April 22, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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April 22, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:41 PM :: 240 Views

“Gender Affirming Care” -- What would George Orwell Say?

Crichton: Environmentalism is a religion

Ira Einhorn, Earth Day's Dirty Secret

OHA in DC to Negotiate Military Lease Renewals

Judge approves settlements for Hawaii children sickened by Navy jet fuel spill

TREADMILL: Hawaii Renters Pay 63% of Income on Housing

Ninth Circuit revives lawsuit over deadly Hawaii helicopter crash

Now is no time to retreat on proposed isle tax cuts – kill SB3125

SA: … Less than two years ago, Hawaii lawmakers unanimously passed historic income tax cuts to help relieve residents from one of the highest tax burdens in the country. Now, they are spending significant time and effort considering ways to undo that progress….

Senate Bill 3125 is the surviving version of the governor’s proposal to eliminate the rest of the income tax cuts. As the session nears its end, state House and Senate lawmakers are convening a conference committee to hash out their differences….

The best scenario for Hawaii taxpayers would be if SB 3125 didn’t pass at all and the tax cuts were left to phase in as planned. …

instead of repealing any of the tax cuts, lawmakers should look for ways to help Hawaii residents keep more of their hard-earned money.

That is especially important given the compounding pressures families are facing. The recent Kona-low storms caused widespread damage, forcing many residents to shoulder unexpected repair costs. At the same time, geopolitical instability has driven up prices on many everyday products.

Layer on top of that several years of persistent inflation, and it’s clear that local families are being squeezed from every direction.

In moments like this, the worst thing the government could do is collect even more money from already strained households….Hawaii’s taxes are a big reason residents keep moving away from the islands….

SB3125: Text, Status (Conferees appointed.)

Read … Column: Now is no time to retreat on proposed isle tax cuts | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii SB3028 conveyance tax bill heads to conference?

PBN: … The bill would lower taxes on homes under $2 million but significantly increase them above that threshold. It faces a May 1 deadline to advance….

SB3028: Text, Status (Senate has not appointed conferees.)

Read … Hawaii SB3028 conveyance tax bill heads to conference - Pacific Business News

Panel considers 4.7% pay raise for city officials

SA: … The Honolulu Salary Commission today is set to adopt a 4.7% pay increase for most of the city’s top elected and appointed officials, including the mayor, managing director and nine-member City Council.

If approved, the salary adjustments would take effect at the start of the 2027 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The proposal would raise the mayor’s annual salary from $226,080 to $236,705….

Council members would see their pay increase from $122,064 to $127,801, while the Council chair’s salary would rise from $132,048 to $137,801.

Other top city positions would receive similar increases.

The managing director’s salary would climb to $226,403 from $216,240, while department heads would see their pay increase to $211,477 from $201,984.

Under the proposal, the chief of the Honolulu Police Department would earn $261,306 annually, up from $249,576, and the head of the Honolulu Fire Department would see a salary increase to $253,014 from $241,656.

The prosecuting attorney’s yearly pay would climb to $215,343, up from $214,272 annually — a .5% raise.

And the city’s medical examiner, who’s paid $416,016 a year, would get a salary adjustment to $435,569 a year, according to the commission’s proposal.

The commission’s action follows a controversial 64% pay raise approved for City Council members in 2023, which drew public backlash. In response, voters in 2024 overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment capping annual Council pay raises at 5%, and transferring authority over salary decisions from the Council to the Salary Commission….

Read … Panel considers 4.7% pay raise for city officials | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Six Secret applicants remaining for HPD Chief spot

KHON: … On May 5, each semi-finalist candidate will be interviewed by four stakeholder panels with eight people that represent different constituencies involved with HPD.

“The commission will discuss semi-finalists in executive session at its regularly scheduled meeting on May 6,” Chair Foster said.

Applicant names will not be released until finalists have been named, which will occur after this meeting, she said.

“We have committed to keeping applicant names confidential until the finalists are identified in order to encourage applicants who might be unwilling to signal to their current employers that they are seeking other opportunities,” Chair Foster said.

Officials said the finalists will appear together on PBS Hawaii’s Insights program on May 14.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi will meet with each finalist on May 18 and provide input to the commissioners.

Another round of interviews will occur the following day, on May 19, as the commissioners meet with the candidates individually.

On May 20, the commission will vote on the next chief of police during its public meeting….

