Lahaina: "Feelings of conspiracy and mistrust"
Rep Gene Ward Retires from House--Republicans Must Nominate Successor
Hawaii LNG Proposal Could Save Hawaiian Electric fom Bankruptcy
IM: … PAR informed HECO during the Covid-19 pandemic that PAR was breaking the existing fuel contract. PAR forced Hawaiian Electric to renegotiate terms to PAR's satisfaction under threat that if PAR was unhappy, PAR would shut down the refinery.
The Public Utilities Commission proceeding examining the threat involved HECO, Consumer Advocate, Life of the Land, and the Hawaii State Energy Office.
The renegotiated agreement cost HECO $160,000,000 which was passed onto ratepayers. A typical 500 kWh residential bill increased by $5.17 per month.
PAR also forced new contracts on others including The Gas Company….
Two competing fuel proposals are being put forward. One involves (really expensive) biofuels, 80% of which would be imported, and all of which would be refined at the PAR Hawaii refinery. (CLUE: $7/gallon.)
(REALITY: Biofuels=”Bulldoze Borneo rainforest murder Orangutans and call it ‘green’”.)
The other is bypassing PAR by importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to be sold directly to HECO.
In the LNG scenario, HECO will build new gas generators. Half of the projected savings will come from operating more efficient generators. The other half of the projected savings will come from burning gas rather than oil ….
(CLUE: Reduction in HECO’s operating costs can make the difference in HECO’s financial viability.)
RELATED: The Unity House Scandal Never Really Ended — decades later, it might bankrupt Hawaiian Electric
read … Hawaii LNG Proposal Requires Complex Environmental Impact Statement
Hawaii Parents Begin Freeing their Kids from Transsexual Agenda
CB: In a proposal Tim Hehemann shared with his fellow board members, the West Maui school would only allow students to dress according to their birth gender. The same guidelines would apply to students’ abilities to use bathrooms and participate on sports teams, he added.
“Maui Prep is a small, nonprofit school that cannot meet the needs of every student or family,” Hehemann said in his email to the board.
The school eventually rolled back parts of its original plan …. The policy now states that the school will respect students’ pronouns with the approval of their parents, but it still requires kids to join sports teams and use bathrooms matching the sex they were assigned at birth.
(CLUE: In making this policy, MPA was able to cleanse itself of wokesters on the board and faculty. A big improvement for the school!)
The policy won’t go into effect until next year, but some advocates and educators say they’re concerned more schools may follow Maui Preparatory Academy’s lead amid growing pressure from the federal government to strip away protections for transgender students. …
… Hawaiʻi’s constitution prevents private schools from receiving state funding, exempting them from state anti-discrimination laws, said Philip Bossert, executive director at the Hawaiʻi Association of Independent Schools.
The association previously considered developing a policy around transgender students for member schools to adopt, but ultimately decided against it since every private school has the right to make its own decisions, Bossert added.
Roughly 80% of the 102 private schools in the association are religious. Maui Prep is an independent school with no religious affiliation.
On Oʻahu, Pacific Buddhist Academy allows transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice or a private staff restroom. David Kenney, head of school at St. Anthony School in Wailuku, said the small Catholic school requires students to use bathrooms and participate in sports based on their sex assigned at birth. (CLUE: Enroll here.)
Public schools in Hawaiʻi, even those in more socially conservative parts of the state, have to follow much stronger rules aimed at allowing transgender students to express themselves with few requirements.
Those protections are likely to be tested by recent orders from the federal government.
For nearly a decade, the education department has required public schools to let (male) students use the (female) bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity (if they pretend to be female), regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth (actually are) … according to the 2016 policy….
A second Trump directive on sports participation raises the stakes on an issue that was already sparking debate in public and private schools.
Fewer than 10 transgender students compete in Hawaiʻi high school sports every year, according to Christopher Chun, who runs the Hawaiʻi High School Athletic Association. The association currently allows students to join sports teams based on their gender identity.
Island-specific sports leagues have taken a similar approach, putting more pressure on private schools to include their transgender students in athletics.
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu, which governs private school athletics on Oʻahu, says in its handbook that transgender students are allowed to participate in sports based on their gender identity, as long as they don’t have unfair physical advantages. …
The Maui Interscholastic League also allows high school students to participate in sports based on their gender identity, and member schools — both public and private — are supposed to follow suit.
At Maui Prep, Solis said the school only received clarification on the league’s policies recently and is still considering how to serve its student-athletes moving forward. The school requires high school students to participate in at least one sport every year.
But some parents and lawmakers have strongly opposed these policies, contending that they put female students at a disadvantage.
In 2020, Lahainaluna High School coach and parent Cynthia Monteleone filed a Title IX complaint with the state education department. The complaint argued that Monteleone’s daughter and other female students were facing unfair treatment competing against a transgender athlete from Kamehameha Schools Maui in a girls’ track and field meet. …
It’s unclear how the recent federal directive will impact local schools. In an emailed statement, Hawaiʻi education department spokesperson Nanea Ching said the agency is currently assessing the impact of executive orders on local schools and transgender students and will recommend policy changes at the state level if necessary. …
State Rep. Diamond Garcia introduced a bill this year that would require students to participate in high school sports based on their sex assigned at birth. The bill didn’t pass the House….
