January 9, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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January 9, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:13 PM :: 241 Views

Welfare: Hawaii Tightens Coordination between SNAP and WIC

Green Names Hawaiian Leader to BLNR

'Trauma Informed' Means 'Put Drug Addicts and Criminals in Charge'

2025: Grassroot Institute in the News

Report: How to build more farmworker housing

Gabbard is a joke: ‘Do Not Invite’

MSN: … The move to cut Gabbard out of the meetings was so well-known that some White House aides joked that the acronym of her title, DNI, stood for “Do Not Invite,” according to three of the people. They asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. A White House official denied there was any such joke.

As a Democratic congresswoman in 2019, Gabbard said the US needs to “stay out” of Venezuela, and as recently as last month she railed against “warmongers” pushing the US into conflict…

read … US spy chief Gabbard excluded from Maduro plan over past views

Antivaxxer Quacks Draw Republicans, Greenies on Kauai

TGI: … A Keep Vaccinations Optional meeting on Tuesday drew an overflow audience of about 300 people to the Lihue Neighborhood Center, according to resident Steve Yoder.

(REALITY: Trump is the father of the COVID-19 vaccine.)

“The attendees of the Keep Vaccinations Optional event were of diverse demographics and areas of the island,” Yoder said. “Perhaps a unifying characteristic of the attendees was a common theme of having personal experience with adverse reactions to immunization. The final speaker of the night, an investigative filmmaker, Mikki Willis, asked the crowd, ‘How many of you know someone who has either died or been injured by a vaccine?’ An estimated 80 percent of the audience raised their hands (and did not begin quacking loudly).”

(CLUE: If vaccines had an 80% death rate, we would have noticed the horse drawn cart drivers calling ‘bring out your dead’.)

read … ‘Keep Vaccines Optional’ draws a crowd - The Garden Island

Proposed HMSA, HPH partnership raises questions, concerns

KHON: … Others say the question isn’t whether it works for the organizations involved, but whether it works for Hawaii.

“What I’m seeing mostly from doctors is what I would call a sort of reserved skepticism. They’re not running around saying the sky is falling, but they’re worried,” said Malia Hill, Policy Director at Grassroots Institute of Hawaii. “They’re concerned about what this means for them. They’re concerned about what it means for their patients.” ….

At the federal level, insurer-provider consolidation has raised antitrust concerns nationwide.

“For me, the biggest question is, how do we make sure that we’re not reducing access to care, and we’re continuing to try to make it more affordable for people to be able to get health care where they live and receive it in their communities,” said Hawaii Congresswoman Jill Tokuda.

The proposal will still need state approval through a certificate of need process and likely undergo months of review by state and federal agencies.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii says while the partnership may benefit HMSA and HPH, that doesn’t automatically mean it lowers costs for residents, and that’s where the state can help.

“There’s so many things that drive healthcare costs. Insurance is part of the pie, but overregulation is another part of the pie. So we have to look at the things that are shutting down access and make it difficult,” said Hill.

Tokuda expects regulators will have many questions.

“Their biggest one is, how can you prove that this is, in fact, not a monopoly situation. How can you, in fact, prove that this will not hurt consumers by reducing access or increasing any kind of costs?” said Tokuda.

In response to the proposed HMSA-HPH partnership, Kaiser Permanente says it shares concerns raised by others in the health care community…

Information on the proposed partnership can be found on healtherhawaiitogether.com

Big Q: What do you think of HMSA and Hawa‘ii Pacific Health’s planned partnership? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

HPR: 5 things to know about HMSA and Hawaiʻi Pacific Health's proposed partnership

read … Proposed HMSA, HPH partnership raises questions, concerns

$150M: Totally Useless DoE Kitchen to Serve up Dela Cruz Pork

HNN: … The state’s plan to transform school lunch operations reaches a major milestone later this month.

On Jan. 29, construction begins on a $150 million regional kitchen project in Central Oahu’s Whitmore Village.

The kitchen is expected to open in June 2027 and, once fully operational, is designed to serve up to 60,000 meals a day to more than 80 public schools statewide.

However, officials say the rollout will begin on a smaller scale.

