February 17, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

February 17, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:37 PM :: 288 Views

The Beginnings of Keawala’i Congregational Church

Two Anti-Gun Bills Scheduled for Committee Hearings

Clash of Hawaiʻi’s Healthcare Titans: Leaders Disagree on Best Path Forward

HBM: … “I feel that this is like the Trojan horse story,” Jason Chang, president and CEO of Queen’s, warned. “Sounds great, it’s a gift—but once it’s behind the doors, you don’t know what’s inside, and there’s a tremendous amount of risk.”

Chang was joined onstage by Mark Mugiishi, president and CEO of Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association (HMSA), Ray Vara Jr., president and CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH), and Vicky Hanes, COO of Hawaiʻi Island Community Health Center. The four executives debated the proposed integration of the state’s largest health insurer, HMSA, and major care provider HPH at Hawaii Business Magazine’s CEO Healthcare Summit on Feb. 12.

As regulators review the formation of a new nonprofit parent organization, to be called One Health Hawaii, Hawaii Business Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Ablan moderated the panel discussion by the state’s health executives, who sparred over whether the deal signifies a rescue of a failing system or a threat to competition.

The debate crystallized into two sharply divergent visions for the future. Mugiishi compared the promise of One Health Hawaii to Amazon’s operational efficiency: “A platform that integrates the consumer, the seller, and the supply chain… creating the best experience and the lowest prices. Imagine that experience in healthcare; that’s what we hope for our family and friends.”

Chang rejected the analogy as misplaced and flawed. While acknowledging Amazon’s success, he urged the audience to consider the collateral damage. “Look at what happened to all the local vendors and local retailers around Amazon,” he countered. He instead proposed healthcare leaders revisit “Plan B,” an alternative model that favors inclusion over integration. The solution to Hawaiʻi’s healthcare woes “can’t be isolationist,” Chang concluded. “You have to work with everybody. I’m proposing that Plan B is the better option.”

The discussion grew tense during an exchange between Vara and Chang, when Vara pointed out that a similar alternative had been on the table years ago—and that Queen’s opted out of it. Chang responded candidly: “That was my predecessor. And I would say that if we could really go back and do that again, that was the wrong move. We should not have walked away from that table.” However, that deal “still excluded everybody else in the community.” His remark drew attention to past missed opportunities, while underscoring how long the integration debate has been simmering….

read … EXCLUSIVE: Clash of Hawaiʻi’s Healthcare Titans: Leaders Disagree on Best Path Forward - Hawaii Business Magazine

New Mauna Kea Authority is Dictatorship of Self-Appointed Activists

CB: … major policy decisions that could affect the fate of the project — and that of astronomy on Mauna Kea — will have to be made in the coming months and years. Leases for the existing telescopes are set to expire in 2033….

(CLUE: Aprende espanol, la lengua de la ciencia.)

Running up to the summit of the mountain in 2014 dressed only in a red malo and a kapa sheet to stop the groundbreaking ceremony for the TMT “was the fun part,” Mangauil said….

The University of Hawaiʻi has managed the summit of Mauna Kea and the development of astronomy there since 1968, when the state awarded it a master lease covering more than 11,000 acres for $1. It later became a part-owner in observatories that were built there over the last 50 years, ensuring precious viewing time for UH’s own astronomers….

The 12-member authority taking over stewardship of the mountain includes representatives from the astronomy community as well as UH officials and leaders in the protest movement.

(TRANSLATION: Dictatorship of the activists.)

In addition to creating a new management plan, transferring leases and setting up a management structure to take over the role as landlord, the authority will also be responsible for overseeing observatories, managing rangers who monitor access and employing staff for the visitor center along with others who work at the UH Hilo campus.

(TRANSLATION: Slush fund creates positions for otherwise unemployable activists.)

During the transition period, the authority is working with the Center for Maunakea Stewardship at UH Hilo, which manages the day-to-day activities on Mauna Kea.

“The learning curve for them is extremely steep,” Greg Chun, the center’s executive director, said.

(TRANSLATION: They are activists. They only thing they have is the ability to impose their ‘NO.’ The mistake is giving them that ability. The solution is to take it away.)

It secured a $14 million budget from the Legislature to ramp up operations and is turning an old Bank of Hawaii branch in Hilo into its new offices. It has four staff members, including De Fries, but will eventually be responsible for more than 60 employees.

