November 18, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

November 18, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:12 PM :: 188 Views

Hitachi Sues HART: $320M of 'Gross Mismanagement'

PUC approves Young Brothers 25.75% shipping rate hike

KHON: … Young Brothers — the state’s only interisland cargo shipping barge company — will increase its shipping rates by 25.75%, following the latest approval by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

The unanimous decision was made to save the company from its “deteriorating financial condition,” after citing rising expenses and declining cargo volume as key challenges….

The new 25.75% increase would replace the company’s temporary 18.1% rate increase, which would expire on Dec. 31….

Kea Haverly, Retail Merchants of Hawaii’s incoming chair, said the initial reaction to the 26% increase was shock. “We have many friends that work for Young Brothers and them trying to make ends meet through their operations and then things are not getting cheaper for anybody so initially the shock of hearing that the rates will be going up so drastically for our ohana on Molokai and Kauai and all our neighbor islands,” he said while noting the high cost of fuel and insurance too. “Everything to operate a business here in Hawaii is through the roof right now.”…

PUC: PUC APPROVES YOUNG BROTHERS RATE INCREASE TO PRESERVE INTRAISLAND SHIPPING SERVICES — Imposes Oversight Conditions and Prohibits Rate Increases for 2 Years

PUC: View and download Decision and Order No. 42100, Docket No. 2024-0255.

read … PUC approves Young Brothers 25.75% shipping rate hike

Honolulu police officers accused of dodging court service in DUI lawsuit

HNN: … Three Honolulu police officers accused of wrongful DUI arrests are now facing allegations they deliberately avoided a process server in a class action lawsuit.

Records show officers Ridge Newcom and Kelsey Messmer, along with recently retired officer Darren Cachola, have been evading service of legal papers.

Cachola has a history of disciplinary issues.

The process server spent nearly 50 hours working to track down all the defendants in the case, including other HPD officers who accepted the papers months ago. Only Newcom, Messmer and Cachola gave the court the runaround, according to recently filed documents.

There were 10 attempts to serve Messmer, nine attempts to serve Newcom, and six attempts to serve Cachola the paperwork. These efforts included visits to HPD stations, their homes, and calls to their attorneys and corporation counsel.

The plaintiffs have had enough. The ACLU Hawaii is asking a judge to allow them to serve the three via publication, meaning an announcement will run in the newspaper for several weeks.

“You can run, but you cannot hide from the court,” said retired Circuit Court judge Randal Lee….

read … Honolulu police officers accused of dodging court service in DUI lawsuit

First reading of Bill 9 on TVRs in apartment districts scheduled for Dec. 1

MN: … The bill that would phase out transient vacation rental uses in the apartment zoning districts is being scheduled for a special council meeting Dec. 1 at 9 a.m., Council Chair Alice L. Lee announced today….

Under a process agreed to Nov. 3, the council plans to meet Thursday to discuss possible successors to Kama—who chaired the committee and held the seat for the Kahului residency area. Lee said a final vote to fill the seat for the remainder of the 2025-2027 council term is expected by the Nov. 25 deadline.

Lee said her intention is to schedule second reading as soon as possible in December following completion of Bill 9’s first reading, if it passes Dec. 1. Written testimony may be sent via email to County.Clerk@mauicounty.us with “Bill 9” in the subject line….

MN: First reading of Bill 9 scheduled for Dec. 1 | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News

read … First reading of Bill 9 on TVRs in apartment districts scheduled for Dec. 1 : Maui Now

Artificial Crisis: Earthjustice asks water commission to stop Kapalua golf courses from using drinking water for irrigation

MN: … The environmental law firm Earthjustice is claiming that two Kapalua golf courses unlawfully used millions of gallons of drinking water for irrigation, and with the knowledge of the state water commission chair.

Earthjustice sent a letter to the commission on Monday urging them to halt the use of potable water for irrigation at a time of drought and water restrictions in West Maui.

The claims came a day before Tuesday’s water commission meeting, in which the agenda includes a review of a report on water use in West Maui before the August 2023 wildfires. The claims also come during the ongoing dispute between TY Management Corp., the golf course owner, and Maui Land & Pineapple Co., the water system owner.

TY Management, owned by Japanese billionaire and Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai, alleged in a lawsuit filed in August that Maui Land & Pineapple has failed to maintain the system and deliver water to the golf courses; Maui Land & Pineapple said in a counterclaim in September that TY Management has improperly used water meant for fire protection to irrigate its golf courses.

On Monday, Earthjustice jumped into the fray, claiming that Dawn Chang, chair of the Commission on Water Resources Management and the Board of Land and Natural Resources, shouldn’t have allowed the golf courses to use potable groundwater for irrigation.

The law firm said that Chang stated in an email to Maui Land & Pineapple in August that “temporary use of groundwater as a substitute for surface water during low flow periods is allowed for irrigation uses, including at the Bay and Plantation Golf Courses, pending Commission action on Hawai‘i Water Service’s water use permit application.”…

HNN: Environmental law firm (dreams) recent BLNR decisions may not be legally valid

SA: Temporary potable water use for Maui golf course contested | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Earthjustice asks water commission to stop Kapalua golf courses from using drinking water for irrigation : Maui Now

DHHL Severs Ties To Al Hee’s Company -- Says it Abandoned Homesteaders

CB: … The telecommunications company that provided broadband internet and telephone service to thousands of rural Hawaiian homesteaders across the state since the mid-1990s was stripped of its operating license Monday after years of service disruptions and other violations, including a federal fraud case that sent the company’s founder to prison.

Waimana Enterprises owes DHHL more than $900,000 in unpaid license fees, according to a letter from the department sent in August. Last year one of its subsidiaries abruptly cut services to homesteaders.

