Federal cuts imperil homeless housing, health insurance; Aloha Stadium demolition begins; gas prices hit year low, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

HUD Plan Leaves Millions For Hawaiʻi Homeless Housing In Limbo. Local nonprofit leaders estimate that more than 400 people could end up back on the streets if funding cuts go through. Millions of dollars for homeless services in Hawaiʻi are at risk as the Trump administration pulls back from funding targeted housing programs that have been the mainstay of efforts to get people off the streets for nearly two decades. Civil Beat.

Gov. Josh Green gears up to cover health care gaps in the short term. If subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire at the end of the year as expected, that will leave tens of thousands of Hawaiʻi residents with dramatically higher insurance costs and will also affect rural health care across the state.  Hawaii Public Radio.

ICE has been sending immigrants from the continental U.S. to Hawaiʻi, and no one knows why. ICE has been transferring detained immigrants from the continental U.S. to the Honolulu Federal Detention Center since this summer. Local immigration attorneys are facing unprecedented case loads. Hawaii Public Radio.

AAA Hawaiʻi: Island gas prices are at lowest levels of 2025.  Gas price averages statewide and in Honolulu are at their lowest levels of 2025, echoing a pattern seen throughout the US, according to the AAA Hawaiʻi Weekend Gas Watch. The statewide average price for regular unleaded is $4.43, which is one cent lower than last week and 11 cents lower than this time last year. The average national price is $2.89. Maui Now.

Three Kamehameha Schools trustee finalists outline challenges ahead. Three finalists to fill a vacancy on the Kamehameha Schools Board of Trustees vowed to fight a lawsuit challenging the school’s admissions policy favoring Native Hawaiians. Hawaii News Now.

Oahu

Should A State Worker Be Able To Lease Public Property Without Bids? An agency development director can now enter five-year leases for state-owned property in Kakaʻako at below-market rates without board approval or public notice. Civil Beat.

Demolition of Aloha Stadium begins. Although the outside may look the same for now, the project to tear down Aloha Stadium has begun. On Thursday, the Aloha Stadium Authority held its final meeting inside the stadium, as work began last week to cut utilities and remove hazardous materials. Hawaii News Now. KHON2. 

Aloha Stadium Authority hires executive with construction background. The Aloha Stadium Authority board voted at its final meeting at the facility Thursday to install Michael Yadao as deputy manager ahead of the facility’s dismantling and replacement in Halawa by the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District. Star-Advertiser.

Honolulu Police Commission to decide how to improve HPD staffing shortage. A city task force presented a report with recommendations on how to address the Honolulu Police Department’s chronic staffing shortage — and now it’s up to the Honolulu Police Commission to choose how to move forward. Hawaii Public Radio.

Red Hill victims win attorney fees as appeal continues. A U.S. District Court judge this month ordered the federal government to pay more than $160,000 in attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs in the Red Hill civil lawsuit, following a nearly $600,000 judgement issued in September and amid an appeal on behalf of child victims. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii Island

Meeting to discuss Hilo wilderness park draws large crowd. About 100 people attended a community meeting Wednesday night at Hilo High School concerning a proposal by state Rep. Matthias Kusch to create a wilderness park on 283 acres of land on Akolea Road in Kaumana. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

Hawaiian Electric to begin construction of first standalone load-shifting battery energy storage system on Maui. As part of its transition to using more renewable energy and cutting carbon emissions to power Maui, Hawaiian Electric will begin construction in January of the island’s first large standalone load-shifting battery energy storage system (BESS). The Waena BESS will enable the planned retirement of four generating units at the company’s Kahului Power Plant. Maui Now.

Kauai

Kaua‘i’s Robinson Family Quietly Pursues New Industrial Development. The island’s largest private landowner is exploring how to turn the old Olokele sugar mill into the rural Westside’s first industrial park. Civil Beat.

Future is unclear for largest coffee farm in Hawaii. The owner of Kauai Coffee Co., an affiliate of an Italian beverage firm, faces the prospect of losing control of the nearly 40-year old business it acquired more than a decade ago from a local former sugar plantation operator. Star-Advertiser.