September 6, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Sunday, September 6, 2026

September 6, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:21 PM :: 331 Views

Liquor Commission Secrets: Has Kamehameha Schools entered the marijuana business?

JSC Announces Applicants for Supreme Court Justice

OHA, City Begin Discussions on Kakaʻako Look Lab Site

Immunization recommendations for the 2026-27 respiratory virus season

State DOH Approves Reactivation of the Navy ʻAiea Hālawa Shaft

Save Ala Moana!

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted September 4 2026

Tupola for Mayor in 2028?

CB: … Andria Tupola, the Honolulu City Councilwoman, former state House representative and unsuccessful candidate for governor, is steadily building a war chest for a run for mayor in 2028 when Rick Blangiardi is termed out.

Tupola has already held four campaign fundraisers for her expected run and has two more set for later this month (one at Bishop Museum in Honolulu, the other at Plantation House by Gaylords in Līhuʻe) and another in October at the Hilo Yacht Club….

The fundraisers come in the wake of the news that Honolulu City Councilman Tommy Waters is out of the running for a third consecutive term. The Blog and much of Oʻahu know by now that Waters’ actually had his sights set on mayor too, so the question now is whether his being out of office will help or hurt him two years from now.

Tupola is not waiting to find out. She has raised $132,041 so far for her mayoral bid and spent most of it already. Generous donors include Ko Olina developer Jeff Stone….

Read … The Sunshine Blog: How Do They Do It? GOP Candidates Surge In General - Honolulu Civil Beat

Maui Fire Dept: “Boxcheckians” in leadership roles

SA: … As fire departments across Hawaii expand their preparation for flooding and severe storms, the 2023 death of Maui firefighter Tre’ Evans-Dumaran continues to shape discussions about how firefighters are trained and equipped to respond to fast-moving floodwaters.

While his team was responding to flooding in Kihei, conditions proved deadly for 24-year-old Evans-Dumaran after he was swept into a storm drain. His death, and questions around whether he and other firefighters have the proper training and equipment to respond to flood conditions, is now at the center of a lawsuit against Maui County.

The Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division investigated the Jan. 27, 2023, incident and in April of that year slapped Maui County with $144,870 in penalties after concluding that Maui Fire Department personnel “were not adequately trained in the dangers of flood incident response” and that critical safety devices were not in place when the tragedy occurred.

His mother, Chelsie Evans, sued Maui County and her son’s former captain in 2024. The lawsuit, which is still pending, alleges that the fire captain ordered Evans-Dumaran to go near the storm drain even though there was no imminent danger to life or property, that the firefighter didn’t have proper safety gear such as a flotation device, that he should have been tied by rope to a fire truck and that the captain did not take a full crew….

Former MFD Capt. Greg Jenkins, who is serving as a plaintiff’s witness in Evans’ lawsuit and has done consulting and conducted training with fire departments in Hawaii and across the globe, said he believes departmental leadership plays a critical role in ensuring crews are prepared for evolving hazards.

He said that during his career at MFD, he became concerned about what he called “boxcheckians” in leadership roles, a term he used for officials who he believes failed to take emerging threats seriously.

“These are the people that think they can push liability away from themselves. They want to create programs that don’t necessarily effectively prepare or equip you to solve the problem but on paper look really good … . If you look at all of our programs, you’ll find a little bit of that somewhere, that mentality.”…

SA: Extreme weather tests Hawaii’s firefighters, reveals response gaps | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Questions persist about flood rescue training after Maui firefighter’s death | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Disruption of mail balloting could silence Hawaii voters

Shapiro: … Hawaii and other mail-in voting states face potential general election chaos on Nov. 3, and the “What, me worry?” posture of local elections officials raises concern.

The Trump administration is pressing the Supreme Court to allow it to effectively take over mail voting by having the Postal Service decide which ballots will be delivered and which won’t under hastily conceived systems that have yet to be finalized two months before the election.

The high court ruled once in the administration’s favor on procedural grounds, but has yet to decide whether the plan violates constitutional provisions giving the states control of elections. It has ordered parties to submit responses by Tuesday.

Hawaii election offices have viewed the high-stakes drama with shrugs; elections chief Scott Nago told legislators in July he had no clear Plan B because he thought it “very unlikely” the administration would prevail given lower-court setbacks and the short time until the election.

