Hawaii Daily News Read

Sunday, October 25, 2026

October 25, 2026 News Read

By Andrew Walden @ 8:55 AM :: 294 Views

2026 Mail-In Election: 15% of Ballots Returned So Far

War Department 'Systematically Dismantles Renamed Confucius Institutes'

Housing ballot questions: Action or Rhetoric?

“The argument that all mail-in balloting would boost voter participating has failed”

SA: … The number of Honolulu mail-in ballots is down inexplicably by 34% compared to the same point in the last midterm elections in 2022, with just over a week before the Nov. 3 general election.

Hawaii voters overwhelmingly prefer to vote by mail, and the same downward trend on Oahu is happening across the islands, with fewer than 98,000 mail-in ballots arriving by Friday at county election sites through either the mail or drop-box locations.

During the 2022 mid-terms, 118,000 ballots had come in through the mail or via remote drop-box locations by the same time….

“The Hawaii Republican Party — and Hawaii’s conservative voters in general — believe that it’s time the state Office of Elections and government leaders admit the argument that all mail-in balloting would boost voter participating has failed,” she wrote in a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. She contends that the last three election cycles have seen “a rapid and radical” downward trend.

Ostrov expects a surge of people voting in person on Nov. 3 to reflect Hawaii’s voting traditions.

“We believe one of those traditions to be same-day, in-person voting at community polling stations, where neighbors were inspired by the opportunity to gather alongside each other to make their voices heard,” she wrote in her text….

BACKGROUND: 2026 Mail-In Election: 15% of Ballots Returned So Far

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

read … Early voting numbers lag last midterm tally | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Two More Supreme Court Vacancies for Green to Fill

CB: … Gov. Josh Green has already placed two justices on the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. He will soon pick another to the five-member bench, and could select another in 2027 if he’s reelected governor next month, as is expected.

Taken together, these picks and others mean that Green’s impact on the judicial system could last long after he leaves office.

The state’s Judicial Selection Commission is expected to send a list of Hawaiʻi Supreme Court associate justice nominees to Green in the coming months.

Green’s selection will fill the vacancy created by his elevation of Vladimir Devens to the chief justice position in April. Devens, a labor attorney, was previously appointed associate justice by Green in November 2023.

In addition, Green will likely be able to choose a fourth associate justice, assuming voters grant him four more years. Sabrina McKenna must retire by early October 2027 when she turns 70, the mandatory retirement age for Hawaiʻi judges and justices….

BACKGROUND: JSC Announces Applicants for Supreme Court Justice

Read … Gov. Green's Mark On Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Set To Grow Even Larger - Honolulu Civil Beat

It Begins: HMSA Drives 16,000 Patients Away from Queens

SA: … Thousands of Hawaii seniors are being forced to make a Medicare decision. The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) is closing its current Akamai Advantage Complete Plus and Standard Plus plans at the end of the year, affecting about 16,000 members. HMSA is offering replacement plans, including a new $45-a-month Select Plus HMO on Oahu. The Queen’s Health Systems has declined to participate in that HMO network, and HMSA says the plan includes a little more than 60% of the providers in its Medicare PPO network.

People choose Medicare Advantage for good reasons. Premiums can be low, prescription coverage is usually included, and dental, vision and hearing benefits are attractive. …

Before automatically enrolling in another Medicare Advantage plan, find out what Original Medicare, Medigap and Part D would cost and cover for you. The plan termination has put the Medigap off-ramp in front of you again, but once you have passed it, there may not be another good exit later….

Read … Column: If Medicare plan is ending, consider the off-ramp | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Maui Council is last in state to advance comprehensive lobbyist rules

MN: … The Maui County Council voted unanimously Friday to advance a bill that would extend the Board of Ethics’ ability to pursue ethics violations from one to six years, while members amended the bill to drop a retroactive provision. Bill 55 moves on to second and final reading on Nov. 13.

Separately, the Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee voted 9-0 Tuesday to recommend passage of a bill that would require paid lobbyists to register with the county and publicly report their spending. The measure would bring Maui County in line with the rest of Hawaiʻi.

Bill 100 (2026) would amend Section 2.56.040 of the Maui County Code. If the full Council passes it on first and second reading and Mayor Richard Bissen signs it, the county would adopt comprehensive lobbyist regulations for the first time for the county.

“Maui County remains the only jurisdiction in Hawaiʻi without comprehensive lobbyist rules,” Board of Ethics Executive Director Lauren Akitake told the committee Tuesday….

read … Council advances ethics bill; committee backs first comprehensive lobbyist rules for Maui County : Maui Now

Maui Emergency Management Agency moves into shiny new Emergency Operations Center

MN: … In January 2024, Amos Lonokailua-Hewett, a retired Maui Fire Department battalion chief with 25 years of service, was selected to lead MEMA. Since then, MEMA has grown (its’ empire) from nine to 25 positions, with six additional positions approved. As of 2024, MEMA has been activated more than 92 times for emergencies, including storms, flooding and a hurricane warning ….

read … Maui Emergency Management Agency moves into new Emergency Operations Center : Maui Now

Silvert Quits ACLU Over Act 11

CB: … Act 11 (is) … a long shot, because the Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the First Amendment protects the speech of people who join together through a corporation or association. Even Hawaiʻi’s own attorney general warned lawmakers the bill was likely unconstitutional. But that does not mean it is not a worthy effort and one that should not be supported. (Wrong.)

The law was challenged almost immediately. In June, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi sued in federal court with help from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Free Speech. In September, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a second lawsuit.

