January 15, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Thursday, January 15, 2026

January 15, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:22 PM :: 162 Views

Tax Hikes a Priority for House, not for Senate

Title IX Violation: Feds Investigating Hawaii DoE for Allowing Males in Female Sports

Green appoints Jon Itomura Chair of Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission

New Factbook Details Military’s Economic Impact in Hawai‘i

DPP Inspector Arrested for Unlawful Imprisonment after handcuffed female escapes

CB: … Porcello had an extensive history of harassing women going back almost three decades, leading to convictions and jail time.

In May, he was arrested on suspicion of unlawful imprisonment, harassment and extortion. The Honolulu Police Department said he had bailed a woman out of jail and threatened to have her bail bond revoked unless she had sex with him.

Hawaii News Now, which did not name Porcello, reported that the victim arrived at the Kapolei police station with handcuffs he had used to imprison her still hanging from her wrist.

So who was the employer that overlooked Porcello’s past and tolerated his behavior until he was finally arrested?

The city of Honolulu.

Porcello was an inspector for the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting for five years until he was fired in September….

Porcello has been convicted at least 10 times for various offenses starting in 1996, most of them violations of protective orders filed by women who wanted him to stay away, but also harassment and assault. Many of the cases resulted in probation, although he was sentenced in 2002 to one year in jail after he violated probation, and did jail time in a few others.

In 2017, in three separate cases, he was charged with violating a restraining order, misdemeanor assault and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, according to court minutes….

He had also misused his city-issued cell phone by calling or texting his girlfriend 114 times. …

HNN: Honolulu city inspector with 35 convictions accused in sex-for-freedom plot

read … A Fight During Work Hours Wasn't Enough To Get This City Inspector Fired - Honolulu Civil Beat

Wife of OHA Trustee Takes NZ Junket while on Leave

C: … Kanoe Ahuna continues to take advantage of Kanuikapono PCS while on leave. From November 16-20 she was seen in New Zealand representing KPCS at the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education (WIPCE). Parents maintain that no KPCS students were invited on Kanoe's school-sponsored trip which was apparently arranged before she went on leave. Her presence at WIPCE 2025 was confirmed in this month's Ka Wai Ola….

read … Petition update · Kanoe Ahuna Takes School Trip While On Leave · Change.org · Change.org

Kaniela Ing Associate helping shysters push bill to launch lawsuit to make oil companies pay for your insurance

HNN: … Home insurance rates across Hawaii have surged following the 2023 Maui wildfires, with new state data showing increases between 32% and 54% over the past year.

(This article requires a lot of editing to slice thru the bs.)

The rate spikes are affecting homeowners statewide, prompting some (mainland lawyers to find) lawmakers to propose legislation (directing the AG to hire them to file profitable lawsuits) targeting fossil fuel companies for climate-related disasters (because they are sure this will be the next big tobacco settlement and they want to cash in).

Evan Weber, a (known associate of Kaniela Ing,) Kailua homeowner and nonprofit organizer with Our Hawai’i, said (claimed) his insurance company dropped coverage for all single and double-wall wooden homes after the Maui fires.

“We got dropped by one of the insurers. They actually sent us notice that they weren’t going to renew,” Weber said (claimed).

The nonprofit Our Hawaii is supporting upcoming legislation that would allow the state attorney general to sue fossil fuel companies for climate-related disasters that cause spikes in property insurance rates.

“It’s not fair the ordinary people are bearing the cost for the climate change problem that really fossil fuel companies spend decades deceiving the public,” Weber said.

(IQ Test: How hard are you laughing?)

State Senator Jarrett Keohokalole, who is sponsoring the bill, said the measure would allow the attorney general’s office to seek reimbursement from companies responsible for environmental damage.

(TRANSLATION: Mainland shysters will contribute to his Congressional campaign.)

“If state resources are being used to ensure and cover claims for climate related disasters then we should allow the attorney generals office to go an seek reimbursement from the companies that knowingly polluted the environment, knowingly caused climate impacts and are really cause behind these disasters,” Keohokalole said.

Similar legislation exists (A similar bill has been introduced) in New York (in Nov, 2025, but has gone nowhere), and a planned measure is being considered (still stuck in Senate committee after a year) in California, which was devastated by wildfires a year ago….

