Kaniela Ing Comeback? Democrat Clown Car Barrels Towards Selection of Senator Aquino Replacement
DoTax Employees Rebelling Against the Culture of Silence
When Honolulu chose the airport: A council aide’s view of the decision that changed the Skyline
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted October 10, 2025
Get a Job: DHS Announces Changes to SNAP under 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Delays spell doom for Lahaina as we knew it
Building Common Ground: Grassroot, Appleseed housing forum
Green: ‘I might run for President Someday’
TP: “…If I get my way, I’ll serve a second term as governor and will help the next president to heal the country.
“…I can’t ever say for sure what comes next. I might run for president someday, but I’d like to finish my terms as governor of Hawaii, because I feel a deep commitment to this place. They adopted me in 2000 when I came here as a doctor, and I’ve made this commitment to serve…
“…there are some things I want to do here. After that, I’d be honored to serve as a person in the cabinet if someone needed me, or even as a mediator between the deeply divided parties.
“Whatever role I can play to really help us heal, I’ll do it. If lightning strikes, I suppose there’s an outside chance I could become president, but it would only be because people needed a healer. I think there are a lot of people that are much more qualified than me to actually serve as president. But I’ve had a unique set of experiences, and I will apply them if we have great need. Right now, though, it looks like the governorship.”
Sept 28 2025: Green Says he is not Running for President—Wants RFK’s Job?
BORRECA: On Politics: Green confident, ambitious in alma mater interview | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … The Phoenix in Conversation with Hawaii Governor Josh Green ’92 - The Phoenix
Federal shutdown: Will Trump Freeze Honolulu rail funding payment?
SA: … Skyline’s Segment 2 opening on Thursday for public revenue service is also supposed to be a trigger for more federal funding to the city’s rail project, according to city officials.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is expecting $125 million in federal funds toward its ongoing rail construction. The agency derives almost 10% of its funding sources from the U.S. government. Since the federal government’s Oct. 1 shutdown, however, President Donald Trump has acted to suspend federal funds to mass transit projects across the United States.
So far, HART’s construction of its more than $10 billion rail project has not been targeted. But the Trump administration on Oct. 1 held up about $18 billion in federal funds for a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River, between New York City and New Jersey, as well as for a related subway project. Two days later, the president froze $2.1 billion slated for transit projects in Chicago.
Others in Washington, D.C. — particularly those in the Republican-controlled Congress — have called for greater fiscal accountability when it comes to spending billions of dollars on mass transit projects. Many in the GOP appear focused on Democratic-leaning states.
In August, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, termed the City & County of Honolulu’s rail project — the largest public works project in Hawaii history — a “boondoggle.” Citing U.S. Department of Transportation data, Ernst stated that Skyline had gone $4.8 billion over budget from its original cost of $5.1 billion and that it was 11 years behind schedule.
Simultaneously, Ernst blasted California’s now-$18 billion high-speed rail project that DOT data showed was $13 billion over budget from its original $5 billion cost. According to DOT, the planned bullet train also is roughly 11 years behind schedule.
“Billions of dollars in cost overruns for the two costliest boondoggles listed in the DOT report — California’s High-Speed Rail and Honolulu’s Rail Transit Project — are the direct result of massive mismanagement and intentional manipulation to secure fast money from the federal government using bait-and-switch budgeting,” Ernst wrote in August. “In a bid to grab billions of dollars of Obama bucks, both projects overpromised while underdelivering and overspending.” ….
BACKGROUND: Sen Ernst Targets Honolulu Rail for Elimination
SA: Skyline’s newest segment opens with high expectations | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Federal shutdown casts doubt on Honolulu rail funding payment | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
McDermott vs Fevella for SD20
CB: … Bob McDermott, a former state House member, is challenging state Sen. Kurt Fevella for the District 20 seat on Oʻahu (‘Ewa Beach, Ocean Pointe, ‘Ewa by Gentry, Iroquois Point, portion of ‘Ewa Villages) next year. It’s the rare matchup between competitive Republicans in a primary.
