January 14, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

January 14, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:13 PM :: 203 Views

Senator Fevella Silent on $35K Bribe

HMSA-HPH eye $2B pot ‘o gold with new partnership

SA: … Vara said he expects savings to amount to more than $2 billion over 10 years that could be reinvested into the community, including lower insurance rate increases, specialized care and workforce development….

(TRANSLATION: Insurance costs will continue to rise.)

… numerous players in the health care market opposed the partnership.

Jason Chang, president and CEO of The Queen’s Health Systems, said there are some “very real, dangerous, unintended consequences from such a major realignment of health care in Hawaii.”

He warned that “if the commercials sound too good to be true, I urge you to believe that they are too good to be true.”

Participation in an open model under One Health Hawaii for Queen’s means playing by new rules, which would result in reducing its own revenue and limiting its own services.

“And financially, it benefits One Health Hawaii, not any of the others that participate,” he said.

“Keep in mind that HPH does not provide services like behavioral health care, transplants, trauma, advanced stroke, some of the very advanced cancer care, but what they can do is shift to healthier patients, patients that don’t cost HMSA as much money,” he said. “And if I take care of the healthier patients, of course, my cost would be lower, and I look like the lower-cost provider, too. But that’s not comprehensive care. That’s not investing in the services that the state needs.”

Paul Kaiser, president of Hawaii Western Management Group, speaking on behalf of HMAA, said it also opposed the partnership.

He said based on history, economic principles and public financial disclosures, the transaction “presents a substantial and foreseeable risk of increased health care costs with the clearest, direct financial beneficiaries being senior executors and government insiders — not patients or purchasers of health care.”

The partnership removes a critical safeguard, he said, which is the separation between a dominant insurer and dominant provider that “preserves arm-length negotiations and competing incentives.”

Chang warned that down the line, should One Health Hawaii be short of its goals, its business decisions could include reducing the number of Medicare patients covered.

“I highly encourage you to scrutinize this proposed merger,” he said. “Take time to uncover all of the facts. The urgency that you hear is artificial. There is no urgency. Stakes are really too great, and the risk of opening a Pandora’s box is that it can’t be undone.”….

HNN: Hawaii medical community challenges HMSA-Hawaii Pacific Health partnership

KHON: HMSA-HPH partnership under scrutiny at capitol

read … Hawaii lawmakers start looking into HMSA-HPH alliance plan | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Health Department signs 15-yr lease on flashy downtown offices--abandons headquarters to rot

SA: … The state Department of Health plans to abandon its headquarters where asbestos issues have made parts of the four-story building in Honolulu uninhabitable.

Relocating 549 employees and some services for the public is slated for later this year, and is expected to cost $3 million for the next fiscal year that begins July 1 to rent space in two downtown Honolulu office towers under a lease slated to run about 15 years.

DOH’s impending move follows at least two decades of ineffective work and inaction on initiatives to renovate or replace the building, Kinau Hale, which was built in 1961….

Two decades ago, there were plans to move department workers out of Kinau Hale and into another state building so the agency’s headquarters could be torn down and replaced by a new building along with a parking structure.

At that time, Kinau Hale was considered functionally obsolete. But the relocation and redevelopment project was subject to funding from the Legislature, and it wasn’t realized.

Building conditions since then have worsened….

It’s uncertain what will become of Kinau Hale after it is vacated, and when.

DAGS, which manages many state properties including Kinau Hale, said in a statement Tuesday that there is no redevelopment plan as of yet, and that the agency is engaging a consultant team to provide pre-planning services for the work.

Such pre-planning, DAGS said, is expected to evolve over the next 18 to 24 months….

(IDEA: Homeless meth addicts will take over abandoned building.)

read … Asbestos, safety concerns drive Hawaii’s Health Department from headquarters | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Act 203 Thwarted: DHS Can’t get paperwork done to allow 2 yr olds into preschool

CB: … Act 203, which went into effect Jan. 1, made 2-year-olds eligible for subsidies to help thousands of families cover preschool tuition. Previously, only 3- to 5-year-olds qualified for the state subsidies, run under the program Preschool Open Doors.

(IDEA: Change number ‘3’ to ‘2’ on paperwork.)

But in December, the Department of Human Services instructed families of 2-year-olds to hold off applying for the subsidies. The department hasn’t amended the administrative rules needed to implement the new eligibility requirements, so it won’t be able to distribute subsidies to 2-year-olds until later this year.

