Erasing progress not the way to move forward
Nonresident Withholding, Six Years Later
Kauai Judicial Vacancy
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted October 4, 2025
UH enrollment tops 51,000, highest in eight years
Mafia News: Three Names for Hawaii Chief Justice
CB: “…The Blog hears that besides McKenna, Justice Vlad Devins and former U.S. Attorney Clare Connors have expressed interest. Other high court members, Todd Eddins and Lisa Ginoza, have reportedly decided not to apply….”
Background:
Sept 2025: JSC: "Insufficient Applicants for Chief Justice"
read … The Sunshine Blog: Strange Suit That Ensnared Maui Police Chief May Unravel - Honolulu Civil Beat
Opinionated new top judge gets off to injudicious start
Shapiro: … The state Supreme Court was ruling on a petition by its Office of Disciplinary Council to restrict Leong’s law license. Justices unanimously dismissed it on the narrow grounds that from the record presented by ODC, “we cannot conclude that the misdemeanor to which respondent pled guilty involved dishonesty or false statements.”
The unanimous ruling didn’t address the overall merit of the federal case against Leong and the others. There was no reason to inflame a settled matter.
But McKenna, who became acting chief justice when the scrupulously nonpolitical Mark Recktenwald retired Oct. 1, wrote a sidebar also signed by Justice Todd Eddins challenging the premise of the federal case — that the defendants illegally conspired to avoid getting required City Council approval for Kealoha’s payout.
“In my opinion, city law did not require City Council approval of Kealoha’s retirement agreement in the first place,” she wrote, offering a relitigation that mostly tracked arguments the defendants, all appointees of former Mayor Kirk Caldwell, had made federal court.
McKenna pointlessly parsed legalistic definitions, in a case not within her court’s purview, while glossing over the wrongdoing at issue….
(CLUE: Thus showing that she is ready, willing, and able to protect corrupt local politicos as Chief Justice.)
read … Volcanic Ash: Opinionated new top judge gets off to injudicious start | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Senator Voted For Bills Backed By Lobbyists He's Going To Work For
CB: … Civil Beat reviewed the 60 bills that passed through the Senate Labor and Technology Committee, which Aquino chairs. The analysis excluded appropriations for collective bargaining agreements with public workers unions.
HPPA’s clients backed 24 of the bills that passed Aquino’s committee and opposed four — nearly half of the measures that Aquino’s committee considered. The committee advanced another 32 measures that the firm’s clients didn’t weigh in on, according to filings with the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission.
Nine of the bills supported by the lobbying firm’s clients ultimately became law.
One of those measures listed Aquino as the primary author and was supported by HGEA, the largest labor union in the state and one of HPPA’s most prominent clients.
The new law requires the Hawaiʻi Attorney General’s Office to defend professionally licensed or certified state employees from civil actions or proceedings under certain circumstances….
RELATED: SD19: Aquino Quits Senate to Join Lobbying Firm
read … Senator Voted For Bills Backed By Lobbyists He's Going To Work For - Honolulu Civil Beat
Kalua Case Ruling ‘expected to lead to more releases of records by DHS, Family Court’
SA: … Records pertaining to Ariel’s placement with her alleged killers, Isaac and Lehua Kalua of Waimanalo, had been withheld from the public until this decision. That raised disappointing comparisons to the horrific saga of 6-year-old Peter “Peter Boy” Kema Jr., whose father reported him missing in 1998 — and confessed 20 years later to killing his son in 1997. In that case, Hawaii courts tightly restricted what could be publicly disclosed, and state officials have used the decision as a template for secrecy for too long.
Last week, the Supreme Court found that records must be revealed, redacting only names, initials, dates of birth and other personal information pertaining to other minors in the Kalua household. The court set a 30-day window for outside objections to the information’s release, and to consider proposals that other information should be withheld.
This landmark judgment and the standards set can be expected to lead to more releases of records by Hawaii’s Department of Human Services (DHS), Family Court and state foster system administrators than have been granted over past decades. It’s an overdue determination, as state officials and family court have been interpreting privacy rules in an overly restrictive manner. That has been to the detriment of children in peril and to the public, as access to details of state processes is necessary to advocate for reform….
read … Editorial: Ruling reminds that keiki safety is all’s concern | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Chief of Biden’s Open Border ICE Joins Honolulu Police Commission
CB: … former three-time police chief Chris Magnus was given a unanimous thumbs up by the Honolulu City Council last week to become the newest member of the Honolulu Police Commission. Magnus is Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s pick to replace outgoing commissioner Doug Chin ….
