August 4, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

August 4, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 10:39 AM :: 191 Views

Are we ready to really address aging in Hawaii?

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Awards Record Number of Leases in July

Dela Cruz Silent On Bribery Charges Leveled At Former Staff Member

CB: … In a written statement on behalf of members of the Ways and Means Committee, Senate spokesperson Sheryl Turbeville, (without smirking,) ~~declined to comment on the indictment because it is an active criminal matter. The statement also~~ said that Fuchigami’s duties during the 2022 session “did not include work on any Covid-19 emergency appropriation legislation referenced in the indictment.”

Dela Cruz himself hasn’t responded to multiple inquiries from Civil Beat regarding Fuchigami and the funding measure since the indictments came down on July 24.….

“I think silence here makes you look complicit – whether you are or not,” Judith Wong, secretary of the League of Women Voters of Honolulu, said.

Fuchigami worked for Dela Cruz in 2022. During that legislative session, Fuchigami is accused of taking a $7,000 bribe from lobbyist Tobi Solidum and meeting with Solidum and then-Rep. Ryan Yamane, another co-defendant in the bribery case, to discuss emergency funding for the state health department….

As chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Dela Cruz helped fast-track the bill that provided emergency funding to the testing centers, the one that is now central to the state’s bribery case. Fuchigami’s job at the committee as a budget analyst put him in close proximity to major decisions that affected the two-year, $15 billion general fund budget.

Funds in the emergency appropriations bill for the health department totaled more than $160 million between 2022 and 2023….

The measure’s treatment raises other questions, too; it was among the few that Dela Cruz recommended advance that year without first going through an end-of-session slog known as conference committee, a secretive negotiation process between the House and Senate where many bills end up dying….

The path the emergency funding measure for the health department took through the Legislature was out of the ordinary.

Typically, requests for emergency funding come from the governor, but House Bill 2392, the funding bill came from Yamane, then chair of the House Health, Human Services and Homelessness Committee.

The bill eventually passed, and included $79 million destined for Covid testing labs run by the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaiʻi. The foundation’s consultant, Solidum, is the person accused of bribing state lawmakers and Fuchigami to move the bill along.

But it also got some help from Dela Cruz in the last half of the session.

Dela Cruz recommended that the bill pass with a “clean date” – a flag for both the House and Senate that the bill can advance quickly to the governor’s office and skip a contentious, late-session negotiation process known as conference committee, where bills are often stalled and die….

(Is $35K the price of a WAM Chair?)

It was among measures that Gov. David Ige asked lawmakers to pass immediately. It was transmitted to his office on April 12, well before the end of session….

(What did Ige get? What did Green get?)

Read … Dela Cruz Silent On Bribery Charges Leveled At Former Staff Member - Honolulu Civil Beat

Judge allows feds to file new fossil fuels lawsuit against Hawaii

SA: … In an order filed last month, Gillmor agreed with Hawaii that the federal government did not establish any legally sound reason to allow for it to file an amended complaint or withdraw the dismissal. The arguments “do not contain information that could alter the Court’s analysis that the (federal government) lacks standing,” she wrote in her order.

Gillmor did, however, decide to amend her dismissal to be without prejudice, which gives the federal government the chance to refile its lawsuit based on Hawaii’s filed state complaint directly.

As of Monday, the Trump administration had not filed a new lawsuit….

Read … Judge allows feds to file new fossil fuels lawsuit against Hawaii | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

98,115 ballots returned by Oahu voters

SA: … As of Monday, a combined total of 98,115 electronic, early voting, and mail-in ballots had been returned by Oahu voters, state data indicates.

In a written statement Monday, Waters said, “Filing the Notice of Appeal preserves our right to seek review, and our legal team will present the arguments through the proper court process. My immediate concern is the District 4 residents who trusted an official ballot and voted in good faith. The voters did their part. Now the system must do its part.”

“This legal challenge may have been framed as a matter of principle, but its consequences have fallen almost entirely on the voters. Any final resolution must put the public interest first, protect the integrity of the election, and provide voters with a fair and meaningful outcome. Elections should be determined by the people, not undermined by lawsuits that make voters wonder if their ballots truly count,” Waters said….

“I (waited and only) filed a formal objection with the City Clerk’s Office on June 5. Their answer came back to me by (snail) mail on June 15,” Ozawa said. “I filed suit and asked the court to hear it immediately (on June 16), before June 24, six weeks before a single ballot was mailed. I asked for it that early so voters would never end up where they are today.”

