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Tuesday, August 5, 2025

August 5, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:06 PM :: 355 Views

Four New HART Board Members Appointed

Reviving the Paniolo Spirit: A Path to Sustainable Economic Renewal on Molokaʻi

Can Hawaiʻi get to 100% renewable energy?

E-Cars, Hybrids Banned from Kauai County Scrapyard

Three Decades of Corruption: DelaCruz Geothermal Scheme Traces All the Way Back to Unity House

CB: … At a community meeting this spring, geothermal consultants and audience members argued over who had stronger ancestral ties to the volcano goddess Pele. Then, Waikā Consulting made a case that volcanic heat on Hawaiʻi island should be harnessed for energy production. Many in the audience disagreed, calling the consultants sellouts.

(CLUE: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”)

In one particularly intense moment, the event moderator slammed his fists on the table and told everyone to shut up.

The meeting was the public kickoff of a $3 million taxpayer-funded campaign to sell the idea of geothermal energy to residents of the Big Island, where similar projects have faced stiff opposition in the past.

The state awarded Waikā Consulting the no-bid contract last October not just to educate the public about future geothermal developments but to coordinate research and create a plan to develop more plants. With at least half the money spent on things such as social media campaigns, foreign experts, op-eds and paid consultants posing as community supporters — in addition to eight other town halls like the one in May — so far the campaign seems to be falling flat….

HFP May, 2025: VIDEO: $4000 Dela Cruz Campaign Contribution buys Shouting Match in Hilo

The chairman of the County Council called one presentation — which leaned heavily on the use of Hawaiian deities — offensive….

HFP July, 2025: Fraud and Misrepresentation: IDG Geothermal Schemers Get Cold Reception from Hawaii County Council

Money for Waikā’s contract wound its way through several agencies, circumventing the usual procurement requirements for projects of this size. It was a chain reaction that started in the Legislature.

Waikā participated in a presentation to the Senate Ways and Means Committee in late 2023. It was hosted by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands as part of a pitch to lawmakers for $6 million to conduct geothermal exploration. But funds for the Hawaiian homes department failed to gain traction during the 2024 session.

Instead, the chairs of the Legislature’s appropriations committees — Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz and Rep. Kyle Yamashita — introduced companion bills to fund geothermal exploration and community outreach. The money in those bills was intended for the Hawaiʻi Technology Development Corp., a state agency.

Those measures stalled, but the committees headed by Dela Cruz and Yamashita agreed in late April 2024 to insert $6 million for geothermal energy exploration directly into the tech agency’s budget. Gov. Josh Green later slashed that funding in half, to $3 million.

The tech agency awarded the geothermal contract to the University of Hawaiʻi in October and cited a provision in state law exempting the contract from competition because it was awarded directly to another government agency.

A week later, records show UH issued a subaward for $2.7 million to Waikā.

In fact, by then the tech agency had already identified Waikā as the company to do outreach work on the Big Island, according to Vassilis Syrmos, a former UH vice president whose office oversaw the subaward to Waikā. He described Waikā as the agency’s “preferred company.”

Cabral also acknowledged that Waikā had been working with the tech agency, and that Matt Kobayashi, its aerospace coordinator, was Waikā’s “conduit,” facilitating introductions to officials including those at UH….

HFP March, 2025: SB1269: Mililani Trask’s Geothermal Scam Comes Back for More Millions

Cabral figured in a series of scandals in the early 2000s that involved defrauding the labor services organization Unity House.

In that case, she testified against a group of businessmen and attorneys who tried to steal money from Unity House through an elaborate banking scheme. Then she pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and wire fraud in a related case of a television special that never got off the ground.

Prosecutors alleged that the show was part of a kickback scheme intended to direct $150,000 to Cabral’s Honua Group — which she still runs today and which will be paid from the Waikā geothermal contract. …

HFP March, 2025: The Unity House Scandal Never Really Ended — decades later, it might bankrupt Hawaiian Electric

Cabral began working with Māori groups soon after completing her prison sentence. She said her company, Innovations Development Group, was integral to securing an agreement between a New Zealand energy developer and a Māori land trust that later saw revenues go to the Indigenous group. She hopes to replicate that here in Hawaiʻi.

HFP March, 2025: 'We Were Scammed:' NZ Lawsuits Expose fraudulent Hawaii Geothermal Developer

Read … Hawaiʻi’s High-Priced Geothermal Consultants Are Getting Heat - Honolulu Civil Beat

Some Oahu residents shocked over skyrocketing property taxes

KITV: … Right now Oahu properties are being assessed and appraised, so the City and county of Honolulu can come up with a tax assessment at the end of the year.

Some Oahu homeowners were surprised when they opened their mail and saw tax increases jump from one year to the next.

