Entries for January 2025

1. VIDEO: Trump Inaugural Address
2. 1959: Martin Luther King Jr Salutes Hawaii Statehood
3. Housing Affordability: Regulations or Spending?
4. Do Lahaina recovery efforts hold lessons for LA?
5. Hawaii Trump supporters journey nearly 5,000 miles for inauguration
6. Guam Attorney General:  Do not tolerate homeless encampments
7. Bury all power lines or rebuild the town fast? In Lahaina fire recovery, it’s hard to do both  
8. A quick update on a few Miske co-defendants
9. HPD officers to be deposed in connection with Jan. 1, 2024, beating of man who attempted to interfere in police chase
10. Revenge: In-Laws Of Rep. Sue Lee Loy Claim She Doesn't Live In Her Hilo District
11. Honolulu Has Been Struggling To Regulate Fireworks For More Than A Century

1. Military Personnel 14% of Oahu Rental Market -- but nearly 0% of Sister Isle Rental Market
2. Climate Resiliency
3. Hawaii Congressional Delegation--How they Voted January 17, 2025
4. Celebrities Come Home!
5. Gabbard brought in over $1.2M as a MAGA celebrity, filings show
6. Pandering to Antivaxxers
7. Legislature Opens With Annual Ritual: Empty Talk About Housing
8. Homeless ‘taxpayer-funded service fees’ -- $36,500 each
9. How The Pandemic Shutdown Opened Up Public Access To The Legislature
10. Hawaii National Guard Job Challenge Academy unveiled
11. Plotting Banyan’s course: As razing of Uncle Billy’s finishes, officials mull future of area
12. Parasitic wasps to help combat CBB; officials look to release them this spring

Celebrities Come Home!

1. Vigilance key to protecting historic state income tax cut
2. Spending restraint tagged as best way to protect 2024 state tax cuts
3. City partners with UHERO to launch Subsidized Housing Tracker
4. Trump should bypass support for the protectionist Jones Act
5. Shakedown: DelaCruz, Kim Torture Hensel for Four Hours
6. Shakedown: Who will have final say over Mauna Kea decisions? State or stewardship authority?
7. Shakedown: State lawmakers grill Hawaii agriculture officials over funding, contracts
8. The $2 trillion home insurance nightmare is getting even worse
9. MAGA Cashiers a Check on Tulsi Gabbard as DNI
10. Lahaina Scheme to Quietly Demolish 1823 Spring House
11. $3.75M to Rebuild 100’ of Waikiki Seawall and Walkway
12. Cousin, enforcer of late crime boss receives 3-year federal sentence

1. Murdered Baby Related to HPD Deputy Chief, DHS Investigator
2. OHA Trustees Never Approved $705K Hush Money Payment
3. VIDEO: Hirono, Pam Bondi, and Sexual Harassment
4. Interior Department Strengthens Native Hawaiian Consultation Policies and Procedures, Affirms Federal Trust Responsibility to Native Hawaiian Community
5. Hawaii House Updates Rules for 2025 Session
6. Illegal Vapes: AG Warns Retailers
7. Voter Suppression: Bills Call for More Voter Service Centers on Oahu
8. Target DelaCruz: Wahiawa Garbage Dump Part of Scheme to Pressure Legislature
9. SB175: Bump up Soft-on-Crime Judges’ retirement age (again)
10. New UH President Hensel expects to hire AD in summer
11. DoE Budget Pressure Tactic: Hawaii public schools to see price hike for summer school programs
12. Hawaiʻi Teens Less Likely To Drink Alcohol — Or Use Sunscreen

1. Hawaii Anti-Gun Bills Pre-Filed as Legislative Session Convenes
2. Ninth Circuit won’t rehear arguments on its decision to uphold gun-free zones in Hawaii and California
3. US DOT Sues Southwest Airlines for Chronically Delayed Flights
4. NCAA athletes seeking women's sports for women only
5. New Details Emerge After DNA Solves a 2014 Jane Doe
6. 2025 Preview: Bribery allows major bills and issues to be blindsided at the eleventh hour, due to an opaque system that allows in-the-know lobbyists to sway Legislators
7. Hawaiʻi Legislature Begins 2025 With High Hopes for Insurance Reform, Affordable Housing
8. Hawaii lawmakers vow to stabilize property insurance market as climate change fuels higher premiums
9. Trannssexual Votes Against Speaker
10. Hawaii governor's (self-serving) ideas to help LA recover from the fires
11. Will NOAA's Race To Make Papahānaumokuākea A National Sanctuary Survive Trump?
12. HPD officer arrested for alleged abuse of family member

