July 16, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Thursday, July 16, 2026

July 16, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 8:35 AM :: 172 Views

Decades of policy choices make gas more expensive for Hawaii, West Coast States: Report

Report: 'Possible Loss of Life' Due to Tsunami Evacuation Confusion

Hawaii: 95% Child Care Desert

Judge stalls Turtle Bay resort redevelopment over outdated environmental reviews

Judge Gillmor closes Trump administration's case to stop Hawaii climate lawsuit

Oahu Man Pleads Guilty to Transferring Money to Iran in Violation of U.S. Sanctions

Rebuilding after Maui wildfires complicated by red tape

WaPo: … Nearly three years after wildfires engulfed Lahaina, Hawaii, rebuilding continues to move at a glacial pace. …

So far, only 220 houses have been rebuilt. More construction is underway, but vacant lots still haunt the once-vibrant town. Not a single business destroyed in the fires has been rebuilt, and just two commercial permits have been issued. Well-meaning state and county land-use, zoning, permitting and historic-preservation laws — passed over decades — have caused reconstruction to move at a crawl….

Read … Opinion | Rebuilding after Maui wildfires complicated by red tape - The Washington Post

Hawaiʻi Act 11: Why the corporate campaign spending ban can’t fix our politics

ASD: … There’s a curious mix of paternalism and optimism among these “good government” advocates. On one hand, they believe voters are foolish enough to be swayed by whoever spends the most on ads. On the other hand, they suggest these same voters will govern themselves well if only the megaphones of money are taken away. But the men who founded this country assumed something closer to the opposite.

The founders read ancient history, many of them in the original Greek and Latin. They took man’s bent toward self-interest as the starting fact of politics. They built restraints to match: separated powers, staggered terms, courts insulated from the crowd.

What they founded was not a democracy but a republic, with something of the old orders built in. ….

B: Campaign Finance Reform's New Odd Couple Is Hawaii and Montana - Bloomberg

Read … Hawaiʻi Act 11: Why the corporate campaign spending ban can’t fix our politics

White House weighs extending Jones Act waivers as Iran war continues

SA: … The White House is weighing another extension of Jones Act waivers allowing foreign ships to transport goods between U.S. ports as renewed conflict with Iran raises concerns about energy prices and supply disruptions, two sources familiar with the discussions said today….

Read … White House weighs extending Jones Act waivers as Iran war continues | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

OHA asks court to strike minority trustees’ filing in CEO lawsuit

HNN: … Trustee Keliʻi Akina, one of the four minority trustees, said the board’s actions warranted speaking out.

“There are some things that are potentially violations of law, abuse of power, things taking place condoned by the chair and the majority on the board that are bringing harm to individuals and to the beneficiaries and the people of OHA,” Akina said. “If we don’t speak out, we’d be violating our own fiduciary duty.”

Akina also said the minority trustees acted carefully in submitting the filing.

“We’ve taken pains not to violate the Sunshine Law,” Akina said. “I don’t necessarily know where other trustees stand until I see it in writing in court.”

Read … OHA asks court to strike minority trustees’ filing in CEO lawsuit | Hawaii News Now

With Four Open Seats, New Kaua‘i Council Candidates Are Raising The Most Campaign Cash

CB: … Two first-time candidates for Kaua‘i County Council are leading in campaign contributions ahead of the August primary when voters will decide the top 14 to advance to the November general election.

Todd Ozaki has pulled in $33,000 and Michelle Kaleiohi Correa raised $27,000, according to their most recent campaign finance reports that cover contributions received through June 30. Ozaki is an executive assistant in the mayor’s office, and Correa manages the Waimea Neighborhood Center. Correa is the daughter-in-law of former council member Maxine Correa, who served in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Their contributions are more than three times greater than council members Fern Ānuenue Holland and Arryl Kaneshiro and over 54 times more than council member Addison Bulosan — the only three incumbents in the race….

Altogether, the 26 Kaua‘i County Council candidates have raked in $108,000 so far this election.

Four seats are open this year as three council members run for mayor and a fourth terms out, leaving room for a shift in the council’s majority. …

When it comes to cash on hand, Kaneshiro, who served on the council from 2014 to 2022 and since 2024, has a whopping $81,500, followed by Ozaki’s $23,400 and Correa’s $12,460. Five candidates — Kaiminaauao, Mukai, Poai, Applegate and Rapozo — owe more than they had, according to their latest reports filed last week.

Ozaki, Correa, Holland, Applegate and Martin lead in total expenditures, with each spending upwards of $8,000 …

Read … New Kaua‘i Council Candidates Are Raising The Most Campaign Cash - Honolulu Civil Beat

Activist Groups Want Governor To Bring Hawaiʻi Troops Back From Washington, D.C.

CB: … A coalition of good government groups and pro-democracy advocacy organizations have called on Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green to recall his National Guard troops from Washington, D.C. after they were deployed to the nation’s capital earlier this month to provide support for the country’s 250th anniversary of independence celebration.

The coalition, which includes local groups such as Common Cause Hawaii and national organizations, including the Brennan Center for Justice, said in a letter they were “surprised and disappointed” in Green’s decision to add to the massive military presence already in the district as part of President Donald Trump’s declared crackdown on crime in the city….

