March 3, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

March 3, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:49 PM :: 171 Views

Hawaii high court takes up 20-year fight over retiree health benefits

Tax Hike News: House Democrats Tout Welfare Bills as Response to Trump

8a Conspiracy Alleged as Dawson Heirs Squabble over Money

CB: … On Feb. 5, Donne Dawson filed a lawsuit against Equitable Holdings, Inc., claiming she was the sole beneficiary of her brother’s life insurance policy despite records showing that Christopher Dawson’s daughter was also named a 50% beneficiary. …

Donne Dawson’s attorneys offered a version of events that seems to contradict what DOJ, SBA and Hawaiian Native Corp. officials have been saying for years: He was pushed out by others in the company who threatened him with civil and criminal penalties if he refused to go. “For the sake of his family,” the complaint states, “Mr. Dawson succumbed to their pressure.” …

Donne Dawson is fighting to stop the government from seizing her brother’s properties, which were purchased between 2017 and 2021 for a combined price of more than $8.2 million. She’s also seeking to block the DOJ from taking nearly $600,000 that’s held in a separate bank account, money that her brother had set aside to purchase another multimillion-dollar condominium. …

(TRANSLATION: Copying Miske, he killed himself to prevent federal prosecution and give his family a chance to inherit his ill-gotten gains.)

Christopher Dawson became the target of a criminal investigation when federal agents raided the Hawaiian Native Corp.’s headquarters in summer of 2023. At the time, Dawson, his sister, Donne, and his mother, Beatrice “Beadie” Kanahele Dawson, were all on the board of directors along with Allen Hoe, a Native Hawaiian lawyer and veterans advocate.

Shortly after the raid, Christopher Dawson stepped down as chairman of the nonprofit and relinquished control of the DAWSON companies, saying he wanted to avoid being a distraction while the investigation played out.

Hoe was named chairman of the nonprofit board and Dave Johnson, the DAWSON companies’ chief operating officer, was promoted to CEO. The Hawaiian Native Corp. also brought on Andy Winer, the nonprofit’s federal lobbyist and former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, as a board member.

Before the investigation could play out, however, Christopher Dawson was terminated and both his sister and mother were removed from the nonprofit they helped found. Donne Dawson now maintains that was all part of a coordinated campaign. …

read … Embezzler Or Victim? Native Hawaiian Contractor's Family Fights Back - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii DLE Subpoenaed--Indicted CEO’s security firm has Hawaii law enforcement contracts

HNN: … The CEO of SaferWatch, a security monitoring company with active contracts in Hawaii, has been indicted on federal bribery charges in the district of New York.

The FBI reviewed the company’s ties to the Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement (DLE) back in August.

“We were served a document to produce records related to the procurement,” said DLE director Mike Lambert.

(TRANSLATION: “Subpoena.”)

Lambert also said the FBI interviewed people in DLE who worked on the SaferWatch contract, but he was not made aware of any wrongdoing in Hawaii….

Lambert was not working at DLE when the five-year contracts were completed in May 2024. He was appointed in January 2025….

In Hawaii, the company operates the state’s agriculture crimes tip line, the gun hotline, and the illegal fireworks reporting system through its platform….

The SaferWatch products remain online in Hawaii. The contracts run through May 2029….

USDOJ: Southern District of New York | Former NYPD Official And Florida Businessman Charged With Bribery Offenses | United States Department of Justice

NYP: NYPD school safety boss indicted for taking bribes from ‘sugar daddy’ businessman | New York Post

DPS CORRUPTION BACKGROUND:

read … Indicted CEO’s security firm has Hawaii law enforcement contracts

Hawaiian Home Lands rent-to-own prospect has few takers

SA: … The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands hasn’t convinced many beneficiaries to take a new path to homeownership at a unique rent-to-own project despite more than $1 million in touted benefits.

DHHL awarded 25 leases on Saturday for apartments in its recently acquired 82-unit Courtyards at Waipouli complex on Kauai where beneficiary households with low to moderate incomes can buy renovated apartments for far below market value after 11 years of paying below-market rent.

The agency offered the 82 units to 1,515 beneficiaries on its waitlist for Kauai residential homesteads, and received registered interest from 78 after promoting the project as an unprecedented opportunity to secure affordable rental housing, build generational wealth and result in homeownership at a heavily subsidized price….

The response at Saturday’s event represents another challenge for DHHL, which has been working on the project in Kapaa for more than two years and navigated difficulties with financing, criticism from beneficiaries and opposition from tenants facing displacement….

“If I lose my apartment, I will essentially be homeless,” Sam Wampler, a Courtyards at Waipouli tenant in 2024, told the Hawaiian Homes Commission at a meeting that year in Wailua where project opponents demonstrated outside. “This is the story of so many of the residents, and this will be detrimentally affecting Kauai.”

Sherri Cummings, a DHHL beneficiary, told the commission at another meeting in 2024 that the Waipouli project was a bad idea. ”Put us back on the land,” she said….

The agency said beneficiaries can save between $215 and $2,165 a month on rent by accepting a Waipouli project lease that helps them save for a down payment to buy their unit after 11 years for a fraction of its value.

For instance, a household earning 80% of the median income could initially rent a 2-bedroom unit for $2,388 a month, or $812 below the market rate. The agency said savings could grow and total $191,000 over 11 years. Then the household could buy the unit for between roughly $333,000 and $441,200 depending on whether they are eligible for a loan subsidy, and become the owner of a condominium expected to be worth $1.6 million….

read … Hawaiian Home Lands rent-to-own prospect has few takers | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Corruption Stadium: Concessions to be Exempt from Competitive Bidding

CB: … Members of The Outdoor Circle today say selling the Hālawa stadium’s name to the highest bidder could send the state down that same old slippery slope.

