February 24, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Current Articles | Archives

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

February 24, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:23 PM :: 154 Views

Green Nominates 'Racially Inferior' Gluck for Another Try at ICA Judgeship

Travel Update: Pre-Check--YES, Global Entry--NO

More Spaghetti on the Wall: Climate Activists Push Insurance Companies to 'Sue Big Oil'

Supreme Court to hear Challenge to Big Oil Climate Change Lawsuit

Sheriff Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Bribery: Luke Comes up with New Story

VIDEO: Drone Footage Shows Extent of Flooding in Waialua, Haleiwa

“Multiple, active, complex white collar investigations” by Hawaii U.S. Attorney’s office

ILind: “… I am requesting an extension of time because I have been unable to turn my attention to this case until now due to my supervisory responsibilities as Chief of
Major Crimes at the Hawaii U.S. Attorney’s Office — overseeing hundreds of cases/investigations, including 7 trials in the next two months — as well as my own individual case load, which includes, among other things, my participation as lead counsel in a complex civil forfeiture matter (D. Haw., 1:25-cv-00028-DKW-KJM) and in multiple, active, complex white collar investigations….”

read … Heavy workload in Hawaii U.S. Attorney’s office blamed for slowing pending cases | i L i n d

Unsealed court records detail FBI raid, witness threat during hitman-for-hire investigation

HNN: … That raid occurred on Jan. 23, 2024. The judge recused himself the following day. The special prosecutor was also a reported target, and both were assigned a security detail….

Investigators seized Tanaka’s two phones, a computer, and a USB hard drive during the raid…

No new charges have been filed against Tanaka in connection with the alleged murder-for-hire case. The investigation was taken over by the Arizona FBI office to avoid conflicts with local authorities. It is unclear whether the investigation is still ongoing….

Defense attorney Alexander Silvert said the lack of charges raises questions about the case’s trajectory.

“Particularly where you have a situation involving alleged threats to a judge and a U.S. attorney, you would think that they would have moved along pretty rapidly,” Silvert said. “Given that nothing has occurred yet, it would appear to me unlikely that something’s going to occur in the near future.”

In a previous statement, Tanaka’s attorney said she was the victim of extortion and paid a man who was threatening her family….

read … Unsealed court records detail FBI raid, witness threat during hitman-for-hire investigation

Rising child care costs strain families despite wage gains

SA: … A recent SmartAsset analysis of Massachusetts Institute of Technology living wage calculator data, reported by CNBC, found that Hawaii requires the highest income in the nation for a single working parent supporting a non-working partner and one child — at least $102,773 per year. It is the only state where a three- person household requires a six-figure salary to cover basic needs such as rent, food and health care. The estimate excludes discretionary spending.

If both parents work, the required household income rises to at least $115,814 annually when child care is included. By comparison, Hawaii’s median household income is just over $98,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

At the same time, federal labor statistics show that wages in Hawaii trail national averages. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Honolulu County’s average weekly wage rose 6.5% over the year to $1,412 in the first quarter of 2025 — ranking 144th nationally among large counties and still below the U.S. average of $1,589. Neighbor island counties reported even lower weekly averages: $1,226 in Kauai, $1,215 in Maui County and $1,183 in Hawaii County.

Child care costs add another layer of financial strain.

Data compiled by child care platform TOOTRiS show the average annual cost of infant care has reached $24,115 — about $2,010 per month — while care for a 4-year-old averages $13,992 annually, or about $1,166 per month. In Honolulu, estimates place monthly child care costs even higher, with infant care around $3,045 per month and general child care around $2,796 — compared with roughly $2,200 for a one-bedroom apartment.

That means child care can run about 27% more than rent and consume roughly 40% of a typical Honolulu household’s median monthly income of about $7,076. Infant care alone can take up about 43%. For a median-income Hawaii family of four earning $137,454 per year, infant care represents nearly 17% of gross household income — more than double the 7% affordability benchmark recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services….

read … Rising child care costs strain families despite wage gains | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

HMSA Proposal: Hawaiʻi Health Care Could See Radical Transformation

CB: … A 2022 survey of Hawaiʻi physicians published in the Hawaiʻi Journal of Health and Social Welfare found that 77% of the 250 doctors who responded were unhappy with the payment model, with 55.2% reporting they were “very unhappy.” The study built on a previous, similar study that shared an overarching finding: that HMSA’s risk-sharing payment system was worsening Hawaiʻi’s physician shortage….

Dr. Nadine Tenn Salle is a pediatrician who represents doctors as president of the Hawaiʻi Medical Association. In a statement, she said the organization hasn’t taken a position on the One Health deal. But she said HMSA’s monthly allowance-based model has led many physicians to “report increased administrative burden, uncompensated work, and rising stress — all of which have contributed to workforce strain.”

“If HMSA is now describing itself as being in a financially unsustainable position after years of operating under this model,” she added, “it raises an important question: why would we expand a model that has struggled in primary care to specialists and across the broader health system without first understanding what didn’t work and why?”

(ANSWER: HMSA is sure the system will work with AI robots in control.)

Meanwhile, for some doctors, “value-based care” translates simply to onerous administrative work.

Dr. Curtis Takemoto-Gentile cut ties with HMSA in January, opting to ditch insurance entirely and transition to a direct primary care model in which patients pay him $200 per month to be part of his practice, which he shares with his daughter, Dr. Krishanna Takemoto-Gentile. …

Dr. Curtis Takemoto-Gentile recalls when HMSA first started its monthly allowance payment model about eight years ago, the insurer paid him $45 per month. HMSA later cut that to $44. And he says he was relatively lucky: some doctors, he said, were paid as little as $18 per patient per month.

(TRANSLATION: Squeeze blood from turnip.)