Green is not the only Democratic governor facing pressure from outside groups for deploying troops to Washington. Last week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz decided to pull his troops early from the district after they were seen patrolling in neighborhoods far away from the festivities.

At this point, it is unclear whether the 27 troops from Hawaiʻi have been participating in neighborhood patrols. …

SA: Calls grow for Green to recall Hawaii National Guard from DC | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Governor Pressured To Bring Hawaiʻi Troops Back From Washington, D.C. - Honolulu Civil Beat

Activists posing as ‘The Community’ see FERC Process as Opportunity to Kill LNG

CB: … On Wednesday FERC announced two open houses on Oʻahu where the public can express views and concerns, at the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu’s Multi-Purpose Ballroom on Aug. 3 and the Neal Blaisdell Center’s Pīkake Ballroom on Aug. 5. FERC also is accepting public comments through an online comment system.

JERA, operating as Longboard LNG, is participating in the open houses. The company also has established a website with information on the open houses and project, and a telephone hotline, (808) 582-0299….

Read … Public Begins To Weigh In On Offshore LNG Proposal - Honolulu Civil Beat

‘Nobody Did Anything’: Flood Control Long Went Ignored On Oʻahu’s Westside

CB: … Māʻili residents were stuck after Pa’akea emergency evacuation road was inundated during Kona lows….

HDOT: Paʻakea Road flood mitigation work to begin on Monday, July 6 | Department of Transportation

Read … ‘Nobody Did Anything’: Flood Control Long Went Ignored On Oʻahu’s Westside - Honolulu Civil Beat

Want To Plant A Community Garden in Honolulu? Get Ready To Wait A Decade

CB: … If you want to grow your own food on a 12-by-15-foot plot at Ala Wai Community Garden, get ready to wait about 25 years. The line now stands 294 people deep, according to City and County of Honolulu data, making it the longest waiting list for the island’s 10 community gardens.

For five others, it’s not much better, with a more than a decade-long wait, the data shows. Demand for community garden space on Oʻahu appears to be as high as ever. More than 1,200 gardening plots are filled by paying hobbyists wanting to put their green thumbs to work, socialize and subsidize their monthly grocery bills.

The county is ‘edging’ closer to opening a new community garden at Asing Community Park in ʻEwa Beach, a first for Oʻahu’s Westside. But for most of the others, the plots are hard to come by….

(CLUES: It isn’t that difficult to measure plots out and assign them. And there is plenty of space.)

Read … Want To Plant A Community Garden in Honolulu? Get Ready To Wait A Decade - Honolulu Civil Beat

Maui: Alleged Child Molester Finally Catches a FEDERAL Case

SA: … A 46-year-old man from Argentina was sentenced to (a pathetic) five months in federal prison on a drug charge while the Maui Police Department continues to investigate his role in home invasions and reports of sexual incidents between 2017 and Oct. 12, 2025….

MPD detectives identified Zboron as a suspect during its investigation of a trio of incidents with “similar fact patterns spanning a number of years” and occurring at residences in Haiku, Maui, according to federal court records.

MPD told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a statement that the police probe into Zoboron is “currently still under investigation.” The Maui Department of the Prosecuting Attorney is also investigating Zboron’s alleged home invasions, according to federal court records.

On May 21, 2017, (NINE YEARS AGO) an incident was reported in which a woman reported seeing a man peeping through her window and masturbating while she was taking a shower. A responding MPD officer found Zboron outside a house next to the woman’s and arrested him for sexual assault in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor.

(But no prosecution after this arrest.)

On July 27, 2023, Zboron allegedly committed a home invasion and “entered a baby’s nursery in a private residence, and touched his penis/genital area while the baby slept in a crib, which was captured on video surveillance,” according to federal court records.

More than two years later, on Oct. 12, there was another home invasion incident in which a woman told police she was sleeping with only her son at home when she awoke to a “man lifting her blanket up and using a cellphone light near her legs.”

Zboron had worked as a handyman at the same residence.

Zboron and his ex-wife, were owners of Aloha Snorkel and Surf Co. LLC…

Read … Maui home invasion suspect sentenced in federal drug case | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Fake DUIs: Ex-officer seeks taxpayer-funded defense in DUI class-action suit

HNN: … Former Honolulu police sergeant Darren Cachola is asking taxpayers to fund his legal defense as he faces a civil rights class-action lawsuit stemming from DUI arrests made without evidence…

Cachola was the ranking officer at a roadblock in the Waipio area in 2023 when Ammon Fepuleai was stopped.

An officer is heard on body camera video saying he detected the odor of alcohol on Fepuleai, but a breath test at the scene returned a result of 0.00 — no alcohol was present in his system. Fepuleai was arrested anyway for DUI….

Read … Ex-officer seeks taxpayer-funded defense in DUI class-action suit | Hawaii News Now

Hawaii Health Department's enforcement of hemp retailers is helping compliance

KITV: … "Twenty to 30 businesses closed down and a majority of them have stopped selling these products completely," he said….

Read … Hawaii Health Department's enforcement of hemp retailers is helping compliance | News | kitv.com

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