Read … 6 applicants remaining for HPD Chief spot

Charter Commission Panel Recommends Big Changes To HPD Oversight

CB: … A subcommittee of the Honolulu Charter Commission released a report Tuesday recommending two proposals to change the City Charter, which is basically the city’s constitution. One would shift the power to hire and fire the chief to the mayor and another would establish a civilian oversight office to investigate complaints against police officers.

The report, by what’s known as a permitted interaction group made up of six of the commission’s 13 members, is the first step in putting a ballot question before voters. The report still needs to be presented to the full commission which then is expected to hold hearings. A vote on it likely would come next month….

Read … Charter Commission Panel Recommends Big Changes To HPD Oversight - Honolulu Civil Beat

SB2024: New partners for school buildings

SA: … Senate Bill 2024, to start a pilot program that tests a public-private partnership approach ….

Read … Editorial: New partners for school buildings | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Pacific chief hopes for ‘consensus’ on Hawaii land leases

SA: … Adm. Samuel Paparo, who leads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from Camp Smith on Oahu, testified Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. military posture and readiness in the region alongside Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea.

The military is currently in negotiation with the state of Hawaii over the future of its leases on lands in Hawaii it uses for multinational training and weapons testing…

The first military leases to expire are the Army’s, which end in 2029. The Air Force and Navy also have leases, including on lands that in part make up the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. Last year, the Army announced that it plans to maintain its presence at Pohakuloa Training Area — the U.S. military’s largest live fire training area in the Pacific — but on Oahu would only lease 450 acres at Kahuku and would leave the rest of the state-owned parcels….

“Without those training lands, for example, it would be very hard to justify the Army’s presence in Hawaii, and therefore impact national security,” said U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono during Tuesday’s hearing. “So I just wanted to bring (up) the importance of the significance of these negotiations, and particularly for the Army to continue to negotiate in good faith with the state to come to a resolution acceptable to all parties, and not short circuit the discussions by seeking to condemn the land without fully exhausting the avenues.”

Paparo said that he believed “engagement is critical.”

“Pohakuloa is absolutely indispensable to the nation’s defense, it’s indispensable to deterrence here in the Indo-Pacific,” Paparo testified. “I’m strongly in favor of every effort that leads to a favorable outcome to maintain (the Army’s) continued usage of Pohakuloa Training Area, as well as all of the other key land lease issues that we’re dealing with in the state of Hawaii, which also includes Air Force, Navy, Space Force, and the Marines usage — and so across the joint force. I’m strongly in favor of building towards consensus and sensible solutions.”…

Meanwhile: OHA in DC to Negotiate Military Lease Renewals

Read … Pacific chief hopes for ‘consensus’ on Hawaii land leases | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Usual Anti-Military Suspects Freak out over MACRO-easily dismissed

CB: … The Hawaii Military and Community Relations Office, or MACRO, is a state agency created in 2023 with $8 million plus funding provided by the U.S. Department of Defense….

it was discovered that $1.3 million had already been inserted into the state budget for MACRO — “$650,000 of state taxpayer funds in each fiscal year” of the current budget, as Maui Now reported on March 6, 2025….

Forty-five seconds into the meeting, WAM Chair Donovan Dela Cruz says, “The recommendation is to pass (HB 1800) with amendments. Any discussion?”

Six seconds later, a committee member says, “The MACRO issue … the one we’ve been getting emails on …”

Another committee member responds, “Oh, yeah, the MACRO issue!”

The chair then says, “Okay, recess.”

And suddenly everything stops. For 13 seconds, “the MACRO issue” is seemingly on the table for public discussion. Then? Nothing but silence — and for 55-seconds, a blank screen.

Exactly what was discussed during that 55-second private conversation between Dela Cruz and committee members? We’ll never know.

Then, Dela Cruz reconvened the public meeting. Image and sound came back online. He reviewed the budget and called for the vote, which was unanimous in support.

There was no mention of MACRO. Not one committee member asked any further questions about MACRO or said anything at all about its funding or impact on the budget. No member said anything about anything.

The meeting was adjourned….

Read … Did A Senate Committee’s Private Discussions Violate Hawaiʻi's Constitution? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Former Kamehameha Schools employee indicted for $360K internal theft

HTH: … A 32-year-old Big Island man has been indicted for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Kamehameha Schools Hawaii.

According to the two-count indictment returned Thursday by a grand jury, Zachary Heltz is charged with first-degree theft and first-degree computer fraud. The document states the offenses occurred between Dec. 8, 2020, and June 2, 2023.