McDermott told The Blog the district needed representation that better aligns with other Republicans in the Legislature (there are currently 12 GOP members out of the 76 lawmakers), something he said is not the case with Fevella….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Choices To Replace Sen. Henry Aquino Are, Uh, Interesting - Honolulu Civil Beat
Speaker Nakamura Raising cash for Five Rookies
CB: … House Speaker Nadine Nakamura held a campaign fundraiser Oct. 1 at the The Pacific Club in Honolulu. Also in tow were Reps. Shirley Ann Templo, Mike Lee, Ikaika Olds, Matthias Kusch and Sue Keohokapu-Lee Loy, all in their first term in office.
It’s the second time in less than three months that the veteran Nakamura helped the same newbies raise cash, no doubt helping to solidify their support for her speakership. It takes 26 of the 51 House members to rule the roost….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Choices To Replace Sen. Henry Aquino Are, Uh, Interesting - Honolulu Civil Beat
Running against Trump, not Case
CB: … The Hawaiʻi congressman has drawn a couple of high-profile challengers in the 2026 election. But they seem to be running against Trump, not Case….
In the 2026 primary, Case seems likely to face Keohokalole, who conveniently does not have to give up his seat in the Senate to run for Congress. …
But do we really think a politician from Hawaiʻi has what it takes to take on Donald Trump? Mazie Hirono talks tough but she doesn’t have the power to even rate an irate social media screed from the president. Josh Green seems to think the way to deal with him is to placate him like dealing with an angry patient with dementia.
Democrats decry polarization – it’s always the other guys who won’t compromise. But Democrats are the ones forcing politicians to pick a side and to never move or concede that sometimes, the other guy did have a point….
read … Lee Cataluna: Ed Case Continues To Play His Own Game - Honolulu Civil Beat
It's Official: Boards Can't Go Behind Closed Doors For Most Personnel Matters
CB: … Earlier this month, the state Office of Information Practices quietly posted a brief update to an opinion it had issued nearly two years ago that many state boards and commissions had relied on to justify dealing with personnel matters in secret.
OIP now says its opinion allowing Sunshine boards to hire, fire and review some of Hawai’i’s most high-profile public officials in executive session was “palpably erroneous.” …
The legal journey began in 2017 when the Honolulu Police Commission secretly decided to pay outgoing Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha $250,000 on top of his considerable public pension to leave the department. Commissioners announced the payout but refused to disclose any details, saying it was a personnel matter protected by privacy concerns.
The Public First Law Center (then known as the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest) filed a lawsuit arguing that the state Sunshine Law didn’t require personnel matters to be taken up in executive session and that the public had a significant interest in knowing how decisions about their highest level officials were made.
In 2019, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court agreed with the law center and issued a decision laying out that personnel matters relating to top state officials — essentially hiring, firing and performance evaluations — needed to be done in open public session unless there was a particular privacy issue being raised, like a medical concern.
The Police Commission was required to turn over detailed minutes of its executive sessions discussing the Kealoha payout and his departure.
Then for years boards simply ignored the Supreme Court decision. That included the Agribusiness Development Corp. and the Defender Council, which oversees the state Public Defenders Office. In 2023, both of those boards hired new agency leadership in closed-door sessions despite protests by journalists and public interest attorneys….
read … It's Official: Boards Can't Go Behind Closed Doors For Most Personnel Matters - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii student vaccinations fall below average rate
SA: … The religious exemption rate in Hawaii, meanwhile, increased slightly, from 5.3% for the 2023-2024 school year to 5.4% for the 2024-2025 school year, and from 3.1% to 3.4% nationally.
According to CDC, Hawaii is one of 17 states in the U.S. where exemptions exceed 5.0%....
According to DOH, 20.7% of students statewide — representing nearly 40,000 children — were not up-to-date with Hawaii’s school-required immunizations. This includes students with exemptions, missing records or incomplete vaccinations….
read … Hawaii student vaccinations fall below average rate | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaii County Building Department Amendment Postponed Again
HTH: … A proposed charter amendment to create a new Department of Building in Hawaii County was postponed Tuesday following growing concerns about the department’s cost, scope and necessity.
Bill 68, Draft 3, which would amend Article VI of the County Charter, was discussed during the County Council’s Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs meeting. The bill was previously postponed twice — on July 22 and Aug. 5 — and was again delayed by an 8-0 vote until Oct. 21. Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz was excused….
read … Building Department considered - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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