November 3, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Monday, November 3, 2025

November 3, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:26 PM :: 369 Views

Easing farmworker housing rules crucial to Hawaii’s agriculture future

Ohana Voices: Artificial Intelligence-powered civic-engagement platform

In The Midst of Federal Arrests, One DPP Worker Just kept on Doing Favors

CB: … At a time when most Honolulu building permit plans were collecting dust, some applicants got to skip the line.

From 2019 to 2022, building plans examiner Kim Kehrwieder helped certain applicants on dozens, if not hundreds, of occasions, plucking them out of the queue and sparing them costly, monthslong delays, a city investigation found.

While other applications were sitting for an average of six months before a clerk would even pick them up, the city found Kehrwieder prescreened certain building plans in as little as 24 hours after they were submitted, allowing them to move ahead to the code review process.

… The city saw possible corruption.

Amid complaints from Kehrwieder’s colleagues, the city launched an investigation that found she had expedited more than 250 applications for two applicants in particular: Permit Processors Hawaiʻi and Palekana Permits. Both companies help property owners navigate the permitting journey.

DPP concluded this was preferential treatment and fired Kehrwieder last year. …

The details of her case, which are being made public for the first time, were contained in an investigative report Civil Beat obtained through a public records request. …

March, 2021: Feds Bust Six in DPP Bribery Scheme

Feb, 2020: Free Golf, Methamphetamines, and Building Permits

read … Honolulu Fired Building Permit Worker Who Cut Through Delays For A Few People - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii Speed Cameras Go Live as Old Tickets Arrive

BH: … As Hawaii’s speed cameras officially began issuing citations November 1, drivers are discovering a troubling pattern: tickets from the warning period are still arriving many months late. One longtime resident told us he received his April citation in October, a full six months after the alleged violation. His question: “How does getting a ticket six months later help anything?”

The pattern is consistent across Hawaii. Warning letters from April are still arriving in October, confusing drivers just as the real citations begin. Rental car companies will be adding processing fees that can reach $50 to $100, and the standard fine remains $250. No explanation from the Department of Transportation….

Since enforcement is tied to the license plate, citations are sent to the registered vehicle owner, usually the rental car agency. Most rental agreements allow companies to pay the ticket and charge the renter later, often adding a processing fee of $50 to $100. For visitors, that could mean receiving a notice or fee long after the trip ends….

Lawmakers are considering broadening use of automated speed enforcement systems in Hawaii. While stopping short of saying cameras will be everywhere statewide, advocates say future legislative language will provide the framework for that possibility. But if delayed citations continue, legislators may face pressure to pause or audit the program, as was the case some twenty years ago….

read … Hawaii Speed Cameras Go Live as Old Tickets Arrive

HTA Faking Tourist Data Since March 1

SA: … As Hawaii marks the 75th anniversary of its in-flight visitor survey — a cornerstone of tourism data collection — state officials are grappling with an eight-month disruption in tracking visitor trends.

The breakdown began March 1, when the state launched the Akamai Arrival pilot program to digitize agricultural declaration forms. Optional tourism questions, embedded in the paper forms, were removed. Although the pilot ended May 31, the state has yet to fully implement a digital replacement, leaving a critical data gap.

At its annual conference, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority announced plans to restore the survey via a new GoHawaii app, which will eventually integrate both agriculture declarations and tourism questions. However, the app remains in procurement, with a rollout expected early next year….

“All these statements they are making about, ‘spending is up, and the visitor count is down, woohoo! ’ does not have a firm statistical or econometric foundation,” Brewbaker said.

He faulted the Department of Agriculture for implementing Akamai Arrival without consulting HTA, DBEDT, or tourism data users. Brewbaker, who advised on a similar transition in 1988, said the state failed to run parallel systems — a critical step given the volatility of visitor behavior.

“This lack of coordination has irrevocably compromised the state’s tourism data,” he said, warning that the industry is now relying on less comprehensive metrics to gauge performance….

read … Change in collecting tourism data disrupts trends | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Bill 9’s first reading to be scheduled after council fills vacancy

MN: … Maui County Council Chair Alice L. Lee announced that first reading of the bill to phase out transient vacation rentals in Apartment Districts will be scheduled for a council meeting hopefully in December while the council turns its attention to filling the vacancy created by this week’s passing of Council Member Tasha Kama.

Bill 9, CD1 (2025) was recommended for passage earlier this year by the Housing and Land Use Committee, chaired by Kama. The bill was approved as to form and legality by the Department of the Corporation Counsel in October.

“The proposal to phase out TVRs is one of the council’s biggest policy issues this term, as seen by the lengthy deliberations conducted by Council Member Kama’s committee,” said Lee, who holds the seat for the Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū residency area. “We kindly request patience so that the council can carefully consider who to appoint to her seat and to allow the new councilmember time to adjust to this new role before taking up major actions.”