(TRANSLATION: Slush fund creates positions for otherwise unemployable activists.)

It’s pushing forward with a measure this session that clarifies the land and leases that will transfer to the authority in 2028. The bill requires UH to transfer operating permits to the observatories themselves to avoid a situation where the authority becomes both landlord and permittee, as is the case under the current arrangement with the observatories.

The bill also buys the authority some time to complete its administrative rules, which could take many months past the 2028 deadline….

(LOL. They will never get it done.)

In a letter to the authority in November, Gabe Lee, chair of the UH Board of Regents, and UH President Wendy Hensel said they were concerned with an apparent lack of progress by the authority to establish a stable governance structure. The uncertainty over who would manage the mountain and what would happen when observatory leases need to be renewed in 2033 could lead the observatories to divest from Hawaiʻi, they warned. They pointed to a canceled $500 million replacement project for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope that was discontinued over uncertainty involving the long-term leases.

(TRANSLATION: Astronomy is doomed. 2033 is the end.)

Komeji wrote back, saying the authority must also consider the environment, cultural preservation and “historical injustice,” in addition to astronomy. He cautioned against appearing to advance the interests of one sector.

(TRANSLATION: Astronomy is doomed. 2033 is the end.)

The worry that the authority could endanger the future of astronomy has hit the Legislature as well. Sen. Lorraine Inouye, a longtime critic of the authority, introduced a bill that would require an audit of the authority in 2031, three years after it takes over management. If the audit finds that the authority is unfit to continue, control would revert back to the university. …

(Nice idea but too little, too late.)

The UH Board of Regents will soon consider a policy change that could (not possibly) be a precursor to TMT construction (because TMT has abandoned Mauna Kea and is no longer making lease payments.) A group of regents has recommended that the university (pretend to) allow new facilities to be built on decommissioned telescope sites. The state law that created the authority also allows for reuse of sites, but the current practice is to restore the site when a telescope is removed.

The proposal comes several months after a letter from Gov. Josh Green and Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation (falsely) indicated that TMT would explore using a decommissioned site rather than break ground on an untouched portion of Mauna Kea.

(CLUE: They are lying. TMT is done with Hawaii. This is a weak attempt to see if the self-appointed activists can be led to accept re-use of vacant telescope sites by other telescopes. They are activists. They will find an excuse to not agree. Motto: “The ruthless criticism of everything existing.”)

The (pretend) policy change will need to go to the authority for approval, which doesn’t plan on making a quick decision. The process for approving the change could take at least eight months and would include a widespread community outreach effort alongside UH.

(TRANSLATION: The activists have been set up as dictators. Their ONLY power is the ability to say ‘NO’. We are asking the activists to obliterate themselves by giving up their one power. $$$ Why would they do that? $$$)

REALITY: Two Telescopes Stop Paying Rent on Mauna Kea and another cancels $500M upgrade-DeFries Doesn’t Notice

read …New Mauna Kea Authority Has Difficult Task Ahead — And Limited Time - Honolulu Civil Beat

Miske News: Evidence from ‘Previously Undisclosed Criminal Investigation’ coming soon

ILind: … A stipulated agreement between the parties in the asset forfeiture lawsuit states that prosecutors intend to use evidence collected in a previously undisclosed criminal investigation to bolster their legal claim to his properties….

CB: Mike Miske Case: Investigation Into Crime Syndicate May Not Be Over Yet

read … An update on Miske’s Millions | i L i n d

HB2493: Give So-Called ‘Exonerated’ Criminals $5,000 a month—no matter how many new crimes they commit

HNN: … House Bill 2493 received strong support during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Monday, with testimony from recently exonerated Hawaii men and advocates highlighting the challenges faced by those cleared of crimes they did not commit.

If passed, the bill would provide wrongfully convicted individuals with a case manager and gate money of up to $5,000 a month to assist with housing, medical care, job training, school and other expenses….

(CLUE: No matter how many new crimes they commit after being released.)

read … Hawaii bill aims to provide immediate assistance to wrongfully convicted

18 years later, Hawaii Supreme Court Finally Gets Around to Shutting Down Deadbeat Mortgage Scam

MP: … Hawaii's Supreme Court just shut down a borrower's attempt to sue foreclosure attorneys, reinforcing crucial protections for lenders and their counsel.