"It was approximately $1.3 million last year, and it's now been assessed at just under $2.4 million," said one concerned homeowner who didn't want to go on camera because of her upcoming appeal hearing.

She says the city told her why her property value nearly doubled.

"They said it was the number of renovations that had been done since 1965 that had not been captured." ….

"I found that about 20% of their assessments were 10% or more over market value, and about 10% or 30,000 homeowners were assessed at 20% or more over market value," stated Madden.

Some even much more, like a Hawaii Kai villa on the water that had a nearly 50% increase in assessed value….

"If somebody wants to appeal their assessment, they have to prove to the city that the assessment is 10% or more over market value. In other words, the city is saying to us, 'It's okay if they're up to 10% over market value, just suck it up. You guys have to pay it.'," added Madden….

Read … Some Oahu residents shocked over skyrocketing property taxes | Local | kitv.com

Honolulu Is Canceling Its Empty Homes Tax Study. Will That Kill The Bill?

CB: … After years of failed attempts, the Honolulu City Council came closer than ever to approving a higher tax on homes left vacant for at least six months of the year as part of efforts to increase the availability of housing for local residents.

The controversial empty homes tax bill was on the brink of being rejected again during a final vote in December, but Council Chair Tommy Waters threw it a lifeline. He proposed tabling the bill until a city-commissioned study on how to implement the tax could be completed.

But the city is quietly canceling that $500,000 study even though final results had been due in mid-September, according to budget director Andy Kawano. The decision surprised Waters and council member Radiant Cordero, who co-introduced the bill.

REALITY: ‘Empty Homes Tax’ Drives Rent up 37%

Read … Honolulu Is Canceling Its Empty Homes Tax Study. Will That Kill The Bill? - Honolulu Civil Beat

State Boards Must Release Records Showing Hiring Decisions, Judge Says

CB: … The Defender Council selected Jon Ikenaga as State Public Defender in 2023. Kimura found the Defender Council failed to keep proper records for public meetings, including executive session meetings, when it deliberated on the appointment of Ikenaga. The council also wrongfully cited privacy concerns, among other things, for going into executive session, the judge said.

The court likewise agreed the ADC’s board made a slew of Sunshine Law missteps in the hiring of Gady, inappropriately using ad hoc committees in the candidate search and wrongfully interviewing candidates in private.

Ultimately, the Public First lawsuit aims to have the court throw out a 2023 opinion from the Office of Information Practices that the ADC, the Defender Council and other state boards and commissions say is justification to keep the hiring process secret.

The judge is expected to issue a ruling in a few weeks on the merits of the OIP opinion and whether it is legally sound….

For the ADC, the minutes reveal the board’s struggle to choose an executive director who would move the agency forward while not harming political connections in the Legislature and elsewhere. The board ultimately chose Wendy Gady as the best candidate for the future well-being of the ADC….

Read … State Boards Must Release Records Showing Hiring Decisions, Judge Says - Honolulu Civil Beat

Trial set for Big Island brothers suing state over wrongful conviction compensation

HNN: … Two Hawaii Island brothers wrongfully convicted in the Dana Ireland murder case will face off against the state in an effort to get compensation.

Albert Ian and Shawn Schweitzer are the first to get a trial date of the Hawaii men freed so far because new evidence showed they did not commit the crime that sent them to prison.

A Circuit Court judge in Hilo set trial for March 30, 2026.

It has already been two years and eight months since Albert Ian Schweitzer was freed in court. He served 23 years for the rape and murder of Dana Ireland in 1991….

Read … Trial set for Big Island brothers suing state over wrongful conviction compensation

Some Hawaii families scramble for after school childcare

KITV: … The YMCA of Honolulu has a waitlist of about 500 students -- that's down from a thousand in year's past….

Kama'aina Kids also has a waitlist of children still needing care and said it's working as fast as it can to hire more staff to meet the demand.

The YMCA is offering a $500 new hire bonus and has raised pay to up to $19.50 an hour, in addition to other benefits….

SA: Renovated classrooms double preschool capacity, cut waitlist | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

KHON: 'Ready Keiki:' Waialae Elem. School pre-k capacity doubles

KHON: School is back in session: Hopes for A+ in attendance

Read … Some Hawaii families scramble for after school childcare | News | kitv.com

Nonprofit still searching for COFA citizens on Oʻahu to apply for COVID funeral aid

HPR: … A federal program providing funeral assistance to those who lost loved ones — excluding citizens of Micronesian nations — to COVID-19 is set to end in late September.

But the City and County of Honolulu has funded a $2 million program to assist Pacific Islander migrants on Oʻahu.

So far, only five people have applied, according to Josie Howard, executive director of We Are Oceania….

Read … Nonprofit still searching for COFA citizens on Oʻahu to apply for COVID funeral aid | Hawai'i Public Radio

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