Email from Hawaii Free Press Hawai'i Free Press Weekly News Read May 31 2026 View as Webpage Star-Adv: "Stop this investigation before you catch more crooks!” … Star-Adv editors argue that all the qualified leaders are crooked, so we should stop catching them lest we run out of competent officials …. read more … Hawaii’s “Paper Bag” Corruption Case - Keli’i Akina interviews Alexander Silvert ... Silvert names the key players, exposes what really happened during “recess,” and explains why this is more than one bad apple .... read more... Monopoly Gatekeepers: HMSA, Kaiser Sneak Back onto Prepaid Health Care Advisory Council ... Wayne Graves, Director of Human Resources at Hawaii Pacific Health, sits on the Prepaid Health Care Advisory Council .... read more... $110K Pay Cut: HMSA Whipsaws Doctors to Push Them into HPH … HMSA saw the $35K Medicaid cuts and realized they could pile on another big cut to force independent doctors into being HPH employees …. read more … Hawaii Transsexual Activists Get a Grip on 800 Children—offer ‘real connection with adult’ “… including children as young as six ….” read more … PRP Floods Zone with Kawakami Ads … everywhere, all the time, right in your face…the heavy-handed folks that have been trying to tell Hawaiʻi how to vote for years …. read more … Belatti Drops Bid For Congress To Run For Lieutenant Governor … Democratic state Rep. Della Au Belatti announced Thursday that she’s giving up her bid for Congress to run for lieutenant governor, an abrupt change of heart she attributes at least in part to the race being flipped upside down by an ongoing criminal investigation into Hawaiʻi public officials …. read more … Choi: Pay to Play is Issue in Lt Gov Race "...Choi wants to end the pay to play culture in Hawaiʻi politics, move the state to publicly funded elections, and bring down a cost of living that is pushing local families off these islands...." read more... Half-Baked ‘Stop Corporate Personhood’ Bill will have to be Amended Next Year … The bill’s author admits they passed a half-baked mess just to pander to ‘Indivisible’ …. read more … Spy v Spy: Gabbard Bumbling Led to Ouster, or … ... A task force launched by U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard to "end weaponization" has fallen apart after "drama" triggered by a memo it circulated that spread false claims — made by a January 6 rioter — against a CIA employee and a former Capitol Police officer .... read more... Catch and Release: 0.2% of HPD Misdemeanor Arrests held after 72 hours ...People can go in to stores and steal up to $1000 worth of stuff …Hawaii District Courts will not hold a misdemeanor suspect longer than 72 hours… out of 20,000 HPD arrests, we’ve got 23-46 people at OCCC.... read more... DPP Average Delay on Affordable Housing Projects -- 661 Days ...This, in spite of an alleged ‘90-day processing pathway’ written into Bill 7 of 2019.... read more... Federal Justice: Hawaii County ‘affordable’ housing official took $1.9M Bribes--sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison ...The scheme involved 'affordable' housing development agreements worth more than $11 million.... read more... Hawaii AG decides against joining Medicaid fraud roundtable at White House ... AG Lopez acknowledged Hawaii “could do better” with indictments and criminal prosecutions .... read more... Election 2026: 391 Candidates Pull Papers to Run--239 File ... The deadline to file as a candidate for the 2026 Elections is Tuesday, June 2 by 4:30 PM .... read more... Longshot Democrat Congressional Candidate Pulls Gun On Maui County Workers … An armed man entered a Maui County government building Friday morning and brandished his gun during an argument with county workers, but police were not called for an hour and a half …. read more … Our Big Tax Bill Act ...Senate Bill 3125, Our Big Tax Bill (which is still a lot smaller than the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act) was signed into law on May 21 and became Act 24, what I am calling the One Big Tax Bill Act or OBTBA.... read more... Hawaii Joins the Brigade of Blue States Socking It to the Rich ... Hawaii becomes the 4th blue state this year to raise their highest income tax rate .... read more... Privacy protections are key to establishing public trust in mileage-based user fees ...This approach has been adopted in Hawaii.... read more... 