April 21, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Tuesday, April 21, 2026

April 21, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:31 PM :: 159 Views

AG Charges Prison Guard with Stealing from Criminal

Kauai COVID Fraudster Gets 14 Months

Honolulu 3rd-Worst City to Start a Business

Scarier Than COVID!

Hawaii Electric Bills to Jump 30% -- because ‘Solar’ is just another name for ‘Diesel’

WSJ: … Hawaii’s largest utility is warning residential customers to brace for a 20% to 30% jump in their electric bills in the coming months. In Fairbanks, Alaska, the Golden Valley Electric Association is also telling customers to get ready to pay more.

The power markets in Hawaii and Alaska are among the first in the U.S. to feel the reverberations of the global energy shock caused by the Iran war. The U.S. grid has been resilient for the most part because domestically produced natural gas—the country’s main fuel for generating power—is actually cheaper now than it was at the start of the conflict.

Hawaiian Electric has told Oahu residents that they can expect to see higher electricity bills this month, followed by the Big Island and Maui in May and June. …

Petroleum accounts for only a sliver of power generation nationally but is of outsize importance in more remote regions. Last year, more than 70% of Hawaii’s large-scale power generation and 16% of Alaska’s came from petroleum liquids, according to the Energy Information Administration….

(TRANSLATION: The green energy initiative is fake. After 17 years, ‘solar’ is really just another way of saying ‘70% diesel’.)

Puerto Rico also relies heavily on oil for generating power, but Cathy Kunkel, a consultant with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said its residents aren’t yet facing the same sticker shock. That is because the territory imports liquefied natural gas under contracts that are more closely tied to U.S. prices than to those paid by customers in other parts of the world….

AS EXPLAINED: Complete Debunk: UHERO Tries and Fails to Make the Case Against LNG

SOLAR IS DIESEL: Rate Hike Coming: PUC Approves Dirty Expensive System for Waiau HECO Plant

April 1, 2026: HECO: Thanks to oil, Electric Bills Will Jump 30%

Read … Hawaii and Alaska Are Feeling the Brunt of the Energy Shock - WSJ

Kauhale Program: Auditor warns of Millions in ‘improper billing’

CB: … In a letter addressed to legislators and the state’s human services director Monday, Auditor Les Kondo explained why he was raising early alarm bells about the kauhale initiative and payments to HomeAid Hawai‘i that have cost taxpayers nearly $40 million so far, some of which he said was spent with little public oversight and weak internal controls.

“In our professional judgement, waiting until the issuance of a final audit report will likely result in continued exposure of public funds to unsupported or inappropriate costs,” Kondo wrote. “The current control environment does not provide reasonable assurance that improper billing will be detected or prevented.”

The no-bid contracts to HomeAid were issued under an emergency order from Green that suspended normal bidding requirements in order to expedite the development of housing initiatives and services to homeless people….

The letter from Kondo Monday said his office had so far identified almost $1.7 million worth of invoices that weren’t consistent with state requirements.

That includes $770,000 paid to HomeAid and later credited back to the state, an indication that those invoices included improper costs, Kondo wrote.

And that also included more than $900,000 in payments that lacked substantiation, work that fell outside the scope of HomeAid’s contract, and costs related to travel and meal expenses that “appear inconsistent with State policies.” …

Read … Auditor Issues Urgent Warning About Key Hawaiʻi Homeless Program - Honolulu Civil Beat

Elefante: Lambert Bill Violates Moratorium on Pension Enhancements

SA: … House Bill 2358 was introduced as an amendment to the Hawaii Employee Retirement System to include certain law enforcement investigators as “class A members of the employees’ retirement system beginning July 1, 2026, and to provide continuation of retirement eligibility and benefits for certain members of part II of chapter 88, Hawaii Revised Statutes, defined within that were previously credited as class A or class B service,” according to the bill.

The failed measure would have allowed state law enforcement administrators to keep the retirement contribution rate they earned as police officers.

State Sen. Brandon Elefante, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Technology, killed the bill.

He told the Aiea Neighborhood Board during their meeting this month that it would only enhance pension benefits for “six people,” Lambert, his deputy, the Adjutant General, Deputy Adjutant General, Fire Marshal, and Deputy Fire Marshal.

In state law, there has been a moratorium on “benefit enhancements” since 2011, said Elefante.

“Where I don’t feel comfortable, is giving out a pay increase, in retirement, to six individuals, at the cost to everyone else that is on the ERS system. That is state employees, those are retirees, I represent a large group of retirees,” said Elefante on April 8, responding to a question from a board member. “Once we start to do that, we could potentially go down a very slippery slope. ERS did have … serious concerns about the tax status … what I want the public to know is the fund is unfunded. It doesn’t match to the projections going out and it will take us 21 years before we get to fully funding it and that’s part of the reason for the moratorium and part of the reason why we’re not able to … change that section of the law. And for those reasons, and the benefit of the general public, that’s one of the main reasons I didn’t want to hear (that bill) and I didn’t want to accommodate six people …”

Elefante lauded the work of the six people who would have benefited but said he would not jeopardize the entire state retirement system ….