1. Chris Butler Sabotaging Gabbard Nomination? Blames Opposition on 'Pedophile and Paranoid Murderer'
2. Drunk? Hirono vs Hegseth
3. Maui Wildfire: AG Releases Final Phase of Report
4. HS Teams to Compete in 2025 Hawaii Lifesmarts Competition
5. 'Ohana Health Plan Launches Residential Program for Homeless Psych Treatment
6. DLE Director Quits
7. LOL! Tulsi Gabbard Charm Offensive Draws Skepticism From Republican Senators
8. Garbage News: Formby Admits Real Plan is to Expand Waimanalo Gulch
9. Lawsuit over EPIC system moves ahead
10. Number Of Hawaiʻi Children In Foster Care Drops Due to Lack of Social Workers
11. State’s First Charter Preschool Opens
12. Improvement District for Downtown Honolulu to Help Sell Residential Office Conversion Condos
13. Mis-Use 911?  They’ll send an Uber
14. Kalihi businesses impacted by rail construction can soon apply for financial relief
15. Abrupt shutdown of a Kauai market slashes vital business for 50 small vendors
16. The Never-Ending Story: Wrangling over South Maui General Plan

1. UHERO: Maui wildfires trigger population loss, economic impact
2. No-Fault Insurance for Electricity-Caused Wildfires?
3. HECO Unveils Expanded Wildfire Safety Strategy  
4. Hawaii 2nd Most Racially Integrated State
5. Gabbard Nomination: Senate braces for 'train wreck'
6. Keep promised income tax cuts intact
7. Struggling To Survive: Hawaiʻi Residents Take On Debt, Think About Leaving
8. Fireworks: Green proposes $300 fines, more prison time
9. PUC to Review HECO Wildfire Safety Strategy
10. Could power cutoff hinder hydrants?
11. Hawaiʻi Agriculture Department Loses Another Deputy
12. Homeless Schizo Only Got Treatment Due to Mistaken Identity

1. Supreme Court Allows Honolulu 'Big Oil' Suit to Proceed
2. Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted January 10, 2025
3. Housing Agenda for Hawai’i Legislature
4. Only One Front Street House Being Rebuilt
5. Chaos in DLE:  Deputies’ Suicide, Arrests, Suspensions
6. Open Window to Intervene in HECO`s Latest Renewable Energy Procurement
7. Data Dive: Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders Suffer For Lack Of Health Insurance
8. Point in Time Count to skip unsheltered homeless this year

1. Case Dismissed—For Now
2. Walk back our tax cuts? That would be a shame.
3. ALICE REPORT: 37% of Households Consider Leaving Hawaii
4. 14% of Hawaii Healthcare Jobs Vacant
5. Deport Illegal Thieves? Hawaii Congressional Delegation Votes 'Nay'
6. Debate: Jones Act Reform a Winning Topic
7. OIP: New Law and New Opinions for New Year
8. Salary Squabble after years of Dysfunction: Is Hawai‘i Tourism Authority Boss Worth $300K/yr?
9. Gov. Green becomes Dr. Green to oppose Kennedy
10. Anti-telescope Activist Enthused by Recent Developments
11. Months after a deadly Waianae Valley rampage, an illegal party structure is being dismantled
12. Social Security pay boost for 33,000 retirees in Hawaii
13. Nuggets of wisdom found in speaking wit to power

1. Hawaii Democrats Talk a Big Game on the 'Climate Crisis.' They're Also Shielding an Oil Company Whose Execs Backed Their Campaigns
2. Is another great year too much to ask?
3. Not Everybody is Leaving: COVID fraud helps one family move to Kapolei
4. OHA Legislative Agenda: Kakaako 400 Foot Towers (again)
5. OHA Trustees Swear to Uphold Two Constitutions
6. Hawaii attorney general questions Walmart's retreat from DEI
7. Judiciary Seeks Nominees for Big Island, Maui
8. Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Finds Pierick Won House Race by 11 votes
9. Law enforcement department looks to upgrade technology nearly five years after evidence deleted
10. Key leader in Waianae cockfighting case pleads guilty, two others also changing their pleas
11. Front Street Recovery: Generational landowners launch initiative to rebuild Lahaina Town
12. Lahaina Underground power lines put on hold, says Hawaiian Electric
13. Hawaii State fireworks laws misaligned with Honolulu City ordinances
14. Honolulu City Council ‘reaffirms’ opposition to landfill over aquifer
15. I can braid hair, but Hawaii will not let me work

