January 28, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

January 28, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:59 PM :: 287 Views

Candidate Filing for 2026 Elections Begins February 2

Hawai‘i Police Department Vice 2025 Drug Recovery Stats

Hawaii Baseball Coach at Center of MLB Gambling Scandal

Hawaii governor says he will remove 10,000 vacation rentals from the market

STR: … Green has claimed that the State will move 10,000 homes from the vacation rental market to long-term housing for local families.

In his State of the State address this week, Green said: “We will deliver at least another 10,000 new homes this way.”

Critics say the claim is not supported by anything currently in Hawaii law, policy, or planning.

The only place in Hawaii where a large-scale vacation rental phaseout is actually being pursued is Maui. Maui’s Bill 9, signed into law late in 2025, is the only mechanism that could convert Hawaii vacation rentals into long-term housing in significant numbers.

At most, the law could apply to 6,208 apartment-zoned units, with conversion deadlines of January 1, 2029, for West Maui rentals and January 1, 2031, for those in South Maui. But within weeks of Bill 9 becoming law, the Maui County Council took steps that could dramatically reduce how many units are ever converted. On January 7, the council voted 8-1 to advance proposed H-3 and H-4 hotel zoning districts to the two involved planning commissions for review. Those zoning changes could allow approximately 4,519 of the 6,208 affected units to continue operating legally as vacation rentals.

Bill 9 is also being challenged in the courts. A lawsuit filed by Kaanapali Royal on December 19 challenged Bill 9 as an unconstitutional taking, although no court rulings or injunctions have been issued to date. A second class-action lawsuit has already followed, raising similar claims. Both cases argue that eliminating long-standing legal vacation rentals without compensation violates property rights.

If the lawsuits succeed, the number of converted units could drop to zero….

read … Hawaii governor says he will remove 10,000 vacation rentals from the market

Hawaii Legislative Games Begin with 90 ‘Short-Form’ Bills Introduced

IM: … While any senator or representative can introduce bills, committee chairs often introduce multiple short-form (blank) bills related to their jurisdiction to ensure they can address urgent issues that arise after the session’s initial deadline.

These are, in effect, blank pages or placeholders that allow for major legislation to be filled in later, often used to bypass strict deadlines for new bill submissions.

In short, while committee chairs are the most frequent users of these "blanket" bills, the power to introduce them is not exclusively limited to them, as all legislators have the right to file legislation during the specified period.

There are currently over 90 short form bills in the House and Senate….

read … Hawaii Legislative Games Begin | Ililani Media

SB3041: Color Coded Gun Signs

KITV: … Senate Bill 3041 would require business owners to post color-coded signs indicating whether they allow guns and large knives on their properties.

"Red would allow guns and knives. Yellow would allow a gun or a knife and green wouldn't allow either of those," said Andrew Namiki Roberts, director of the Hawaii Firearms Coalition. "It has a chilling effect because most businesses don't want to put up any sign. They don't want to have an opinion about this." ….

read … Hawaii lawmakers to consider placard program for firearms | News | kitv.com

Dopey: State Study Concludes Everybody in Hawaii would spend $65 per month on Marijuana

MM: … All told, researchers said survey data and comparative analyses indicate that Hawaii could see anywhere from $46-$90 million in monthly marijuana sales by year five of implementation, after accounting for a maximum 15 percent tax rate on cannabis products….

($90M / 1.4M people = $65 per month per person on weed.)

read … Legalizing Marijuana In Hawaii Could Drive $90 Million In Monthly Sales—With Mixed Tourism Impacts—Report Commissioned By State Finds - Marijuana Moment

Honolulu City Council poised to OK transit fare increases

SA: … If adopted, the fare hikes take effect July 1.

As proposed, Bill 54 could increase the annual adult fare from $880 to $990; and the monthly adult fare would rise to $90, up from the current charge of $80 — a 12.5% increase for both.

Other fare changes would include charging $45 for a seven-day pass, up from the current $35 — a 28.5% difference; and $50 for the senior annual fare, up from $45, an 11% increase.

The city’s monthly youth fare for TheBus would climb $5, or 12.5%, to $45, the bill states. The annual youth pass is proposed at $495.

TheHandi-Van fares would go from $2.25 to $2.50 for a one-way ride — an 11% increase.

Single fares would remain at $3, but riders who pay cash would have to pay 25 cents more….

CB: Honolulu Bus, Rail Fares Set To Go Up This Summer - Honolulu Civil Beat

read … Honolulu City Council poised to OK transit fare increases | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

More than one-third of adults in Hawaiʻi report symptoms of anxiety or depression

CB: … recent statewide data indicate that more than one-third of adults in Hawaiʻi report symptoms of anxiety or depression, suggesting that internal distress is widespread even beyond clinical settings….

In clinical settings, anxiety is also commonly intertwined with substance use. Many people rely on alcohol, prescription medications, or other substances to manage anxiety symptoms, improve sleep, or temporarily quiet intrusive thoughts.

Because outward functioning remains intact, these coping strategies often go unnoticed and unaddressed — sometimes for years — until they begin to create additional problems. In the Honolulu metropolitan area, approximately one in 10 people aged 12 and older meets criteria for a substance use disorder in a given year….

read … Why High-Functioning People In Hawaiʻi Are Quietly Struggling With Anxiety - Honolulu Civil Beat

18-Time Loser Allegedly Assaults Police officer (again)

SA: … A 45-year-old Honolulu Police Department officer on Monday became the eighth officer to be attacked in Waikiki since June.

In all, 15 HPD officers were assaulted last year and three so far this year. First-degree assault of a law enforcement officer is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

On Monday, 70-year-old Floyd Changsonson Lim allegedly assaulted the female officer in Waikiki. Lim has 18 prior state convictions including for assaulting a police officer in 2012….

Also Monday, 33-year-old Le Rena Bautista was arrested in the 84-0200 block of Water Street in Waianae for allegedly assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Bautista has five prior state convictions, including for drunk driving and having an open container of liquor in her car.

Charges are pending with the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.

That attack on the officer in Waikiki came two days after John Michael Drabzcyk, 41, was arrested for allegedly attacking an officer. Drabzcyk was charged by the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney with felony assault against law enforcement in the first degree.

Drabzcyk is the seventh person charged with attacking police in Waikiki in less than a year. Drabczyk has 22 prior state convictions including felonies for accidents causing substantial bodily injury, robbery and promoting dangerous drugs….

read … 8 Honolulu police officers attacked in Waikiki since June | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Waiʻanae Group Wants A New Homeless Shelter. Can They Overcome Objections?

CB: … With a view across Farrington Highway to Lanterns Beach, the property offers nearby space to grow food and proximity to a health care center and a homeless services nonprofit. To Lena Spain-Suzuki, that makes it an ideal site to house some of the many hundreds of homeless people living on Oʻahu’s Waiʻanae Coast.

“Waiʻanae is broken,” said Spain-Suzuki, a member of the Waiʻanae Moku Kūpuna Council. “The city and state do not care about Waiʻanae.”

Others, though, say the Westside already has more than its share of homeless, many driven there by official efforts to clear out Honolulu’s urban core. Politicians who represent the area have joined that camp, maintaining that adding services in the area will only attract more people looking for help.

“The public sentiment of a lot of folks in the community is that they don’t like these projects because they feel like it just becomes magnets for more homeless, for homelessness,” said Nānākuli state Rep. Darius Kila….

read … Waiʻanae Group Wants A New Homeless Shelter. Can They Overcome Objections? - Honolulu Civil Beat

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