December 28, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Sunday, December 28, 2025

December 28, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:57 PM :: 587 Views

New year a good time to ditch harmful old ideas

Highlights of 2025, Hopes for 2026

Tax Increase Planned to Pay for Executive Salary Hikes?

Shapiro: … State legislators collected 48% pay raises for themselves while aiming to cover lost federal aid by taking back some of the ballyhooed $5.6 billion income tax cut they gave us. Who knew when they promised “historic” tax cuts they meant ancient history?

Taxing the rich lost its appeal after legislators schemed so hard to join that category. So they tightened their belts — around constituents’ necks.

Federal agents recorded an unnamed legislator taking $35,000 in a paper bag from a shady source, but Senate President Ron Kouchi and House Speaker Nadine Nakamura declined to investigate. Our Legislature doesn’t view such transactions as corruption, but tradition. Paper bags are ceremonial….

read … Volcanic Ash: The richest news of 2025 delivered in a paper sack | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Know The Source: Biden’s Open-Borders Commissioner Squares off with SHOPO

CB: … The firm selected to support the HPC’s chief selection process, Public Sector Search & Consulting Inc., has experience working with numerous cities nationwide. As it so happens, I know several of the police chiefs chosen with help from this firm, including Spokane Chief Kevin Hall, Boise Police Chief Chris Dennison (both former assistant chiefs in Tucson, Arizona, where I was the chief for more than six years), as well as chiefs who have worked in Seattle, San Jose, and my hometown, Lansing, Michigan….

REALITY: DEI for HPD: Sneaking in Biden’s Former Border Chief as Next Honolulu Police Commissioner

(CLUE: Magnus’ column leaves out everything that Hawai’i Free Press is including below.)

Politico Oct 2022: The head of Customs and Border Protection stands accused of being disengaged. Five current administration officials who work with CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus portrayed him as unengaged in his job, saying he often doesn’t attend White House meetings on the situation on the border, badmouths other agencies to colleagues and superiors, and has not built relationships within CBP and across other agencies to address the influx of migrants at the border. They complain he is unfamiliar with some of the operations of CBP and instead is focused primarily on reforming the culture of the Border Patrol, addressing its long list of allegations of racism and violence.

(CLUE: Same program for HPD.)

NPR Nov 2022: Customs and Border Protection head Chris Magnus resigns -- The shakeup at CBP comes after migrant apprehensions (and releases) at the southern border climbed to a record high of more than 2.3 million in the past year, fueling attacks from Republicans that the Biden administration's border policies are too lenient. Magnus, who is 62, was picked by the White House and confirmed by the Senate in a party-line vote. He was the first openly gay man to lead the CBP, the nation's largest law enforcement agency.

(TRANSLATION: DEI pick. Magnus had to be removed to distance Biden's reelection campaign from his out-of-control open border disaster.)

KFGO: When he was the police chief in Tucson, Arizona, he rejected federal grants to collaborate on border security with the agency he now leads and kept a distance from Border Patrol leaders in a region where thousands of agents are assigned. Roy Villareal, chief of the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector from early 2019 until late 2020, said he sought an introductory meeting with Magnus, who was then Tucson’s police chief, but that he never heard back, calling their lack of interaction “a telling sign.” Villareal could recall speaking to Magnus only three times during their overlapping tenures — each one a courtesy call from Magnus to inform him that Tucson police were about to arrest one of his agents. “He’s the wrong person for the Border Patrol,” said Villareal, who retired after 32 years in the agency. “His knowledge and understanding of border enforcement just isn’t there. … Agents will challenge him.”

