June 7, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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June 7, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 7:49 AM :: 177 Views

Navigating the NIL(e)

Guns, drugs, and money seized by FBI Honolulu Field Office during Operation Spring Cleaning

After Bribery Scandal, Hawaii County Auditor Looks at Affordable Housing Credits

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted June 5 2026

Some of our statehood deal is starting to seem frazzled

Shapiro: … A lawsuit last week led by a California legal foundation challenged the constitutionality of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, passed by Congress in 1921 to set aside 200,000 acres to remedy the overthrow of the kingdom and put Native Hawaiians back on the land. This, too, was an established part of the statehood deal.

The Hawaiian Homes act listed Native Hawaiians among five beneficiaries of Hawaii’s ceded lands, the 1.2 million acres of former crown lands transferred to the state.

The state Constitution established the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to administer Hawaiians’ ceded- lands revenue, but that agency also has faced legal challenges that ultimately could strip Hawaiian control of their own assets. Another pillar of the statehood deal under threat.

In both the Hawaiian Homes act and the Admission Act, Congress and the presidents at the time clearly regarded Hawaiians as the Indigenous people of the islands, entitled to a meaningful stake.

The current Washington administration, citing the “woke” ideology of the past, is moving aggressively to classify Native Hawaiians as a racial minority instead of an Indigenous people, which would deny them the same rights as Native Americans and Alaskan natives and threaten hundreds of federal programs enacted over the years for their social and economic welfare.

Warren Harding was “woke”? Dwight Eisenhower was “woke”? Such absurd thinking shakes the foundation of the statehood deal as it concerns Native Hawaiians….

AS EXPLAINED: Lawsuit: Hawaiian Homelands Will Win Because OHA Lost

Read … Column: Some of our statehood deal is starting to seem frazzled | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaiʻi Primary: Dela Cruz, Kim draw Challengers

CB: … Despite the power of incumbency, there are several surprising challenges that will reveal whether some have worn out their welcome.

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz faces Nani Brown for the District 17 seat in Wahiawā while Sen. Donna Mercado Kim is opposed by Christy Kikue MacPherson in the District 14 Moanalua valley seat. Dela Cruz and Kim are two of the most controversial legislators, as anyone who reads Civil Beat knows, and Brown and MacPherson — while long shots — are demanding change.

It’s appropriate to have Dela Cruz and Kim — and all incumbents — explain why they should be reelected. It amounts to a job evaluation by voters.

The Lege does not have term limits, but younger candidates are sometimes emboldened to take on older ones.

Rep. Jackson Sayama, for instance, hopes to appeal to voters wanting a change by challenging Sen. Les Ihara, who has been in office since long before Sayama was born. The voters of District 10 in the greater Kaimukī-Kapahulu area will make that choice.

And it’s not just majority Democrats who have to face voters this year. Former state Rep. Bob McDermott is gunning for GOP Sen. Kurt Fevella, complaining that the ʻEwa Beach lawmaker seems more inclined to go along with Senate majority leaders like Dela Cruz than champion Republican issues.

Just to make things even more interesting, former Rep. Rida Cabanilla Arakawa is in that District 20 GOP primary, too — and she’s a former Democrat….

FLASHBACK: The Secret History of the Mercado Kim Crime Family

FLASHBACK: Three Decades of Corruption: DelaCruz Geothermal Scheme Traces All the Way Back to Unity House

Read … Hawaiʻi Primary Shows There’s Still Hunger For Public Service - Honolulu Civil Beat

Charter Commission Still Undecided On The Mayor Hiring The Police Chief

CB: … Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi came pretty close last week to losing one of his major asks: that the city charter be changed to allow the mayor to hire his own police chief.

The 13-member Honolulu Charter Commission, narrowly voted to kill the idea after a commission working group tacked on a provision that would give the Honolulu City Council the power to confirm or reject the mayor’s pick, just like the council does with other cabinet members. That twist did not sit well with the mayor’s office which asked that it be removed.

But a number of commissioners wanted the council to have a role in selecting the chief, which, they argued, is one of the most important jobs in the city. And the council is really the only place where the public can have a say in who gets picked, they insisted.

The mayor’s proposal couldn’t muster enough support to advance and it looked to be dead. Until one commissioner quickly moved to table the proposal for further discussion until the next meeting, scheduled for this Monday, when two key commissioners would be back. So that’s what they did and Proposal 230 will live to see another day of debate….

Read … Charter Commission Still Undecided On The Mayor Hiring The Police Chief - Honolulu Civil Beat

US Supreme Court poised to rule on Hawaii gun laws

R: … During January arguments in the Hawaii case, the conservative justices appeared ready to expand gun rights again, indicating skepticism on Second Amendment grounds toward the state's law. Hawaii's law requires a property owner's "express authorization" to bring a handgun onto private property open to the public. Four other U.S. states have similar laws.