“The plan is to start with four or five schools in Leilehua Complex, and basically in that first year, add five schools,” explained Sean Tajima, assistant superintendent with the Hawaii State Department of Education’s Office of Campus Operations and Support. “So that’ll allow us to service all of Leilehua, Mililani, Waialua by the end of the first year.” …

read … $150M kitchen project aims to expand locally sourced school meals

DoE Facilities authority (again pretends to) move to speed classroom builds

SA: … As public agencies nationwide look to technology to streamline operations and rein in costs, the Hawaii School Facilities Authority is betting that software — not bricks and mortar — is the key to fixing one of the state’s most daunting infrastructure problems: aging, overcrowded public schools.

The School Facilities Authority, the state agency charged by lawmakers with modernizing school construction, has begun rolling out a digital planning tool called Akamai, a cloud-based configurator designed to automate much of the pre-design and planning work that traditionally takes months — or even years — to complete.

SFA officials say the tool could cut pre-planning timelines by as much as 60% and reduce construction costs by up to 15%, savings they argue are essential as Hawaii confronts billions of dollars in deferred maintenance, portable classrooms and demand for new schools in growing communities.

(CLUE: This is the DoE. It won’t work.)

read … Facilities authority moves to speed classroom builds | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Should Oʻahu Be Broken Into 4 Cities With 4 Mayors?

CB: … Anyone who has ever attended a stormy neighborhood board meeting will have noted a point at which the grumbling starts about how people in urban Oʻahu pull all the strings in the state, whether in the Legislature or at Honolulu Hale.

Elsewhere in America, each state is divided into a variety of jurisdictions — towns, villages, boroughs and cities — each allowing local residents a greater say in how they are governed. According to a recent study by the Federal Reserve, there are some 90,800 local governments in America.

Illinois, for example, has 6,930, Texas has 5,533, Ohio has 3,939, Delaware has 334 and Nevada has 187.

People in those places generally like having more self-government. They want the discretion to decide how much money to spend on schools, for example, or for their parks or police, or whether to permit a controversial construction project to go forward. It makes them feel empowered rather than having distant officials make the decisions for them.

They like having their own mayors, for example, who they believe are obligated to defend their interests instead of wider regional interests.

Hawaiʻi, however, has only 21 local governments, the lowest number in America. That’s because the state is divided into only five counties, with no separate lower municipal governments. There are two islandwide counties — Hawaiʻi island and Oʻahu, operating as Honolulu. Maui includes Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. Kauaʻi includes Niʻihau. There’s also a small county on Molokaʻi called Kalawao.

And even the 21 is a stretch. The Federal Reserve study included special land management districts, such as soil conservation, water and historic preservation entities, as adding to the state’s totals though they lack the power of actual municipal governments.

What that means is that places like Haleʻiwa or Kailua that seem like a town, and may even be known as Haleʻiwa Town or Kailua Town, are actually just neighborhood clusters operating under the rule of officials working downtown in Honolulu….

SA: City seeks rail oversight agreement in historic Chinatown | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Kirstin Downey: Should Oʻahu Be Broken Into 4 Cities With 4 Mayors? - Honolulu Civil Beat

City budgeting openness bill to become law without Blangiardi’s signature

SA: … Bill 65, which will become law without the mayor’s signature, requires quarterly as well as fiscal year-end reports over the transfer of funds within all city departments to be filed with the Council. That information would cover the preceding quarter, and each of the preceding 11 quarterly periods, the measure states….

But the mayor did sign into law a related measure, Bill 64, which requires the city to provide a report on unspent money tied to past budget cycles. The lapsed money report would be filed at the same time the city submits its latest budget proposal to the Council for scrutiny, the legislation indicates.

Introduced in September by Council Chair Tommy Waters, the dual measures will track how well the Council’s funding appropriations jibe with the city’s yearly budget process….

read … City budgeting openness bill to become law without Blangiardi’s signature | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Kauai Island of Retaliation: Judge Valenciano Retires

CB: … Randal Valenciano’s 18-year run as the chief judge of the 5th Circuit Court ended quietly this fall, leaving a vacant seat at the top of the Kaua‘i judiciary.

Valenciano retired on Sept. 30, almost two years before his term was slated to end in June 2027, a spokesperson for the Hawai‘i State Judiciary told Civil Beat.

His eventual replacement will have big shoes to fill. The soft-spoken judge has been a fixture of the Circuit Court and Kaua‘i politics broadly for more than three decades. Appointed chief judge in 2007, he has presided over many of Kaua‘i’s most high profile criminal trials and civil disputes.

