February 18, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Wednesday, February 18, 2026

February 18, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:07 PM :: 146 Views

Hawaii’s “Paper Bag” Corruption Case - Keli’i Akina interviews Alexander Silvert

Birds of a Feather: Who is Rallying to Support Luke?

Applicants Wanted for State Ethics, Campaign Spending Commissions

Look at the Defensive Gun Uses that Hawaii Wants to Criminalize

Throw Good Billions After Bad: Council to consider approving Skyline planning to Manoa, Ko Olina

SA: … The Honolulu City Council today is set to consider the final approval of a measure calling for plans and feasibility studies for future city rail routes to University of Hawaii at Manoa and toward Ko Olina resort in West Oahu.

If adopted, Bill 60 would authorize the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation to conduct preliminary engineering for the rail line to possibly branch for another 3.2 miles beyond its current terminus in Kakaako, to a spot near UH’s 2500 Campus Road address, as well as to locations near the Leeward Coast…

O’Keefe also noted HART issued a change order in October to have its Segment 3 contractor, Tutor Perini, conduct $53.2 million in additional design work that’s meant to extend Skyline to Ala Moana Center.

The scope of Tutor Perini’s work — dubbed the “Priced Option 1,” to be paid outside of the project’s prime funding document, the Amended Full Funding Grant Agreement granted by the Federal Transit Administration in February 2024 — includes development and design of the guideway alignment, guideway structure and a station at Kakaako, near Ward Avenue, and one at Ala Moana Center.

During public testimony at the Feb. 4 meeting, representatives of the building industry testified in favor of planning for more rail extensions.

The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, the federally designated group responsible for carrying out a multimodal transportation planning process on the island, also backed Bill 60.

Today’s City Council meeting begins at 10 a.m. at 530 S. King St….

Bill 60: Text, Status

read … Council to consider approving Skyline planning to UH Manoa | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

What’s the trick? Stadium District ‘Master Developer Agreement’ Reached

KHON: … And there’s news that the stadium will now be bigger than previously mentioned.

As the blessing was underway for the stadium’s temporary offices, developer Stanford Carr had big news.

“I’m happy and very pleased to say that this morning from 7:30 to about 9 a.m., we, in principle, completed our negotiations for the master development agreement for this community,” said Stanford Carr, Aloha Halawa District Partners….

The stadium will now have 31,000 seats, up from 22,000. And it’ll be individual seats instead of benches. There’ll be at least 28 luxury boxes – up from about 10. And an 11,000 square foot clubhouse for press conferences and other events.

(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Where is the money for all this coming from?)

There’s also potentially 4,500 housing units, mixed-use retail, and two hotels. All that is pending approval by the Stadium Authority next month.

(CLUE: There is a trick. Something they aren’t talking about.)

“We will be moving in a timely manner towards the stadium build in March of 2029,” said Yadao….

Even though this is the first time we’re seeing the outside of the stadium being demolished, the inside has been worked on for about three months now. So demolition and deconstruction are scheduled to be done this fall….

SA: The master developer agreement leaves just one contract, unrelated to the stadium itself, to be completed. Two previously signed contracts are for razing the old stadium and constructing the new one….The $350 million went to AHDP for starter money for the stadium; the group will need to find or generate other funding for the rest of the NASED project…Officials expect demolition to be done by the end of the year. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2027, according to the current timeline.

SN: NASED and AHDP still want to lure professional soccer and rugby to the new venue

KITV: Demolition begins at Aloha Stadium | Local | kitv.com

read … Exterior demolition of Aloha Stadium starts

Living space on Oahu at a premium as Army surges troops to Hawaii

SAS: … Judging by its jam-packed parking lot, the post exchange on Fort Shafter in Hawaii appears to be doing bang-up trade. On any given weekday morning, every parking spot is filled, with other vehicles wedged pell-mell onto curbs and in lanes. Inside the exchange, however, customers are typically few.

The phantom vehicles belong to soldiers assigned to units adjacent to the exchange that have surged in personnel in recent months and now have no parking space to accommodate them. “Parking has become a nightmare at Fort Shafter,” Col. Rachel Sullivan, commander of Army Garrison Hawaii, said Feb. 11 at her headquarters at Wheeler Army Airfield.

But surge-related parking woes are a small annoyance compared to the strain on barracks on Oahu, where soldiers are now doubling up in rooms and on-post family housing that has reached almost 100% occupancy.

The incoming troops represent the military’s long-promised “pivot to the Pacific” and the result of the Army’s updated manning structure for 2027 to 2031, Sullivan said….

Affordable housing in the state is Hawaii Gov. Josh Green’s top concern. He and the congressional delegation have been urging military branches on Oahu to house more of their personnel on post.

“We are very cognizant of the fact that every single Army family that is taking their [basic allowance for housing] off post is competing for that same affordable housing that every other family here in Hawaii is trying to occupy,” Sullivan said....

Jan 13, 2026: Top DoD Officials Evaluate Oahu Military Housing

read … Living space on Oahu at a premium as Army surges troops to Hawaii | Stars and Stripes

Hawaiʻi Long-Term Care Impoverishes Families

CB: … The plight of Hawaiʻi families trying in vain to cope with unsustainable costs and the financial and physical toll of caregiving is almost unimaginable:

Skilled nursing home care now exceeds $230,000 annually and comparable skilled care at home can be even more.

Hawaiʻi’s total annual long-term care service bill now exceeds $3.2 billion; $2.3 Billion of that borne by more than 160,000 unpaid caregivers.

