February 19, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, February 19, 2026

February 19, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:44 PM :: 147 Views

‘First Lateral’ Deadline Wipes out Lots of Bad 2A Bills

UPDATE: HPD List of Firearms Instructors

Augie T Says NO--Council OKs HART rail planning to Manoa, Ko Olina—Tax Increases Demanded

SA: … The three planned extensions include the Civic Center to Ala Moana extension; the East Kapolei to West Kapolei segment; and the Ala Moana to UH Manoa and Waikiki segment, the group said….

…Before the Council’s 8-1 vote (the lone ‘no’ voter) Tulba questioned HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina on whether Bill 60 “authorized funds” for planning and engineering costs. “And is there an estimated cost?” he asked.

Kahikina replied that an adopted Bill 60 authorizes HART to “use funds to get to University of Hawaii or further into Kapolei.”

“Currently, there are no additional funds to go there,” she added. “If we do obtain additional funds we need the authorization first before we can even spend funds to go beyond.” …

Kahikina said DHHL also has “grand plans of interconnecting with the historic rail, and … they have their own (transit-oriented development) future plans that they want to discuss.”…

KHON: HART greenlit to plan future Skyline rail extensions “Our funding is the general excise tax and transit accommodation tax granted to us by the state legislators, and that sunsets in 2030 right now. When that sunsets, I don’t even have enough funds to get to Ala Moana.” There are bills introduced this legislative session to extend the GET county surcharge, but they have not been scheduled for hearings.

read … Council OKs HART rail planning to UH Manoa | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

New push for independent prosecutor for campaign donation investigation

HNN: … Calls for a special prosecutor continue as two state lawmakers, also attorneys, write a letter to Gov. Josh Green.

Republican state Rep. Kanani Souza hand-delivered the letter from herself and Democrat state Rep. Della Au Belatti to the governor’s staff Wednesday afternoon.

The letter asked Green to “exercise his authority” and direct Lopez to “appoint an independent prosecutor” to investigate a $35,000 exchange between an influential lawmaker and a lobbyist in 2022….

The letter cited statements made by Alexander Silvert, a former defense attorney who exposed the case with a petition last October.

Silvert pointed out that Lopez initially declined to take the criminal case but changed her position months later. He said the delay could have serious political impacts.

Silvert cited that the legislative session ends in May, elections are in August, and the statute of limitations expires in January.

“When you delay this investigation, you delay letting us know what really happened,” Silvert said, adding that it could affect voters….

read … New push for independent prosecutor for campaign donation investigation

Canadian Hawaii tourism down 11.6%

PBN: … Canadian travel to non-U.S. destinations rose 8.9%. As the 'Elbows up' movement urges boycotts, Hawaii tourism is down 11.6% ….

read … Canada's 'Elbows up' movement cuts Hawaii tourism 11.6% - Pacific Business News

Hawaii Panel Advances Net Capital Gain Tax Increase

L360: … Hawaii would increase its tax on net capital gains under a bill referred by a committee in the state House of Representatives ….

HB1850: Measure Status Details for HB 1850

read … Hawaii Panel Advances Net Capital Gain Tax Increase

EPA says Navy does not have to engage with Activist Circus over Red Hill crisis

SA: … The Navy is no longer required to meet with a group of concerned community members (the usual activists) regarding the fallout from the Red Hill water crisis, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared last week….

The CRI met once a week and the consent order required the Navy to attend one meeting per quarter….

(Professional activist) Marti Townsend is a member and former chair of the CRI… (And therefore Red Hill gets folded into the activists pre-determined agenda.)….

(CLUE: The ‘defuel’ Red Hill, Navy contractors rebuilt it better than new. Now it is sitting there, ready to be refilled.)

read … EPA says Navy does not have to engage with community over Red Hill crisis | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Third Time’s the Charm: Former State Rep. Jon ‘Riki’ Karamatsu arrested for another DUI

KITV: … Former lawmaker Jon Riki Karamatsu was arrested and charged for allegedly driving under the influence on Monday night, marking his third DUI offense over several years.

Karamatsu, 51, who is a former Hawaii State Representative and a former Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor was arrested just after 10 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, for allegedly driving under the influence. According to Honolulu police arrest logs, Karamatsu was heading onto the H-1 Freeway west from Kalihi Street.

The former lawmaker was charged with his bail set at $1,000, but he no longer remains in custody.

Karamatsu was previously arrested on April 4, 2015 for driving under the influence where he was stopped by a police officer at a roadblock on Ala Moana Boulevard near the Ala Wai Canal. Karamatsu stepped down as Deputy Prosecutor days following his 2015 arrest. He was found guilty on March 2, 2016 after a bench trial.

…his first arrest on Oct. 16, 2007 followed a vehicle collision where his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit….

read … Former State Rep. Jon Karamatsu arrested, charged for allegedly driving intoxicated | Crime & Courts | kitv.com

Sexually transmitted infections more common in Hawaii than the flu

KITV: … Hawaii has seen two types of sexually transmitted infections peak in recent years.

"The truth is: these infections are very common. You just don't hear as much about it," said Gerald Hasty, with the Dept. of Health's Harm Reduction Services Branch.

The number of gonorrhea cases nearly doubled over the past ten years, with over 1,800 confirmed infections in 2023.

(The data for 2024 has been delayed, but Hasty expects the numbers to be similar to 2023.)

Syphilis also peaked in 2023 with nearly 300 cases.

The number of chlamydia cases decreased to just over 6,250 infections.

