December 23, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

December 23, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:39 PM :: 266 Views

Lawyers Use DCCA to Extract $6M from Pay Pal

Maui Council Fails to Advance Promised Rezoning for 4,500 Bill 9 Properties

CB: … The 5-3 decision on Bill 9 was (pretend-)coupled with the (pretend-)intention of quickly moving forward with a second bill that could effectively exempt 4,500 of those units by rezoning them for hotel use because they were deemed too costly for local residents, too prone to sea level rise or otherwise just best suited to remain short-term rentals. The goal in part was to ~~head off lawsuits~~ (fool you).

But when the council took up that legislation on Friday, it balked — further delaying an already lengthy process. That would have begun with a review of the rezoning bill by the county’s three volunteer regional planning commissions before it returns to the council for any final amendments and approval.

When it couldn’t agree, the council punted its discussion to Jan. 5.

“We’ve hit a wall,” Council Chair Alice Lee said. “You can talk for the next three hours and you probably wouldn’t change the minds of some people. So given that situation, we need to take a step back and figure this out another way.” …

Dec 16 2025: Maui County to Steal ‘only’ 1,700 Short Term Rentals? New zoning on agenda for Friday

REALITY: Bill-9-First-Lawsuit-Filed

read … Thousands Of Maui Vacation Rentals In Limbo After Council Hits Gridlock - Honolulu Civil Beat

16% Pay hike for Hawaii County Mayor, top managers

HTH: … Only six of nine commissioners — one representing each County Council district — are seated, and the vote was a unanimous 6-0. That unanimous vote, representing two-thirds of a fully seated commission, was required to pass an increase higher than 10%.

Mayor Kimo Alameda’s yearly pay will rise incrementally from $209,028 to $242,892. (16%) Managing Director Bill Brilhante’s salary will go from $197,496 to $229,500. Salaries for county Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen and Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen, the county’s top civil attorney, will go from $197,004 to $228,912.

First Deputy Prosecutor Stephen Frye makes $187,668, as does Assistant Corporation Counsel J Yoshimoto. Their salaries will increase to $218,076.

Pay for the police chief’s position, currently open, will increase from $197,052 to $228,972. Deputy Chief Reed Mahuna, who currently is interim chief, has a salary of $187,668. The deputy chief in July 2028 will make $218,076.

Salary for the fire chief’s position, open due to the unexpected death of Chief Kazuo Todd on Dec. 14, is $194,400 and will increase to $225,888. Deputy Chief Daniel Volpe, who is currently the interim chief, has a salary of $184,680. The deputy chief in July 2028 will make $214,596.

Department heads, including the county clerk and county auditor, have salaries between $162,540 and $170,676. Their salaries will rise from $188,892 to $198,324.

Their deputies are paid between $146,292 and $162,540. Their salaries will increase to between $169,992 and $188,892.

The salary for County Council members currently is $90,024, with the council chair making $99,024. Members will receive raises to $104,628, with the chair receiving hikes to $115,068….

read … Pay hike for county managers - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

HART pays $41.3M to Ward

SA: … A years-long legal battle involving the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s planned construction of a rail station within real estate developer Howard Hughes Corp.’s 60-acre master-planned property in Kakaako recently settled.

On Nov. 25, state Judge John M. Tonaki formally resolved the matter by allowing HART to pay more than $41.3 million to acquire easement access — specifically, for Skyline’s proposed Kakaako Station in the area of Ward Avenue and Queen Street — that could eventually allow the city’s rail project to travel eastward to Ala Moana Center and beyond ….

… The projected cost to taxpayers to acquire the land for the rail line’s Kakaako station was reported to be as much as $200 million, with HART by 2021 having spent nearly $23.3 million in legal fees. (LOL!) ….

read … HART pays $41.3M to settle lengthy Ward Village dispute | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

“Kiss of Death” to Sen Stanley Chang’s ‘Affordable Housing’ Scheme

CB: … Chang has pushed his Aloha Homes idea as a solution since at least 2018 — attracting some national attention for it along the way — saying it was a way to develop housing faster, less expensively and more efficiently. …

The idea inched ahead. In 2023, the Legislature allocated $1.5 million for preliminary Aloha Homes planning. Then, a breakthrough: Gov. Josh Green included $15 million for it in his 2026-2027 budget.

(TRANSLATION: It turned into an appropriation. Nothing more.)

“I anticipate this will be the first 99-year leasehold, revenue-neutral project in the state of Hawaiʻi and it will hopefully be a big success and spawn the construction of many more,” Chang said during a briefing on housing legislation he held for the public after the 2025 legislative session.

Now, nearly a year after it won Green’s support, Chang’s vision may have faltered again, although the senator says it hasn’t….

The head of the state agency charged with shepherding the project forward said it’s on hold, and that he let Chang know.

“We had really high hopes for this. When I say that, I’m not giving it the kiss of death,” said Craig Nakamoto, executive director of the Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority. “All it is saying is, we’re going to take a pause. Maybe in two or three years we can resurrect this project again. Or there’s another type of workforce housing project.”

