Long Lines Suppress Votes on Election Day:  Election Officials Plan to do it Again in 2026 

Election 2026: 203 Candidates Pull Papers to Run

Rapist gets Work-Furlough: Allegedly Kills Girlfriend, Tries to kill Wife (again)

KITV: … Detectives learned that the victim had a 55-year-old boyfriend, (John Keanuenue Nihipali) who was in the work furlough program and wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor at the time of the incident.

Police said the couple entered her apartment together at around 10:30 a.m. and he left alone at around 2:45 p.m….

Police responded to a stabbing on Kealiiahonui Street in Kapolei at around 4:15 p.m. Thursday.

That victim, also a 53-year-old woman, was hospitalized in critical condition.

Police said when officers arrived, a man was outside the home and armed with a knife. Despite multiple commands to drop the knife, police said the suspect did not comply, leading the officer to deploy a conducted electrical weapon (CEW), similar to a Taser.

The suspect fell to the ground, and officers were able to safely disarm and arrest him.

Authorities confirmed Friday that the two cases were linked.

“We believe the suspect fatally stabbed his girlfriend earlier in the day at the residence in McCully area, took her vehicle, and later drove to the Kapolei residence where he stabbed his estranged wife,” said Lt. Deena Thoemmes, Honolulu Police Department….

He has two prior convictions for manslaughter and sex assault….

According to the Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the suspect was a furlough inmate at Module 20 at the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) who was out on a resocialization furlough pass on Thursday. He was scheduled to return to OCCC later that evening by 6 p.m.

The suspect is serving a five-year term which ends on Sept. 26, 2029, after serving a 20-year term for attempted manslaughter that ended on Sept. 28, 2024. The two prison terms run consecutively.

He was scheduled to be released on Sept. 26, 2029 after completing his full sentence….

SA: HPD arrests furlough inmate in stabbing of 2 women, killing 1 | Honolulu Star-Advertiser -- Nihipali had completed serving a 20-year sentence on Sept. 28, 2024, for attempted manslaughter in the 2004 slashing of his wife in the throat, and was serving another five years for second-degree assault of a church pastor, and was due to “max out” Sept. 26, 2029, according to the DCR and news reports…. Nihipali also was convicted Jan. 17, 1996, on two counts of third-degree sexual assault in Kona Circuit Court. He had been given a deferred acceptance of a no-contest plea, but was resentenced Oct. 7, 1996, to five years’ confinement.

read … Murder investigation opened after woman found dead in McCully apartment

Maui wildfire settlement: Insurers get 10% so Lawyers can cash in

HNN: … Payments from the $4 billion Maui wildfire settlement could reach victims as soon as April, a judge said Friday, at a hearing focused on reducing legal fees and insurance costs for the roughly 34,000 people and businesses that have filed claims.

The settlement was negotiated with Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiian Electric, the state of Hawaii, and several other companies approximately a year and a half ago — about a year after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire that destroyed Lahaina and separate fires that destroyed homes in upcountry Maui.

Judge to set single fee rate for all victims

Judge Peter Cahill said he will decide how much victims will pay in attorneys fees and how much each law firm will receive, based on the amount of work each firm contributed.

“I gotta tell you in a lot of cases that reduction for attorneys fees is going to be minimal because the people who are seeking a reduction didn’t take any depos, didn’t hire any experts,” Cahill said.

Attorney Cynthia Wong said the judge will likely set one fee for all victims, then pay attorneys based on their individual work — a structure that would result in many victims paying less in fees than originally expected.

Judge pushing to limit insurance reimbursements

The judge is also pushing a deal that would pay insurance companies only 10% of what they are currently demanding from clients who were paid for fire damage.