Mar 19, 2025: Maui Prep Academy dumps transsexual agenda
read … Transgender Students Have Strong Protections In Hawaiʻi. That May Not Last - Honolulu Civil Beat
SB1043: Bill to Eliminate GE Tax on Food and Medicine Gutted
CB: … Rep. Greggor Ilagan, chair of the House Economic Development and Technology Committee, gutted a bill to exempt the sale of groceries and nonprescription drugs from the general excise tax.
A reduced GET for nonprescription drugs is still alive in an amended version of the bill, but Ilagan nixed the food section … even though food is expensive in Hawaiʻi, there are lots of people struggling to get by and the GET is a regressive tax.
“The reason for this amendment is we understand the financial situation we are in this year, and we know that if we exempt the tax out of groceries, that’s going to cost us upward of $200 (million) to $300 million into affecting our budget, and we already have received from the council of revenue some not favorable projections,” Ilagan said at the hearing….
SB1043: Text, Status
read … Gutted
Visitor ‘green fees’ bill passes Hawaii House committees
SA: … Two House committees Thursday passed a bill that would impose more user fees to nonresidents who visit specified state parks and trails.
The House Tourism and Water and Land Committee passed the latest version of Senate Bill 439, which would allow the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to select certain state parks that would require a user fee, be adjusted over time for inflation and contribute to the state parks special fund.
Currently, there are 10 state parks with parking and entry fees, four of which have advance reservation systems for regulated access and collecting fees, according to written testimony by Dawn Chang, state Department of Land and Natural Resources chair….
read … Visitor ‘green fees’ bill passes Hawaii House committees
Campaign Reform Measures Are Dropping Like Flies
CB: … only seven remaining as we enter the last month or so of session. Those still with us include the proposal to close a pay-to-play loophole with more restrictions on donations by state contractors and grantees, a beefed-up partial public financing bill and a measure allowing candidates to use campaign funds for child care while campaigning.
But Friday is the day they need to have cleared all but their last remaining committee …..
And speaking of campaign finance issues, a small but important part of the state budget, House Bill 300 now in the hands of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, includes $200,000 to expand the staff of the Campaign Spending Commission….
read … Campaign Reform Measures Are Dropping Like Flies
More Musical Chairs at HTA
SA: … The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has appointed Caroline Anderson as its new interim president and CEO following the resignation of its current interim top leader Daniel Naho’opi’i, who had been in the role for the past 18 months.
Naho’opi’i, who ends his tenure Friday at HTA, had been the agency’s 11th top leader since the state Legislature created the HTA in 1998.
Naho’opi’i was HTA chief administrative officer when he took over duties for former HTA President and CEO John De Fries, who left HTA on Sept. 15, 2023, at the close of his three-year contract. He also took on the duties of chief brand officer last year after Kalani Ka‘ana‘ana was named chief stewardship officer ….
HPR: Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority names new interim leader | Hawai'i Public Radio
read … HTA scrambles to fill void after departure of another president and CEO | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Michaels Org Quits as Contractor for KPT Public Housing Overhaul
CB: … Three weeks after Civil Beat reported on problems faced by public housing tenants being moved out of Kūhiō Park Terrace to make way for new construction, the state has swapped the company overseeing that project.
The Michaels Organization is to be replaced by Highridge Costa Development Company. The Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority in 2023 hired Highridge Costa to tear down nine other public housing properties statewide and build 10,000 new affordable housing units in their place, a project called Ka Lei Momi. ….
Following the meeting, the housing authority’s executive director, Hakim Ouansafi, said Michaels had initiated the decision to transfer management of the project to Highridge Costa, and that the housing authority had approved it after vetting the new company’s capacity to take it on….
BACKGROUND:
read … State Suddenly Swaps Contractor For Major Oʻahu Public Housing Overhaul
Maui Council Budget Committee questions unspent $12M from Affordable Housing Fund
MN: … The Maui County Council’s Budget and Finance Committee has questions about nearly $12 million in unspent and unencumbered funds in the County’s Affordable Housing Fund….
(CLUE: Lahaina burns down but they still aren’t doing 100% for affordable housing.)
read … Council Budget Committee questions unspent appropriations from Affordable Housing Fund
80% of Homeless Refusing Help
HNN: … “It’s hard to convince them that there is a way out, there’s a chance to kind of redo their lives because in the past, maybe they didn’t have that trust”, (they’re hooked on meth and all they want is their next rock) …
Dozens of City enforcements have been conducted in 2025, State officials also cleared out a decades-long encampment from just outside Waimanalo Beach Park on Friday, March 14….
The City Homeless Solution director said only about two out of every 10 homeless individuals they connect with during enforcement engage with the services provided to them….
(REALITY: It is inhumane to not arrest the homeless and forcibly incarcerate them in jail-like drug treatment facilities until cured. Stop being inhumane.)
A point-in-time count of Hawaii’s homeless population was not conducted in 2025 and will not be held again until 2026.
Latest numbers from 2024 showed just over 6,300 people experienced homelessness in the state….
read … Hawaii's homeless sweeps, what else is needed
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