(CLUE: Know them by what they deny.)

Chang, though, put it this way: “There’s still a lot more work that needs to be done in the pre-development stage before shovels go into the ground and before the actual building gets built. But it’s underway.” …

read … Is Senator's Affordable Housing Plan Happening? Depends Who You Ask - Honolulu Civil Beat

Gen X is squeezed, caring for generations before and after

SA: … As housing costs soar and caregiving needs intensify, many Gen X families are supporting aging parents while raising young children or supporting adult children who can’t afford to live on their own. It’s a growing reality for this middle‑aged cohort — a generation squeezed by economics, family obligation, and a rapidly aging state — and one that experts say will only become more common….

Gen X, he said, faces mounting financial pressures. Many are supporting parents who struggle with rising property taxes and costly care, while also housing adult children who can’t afford a place of their own — if they ever left home at all.

“Either they’re taking care of their grandkids now, or their kids have moved home again and they’re feeling responsible for those kids,” Powell said.

As Hawaii’s living costs climb, the squeeze between two generations pushes many Gen X caregivers to the brink, with little left for their own savings.

“They cannot put money aside for their own retirement and are looking down the barrel at an empty retirement,” he said. “It’s draining emotionally, financially and physically.” …

2013: How A&B Wins Big From Environmental Litigation

2016: 16 Years of Litigation: Sierra Club Directly Responsible for Lack of Affordable Housing

read … Gen X is squeezed, caring for generations before and after | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Funding for new Big Island hospital in supplemental state budget

BIN: … Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green submitted his Supplemental Budget for Fiscal Year 2027 to the State Legislature today, which dedicates $50 million in General Obligation funds to the building of a new hospital on Hawai‘i Island….

read … As promised: Hawai‘i governor commits funding to new Big Island hospital in supplemental state budget : Big Island Now

Another Mentally Ill Person Charged with Murder

KHON: … “Officers arrived and saw she was obviously deceased, and during the course of the investigation, they saw the 29-year-old male, who is identified at this point as her son, and arrested him for murder in the second degree,” Honolulu Police homicide detail Lt. Deena Thoemmes said. “A female was also present, and they also arrested her for murder in the second degree.”

When asked what happened inside the house, Thurston got emotional.

“It kind of hurt me for him to hurt my aunty like that,” she added.

Sources close to the case tell KHON2 Micah suffers from mental illness, and Thurston said she wanted to help her cousin through one of his episodes….

(CLUE: If the alleged perp had been forcibly incarcerated in a lunatic asylum, the victim would be alive today.)

read … Micah Auna charged for Hawaii Kai murder

Mililani man first to be compensated under Hawaii’s wrongful conviction law

HNN: … Roynes Dural will receive $420,833 from the state for the eight years and five months he spent in prison following a wrongful conviction.

The settlement makes him the first to benefit from legislation passed in 2015 that allows for $50,000 per year served.

Dural was 28 years old in 2003 when he was accused of sexual assault by an ex-girlfriend’s daughter. The Navy sailor was about to receive a promotion when the charges were filed.

In addition to the time in prison, he spent eight more on parole, and he was dishonorably discharged from the military.

Dural maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration, refusing plea deals that could have reduced his sentence.

While imprisoned at Saguaro Correctional Center, he even passed a lie detector test.

After exhausting his direct appeals, Dural turned to the Hawaii Innocence Project, which built a case based on newly discovered evidence and witness statements.

In December 2019, a Circuit Court judge dismissed the case with prejudice. The military later changed his discharge from dishonorable to honorable.

But the fight for compensation would take another six years.

That’s because HRS 661-B has a flaw that complicates claims. The law requires a person to be declared innocent rather than relying on the presumption of innocence….

read … Mililani man first to be compensated under Hawaii’s wrongful conviction law

Downtown 'Hell-Hole' Building Founder Faces Eviction From His Luxury Condo

CB: … The founder of a squalid downtown office building converted into unlicensed apartments now faces his own eviction complaint for allegedly failing to pay rent on the luxury Kakaʻako condo where he lives.

Landlord Eiko Takano on Monday filed eviction proceedings against Honolulu developer Chad Waters, whose own failed attempts to evict tenants have led to street protests and outcry on social media. The complaint alleges Waters failed to pay $5,000 due Dec. 1 for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom condo in the Waihonua at Kewalo building on Waimanu Street near Ala Moana Center….

The eviction complaint alleges the landlord notified Waters of the missed rent payment on Dec. 12, and that Waters still hadn’t paid by Thursday. The complaint asks for a court order to turn the property over to the landlord and have law enforcement officers remove Waters from the property, which the document indicates he shares with his wife, Jamie Shibata Waters, and their child — the standard requests in an eviction complaint….

2024 same guy: Work on Coco Palms project could be halted by mortgage broker seeking ‘owed’ $1 million commission for securing funding

read … Downtown 'Hell-Hole' Building Founder Faces Eviction From His Luxury Condo - Honolulu Civil Beat

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