The Mānoa resident was put forward by Blangiardi in August and initially met some resistance by council members who questioned the fact that he wasn’t local (he and his husband moved here two years ago after retiring) and thus couldn’t possibly understand Hawaiʻi culture and police issues. Others raised concerns over an unsuccessful lawsuit filed by Black officers in California as well as his short tenure as the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol chief under President Joe Biden ….
Blangiardi still has one more opening on the seven-member commission to fill, replacing Carrie Okinaga, who skedaddled as soon as former police chief Joe Logan resigned and it became apparent another long process to hire a new chief lay ahead.
The commission is predicting the city will have a new top cop by next summer….
REALITY: DEI for HPD: Sneaking in Biden’s Former Border Chief as Next Honolulu Police Commissioner
CB: Neal Milner: Unhinged Is A Bad Look For Honolulu's Mayor - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … The Sunshine Blog: Strange Suit That Ensnared Maui Police Chief May Unravel - Honolulu Civil Beat
Judge to Sanction Lawyers in Frivolous ‘Diddy’ Case that Fooled Bissen?
CB: … The weird lawsuit against Maui Police Chief John Pelletier and his co-defendants — convicted rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, comedian Druski, football star Odell Beckham Jr. plus at least eight others — just took a turn for the weirder.
(This frivolous case was good enough to fool Bissen and SHOPO.)
Last week the two attorneys representing a woman named Ashley Parham and two people known only as John and Jane Doe pulled out of the case. As in withdrew. Leaving their clients to either represent themselves or scramble to find new lawyers.
This after the federal judge in California, where the case has been plodding along the last seven months, has indicated she may impose sanctions against the attorneys — Ariel Mitchell and Shawn Perez — because they continue to refuse to drop the claims against several defendants, including Druski and Beckham, who have submitted solid evidence they were nowhere near the alleged rape and kidnapping of Parham and the Does that supposedly took place in 2018. Pelletier also has provided evidence that he was not involved, as has Jacquelyn “Jaguar” Wright, who produced paperwork showing she was actually in prison when the alleged sexual assault occurred.
Druski and Beckham have filed motions for sanctions that contend they have each spent more than $50,000 on legal fees in this case. And they want their money back….
Besides possibly being on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in sanctions for dragging the defendants in this case through an expensive wringer, Mitchell is facing disciplinary proceedings in Florida relating to dishonesty and allegations of witness tampering in a high-profile complaint she brought against a celebrity a few years ago, according to a complaint filed in July by the Florida Bar with the Florida Supreme Court….
FLASHBACK: Crackpot Lawsuit is all it takes--Maui Mayor and SHOPO make Complete Fools of Themselves Trying to get rid of Chief Pelletier
read … The Sunshine Blog: Strange Suit That Ensnared Maui Police Chief May Unravel - Honolulu Civil Beat
Sentencing delayed for culprits in county housing credits fraud
HTH: … Sentencing has been postponed for two Hilo lawyers and a Big Island businessman convicted of an affordable housing credits scam, as has sentencing of the prosecution’s star witness in the trio’s federal trial.
Attorney Gary Charles Zamber was to have been sentenced Tuesday and businessman Rajesh P. Budhabhatti on Wednesday, while attorney Paul J. Sulla Jr. was to have been sentenced on Oct. 21.
Sentencing for the 79-year-old Sulla is now scheduled for Jan. 7, while the 56-year-old Zamber and 65-year-old Budhabhatti are now scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, respectively.
The trio was found guilty June 4 by a Honolulu jury of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and nine counts of honest services wire fraud….
Sentencing for Alan Scott Rudo — a former housing specialist in the county Office of Housing and Community Development from 2006 to 2018 who testified against the three in their trial — is now set for Nov. 19.
U.S. District Judge Jill Otake, who heard the jury trial, will sentence all four….
read … Sentencing delayed for culprits in county housing credits fraud - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Feds were told of Miske’s suicidal thoughts
ILind: … Miske’s death prior to sentencing led to an order by Judge Derrick Watson in February dismissing the criminal case. The entire matter, from the original indictment to conviction, including jury’s finding that Miske’s estate should be forfeited to the government, simply disappeared with Miske’s death, at least in a legal sense.
This points to another factor that could be relevant. In the matter of the forfeiture of Miske’s assets, estimated to be worth as much as $25 million, the disappearance of the criminal case had one direct and dramatic result. Had Miske lived and been unsuccessful at challenging the jury’s verdict on appeal, the entire amount would have gone to the government, as the jury had already ruled on the matter of criinal forfeiture.
