November 30, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Sunday, November 30, 2025

November 30, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:12 PM :: 137 Views

Lucky — and grateful — we live Hawaii

Josh Green for President? Inexperienced, Thin-Skinned

Shapiro: … The first time I saw Gov. Josh Green asked if he would run for president, during a national TV interview early this year on his opposition to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary, he looked surprised and muttered, “I’d have to ask my wife.” …

A medical doctor by profession, Green portrays himself as a healer. “I will definitely try to heal America, even perhaps as president someday, if we’re really in deep trouble,” he said.

“Someday” is the key word.

A credible Josh Green presidential candidacy in 2028 is highly improbable. He’s running for reelection as governor in 2026 and pledges to serve his full four-year term. A serious presidential campaign for 2028 would have to begin almost immediately after he’s sworn in.

As he enters the final year of his first term, his major promises on housing, homelessness, cost of living, health care and climate remain more aspirational than accomplished. Before he heals the nation, he’ll need to do more to heal the cultural and economic divides in his own state.

He’s inexperienced on the big stage and must toughen up his paper-thin political skin and control the foul temper he sometimes displays when challenged.…

read … Volcanic Ash: Josh Green presidential talk more hooey than probability | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Three Hilo Flop Houses Burn Down in a Month: Fire Kills 2 in Hilo Quonset Hut Legally Converted into Sec 8 Housing

HH: … no sprinklers, potentially smoke alarms down or out, and the place was a tinder box, imo. Alan Yoza kept it going for years, likely mostly funded by the state via low income families on various services, refusing to repair anything, and renting to anyone who could put money in his pockets. The area was well known for the drug traffic and related issues for a while. Someone bought it from Yoza some years back, and did make some improvements, but the place was never truly suited for human habitation; imo, he didn’t do enough to clean up the place and it sounds like he continued to rent to people with drug, alcohol, and domestic issues. Can’t be totally sure yet, but it sounds like one couple may have been fighting, throwing things, etc, and the fire started in their unit somehow….

Sandra Ahlo heck no it wasn’t inspected and they accepted section 8!!!!!!! Insanity!!!! My mentality ill friend used to live there, she is now on the streets cause she said it was so bad she’d rather be homeless…

Zillow: 265 Kekuanaoa St SUITE D, Hilo, HI 96720 | Zillow

Zumper: 265 Kekuanaoa Street D - 2-3 Upstairs #C1OFFICE, Hilo, HI 96721 Studio for $650/month - Zumper

#1 -- BIT October, 2025: One Dead, Hilo Wild Ginger Hotel a Total Loss After Massive Structure Fire - Big Island Thieves

#2 -- BIN: 2 people dead, 28 others displaced because of fire at former Puʻuʻeo Poi Factory in Hilo : Big Island Now

#3 -- BIN Nov 30 2025: Police: Public should avoid portion of Kino‘ole Street in downtown Hilo because of (another) structure fire : Big Island Now

BONUS Nov 15, 2025: Police Arrest Five At Old Hilo Hotel

read … Hilo Happenings | Update: Mike got a charger and someone’s on the way with some dog food and a sandwich for him | Facebook

POW pau: Longstanding Wai‘anae homeless community relocating

ASD: … Residents of the Pu‘uhonua O Wai‘anae village, built on a 19.5-acre parcel near the Wai‘anae Small Boat Harbor, are moving to new, permanent homes as the Department of Land and Natural Resources plans to transfer the village land to the Department of Education….

In 2018, Borge negotiated with then-Gov. David Ige to halt a planned sweep of the Village, leading to the plans to eventually move to the Farm Village in the valley. POW raised more than $10 million in donations to purchase the valley parcel in 2020 and develop infrastructure.

More than 80 people are already living in the Farm Village, with more to move in the coming months, according to a DLNR statement….

Once the village is removed, DLNR will transfer the land to the DOE, which will eventually use the land to expand the Wai‘anae High School’s Marine Science Learning Center. Chang said in a statement DLNR will restore the area for educational use, while DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources has been monitoring sensitive marine habitats surrounding the Village site….

read … POW pau: Longstanding Wai‘anae homeless community relocating

Blangiardi Names Three to Police Commission

CB: … Blangiardi’s latest picks for seats on the commission reflect the view that commissioners in recent years are clueless when it comes to how police work. The Honolulu City Council has already approved the addition of Chris Magnus, a retired three-time police chief who has notably started asking more detailed questions of Interim Chief Rade Vanic at the commission’s twice-a-month meetings.

