‘The Timing is Interesting’ -- How does Performance-Based Regulation affect HECO’s stance on LNG?

Solar: HECO Announces Plan to Pave Koolaus in Glass

Marijuana: Is the Honolulu Police Department ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court?

Helping Maui Rapist, Hawaii’s Top Court Unleashes ‘Unserious Screed’ Against Conservative-Majority Supreme Court

Cult News: Police charge Tulsi Gabbard’s brother in stranger danger incident in Waikiki

SA: … Honolulu police have arrested and charged a suspect in connection with a stranger danger incident at a Waikiki hotel pool area on Sunday.

Police said the suspect was positively identified today as 55-year-old Batarti Gabbard, who was arrested and charged him with second-degree custodial interference.

(CLUE:  Batarti is the oldest brother of Tulsi Gabbard.  See family photos. )

On Sunday, police opened an investigation after receiving a report of a stranger danger incident in at a Waikiki hotel. At about 2 p.m., an unknown man allegedly approached several children, including a 9-year-old boy, and offered them gum and money to accompany him to his hotel room, according to the Honolulu Police Department. HPD did not identify the hotel….

SA: Tulsi Gabbard’s brother charged in alleged Waikiki ‘stranger danger’ incident | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

KITV: Senator Mike Gabbard and Carol Gabbard released a statement regarding their son's recent arrest.

ECOURTKOKUA:  Batarti (Bhakti) Das Gabbard has drug and burglary convictions from 1992 and 1997.

2013: Son of Sen. Mike Gabbard arrested in Las Vegas Bhakti Gabbard, 42, was booked into the Las Vegas Detention Center on Wednesday for battery, a law enforcement official confirmed.  Websites that track arrest records also indicate that Gabbard has been arrested several times in Clark County, Nev., over the past several months on charges that include drug possession.

LI: Bhakti Gabbard

Read … Police charge suspect in stranger danger incident in Waikiki | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Green responds to Hawaiʻi National Guard recall demands

HPR: … GOV. JOSH GREEN: We humbly allowed 27 volunteers to go to D.C. to work on the America 250 project, not to be a part of immigration enforcement, not to be a part of the D.C. police operations, but just to be a part of celebrating this country. And they'll come back, I believe, sometime around Labor Day at the end of August when those celebrations are finished.

You know, I know that there were people that are worried about that. I just have to say this: our National Guard's been great dealing with our disasters here. They dealt with the storms, you know, the terrible rainfall. They dealt with the wildfire, and some of them have been deployed to Iran. … This was a one-off because you only have a 250th birthday one time, and so again, you know I think people love controversy and they love to suggest things that aren't really reality. We don't support with our values any of the immigration policing. That's not who I am. That's not who the state is, but we do support the country. …

SA: Officials give contradicting statements on Hawaii Guard in D.C. | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Green responds to Hawaiʻi National Guard recall demands | Hawai'i Public Radio

New Hawaii law creates panel to study public school closures

SA: … House Bill 2344 establishes a temporary, nine-member Public School Realignment and Closure Commission modeled after the federal Base Realignment and Closure process used to evaluate military bases.

When Green released his intent-to-veto list in late June, he said the bill would create unnecessary duplication.

“The amendments would establish requirements for matters that are already within the authority and responsibility of the Board of Education and the Department of Education,” Green wrote in his veto rationale. “These changes may create duplicative processes and administrative burdens without providing a clear benefit. Further review is warranted to determine whether the measure’s objectives can be achieved through existing authorities and practices.”

Despite those concerns, Green ultimately allowed the measure to become law.

Green’s senior adviser, Will Kane, said the governor supports conducting an objective review of Hawaii’s school capacity and facilities to help determine how best to meet the needs of communities.

“Act 264 sets up a process that will make the necessary determinations,” Kane said. “Whether Governor Green agrees or not is not an issue, as the law does not allow the governor, the Legislature or anyone else to change the decisions made by the commission. We look forward to the work that the commission will do to support Hawaii’s schools.”

The Legislature argued the commission is needed as Hawaii confronts long-term enrollment declines and aging school infrastructure.

Lawmakers cited projections from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education showing Hawaii is expected to experience the nation’s steepest decline in high school graduates over the next 16 years. While statewide public school enrollment is roughly the same as it was in 1961, lawmakers noted the number of public schools has grown by about 20%, leaving some campuses underused….

Read … New Hawaii law creates panel to study public school closures | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

ELECTION NEWS:

1. Case, Keohokalole display differences in style and substance

2. 'Everything is changing': Della Au Belatti's campaign for lieutenant governor | Hawai'i Public Radio

3. Trump’s Homeland Security chief threatens election officials with prison | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

QUICK HITS:

1. Big Q: How concerned are you about a cyclosporiasis outbreak in Hawaii? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

2. Hilo man gets 10 years for possessing child porn in ‘Cultists’ case - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

3. Faculty, students weigh in on Hawaii Community College chancellor options - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

4. Safety enhancements progress on DKI Highway - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

5. Symposium examines effectiveness, safety of genki balls on water quality

6. Man arrested after alleged attempted robbery, assault on officers in Wailuku

7. Video shows progress in Aloha Stadium dismantling  

8. Deal clears way for Kilauea District Park programs to continue

9. School cell phone policy changes aimed to help student social development

10. When Lahaina comes home: event reunites families and friends in the heart of their hometown | Hawai'i Public Radio

11. Honolulu could follow other county councils in calling for aquarium fishing ban | Hawai'i Public Radio

12. New HPD chief wants to expand Oʻahu's police force | Hawai'i Public Radio

13. James Campbell Company extends its reach | Hawai'i Public Radio

14. Australian consul general talks RIMPAC, military ties with Hawaiʻi and beyond | Hawai'i Public Radio

15. Pacific News Minute: U.S. ambassador says Cook Islands deep-sea minerals a top priority | Hawai'i Public Radio

16. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation wants an LNG Bunkering Facility | Ililani Media

17. One Advocate for Everyone? The Unsettled Question of Who Gets to Speak at the Hawai'i PUC | Ililani Media

18. JERA Files First Legal Document with Public Utilities Commission | Ililani Media

19. Gas prices start to rise in Southwest after end of ceasefire | California | thecentersquare.com

20. Gov. Green signs legislation to establish a clean fuel standard, safeguards for e-bikes : Maui Now

21. The Ancient Blueprint for Hawaii’s Food Future | Pulitzer Center

22. Kendama Offers Old Fashioned Connection To New Generation In Hawaiʻi - Honolulu Civil Beat

23. New signs on freeway mark a milestone in highway history | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

24. HECO seeks energy bids as JERA moves forward with LNG plan | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

25. Hawaiian Electric starts steel pole restorations on Maui | Hawaiian Electric

26. 3-year wildfire safety project along Leeward Coast to replace 100-plus utility poles starting in late July | Hawaiian Electric

27. Hawaiʻi State LGBTQ+ Commission elects new chairperson, welcomes 2 new members : Kauai Now

28. PCG joins US, Mexico in Hawaii drills | Philstar.com

29. 2,000 expected to gather at 2026 Native Hawaiian Convention, July 20-22 : Maui Now

30. Protective status of Native Hawaiian bird changes from endangered to threatened

31. COMMISSIONER’S MEMORANDUM 2026-5PC HAWAII PET INSURANCE