After his death, however, the government has to try to prove its right to claim Miske’s assets by filing a civil forfeiture lawsuit, now pending in Honolulu’s Federal District Court.
However, the prospect of another long and costly trial with an uncertain outcome has prompted federal lawyers to enter into negotiations with the attorney representing Miske’s personal trust, which also claims the assets. Both sides say they hope to reach a agreement to divide the estate, with an undetermined amount to go to the Miske’s trust’s sole beneficiary, his granddaughter.
There is no indication in the existing record whether or not Miske knew that his death would create this legal possibility of grabbing back some of his assets from the government, an outcome which now appears highly likely….
read … Feds were told of Miske’s suicidal thoughts
First neighbor island kauhale preparing to open on Maui
SA: … unlike the first 100-square-foot, “stick-built” wooden tiny homes that continue to go up across Oahu, each of Kipuola’s 100-square-foot, prefabricated modular homes are made in South Korea out of white, exterior aluminum composite materials that help deflect heat.
The interiors were built out of laminated steel in case of a fire and each unit comes with its own split air-conditioning system. With the door closed and the air conditioning on, it’s hard to hear the busy vehicle and air traffic nearby and overhead.
The kauhale units cost $20,542 each compared to $16,130 for a typical wooden tiny home.
The entire Kipuola project cost $15.3 million. But using vacant state Department of Transportation land along with grants and support from HomeAid’s hui of builders and developers and volunteers saved $5.25 million, according to Kimo Carvalho, HomeAid Hawaii’s executive director….
ALTHOUGH THE structures were built in Korea, unionized electricians, plumbers and those of other trades worked to get Kipuola Kauhale ready and were paid union wages, with their employers absorbing much of their salaries, Carvalho said.
Also, for the first time, HomeAid Hawaii will manage the property itself, with Ciara Manoa Kaui — HomeAid’s kauhale management services senior director — on site and in charge.
“Traditional property management equals evictions,” Carvalho said. “Instead, Ciara will focus on correcting behavior to keep people housed.” …
Green directed HomeAid to take over a hastily erected tent encampment called Pu‘uhonua O Nene, located off Hana Highway near Servco Maui that went up to shelter homeless individuals from Lahaina in the aftermath of the fire. It was eventually opened to others experiencing homelessness.
Servco and neighboring businesses had no idea that an expanding encampment was growing to house 129 of Maui’s homeless in communal, military-style tents on the empty DOT land. The businesses quickly saw a spike in vandalism, thefts and homeless people using their bathrooms, said Eric Chang, vice president and general manager of Servco Maui.
“Fires were being set,” Chang said. “There was vandalism … to our vehicles. It was kind of scary. It intensified really, really quickly.”
Chang led businesses to hire more security to conduct regular “perimeter sweeps,” where they found syringes they believed were left behind by Pu‘uhonua O Nene residents who were prohibited from drinking and using drugs inside the property.
HomeAid took over in March when 74 residents remained and the site dropped from 29 communal tents to the current 13.
Now 57 residents remain, including three couples and their 18 dogs and cats. There are no children.
Out of the remaining residents, 25 are fire survivors, Kaui said.
Green also tasked HomeAid with finding an alternative site to Pu‘uhonua O Nene after six residents died, including a 16-year-old who was found hanging from one of the communal tents.
Since HomeAid got involved, some of the problems in the area have subsided but have not gone away entirely, according to Chang….
read … First neighbor island kauhale preparing to open on Maui | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
HTA Funnels Money to Film Industry
SA: … CBS’s “Hawaii Five-0” shut down in 2020, and “NCIS: Hawai‘i” and the reboot of “Magnum P.I.” both aired their last episodes on the network in 2024, while “Rescue: HI-Surf” was canceled by Fox in May.
Gov. Josh Green and DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka recently allocated $500,000 in HTA funding for the film industry and directed the new HTA advisory board to create a Film Production Tourism Standing Committee.
The committee, made up of select HTA advisory board members, is expected to guide initiatives that promote Hawaii through film, television and integrated marketing while supporting economic development and authentic representation of the state.
The state agencies’ recent focus on film also was a key part of the Hawai‘i Tourism Conference held Sept. 22-23 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center and drew more than 600 attendees, who represented a cross section of Hawaii’s visitor industry and community members, nonprofits and cultural practitioners.
REALITY: Miske Mob Were All Union Drivers on Set of Hawaii 5-0
read … Tourism industry deepening ties to film industry | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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