What hasn't changed is WHO is testing positive for these STIs.

"We do see more chlamydia diagnosed in young women than in men, and we see more gonorrhea diagnosed in men than we do in women," stated Hasty….

You can find out more about confidential and free STI testing on Oahu at health.hawaii.gov/harmreduction/get-tested/diamond-head-health-center-sti-hiv-clinic/.

read … Sexually transmitted infections more common in Hawaii than the flu | Local | kitv.com

City Must Pay $200K Settlement for getting Homeless Schizophrenic off the street and forcing him into the Mental Health Care he Desperately Needed

CB: … Spriestersbach was homeless in Honolulu in 2017 and waiting for food at Safe Haven in Chinatown when he was arrested by police based on the warrant for Castleberry. He had no identification, according to the lawsuit, but told police he was Joshua Spriestersbach and not Castleberry….

(TRANSLATION: The right thing is about to happen for the wrong reason.)

Police did not compare Spriestersbach’s fingerprints to Castleberry’s, and corrections officials also failed to correctly identify Spriestersbach during the following four months he spent at the Oʻahu Community Correctional Center.

According to a statement from the attorney general, experts concluded Spriestersbach was suffering from schizophrenia, and he was sent to Hawaiʻi State Hospital for treatment and assessment of his mental fitness.

(CLUE: This is exactly what must be done with all the mentally-ill homeless.)

A mental evaluation of Spriestersbach by one expert “confirmed Mr. Spriestersbach was not Thomas R. Castleberry,” the lawsuit alleged, but the court case continued.

The lawsuit also contends the doctors who evaluated Spriestersbach at the state hospital repeatedly noted the dates he was in mental health treatment on the Big Island. Apparently no one noticed those dates overlapped with the period Castleberry was in jail in Honolulu in 2006 for the crimes that eventually led to the arrest warrant.

(TRANSLATION: In Hawaii, homelessness can only be stopped if EVERYBODY screws up. The system is designed to keep the homeless, homeless.)

Federal court records show Dr. Allison Garrett at Hawaiʻi State Hospital in 2020 finally compared court records with Spriestersbach’s medical records from Puna on the Big Island that showed Spriestersbach was there in 2006 when Castleberry committed the crimes on Oʻahu that led to the arrest warrant.

“Joshua was provided 50 cents, two copies of his birth certificate, his state I.D., his social security card, and a ride back to the homeless shelter (See? Told you.) where he was arrested on May 17, 2017, thirty-two months earlier,” according to the lawsuit….

(Because the anti-schizophrenic drugs stabilized him, he was able to use the 50 cents to call his sister in Vermont. Now he is not homeless. This false arrest and hospitalization is EXACTLY what the mentally-ill homeless need.)

read … Mistaken ID Case At Hawaiʻi State Hospital May Cost State $200K - Honolulu Civil Beat

Higher food prices elevate inflation in Honolulu

SA: … Higher food prices contributed to the county’s inflation rising 1.1% over the two-month period that ended in January, and increasing 2.4% over the previous 12 months, according to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 12-month increase matched the 2.4% gain on a national level, but the state’s 1.1% gain from Nov. 25 to Jan. 26 was the highest two-month increase since March 2024 when inflation rose 1.5%....

read … Higher food prices elevate inflation in Honolulu | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

$1B in Savings: LNG Is A Sensible Solution For Oahu's Future Energy Needs

CB: … 69% of the island’s power comes from burning oil ….

Opposing or even banning liquefied natural gas would be a big mistake, codifying and carrying forward an unfortunate decision by Governor Ige some 10 years ago — a decision that has cost Oʻahu ratepayers well in excess of $1 billion. And which will continue to cost ratepayers at least that much per decade in the future, unless we’re willing to move on from the status quo.

It would also be a mistake for the environment by effectively preventing a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions to the extent that the Kahe and Waiau power plants continue to burn thick, black fuel oil …

read … LNG Is A Sensible Solution For Oahu's Future Energy Needs - Honolulu Civil Beat

Shifting Methods for Compensating Hawaii Renewable Energy Producers

IM: … In Hawaii, some of the earliest long‑term avoided‑cost contracts were signed in the 1990s and 2000s with renewable independent power producers. Those contracts tied prices to the cost of oil‑based generation, which helped encourage wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass projects.

Some of these contracts were negotiated when oil prices were low. As oil prices rose, the payments to renewable energy companies also went up, leading to windfall profits for some projects.

On the Big Island, four long‑term avoided‑cost contracts were originally in place: Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV), Hawi Renewable Development (wind), Wailuku River Hydroelectric, and Pakini Nui Wind Farm.

Starting in the 2020s, regulators and HELCO began amending the first three contracts, so they used fixed‑price structures that were no longer tied to oil prices. They argued that after 2009, the regulatory environment no longer needed avoided‑cost indexing and that competitive markets now offered cheaper renewable options.

The amended contracts for PGV, Hawi Renewable, and Wailuku River Hydroelectric shifted to lower, fixed rates that are meant to save customers compared with the old avoided‑cost formulas….

read … Shifting Methods for Compensating Hawaii Renewable Energy Producers | Ililani Media

While Crushing TVRs, Lawmakers Push for New Hotel in Hilo

CB: … Lawmakers want a hotel built at Hilo’s airport to meet the housing needs of the Merrie Monarch festival while longer-term efforts to revitalize the once-thriving tourist district pretend to continue ….

read … Hilo's Beloved Banyan Drive Is In Ruins. Could A New Agency Save It? - Honolulu Civil Beat

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