Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, October 30, 2026

October 30, 2026 News Read

By Andrew Walden @ 1:21 PM :: 172 Views

Per Capita Debt: Hawaii Ranks 3rd

Hawaii Electric Rates Increase More Than 6 Times the National Average

Spying on You: GM Pays $220M Settlement

Tourist Count Drops 13.1% for September

Study: UH-Manoa-Athletics-generates $753M-in-economic-impact-over-four-years

The Philosophy of Liberty: What Does It Mean to Be Free?

Council leadership fight involves claims of illegal meeting

HNN: … Dos Santos-Tam met early this month at Zippy’s in Waipahu with Esther Kiaaina, Matt Weyer, Radiant Cordero and Augie Tulba. Within days, two anonymous complaints were filed with the Office of Information Practices. The complaints said the five members present were one too many under the Sunshine Law.

Tupola said she asked Dos Santos-Tam about the meeting.

“I did actually ask Council Member Dos Santos Tam directly, and he did confirm that they gathered and that they took a vote,” Tupola said.

She said she was shocked.

“I was shocked because there were a handful of us that did not know about the meeting,” Tupola said.

Dos Santos-Tam said he could not say anything about the meeting because it is under investigation. He did introduce a resolution for next week’s full council meeting. It proposes that he be elected chair, Kiaaina be vice chair and Scott Nishimoto be floor leader.…. Dos Santos-Tam said there is urgency to put new leadership in place with Chair Tommy Waters leaving office in January…

Tupola said there is no rush, and points out that … two council members still need to be elected….

“I think the Democrats on the council don’t want Andria Tupola to be mayor,” Moore said….

(CLUE: She’s now going to be positioned as the critic against whatever corrupt schemes the Council cooks up.)

Read … Council leadership fight involves claims of illegal meeting | Hawaii News Now

Meth Dealer’s Son Claims Lahaina Voters have ‘Misconceptions About Me’

CB: … The most interesting legislative race in Hawaiʻi this year is in West Maui, where a Lahaina ~~organizer~~ (meth dealer’s son) running as a Green has the state’s biggest unions behind him and nearly everything else lined up against him….

The state’s five largest unions by membership – the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the United Public Workers and Unite HERE – all back (the meth dealer’s son,) Kiakona… (which tells us everything we need to know about their union leadership) …

The teachers union’s endorsement has an extra twist: Patel narrowly beat Ashley Olson, president of HSTA’s Maui chapter, in the Democratic primary.

(HSTA tells us retaliation is more important than stopping meth dealers from gaining political power.)

Not every union is with him. His Democratic opponent, Patel, has the Teamsters and the building trades, led by the carpenters…. the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi…spent about $95,000 in late September on two digital ad buys, one supporting Patel … the other opposing Cochran, now the seat’s Republican incumbent….

Kiakona’s money looks different. (His daddy ‘has already made his millions.’) … His biggest institutional donor is the ILWU, at $2,000….

Cochran the race’s biggest unknown. Now a Republican, she may keep her own supporters, pick up the roughly four in 10 who previously backed Republicans, or lose both….

Kiakona…says voters who might arrive with a misconception about him often leave saying, “Okay. Well, you got my vote.” After the PBS Insights debate, he said, about 200 people turned out to wave signs for him….

REALITY: Meet the Meth Gang Behind ‘Lahaina Strong’

Read … Beth Fukumoto: In West Maui, Old Rules Of Hawaiʻi Politics Are Unraveling - Honolulu Civil Beat

Lahaina: Global Warming Hucksters Whine About Competing Conspiracy Theories Spread by AI Bots

G: … (Edited to induce accuracy) … You likely remember the 2023 Maui wildfires, a tragedy that killed more than 100 people and destroyed nearly 2,000 homes, all but erasing a historic island community. You may also remember that the fires began when a broken power pole owned by the local electric utility sparked against dry vegetation on a windy day.

But do you really know that? Were you there? How can you prove it?

(And do you remember that you are supposed to blame global warming?)