(TRANSLATION: No state has yet been stupid enough to enact this type of legislation, so now the shysters are trying Hawaii.)

LINK: NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8585

LINK: Votes: CA SB222 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | LegiScan

read … Hawaii home insurance rates spike after Maui wildfires

20% Raises? DBF Doesn’t have anybody to input the new pay rates

CB: … About a month after the raise went into effect on July 1, Ikenaga wrote to his staff alerting them that they wouldn’t see the increase in their Aug. 5 paychecks, according to the emails. The Department of Budget and Finance, he said, was down to just one clerk in the human resources department and the new supervisor “is not fully up to speed on the paperwork process.”

(But knows how to play solitaire on the computer.)

That left a single employee responsible for all the paperwork related to hiring, onboarding new employees, pay adjustments and separation for seven different agencies, Ikenaga wrote. …

Now, public defenders’ paychecks have fallen short for about 12 straight pay periods….

Just as a new employee joined the human resources division, another left, leaving the department continually short-staffed. The division is responsible for putting salary adjustments into the payroll system. It’s a tedious process that must be completed for each of the 101 attorneys. It would be a significant amount of work for two people, let alone a single worker, Ikenaga told his team in a Sept. 4 email. …

(IDEA: ‘ADP’)

The department was also missing workers in its fiscal division, which handles inputting retroactive adjustments, leaving one person to manually calculate (on an abacus) what each person is owed….

Earlier this week, Ikenaga told his staff that the increased paychecks are expected to start in February. But it’s still not a hard and fast timeline….

read … Public Defenders Got 20% Raises, But Hawaiʻi Isn’t Paying Them - Honolulu Civil Beat

Report: Motor vehicle deaths surge on Oahu as drug fatalities climb

HNN: … The Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner (MED) published the findings in its latest Annual Statistic Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.

The report details the department’s work in medicolegal death investigation, autopsy services, and morgue operations, said city officials.

Motor vehicle deaths surge, drug fatalities continue climb

Motor vehicle-related deaths surged 60% to 90 cases in FY2025, up from 56 the previous year.

Drug-related deaths also continued climbing, reaching 248 cases compared to 203 in FY2023.

Methamphetamine remains the leading cause of drug deaths at 186 cases, while fentanyl deaths climbed nearly 60% over the three-year period.

Medical examiner handles over 3,500 death cases.

MED received 3,562 total death notifications during FY2025.

Examiners conducted 1,392 total procedures, with autopsies and external examinations topping the list….

SN: Traffic fatalities, drug-related deaths up in 2025

LINK: ME Report

read … Report: Motor vehicle deaths surge on Oahu as drug fatalities climb

After Trump tells them not to, State Lawmakers Suddenly Want To Protect Hawaiʻi Kids From AI Chatbots

CB: … House Bill 639, authored by Rep. Trish La Chica with the support of other Democrats and several Republicans, did not pass in the last session.

But the legislation has new life and new support, thanks to a move by President Donald Trump to prohibit states from regulating AI and after a lawmaker heard from a Hawaiʻi mom about a disturbing relationship between her 12-year-old daughter and a chatbot….

read … State Lawmakers Want To Protect Hawaiʻi Kids From AI Chatbots - Honolulu Civil Beat

Public school bathroom conditions reflect poorly on state

SA: … According to the survey, 46% of students say their school bathrooms usually lack basic supplies like toilet paper, soap, menstrual products and paper towels. …

read … Column: Public school bathroom conditions reflect poorly on state | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Maui Parking Rules Are Now So Confusing Even Locals Can’t Explain Them

BH: … Maui now runs overlapping parking systems that look similar on the ground but work differently depending on the beach, the agency, and the lot. For visitors planning a trip, the more practical problem is not whether beaches are public. All beaches in Hawaii are. Maui beach parking fees starting in 2026 are what changed, and the rules are not uniform.

The problem is that there is no single, unified way to understand what applies where, when restrictions kick in, and how much a typical beach week will actually cost, because Maui beach access is now spread across separate systems and separate platforms….

read … Do Maui Beaches Require Reservations Now? Why No One Agrees

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