July 26, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Sunday, July 26, 2026

July 26, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 6:53 AM :: 112 Views

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted July 24, 2026

Designed to Fail: Sylvia Luke bribery case could be a hard one to prove, legal observers say

SA: … Prosecutors may have a harder time proving the criminal bribery and conspiracy case against Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke than with the other four defendants she was indicted with Friday by a 1st Circuit Court grand jury.

There is no clear “quid pro quo” to be found in the indictment in which Luke allegedly either asked or was asked to make in exchange for campaign donations in her successful 2022 run for lieutenant governor, according to retired federal deputy public defender Alexander Silvert.

Silvert led the petition that resulted in the state Department of the Attorney General launching the criminal investigation in January that provided the evidence supporting the indictments of Luke; former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, an ex-director of the state Department of Human Services; state Airports Administrator Ford Fuchigami; former Luke campaign official and onetime Public Utilities Commission chairman Leo Asuncion Jr.; and businessman and lobbyist Tobi J. Solidum, who is believed to have fled to the Philippines….

SILVERT emphasized the differences between the evidence against Luke and Yamane contained in the indictment.

“With Luke, I think the evidence is actually pretty weak,” Silvert said. “It sounds like she’s doing exactly what a legislator does. When she’s told about a problem with a project that’s already been OK’d, she meets with the contractor about that, they discuss it, they discuss a new funding source, and then she goes back to the legislative session and recommends where new money could be found to keep the project going.”

With Yamane, he said, “They’ve got recordings and text messages where he’s accepting money and envelopes and directly depositing it into his personal bank account.”…

JUST AS IN the aftermath of the English and Cullen cases four years ago, potential legal problems for other state lawmakers could follow Friday’s indictments as the defendants likely consider cooperating with investigators….

SA: Who are the 5 defendants in Hawaii’s political bribery case? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

SA: COVID-19 spending at center of alleged conspiracy | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

SA: Timeline: Key dates from Hawaii’s political bribery case | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Sylvia Luke bribery case could be a hard one to prove, legal observers say | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

So What Happened To The Paper Bag?

CB: … What happened to the $35,000 that the feds said in a court document were “provided” to an “influential state legislator” at a meeting on Jan. 20, 2022? That’s the day the indictment says Luke had dinner at Morton’s steakhouse with Rep. Ty Cullen, lobbyist Tobi Solidum and his stepdaughter, Kristen Pae, and took two $5,000 checks from Solidum and Pae.

The indictment includes a transcript of the dinner conversation in which Solidum promises to get Luke $35,000 and even $70,000 for her campaign. But that’s not what the feds said in the court doc that was used to get Cullen a lighter sentence since he was such a helpful snitch and recorded the meeting (among other things).

What happened to the paper bag? On Nov. 10, 2025, Hawaiʻi U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson doubled down on this tantalizing tidbit and wrote a letter to House Speaker Nadine Nakamura saying: “I can clear up some confusion generated by the partial unsealing of the Cullen filing. The filing references a ‘chargeable bribery offense’ and many have erroneously arrived at the conclusion that this is a reference to the ‘approximately $35,000 in funds’ mentioned in previous paragraph of the motion. To clear up any misconception, the referenced ‘bribery offense’ is unrelated to the $35,000 in the paper bag. Put another way, the so named ‘influential state legislator’ was not involved in the ‘bribery offense’ alluded to in the filing.”

The AG’s indictment (which is in large part based on evidence collected by the FBI and handed over to her in February after much public outcry) doesn’t mention a paper bag….

PDF: 11-10-25 Letter to Nadine Nakamura | DocumentCloud

Read … The Sunshine Blog: So What Happened To The Paper Bag? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Why Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green Is Getting A Free Ride In This Year's Primary

CB: … This election marks the first time in decades a Democrat was so formidable — or so lucky — that he could breeze through the gubernatorial primary with only token opposition….

“What I believe is I told people what we intended to do, and I did my very best to do it,” Green told Civil Beat in an interview. “We said we’d go after housing solutions and affordability and homeless solutions, and we stayed very focused on that.”

Green also cited his administration’s response to two major crises during his time as governor, which were the deadly Lahaina wildfire in 2023 and flooding from the Kona low storms in March.

“We were very present and I think pretty competent and compassionate in our response,” he said, “and we heard from a lot of people — both politicians and just, people — that they appreciated that.”

“It just didn’t create a scenario in which another Democrat thought it made sense to run against us,” Green said. “I didn’t set out to get into fights with people, I really just tried to do this job. So, It didn’t create the usual opening where there was a big divide where people would come after me.”

John Hart, communication professor at Hawaiʻi Pacific University, said the simplest explanation for why Green has no opposition from any well-known political figures this year can be seen in the governor’s polling data.

“He’s got great approval ratings,” Hart said, “and that makes it tough to run against him.”

Green agreed his poll numbers may be the single most important reason he has little opposition in the primary. He cited an assortment of polls from 2024 to this year that suggested his favorable rating among voters has been consistently running well above 60%, with job approval ratings that are even a bit higher.

“Political people, at least, take note of that,” Green said….

Read … Why Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green Is Getting A Free Ride In This Year's Primary - Honolulu Civil Beat

Carpenters Union spending money hand over fist

CB: … the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Union are spending money hand over fist on the candidates they want to see win in the Aug. 8 primary. The list of electioneering communications on the state Campaign Spending Commission’s website is something to see. The Blog also checked the filings for 2024 and 2022 and can tell you that we’ve not seen anything like this before.