In the aftermath of the Maui fires, thousands of people across all the major social media platforms shared posts and videos alleging that the fires had a more sinister origin. They posited that the government had used a “direct energy weapon,” or a form of laser, to ignite the area. Depending on the post you saw, this was part of a plot to reclaim the area for a high-speed rail line, or a high-tech “smart city.” A number of right-wing activists and social media personalities amplified these claims, including the late Charlie Kirk. At the same time, the Federal Emergency Management Agency saw accounts linked to China circulating rumors that a “weather weapon” had caused the fires. Other accounts alleged that the agency was going to seize the homes of people in Maui who applied for emergency aid, a claim that raised traumatic memories of colonization in a community with significant Indigenous historical and cultural ties.

(TRANSLATION: Global warming was a fad. Like other fads, it is getting boring and people are moving on to other fads.)

Extreme weather events are always chaotic, and it’s always been easy for rumors (that they are caused by global warming) to spread during moments of calamity, but the ~~problem~~ (competition with competing, and frankly more exciting, conspiracy theories) has never been as bad as it is now. The escalating pace of climate change (hysteria) has produced a series of supercharged (global warming propaganda campaigns claiming responsibility for) wildfires, rapidly intensifying hurricanes, devastating drought, and sudden floods, all of which (are designed to) plunge communities into confusion and disarray (which we warmers then purport to save them from—for a price). At the same time, the information landscape has never been more fragmented — major social media companies have given up on any pretense of ~~fact-checking and~~ (‘consensus enforcement aka) ‘content moderation’; politicians often distort or politicize disasters (in ways that don’t pay off for us warmers); government agencies are short-staffed following DOGE cuts (so they can’t generate the volume of warming bs that they used to under Bilden and Obama); and generative AI models have created an entirely new and little-understood way to source information (which then causes people to realize that anybody like us who blames a specific weather event on global warming is a fraud.) It’s not just your weird uncle seeing these rumors on Facebook: A recent report from the News Literacy Project found that a vast majority of teens encounter social media conspiracies, and a vast majority of teens who encounter those theories are inclined to believe them (thus leaving no room in their tiny little brains for our old-school global warming histrionics. What will we global warmers do to catch up to modern tech?)….

Big Q: Are you participating in Hawaii’s “green fee” climate efforts/ideas? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser ‘No, not interested’ = 61%

Read … Extreme Weather Is Creating A Perfect Storm Of Misinformation - Honolulu Civil Beat

Extreme Weather Events Impact Renewable Energy Availability

IM: … Within the renewable energy and climate change community advocacy groups, a common belief is that solar, wind, and chemical batteries alone can consistently handle 100% of each island's electricity load.

A frequent reference is Kaua`i, omitting the fact that KIUC`s grid is also fed by firm renewables: hydroelectric and wood chips.

What Life of the Land found missing from the anecdotal observations is fact-based analysis.

Life of the Land and most energy industry insiders contend that during low-resource periods, firm power remains essential ….

Read … Extreme Weather Events Impact Renewable Energy Availability | Ililani Media

Lala: State didn’t gin up enough damage to support FEMA ‘Individual Assistance’

HPR: … Hawaiʻi County emergency officials learned last week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied a request for individual assistance for residents affected by Hurricane Lala.

That FEMA aid can cover housing costs for people who have been displaced or need home repairs, as well as other expenses like child care and medical needs related to a disaster.

More than 250 homes were damaged or destroyed by Lala, according to estimates from the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency. Hawaiʻi Island bore the brunt of the storm's impact.

Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency Acting Administrator Darryl Oliveira told HPR that more than 100 residents are still sheltering in hotels because of damage to their homes from Lala.

But according to Oliveira, the state did not demonstrate to FEMA that the damage from Lala was widespread enough to warrant individual assistance.

"It was conveyed that we did not hit a threshold with the number of destroyed or major damaged structures or residents in the area," Oliveira told HPR. He added that the threshold the state had to meet to qualify for individual assistance was murky.

"We're hearing different numbers. I'd hate to throw a number out there, but I will try to get one for the community because that's something that going into any disaster or coming out of one, it'd be nice to know up front," he said….

