June 15, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Monday, June 15, 2026

June 15, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 9:13 AM :: 164 Views

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How they Voted June 12, 2026

Maui Cost of Government Commission Calls for Reform of County Boards and Commissions

Circus producer sues city – Conspiracy to Aide Ticket Scalpers?

SA: … Filed in 1st Circuit Court in January, the lawsuit alleges the city required Showmakers Inc., a Honolulu- based producer of a circus featuring acrobats and motorcycle stunts rather than animal acts, to sell tickets exclusively through Ticketmaster LLC as a condition of using the city-owned venue at 777 Ward Ave.

(CLUE: City employees cut off online ticket sales to help scalpers.)

The complaint also names city Department of Enterprise Services Director Dita Holifield, and other unnamed city officials, as defendants….

(CLUE: DPP did it for malasadas. DES does it for scalpers.)

Still, the city’s requirement to exclusively use Ticketmaster cost the circus promoter more than $1 million in lost ticket sales, according to plaintiff’s attorney Eric Seitz.

“The ticket sales were handled in a disastrous manner,” Seitz said. “The city required my client to market all of the tickets through Ticketmaster because that’s the city’s designated contractor.” …

Showmakers also claims one or more city employees improperly configured the event within the system, resulting in inaccurate information being displayed to potential customers.

DES Director Holifield, the lawsuit asserts, was aware of the ticketing problems affecting the circus, but failed to take corrective action.

(It goes to the top.)

“On January 27, 2025, DES personnel confirmed in writing that ticket sales for the Honolulu performances would begin that day and provided direct links for each scheduled performance on Ticketmaster, the city-designated ticketing system,” the complaint states.

“As part of this process, DES required execution of a Box Office Service Request Form, and retained control over the event-level ticketing configuration and setup, including pricing, discounts, availability and on-sale parameters for the engagement.”

On Feb. 27, 2025, the lawsuit states, “plaintiff’s personnel notified the DES Blaisdell Box Office via email that customers were reporting problems with ticket availability on Ticketmaster, including the apparent absence of advertised ticket options.

(Just in time to help the scalpers.)

“DES responded via email that the discounts were ‘on Ticketmaster’ and instructed customers to click specific seating areas to locate them, reflecting DES’s continued control over the ticketing configuration,” the lawsuit alleges.

“On the evening of Feb. 28, 2025, the opening night of the Honolulu engagement, plaintiff employee Vivien Von Son sent an urgent email to the DES Blaisdell Box Office reporting that when potential customers attempted to purchase tickets on Ticketmaster they were met with a message stating that the event had ‘already happened’ or that ‘ticket sales have stopped,’ despite the performance being scheduled for later that same evening,” the lawsuit states….

(City employees manipulate on-line system to aid scalpers.)

In January, Reuters reported Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, asked a federal judge to dismiss a September 2025 lawsuit filed by the FTC and seven states which alleges the companies gouged fans by enabling ticket resellers to bypass purchase limits and profit from inflated resale prices.

The FTC claims the companies knowingly allowed brokers to violate artist- imposed ticket limits, generating about $3.7 billion in resale fees between 2019 and 2024, Reuters reported….

(TRANSLATION: Online scalpers profit Ticketmaster.)

PDF: COMPLAINT

Read … Circus producer sues city over alleged ticketing failures, lost sales | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

There's One Big Flaw With The AG's Track Record On Medicaid Fraud

CB: … Look at the $14 million in settlements our fraud unit has secured, Attorney General Anne Lopez said in mid-May when Vice President JD Vance called out the state’s record of zero Medicaid fraud convictions in four years. ….

…virtually all that settlement money — $13 million of it — came from one case that settled in 2023 but started more than a decade ago….

The single $13 million settlement involved Liberty Dialysis, a company that continued to submit Medicaid payment claims to the state even after it was told that earlier reimbursements had been made in error.

That case was initiated by the fraud unit in the 2010s. And in 2015, then-Attorney General Doug Chin sued the company for $7 million in overpaid billings between 2006 and 2010 plus damages and penalties….

The settlement with Liberty was finally reached three years ago, although not by the fraud unit, which has its own attorneys and authority to pursue settlements, but by the Attorney General’s civil recoveries division.

Even with that success, Bell wrote in his letter, Hawaiʻi’s total recoveries came to less than 1% of its Medicaid expenditures from 2022 to 2025.

A breakdown of settlements from 2021 and 2025 provided by the Attorney General’s Office also suggests the total amount recovered was actually closer to $13 million than the $14 million cited by Lopez. The other Hawaiʻi cases amount to $182,000 in recoveries. They involved:

A transportation provider that submitted claims for services not covered by Medicaid or that weren’t provided;
A psychologist who billed Medicaid for services delivered by therapists without proper credentials or licenses;
A midwife who submitted claims for goods and services that had already been billed

The fraud unit reached another settlement this February, of $208,000, with a doctor who submitted Medicaid claims for performing fetal ultrasounds without proper credentials….