(And that’s how Miske pal Ozawa set up this situation.)

Read … East Oahu voters left in limbo as Waters awaits hearing on appeal | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii Visitors Paying $1,000 More A Week Than Last Year

BH: … A family of four on a typical one-week Hawaii vacation is now spending nearly $1,000 more on the ground than the same family spent just last summer. Daily visitor spending jumped from about $259 per person to nearly $293, up 13.2% in a single year. That’s the kind of increase hotels, restaurants, and activity operators would typically be celebrating.

A jump like that should show up in fuller hotels, livelier restaurants, and activities selling out well in advance. So spending is up. The businesses providing the vacation, however, aren’t describing it that way. The question is what is going on.

The latest figures from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism show visitors spending substantially more in the past year. We looked at the other half of this change in Your Hawaii Trip Just Lost Another Day. What Did You Give Up? This time, we’re not asking why visitors are staying fewer days. We’re asking what happened to the additional money they reportedly spend during each vacation day….

Read … Hawaii Visitors Paying $1,000 More A Week Than Last Year

Maui County’s Budget Bloat—Doubles Since COVID

MN: … In just six years, Maui County’s budget has nearly doubled. Five new departments have been added, and the county absorbed the aftermath of the 2023 Lahaina wildfires — all while the administrative rules governing hiring and personnel matters have not been updated since December 2002, county officials told a Maui County Council committee Thursday.

The Kōmike Aloha ʻĀina Committee received a detailed briefing on Align HR, the countywide effort to overhaul human resources practices that the Department of Management announced last month.

The county’s budget has grown from about $850 million in 2020 to $1.6 billion today, said Cynthia Razo-Porter, director of the Department of Personnel Services. Thursday was her second-to-last day before retirement after 30 years of Maui County service, 23 of those years in the department and director since 2023.

“The hiring process can be lengthy and difficult to navigate,” Razo-Porter said. …

Read … Maui County’s rapid growth strains its human resources system, slowing hiring, Council committee told : Maui Now

Soft on Crime: After two previous Attacks, Congressional candidate arrested after Maui beach altercation, bail set at $1 million

HNN: … Kirill Basin, 40, was charged with two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, and his bail was set at $1 million.

(Finally, this criminal is dealt with seriously.)

According to Maui Police Department, the incident began when a 61-year-old man asked Basin to lower the volume of his music. Basin allegedly threatened the man by implying he had a firearm and would shoot the victim’s wife.

(CLUE: Failure of mental health care system. Why are lunatics getting arrested again and again instead of being forcibly incarcerated in lunatic asylums?)

A bystander intervened, leading to a physical altercation during which Basin allegedly armed himself with a knife and threatened multiple people before throwing it into the ocean. The knife was later recovered by police.

Video of the incident was widely shared on social media, including by the accounts HHHNewz and MaileMalia369.

Prior arrests and restraining orders

Police say Basin has been arrested for other incidents of assault and property damage since May.

(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Why wasn’t he kept in jail?)

Several people have taken out temporary restraining orders against him, including Maui County Council member Thomas Cook, who said he was worried about his personal safety and for his staff after Basin disrupted a meeting in May.

(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Why wasn’t he kept in jail?)

Cook said Basin “became aggressive and confrontational” and “threatened violence against the police” and a council ambassador….

(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Why wasn’t he kept in jail?)

Two days later, on May 29, reports circulated that Basin “brandished a weapon in a county office building in a confrontation with county employees.”

(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: Why wasn’t he kept in jail?)

Attorneys Myles Breiner and Brandon Segal represent Basin….

(Is that all it takes?)

MEANWHILE: B.J. Penn Enters Hawaii County Council District 1 Race With Criminal Cases Still Active | MiddleEasy

CB: Longshot Congressional Candidate Arrested After Maui Beach Altercation - Honolulu Civil Beat

Read … Congressional candidate arrested after Maui beach altercation, bail set at $1 million | Hawaii News Now

Alone: Kaua‘i Council Does Not Post Public Testimony Online

CB: … It’s the only county council in the state that forces citizens to file records requests to access written public testimony….

Read … Not So Public: Kaua‘i Council’s Testimony Policy Leaves Public In The Dark - Honolulu Civil Beat

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