.

First-degree terroristic threatening is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison….

read … Prison guard’s wife arrested for allegedly threatening Moanalua official | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Man who threatened to burn house down in Puna was out on supervised release for 2 assault cases in 2024

BIN: … Foote already was facing felony charges in two separate assault cases that occurred in 2024, one involving a 15-year-old boy in July. Foote reportedly doused the teen with gasoline after the boy had gone to his home to visit his mother, who was with Foote’s live-in girlfriend at the time.

The second assault occurred in September, involving a 69-year-old man whom Foote struck with a machete on his left arm, according to court documents. The victim was taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center for treatment.

Warrants were issued in both these cases after Foote failed to appear for hearings, according to court minutes.

In his latest case, according to a probable cause statement filed in District Court, Foote entered the residence on ‘Aʻama Street in the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision in Puna, looking for his estranged ex-wife. Inside the home were a 61-year-old woman and a 91-year-old.

After being informed his ex-wife wasn’t there, Foote continued searching the residence. Court documents said when he realized she wasn’t there, he became upset while holding “what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail in his right (hand) and a green torch tank in his left hand.”….

HTH: Mental exam ordered for Hawaiian Beaches standoff suspect - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

read … Man who threatened to burn house down in Puna was out on supervised release for 2 assault cases in 2024 : Big Island Now

QUICK HITS:

1. Big Q: Should Hawaii turn over its voter registration rolls/data to the U.S. Department of Justice? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

2. Judge denies motion to dismiss manslaughter case in Maui teen’s death

3. New electric buses set to roll out on Maui

4. Thousands of firecracker permits granted ahead of New Year’s Eve

5. Tamar Goodfellow to succeed Peter Ho as chair of Hawaii Community Foundation board - Pacific Business News

6. Son in Hawaii Kai murder claims mom sexually assaulted him and his cousin | Crime & Courts | kitv.com

7. Hawaiian-Alaska missteps create Christmas havoc for this family | i L i n d

8. Governor Josh Green, M.D. | Lt. Gov. Luke/UHBO – RELEASE – Federal Approval Advances Hawaiʻi’s Broadband Expansion

9. Kona man indicted for alleged 2009 sex assault - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

10. Man charged in mother’s killing: ‘I’m not a monster’ | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Know them by what they deny.)

11. The National Center For Global Warming Hysteria Must Be Saved - Honolulu Civil Beat

12. Column: Climate justice requires avid actions | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

13. Girls club volleyball coach, 37, accused of having sex with player | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

14. Waipahu woman pleads guilty to income tax, COVID aid fraud | Honolulu Star-Advertiser