The leaders of attorneys representing individual plaintiffs worked out a deal last week with Island Insurance for the 10-percent payout, and Cahill said he wants other insurers to accept the similar terms. He ordered the attorneys and insurers to return to mediation and report the status next week….

read … Maui wildfire settlement payments could reach victims as soon as April…

Green Fee Gold Rush Produces $2B in Scams

SA: … The green fee’s modest increase to the transient accommodations tax is projected to generate roughly $100 million annually. That is meaningful funding, but it sits against an estimated $500 million to $1 billion in annual climate resilience needs statewide. In the first year alone, more than $2 billion in eligible project ideas were submitted….

The most promising investments are those that reduce risk now while strengthening Hawaii’s long-term resilience. One council member described it as “planting kalo and planting koa….”

What’s at stake is whether Hawaii chooses to act at the scale this moment demands. Climate change is already affecting life in the islands. Wildfire risk is escalating, shorelines are eroding, and chronic flooding threatens more than $19 billion in assets by 2100. The costs of inaction are already appearing in insurance markets, infrastructure repairs and increasingly severe disasters….

(IQ Test:  Do you believe any of this?)

(REALITY: Sea level rise is 6 inches per 100 years at Honolulu Harbor according to NOAA.  There is no ‘hockey stick’.  It will be another 6 inches in 2126.  LINK)

read …  5 Questions: Jeff Mikulina, Green Fee Advisory Council chair

Former US Rep. Colleen Hanabusa Dead At 74

CB: … Colleen Hanabusa, who represented Hawaiʻi in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Thursday after a private battle with cancer. She was 74.  Hanabusa, a Democrat, served twice in the House, from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019….

NR: Office of the Governor – Flag Order – Flags Lowered to Half-Staff for Colleen Hanabusa | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

read … Former US Rep. Colleen Hanabusa Dead At 74 - Honolulu Civil Beat

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

1. Why Hawaii's economy hasn't moved beyond tourism

2. Letter: Leaders must question top-heavy government | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

3. Letter: Hawaii’s climate policies to raise costs even higher | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

4. 5 Questions: Jeff Mikulina, Green Fee Advisory Council chair | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

5. Episode 147: HOSD Deputy Chief Jimmy Barros on a new leadership role and moving the department forward | Office of the Mayor

6. DBEDT NEWS RELEASE: SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY REVIEW BOARD TO CONDUCT ITS FIRST MEETING ON MAUI | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

7. 2603014_TWENTY-NINTH-PROCLAMATION-RELATING-TO-WILDFIRES-Scanned.pdf

QUICK HITS:

1. Hawaii County police chief publicly sworn in

2. Hawaii's Electric Rates Are High — Now Let's Talk About What That Actually Mean | Ililani Media

3. Covering the Cost: The cost of energy and the highest electric bills in the U.S.

4. HCDA NEWS RELEASE – PUBLIC INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN KAKAʻAKO MAKAI VISIONING WORKSHOP | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

5. DBEDT NEWS RELEASE: Dynamic Production Slate Kicks Off a Year of Opportunity for Hawai’i’s Creative Economy and Film Industry Workforce | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

6. DCCA RELEASE: NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION WEEK FAIR GATHERS HUNDREDS AT STATE CAPITOL | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

7. DOH News Release – OHCA Issues $1,500 Administrative Penalty Against Romeo Valdez of Hale Lehua Care Home | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

8. PRESS RELEASE: PUC CONDUCTS PUBLIC HEARING ON HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC’S OVERHEAD LINE CONSTRUCTION FOR PU‘ULOA SOLAR PROJECT | Governor Josh Green, M.D.

9. City to host Workforce & Enterprise Expo 2026, connecting employers, job seekers, and entrepreneurs - Department of Community Services

10. New renewable energy project in Kauaʻi will power 16,000 homes annually : Kauai Now

11. Hawaiian Estuaries Viewer Created By State Agencies

12. Maui wildfire survivors receive keys to new home thanks to nonprofit funds

13. Honolulu police raid illegal gambling operation in McCully

14. Oahu home sales hit record $1,205,000 | Honolulu Star-Advertiser