North Carolina mailed ballots last week and 19 other states do so in the next two weeks. Hawaii, which mails ballots Oct. 16, is part of the multistate lawsuit challenging the rules….

MEANWHILE: Long Lines Suppress Votes on Election Day: Election Officials Plan to do it Again in 2026

SA: Judge again blocks USPS mail-in voting restrictions | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … David Shapiro: Disruption of mail balloting could silence Hawaii voters | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

DCCA BREG Tech Fail: Why can’t new business register with state?

SA: … Question: Can you check what is going on with the slow approval times at the State of Hawaii DCCA Business Registration Office? Historically, if you paid the expedited review fee, your registration documents for a new entity would be approved within a week or sooner. Now, even paying the expedited review fee, I have been patiently waiting for months. My filing to form a new business submitted in June still has not been approved. Without the state’s approval, I cannot open a bank account, sign a lease, hire employees, or start my business. This has resulted in damages due to the delays. My emails to the DCCA have not been responded to. I heard that there is an issue with a new vendor of their supposed updated system, but forming a new business or other business registration tasks seem to have come to a standstill. I heard that they are working on May submissions now. I cannot believe that this unacceptable delay has not been publicized, complaints from the public more prevalent, and the elected officials not having been told by their constituents to immediately address this problem.

Answer: The Business Registration Modernization project that has been years in the making at Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs hit serious snags when it went live a few months ago, struggling with data conversion and document migration to the new computer system and online portal, as the final status report before launch had predicted (see 808ne.ws/ 3Tad7TX). New business registrations are backlogged as a result, but not completely blocked, said DCCA spokesperson William Nhieu. He could not say exactly how many registrations are backlogged, for how long or when the technical problems would be resolved. You mentioned emailing and being patient: We’d suggest you get on the phone. With the problem so widespread, it’s likely this is a situation where the squeakiest wheels get the grease.

Read … Kokua Line: Why can’t new business register with state? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii patients express frustration with doctor shortage on Oahu

SA: … From a list of 17 physicians she called, only three were taking new patients. She was put on extended hold, sent to voicemail or simply told “no” and hung up on.

Nishida said she learned the wait to see a PCP, such as at Queen’s Primary Care Centers, can be anywhere from six months to a year….

Read … Hawaii patients express frustration with doctor shortage on Oahu | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Ex-Rep Holt Illegally Lobbying for more Young Bros Rate Hikes?

CB: … It seems like just yesterday that state Rep. Daniel Holt gave up his House seat (and what was considered to be an easy climb to a Senate seat with the retirement of Sen. Karl Rhoads this year) to go to work as a special assistant to the chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

That was in February. Less than six months later, Holt is on the move again, this time to become vice president of external and government affairs with interisland shipping company Young Brothers.

The company put out a news release about the same time Civil Beat’s Kevin Dayton was inquiring about the new hire as well as the ethics of lobbying so soon after leaving his legislative gig. Young Brothers says Holt’s new job will involve “outreach to government, industry and community partners.”

However, the state ethics code requires Holt to wait a year from the time he resigned from the Legislature before he lobbies lawmakers. That one-year restriction on lobbying by Holt also applies to DLNR. So, in other words, no lobbying former lawmaker buddies until February 2027, and no lobbying DLNR until July 2027.

Holt, 41, tells Dayton he went to work for Young Brothers on July 27.

Robert Harris, executive director and general counsel for the state Ethics Commission, said state law allows Holt to lobby at the city and county level in his new job starting now, and he can also lobby members of Gov. Josh Green’s administration, just not DLNR yet….

Young Brothers succeeded in pushing a controversial new law through the Legislature this year that grants automatic rate increases of up to 5% a year to the shipper for three years.

The company is regulated by the state Public Utilities Commission and needs PUC approval for rate increases, but Young Brothers says that approval process is too slow. …

Read … The Sunshine Blog: How Do They Do It? GOP Candidates Surge In General - Honolulu Civil Beat

Retired Campaign Spending Commission Boss Quickly Transitions to Campaign Consultant

CB: … Tony Baldomero, who retired as the CSC associate director in December and set up shop as a campaign finance consultant.