1. VIDEO: Vaccination Drive Saves Samoa from RFK's Deadly Antivaxxer Propaganda
2. 21% of Students Short on Vaccinations
3. The growing crisis in the insurance market further exacerbates Hawaiʻi’s cost of living crisis
4. State Senate Democrats Outline Priorities for Legislative Session
5. Hawaiian Electric to close Shift and Save time-of-use rates program to new enrollments
6. NRA Grassroots Meeting set for Oahu
7. Hawaii Abortions Down 11% for 2022
8. Maui Eviction Moratorium Ends
9. SURPRISE!  Sale Puts 89% of American Savings Bank Shares in Hands of Mainland Owners
10. 100% Fake: After 14 years of Green Energy Initiative, Hawaii Energy Still 90.8% Fossil Fuel
11. No Surprise: Tulsi Gabbard Flip-Flops on Spying in Desperate Bid to Save Nomination
12. Fake Representative: Mr Kim Coco Iwamoto Calls OHA Development Plan ‘A Good Start’
13. Fake Affordability: DHHL to Evict 57 Households from their affordable condos on Kauai—Suggests They Move to Mainland
14. Real Graft: Legislators rush to hold campaign fundraisers before opening gavel
15. No Surprise: Honolulu Police Commission has been chronic violator of the state’s Sunshine Law
16. Phoney Baloney: Mayor Fooled by Vegas Meth Wholesaler who Hollers ‘Jesus’
17. Fake Food Goal: DOE Gets An F: Hawaiʻi Schools Miss Their First Local Food Target
18. Real Results: Hawaii vacation rental demand drops dramatically

1. Busted in Ibiza: Bumpy Kanahele's Fake 'Diplomat'
2. Hawaii doctor under investigation for murder in woman’s euthanasia death
3. Honolulu Traffic 19th - Worst in USA
4. Schatz: With $1.6B in federal funds, rebuild Lahaina homes now
5. I Moved to Hawaii but Would Return to Oregon Due to the Cost of Living
6. Miske’s ‘Defend Hawaii’ co-defendant sentenced
7. Honolulu Rail Supposed to Reach Airport, Middle Street in 2025
8. Feasibility of a Red Hill Pumped Storage Hydro Facility
9. State Sees A Rare Surge In Death Taxes
10. OHA asks lawmakers for more than $2M to ‘fund positions’
11. Illegal Fireworks Won't Stop Until Neighbors Take Action
12. Solemn procession in downtown Honolulu honors firefighter killed in McCully fire
13. DLE Proposal to create Hawaii highway patrol gets mixed reactions
14. Alternative to Suicide: Hawaii Hospice Collaborative Launches Into ‘New Era’ of Care Delivery
15. Maintenance cited as possible cause of Kamaka crash

1. Fireworks: Culture and Traditions?
2. Electricity-Caused Wildland Fires: Costs, Social Fairness, and Proposed Solution
3. Hawaii #1 -- lost greatest share of population to other states
4. OHA’s new Kakaako housing scam: Give 500 ‘Affordable’ Units to Political Insiders
5. Hearing Blocked: Gabbard blames ‘snow’ for delays in ethics disclosures and FBI background check
6. DLE Makes Excuses for Lack of Fireworks Arrests
7. Fireworks Come To Hawaiʻi On Passenger Jets 'Almost Daily'
8. Kauai police have not made any cockfighting-related arrests in the past five years.
9. Family of man killed by dogs says petty misdemeanor charges are ‘insufficient’
10. Trump promises to end new wind farms
11. City, Legislators Kabuki Theater Inexorably Leads to Continued use of Waimanalo Gulch
12. NIMBYs Block Mililani Teacher Housing Project
13. ACLU Court Win Helps Keep the Homeless, Homeless on Maui

