June 11, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

June 11, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:30 PM :: 299 Views

Hawaii justices examine doctors’ ability to challenge denied health insurance claims

Kauai Sewer Rates a Model for Honolulu Council?

Miske Crime Family Will Keep Some of His Money? Prosecutors Agree To Negotiate Settlement Over Asset Forfeiture

CB: … Federal prosecutors have agreed to work toward a negotiated settlement of the government’s civil forfeiture lawsuit targeting 27 properties held in Michael Miske’s name at the time of his death in December.

(TRANSLATION: It worked. By killing himself, Miske has engineered the transfer of his ill-gotten gains to his crime family.)

The deal between prosecutors and the San Francisco-based attorney representing the trust Miske established to hold title to his assets in the event of his disability or death is the first explicit indication the government is willing to cut a deal to avoid another long, complex and expensive trial in the case.

The disclosure came in a joint six-page stipulation asking for a five-month delay in the forfeiture proceedings to allow time necessary to prepare for and initiate settlement talks. The stipulation was filed in Honolulu’s U.S. District Court on Monday, and quickly approved by Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield the same day.

“Counsel for Plaintiff and for the Miske Trust have been in frequent contact about various issues in the case, and said parties wish to, and are in the process of, pursuing a stipulated resolution of this action that avoids formal discovery, contested motions, and court intervention,” according to the court filing….

ILind: Miske’s daughter-in-law will not benefit | i L i n d

ILind: A deal is brewing for Miske’s millions | i L i n d

read … Miske Case: Prosecutors Agree To Negotiate Settlement Over Asset Forfeiture

Next Scandal: City’s new housing agency a Ewa Villages Retread

SA: … The city has just launched the Department of Housing and Land Management (DHLM), pulling together into a single agency four previously separate offices that have dealt with housing matters….

In fact, this “new” agency is actually a relaunch of a similar one, after nearly 30 years. The city had the Department of Housing and Community Development until the 1997 arrest of city housing official Michael Kahapea. His management of the Ewa Villages project led to his conviction three years later for theft, money laundering and other charges.

That notorious case effectively put a comprehensive housing agency on ice….

So here’s where the most recent warning comes in, from a neighbor island jurisdiction but informative as Oahu’s newest department kicks off.

A federal jury on Wednesday found three men guilty in connection with a conspiracy with a Hawaii County worker to exchange affordable housing credits for $1.9 million in “paid bribes and kickbacks,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office….

read … Editorial: Warning for new housing agency | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaiʻi Foster System In Crisis: Kids Still Sleeping In Offices, Hotels

CB: … A toddler, age 2, spent the night in a government office on Kauaʻi. A 13-year-old slept on an Oʻahu office futon for almost two months. And a 15-year-old lived for more than three months out of offices and hotel rooms on Hawaiʻi island.

For some Hawaiʻi foster youth, government offices and hotels are a home of last resort.

What used to be a rare occurrence has become a trend that was first reported by Civil Beat two years ago. And it has persisted.

In the last two years, more than two dozen children have slept in offices or hotels when families, guardians and the foster system were unable to meet their basic needs, according to the latest data from the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services….

In Fiscal Year 2023, the monthly average stood at 843 foster homes for 1,225 foster youth, according to the state’s human services annual report. …

read … Hawaiʻi Foster System In Crisis: Kids Still Sleeping In Offices, Hotels

HECO scheme dies whimpering death

SA: … A yearlong study called Shift and Save (S&S) involved approximately 20,000 customers on Oahu and the Big Island. To simplify complicated rate schedules, participants were charged 50% more for evening (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) usage compared to the overnight rate and 50% less for daytime usage.

Did the scheme succeed? The answer was a resounding NO.

For standard residential customers, the average reduction in peak evening usage was only 3 kWh per month, amounting to about $1.50. Miniscule. Trial participants effectively said the evening slot is when they need electricity most — when they turn the lights on, cook dinner, watch TV and perhaps run their air conditioner. Customers simply didn’t, or weren’t able to, move such usage to daytime to avoid the punitive evening rate.

HECO previously communicated that S&S “is expected to be introduced to all customers in 2025.” But good news: that’s not going to happen. In an unusually swift decision, the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on May 21 concluded that the trial “did not achieve essential goals (and) should not be expanded to all HECo customers.” Kudos to the PUC for the prompt action, but more on a concern later.

From the HECO PUC filing: “The program struggled to provide a compelling value proposition for full-time daytime employees (and was) particularly problematic for customers who rely on electric vehicles for daily commuting.” Perhaps ratepayers cherish their freedom to decide their own behavior, rebuffing punitive pricing coercion from government and HECO to make them change.

For rooftop solar customers with net energy metering (NEM) contracts but without a battery, the scheme was particularly onerous. Since their daytime power generation was effectively sequestered in the daytime time slot, their cost of electricity each evening increased to the punitive rate. On average, their monthly bill increased by a punishing 19.5% on Oahu and a whopping 36.3% on the Big Island….

May 23: Total Fail: HECO ‘Time-of-Use Rates’ Abandoned

read … Column: HECO scheme dies whimpering death | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

New policy ‘czar’ will coordinate Hawaii’s role in Red Hill fuel cleanup

SAS: … The Hawaii Legislature has established a position for a Red Hill cleanup “czar” who will coordinate state policy regarding contamination left by the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility over its 80-year lifespan near Pearl Harbor. In the years ahead, that individual will coordinate the state’s role in environmental remediation across local, state and federal agencies. The legislation also created a special fund to address contaminated soil and groundwater….

read … New policy ‘czar’ will coordinate Hawaii’s role in Red Hill fuel cleanup

Mission Valley man beaten and left for dead by Bouncers during Hawaii vacation

10N: … Ortega says he had consumed two beers but was tired from the long day and dozed off at the bar twice.

"Next thing you know, a security guard comes and aggressively puts his arm around me and tries to pull me out… As my brother is trying to explain something to him, he punches me directly in my nose," Ortega said.

Ortega became separated from his group, and he says the guard followed him as he left the bar.

"We were on the street arguing. And after that, everything went black on me," Ortega said.

Hours later, Ortega woke up face down next to a dumpster about six blocks away from the bar.

"I felt my jaw was broken, my skull was exposed," Ortega said….

read … Mission Valley man beaten and left for dead during Hawaii vacation

Protective order against former UFC champ B.J. Penn extended

SA: … Penn must immediately vacate the home he shares in Hilo with his mom, Lorraine P. Shin, according to state court records.

Tuesday’s court appearance was the latest in a series of civil and criminal incidents involving the mixed martial artist and former candidate for governor and Hawaii County Council.

He is wanted on at least two contempt warrants for failing to appear in court after being charged with assaulting Shin.

On May 21, after failing to respond to a series of civil complaints, a judge awarded compensatory and punitive damages totaling $376,480 to a man who sued Penn for posting a series of “vitriolic, threatening, and demeaning communications” about the man.

Penn accused Kealii Bertelmann of impersonating Gov. Josh Green and “stealing money from Lahaina fire victims; being responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak in Hawaii; seeking to ‘take’ people’s guns; and, ‘doing climate change to take our money,’” according to state court records.

Penn was not arrested when he appeared in court Tuesday and refused to sign the amended protective order approved by the judge. He is not listed in the Hawaii Police Department’s booking log, according to a police spokesperson….

read … Protective order against former UFC champ B.J. Penn extended | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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