Heltz allegedly used a computer to make payments “using Kamehameha Schools Hawaii purchasing cards to entities under his control via online payment system PayPal,” which resulted in the loss of more than $20,000 — the threshold for first-degree theft — by Kamehameha Schools Hawaii.

The bench warrant issued with the indictment set Heltz’s bail at $500,000 and ordered him to have no contact with 17 individuals. They include KSH High School Vice Principal Phil Aganus, Head of Student Health and Well-Being Lehua Vincent, Operations Consultant Morton “Morty” Carter, Director of Operations Support Sam Thomas and Athletic Director Kimo Weaver.

Heltz had not been arrested or given a court date as of Monday afternoon.

KSH filed a report with the Hawaii Police Department on Nov. 16, 2023, alleging a former employee stole more than $360,000 from the Keaau campus….

READ … Former Kamehameha Schools employee indicted for internal theft - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Methamphetamines News: Bumpy Kanahele helps Lahaina Strong get Propaganda Flick Before United Nations

HNN: … 'Lahaina Rising' is showing at United Nations Headquarters this week….

CLUE #1: The dirtier you are, the further away you must get.

CLUE #2: The further away you get, the easier it is to fake a cause.

Paele Kiakona, representing the Nation of Hawaii (ie Bumpy Kanahele) and featured in the film, spoke at the (5,000 miles distant) United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Tuesday, drawing connections between Lahaina and indigenous communities worldwide.

“Many know our homeland as the 50th state of the United States, but we know it as the Nation of Hawaii,” Kiakona said (as meth did not sprinkle down from the ceiling). “I’m here today to represent my hometown of Lahaina, which in August of 2023 was devastated by wildfire. Lahaina, once the Capitol of the Hawaiian Kingdom, now has the reputation as the place where the deadliest wildfire in recent U.S. history took place.”…

REALITY: Meet the Meth Gang Behind ‘Lahaina Strong’

Read … Lahaina wildfire documentary to be shown at UN forum in New York | Hawaii News Now

Political 'Hot Potato': Will the Tourism Industry be Allowed to Destroy Aquarium Fishing?

CB: … The push to ban aquarium fishing in Hawaiʻi has advanced farther in the current legislative session than it has in years, clearing both the House and Senate, but it’s also been heavily watered down to get that far, ~~conservation~~ (tourism industry) advocates say.

CLUE: Tourism IS environmentalism.

For years, Earthjustice senior attorney Mahesh Cleveland (representing the tourism industry) said, state lawmakers and the Hawai‘i Division of Aquatic Resources have treated aquarium fishing “like a game of hot potato” — each deferring to the other on what to do about such strongly debated environmental, commercial and cultural issues.

“The bottom line is, the Legislature should make the change,” said Cleveland, whose environmental legal advocacy group has represented groups pushing for years to ban the practice. “That really provides a real clear directive to the agency as far as what to do.”

Neither the House nor the Senate has announced who will serve on the conference committee to take up House Bill 2101 affecting aquarium fishing’s future in the islands. The practice has fueled widespread ~~community~~ (tourism industry) scorn, particularly (amongst dive tour operators) on the Big Island, largely because fish such as yellow tang are taken from local reef ecosystems and sold abroad in the pet industry (and anything which might impinge on tourism in the slightest must be crushed).

But some local fishers (who don’t realize they are living inside an amusement park for tourists) have strongly lobbied for the collections to resume after court decisions halted them nearly a decade ago. State aquatic resource officials have also recommended for years that the trade resume, saying limited collections won’t harm existing populations….

~~Community~~ (Tourism industry) members (like dive tour operators) showed up en masse at a public hearing in Kona earlier this month to oppose the aquatic resource division’s proposed rules to restart aquarium fishing along that coast….

Conference committee meetings continue through May 1….

Read … Political 'Hot Potato': Where Should Hawaiʻi Ban Aquarium Fishing? - Honolulu Civil Beat

City proposes new landfill in West Oahu, drawing opposition from landowner and lawmakers

HNN: … The city is proposing a new municipal landfill in the Makaiwa Hills overlooking Kapolei.

The plan targets residential-zoned lands owned by Makaiwa LLC, an affiliate of the James Campbell Company. On a map, the site is to the right of the current Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli.

The proposal has caught West Oahu residents and some lawmakers by surprise.

The city says the new landfill would be 150 acres, and an additional 350 acres might be required to accommodate other solid waste management infrastructure. There is a line item in the council budget for $30 million for the acquisition….

Read … City proposes new landfill in West Oahu, drawing opposition from landowner and lawmakers | Hawaii News Now

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