…Valenciano’s retirement, however, came in the wake of a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, in which former employee Leanne Rosa accused the judge of conducting himself in a “sexually suggestive manner” during work hours and creating what the suit described as a “sexually hostile work environment.” This behavior included “sexualized hugs,” and telling Rosa that “he was in love with her,” according to the suit.

(CLUE: This is a trend on Kauai. It has been profitable for plaintiffs.)

Valenciano denied the claims in legal filings at the time. The suit was settled in late 2024, with state taxpayers left on the hook for a $90,000 payout to Rosa. The state Judiciary declined to comment on whether the settlement and Valenciano’s retirement were connected….

read … Valenciano's Early Retirement Creates Opening For Kaua‘i's Next Chief Judge - Honolulu Civil Beat

Kauaʻi Coffee Co. land lease set to end in March—landowners to take over company?

KN: … Kauaʻi Coffee has never owned the land it farms. It has leased it since the late 1980s, when former landowner Alexander & Baldwin transitioned the acreage from sugar to coffee. In 2011, the company’s operations were acquired by Massino Zanetti Beverage USA, a global coffee company that also owns Maxwell House and Hills Bros. and helped expand Kauaʻi Coffee into an internationally distributed brand.

In June 2022, A&B sold more than 18,000 acres on Kauaʻi to Colorado-based investment firm Brue Baukol Capital Partners for about $74 million, which includes the South Shore agricultural land where Kauai Coffee has its farm….

In August 2024, global commercial real estate firm CBRE listed “Kaua’i Coffee Lands” for sale. It said 4,713 acres was available, including nearly five miles of ocean-front and 695 acres designated by the West Kaua‘i Community Plan for urban development. It also said the property had “access to retain the Kauaʻi Coffee brand intellectual property rights as they run with the land.”

In a statement provided to Kauaʻi Now on Thursday, James Priestley, vice president of Brue Baukol Capital Partners said the company began discussions to renew Kauaʻi Coffee’s lease nearly two years ago and proposed terms consistent with the existing agreement….

“We have been engaging constructively and in good faith with Massimo Zanetti Beverage, and we remain focused on outcomes that serve the best interests of the community,” Priestley said.

“Looking ahead, we see opportunities to thoughtfully strengthen Kauaʻi Coffee’s operations, products and the experience for both employees and visitors. If a change in management is necessary, we foresee retaining existing team members, as we did with other company transitions on Kaua‘i.”

Brue Baukol Capital Partners has been invested in Kaua‘i since 2021, successfully acquiring and operating other Kaua‘i businesses, including McBryde Resources, Kukui‘ula Development, Kukui‘ula Realty and The Club at Kukui‘ula, Priestley said….

read … Kauaʻi Coffee Co. warns of 141 job losses with land lease set to end in March : Kauai Now

UH Engaged With Hackers Who Highjacked Cancer Study Data

CB: … Social Security numbers and other personal information from participants in a University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center study were exposed to computer hackers in August but four months later UH had yet to notify those affected that their data was stolen.

UH outlined the ransomware attack in a report to the Legislature in December, which appears to be later than required by state law and lacked required information.

UH officials declined an interview request and have refused to provide key information, including which cancer research project had been affected, how many participants’ Social Security numbers were exposed and whether — or how much — UH paid the hackers to regain access to Cancer Center research files….

read … UH Engaged With Hackers Who Highjacked Cancer Study Data - Honolulu Civil Beat

U.S. high court COULD hear case regarding 2010 raid of THC Ministry (but likely won’t)

HTH: … The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled a conference today in Washington, D.C., to consider surveillance and privacy issues surrounding the federal raid in 2010 of The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry — also known as the THC Ministry — which operated openly for years with a storefront banner in downtown Hilo.

Wesley Mark Sudbury, one of 14 people arrested in the operation — in which the feds were assisted by local law enforcement — and who was convicted in U.S. District Court in Honolulu of conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana plants, appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, claiming recordings of conversations made by a confidential informant without a warrant violated his right to privacy….

(CLUE: SCOTUS will quickly and easily decide not to hear this case. If you doubt, watch and see.)

read … U.S. high court could hear case regrading 2010 raid of THC Ministry - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

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