In Hawaiʻi, Medicaid insures just under a third of the state’s 1.4 million residents. While it is run by the state’s Medquest agency, the federal government covers 70% of its $3.2 billion in annual costs….

Read … There's One Big Flaw With The AG's Track Record On Medicaid Fraud - Honolulu Civil Beat

Unions Divided on Lahaina Legislative Endorsements

CB: … Sne Patel, the longtime president of the LahainaTown Action Committee, is running to be the Democratic candidate for House District 14….Patel said he had years of experience working with people who disagree with each other, both in his role as the longtime president of the LahainaTown Action Committee and as a member of various community groups and commissions. On Thursday, he announced endorsements from four labor organizations: the Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association Local 630, Teamsters Local 996, SMART Local 293 and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 50….

Ashley Olson, a longtime teacher at Lahainaluna High School (is the HSTA Maui Chair, but doesn’t seem to be getting other unions to back her)…

two-term incumbent, Rep. Elle Cochran, (knew she couldn’t win the Dem primary so she) traded teams in March and is running as a Republican…

Paele Kiakona (son of 20-lbs-a-month meth dealer Moses Kiakona) is endorsed by Hawai‘i Government Employees Association and the Maui division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union…. (ILWU has always been mafia, so not surprising, HGEA probably thinks more meth heads = more job security for social workers)…

REALITY: Meet the Meth Gang Behind ‘Lahaina Strong’

Read … 3 Democrats Compete For West Maui House Seat In Primary - Honolulu Civil Beat

Its Magic! Convention Center Finds Way to Repair Leaks without any Legislative Appropriation

SA: … The Hawai‘i Convention Center is moving ahead with critical leak repairs during its two-year shutdown, but state lawmakers’ rejection of a $55 million funding request means many of the (make-work) upgrades needed to keep the venue ~~competitive~~ (leaky) will be pushed off for years.

The Legislature lifted spending restrictions so Hawai‘i Tourism Agency can use $21 million from the center’s own special enterprise fund to fix the transom glass roof — another major leak source. But the decision to deny the center’s broader capital improvement request will push roughly 19 planned upgrades into future years and likely leave the venue reopening in 2028 still short of (leakiness) needed (to produce future contracts) ….

Read … Hawai’i Convention Center forced to postpone dozens of projects | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Act 205 changes fundraising for Hawaii nonprofits

SA: … Thousands of Hawaii nonprofits may soon lose the ability to receive donations through GoFundMe unless they complete a new consent requirement mandated under state law.

Beginning July 1, Hawaii’s Act 205 will require online charitable fundraising platforms, including GoFundMe, to obtain written permission from nonprofits before allowing users to donate to them or create fundraisers on their behalf. The consent must come from an authorized representative of the organization, such as an officer, director, trustee or another individual with legal authority to act for the nonprofit.

GoFundMe officials say organizations that do not provide consent by the deadline will be removed from the platform until the requirement is fulfilled. That means supporters will no longer be able to search for the nonprofit, donate to it through GoFundMe or launch fundraisers benefiting the organization….

GoFundMe estimates that about 8,500 Hawaii- based nonprofit organizations could be affected.

The law is intended to ensure nonprofits explicitly authorize their presence on online fundraising platforms and to strengthen transparency in charitable giving. Lierman said those goals align with GoFundMe’s mission but acknowledged the new requirement could create unintended disruptions if organizations fail to act before the deadline.

“I think the intention of the bill really here is to protect organizations in terms of how they show up on online fundraising platforms, and to protect the donor experience,” she said. “It is true, and sort of an unfortunate consequence … that if the organization has not provided this additional consent, they will be removed from online charitable fundraising platforms like GoFundMe.” …

ACT205/SB2983 of 2024: Text, Status

Read … New law changes fundraising for Hawaii nonprofits | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

After Kona Lows, Thousands Applied For Aid. Help Can't Come Fast Enough

CB: … Over 3,500 residents had applied for FEMA assistance across Honolulu, Maui and Hawaiʻi counties as of June 11, according to FEMA external affairs officer Brady Penn. Housing assistance totaled $7.3 million, and assistance to cover other needs totaled $7.1 million. That number, Penn said, will rise as more people move through the process.

The Small Business Administration has approved 98 loans to homeowners and renters totaling more than $6.8 million as of June 8, according to public information officer Corey Williams. The agency has also approved 20 loans for businesses worth more than $883,000 and 17 economy injury loans for more than $955,000….

The deadline to apply for both FEMA and SBA funds was Sunday. …

Read … After Kona Lows, Thousands Applied For Aid. Help Can't Come Fast Enough - Honolulu Civil Beat

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