1. US Atty Connors Resigns After Successfully Stopping Hawaii Corruption Prosecutions
2. Oil industry seeks end to climate change lawsuits
3. Kaiser Nurses and Healthcare Workers on Maui and Lanai Ratify New Contract Without Strike
4. RFK Killed 83 in Samoa—How Many Would He Kill in USA?
5. SCAM: Sewer Rate Hike Plan Violates Federal Consent Decree
6. Honolulu Airport: “The millions spent on renovations went into the pockets of dishonest contractors and politicians.” 
7. Do Maui Wildfire Lawyers Deserve $1 Billion In Fees?
8. HECO Proposes Utility-Friendly Wildfire Recovery Fund
9. Honolulu firefighter dies; 5 people injured in McCully building fire
10. ‘They have no skin:’ Phoenix doctors treating victims from Hawaii fireworks explosion
11. Boy, 3, dies from injuries in New Year’s fireworks explosion
12. Fireworks Produce 500% Profit for Criminals
13. A closer look at Miske’s reputation for violence
14. Oahu's housing market “affordability challenges remain a significant hurdle”
15. A New Tax for the New Year: Hawaii's new Transient Accommodations Tax
16. New mayor’s support reignites TMT debate
17. Hawaii Eggs increase to a whopping $10
18. Rules are for the little people: New House Speaker Makes it up as She Goes Along

1. Hawaii Congressional Delegation--How they Voted January 3, 2025
2. Political Connections Pay Off: Some ‘affordable’ housing subsidies are a lot fatter than others
3. Double your sewer fees to fund $12.6B boondoggle as big as Rail -- Calvin Say’s last Hurrah
4. Council Members Travel on Your Dime
5. Whale ‘Amakua Censorship: New Age woo-woo stuff masquerading as Hawaiian culture
6. Kapolei HONU moves 104 bums into Shelters
7. Hawaii buys 1-way trips to Guam for homeless?
8. Eco-Activists Thrilled by Opportunity to Shut Down Catamaran Tours
9. The US Spent Billions ‘Fighting Pacific Climate Change’. Where Did It Go? (LOL!)

1. Tax Word Find
2. Assisted Suicide? Murder investigation launched after 88-year-old woman given lethal prescription
3. 51 Assisted Suicides in 2023
4. Schatz: “There’s nothing progressive about preventing people from being able to live in Hawaii.”
5. HTA Declares ‘Tourism Emergency’ (again)

1. Not Even Beautiful Hawaii Is Immune to ‘Tax Flight’
2. Report: CWS Hurts Rather than Helps
3. Aging and Hawaii’s Generational Economy
4. Budget: House Finance Committee Sets First Informational Briefings
5. Legislators to Hold Hearing on Oahu Landfill
6. Gabbard Nomination ‘In Limbo’
7. Specialized Burn Care: One Night of Honolulu Fireworks Exceeds Maui Wildfires
8. 6 fireworks explosion survivors transported to mainland for further treatment
9. Collapsing Hawaii Vacation Rental Giant Signals Market Shake-Up
10. Another Hawaii Inmate And Guard Are Attacked At An Arizona Prison

1. Can New Legal Angle Beat Jones Act in Court?
2. Green to Testify Against RFK Nomination: ‘Uninformed and Dangerous’
3. Will Tragedy Change How Hawaiʻi Polices Illegal Fireworks?
4. Lawsuit threatens Kaanapali ocean permits
5. Act 91: Teens Eligible for STD Prescriptions without Parental Notification
6. Housing assistance was top request for 211 resource hotline in 2024
7. How many homeless pedestrians were run over?

1. Red Hill Registry opens pre-enrollment for impacted community members
2. Gabbard Third Trump Nominee to be Rejected?
3. ‘Enough is enough’: Hawaii leaders pledge change after deadly illegal fireworks explosion
4. Evidence from the fatal blast
5. State moves forward with more cameras to crack down on red-light runners
6. Green Energy Drives Foreign Purchases of Hawaii Land

1. Insider Giveaway? Hawaiian Electric Announces Sale of American Savings Bank
2. VIDEO: Honolulu Fireworks Explosion Kills 3, Injures 22
3. City announces next two town hall meetings on proposed sewer fee increases
4. November Tourist Count up 5.3%
5. Hawaii 7th Hardest Gun Control Laws
6. Hawaii Top Officials Quietly Grabbing for COVID Pay Hikes
7. Honolulu City Council salary set for annual automatic raises forever
8. New year begins with lower state taxes for all
9. Hawai‘i Has Been Arguing Over Tourist Tax since 1929
10. The rise in mail voting comes with a price, as mismatched signatures lead to ballot rejections
11. Miske Case: Fentanyl Mostly Arrives by Inmate Mail
12. Civil Beat: Trump Good For Police
13. Recycling is 100% Fake -- Reynolds Recycling Still Shipping Overseas