August 16, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Sunday, August 16, 2026

August 16, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 8:20 AM :: 135 Views

Hurricane Lala: 1 dead, 19 homes lose roofs

Primary Election Tie Votes: Drawing Gives Win to Medeiros, McDermott

Will sky-high Skyline costs ever stop climbing?

BLNR to Transfer 300 ac to DHHL

Clean Energy Schizophrenia

Hawaii ‘democratic’ socialist movement (again) fails to gain traction

SA: … Case reminded voters that the state would lose his seat on the Appropriations Committee and the seniority that would move him up in the committee if Democrats retake the House in November.

It was a message that resonated with urban Honolulu voters, many of whom are likely veterans, family of veterans or rely on military contracts, federal jobs and other federal spending, Moore said.

“The core of the (Hawaii) Democratic Party is still centrist and pragmatic,” he said. “Because Hawaii is such a Democratic state, I think that there’s often an assumption that there’s a huge well of progressive voters. And every time we see a progressive challenger, there’s an assumption that this is the time they’re going to break through.”

The progressive movement that has supported democratic socialists on the mainland are often driven by young voters. But in Hawaii, Moore explained, “younger voters don’t often turn out to vote.”

All of those factors meant that “Case performed even better than most people thought he was going to,” he said. “The core of the (Hawaii) Democratic Party is still older, centrist, organized labor voters who prefer their candidates to be older and centrist.” …

Mizuno said local Democrats are wary of embracing extremely left socialists who want “free (school) lunch and free health care. Somebody’s got to pay for it, either through extreme taxes, government or private involvement. You’ve got to be realistic.”…

2018: At 6.1% Ing is the Biggest Socialist Loser in USA

Read … Hawaii democratic socialist movement fails to gain traction | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Waters mucked up the process by incorrectly filing motions before the case was pushed to the state Supreme Court

Shapiro: … After a judge threw out his attempt to circumvent city term limits and run for a third term that even he initially described as legally iffy, and after the primary election was held and two other candidates qualified for the general election, Waters is pressing ahead with a legal appeal that threatens to further disrupt the voting.

He mucked up the process by incorrectly filing motions before the case was pushed to the state Supreme Court. As of Friday, two justices — including Chief Justice Vladimir Devens — and six of the seven judges on the Intermediate Court of Appeals recused themselves from the case for unstated reasons, leaving the unpleasant scent of unholy entanglements between politics and the judiciary.

And all so Waters can run for a term he likely doesn’t intend to complete. Speculation in political circles has him planning a run for mayor in 2028 when Rick Blangiardi term-limits out.

Waters talks about “protecting the voters of the district,” but it’s about his own ambitions.

Read … Volcanic Ash: It’s time for Tommy Waters to say a respectful goodbye | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Lawyers Grab for Larger Cut of Maui wildfire settlement -- payments delayed again

SA: … The first distributions were expected to start going out in recent weeks or later this month — roughly three years after the disaster that killed 102 people and destroyed most of Lahaina — following resolution of an entrenched battle with insurance companies clamoring for a share of settlement proceeds to partly offset loss claims they paid.

Now, three Hawaii attorneys and one fire survivor are challenging a state judge’s ruling on how much of the settlement attorneys can receive.

A little over $1.1 billion is scheduled for distribution as the first of four annual installments, with attorneys fees to be subtracted from the amount awarded to each victim.

An appeal of a June ruling on attorneys fees by Maui Circuit Court Judge Peter Cahill was filed July 2 with the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals and elevated to the Hawaii Supreme Court Aug. 5. While the appeal is pending, no settlement payments can be made. And if the appeal is successful, it could redirect close to $1 billion from victims to attorneys.

The appeal was filed by Anthony Ranken with Wailuku law firm Ranken &Shnider, Alex Edrenkin with Honolulu’s PacLaw Group, John Thickstun with Wailuku firm Montegna & Thickstun, and Michael Adrian Kahaleala Bates, who lost a home in the Aug. 8, 2023, disaster.

The three attorneys contend that Cahill had no authority to set attorneys fees under the settlement agreement and that contracts between fire victims and their lawyers, along with state law, should dictate how much attorneys receive from the settlement….

Read … Maui wildfire settlement payments delayed again | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Big Island: Lala and Pele Compete

AWN: … A 140-mph gust was reported at Mauna Kea Summit around noon. A 74-mph gust was recorded in Olowalu, Maui….The Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as Saddle Road, reopened between Old Saddle Road and Highway 190 on Friday. Crews were battling a wildfire that started Tuesday in South Kohala, leading to the temporary closure. The fire had burned about 230 acres and was 60% contained as of Wednesday, with crews from Hawaii County, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Pohakuloa Training Area and the Hawaii Army National Guard involved in the response.

Kilauea also produced its 53rd eruptive episode of the ongoing summit eruption Wednesday afternoon into early Thursday. The episode began at 3:45 p.m. HST Wednesday and ended at 1:23 a.m. Thursday after 9.6 hours of lava fountaining. Fountains reached approximately 500 feet above the ground while the volcanic plume climbed to about 18,000 feet above sea level. The U.S. Geological Survey said another lava-fountaining episode is likely….

Read … Lala buzzes Hawaii with damaging winds, flooding rain

Sea Level Rise: “Yes, everything we've been telling you has been proven to be lies but keep on believing us anyway.”

SA: … Recent Island Voices columns argued that because the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is moving away from the high-emissions RCP8.5 scenario, Hawaii should relax its sea-level-rise policies (“Ding-Dong! Opens in a new tab Implausible RCP8.5 climate scenario is dead, so amend climate acts” and “Isles’ Opens in a new tab government policies on sea level rise are too strict, and should be eased ,” Star-Advertiser, July 12). That argument is not just wrong — it is dangerous….

TRANSLATION: “Yes, everything we've been telling you has been proven to be lies but keep on believing us anyway.”

Read … Column: Don’t erode Hawaii’s sea-level protections | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Low Quality Electricity: Intermittent Solar Behind Flickering Lights

SA: … Hawaiian Electric customers in East and Windward Oahu have suffered intermittently for months from what they describe as flickering, strobing or pulsating lights, which they say are maddeningly distracting, cause headaches and indicate an unstable electrical flow they fear degrades their home’s wiring and appliances. Hawaiian Electric is addressing multiple contributing factors, including system oscillations and voltage fluctuations in a power grid with a lot of rooftop solar….

Read … Kokua Line: Can PUC do anything about flickering lights? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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