August 29, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Saturday, August 29, 2026

August 29, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 9:56 AM :: 231 Views

Honolulu City Council Chair barred from seeking third term

Lawsuit: Honolulu's Inaction Led To Deadly Waiʻanae Rampage In 2024

CB: … Family members of three women fatally shot by a neighbor in Waiʻanae two years ago claim city officials failed to intervene in the neighbor’s dangerous and illegal behavior in the years leading up to the shooting, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday.

On Aug. 31, 2024, Hiram Silva drove a tractor into his neighbor’s home at the end of Waiʻanae Valley Road and opened fire, killing three women and injuring two other people. A resident of the home then shot and killed Silva, ending the attack.

Residents of the home say they had for years complained to the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting and the Honolulu Police Department about an illegal structure on Silva’s property known as the “Silva Dome.” Silva used the dome as an unpermitted event space for parties, graduations and celebrations of life and even hosted a large concert in 2021 while the state was under Covid-19 restrictions.

In their lawsuit, family members of the victims say the city could have prevented the shooting by cracking down on the violations sooner and preventing Silva from hosting his illicit parties. Immediately before the 2024 shooting, the family confronted Silva about a particularly raucous party at the dome, which allegedly enraged him….

June 22, 2026: KPD: Kauai Killer Kept 20 Guns Under multiple TROs because Police only take Legally Registered Guns

Read … Lawsuit: Honolulu's Inaction Led To Deadly Waiʻanae Rampage In 2024 - Honolulu Civil Beat

HECO Paranoia - Restricted Windfarm Info on the Rise

IM: … There is a quiet mechanism inside Hawaiʻi utility regulation that decides who gets to see the analysis. It is a protective order, and it sorts the parties in a proceeding into people who may read a document and people who may not.

Docket No. 2026-0120 is captioned as the application of Maui Electric Company, Ltd. for approval of an Amended and Restated Purchase Agreement for Renewable Dispatchable Generation with Kaheawa Wind Power, LLC.

The project is not new. Kaheawa Wind 1 is Maui’s first wind farm, in service since 2006, twenty turbines standing about 296 feet to the blade tip in the Kaheawa Pastures area of the West Maui Mountains above Māʻalaea. Its original twenty-year power purchase agreement and its state land lease both expire in 2026.

The Hawaiʻi State Energy Office lists the Kaheawa Wind 1 repower PPA price at $0.1246 per kilowatt-hour in its public project table. If the contract price is published by a state agency, the confidentiality claim over the benefits analysis needs to rest on something other than the price itself. What exactly it rests on is not visible from outside ….

Read … HECO Paranoia - Restricted Info on the Rise | Ililani Media

Native Hawaiian 8a Corps face federal scrutiny, budget cuts

PBN: … The largest NHOs include Hawaii Pacific Foundation, Nakapuna Foundation and Hawaiian Native Corp., parent of Laukoa (ie Dawson) ….

the federal government is proposing to eliminate funding to the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, a program that funded the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and its mission of providing housing to Native Hawaiians. It’s one of many programs that are facing tens of millions in total budget cuts from the federal government….

NHOs have been facing uncertainty from the SBA as well. Kelly Loeffler, the SBA’s administrator, audited the program last year with promises of a major overhaul that was left vague for a whole year.

“After decades without oversight and amid the Biden-era DEI agenda, the 8(a) federal contracting program became rife with so-called ‘socially and economically disadvantaged’ firms who abused sole-source and set-aside contracts to enrich themselves with pass-through schemes,” Loeffler said in March, just months before announcing the official rule changes.

After auditing all 4,300 8(a) contractors, the SBA removed 628 firms that refused to comply.

Laukoa, formerly known as Dawson, has been at the center of the fraud debate after its founder, Christopher Dawson, became the subject of a federal investigation over alleged financial crimes. Dawson died by suicide in 2024 before the investigation concluded.

But Laukoa is still participating in the 8(a) program, even landing a $699 million contract from the U.S. Army in early August.

“It’s still about who we are, not what was done,” said Laukoa’s president and CEO, Dave Johnson. “What we’ve seen is people line up in support of where we’re going forward.” …

another question around Laukoa and other NHOs is around the makeup of these companies.

Laukoa is headquartered in Denver, with a network of subsidiaries that work across the continental U.S. Its latest Army contract calls for work under a Nebraska-based division of the Army.

Currently, around 35% of Laukoa’s workforce is Native Hawaiian veterans, according to Johnson.

When asked if he is questioned why a Colorado-based company is considered Hawaiian, Johnson said he always points to where the money goes. Last year, Laukoa donated $3 million from its bottom line to Native Hawaiian programs….

Earlier this year, the Alakaina Foundation Family of Cos., an NHO, sold off all nine of its for-profit entities to Alaska Native corporation Bering Straits Native Corp. Alakaina Foundation is building a trust using the proceeds of the sale….

The SBA released its 8(a) reforms in June, which openeed the 8(a) program to anyone that claims they are socially disadvantaged. Previously, it was reserved for native entities and tribes.

But that rule change is specifically for individually owned NHOs. The new rules did not impact NHOs that are owned by entities, which is what Laukoa and Alakaina are.

However, Sabas said the rule change is working to “potentially dilute” the program and it’s unclear if the federal government is eyeing more changes to come.

