Affordable housing? Hawaii has already solved this problem
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East Honolulu’s 22-year political transformation
Hawaii Jail Abuse Case Before US Supreme Court Today
Assisted suicide in Hawaii up 55.3%
SA: … the number of Hawaii residents dying after ingesting medication prescribed under the state’s medical aid-in-dying law continues to rise.
Hawaii recorded 59 such deaths in 2025, a 55.3% increase from the 38 reported in 2024, according to the state Department of Health’s latest annual report on the Our Care, Our Choice Act.
The 2025 figure is the highest annual total since the law took effect in January 2019. The cumulative number of reported deaths following ingestion of the medication reached 254 by the end of 2025.
The increase comes as the department acknowledges limitations in its ability to track patients who receive prescriptions under the law, raising questions about the completeness of the state’s annual statistics and its oversight of the program.
In its 2025 annual report, DOH acknowledged that it does not consistently receive complete follow-up information about patients who receive prescriptions under the law ….
Read … Assisted suicide in Hawaii rises amid opposition | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Lahaina Rebuild Takes Three Years and Counting—but it’s a real money spinner for doo-gooders
CB: … A Maui family lays the foundation for a new home three years after it was destroyed by the deadliest U.S. wildfires in a century. Meanwhile …
As Mikey Burke walked into her acupuncture appointment on a Wednesday morning in May, she felt the energy shift, just as she always does….
Burke, a mother of four, has been going to the local health center since her home burned down three years ago in the deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century. Sometimes, it feels like these appointments are the only time she can truly breathe.
“I don’t think people realize how hard a time people are still having,” said Ahia, who directs Maui Medic Healers Hui, a community organization that operates out of the state-run center. “Pretty much no one is fine.”
“And we’re almost worse off now than we were right after the fires,” Burke replied.
“Can you say a little bit more about that,” Ahia asked, softly.
Burke’s appointment was one day before a construction crew would pour the cement foundation of her family’s future home, and the same week that the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study might be shutting down for good. …
Read … The Unrelenting Ordeal Of Wildfire Recovery - Honolulu Civil Beat
Big Oil against LNG for Hawaii
IM: … JERA floated a scenario whereby LNG would replace all utility fuel on Oahu and another scenario whereby LNG would replace all utility fuel on all islands. JERA also asserted that there would be rapid growth in electric vehicles….
Read … Fuel Fight: How JERA’s LNG Project Threatens PAR Hawaii | Ililani Media
Hawaii Electricity Cost Highest in USA
EC: … Hawaii’s electricity rates are more than double the national average—and it’s not even close. At 47.18¢/kWh on Oahu and often even higher on neighbor islands, Hawaii residents pay more for electricity than anyone else in the country ….
read … Hawaii Electricity Cost per kWh (November 2026)
Recent storms damaged HEI finances, but company sustains profit
SA: … The parent of Hawaiian Electric said on Friday that investments it made to mitigate wildfire risk over the last three years paid dividends while two hurricanes brushed the state recently, but the storms still caused the company major financial damage.
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. disclosed in a financial report that Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September caused an estimated $14 million in extraordinary expenses, including emergency work to repair downed power lines.
Lowell also caused damage that prevented the restarting of a biomass-fueled power plant on Kauai that HEI owns through subsidiary Mahipapa LLC, which led the subsidiary to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Tuesday…..
As a result, HEI cut the value of Mahipapa’s assets by $51 million, and regards the remaining value to be a salvage value. Prior to the storm, HEI had an agreement to sell the 7.5-megawatt plant that previously sold electricity to Kauai’s customer-owned utility company, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.
Despite the storm-related financial hits, HEI earned a $35 million profit during the July-September quarter, up from $31 million in the same quarter last year.
The recent third-quarter profit was driven by $64 million in realized and unrealized gains from a minority ownership stake in Honolulu-based American Savings Bank….
Read … Recent storms damaged HEI finances, but company sustains profit | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaiʻi Welcomed These Students To College. They Said No Thanks
CB: … The program, called Direct2UH, is now in its second year and has expanded to include guaranteed admissions to UH’s flagship campus in Mānoa. But so far, it has not caused an influx of new students in Hawaiʻi’s public university system.
While the number of applications from Hawaiʻi public high seniors increased by 18% over the past year, data shows, the number of local students enrolled fell by 6% this fall. University leaders say it’s still too early to determine the success of the program, which initially excluded the flagship UH Mānoa campus and wasn’t open to charter school students last year.
“I don’t think that we have sufficient data to really explain — even to ourselves — exactly what’s happening with that,” said interim Vice President of Academic Strategy Kim Siegenthaler.
In total, UH enrolled more than 50,600 students this fall, a slight 2% decline from last year. Enrollment is 5% lower than it was a decade ago, although numbers have remained fairly stable over the past few years. …
Read … Hawaiʻi Welcomed These Students To College. They Said No Thanks - Honolulu Civil Beat
Wespac Seeks A New Executive Director To Replace Kitty Simonds – can enviros exploit this opportunity to capture Wespac?
CB: … There’s been speculation for years about whether Simonds would retire — and what that might mean for the federal fisheries council and its role in the Western Pacific….
read … Wespac Seeks A New Executive Director To Replace Kitty Simonds - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaiʻi Agriculture And Biosecurity Director Resigns
CB: … The search is on for a new state director for the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.
Sharon Hurd announced her resignation from the post just days before Josh Green was reelected as governor, bringing her almost 20-year tenure in the department to a close and creating another vacancy in his Cabinet….
Read … Hawaiʻi Agriculture And Biosecurity Director Resigns - Honolulu Civil Beat
Fourth delay in fireworks smuggling case; prelim set for Nov. 19
HTH: … Almost 11 months after their initial appearances in federal court in Honolulu, two East Hawaii men charged with illegally importing fireworks into Hawaii from the mainland and distributing them haven’t entered pleas to the charges.