Read … Lambert must return to HPD to protect pension benefits | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

PGA Tour cuts Hawaii golf tournaments from 2027 schedule

SA: … The Hawaii Swing is no more, as the islands will not host any PGA Tour events in 2027, tour officials confirmed today.

The confirmation ends months of speculation, most of it doubting that The Sentry in Kapalua and the Sony Open in Hawaii would return to the islands.

The end of two PGA tournaments in Hawaii means the state will lose tens of millions of dollars in economic activity each year, as well as the invaluable publicity of showcasing the islands’ beauty in the middle of winter for much of the world….

Read … PGA Tour cuts Hawaii golf tournaments from 2027 schedule | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

HCR202: Should HECO sell off its power plants?

IM: … House Concurrent Resolution 202 (HCR202) was introduced. The Resolution would create a Legislative Task Force on Hawaii's Future Energy Pathways “to examine strategies to maximize cost savings while minimizing risk to ratepayers over the next three decades and achieving the State's energy goals and providing affordable, reliable, resilient, and decarbonized energy.”

The Resolution was only heard by one House Committee and then by only one Senate Committee. After the Senate Committee heard all the testimony, Chair Wakai made two amendments that were never part of the conversation. First, the issues to be considered by the Task Force would include forcing the utility to sell its generation. Second, Sen. Wakai would be a member of the Task Force….

Read … Hawaii Legislature Advances Quasi-Legal and Morally Corrupt Energy Resolution | Ililani Media

SB3156: Military Budget to Become Money-Spinner for HDOT

CB: … Sniffen told Civil Beat the military has understandably been focused more on its mission and readiness and has neglected some necessary facility maintenance.

“They don’t have enough resources or people to put out all those infrastructure projects that are necessary for their bases,” he said. “We would come in and help fill that, at a cost.”

Under the proposed new agreement between the state and the military, the military would pay for the projects and the state staff that works on those projects, plus the 10% administrative fee. The intergovernmental agreement would make the transportation department the military’s prime designer and general contractor on specific projects, he said.

The transportation department would use the state procurement system to award the military jobs, which includes a preference for local contractors, Sniffen said. While the military solicits bids nationally, the state would not be required to do so, making it more likely the jobs the transportation department handles will go to local contractors.

Examples of the projects Sniffen has in mind are improvements to the roadway through Kolekole Pass and major work needed on the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam apron and ramp areas. That job alone is expected to cost as much as $700 million.

The partnership could apply to much additional work, he said, including roads on military bases, ports or other airfields. The military will set its priorities based on the funding it has available and invite the state to participate in projects as appropriate.

That plan has been under discussion for about two years, Sniffen said, and the agreement with the military could be finalized as early as the end of this year. The bill would make it clear the state transportation department has the authority to handle work on military bases ….

SB3156: Text, Status

Read … Hawaiʻi Transportation Officials Want A New Military Partnership - Honolulu Civil Beat

Criminal on State Probation Finally Catches a Federal Case at Age 72: Meth, $150K cash, gold bars found in Kaimuki apartment raid

HNN: … After (a lifetime of crime, the feds finally got involved) … executing the arrest and search warrants at the apartment, the DEA said they recovered a pound of meth, about $150,000 in cash, plus gold and silver coins and bars…. Bautista has a criminal record, (114 cases on ECourtKokua) including convictions for drug crimes and assault. He is being held at the federal detention center. His next court appearance is set for Friday. Federal prosecutors are asking the judge to have Bautista held without bail …. (As compared to the recognizance and probation most recently dished out by the useless Hawaii Judiciary…)

Read … Meth, $150K cash, gold bars found in Kaimuki apartment raid | Hawaii News Now

Latest Round of Meth Camp Cleanups at Keehi Lagoon

SA: … Heavy machinery continued Monday to tear out thick and overgrown mangroves along Keehi Stream in Kalihi that had camouflaged 25 or so floating and land-based homeless structures that have occupied the waters from Keehi Stream to Keehi Lagoon for years.

Some had their own kitchens and solar-powered electricity but no hygiene. The largest structure covered 600 square feet over two stories and floated on pontoons.

Years of outreach by the Institute for Human Services failed to clear the encampments…

Some of the floating shelters have been in the waters around Kahauiki Village since 2017….

A 62-year-old man who lives in the flotilla with 12 dogs within eyesight of Kahauiki families did not want his name published.

But he said he will (have to) leave ~~once~~ (if) the Hawaiian Humane Society takes custody of his dogs (because, without the dogs for protection, the younger bums will beat him up and rob him like he used to do when he was younger). His neighbor has 25 dogs…

Read … Cleanup underway of floating homeless encampments | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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