Sen. Glenn Wakai is pushing to get the extra revenue for his district’s biggest project for the third year in a row…

“The fear,” Yadao told Civil Beat, “is that we were going to turn the Hālawa area into Vegas lite.”…

Last year, the bill passed the Legislature only to be vetoed by Gov. Josh Green. He said that by law the bill’s title — “Relating to Naming Rights” — didn’t encompass the content of the bill, since it also exempted stadium concessions from the standard bidding process.

That wording issue shouldn’t be an issue this year, Yadao said, since the new title of the bill is broader: “Relating to State Facilities.”

But the hospitality, health care and food services union Unite Here Local 5 isn’t a fan of exempting stadium concessions from the standard bidding process.

“There is no reason for these concessions to be added to the long and ever-growing list of things exempt from competitive bidding,” the group said in written testimony. “Without competitive bidding, the process of awarding concessions contracts is opaque. It will be unclear which companies are aware of which opportunities.”

In Yadao’s view, keeping concessions out of the competitive bidding process makes it easier for the private development company Aloha Hālawa District Partners to eventually operate the stadium.

“We don’t want to put constraints on them about who they can bring in to serve food or to do whatever,” he said. …

The new stadium was supposed to be complete in time for the University of Hawaiʻi’s 2028 football season, but that has been pushed to March 2029, in time for that year’s procession of graduation ceremonies….

(LOL!)

read … Aloha By Zippy’s Stadium? Oʻahu Venue Naming Rights Could Be At Play - Honolulu Civil Beat

Two Tickets: Campaign-To-Campaign Giving Binds Legislative Factions Together

CB: Hawaiʻi law allows campaigns to purchase two fundraiser tickets to another candidate’s event. Those tickets can cost as much as $2,000 each. This has become one of the main ways money quietly moves between campaigns. A handful of allied lawmakers can buy tickets to a fundraiser, instantly transferring thousands of donor-funded dollars between races. It shows up in the filings, but it is easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for….

… A candidate can decline certain contributions directly while still benefiting from money that passed through another campaign’s account first. Once I knew what to look for, the pattern was visible across multiple races….

… $386,038 was transferred between campaigns during the 2024 election cycle alone. …

read … Time To Close The Campaign-To-Campaign Giving Loophole - Honolulu Civil Beat

Trump Nominates Sorenson US Attorney for District of Hawaii

WH: ‘…Kenneth Sorenson, of Hawaii, to be United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii for the term of four years….’

read … Nominations-sent-to-the Senate

Revolving Door: Third Director in Three Years for Maui Planning Department

CB: … Jacky Takakura knows the world she’s entering, but that won’t make her job much easier.

She’s the third person tapped to serve as Maui County planning director in the past three years. As the island continues to recover from the deadly 2023 wildfires that devastated Lahaina and Kula, there has perhaps never been a more difficult time to lead the Planning Department.

Over the next several months, it will need to tackle an array of complex and controversial topics, from overseeing the permitting process for property owners looking to rebuild homes and businesses to shepherding legislation that could exempt thousands of vacation rentals from being phased out. On top of that, the department will be expected to address the long-overdue rewrite of the county’s zoning code and prepare South Maui and other parts of the island for future development.

Even though Takakura, a 28-year county employee and former deputy planning director, never aspired to the top job, she said her decades of local government experience and recent involvement in post-wildfire rebuilding have prepared her to take on those issues and myriad others. She also has seen the toll the stress of the job has taken on her predecessors….

read … The Stakes Have Never Been Higher For Maui Planning Department - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii Firefighters Have Concerns With Residential Solar Panels

IM: … The Hawaii Firefighters resistance to legislation authorizing plug-in solar mirrors opposition to rooftop solar from more than a decade ago.

This may have been intensified due to the Lahaina Wildfire. The first urban wildfire with extennsive solar panels and batteries.

Superheated smoke and gases released in a house fire can be vented by cutting a hole in the roof. Releasing these increases visibility within the burning structure allowing firefighters to assist those who are trapped. Vertical ventilation has saved property and lives.

Solar panels pose a growing threat to firefighters. Walking on the roof and finding a place to cut the roof can be challenging If the roof is covered with solar panels and wiring. The panels cause electrical shock even if they come with shutoffs and are also trip hazards….

Related Article: Hawaii Fire Fighters Oppose Portable Plug-in Solar Systems (ililani media, Feb 26)

read … Hawaii Firefighters Have Concerns With Residential Solar Panels | Ililani Media

CNHA to become Landlord Again

KHON: … Located near The Queen’s Medical Center, an apartment building property at Lusitana Street was purchased by the council for just under $3 million on Feb. 27.

Federal Community Development Block Grant funds administered by the City and County of Honolulu made this property acquisition possible and ensured the building will “remain dedicated to long-term affordability,” the council said.

(CLUE: It already was ‘affordable.’ No new units are being created.)

2023: CNHA Buys Another Apartment Building--No New Affordable Units Created > Hawaii Free Press

read … Affordable workforce housing set for Punchbowl area | KHON2

Force needed to remove meth camp with huge homeless structure

HNN: … Connie Mitchell, executive director at IHS, said the squatters had tapped into the village’s water and power, trespassed on the property, and created unsanitary conditions.

“That’s right below a property that we’re managing that has over 300 children living there, so that was a big concern for us,” Mitchell said.

The squatter population grew after the state cleared a camp on the opposite side of the stream two summers ago, said Mitchell.

She said the floating house moved across the stream, and others followed, shifting the encampment to the side under city jurisdiction….

If outreach efforts do not convince all residents to leave voluntarily, the area will be posted with warning signs, and some holdouts may be removed by force….

read … Sustained effort needed to remove camp with huge homeless structure

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