In a decision handed down February 12, the state's highest court sided entirely with Dentons US LLP and its client Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, ending what judges described as a sprawling legal campaign by a Maui borrower who stopped paying his mortgage back in 2008.

The story starts during the financial crisis. Michael Greenspon had originally borrowed $650,000 from IndyMac Bank in 2003 to buy property in Maui, later modifying the loan to $800,000. When IndyMac collapsed in 2008 and federal regulators stepped in, Greenspon stopped making payments. He never made another one. …

What followed was a nonjudicial foreclosure in 2010 that transferred the property to Deutsche Bank. But Greenspon challenged the foreclosure's validity in court, and in 2016 an appeals court (foolishly) agreed there were enough questions about the process to send the case back for another look.

(CLUE: The ICA’s artificial problem is the core of this entire mess.)

Here's where things took a turn. In 2018, Deutsche Bank brought in Dentons to clean up the mess. The law firm filed a counterclaim asking the court to undo the nonjudicial foreclosure and do it right this time through a judicial foreclosure. They noted that Greenspon had been living in the property for a decade without paying a dime. Dentons filed the usual paperwork, including a notice of pending action and lien transfer documents.

(TRANSLATION: Very lucrative 8 yrs for lawyers.)

Greenspon responded by suing not just the bank, but the lawyers themselves. His 58-page complaint threw everything at the wall: fraud, deceptive practices, wrongful foreclosure, emotional distress. He claimed the attorneys had perpetrated a fraud on the court itself through their filings.

The trial court dismissed every claim and went further, declaring Greenspon a vexatious litigant. The evidence was hard to ignore. Greenspon had filed more than a dozen lawsuits across Hawaii, Florida, and Delaware over the same foreclosure. Court records showed he routinely ignored discovery deadlines, violated court orders, arrived late to depositions, and sent threatening emails to opposing counsel about property inspections. …

read … Hawaii Supreme Court crushes borrower's lawsuit against Deutsche Bank foreclosure attorneys | Mortgage Professional

Hawaii’s New Visitor Tax Sends First Millions To Save Oceanfront Hotel

BH: … the first round of spending tied to that tax increase is out, and nearly one-third of the initial $42.2 million allocation is headed to Waikiki and Ala Moana. The projects are being labeled under the Green Fee umbrella, but the funding for this first round is coming from general state borrowing rather than directly from the new tax collections.

The largest single project is $7 million for groin stabilization and sand nourishment along the Halekulani Hotel front, and the second-largest is $6.8 million for beach nourishment at Ala Moana. Together, that’s $14 million directed toward two Honolulu shorelines that already receive regular maintenance and are the highest political priority….

read … Hawaii’s New Visitor Tax Sends First Millions To Just One Beach

Kamaaina Homes Program already getting bogged down by micromanagement

PBN: … The proposed program would prioritize certain workers facing labor shortages when purchasing deed-restricted homes, though the Hawaii Association of Realtors has raised concerns about one key aspect of the restrictions….

(CLUE: Too many details kill this concept. The deed restriction needs to be very simple such as: “Sell only to people who have lived in Hawaii for a total of 10 years or more.”)

read … Kamaaina Homes Program aims to curb Hawaii outmigration crisis - Pacific Business News

Gays Claim Kamehameha III was Bisexual

GCN: … The lore of a Hawaiian king and his lover — an important historic figure in his own right — was almost lost to time. Present-day researchers and artists in Hawai‘i are intent on breathing new life into their story.

The 19th century relationship between King Kamehameha III and Kaomi Moe was largely forgotten across the islands until that chapter of the past was revived in recent decades ~~through academia and art~~ (by gay activists).

(Gay activist) Dean Hamer, a researcher and filmmaker in Haleʻiwa, O‘ahu, first ‘learned’ of Kaomi in the 1990s when American society was debating the legalization of same-sex marriage….

read … Kamehameha III: Reviving the forgotten story of a Hawaiian king and his lover

Fiji: The island paradise with the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemic

T: … Fiji’s spiraling health crisis is linked to an explosion in methamphetamine that threatens to turn the Pacific into a ‘semi-narco region’…

FLASHBACK: Mehau in Majuro – How the US Meth Epidemic Began

read … The island paradise with the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemic

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