(IDEA: Change number ‘3’ to ‘2’ in administrative rules.)

“Please check back in early 2026 for updates on applying for 2-year-olds and for the 2026-2027 application timeline,” the department said in flyers distributed to families and preschool providers….

(IDEA: Change number ‘3’ to ‘2’ on website.)

DHS’ delay is understandable given the influx of federal policy changes and new reporting requirements the department has faced in recent months, said Malia Tsuchiya, early childhood policy and advocacy coordinator at Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network….

(IDEA: Blame Trump for DHS’ failure to change number ‘3’ to ‘2’.)

… despite the state’s growing investment in preschool access, DHS has struggled to spend all of the money lawmakers have set aside to help parents pay for preschool tuition. Last year, the state spent less than half of its $50 million budget for tuition subsidies ….

(IDEA: Don’t raise taxes since DHS bumbling is saving us so much money.)

read … Hawaiʻi Preschool Aid May Not Kick In This School Year After All - Honolulu Civil Beat

Maori geothermal leader shows Hawaii leaders how they tapped resource

HNN: ... Leaders at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Aotearoa’s (New Zealand) geothermal industry met with Governor Josh Green Friday to discuss the possibilities of expanding the geothermal industry in Hawaii.

The agency wants to explore potential sites statewide.

On a recent trip to Aotearoa, leaders from DHHL met with Tauhara North No.2 Trust, a Maori land trust that manages its own ancestral lands and geothermal reservoir.

During Friday’s meeting with Governor Green in Honolulu, Mana Newton, Tauhara North No. 2 Trust, group CEO, shared their spiritual connection with geothermal energy, how one tribe gained control of its resources, and the complicated history.

(CLUE: IDG/Waika is not involved with Tauhara North No 2.)

FLASHBACK: 'We Were Scammed:' NZ Lawsuits Expose fraudulent Hawaii Geothermal Developer > Hawaii Free Press

read … Maori geothermal leader shows Hawaii leaders how they tapped resource

Hawai`i State Energy Office Advances LNG Arguments

IM: … The report cited “Alternative Fuel, Repowering, and Energy Transition Study,” published by HSEO in January 2025

The report also cited “Economics of Accelerating Hawai‘i’s Energy Transition via LNG and other Alternative Fuels” published in August 2024, written for HSEO by Facts Global Energy. The cost analysis examined all costs for a 10-year LNG project with an initial operational date of 2030….

The report notes risks associated with the LNG transition: acceptance by HECO, by regulators, by federal, state and county agencies, completion of the environmental impact statement, and the implementation of aggressive project timelines.

The Hawaii environmental impact statement process needs to be completed, and all appeals resolved by the end of 2027. All regulatory approvals need to be completed in 2028.

“While streamlining the process is key to meeting overall milestones for the implementation of the energy transition, it would be tempered with the need to thoroughly evaluate environmental impacts and incorporate stakeholder and public concerns into both the permit process as well as the engineering design.

“To meet the projected operational timelines, the permit process, starting with preliminary engineering and baseline studies, would need to commence quickly to support the larger suite of permit processes and anticipated agency requirements.”

The aggressive timeline faces two hurdles. A Governor Executive Order requires all island but Oahu to be 100% powered by renewables by 2035. "Local activist opposition to new fossil fuels: NEPA/HEPA could push back timeline by five years.”…

read … Hawai`i State Energy Office Advances LNG Arguments | Ililani Media

School resource officer pilot program to launch at three Oahu high schools

HNN: … Starting this October, three Oahu public high schools will have dedicated police officers on campus as part of the state’s School Resource Officer pilot program for the island.

The pilot program will put school resource officers at Waianae, Kapolei and Kaimuki high schools.

Superintendent Keith Hayashi said the initiative was years in the making and involved close discussions with the Honolulu Police Department….

read … School resource officer pilot program to launch at three Oahu high schools

Maui police release footage in deadly officer-involved shooting

HNN: … Maui police have released the body-camera footage and new details about what led up to last week’s fatal officer-involved shooting.

In a press conference, the Maui Police Department played multiple videos with no audio.

Authorities said officers were handling an unrelated incident at around 730 p.m. last Thursday near Maa Street in Kahului when a terroristic threatening call came in regarding a man with a gun in his waistband in a nearby field.