As defined by state law, anyone who spends more than $2,000 on a candidate and is spending money 30 days before the primary has to disclose that right away. This does not apply to candidates or candidate committees but it does apply to everyone else including PACs such as For A Better Tomorrow, which is the Carpenters Union super PAC that, as anyone who watches TV knows, has been spending heavily on Derek Kawakami’s race for lieutenant governor.

But since July 9, according to the state filings, For A Better Tomorrow has dropped nearly $2.5 million on advertising, including those mailers you’re starting to see in your mailboxes, on about two dozen candidates, including Kawakami (although it does not appear to include the cash for all those TV ads which likely will turn out to be much much more).

It’s impossible to tell how much money the PAC spent on each candidate from these filings, because they’re often listed as a huge chunk of change going to a mainland advertising firm to apparently produce material for a whole group of candidates at the same time….

Read … The Sunshine Blog: So What Happened To The Paper Bag? - Honolulu Civil Beat

60-day Notice--HMSA Welches on deal with Governor

SA: … Every week, we see new patients who had to wait months to refill prescriptions or get a checkup. Hawaii County has a 43% provider shortage that is projected to worsen to 50%-60%. Rural health clinics like mine operate on thin margins to care for the community, but Hawaii’s dominant health insurer isn’t making it easy.

This crisis began in May when the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) issued an operationally impossible 60-day notice that it was radically changing the payment structure for primary care providers (PCPs). Recognizing the catastrophic threat to clinic survival and patient access, Gov. Josh Green intervened to negotiate a transition deferral to Jan. 1, 2027.

Instead of honoring that agreement, HMSA imposed new 60-day notices. Beginning Sept. 1, tens of thousands of HMSA patients will be stripped from their provider’s panels if contingencies aren’t met. Any patient who has not had an electronic claim processed within the preceding 18 months is dropped from a provider’s panel. If a patient sees more than one PCP in a calendar year, HMSA reimburses only the single provider logging the highest number of visits. Secondary providers receive zero compensation for care rendered….

Bottom line: HMSA is tightening control, moving away from patient choice and moving toward assigned PCPs….

KITV June 9 2026: HMSA delays changing provider payment model until 2027 | News | kitv.com

CB June 9 2026: HMSA Delays The Change Threatening Patient Access After Governor Steps In - Honolulu Civil Beat

Read … Column: HMSA’s policies put healthcare at risk | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Political turmoil, lower pay yield ‘small’ candidate pool for HTA’s top job

SA: … The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has attracted about 60 ‘small’ applicants in its search for a new president and CEO, a significantly smaller candidate pool than past searches as the agency tries to recruit a leader after years of political turmoil and uncertainty about its future.

HTA Advisory Board Co-Chair James McCully said the board hopes to recommend a finalist to Gov. Josh Green by year’s end. McCully, who chairs the five-member “permitted interaction group” leading the search, said members are reviewing applications and narrowing the field….

The HTA advisory board has increased the annual salary for the top job to $216,000 with state benefits; however, even that boost has not produced a large pool of qualified candidates.

“For some people that’s a great salary, but for the people that we want to attract, I’m not sure … because they make way more than that,” Tokioka told the board at its June 25 meeting.

Previous HTA presidents and CEOs did not receive state benefits but earned higher salaries. De Fries and Tatum each started at roughly $270,000 annually, while former President and CEO George Szigeti earned a base salary of $297,675 before leaving the agency in 2018….

The CEO search comes as HTA faces broader staffing challenges. Beyond the top leadership role, seven of the agency’s 30 authorized exempt positions remain vacant, leaving about 27% of those positions unfilled.

HTA recently raised the chief brand officer’s salary to $205,00 and the chief stewardship officer’s salary to $176,000, with both positions receiving state benefits.

Radke said the chief brand officer search is in the reference and background check stage. She said the chief stewardship officer position has not yet been posted because its job description is being revised and requires approval from DBEDT Human Resources and the Governor’s Office.

Other vacancies include director of contracts and procurement, procurement specialist, administrative services specialist, brand manager and administrative assistant….

REALITY: After Wrecking Telescopes, DeFries Quits as Mauna Kea Exec Director

Read … Political turmoil, lower pay yield small candidate pool for HTA’s top job | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

ICE sightings, detentions reported on Maui amid nationwide wave of enforcement

MN: … in the past four weeks, calls and messages to the Maui tipline have shot up from about five a month to 50 calls and 40 messages, with reports coming from places including Kīhei and temporary housing projects for Lahaina wildfire survivors. …

According to Roots Reborn, an immigrant-justice and disaster-response organization created in the wake of the 2023 wildfires, immigration officers have been spotted on June 23 at a home in Lahaina, where they reportedly detained two individuals; July 10 at a home in Kīhei, where they reportedly detained one person; July 11 near Sunrise Apartments, ‘Āinakea Park and Ka La‘i Ola; and July 17 at another home in Lahaina.

Annie Alvelais, acting director of Roots Reborn, said the organization knows of six individuals who were detained in the recent enforcement sweeps.

Maui Police Department spokesperson Alana Pico said during the dates ICE was reportedly seen, “another federal agency was also on Maui conducting federal warrant sweeps during this time.”

“These operations were conducted independently by the respective federal agencies as part of their own enforcement responsibilities,” said Pico, who did not specify the agencies.

Pico said that federal law enforcement agencies notify MPD when they are on island as a “professional courtesy.” However, MPD “does not participate in immigration enforcement,” she said. …

Read … ICE sightings, detentions reported on Maui amid nationwide wave of enforcement : Maui Now

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