More than 50% of Hawaiʻi families earning between $25,000 and $125,000 annually have no practical means of paying for or protecting themselves against catastrophic long-term care services expenses — except to become impoverished and qualify for Medicaid….

read … Hawaiʻi Was Once A National Leader In Long-Term Care Financing - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaiʻi County Inspectors Missed Illegal Rentals In Factory That Burned

CB: … Herscock, a former emergency medical technician and firefighter who lived in the converted factory from December 2020 until the day of the fire, said that some of the residents had addiction and mental health issues.

When Yoza owned the building, conditions were rough, he said.

“Allan had extension cords running up the hallway so that people could get power to their apartment,” he said. …

After the fire, Hawaiʻi County Fire Chief Kazuo Todd told Civil Beat that the building had not gotten a fire inspection, which would only be triggered by a complaint or as part of the plan approval when it was converted to housing. Todd died unexpectedly of natural causes a few days later, on Dec. 14.

Hawaiʻi Mayor Kimo Alameda said the fire raised questions about whether other unsafe buildings had been illegally converted to housing.

County planning director Jeff Darrow said in a written statement that “changing the use from a poi factory to residential dwellings would likely have required the owner to have submitted for a Plan Approval through the Planning Department, which was not done in this case.” …

read … Hawaiʻi County Inspectors Missed Illegal Rentals In Factory That Burned - Honolulu Civil Beat

Two gambling bills on the move in House

ASD: … The more complex of the two measures is House Bill 2570, which would add a new chapter to the state’s gambling statutes specifically targeting sports wagering.

Under the new chapter, sports betting would only be legal in Hawai‘i if done through licensed sports betting operators. Such licenses would require a $500,000 fee and would need to be renewed every five years, which would require an additional $500,000 renewal fee.

Licensed sports betting operators would also be taxed at a new rate, with the state collecting 15% of the year’s gross wagering receipts.

The bill has received pushback from anti-gambling advocates, who warned that providing further legitimacy to sports betting will worsen addiction and financial insecurity among the state’s most vulnerable….

House Bill 2198 would redefine the state’s definition of “gambling” to include sports betting and other practices.

The measure itself is brief, but explicitly includes under the state’s gambling definition any financial speculation based on a variety of future events. While this new definition includes bets on sporting contests, it also accounts for the existence of prediction markets — essentially, markets where people can gamble on real-world events — by including bets on politics, catastrophe or “mass casualty events.” …

read … Anti-gambling advocates split 50/50 on proposed betting regulations

After 40 Years, State-city dispute over Kapolei roads being settled for $60M

SA: … A decades-old turf war between the state and city over roads in the 4,025-home Villages of Kapolei community is being resolved under a $60 million pact.

Board members of a state agency whose predecessor developed the master-planned community nearly 40 years ago voted last week to pay the city to assume responsibility for Villages of Kapolei roadways that have long been the subject of complaints by residents and a financial drain on the agency.

Under a memorandum of agreement with the city, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. will transfer more than 100 roads covering 24 miles throughout the 888-acre community to the city with the $60 million payment spread over 10 years to cover expenses for maintenance and upgrades….

read … State-city dispute over Kapolei roads being settled for $60M | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Sue Big Oil Shysters Salivate over Tump Emissions Rollback

SA: … President Donald Trump rescinded a key rule known as the “endangerment finding” that was foundational for fighting climate change, and while it is considered a massive setback in environmental policy, (those who pass for) legal experts (in Hawaii) said the move could strengthen the state’s arguments against the federal government and fossil fuel companies in its lawsuits.

(TRANSLATION: Shysters see this as the next billion dollar tobacco settlement so they are trying everything. It is like buying a lotto ticket.)

The state has two lawsuits in litigation on fossil fuels: one that it filed against Big Oil companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and others for deceptive marketing practices that affected climate harms and one the federal government filed against the state, in which the federal government argued the state cannot sue Big Oil because emissions are regulated federally under the Clean Air Act.

(CLUE: Almost all of these suits have been laughed out of court.)

A key legal argument Big Oil typically employs — and is pursuing in the state’s lawsuits — is that all emission-related climate change lawsuits should be litigated in federal court rather than state court systems because emissions regulation falls under federal jurisdiction.

But rescinding the endangerment finding “directly undercuts” that argument, Denise Antolini, a retired law professor at the University of Hawaii, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.…

(CLUE: Not really. Changing the regulation is not the same as eliminating all regulation. Duh.)

SA: Editorial: State must counter EPA rule rollback | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

SA: Still Pushing ‘Carbon Cashback’ Scam

read … Rollback could strengthen state’s position in lawsuits | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

‘Queer Day’ at Capitol

HNN: … Dozens of local nonprofits, health care providers, and advocacy groups gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday for Queer Day.

The event, hosted and sponsored by the Hawaii State LGBTQ+ Commission, creates a space to share resources, services, and lived experiences for Hawaii’s queer community.

“The commission was built for this moment to stand up and tell our queer, our queer ohana, that we are here, they are loved, and they are part of this community, and we will advocate for their rights no matter what happens out of the federal government,” said Michael Golojuch Jr., vice chair of the Hawaii State LGBTQ+ Commission.

For the first time, two educational panels were featured in the Capitol Auditorium, offering an opportunity to engage with experts and advocates on pressing issues facing the mahu, LGBTQIA+, and QTPI+ communities….

The first Queer Day was hosted in 2025….

read … ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’: Hawaii’s queer ohana find support, solidarity at Capitol

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