Investigators said Kristopher Austin, 40, refused to comply with officers’ commands and started firing toward them, prompting officers to return fire….

MN: Video shows man shot by Maui police draw gun on officers | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News

read … Maui police release footage in deadly officer-involved shooting

2 police officers charged after alleged ‘unconstitutional search’

HNN: … Two Hawaii Island officers were charged Tuesday in connection with an “unconstitutional search” of an arrestee’s belongings.

Officers Noah Serrao and Blaine Kenolio were charged separately with multiple offenses by the Department of the Attorney General’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division (SIPD).

Serrao is charged with perjury, false swearing in official matters, and tampering with a government record. Kenolio is charged with tampering with physical evidence.

“The charges filed today reinforce the fundamental principle that the law applies equally to everyone,” said Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez. “This investigation reflects the need for accountability to maintain public trust, while also recognizing the dedication of the many officers who serve their communities with honor every day.”

SIPD investigates and prosecutes corruption, fraud, and economic crimes in Hawaii….

HTH: Hilo Patrol officers indicted, charged - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

BIN: Warrants issued for arrest of 2 Hawaiʻi Island police officers for perjury, evidence tampering : Big Island Now

KHON: Two Hawaii police officers criminally charged

read … 2 police officers charged after alleged ‘unconstitutional search’

Honolulu City Council advances bill to raise transit fares

SA: … A proposal to increase fares for riders of TheBus, TheHandi-Van and Skyline for the first time since 2022 is moving forward in the Honolulu City Council.

The Council’s Budget Committee voted Tuesday to adopt the latest draft of Bill 54 — legislation formally requested by the city Department of Transportation Services in 2025 — that calls for a new fare structure for the city’s public transit system.

As amended, Bill 54 will proceed to the full Council for a third and final reading. If adopted, the fare changes will take effect July 1.

As proposed, Bill 54 could increase the annual adult fare from $880 to $990; and the monthly adult fare would rise to $90, up from the current charge of $80 — a 12.5% increase for both.

Other fare changes would include charging $45 for a seven-day pass, up from the current $35 — a 28.5% difference; and $50 for the senior annual fare, up from $45, an 11% increase.

The city’s monthly youth fare for TheBus would climb $5, or 12.5%, to $45, the bill states. The annual youth pass is proposed at $495.

TheHandi-Van fares would go from $2.25 to $2.50 for a one-way ride — an 11% increase.

Single fares would remain at $3, but riders who pay cash would have to pay 25 cents more…

read … Honolulu City Council advances bill to raise transit fares | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Questions linger regarding workforce housing bill

HTH: …Riley Smith, president and CEO of Lanihau Properties, supported the measure, saying it would allow his company and others to develop workforce housing in Kona.

“I think what a lot of the large employers on our island are finding is that it’s very difficult to retain employees. And one of the difficulties is that a lot of our workforce travel long distances to be able to get to where their place of employment is,” Smith told council members. “… And what we find is there’s a lot of individuals that end up sleeping in their cars at night on Ane Keohokalole Highway because they can’t afford the effort that it takes to drive back to the east side of this island every day.”

Bill Moore, a Hilo-based planning consultant who testified with Smith, said that Hawaii Business Park, which is MCX-zoned on about 140 acres, has an affordable housing condition and is “one of the rare projects in Kona that has water.” He said it also has “a road network that interconnects with other areas on either side (and) close proximity” to the Kealakehe schools.

Josephine Keliipio of Kailua-Kona, who opposed the measure, encouraged Smith and Moore to attend Tuesday’s Kona Community Development Plan Action Committee Meeting “to further discuss this issue.”…

read … Questions linger regarding workforce housing bill - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Hawaii House in Court to support secret decision-making

TGI: … The facts seem unequivocal.

(Typical progressive BS. Key word: ‘seem.’)

1. The State Constitution, and the House’s own rules, state clearly that committee decision-making must be conducted in public.

2. The House formed a committee (to organize the House, which is an exception) whose meetings were secret and whose decisions were made privately.

The trial for Acasio v. House of Representatives is tentatively scheduled to start early this summer — AFTER the close of the legislative session, but prior to the primary elections.

(Acasio is a joke. This case is nothing.)

Will the House Speaker and four members of the Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedure deny that they met and made decisions in secret?...

read … HOOSER: The House fights to support secrecy - The Garden Island

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