Read … FEMA denies request for Lala assistance, state plans appeal | Hawai'i Public Radio

Kauai ‘Resilience Hub’ Goes Online, Loses SNAP Eligibility

HPR: … Mālama Kauaʻi initially started operating in farmers markets, then eventually moved to an online service where they buy products from local farmers and deliver them to residents across the island. They work with more than 100 food producers to run programs like Kaukau 4 Keiki, Farm to School, various food hubs, and their normal weekly distributions.

Fox's organization has been operating with SNAP for over a decade in farmers markets, and started accepting SNAP at their food hubs in 2021….

The final denial letter from the USDA last week stated that the type of online ordering and delivery system that Mālama Kauaʻi operates is ineligible to operate a SNAP program.

Fox said hundreds of residents are impacted by this and will now have to turn elsewhere for weekly food deliveries, adding that SNAP purchases make up at least 25% of the food hub's revenue….

Read … USDA doubles down on retracting a Kauaʻi nonprofit's SNAP eligibility | Hawai'i Public Radio

Plans For New Jail To Include ‘Community-Based’ Treatment (system to put criminal lunatics right back onto the streets)

CB: … Romey Glidewell, healthcare administrator for the department, said close to 40% of those in prison and jail have mental health issues, including “severe mental illness, people who will not recover, will not rehabilitate, who have a chronic and degenerative mental illness.” She said that is expected to grow to 50% in the years ahead as the population ages.

(CLUE: Closing the insane asylums produced mass incarceration.)

Experts have said the mental health system inside Hawaiʻi prisons and jails has been overwhelmed. At the same time, the shortage of psychiatrists across the state complicates the department’s efforts to connect prisoners with mental illnesses with care outside of jail when it is time to release them.

(CLUE: ‘Community Based Treatment’ is a lie. It is just a fancy word for homeless camps full of drug-addicted criminals. This lie has been repeated for 60 years to justify closing the insane asylums. When will you stop believing it?)

“As far as the actual transition of care, we are suffering from the same challenges that everyone in community is,” Glidewell told lawmakers. “The wait to see a provider on the outside is three to six months. We don’t exactly know how to solve that problem as DCR because it really is more of a state-based problem.”

“We do have a lot of folks that we call frequent flyers,” Johnson said. “They may come into our custody three, four times a year, sometimes more. Most of the time, they have mental health issues and they’re off their medication.” ….

MEANWHILE: Felon with 13 State convictions accused of causing $70K in damage to Honolulu federal building, gets arrested by Feds this time | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Plans For New Jail To Include Community-Based Treatment - Honolulu Civil Beat

HTA Funds ‘Hidden Hawaiʻi’ Show to Help Tourists Find More ‘Secrets’

CB: … awarded Greenberg a no-bid contract: Hawaiʻi taxpayers will spend up to $584,000 to support the production of Greenberg’s upcoming four-part show “Hidden Hawaiʻi.” Greenberg said that he proposed the project to the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority. The state’s investment is meant to promote tourism, Tokioka said, but he acknowledged the return on investment for taxpayers may be indirect.

“It’s not going to benefit every single taxpayer,” Tokioka said. “But it will benefit the visitor industry when people in the Northwest or the East Coast see his show, and they think about Hawaiʻi… that makes people want to come here.” …

(With social media, there aren’t many ‘secrets’ left. Soon there will be none.)

Meanwhile: Alaska Airlines cutting 48 Hawaii jobs, citing higher fuel costs | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Taxpayers To Fund Mainland TV Host’s ‘Hidden Hawaiʻi’ Show - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii election tiebreaker rules set—just in time for General Election

SA: … Formalized rules for breaking Hawaii election ties may be in place for results of Tuesday’s general election after a decision Thursday by state Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago.

The head of the state Office of Elections approved administrative tiebreaker rules after a public hearing on Monday at which about 20 people, including two candidates who lost tiebreaker drawings for Hawaii’s Aug. 8 primary election, opposed or criticized draft rules for breaking ties pretty much the same way they were handled for the primary election.

If approved by Gov. Josh Green, the rules would be filed with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and take effect 10 days after that.

So, the rules could be ready for use in the event of any general election tie being determined after a statutory period that allows voters to cure ballot submission defects that lead county elections officials to withhold sealed ballots from being counted.….

Read … Hawaii election tiebreaker rules set | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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