2017 NYT: Opinion | Tucson’s Police Chief: Sessions’s Anti-Immigrant Policies Will Make Cities More Dangerous - The New York Times

KFGO: Magnus drew media attention in 2014 as police chief in Richmond, California, where he was photographed holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign at a protest

KFGO: Former Fargo police chief condemns actions that led to George Floyd’s death | The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO

NBC: Magnus' Department Covered-up In-custody death for One Month-- Video shows death of man, 27, in Tucson police custody; chief offers to resign

read … The Public Can Have Confidence In The Honolulu Police Commission - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii lawmakers plan to tinker with housing affordability, but not do anything really effective

SA: … “Every government elected official says housing is the top priority, but somehow we don’t see the action,” he said. “Hawaii is failing —it’s an F minus.”

He noted that Hawaii has made progress on low income housing — more than $1 billion appropriated over the past decade, with the state now financing about half of all the low-income units built — but that the middle class pipeline “has collapsed.”

He supports a 99-year-leasehold model inspired by Singapore, with state-built or state-partnered condo towers sold at 10%-20% below market. “Like Costco gas,” he said. “Cheaper, not free.”

Chang said he also supports expanding lower-interest rate programs so that more buyers can qualify.

Lawmakers are considering changes to the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund, which is managed by the Hawaii Housing and Finance Development Corporation , to help more Hawaii residents become homeowners. HHFDC partners with developers of for-sale projects by purchasing a portion of equity in designated units for qualified buyers.

Buyers pay a reduced upfront price and, when they sell, pay HHFDC a prorated share of the unit’s appreciation….

read … Hawaii lawmakers to confront housing affordability, tourism volatility in 2026 | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Obamacare Fail: Without Subsidy, Prices going up for 23,000 in Hawaii

CB: … The state’s Prepaid Health Care Act ensures that most employees working more than 20 hours a week receive employer-provided insurance. But it leaves gaps — for farmers, gig workers, small business owners, rural residents, and anyone whose income doesn’t fit neatly into payroll systems.

Roughly 23,000 Hawaiʻi residents rely on the federal ACA marketplace. More than 80% receive enhanced subsidies that cap premiums at 8.5% of income. Without them, state officials project premium increases of 20% to 30% for 2026 plans, with some families facing several hundred dollars more each month.

State estimates indicate roughly 3,000 residents could drop coverage, with about 1,000 becoming uninsured altogether….

read … Will Bailey: Congress Let The ACA Subsidy Cliff Arrive. Families Will Feel It First - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii’s traffic fatalities in 2025 skyrocket to 17-year high

SA: … As of Saturday, a total of 128 traffic deaths had been counted statewide, according to preliminary statistics from the Hawaii Department of Transportation, up from 97 at the same time last year, which is more than a 30% increase.

It’s the highest number since 2007, when 138 fatalities were counted. The 2025 total so far is also above the annual average, which is about 100 fatalities, based on DOT records over the past decade….

read … Hawaii’s traffic fatalities in 2025 skyrocket to 17-year high | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Zoom-Bombing Becomes a Thing for Hawaiʻi Boards

CB: … According to a public records request from the Public First Law Center, dozens of boards and commissions have reached out to OIP this year. They include the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Oʻahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Executive Office on Early Learning, the Island Burial Council and the Commission on Water Resource Management.

The pattern is invariably the same and often repeated.

“We at the Hawaii Island Game Management Advisory Commission have had 2 instances of outrageous Zoom hacks (race crimes and porn) by people that were let into the Hawaii County Zoom meeting,” district commissioner Robert Duerr told OIP in September. “The hacks were so bad that the County is considering stopping virtual meetings.” …

Earlier this month, OIP posted a press release linking to “A Step-by-Step Guide to Secured Zoom Meetings (Zoom-Bombers Beware!)” It was compiled from the state’s Enterprise Technology Services, which has also updated a similar guide for meetings hosts using Microsoft Teams.

read … The Sunshine Blog: Zoom-Bombing Zealots Bombard Hawaiʻi Boards - Honolulu Civil Beat

A Voters Guide To The 2026 Legislative Session And Beyond

CB: … Let lawmakers know even before they convene that your support at the ballot box hinges on what they do starting next month….

read … A Voters Guide To The 2026 Legislative Session And Beyond - Honolulu Civil Beat

QUICK HITS: