Hawaii
Now We Know The Scale Of Pay-To-Play Politics In Hawaii. It's Long Past Time To Act
A Civil Beat/New York Times report published last week unveiled just how deeply the pay-to-play culture is ingrained in Hawaii politics.
By examining hundreds of thousands of campaign contributions and more than 70,000 government contracts, reporters discovered that nearly $1 out of every $5 donated to politicians came from people tied to companies doing business with state and local governments.
And when some companies were on the verge of winning big government contracts, people connected to them donated larger amounts of money to the relevant officials.
Even though those contributors generally didn’t acknowledge their connections to the companies, they were not violating Hawaii law, which only prohibits donations directly from the firms.
“Everyone gets very upset with pay-to-play, but it’s legal,” said Kristin Izumi-Nitao, executive director of the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission.
What’s especially galling is that the commission proposed measures to close the gaping loophole this session and they were ignored by the Judiciary chairs in the House and the Senate, never even receiving a public hearing.
Now that the gargantuan scale of the problem has been defined, that has to change when the Legislature reconvenes in 2025.
Stopped Dead in the Judiciary Committees
The commission was clearly aware of the issue when it proposed Senate Bill 2214 and House Bill 1849, but after reading the Civil Beat/New York Times report, even Izumi-Nitao found that “the numbers were a bit surprising. And if the bill had been in effect, I believe those numbers would not be as high.”
The identical measures introduced in the House and Senate would have expanded a 2006 ban on campaign contributions from government contractors to include the officers and immediate family members of the company owners. It also would have applied the same prohibitions to recipients of government grants.
They were modified versions of a measure that unanimously passed the House and Senate in 2023 but died during the secretive conference committee period when disagreements between the two chambers must be resolved if a bill is to become law.
Far less love was shown to the proposal this session by the Judiciary chairs, Rep. David Tarnas and Sen. Karl Rhoads.
Tarnas had said during a pre-session interview that when it came to government reform measures, he would prioritize consideration of bills that had made it to conference committee the previous year.
That didn’t happen with HB 1849, and Tarnas didn’t respond to a Civil Beat request to explain why.
For his part, Rhoads said he didn’t give SB 2214 a hearing in his committee because he thought his measure to offer full public financing of political campaigns “was more important.”
Full public campaign financing would go a long way toward reforming the pay-to-play landscape, but accepting the public money instead of continuing to solicit private funds would be voluntary. And even though it passed the Senate unanimously, Tarnas led the effort to kill that measure when it got to his committee.
Credit Rhoads for his efforts on behalf of public campaign financing, but this shouldn’t have been a one-or-the-other matter — he didn’t have to derail the effort to turn off the tap on political contributions tied to government contracts.
‘I Will Look At The Issue With More Urgency’
Rhoads also expressed concern that if SB 2214 had passed, candidates would have no way of knowing they were accepting illegal contributions. He’s apparently developed those concerns since last year’s session, when his committee unanimously approved a similar measure.
Still, the senator acknowledged that the number of pay-to-play contributions documented in the recent report is “surprisingly high,” and added, “with this new information, I will look at the issue with more urgency next session.”
Urgency. Government reform efforts seemingly achieved that two years ago after a series of public scandals — including the bribery convictions of two former legislators — led to the creation of a special state commission that proposed numerous good government measures.
Some were adopted by the Legislature, but the major ones — including closing the loophole on contractor contributions — were not.
So here we sit with a well-documented culture of political pay-to-play and a Campaign Spending Commission that is so understaffed that it would have a hard time enforcing new restrictions on campaign contributions even if the Legislature had the courage to approve them.
Izumi-Nitao said the commission will “absolutely” propose restrictions on pay-to-play donations again next session. Presumably it will also again seek an appropriation to enlarge its staff of 5, which hasn’t grown since it was established in 1973 even as it struggles to regulate more and more candidates and campaign committees.
Before that will come an election in which voters can deliver their own message about the need for reform in state and local government.
The Civil Beat/New York Times report broke new ground in connecting campaign contributions to the people who benefit from government contracts. Over the last 2 years, our “Let the Sunshine In” project has lit up many other dark corners of political dysfunction.
Our collective eyes are open wider now. It shouldn’t take another round of scandals to re-energize momentum for reform.
Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A hiker was rescued after suffering a medical emergency on the Diamond Head Crater Trail Saturday morning.
The Honolulu Fire Department said crews responded at about 10:30 a.m. after a woman in her 30s became unable to descend from the top of the trail.
Firefighters climbed the trail on foot while another crew prepared a nearby landing zone for air operations.
HFD’s Air 1 helicopter inserted rescue personnel to the woman’s location, where they assessed her condition and provided basic life support.
The hiker was then airlifted to the landing zone and transferred to Honolulu Emergency Medical Services shortly after 11 a.m.
No firefighter injuries were reported.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Filipino dignitaries embrace RIMPAC hospitality amid outside protests – Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Aboard the Philippine navy ship BRP Miguel Malvar on Wednesday night, prominent members of Honolulu’s Filipino community rubbed shoulders with military personnel and diplomats as they wined and dined on its deck in Pearl Harbor before the ship set sail to join other warships participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise.
“This warm atmosphere, the smiles, enthusiastic conversations truly echo the spirit of Filipino hospitality, or bayanihan … central to Filipino psychology, which means we see ourselves in others,” said Vice Admiral Jose Ezpeleta, the Philippine navy’s top officer, as he addressed attendees at Filipino Community Night reception.
“These cherished Filipino values and rich heritage are primarily reflected and carried out by you, our Filipino community,” Ezpeleta said. “Serving as a final bridge that links the Philippines to the United States cultures and peoples, and beyond defense and security, these vibrant people-to-people ties clearly form part of the foundational cornerstone of the Philippines and the United States of America.”
But outside the base’s gates on Kamehameha Highway, about 20 protesters carried signs and shouted slogans condemning the Philippine military’s participation in RIMPAC. During the protest, part of the group went to the base’s Halawa Gate and stood outside it until base security officials asked that they step back and return to the road.
The group included members of the Ho‘opae Pono Peace Project, Anakbayan Hawaii, Democratic Socialist of Oahu, Hawaii Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Social Medicine Hawaii, and the Filipino Artist Movement.
“Everyone here is here because they love someone and they know someone that’s been impacted by U.S. militarism across the world” said Silayan Camson, a member of Filipino Artists Movement. “We’re all united in that struggle. U.S. militarism is one of the number one polluters in the world, and it has also spread across not only in the Asia-Pacific, but also in the Middle East, and that impacts day-to-day working people here, not only here in Hawaii, but across the oceans into the Philippines.”
In a statement preced-ing the protest, the HICHRP said that “while mainstream media views RIMPAC as providing valuable opportunities for the Philippine Navy to enhance interoperability with its allies and partners, the Philippines continues to enter into military agreements with the U.S. at the expense of its people.
“Filipino citizens risk becoming collateral damage amidst increasing U.S. tensions with China,” the group said. “Recent events, including the massacre of 19 individuals, including two Filipino-Americans in Negros Occidental, highlight the dire human rights situation in the Philippines.”
The American citizens in question were Lyle Prijoles, 40, and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, 26. Both had friends in Hawaii, who gathered with local activists to hold vigils after their deaths. They were among a group of activists and researchers taking part in a program put together by leftist organizers taking them into the countryside.
They were killed in a controversial operation by Philippine army troops hunting down members of the New People’s Army — the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines — in the town of Toboso.
The Philippine military described it as an hours-long gun battle with rebels that wounded one soldier before they ultimately called in air support, while activists say indiscriminate strafing fire from the sky rained down on helpless civilians below. The NPA has confirmed that 10 of those killed in the incident were armed members of the group, but maintains the other nine were unarmed civilians.
“The U.S. has been assisting and aiding the Philippine military and its human rights abuses,” argued Camson, who told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Prijoles and Sorem were “learning about Filipino struggles in the Philippines, they were unjustly murdered by the Philippines military, and the Philippines military has continually neglected its people.”
Manila has sought to deepen military ties with countries around the region as it has been locked in a bitter dispute with Beijing over maritime territorial and navigation rights in the South China Sea, a busy waterway that nearly one-third of all global trade travels through.
Beijing claims nearly the entire sea as its exclusive territory over the objections of most neighboring countries and many others around the world who depend on goods flowing through it. In 2016 an international court ruled in favor of the Philippines and found that China’s claims have “no legal” basis.
China rejected the ruling and has built bases on disputed islands and reefs. The Chinese military also has harassed and sometimes attacked fishermen and other marine workers from the Philippines, including scientists trying to study the ecological impacts of operations in the area.
“The officers and sailors aboard this ship are more than members of our Armed Forces of the Philippines,” said Consul General Arman Talbo, the Philippines’ top diplomat in Hawaii. “They are our fellow Filipinos, our sons, our daughters, our brothers, our sisters, who have chosen a life of service. Their dedication helps safeguard our nation’s sovereignty, protect our people, and contribute to regional peace”
“The presence of this remarkable ship in Honolulu is the source of great pride for the Filipino community here in Hawaii,” Talbo said. “As one of the Philippine navy’s newest and most capable vessels, BRP Miguel Malvar reflects our nation’s steadfast commitment to modernizing its armed forces and strengthening its ability to secure peace, security, and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
The U.S. military, for its part, has conducted frequent “freedom of navigation” operations through the region, increasingly in partnership with other countries, and frequently makes use of Subic Bay and other ports in the Philippines to support its operations.
While U.S. troops left permanent bases in the country in the 1990s after nationalist protests led to their eviction, training rotations by American forces and now those from other countries have increased amid tensions with China along with port calls by warships. Last year, President Donald Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced plans for Subic Bay to become a new arms manufacturing hub.
Camson argued that “Filipinos and the Philippine budget should be going toward people’s rights and education … The working conditions and working-class people of the Philippines are struggling while their leaders are busy participating in RIMPAC when they should be focusing on how to help Filipinos both in the U.S. and back in the Philippines.”
The Philippines is also among the most likely staging areas U.S. troops would use to respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The Philippine military’s top commander, Gen. Romeo Brawner, told his troops in the northern tip of the country last year to “start planning for actions in case there is an invasion of Taiwan.”
Brawner, an alumnus of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Waikiki, asserted in his remarks that “if something happens to Taiwan, inevitably we will be involved. There are 250,000 (overseas Filipino workers) working in Taiwan, and we will have to rescue them.”
The Philippine navy also has sent ships, including the Malvar, to train as far away as India and Australia. Talbo said that he sees it as a source of pride that the Philippine navy can now regularly sail its ships across the vastness of the Pacific, arguing that years ago that would have been unthinkable.
Star-Advertiser photo editor George Lee contributed to this report.
Hawaii
Evacuations ordered for Buildings 4 and 5 of the Lofts in Waikōloa as firefighters continue response to brush fire | Big Island Now
July 10, 2026, 6:19 PM HST
* Updated July 10, 6:20 PM
This story was updated at 6:19 p.m. July 10, 2026.
Hawai‘i Fire Department issued a wildfire warning and is responding to a brush fire in the Waikōloa area of South Kohala, with evacuations ordered for Buildings 4 and 5 of the Lofts in Waikōloa Village.
An evacuation shelter is open at Waikōloa Elementary School cafeteria, located at 68-1730 Hoʻokō St.
Waikōloa Road from Paniolo Avenue to Highway 190 is closed. Hawai’i Police Department advises motorists to avoid the area for at least the next 4 hours.
Only local traffic will be allowed on Waikōloa Road from Paniolo Avenue to Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway.
More information will be provided as it becomes available. Hawai’i County Civil Defense is providing updates as conditions change.
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