'Deferred Maintenance' Hawaii's Billion-Dollar Challenge "The department is not required to ensure the accuracy of the information in the reports" read more... Bill 88: Maui Council Pretends to Undo Bill 9 Theft of TVRs "Bill 88 does not automatically rezone a single property. Instead, it creates a legislative pathway. If the bill passes the full council, individual property owners would still need to apply for a zone change on a case-by-case basis." read more... Legislative Wrapup: Two wins for housing "The 2026 Legislative Session is done. After 2,459 bills, 397 housing bills, and a lot of late nights, two of our biggest ideas crossed the finish line." read more... Hawaiʻi Funding Project: Making the Flow of Tax Dollars into Hawaiʻi Visible ... downstream effects for nonprofits and the 'social safety net' .... read more... Lawmakers choose innovation over red tape ... seagliders are being investigated as a possible mode of interisland transportation .... read more... Stay Informed with Ballot Notifications ... Primary Election Ballots arrive by mail: July 21, 2026 .... read more... April 2026 Visitor Spending Increased Despite Fewer Visitor Arrivals ...visitors who came in April 2026 spent significantly more on an average daily basis ($278 per person, +14.1%).... read more... Vassilis Syrmos recommended as UH Mānoa chancellor ... His appointment will go before the UH Board of Regents for final approval on Thursday, June 4 .... read more... OHA Trustees Reject Plan to Buy KITV ...OHA toys with another shiny object as it crosses Trustees' field of vision. Surprisingly, they decide not to be distracted.... read more... Hawaii AG Leads Opposition to 'Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act' ... the bill would weaken states’ ability to protect children online while insulating Big Tech from accountability .... read more... KIUC 2nd Highest in State in Renewable Generation for 2025 ...Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) achieved a 52.8% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for 2025, second highest in the state behind Hawai‘i Island.... read more... PREVIOUS ARTICLES  Free Private Jet to Green Bay for Bissen Admin Official? Corruption: Thickening Plot Closes in on Green Sylvia Luke took a $10K bribe—the $35K bribe-taker is still out there Meet Your new Chief: David Lazar and Chesa Boudin—a timeline Young Brothers Swiped $26M in State Money (and it’s not the first time) Divorce Exposes Hidden Insider Payoffs by State Homeless Housing Contractor Another Big Fish: $35K Bribery Investigation Bags Ryan Yamane, Resigns as DHS Director DHS at Center of Secret Multi-Million Dollar Medicaid Fraud Case – sealed by Court Dope in Vending Machines? Complaint Alleges Honolulu Liquor Commission Does Nothing to Shut Down ‘ballsiest drug op in recent memory’ “Gender Affirming Care” -- What would George Orwell Say? Feds Investigating 562,000 Fraudulent COVID Loans Hawaii Electric Bills to Jump 30% -- because ‘Solar’ is just another name for ‘Diesel’ Two Telescopes Stop Paying Rent on Mauna Kea and another cancels $500M upgrade-DeFries Doesn’t Notice AG Report: Governor’s office fired Isaac Choy for threatening Audit of CNHA’s $27M HTA Contract AG: Feds Investigated our Medicaid Fraud Prosecutions in April HMSA-HPH 'Merger': AI Robot to be ‘Single Source of Oppressive and Unconscionable Truth’ Census: Nearly Half of Young Adults born in Hawaii have left state $35K Bribe: How Luke Donor and Caldwell Cronies Cashed In On City-Funded COVID Testing Program at Airport VIDEO: Hawaii COVID Schemers ‘Caught Inside’' Maui Fire Settlement: Insurers get 10%, Shysters Grab for 25%, Feds get 37% -- little left for victims Hawaii Housing Costs 'Stabilize' at Extremely Unaffordable Level TREADMILL: Hawaii Renters Pay 63% of Income on Housing Aloha Stadium project ‘may cost $5 billion to $6 billion and span 25 years’ 35 Years of Stagnation: Tourism Income Flat Since 1988 Hawaii Highest Tax Burden in USA 56,144 people flee Hawaii since 2020 Children's Rights: Hawaii Ranks 48th Hawaii Sues Trump admin over juvenile sex-change Pacific Air Force: $37M Fraud Scheme Paid 'Godfather' Carbon Credit Scheme Drives Gunstock Ranch into Bankruptcy Quick Links Register for email updates now HawaiiFreePress .com EMAIL: [email protected]   www.HawaiiFreePress.com | PO Box 701102 | Kapolei, HI 96709 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Our Privacy Policy | Constant Contact Data Notice