But this time they are paying him. His consulting firm Hokupaʻa Strategies received $18,000 from Friends of Yuki Lei Sugimura for its work leading up to the Aug. 8 primary, where the councilwoman finished second in a field of 10 candidates.

“Tony is an amazing guy,” said Tak Sugimura, who is a deputy treasurer for his wife. “He’s very knowledgable because in his previous job he learned every part of CSC. He can explain all the details on reporting and deadlines and law. He’s a one-man point person for Hawaiʻi politics. And he’s a good guy.”

Baldomero is more modest in talking about his services. But he makes clear that he very much wants to help his paying clients get campaign finance laws right.

“I want the candidate’s reports to be true and accurate,” he told me. “If not, you are going to run into false reporting issues or unreported transactions — and both are subject to fines by the commission.”…

State employees are required to adhere to a one-year “cooling off” period after they leave their jobs prohibiting them from appearing before their former agency or doing lobbying work. Baldomero does neither….

Read … This Campaign Finance Whiz Helps Hawaiʻi Politicians Keep Their Books In Order - Honolulu Civil Beat

How Do They Do It? GOP Candidates Surge In General

CB: … Garcia calls it “a historical fact” that Republicans may look like they’re not going to do very well in our overwhelmingly blue primary but then prevail year after year.

“That was a question that fascinated me when I entered politics in 2018,” Garcia tells The Blog. “Andria Tupola would get like 600 votes in the primary and then smoke her opponent in the general election by like 3,000 votes.”…

Some longtime politicos have a “one-third rule” — if a Republican gets one third of the total votes cast in the primary there’s a good chance they’ll go on to win the general. If they get about as many votes as the Democrat in the primary, the general will be a blow out.

The Blog applied that rule to GOP incumbents who won in 2024 and are trying to keep their seats in this year’s election. The rule certainly held up two years ago:

House District 32: In 2024, Republican Garner Shimizu collected 1,017 primary votes to Democrat incumbent Micah Aiu’s 2,407. In the general, Shimizu prevailed 4,596 to 4,518 for Aiu. This year’s primary: Shimizu 904; Aiu 2,800.
House District 40: In 2024, the GOP’s Julia Reyes Oda got 680 votes in the primary to Democrat Rose Martinez’s 1,513. In the general, it was Reyes Oda 4,300 to Martinez 3,836. This year’s primary: Reyes Oda 1,163, Martinez 1,895.
House District 45: In 2024, Republican Chris Muraoka got 631 votes in the primary while Democrat Desire DeSoto got 976. Muraoka ended up with 3,123 in the general vs. DeSoto’s 2,914. This year: Muraoka collected 910 in the primary while challenger Kalehua Kaopua received 1,416.

Given the one-third rule of thumb one Republican who might be worrying is Rep. Joe Gedeon, who was appointed to the seat last year when longtime Rep. Gene Ward died. Gedeon came through the District 18 primary with 1,309 votes. But Democratic challenger Jamie Wataru far exceeded the rule with 5,105 votes.

One Democrat who might be in trouble: House Majority Leader Sean Quinlan who got 1,765 votes in his North Shore district to Republican Mark Talaeai’s 1,007….

Read … The Sunshine Blog: How Do They Do It? GOP Candidates Surge In General - Honolulu Civil Beat

$521K Hawaii Airport Lawsuit Exposes Checked Bag Risk

BH: … a March incident at Honolulu Airport, a newly filed $521,900 lawsuit over rain-soaked artwork made the question feel unusually immediate: what happens to your checked belongings when the Hawaii sky opens up?...

Distinguished Programs Insurance Brokerage filed the case on Thursday in the New York State Supreme Court as a subrogee of Naga Antiques. According to the complaint (attached at the end), Compass Forwarding, acting as Naga’s agent, contracted with Alaska to transport 11 original paintings on paper from Osaka to JFK, with the shipment stopping in Honolulu en route. Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Compass are all defendants….

We’ve certainly seen a different kind of weather problem before. In our earlier article about losing bags four times on Hawaii flights, one BOH reader described a storm-delayed departure from Kauai in which the passengers made the flight, but their bags were left behind. Our own lost-bag experiences have also made us much less casual about what we’d put in checked luggage….

Read … $521K Hawaii Airport Lawsuit Exposes Checked Bag Risk

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