The committee report on Bill 9 will need to be approved by the committee’s vice-chair, substituting for Kama’s role as committee chair, before it can be posted on a council agenda, Lee said.

Under Section 3-4 of the Charter of the County of Maui, the council faces a Nov. 25 deadline to fill the vacancy for the Kahului residency area seat. If the deadline isn’t met, the mayor would appoint someone to the seat.

Lee said a special council meeting will be held today at 9 a.m. to discuss proposed procedures for the replacement process. Public testimony will be taken, but the discussion won’t be about potential successors, she said….

read … Bill 9’s first reading to be scheduled after council fills vacancy

Four Seasons wins SMA permit after Maui Planning Commission backs off property-wide water monitoring

MN: … The Maui Planning Commission voted 5-1 Tuesday to grant a special management area use permit for the Four Seasons Resort Wailea’s $16.3 million project to make exterior renovations, including new swimming pools. But the approval came after legal concerns compelled the commission to back off attempts to impose property-wide monitoring of the resort’s water usage.

Commissioners initially pushed to impose a strict, property-wide cap on the resort’s total water usage, tied to a financial penalty for any overage. Commissioners said they wanted to hold the resort “accountable” for its water consumption, fully aware that their actions were being watched by residents seeking a balance of public benefits.

read … Four Seasons wins SMA permit after Maui Planning Commission backs off property-wide water monitoring : Maui Now

Push is on for Carbon Taxes in 2026 Legislature

IM: … Greenpeace Hawaii and many other groups say “carbon pricing and taxing schemes like Carbon Cashback is because in their 30 years history they have been completely ineffective in reducing carbon emissions; and they raise prices on all goods and services thus having a negative financial impact on local businesses, low-income families, people of color, and indigenous communities.”

read … Strange Hawai`i Bedfellows -- Supporters & Opponents of Carbon Taxes | Ililani Media

Union urges no vote on TheBus contract offer, says OTS ‘does not value’ workers

HNN: … The Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, the union that represents the roughly 1,400 TheBus workers, is rejecting management’s final contract offer.

If employees vote no on the proposal, they could decide to go on strike, which would mean TheBus would not be available for its 130,000 daily riders….

read … Union urges no vote on TheBus contract offer, says OTS ‘does not value’ workers

Immigration enforcement impacting production at some small Kona coffee farms

BIN: … “Just driving down the road, there’s a lot of overripe cherries on the trees,” said Ryson Nakamasu, owner of Honolulu Coffee in Hōlualoa.

Most farmers who spoke with Big Island Now say they didn’t have direct interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were reportedly on the island several times this year, conducting arrests. But those farmers noticed a lack of workers during the coffee picking season that runs from August to December, resulting in less crop.

To get a better idea of how widespread the impact has been to the local industry, Nakamasu, who is also president of the Hawai‘i Coffee Association, sent out a survey to the associationʻs 877 members who represent all aspects of the industry: farmers, pickers, processors and suppliers. All responses were anonymous.

The survey, which ran Oct. 23-28, collected feedback about any interactions coffee farmers and workers have had this year with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Hawaiʻi….

Nakamasu said 50 people participated in the survey, with about five respondents indicating that they had direct contact with ICE.

It’s not unusual for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to come to the Big Island, because there always has been a working visa program in place for those who want to work on coffee farms, Nakamasu said. But the arrests have appeared to spook some workers.

For Nakamasu and his 224-acre farm, on which 55 acres is planted with coffee, he said he needs 15 to 18 people to adequately pick the cherries in his crop. This year, he only had 10.

“People didn’t want to come,” Nakamasu said. “My own guys don’t want to go to the store because they don’t want to be profiled.”…

(CLUE: Soon we will have to arrest homeless drug addicts and process them through treatment centers to make them employable again.)

read … Business Monday: Immigration enforcement impacting production at some small Kona coffee farms : Big Island Now

Long delay of bowling alley on Lanai suggests need for parking reform

GRIH: … The estimated $5 million project was initiated in May 2023 by land-management company Pūlama Lānaʻi. Its plan was to tear down an old government building at Dole Park — once used as a bowling alley itself — and build a new bowling center, complete with an arcade, full-service kitchen and soda fountain bar.

But almost immediately, the company ran into permitting problems, the main one being a county mandate requiring that the project include 42 new parking stalls at a cost of about $1 million — even though 108 public parking spaces already surround the site.

In addition to the added construction costs, the mandate would also have required Pūlama Lāna’i to pave over part of Dole Park, including several mature Cook pine trees.

To avoid having to do this, the company sought a parking-reduction waiver from the Maui Planning Department….

read … Long delay of bowling alley on Lanai suggests need for parking reform | Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

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