Prior to the rule change, 8(a) companies were completely in the dark of what changes to expect, causing major concerns about the program’s future. The new rules have eased those concerns in the immediate term, but some worries remain.

As the 8(a) program spent months on hold, many 8(a) applications sat unattended for about a year. Now the SBA has a backlog to work through.

But even more down the road, it’s unclear whether the SBA will revisit the 8(a) rules again, which is somewhat concerning for Cariann Ah Loo, chair of the NHO Nakupuna Foundation, whose for-profit entities are under the Nakapuna Cos.

“It’s just been an unpredictable administration, so what we know today could change radically tomorrow,” she said….

PBN: The most generous Native Hawaiian Organizations, 2026 - Pacific Business News

Read … Native Hawaiian organizations face federal scrutiny, budget cuts - Pacific Business News

Federal government seeks lease extensions on Kauai military land

PBN: ... The federal government is seeking to continue its lease of 8,195 acres of state-owned land on Kauai where it operates a military base and an observatory, as leases start expiring next year.

NASA is seeking to retain use of 23 acres of land that house its Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory, located past the Waimea Canyon. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is asking the state to continue its lease 8,172 acres west of the observatory near the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, located on the island's western coast.

The Navy already owns just over 1,925 acres on the western coast where the missile facility sits. The extra land the Navy leases surrounds the missile facility.

In addition to containing existing military infrastructure, roads and water wells, the Navy outlined its need for undeveloped land to create a safety buffer zone.

All lease agreements between the federal and state governments on the 8,195 acres are set to expire between 2027 and 2030.

The federal government is working to secure extensions before the deadlines. On Aug. 6, it filed an environmental impact statement for the leased land as part of that effort.

In the EIS, the federal government is suggesting to extend the leases for at least 25 years, buy up to 700 acres of the land on a fee-simple basis or let the leases expire….

Read … Federal government seeks lease extensions on Kauai military land - Pacific Business News

Soft on Deadbeats: 11 years later, Hawaii Supreme Court says note records fail to prove foreclosure standing

MP: … The Hawaii Supreme Court has revived a decade-old foreclosure, ruling a mortgage trustee never proved the lender held the note when it sued.

The August 24, 2026 decision turns on standing - the right to bring a foreclosure - and on the records lenders use to show they possessed the note when the case began. For servicers and foreclosure counsel, the lesson is blunt: possession must be pinned to the filing date, not just some point before it.

Wells Fargo Bank sued to foreclose on a home in Waiʻanae on January 20, 2015. The borrowers had signed the note in 2008, and it was later assigned to Wells Fargo, which endorsed it in blank. Once a note carries a blank endorsement, whoever physically holds it can enforce it. In 2021, Wells Fargo assigned the mortgage to UMB Bank, which took over as plaintiff. …

2022: Hawaii foreclosures slowest in USA > Hawaii Free Press

2022: How the Foreclosure Rate in Hawaii Compares to the Nation > Hawaii Free Press

Read … Hawaii Supreme Court says note records fail to prove foreclosure standing | Mortgage Professional

How to slash your hurricane insurance premiums by more than a third

HPR: … Dennis Hwang, the co-author of the “Homeowner's Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards,” said premiums rise and fall with risks to a property. That means they'll drop when homes are strengthened to withstand hurricanes.

He said insurers may offer homeowners the following discounts on their premiums:

10% off for adding hurricane clips to tie your home's roof to its wall
15-18% off for getting plywood or other panels to cover your windows
10-12% off for securing the wall of your house to its foundation

Doing all three of the above could help you slash your premiums by more than a third.

“A single-wall house in Central Oahu,” Hwang said, “when they do, say, a hurricane roof-to-wall tie and foundation upgrades — they may save up to $600 a year on their premium.”

SA: Lowell on track to be a hurricane in Central Pacific next week | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … How to slash your hurricane insurance premiums by more than a third | Hawai'i Public Radio

BLNR delays decision on aquarium fishing

SA: … Division of Aquatic Resources proposed aquarium fishing to reopen in West Hawaii island under strict management, with only five species allowed and annual catch limits. Catch limits for yellow tang would be 100,000 per year, potter’s angelfish would be 1,068 per year, 800 mailili per year, 344 hinalea iiwi per year and 182 Thompson’s surgeon fish per year. Catch limits apply to the entire fishery management area and not each individual fisherman, DAR fisheries management program manager David Sakoda clarified.

(Hounded by dive-tour operators and eco groups) the board voted to direct DAR to further consider alternatives under the public trust doctrine and cultural landscape analyses and also address technical and legal issues before returning to the board. The board did not give an indication over whether it was in favor or opposed to a statewide ban, which was requested by many testifiers.

Aquarium fish collector Eric Moennich asked the board for a contested case hearing on the board’s direction, but the request was denied as it is not allowed for rule-making processes.

The meeting was another moment in the decades-long dispute over how aquarium fish collecting and sale intersects with Hawaii’s (tourism) ~~public tru~~(fir)st doctrine and prioritization of ~~Native Hawaiian~~ (the tourism industry’s) rights (over all other businesses)….

EJ: Hawai‘i Land Board Rejects Move To Reopen Commercial Aquarium Fish Collection - Earthjustice

Read … BLNR delays decision on aquarium fishing | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

QUICK HITS: