March 19, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Thursday, March 19, 2026

March 19, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:35 PM :: 297 Views

Bribery: UHPA joins HSTA, ILWU, UPW Backing Sylvia Luke

Second Hawaii County Police Officer Pleads 'No Contest' to Tampering with Evidence

"1,800 Hours and $20,000 to Braid Hair"

Sand Island EIS Available for Public Review

'Very Scary' Stack of Bills Seek To Boost Taxes On Lots Of Stuff In Hawaiʻi

CB: … Much attention has focused this year on backpedaling by Democrats’ at the State Capitol from the income tax cuts they approved in 2024, but lawmakers are also contemplating a variety of new taxes on activities ranging from real estate transactions to performing arts events.

In the past two weeks the state House has also given preliminary approval to bills that would increase the state capital gains tax, increase liquor taxes and impose a new tax on sales of gasoline-powered vehicles — and forwarded each of those proposals to the Senate.

The House also backed a bill for a ballot question that would ask Hawaiʻi voters to amend the state constitution to allow the state to impose a property tax surcharge on investment properties to help finance public education. Currently the constitution allows only the counties to levy property taxes….

The House gave preliminary approval to House Bill 2049, which would increase conveyance taxes on sales of homes worth more than $2.2 million, and impose “significant increases on the higher value properties,” according to Housing Commitee Chair Luke Evslin, the lead sponsor of the bill. The measure would raise an extra $170 million in new taxes….

It is unclear if the Senate will buy into many of those ideas in an election year, a time when lawmakers are usually wary of angering the public by raising taxes….

read … 'Very Scary' Stack Of Bills Seek To Boost Taxes On Lots Of Stuff In Hawaiʻi - Honolulu Civil Beat

What the Carpenters couldn't buy

ASD: … Sterling Higa writes that the PAC of the Carpenters Union has spent millions opposing candidates who have opposed rail spending, including Sylvia Luke. Now that she's politically vulnerable and facing challengers, the union might be getting what it wants….

read … What the Carpenters couldn't buy

Legal action expected after HPD commander allegedly leaked teen sex assault details

HNN: … The Honolulu Police Department is facing a lawsuit after a high-ranking officer allegedly took a screenshot of an internal message detailing a teen sex assault case and sent it to a friend. The screenshot ended up on social media, where it was shared and reposted dozens of times….

…The alleged source of the leaked information was then-Acting Deputy Chief Ryan Nishibun, the third-highest-ranking officer in the Honolulu Police Department at that time.

Nishibun was promoted last August to acting deputy chief. Following this incident, he was returned to his previous position as assistant chief but that is still a high-ranking title.

The internal alert was detailed, described the sex assault, and contained personal information about the victim. After the screenshot spread on social media, the girl was bullied.

The parents said their daughter has not been the same since….

read … Legal action expected after HPD commander allegedly leaked teen sex assault details | Hawaii News Now

Will COFA Citizens Lose Access To Commercial Driver’s Licenses?

CB: … The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under Trump has indicated its intention to limit who can obtain non-domicile CDLs to specific visa classes, regulations which came into effect on March 16. ….

the three Freely-Associated States’ embassies released public comments arguing that COFA citizens are legally granted the right to work in the US. Despite this, the FMCSA refused to create any exception for COFA citizens, instead advising individual states to apply for 5-year exemptions for them, referring to one exemption already in place in Oregon….

While there is little data on the exact number of COFA citizens with commercial driver’s licenses, FMCSA data points to around 7,600 Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian CDL drivers in the U.S. in 2023, with a sizable portion likely being COFA citizens….

Hawaiʻi and the rest of the nation, which have in the past few years have struggled with CDL driver shortages. Hawaiʻi’s driver shortage began during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to supply chain disruptions and impacts on various industries.

The most notable impact was on bus routes last year, with 147 routes suspended across Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi islands. The routes were only restored because of the less-than-ideal easing of regulations on employment training and use of non-school vehicles to transport students….

read … COFA Citizens Could Lose Access To Commercial Driver’s Licenses - Honolulu Civil Beat

Native Hawaiian organization acquires D.C.-based defense logistics IT firm

TBN: … Hui Huliau, a Native Hawaiian Organization, has acquired Washington, D.C.–based IT contractor Advantaged Solutions LLC, adding logistics and enterprise systems modernization work tied to defense and civilian federal agencies ….

read … Native Hawaiian organization acquires D.C.-based defense logistics IT firm

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