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December 4, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:53 PM :: 315 Views

SHOPO Slams Judge behind Sykap Cash Payout

Green Appoints Rep who took money from Ty Cullen to Senate Seat Abandoned by Corporate Lobbyist

Queens, HHSC to Develop New Outpatient Care Center in Kailua-Kona

Hawaii AG Sues TikTok: 'Addictive Platform Harming Children'

Star-Advertiser 'accepts nearly all' right-wing Letters to the Editor

Federal Raid Exposes Big Secret -- Hawaii ‘Monster Houses’ tied to Illegal Immigration

CB: … The target of the raid was a 14-bedroom home on Kaapuni Road. The property provided workforce housing for Hawaii Care and Cleaning, a Līhuʻe-based cleaning contractor that also operates on Oʻahu and Maui. …

Residents in the neighborhood 20 minutes north of Līhuʻe Airport had become familiar with the transient workers who rotated in and out of the house, relying on a large white van to transport them to and from work at hotels and resorts. It wasn’t the first time the janitorial service had come under federal scrutiny for its labor practices either.

Long before dawn that Friday morning, Holland overheard agents talking about people who had barricaded themselves inside the house. Soon, she heard what she said sounded like doors being knocked in. By the end of the raid, Holland estimated 15 people had been handcuffed and detained, all before daylight. …

The Nov. 5 raids brought federal agents to rural Kauaʻi neighborhoods, where Hawaii Care and Cleaning owns and operates employee housing. All told, 44 people were detained across six residential (monster house) properties in Kapahi and Kalāheo. The company’s Līhuʻe office was also a target. …

(TRANSLATION: ‘Monster Houses’ are worker dormitories for illegals.)

Hawaii Care & Cleaning is owned by William Allen, a business entrepreneur who also offers global seminars that help people achieve “personal and business breakthroughs.”

On his website MrBillHawaii.com, Allen describes himself as a “street kid-turned-successful entrepreneur, thought leader, philanthropist” and said he founded his Hawaiʻi cleaning company about four decades ago at age 18. The company has more than 1,000 employees statewide, according to Allen’s website, and its “statewide list of clients reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the most successful businesses and Fortune 500 Companies in Hawaii.”…

read … A Month After Kauaʻi ICE Raid, Questions Linger

Feds: Affordable Housing Scammer Keeps on Scamming – even after being convicted

HTH: … According to the motion, a Hawaii man with the initials D.C. died in August, and his sister J.C., a California resident, sought a probate attorney to settle her brother’s estate and had been referred to (disbarred shyster Paul) Sulla.

FLASHBACK: Guilty on All Counts: Big Island Affordable Housing Fraudsters

Sulla allegedly met with J.C. at the Pahoa home of another brother with the initials D.R.C., brought a notary with him, and executed a power of attorney giving Sulla authority over D.R.C.’s affairs.

Sulla took an initial payment of $2,700 and provided a handwritten receipt and allegedly also took the deeds to both D.C.’s and D.R.C.’s homes during that meeting.

J.C. later learned that Sulla had been convicted of a crime and confronted him about it. Sulla allegedly maintained that he could still provide legal services, but the billing would be done through his associate, Lockey White.

Sulla, according to the motion, on Sept. 22 sent a letter to J.C. via certified mail telling her he had recently been “convicted of a violation of the honest services act in the Hawaii Federal District Court.”

In the letter, Sulla informed J.C. he’d been “suspended from the practice of law” and was “unable to act as (her) attorney any longer.”

He also indicated, the motion states, that he would provide a narrative “telling (his) side of the story” and requested her support “with the court process.” The letter allegedly didn’t mention that Sulla’s license had been suspended prior to J.C. engaging his services as attorney and paying him the $2,700 retainer.

The motion states J.C. met with Sulla again on Oct. 22 to have the deeds and the money returned, but Sulla allegedly provided photocopies of the deeds instead of the original documents and failed to refund the money.

The motion said that Sulla also failed court-ordered drug tests, testing positive twice for THC in June and CBD in May, indicating marijuana use, which was prohibited under conditions of his release.

Sulla also allegedly failed to report for drug testing in July….

FLASHBACK: Guilty on All Counts: Big Island Affordable Housing Fraudsters

read … Prosecutors seek to detain Sulla, allege wrongdoing on release - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Honolulu Rail Pays $41 Million In Dispute Over Kakaako Land under Ala Moana Extension

CB: … The Honolulu rail authority has finally settled a condemnation lawsuit over land in the path of the future rail line through Kakaʻako, agreeing to pay $41 million for easements needed to extend the line to Ala Moana Center.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the city and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation against Victoria Ward Ltd. in 2018 in an effort to win control of land needed for the extension. But much has changed since that lawsuit was filed….

read … Honolulu Rail Pays $41 Million In Dispute Over Ala Moana Extension - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii PUC Staff Training Today at Golf Course

IM: … “one activity will include walking outside (for those who are able), so you may want to bring appropriate clothing (cover-ups for sun, including a hat, sunblock, and shades)…”

read … Hawaii PUC Staff Training Today at Pearl at Kalauao Golf Course, Aiea | Ililani Media

Task force proposes housing stipends, bonuses to fill HPD vacancies

HNN: … With more than 600 officer and civilian openings at the Honolulu Police Department, a new report is offering solutions.

