November 17, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Monday, November 17, 2025

November 17, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:10 PM :: 163 Views

After Evicting Tenants, DHHL Offers Rent-to-Own on Kauai

Justice Department: Dawson 8a Hawaiian Defense Contractor Embezzled Funds

CB: … DOJ officials say Dawson and others abused the 8(a) program to “perpetuate a fraud scheme and embezzlement” that victimized both the Hawaiian Native Corp. and the Native Hawaiians the nonprofit was intended to serve.

(CLUE: Dawson was a big financial backer of CNHA.)

(CLUE: Dawson is not the only crooked 8a)

The DOJ investigation, which has relied on internal company records, bank statements and interviews with former employees, found that Dawson worked with his chief financial officer, Bryan Hara, to siphon money out of the Hawaiian Native Corp. and its companies to pay for Dawson’s personal expenses.

Hawaiian Native Corp. and DAWSON executives also used shell companies and “hollow invoices” to sidestep SBA rules that limited how much compensation they could receive. The shell companies, according to prosecutors, were controlled by Dawson, Hara and Billy Cress, a former DAWSON president and chief operating officer. …

prosecutors said that between 2015 and 2021 the total amount of money diverted into Dawson Group, which they described as one of Dawson’s shell companies, was $17 million. That amount is nearly double what the DOJ said was sent to the Hawaiian Native Corp. for the benefit of the Native Hawaiians….

Hara’s attorney Tommy Otake did not respond to a request for comment. Otake has represented numerous high-profile defendants, including convicted organized crime boss Mike Miske. Attempts to reach Cress also were unsuccessful.

The DOJ has filed civil forfeiture proceedings to seize assets, which center on Dawson’s participation in a U.S. Small Business Administration program, known as 8(a), which gave him and his companies special access to massive no-bid government contracts in exchange for the promise that the profits be used to uplift and support Native Hawaiians.

The forfeiture focuses on four of Dawson’s properties, including a $3.5 million beachfront home on Oahu’s North Shore, a luxury condominium in Ala Moana and a six-bedroom estate in Wellington, Florida, in an attempt to recoup some of the money.

The civil action also seeks to seize $592,960 that Dawson used as a deposit on a $3.4 million condominium he planned to purchase in Ala Moana….

BACKGROUND:

read … Justice Department: Well-Known Hawaiian Defense Contractor Embezzled Funds - Honolulu Civil Beat

OHA and DHHL to discuss housing: Exclusive negotiation period begins for Kakaʻako Makai Lot I

MN: … “Working together with DHHL, OHA is exploring Lot I for residential development, as well as the rest of its 29 acres within Kaka‘ako Makai, to serve OHA’s and DHHL’s beneficiaries,” said OHA Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele….

OHA has been unable to revitalize its lands in the area due to economic constraints imposed by a residential building moratorium enacted 20 years ago….

OHA remains committed to working with the Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority, which was tasked by the State Legislature in 2025 to conduct a study examining residential, hotel, and other land uses for the Kaka‘ako Makai lands….

read … OHA and DHHL to discuss housing: Exclusive negotiation period begins for Kakaʻako Makai Lot I : Maui Now

Parallels Between LA Fire and Lahaina Fire

TG: … Concerns over a small brush fire that reignited days later into the mammoth Palisades fire – the most destructive in Los Angeles history – have grown in recent weeks amid reports that firefighters were ordered to leave the original site of the smaller blaze despite their concerns the ground was still smoldering.

read … Scrutiny grows over LA fire origins after bombshell report: ‘Our Pearl Harbor moment’ | Los Angeles | The Guardian

FAA ends cuts to flights at 40 airports, including Honolulu

SA: … The Federal Aviation Administration late today said it would end mandated cuts in domestic flights at 40 major U.S. airports, including Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, effective at 6 a.m. ET Monday (1 a.m. in Hawaii), easing restrictions that had been imposed over air traffic control concerns during the federal shutdown.

read … FAA to end cuts to flights at 40 airports, including Honolulu | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Congress closes ‘hemp loophole,’ which could lead to removal of nearly all THC products

HNN: … A bill to reopen the federal government contained a ban that could lead to the removal of THC products.

The bill that reopened the federal government included language that bans over 95% of all products with hemp extract.

According to the resolution, the ban goes into effect on Nov. 13, 2026.

The larger scale sale of hemp products was made possible by the 2018 Farm Bill. It created what authorities call the THC or hemp “loophole,” which allowed for products with low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), or the intoxicating component of cannabis, to be sold online and in stores across the country….

read … Congress closes ‘hemp loophole,’ which could lead to removal of nearly all THC products

Advocates Fear 'Surveillance Creep' -- HPD Starts Using AI To Write Reports

CB: … Honolulu police will start testing an AI program for writing reports run by body camera company Axon on Monday….

read … Advocates Fear 'Surveillance Creep' If HPD Starts Using AI To Write Reports - Honolulu Civil Beat

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