On top of the strict budget was the administrative burden of documenting that he was meeting HMSA’s quality metrics, something he says ate into nights and weekends. Making matters worse, Takemoto-Gentile says, he would have done all the things HMSA required him to do and document anyway….

For the last several years, Vara said, Hawaiʻi Health Partners has been working with an allowance-based budget model for all doctors, including specialists, known as “global capitation.”

Under the model, HMSA agrees to a budgeted amount to pay Hawaiʻi Health Partners to deliver all of its medical services for a year. At the end of the year, the budgeted amounts are reconciled with actual amounts spent. If the providers go over budget, Hawaiʻi Health Partners is on the hook; if Hawaiʻi Health Partners can serve its patients, keeping them healthy while going under budget, Hawaiʻi Health Partners splits the savings with HMSA and distributes the rest to the doctors.

For the past four years, Vara says, Hawaiʻi Health Partners has come under budget.

(TRANSLATION: MDs get bonus for rationing care.)

The deal still needs regulatory approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. At the state level, Dr. Jack Lewin, who heads the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Planning and Development Agency, will have to weigh in. Lewin declined to talk specifically about the One Health deal, which will come before him.

But, he said, generally that there’s nothing wrong with a capitated, monthly allowance per-patient payment model, as long as the payment is adequate to cover the doctors’ costs of doing business – which he said it generally doesn’t….

REALITY: HMSA-HPH 'Merger': AI Robot to be ‘Single Source of Oppressive and Unconscionable Truth’

Meanwhile: The Human Cost Of Waiting For Mental Health Care In Hawaiʻi - Honolulu Civil Beat

read … HMSA Proposal: Hawaiʻi Health Care Could See Radical Transformation - Honolulu Civil Beat

Knowing the Green Fee is Doomed in Court, Legislators Try New Trick

CB: … As the cruise industry and the state spar in court over Hawaiʻi’s new green fee, state lawmakers are moving full steam ahead to remove those ships from the landmark climate law and have them instead pay a new fee of around $10 per passenger.

Such a change, however, would drastically shrink the total dollars going into the green fee, state tax projections show, and limit its ability to deal with overtourism, natural disasters and climate change.

The bills in the House and Senate have passed the first legislative committees they needed to clear.

“The main point for this is to find a middle ground so that we avoid heavy litigation costs and a drawn-out process,” said Rep. Adrian Tam, who chairs the House Tourism Committee….

(CLUE: This is just like their 2A legislation. Try one unconstitutional bill after another.)

the pair of bills advancing in the state House and Senate would enable the ships to pay around $10 million annually in passenger fees instead. That legislation would limit those dollars to harbor improvements, while the green fee proceeds primarily paid by hotel guests would fund various projects across the islands….

Dreana Kalili, state deputy transportation director for harbors, has said much of the passenger fee dollars collected from cruise companies could still fund at least some climate change-related projects.

Specifically, they could be used to fund what’s known as “shore power,” where the ships could turn off their engines and plug into the cleaner electrical grid while in port. Weir said the Norwegian ships are compatible with shore power. State transportation officials estimate it would cost around $100 million to install shore power infrastructure at Honolulu Harbor’s Pier 2 alone.

($100M to MOVE THE SMOKESTACK: Turn off the ship’s diesel generators and use HECO’s diesel instead.)

The cost estimates for shore power in neighbor island ports vary, those officials say, based on grid capacity, needed upgrades and other factors. The per-passenger fees could also be used, Kalili said, to raise piers at the ports that will be underwater in the coming decades due to sea level rise….

(TRANSLATION: Invent useless harbors projects and make cruise lines pay for them.)

read … Climate Funding Under New Hawai‘i Tax Could Be Cut By Millions - Honolulu Civil Beat

AstraZeneca Fails in Bid to Halt Hawaii 340B Drug Delivery Law

BL: … AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, for now, must abide by a Hawaii law that requires it to deliver discounted drugs to pharmacies contracted to serve low-income individuals.

Federal law doesn’t clearly preempt Hawaii’s Act 143, which prohibits drugmakers from imposing delivery restrictions on discounted drugs covered by the federal government’s 340B pricing program, the US District Court for the District of Hawaii said Monday. AstraZeneca didn’t show it was likely to win on its argument that the state law conflicts with the federal drug-pricing program because Act 143 deals only with shipping and delivery—a matter not covered by the federal law ...

read … AstraZeneca Fails in Bid to Halt Hawaii 340B Drug Delivery Law

Can Travelers Really Undo Alaska’s Hawaiian Airlines Takeover?

BH: … Travelers who tried to stop Alaska Airlines from swallowing Hawaiian Airlines just got something almost unheard of in corporate takeovers: a do-over. In a surprise decision this week, a federal appeals court said the lawsuit that tried to block the $1.9 billion takeover can be refiled. The move reopens a fight that most thought was over….

L360: Flyers Seek TRO In Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Antitrust Suit - Law360 UK

read … Can Travelers Really Undo Alaska’s Hawaiian Airlines Takeover? - Beat of Hawaii

Epstein associates vacationed in Hawaii, emails show

HNN: … email, from a man identified as Sultan bin Sulayem, states: “going to San Diego to see wife number 1 stay 5 days then back to wife number 2 in honolulu.”

CBS News reported earlier this month that a man with the same name is a Dubai ports executive who had been removed from his position following revelations about his ties to Epstein….

read … Epstein associates vacationed in Hawaii, emails show

More Local Food? These State Agencies Aren’t Buying It

CB: … Few departments met the official 10% goal last year. While cost, quality and lack of consistent supply are concerns, the current pace doesn’t bode well for the larger push to wean the islands off imported food….

read … More Local Food? These State Agencies Aren’t Buying It - Honolulu Civil Beat

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

QUICK HITS: