June 16, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Tuesday, June 16, 2026

June 16, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 7:28 AM :: 245 Views

Report: ‘Severe Population Loss’ In Micronesia

DBEDT Projects 1.6% Growth for 2026

Mandatory Veganism: Animal Liberation Activists Come to Hawaii on Venue Shopping Junket

AG Charges Bishop Street Lawyer with Another Estate Fraud

PUC Extends Comment Period on Utility Wildfire Liability Cap

State Hospital Admits 10 non-criminal mental cases--most since 2014

Opportunity Zones: Trump Shuts Down Poverty Plan Behind Kauai Luxe Resorts

CB: … The plans a California-based development group announced for the first new hotel construction on Kaua‘i in more than three decades called for a resort and wellness center featuring 85 rooms, a spa and 115 residential units. The Ohia would be set on a former sugar plantation in the growing tourist hub of Po‘ipu.

The $227 million hotel was proposed in 2021 as an Opportunity Zone project, making use of a federal initiative meant to spur investment in low-income communities. It is one of at least a dozen projects that appear to have used the program on Kaua‘i.

Created in 2017, the Opportunity Zone program rewards developers with a slate of tax breaks for investing in government-identified economically distressed areas. But on Kaua‘i, quirks in census data caused the luxury resort community of Kukui‘ula and the wealthy town of Hanalei to fall into the island’s two Opportunity Zones.

“The really funny thing is that the Opportunity Zones on Kaua‘i are actually in very expensive areas,” Kela Caspillo, a local real estate agent, said. “I wouldn’t say that these areas are distressed in any way.” It’s created a situation where developers are rewarded with federal tax breaks for investing in areas that are already pretty well-off.

Kaua‘i is set to lose its Opportunity Zones at the end of the year, after the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act added more stringent restrictions on which areas can qualify. A representative from the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development said the U.S. Treasury Department’s new list of eligible tracts no longer includes any areas on Kaua‘i.

But the program has already quietly become a significant factor shaping development on the island.

Opportunity Zones were a brainchild of former Meta executive Sean Parker, who in 2016 described the program as “a vital new pathway for investors and entrepreneurs to kickstart economic growth in distressed areas across America.” After a lobbying push from Parker’s think tank, Economic Innovation Group, the concept was slipped into the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. …

Read … Kauaʻi's Richest Towns Scored Tax Breaks Meant For Poor Areas — Until Now - Honolulu Civil Beat

Kaua‘i Mayoral Fundrace: Rapozo v Carvalho (again)

CB: … Rapozo and current council member Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. — once Kaua‘i’s longest-serving mayor — have a significant fundraising lead over the other four candidates: council member Felicia Cowden, businessman Megeso-William Denis, Catholic Charities Kaua‘i Community Director Laura Lindsey and Michaela Widener, who works at the Beach House in Po‘ipū. …

The amount of contributions each candidate has raised so far during this election period:

Bernard Carvalho--$104,000

Mel Rapozo--$92,953

Read … Kaua‘i Needs Food Independence. Mayoral Candidates Differ On Achieving That - Honolulu Civil Beat

BoE Agenda: Our Success in Milking System

SA: … Two bills that would have reshaped leadership within the state Department of Education and two others that sought to expand the role of the Hawaii School Facilities Authority in managing and planning school infrastructure projects all failed this year at the Legislature, but will be given a postmortem review Thursday by the state Board of Education.

The board is set to receive a report from its 2026 Legislative Ad Hoc Committee that includes several education-related measures that failed during this year’s legislative session.

Among the proposals expected to be discussed are House Bill 2567 and Senate Bill 3334 both aimed to place statutory limits on superintendent-level (‘top three’) positions (for pension enhancement) within the DOE while increasing oversight of educational leadership (or something)….

Read … BOE to review failed bills on DOE leadership and school facilities | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Millionaire Movie Moguls Grifting for Another 5% Subsidy

HNN: … Martin Scorsese is also expected to come out with a new Hawaiian mobster film, a reported 200-million dollar 20th Century production, headlined by The Rock, Leonard DiCaprio and Emily Blunt.

The new productions come after a lull for the industry, after Fox scrapped its series, Rescue HI Surf, last year.

The cancellation hit hard, with some workers saying they had to move away.

“The film industry right now, is sort of trying to swing back from a time when very little was happening,” Chief of War actor Moses Goods told HNN.

Moses, who is also in the live-action Moana, is thanking lawmakers for shoring up Hawaii’s show business.

“It was in a rough place and there have been some bills that have passed that hopefully will get the industry to swing back again,” Goods added.

Goods referred to Senate Bill 2580, which proposes a 5% increase to the state’s film tax credit for productions that hire at least 80 percent local workers.

When asked whether Governor Josh Green would sign the measure, his office responded, “The Governor will carefully review this bill and other legislation enrolled to him. Decisions relating to these bills will be released at the appropriate time.”

Former Hawaii state film commissioner Donne Dawson commended legislators for passing the bill, adding, “I think that lawmakers really get it for the first time, I think that they are interested in making Hawaii more attractive, making Hawaii more competitive.”

However, the state has yet to name Dawson’s replacement. After 25 years on the job, Dawson retired on May 1, and said the state has been in talks with potential successors.

“You cannot have a healthy, successful industry in Hawaii if you do not have a strong film commissioner,” Dawson said. “I’m confident that they’re going to find somebody that’s perfect for the job.” ….

REALITY: Miske Mob Were All Union Drivers on Set of Hawaii 5-0

Read …‘Amazing trajectory’: Hawaii film industry rebounding with more movies in the islands | Hawaii News Now

Scientific Research Grants Imperiled by OMB Proposed Rule

AAS: … On 29 May, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a proposed rule titled Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance. The document proposes dozens of rule changes to Part 200 of Title 2 of the US Code of Federal Regulations on how the government handles the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of financial assistance.

In this post, we break down the main changes that would affect the scientific community — like changes to how merit review is used and restrictions on use of federal funds for publication costs, conference attendance, and international collaborations. Due to the length of the proposed rule, we do not mention every proposed change that could impact our community, and thus this post is not a comprehensive summary of the proposed rule. We encourage readers to peruse the full document here….

CB: The stakes are especially high for Hawaii.

Read … Breakdown of OMB Proposed Rule: Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance | American Astronomical Society

Chinese millionaire faces deportation despite $100M Hawaii real estate investment

HNN: … Chunming Wang, 77, spoke from the Honolulu Federal Detention Center, where he has been held since June 2, 2025…

Wang is no stranger to international attention. In 2016, the BBC interviewed him at his luxury hotel in Chengdu, China, about his promised $200 million investment in a small English city.

After that deal fell through, Wang turned to Hawaii. He built a massive family memorial site in Temple Valley rich with patriotic symbols, including stone reliefs of the Capitol, White House, Washington and Lincoln. He also began buying local property.

Wang said he owns about $70 million in Hawaii property. He spent nearly $16 million on a beachfront estate in Aina Haina, paid $8.3 million for the former Spalding House and art museum property in Makiki, bought a half-acre apartment complex for redevelopment on Young Street and purchased at least six $2 million condos in the Aeo building in Kakaako.

He also bought millions of dollars of stock in Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank

Wang’s U.S. citizen daughter petitioned for him to be admitted as an immigrant. But after five years of investigation, the government denied his petition last May.

Officials cited visits by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to his company and his membership in the Chinese Communist Party, which supported his companies and allowed him to invest in the U.S.

“He was inadmissible under two separate sections of the law, being a member of the Communist Party and having engaged in alien smuggling,” said Charles Foster, a national immigration law expert.

The alien smuggling charge was because Wang allegedly brought some Chinese staffers in on visitor visas even though they worked as his employees in the U.S.

In numerous hearing while in detention Wang denied the allegations.

Wang learned his application was denied when he showed up for a meeting with immigration officials and was taken into detention on June 2 of last year. He remains in custody….

Read … Chinese millionaire faces deportation despite $100M Hawaii real estate investment | HNN Investigates | Hawaii News Now

Hawaii ‘Real ID’ issue shows interoperability matters

BU: … Travel disruption underscores the challenge of keeping issuers, scanners and verification systems synchronized at scale ….

Read … Hawaii ID issue shows interoperability matters as digital IDs scale | Biometric Update

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