March 24, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

March 24, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:42 PM :: 143 Views

Rate Hike Coming: PUC Approves Dirty Expensive System for Waiau HECO Plant

One condo, hundreds of homes: UHERO study reveals housing ripple effect

Waialua flooding caused by local rainfall, not dam release

FB: … The Waialua flooding was predominately caused by very heavy rain in the area and on Mount Kaala rather than by Lake Wilson discharge.

Shortly before midnight, the amount of water flowing below the dam was 305 cubic meters per second. The amount of water rushing past Otake Camp was 11,100 cubic meters per second. In other words, most of the water was not coming from the lake.

The Lake Wilson dam captures hundreds of millions of gallons during storm events and releases the water over the spillway whenever the reservoir level exceeds 80 feet. Yes, there was a lot of water flushing down Kaukonahua Stream when the lake level rose to 85’, but the spillway release is the safety valve that maintains dam integrity.

The official pronouncements of failure, or imminent failure, were quickly retracted. I have not seen one official statement that the dam was actually compromised….

KHON: Officials acknowledge mixed messages on Wahiawa Dam risk

read … (6) Gil Riviere - The Waialua flooding was predominately caused by... | Facebook

Soma News: Hawaii House Panel Advances Bill To Create Psychedelics Task Force That Has Already Passed Senate

MM: … A Hawaii House committee has approved a Senate-passed bill that would create a psychedelics task force responsible for studying and making political recommendations on how to legalize and mainstream psychedelics to keep the people drugged up on shrooms so they won’t notice what is being done to them ….

read … Hawaii House Panel Advances Bill To Create Psychedelics Task Force That Has Already Passed Senate - Marijuana Moment

SB1611 Revives Scam to Allow Eco-Lawyers to Score Big Payoff by Suing Oil And Gas Companies for Whatever they deem to be a ‘Climate’ Disaster

CB: … Hawaiʻi lawmakers have revived a bill that would empower property insurers to collect payments from oil and gas companies to help cover the costs of cleaning up after major storms fueled by ~~climate change~~ (bad weather).

(CLUE: The flooding damage is caused by insufficient preparation for heavy rains, not by ‘climate change.’ We need to clear flood channels of vegetation and junk and build retention basins up mauka.)

The renewed legislative effort comes as residents on Oʻahu’s North Shore, Mānoa, Kāneʻohe and other parts of Hawaiʻi are digging out from catastrophic flooding this week after back-to-back Kona lows drenched the state.

(CLUE: Kona storms are cold-weather phenomenon. So they can only be construed as proof of global cooling. Therefore they must be caused by anti-warming activism. Therefore we should sue big eco, not big oil. I will use AI to fill in the blanks on the lawsuit but still take my customary 33% contingency fee. Cold weather makes my palms itchy.)

Those local efforts have already gotten the attention of the national oil and gas lobby, which worked several weeks ago to help kill a similar bill in the state Senate that would have empowered the Attorney General, rather than insurers, to pursue damages linked to specific events.

The end goal remains the same — to have (Sher-Edling eco-shysters extract megabux from) the oil and gas companies ~~whose~~ (by claiming their) emissions contribute to climate change (so the public must) ultimately bear the costs of such disasters (by paying at the pump) instead of (paying as) ratepayers.

“Given the ~~climate disasters~~ (bad weather) happening right now, we wanted some sort of vehicle moving to address those,” said Kāneʻohe Rep. Scot Matayoshi. “It’s worth a $hot.” The Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, which he chairs, passed the revived (from 2025 session) legislation, Senate Bill 1611, last week….

read … Should Oil And Gas Companies Pay To Clean Up Hawaiʻi's Flood Damage? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii bill replaces cruise ship tax with $10 port fee

PBN: … State lawmakers are advancing a bill that would change how Hawaii collects revenue from cruise ships by replacing the transient accommodations tax on cruise fares that was to take effect at the beginning of this year with a proposed $10 per‑passenger harbor fee.

Senate Bill 2698 cleared a key procedural vote in the House last week and is scheduled for a hearing before the House Transportation and Utilities Committee on Tuesday.

It repeals the section a new law, passed last year, that imposed Hawaii’s 11% transient accommodations tax, which is primarily applied to hotels and short‑term rentals, on cruise ship cabins and fares starting on Jan. 1 under the state's "green fee." The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the implementation of the law as it applies to cruise ships on Dec. 31….

read … Hawaii bill replaces cruise ship tax with $10 port fee - Pacific Business News

Homeowners, renters face limited flood-insurance options

SA: … Homeowners and renters who did not purchase specific flood insurance before back-to-back Kona-low storms battered the islands likely will have to absorb any financial losses to their homes and property, according to the head of Hawaii’s insurance division.

Traditional homeowners’ and renters’ insurance policies that are not accompanied by separate flood insurance would not cover claims for damage or destruction caused by floodwaters that came “from the ground up,” said Sam Thomsen, investigations branch chief for the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs….

read … Homeowners, renters face limited flood-insurance options | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawai‘i Farmers Confront $11M In Flood Damage Without A Safety Net

CB: … Plagued by three storms in fewer than 30 days, Hawaiʻi farmers now find themselves figuring out how reviving their crops will pencil out, without insurance.

Just 3% have federal crop insurance. Many don’t have any insurance at all. And already they have reported more than $10.5 million in damage across the North Shore of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi and the Big Island, with some losing everything from crops and livestock to barns and homes in the destructive winds and severe flooding. …

read … Hawai‘i Farmers Confront $11M In Flood Damage Without A Safety Net - Honolulu Civil Beat

Usual Suspects Rant and Rave at military land-lease event in Waikiki, as usual

SA: … During the opening-panel discussion, which initially was not slated to have a question-and-answer portion — planners had hoped the talks would take place in a series of meet and greets and more in-depth discussions about specific military land leases in West Oahu, Hawaii island, Maui and Kauai. Healani Sonoda-Pale of the group Ka Lahui Hawai‘i quickly interjected from the audience, telling military officials “we’ve already had discussions.”

“The people already spoken, thousands of Hawaiians, thousands of community members. So when you keep saying we want to hear from you, we already had the hearings and said our piece,” she said. “I feel very, very insulted when you say we want to hear from you. We already spoke. I don’t know how many times we have to show up.”…

(TRANSLATION: “Usual Suspects Rant and Rave at military land-lease event in Waikiki, as usual.”)

read … Emotions run high at military land-lease event in Waikiki | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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