Lawmakers and law enforcement leaders say the key to reducing vacancies is incentives.

Honolulu City Council Vice Chair Andria Tupola led a task force to produce a 26-page report on ways to increase staffing at HPD. The document mentioned that housing stipends have helped with staffing woes at police departments across the country.

Tupola and the task force’s report suggest offering a $500 monthly housing stipend at HPD….

read … Task force proposes housing stipends, bonuses to fill HPD vacancies

Council approves $1M cash bonanza for family of criminal killed by police during 2021 crime spree

HNN: … Honolulu taxpayers will pay a million dollars to the family of a 16-year-old who was shot and killed by police during a days-long crime spree in 2021.

The Honolulu City Council approved the settlement Wednesday for the family of Iremamber Sykap, who was killed on April 5, 2021, after three Honolulu police officers chased a stolen car with Sykap and other armed robbery suspects through east Honolulu before a confrontation in McCully.

Chinatown resident Chu Lan Shubert Kwock testified against the deal.

“I am opposed to settling this because a crime was committed and the officers were attacked and we should not make this a precedence for avoiding a justifiable fight in the courts,” she said.

Council members expressed frustration before voting to approve.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow, especially in a case that has raised serious concerns about repeat offenders and the strain they place on public safety in our community,” said council member Augie Tulba.

Corporation counsel Dana Viola said the settlement was necessary to avoid a civil trial and protect the officers from potential future criminal prosecution.

“Any statements that they make in the civil proceeding could be used against them,” Viola said. “Murder does not have a statute of limitations. That means the officers for the rest of their lives could be prosecuted, criminally prosecuted for the death of Iremamber Sykap.” …

(TRANSLATION: This is how lawyers have made dead criminals into a money-spinner.)

CB: Honolulu Police Shooting: Teen’s Family To Get $1 Million Despite Pushback

read … Council approves settlement with family of teen killed by police in 2021 crime spree

Killer Dead after being sent out of Hawaii

HNN: … A Hawaii mental health patient died by suicide at a South Carolina psychiatric facility last month, within weeks of being transferred from Hawaii State Hospital as part of an effort to reduce overcrowding.

Payton Nathaniel Hough, 34, was among the first patients transferred to the mainland under the state’s plan to address population pressures at the state hospital.

Multiple sources confirmed Hough died by suicide at Columbia Regional Care Center in November, though the Department of Health did not confirm the incident took place….

Hough was born and raised on Kauai and was first committed to the state hospital in Kaneohe 12 years ago after being acquitted by reason of insanity for trying to break into a vacation rental.

For six years, he was in and out of the state hospital and community facilities, sometimes forcibly medicated.

In 2019, Hough ended up in pretrial detention at Oahu Community Correctional Center, where he assaulted a state sheriff and beat to death his cellmate, Jacob Russell. He was acquitted by reason of insanity again….

read … Suicide raises issues about mainland transfer of state hospital patients

City council passes bill to allow media police scanner access

HNN: … The Honolulu City Council passed Bill 46 Wednesday, which would require the Honolulu Police Department to release certain public information to the public and the media ….

read … City council passes bill to allow media police scanner access

Hawaii speed cameras still not ticketing, questions raised

KHON: … State officials said the issue that caused a delay in speeding and red light camera violations being sent out is a couple of weeks away from being resolved, but legal experts said the tickets that will be mailed out will be easy to challenge in court.

Speed camera citations have been delayed from their original launch date on Nov. 1 due to an issue with coupling — red light tickets and speeding tickets were being sent out together.

State law requires the violations to be sent out within 10 days of the infraction….

read … Hawaii speed cameras still not ticketing, questions raised

Hawaiʻi County Council passes bill to require more expensive ‘green’ single-use foodware, serviceware – will mayor veto?

BIN: … The County Council passed the second reading of Bill 83, which aims to reduce disposable plastic and polystyrene and was introduced by council members Rebecca Villegas and Michelle Galimba….

Any entity selling, distributing, or providing prepared food to the public must use ~~reusable foodware and serviceware, or~~ disposable options that are certified by the Compost Manufacturing Alliance or visibly labeled as compostable with a BPI-certification mark….

(TRANSLATION: It costs more.)

HTH: Council passes plastic foodware bill despite mayor’s concerns - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

read … Hawaiʻi County Council passes bill to restrict single-use plastic foodware, serviceware : Big Island Now

123 Junk Cars Removed: MEMA completes wildfire risk reduction project near Lahaina

MN: … The Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) has completed its Ukumehame Mile Marker 13.5 Wildfire Risk Reduction Project to remove hazardous wildfire fuel on approximately 42 acres of County of Maui property off Honoapiʻilani Highway that experienced a dozen fires in the last two years, per an announcement Wednesday. ….

CLUE: 123 cars stolen by meth-heads.

REALITY: Meet the Meth Gang Behind ‘Lahaina Strong’

read … MEMA completes wildfire risk reduction project in Ukumehame : Maui Now

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