Those are just the most recent violations of the company’s operating license. About a decade ago, Waimana and its affiliates “entered extended nonperformance and regulatory trouble,” land agent Andrew Sante told the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

The action is going to have little impact on customers, most of whom have already switched to other providers. But canceling the lease will allow the department to begin repairing and upgrading some of Waimana’s aging facilities and equipment….

“I didn’t do it for financial gain,” Hee said (without laughing or smirking)….

Sandwich Isles Scam History:

read … DHHL Severs Ties To Company That It Says Abandoned Homesteaders - Honolulu Civil Beat

“Positioning for insolvency” Latest Round of Salary hikes for county officials questioned

HTH: … At its meeting Monday in Hilo, the Hawaii County Salary Commission received some public pushback on a proposed 15.29% pay hike for the county’s top officials.

The raises, following negotiated pay increases for Hawaii Government Employees Association members, would take place in four increments — 3.5% on Jan. 1, 2026, 3.79% on July 1, 2026, and 4% on July 1, 2027, and July 1, 2028.

Megan Isaac, who described herself as an “operator of a small business that contributes to our tourism revenue base” referred to “a slowdown in tourism” in East Hawaii, and called the proposed increases “grossly insensitive.”

“A historically significant raise came to the executives in 2024. It was the largest ever. It was at over 27%, I believe,” Isaac said, noting the proposed hikes haven’t “been tied to performance.”

“I think you’re at risk of making history, but again, not in a positive way,” she said.

Hamakua resident Kevin Hill mentioned the county’s $953 million budget for 2026 in written testimony and urged commissioners to cut salaries.

“Since tourism is declining and is likely to continue to decline and Hawaii is the last place where business or innovators can flourish then we are positioning for insolvency,” Hill wrote.

read … Salary hikes for county officials questioned - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Public Hearing Set For Puna Geothermal Power Production Increase, December 8

BIVN: … The Noncovered Source Permit will grant conditional approval for PGV to increase from 41 megawatts (MW) to 46 MW….

The hearing will be held at the Pāhoa Neighborhood Facility Community Center at 15-3022 Kauhale Street on Monday, December 8, at 6 p.m.

The expansion plan will replace the 12 existing Ormat Energy Converters (OECs) with 3 new and more efficient units. The new units would be built at a new location on the PGV site, documents say. “Most of the existing buildings and infrastructure would remain for the project, including administration buildings, the control room, maintenance areas, well pads, and the gathering system,” the permit application states….

The Admin Record for Noncovered Source Permit No. 0008-02-N can be found online through the health department website.

read … Public Hearing Set For Puna Geothermal Power Increase, December 8

Highway Inn sues state over tax on pandemic-era Restaurant Revitalization Fund

HPR: … BILL DORMAN, HPR: When did you first realize that you're going to be on the hook for the GET (general exercise tax)?

MONICA TOGUCHI RYAN, HIGHWAY INN: We received a Restaurant Revitalization Fund back in 2021, we were still in the height of the pandemic. Then we had the Lahaina fires happen in 2023, and then subsequent to that, we received a tax bill from the state Department of Taxation for about $40,000.

DORMAN: And that was something that you were not expecting, because there were no GET to go with the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), with the EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) Program, and yet there was on this, that was a surprise.

TOGUCHI RYAN: Correct, back in 2020, the state Tax Department issued a TIR (tax information release), and in that — the state Tax Department has a very wide net in regards to general excise tax, I think many of us know that they can pretty much tax GET on pretty much any sale or income — and so they recognized that the pandemic was so severe, and so for all those people that received PPP, EIDL, PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), they clearly stated in this informational release that they would not have to pay general excise tax. The PPP was issued through banks, and so you would apply through your bank, and the banks would then issue, so there was, I would assume, some privilege in those relationships — if you had a good relationship with your bank, it had to be fair. But obviously, you knew people that could help assist you in that process and that application process. When it came to Restaurant Revitalization Funds, RRF, that was issued directly through the U.S. Small Business Administration. So from a data standpoint, maybe about 7% or 8% of restaurateurs across the country received PPP. Not everybody was affected the same way, and yet they received PPP. If you're a real estate company, for example, if you remember the bidding wars that happened through the pandemic….

read … Highway Inn sues state over tax on pandemic-era Restaurant Revitalization Fund | Hawai'i Public Radio

Big Ask for 2026 Lege: Food Bank Claims 427,000 Hawaiʻi Residents Are Going Hungry

CB: … According to a newly released report…. More than a third of Hawaiʻi households with children lacked access to enough food to live an active healthy life, the Hawaiʻi Food Bank Hui found, up from 29% in 2023….

(CLUE: Legislative ‘ask’.)

read … More Hawaiʻi Residents Are Going Hungry, New Statewide Report Shows - Honolulu Civil Beat

Will Republicans Lose the Right to Appoint Election Comissioners?

CB: … The Election Reformers Network, a nonprofit that advocates for election reform, created model legislation for states that want to create an impartial election administration to further reduce party dominance of electoral process and diversify interests on election boards.

Their proposed board would have nine voting members: a former state judge chosen unanimously by the state Supreme Court, an election law expert picked by the state bar association, two former election administrators from two different parties, and two former legislators chosen by the majority and minority leaders of the Senate. These six would then pick two people from nonpartisan civic groups and one representative from a third party or an independent candidate….

(CLUE: This is what happens when you appoint a group which has sued to obtain the removal of the Republican Party from the ballot.)

read … Beth Fukumoto: We Need To Improve How Hawaiʻi Chooses Election Commissioners - Honolulu Civil Beat

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