The council also appears poised to approve Blake Parsons, the CEO of the Boy Scouts’ Scouting America Aloha Council. He is slated for a final vote before the full council on Wednesday and so far has sailed through the process.

Now Blangiardi has nominated another candidate with heavy police experience for the council to replace public relations consultant Ann Botticelli, whose term is up at the end of the year. The latest pick is Gary Yabuta, the widely respected director of the Hawaiʻi High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which manages a program to curtail drug trafficking and money laundering operations in Hawaiʻi. He also headed the Law Enforcement Officer Independent Review Task Force, a short-lived panel put in place by the Legislature a few years ago to review police shootings statewide.

Yabuta has led HIDTA since 2014. Before that he was the Maui police chief for five years and a sworn officer on Maui for 31 years. Altogether, according to a resume submitted to the council, he has more than 47 years of criminal justice experience….

read … The Sunshine Blog: Reinforcements Are On The Way For Honolulu Police Commission - Honolulu Civil Beat

Honolulu Charter Commission Rejects Public Vote on Rail Extension

CB: … Honolulu Charter … Commissioners also agreed to move forward with two proposals by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation — one that would exempt HART employees from civil service and one that would allow HART to oversee other big city projects besides the Honolulu rail. The Blog, who reads most of the comments on Civil Beat stories, can testify that the latter is not a popular idea with readers (who are also voters) and it would seem to have little chance of passing if it ever makes it to the ballot.

Meanwhile, the commission rejected a proposal to let voters re-vote on the $10 billion rail project as a way to control spending along with another recommendation that would have prevented a merger of HART and the city Department of Transportation Services.

Other proposals that didn’t make the cut include building another road from the H1 freeway into Makakilo, fixing traffic lights to reduce road rage….

read … The Sunshine Blog: Reinforcements Are On The Way For Honolulu Police Commission - Honolulu Civil Beat

Panel picks 3 finalists for city’s Ocean Safety chief

SA: … John Titchen, the City and County of Honolulu’s former top lifeguard, who was terminated from his job in 2024 over claims of insubordination following an alleged row inside the Mayor’s Office, is now a finalist for his prior post.

In the search for the person to oversee the city’s Ocean Safety Department, the five-member Ocean Safety Commission recently selected Titchen and two other men as its potential leader.

Besides Titchen, the commission is considering Ron Bregman, a retired city lifeguard lieutenant who now works as aquatics director and chief lifeguard for Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe; and Kurt Lager, currently the designated director of the Ocean Safety Department….

read … Panel picks 3 finalists for city’s Ocean Safety chief | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Even Failed Attacks on Cruise Ships can Reduce Arrivals

SA: … For local businesses, the return of cruise ships means steady work and dependable income. A single vessel call supports jobs for tour operators, transportation companies, dockworkers, cultural practitioners, entertainers and provisioning suppliers. The economic impact extends far beyond the shoreline, sustaining families and communities statewide. However, cruise lines plan itineraries years in advance. If Hawaii begins to appear unpredictable or significantly more expensive than competing destinations, rerouting ships becomes a realistic possibility. The benefits of today’s recovery are immediate, but the effects of new policies may not be felt until future seasons are already committed….

(CLUE: Similar to TVRs, failed attacks still reduce supply by creating doubt in the marketplace.)

read … Column: For cruises, balance green fee and economic vitality | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

University of Hawaii seeks funding for student athletes

SA: … On July 1, U.S. collegiate athletics entered a new era when the settlement of a national class-action lawsuit allowed universities to pay players for the benefit of using their name, image and likeness — or NIL — after several years of such payments being restricted to deals from private donors, corporate sponsors and other third parties.

UH officials say that staying competitive in the NCAA’s Mountain West Conference of mid-major schools will take $5 million in annual public funding on top of private funding, and that the new landscape has already negatively affected recruiting….

read … University of Hawaii seeks funding for student athletes | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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