The court is expected to reject Hawaii's defense of the law, according to Hayley Lawrence, a gun control advocate who serves as executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law.

"It seems to me Hawaii is going to lose 6-3," Lawrence said.

The court, Lawrence said, also might shed further light on the legal framework it adopted in a 2022 decision in a case called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen for analyzing whether firearms control laws pass Second Amendment muster. The Bruen decision stated that any government regulation restricting firearms must be consistent with the U.S. historical tradition of gun regulation ….

Read … US Supreme Court poised to rule on gun laws and transgender athletes

Biki Is A Waste Of Money. Get Over It

Cataluna: … Biki represented an ideal Honolulu that hasn’t worked in the real Honolulu….

At the time, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser cheered the concept of rental bikes, including this line in an editorial:

“When you can ride a bike safely from Chinatown to Ala Moana and beyond, urban Honolulu will become a thoroughly mobile metropolis.”

That line is 100% aspirational and also wholly unachievable. Just being safe in Chinatown, with or without a bike, is a long-held, often-shattered dream.

So many issues have to be addressed for Biki to work in Honolulu. Those issues are the kind that never get addressed no matter what any politician says.

For starters, the bikes are vulnerable to vandalism and theft. Until the security issues are addressed, it’s just dumb to keep buying more bikes for thieves to steal and vandals to vandalize.

Honolulu roads have to be safer for bikers. Honestly, “sharing the road” with cars and trucks and all those zooming Amazon delivery vans is always a risk. People drive crazy in this town. Bicylists should have bikeways separate from highways. That would mean wholly redesigning Honolulu in a way that just isn’t possible.

Like a lot of things in Hawaiʻi, local leaders are there for the ribbon-cutting photo-op in the beginning, but once things get going, there is no lasting commitment or excitement, no oversight, not enough maintenance, and no one with an eye on the spreadsheet who can step up and say, “Hey, we need to rethink a few things.”

Read … Lee Cataluna: Biki Is A Waste Of Money. Get Over It - Honolulu Civil Beat

Governor Green's 50,000 Solar Pipe Dream

IM: … Governor Josh Green loves a big number. In early 2025, he signed Executive Order 25-01 with fanfare, directing state agencies to pursue "dispatchable solar generation on every rooftop and parking area on land-constrained Oʻahu by 2045" — including a landmark goal of at least 50,000 new solar-plus-battery storage systems.

“Before 2030, the state shall facilitate the addition of at least 50,000 new distributed renewable energy installations (10,000 installations per year), focused on delivering clean energy benefits to low- and moderate-income residents through the Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority and its programs.”

It was the kind of sweeping commitment that earns standing ovations at clean energy conferences. But then came SB 3125, the budget bill he also signed — and with it, the quiet demolition of his own marquee policy….

Read … Governor Green's 50,000 Solar Dream: Bold Vision, Broken Promise | Ililani Media

After Losing Home, Family Attacked by Rapacious DLNR and DPP Bureaucrats

SA: … on Feb. 18, 2022, the source of those cherished memories collapsed onto the sand, and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and Honolulu Department of Permitting and Planning needed the Guerreros to remove it or face a $10,000 daily fine.

“They’ve got to understand the generations of people in our family that were raised here. There are moments in life that were memories,” said Francis Guerrero, 58. “These people just said, ‘Sorry, the house cannot be touched. Destroy it or you’re gonna get fined.’”

They promptly moved the house and avoided the $10,000 daily fine, but that was just the beginning of what the Guerreros describe as an arduous and confusing process to bring their property in line with the law.

As of May 27, more than $250,000 in penalties have accrued from three daily fines relating to the construction and demolition of the structure on the property, DPP said. Family members said they’ve tried to follow the rules in their attempts to save their property but have faced unclear communication and instructions from officials.

Their situation highlights the difficulties property owners and government agencies face when trying to meet in the middle to mitigate beach erosion amid rising sea levels and coastal erosion, which has become particularly acute along sections of Oahu’s North Shore….

Read … Family faces mounting fines after home fell onto shoreline | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Multi-Million Dollar COVID Corruption Scandal Roils Hawaii—Health Department Focuses on … Roadside Food Stands

SA: … Colorful roadside food stands have been popping up around Hilo in recent months.

Stocked daily with baked goods and other homemade treats, the stands — which are primarily unstaffed and rely on the honor system for customers to pay for products — have been drawing attention from community members and, more recently, the state Department of Health.

John Kolman, district health officer for Hawaii island, said his department has conducted 11 inspections of roadside stands on the island in April. Of those investigations, nine resulted in the department issuing cease-and-desist orders due to food code violations, which required sellers to stop their operation until they could show they were compliant with health laws….

Read … Health officials take notice as bake stands pop up throughout Hilo | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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