The national ACLU chose to join. In its brief, the ACLU told the court that Act 11 would block or discourage a large amount of everyday political advocacy by nonprofits, and that may be legally correct. (Wow. Good point.)

~~Importantly~~ (Thinking politics, not law,) the Hawaiʻi chapter of the ACLU did not join in that brief, effectively splitting from the position taken by its national office. Our local chapter made the decision not to be a part of the legal movement to block Act 11. In my view, it made a political decision, (BINGO!!!) recognizing that the ACLU does not need to weigh in on every single First Amendment fight.

(TRANSLATION: Just shut up about free speech.)

(LATIN TRANSLATION: “Silent enim leges inter arma.”)

The ACLU has real legal concerns. (Good point.) It says Act 11 is written so broadly that it could stop nonprofits like the ACLU from spending money on ballot measures about abortion access, LGBTQ rights and voting rights. (Uh-huh…) It also worries that the law’s ban on “indirectly” supporting or opposing candidates is vague enough to make groups afraid to speak at all. Those are serious points. (But shut up about that free speech stuff. I quit.)

REALITY – National ACLU didn’t just ‘join.’ They have been patiently trying to explain reality for a loooong time:

2016: HCR29: Legislators Vote to Abolish ERS, End Free Speech for Star-Advertiser)

June 2026: Lawsuit: Hawaii 'Corporate Personhood' law silences nonprofits and civic groups

Sept 2026: US Chamber of Commerce sues Hawaii over law targeting Citizens United

Oct 2026: After Pretending to Join ‘Stop Corporate Personhood’ Circus--ACLU Shows True Colors (again)

Oct 2026: ACLU: State of Hawaii could use Act 11 ‘corporate personhood’ law to selectively enforce ‘political correctness’

read … The ACLU Didn't Need To Join This Fight - Honolulu Civil Beat

Compensation for Schweitzers in hands of high court justices

HTH: … Two brothers wrongly convicted of the Christmas Eve 1991 rape and murder of Dana Ireland are waiting for the state Supreme Court to decide whether they can receive compensation for wrongful imprisonment while pursuing a federal civil rights lawsuit against Hawaii County and its police.

The federal lawsuit filed in January by Albert “Ian” Schweitzer and Shawn Schweitzer is on hold while the state’s high court considers whether the brothers can collect from the state $50,000 per year in prison under a 2016 law while pursuing monetary damages in federal court for alleged violations of their constitutional rights by police.

Also shelved for now are the brothers’ separate claims for state compensation in Hilo Circuit Court, although a hearing is scheduled Nov. 10 before Judge Peter Kubota in Ian Schweitzer’s case.

The question before the Supreme Court was filed in May by U.S. District Chief Judge Derrick Watson, who is presiding over the federal suit in Honolulu….

read … Compensation for Schweitzers in hands of high court justices | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Residents on Oahu’s North Shore take on dredging as lawsuits seek accountability

SA: … North Shore residents are spending the weekend bringing heavy machinery to Paukauila Stream to cut back mangroves and clear debris from the banks ahead of the next major storm.

The work was not a government dredging project. Community members brought their own equipment, worked on private property with landowners’ permission and organized their efforts with help from a nonprofit and local lawmakers….

The volunteer effort comes as residents of nearby Haona Street in Waialua pursue a lawsuit alleging that years of inadequate stream maintenance and problems with reservoir management contributed to flooding that damaged homes and displaced residents in March.

The City and County of Honolulu, one of the defendants, filed a third-party complaint against the state on Sept. 25, arguing that it may share responsibility for portions of Kaukonahua Stream, Farrington Highway and a bridge crossing the stream….

“We’ve been working on it. We have a plan. OK, awesome,” Maldonado recalled hearing from officials. “Nothing happens.”

The lawsuit alleges the city spent more than $450,000 on drainage planning and stream dredging designs for the Kaukonahua and Ki‘iki‘i stream system without completing the work. A 2008 study identified sediment islands and suggested removing obstructions could improve stormwater flow toward the ocean. A separate 2013 design project to dredge Ki‘iki‘i Stream never advanced to construction, according to the complaint.

Residents continued to warn that sediment, vegetation and debris were narrowing the channel. The lawsuit says an island behind the Haona Street homes grew substantially in the years before the March flooding….

SA: Questions remain over storm damage maintenance | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Residents on Oahu’s North Shore take on dredging as lawsuits seek accountability | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

100 Kaʻū households get few answers about water, sewer nightmare during Public Utilities Commission meeting

BIN: … They came to the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission meeting in Pahala to get answers.

But for the people who live in the condo communities of Colony I and Kalana Estates in Kaʻū, they left the Monday meeting no closer to knowing when they will finally have their drinking water and sewer restored.

The nearly 100 units have been without those necessary services for 10 weeks, since Hurricane Lala severely damaged a well and infrastructure of the privately owned Punaluʻu Water and Sanitation that provides utilities to those condo complexes.

Colin Sakumoto, a lawyer for the private utility’s owner Eva Liu, said at the meeting it would cost an estimated half a million dollars to make the necessary repairs and upgrades to restore potable water services, adding that is money that is not currently in the budget.

“Securing a half million dollars when you’re not even providing water to the customers — that’s unlikely to happen,” Sakumoto said. “For this reason, there is no projected timeline of how that will be restored. I’m being absolutely blunt: There is no projected timeline.”…

read … 100 Kaʻū households get few answers about water, sewer nightmare during Public Utilities Commission meeting : Big Island Now

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