Entries for April 2026

... The Jones Act is a protectionist relic that inflates the cost of living for every American while failing to deliver the very maritime security it was designed to provide ....

... slowly the details began to emerge ....

... “raised in the boiler room of local politics” ....

... FULL TEXT: State Auditor's urgent warning to Legislators ....

... The State of Hawaii has the third-worst retention of 20-30 year olds across all states ....

... the Office of Elections held a livestreamed drawing to determine the order that political parties will appear on the 2026 Primary Election ballot ....

...A conference committee vote Tuesday advanced a measure that would let nieces and nephews inherit Hawaiian home leases....

... ruling against a conservative 'election integrity' foundation’s efforts for a list of the Aloha State’s registered voters ....

...With the ‘target letter’ issued to Leo Asuncion Jr, the Sylvia Luke bribery scandal has exploded outward in a wholly new and unexpected direction – the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and with it, the Lahaina Fire coverup....

... SB3125:  “Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-28-26 2:45PM; Conference Room 309.” ....

... Judge Annalisa Bernard Lee, Maui and Judge Michael Soong, Kauai ....

... a $45K fake invoice, from a non-existent company, August 16, 2023, just one week after Lahaina burned to the ground ....

“there has not been a single commercial rebuild permit approved in almost two and a half years since the fires.”

"There are no controls designed to mitigate fraud risk when Procurement Laws are suspended by emergency proclamations...."

... Most of the action happens in back rooms ....

...House has voted to accept the Senate versions of both HB1875 juvenile sex change, and HB1961 protest outside Planned Parenthood thus they are now both enrolled directly to the Governor....

...Only in Hawaii: $20M / 47 single-wide mobile homes = $425,532 per unit with no land cost....

... another tax-hike bill still alive that has been quietly making its way through the legislative process: SB3028 ....

...A federal judge signaled he would allow some civil discovery to proceed in the government's bid to seize the late crime boss Michael Miske's $20 million fortune....

...a group of customers claimed the merger had increased flight costs and reduced services in violation of antitrust laws....

 ... bills introduced and votes cast in Congress ....

... Patronage capital is created when KIUC’s annual revenues exceed expenses ....

... Three men have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to a public official at the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development ....

... The case over a banned pesticide used on banana plantations in Costa Rica has spanned thirty years and multiple courts ....

"...to waive the Jones Act to try to hold down skyrocketing fuel and other energy costs is a blanket admission of the Jones Act’s crippling effects on our economy...."

" ...effective immediately, following Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke’s decision to take a leave of absence.... "

...If Sylvia Luke took $10K, the $35K bribe recipient is still out there, unidentified....

... O'ahu population trends, housing construction activities, land use approvals, and other trends ....

... while Hawaiʻi has one of the highest levels of distributed energy resource adoption in the nation, many of these resources are not optimized to support grid reliability or reduce reliance on fossil fuels ....

... A Ninth Circuit panel said a federal judge misinterpreted a key aviation liability law when tossing claims against an aircraft manufacturer named in a wrongful death lawsuit ....

... For Hawaii homeowners, the cost of housing as a share of median monthly household income is 50.02%.  For Hawaii renters, it is 62.52%.  Both figures are the highest in the USA ....

“One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.” – George Orwell

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge....

Ira Einhorn, Master of Ceremonies, Earth Day Rally on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, Phila, PA, Apr. 22, 1970.

... A federal judge signed off on payouts for 119 minors ....

... to engage with congressional leaders and senior Department of Defense (DoD) officials on military-leased lands in Hawaiʻi and proposed federal funding cuts to key Native Hawaiian programs ....

... DCR employee Julianne Kaniaupio with nine criminal charges for using her position to steal a credit card containing $8,960.11 from the out-processing paperwork of a Hālawa Correctional Facility inmate set for release ....

... along with $1,409,964.35 in restitution to the Small Business Administration ....

... WalletHub compared startup opportunities across 100 U.S. cities ....

...Hawaii has the most expensive average home price in the country, the smallest average home size of any state, and yard space that costs over 200% more than the national average....

“...I intend to continue doing the job I was elected to do...."

... HB1875 juvenile sex change passes Senate 21-4 ....

... Appeal to the Princess: Nahi’ena’ena, David Malo and Waine'e Church in Early Hawaiian Newspapers .... 

... WAM adopted our redraft ....

... several of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s priority measures are still in play ....

... Trump’s navigation waiver is the first to be issued since the enabling federal statute was extensively amended in 2021 to make the waiver process more restrictive ....

...FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Honolulu District have activated a closely coordinated joint operation to provide critical relief and initiate long-term recovery support....

... DHS has received federal approval for a temporary waiver allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households to purchase hot foods using their benefits at authorized retailers statewide, from April 17 through May 16, 2026 ....

... Hawaii has the highest sales and excise tax burden ....

... The injunction bars enforcement of HRS § 134-9(a)(5) to the extent it blocks non-residents from obtaining carry licenses based solely on residency ....