Darrel Goo, 53, of Keaau, and Cy Tamura, 46, of Hilo — who made their initial appearances on Dec. 30 last year — each are free on $50,000 bail.
Both men are charged with conspiracy, transporting fireworks into Hawaii, and engaging in the business of and transporting, distributing and storing explosive materials….
read … Fourth delay in fireworks smuggling case; prelim set for Nov. 19 | Hawaii Tribune-Herald
State’s largest vape retailer to close at end of the year, citing new laws
HNN: … Volcano E-cigs has been in business since 2009 and currently has 13 locations on three islands around the state.
Volcano’s owner says those stores will close at the end of the year just before new state laws go into effect.
“We’ve given adult smokers an opportunity to adopt different technologies and move away from combustible tobacco,” said Scott Rasak, Volcano’s chief operating officer.
The company has promoted itself as Hawaii’s original vape shop. But this week, it warned the state it will cease operations on Dec. 31, one day ahead of new state laws prohibiting the sale of disposal e-cig devices, and allowing only those authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
“We succeeded in passing these two bills to really narrow the market and the availability of e-cigarettes in the State of Hawaii from 7,000 down to about 48,” said Kevin Ramirez, the program manager for the Coalition For A Tobacco-Free Hawaii.
“What you’ll expect to see when you go in these shops is empty shelves -- if they’re still open. Or they’re going to be operating completely illegally,” said Rasak….
KITV: VOLCANO eCigs to close all locations across Hawaii | Business | kitv.com
read … State’s largest vape retailer to close at end of the year, citing new laws | Hawaii News Now
Honolulu City Council advances shopping-cart bill despite opposition from homeless drug addict enablers
SA: … Profanity-laced testimony from one opponent and widespread criticism from others failed to put the brakes on a controversial Honolulu City Council measure aimed at curbing shopping-cart theft and abandonment, as Bill 53 advanced despite claims that it unfairly targets Oahu’s homeless population.
The Council voted 7-2 Thursday, with Council members Esther Kia‘aina and Matt Weyer dissenting, to approve the second of three readings of a measure that would broadly prohibit possessing, using or offering shopping carts for use in the city…
Big Q: Do you support a stepped-up Oahu shopping-cart ban and enforcement? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser ‘YES’ = 78%
SA: Editorial: Let Council roll on cart crackdown | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Honolulu City Council advances shopping-cart bill despite homeless concerns | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
“Due Process Road Show” Pushing for Less Cooperation with Feds
BIVN: … The Due Process Roadshow is running through January, and is bringing together the people who support the “Six Laws, Real Aloha” immigration laws passed by the 2026 Hawaiʻi legislature, and later signed into law by Governor Josh Green. There will be presentations on the following:
- Act 141, limiting local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement;
- Act 142, establishing statewide standards for U and T visa certifications for crime survivors;
- Act 143, reducing the maximum sentence for nonviolent misdemeanors from 365 to 364 days;
- Act 161, requiring notice of rights for people in state and county custody before any civil immigration interview;
- Act 162, requiring protected community locations to adopt policies for responding to federal immigration enforcement; and
- Act 179, establishing a language access education and workforce development program at the University of Hawai’i.
…The Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights (HCIR) is co-hosting the events with Hawai‘i County Council Member Jennifer Kagiwada, The Legal Clinic (TLC), the ACLU of Hawai‘i, A.L.O.H.A. Latinos Association, Kona Indivisible, and North Hawai’i Indivisible….
read … “Due Process Road Show” Coming To Hawaiʻi Island – Big Island Video News
Hawaii’s high court to decide whether Honolulu Zoo elephants have rights
SA: … The Hawaii Supreme Court will hear arguments today from the Nonhuman Rights Project and the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Enterprise Services on whether the elephants should be granted a habeas corpus proceeding, which would determine whether they have been illegally detained. The Nonhuman Rights Project contends that elephants particularly have complex cognition and therefore have the right of bodily autonomy and liberty under Hawaii law….
The Nonhuman Rights Project has filed at least 12 similar cases in other states, though none have successfully released any animals. The group did secure the first habeas corpus order for an elephant in 2018, meaning the court would hear arguments as to whether Happy the elephant had rights and was therefore illegally imprisoned at the Bronx Zoo, but the effort ultimately failed in the New York Court of Appeals. In a 5-2 decision, justices decided the liberty right was reserved for human beings….
read … Hawaii’s high court to decide whether Honolulu Zoo elephants have rights | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
QUICK HITS:
- Off the news: Voters elect new blood to OHA board | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
- Midterm Elections Live Updates: Democrats Project Power as G.O.P. Reels in a Reordered Washington
- Asian-American voters, younger turnout fuel blue wave for Democrats in midterms | South China Morning Post
- November 8, 2026 issue of The Environmental Notice
- Months after Hurricane Lala, Maui residents want ‘dangerous’ storm debris removed | Hawaii News Now
- Kokee, Waimea Canyon State Parks reopen after Hurricane Lowell damage | Hawaii News Now
- 11/8/26 – KŌKEʻE AND WAIMEA CANYON STATE PARKS REOPEN ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7 – Department of Land and Natural Resources
- $2.8M UH partnership aims to protect forests across Pacific Islands | Hawaii News Now
- Fireball lights up Hawaii sky: Astronomers weigh in
- Makana Eyre: Rapa Nui’s Ruin Wasn’t ‘Ecocide.’ Stop Blaming The Victims - Honolulu Civil Beat
- Mystery U.S. Army vehicles spotted in Hawaii are fake tanks
- Couple Spends $70K on Hawaii Off-Grid Home for Financial Freedom (Exclusive)