'Legislator X' lampooned, Recktenwald honored in annual Torch of Light, Lava Tube awards

 

There are a whole lot of anti-media movements running riot on the national scene, but one group – the Big Island Press club – continues focusing on matters closer to home. As it's done for the past 28 years, the 59-year-old nonprofit press club this week released the 2025 Torch of Light and Lava Tube awards. 

Here’s the press release:

    The Big Island Press Club is awarding its annual meritorious Torch of Light Award to Mark Recktenwald, who served as Hawaii’s chief justice from 2010 to 2025. 
    In addition, BIPC is awarding its Lava Tube dishonor to “Legislator X,” the elected official caught on tape accepting a paper bag containing $35,000, according to federal court records. 
    The Torch of Light award is given to an individual or entity for illuminating the public’s right to know, while the Lava Tube dishonor is given for a lack of communication and keeping the public in the dark. 
    As it has for past 28 years, the 59-year-old press club announces the awards yearly on March 16, Freedom of Information Day. The date marks the birthday of James Madison, widely regarded as the father of the U.S. Constitution and the leading advocate for openness in government among our founders.

 Torch of Light Honor

 
    Recktenwald leaves an enduring legacy of public service that transformed the Judiciary, bringing the court to the people. 
    Under his watch, Hawaii state courts rolled out electronic filing and implemented remote proceedings statewide. More cameras came into the courtroom and access to court documents was simplified. 
    Recktenwald, a former UPI reporter stationed in Honolulu, understands the importance of a free press and its role in democracy. He addressed BIPC scholarship winners in a Zoom session during the pandemic, stressing the importance of their work in maintaining a free society. 

 

Since his mandatory retirement at age 70, Rectenwald has joined the Alliance of Former Chief Justices, a nonpartisan initiative launched in December 2025 by Keep Our Republic to defend judicial independence, the rule of law and the constitutional balance. The group engages in public education, working with legal, media, and community organizations to support a fair, impartial judiciary. 
    The iconic torch award will be presented to Recktenwald at BIPC’s annual meeting later this year. 

Lava Tube Dubious Honor
The identity of “Legislator X” is still unknown to the public. This person was allegedly recorded by a wired FBI informant accepting $35,000 in a paper bag from an also unnamed person. Nor, four years later, have the two investigative agencies — federal and state — been forthcoming about the details of this investigation. 
The statute of limitations on a bribery case expires in 2027. 
    What we do know, from media reports and the rare unredacted federal court records that have been unsealed is this: Ty Cullen, former legislator and vice chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee, pleaded guilty and agreed to be a government informant in a bribery case that sent him and another sitting legislator, former Sen. J. Kalani English, to federal prison. 
Both have already served their sentences and been released. 
    Cullen’s recorded actions kept investigators investigating. And they still are. In the midst of it, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke disclosed that she had taken campaign checks — but not in a paper bag — from an associate of Cullen’s during a dinner with Cullen and the contributor. Luke, who was House Finance Committee chairwoman at the time and running for higher office, recently disclosed the checks that weren’t on her 2022 campaign finance report until the lapse was pointed out by Civil Beat, with its coverage providing most of the few details we know. 
    “Ethical — and perhaps legal — breaches aren’t usually a subject of the Big Island Press Club’s Lava Tube award. But a lack of transparency is. Thus Legislator X, who we still can’t identify, is the winner of this year’s Lava Tube award,” said BIPC board member Nancy Cook Lauer.

Previous Torch of Light Honorees 
2024 Julia Neal, founder and publisher of Ka’u Calendar (posthumously)
2023 Daniel Foley, retired Intermediate Court of Appeals judge
2022 Cindy Reves, Hawaii state director for the Journalism Education Association
2021 State Sen. Dru Mamo Kanuha
2020 James Hustace and the Waimea Community Association
2019 W.H. Shipman Ltd. President Margaret “Peggy” Farias
2018 Sue Lee Loy, Hawaii County Councilwoman
2017 Brian Black of the Civil Beat Law Center
2016 West Hawaii Today reporter Nancy Cook Lauer
2015 State Sen. Lorraine Inouye
2014 USGS HVO Scientists
2013 Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi 
2012 County Councilwoman and State Rep. Helene Hale (posthumously) 
2011 State Judicial Selection Commission 
2010 Hawaii County Civil Defense and other departments 
2009 Legislature, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle 
2008 Les Kondo, Office of Information Practices 
2007 West Hawaii Today 
2006 Lillian Koller, State Department of Human Services 
2005 Retired Circuit Judge Paul de Silva 
2004 UH Manoa Journalism Professor Beverly Keever 
2003 U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink (posthumously) 
2002 Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim 
2001 Hawaii County Clerk Al Konishi 
2000 Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano 
1999 Jerry Rothstein and Judith Graham 
1998 Environment Hawaii and Common Cause 
1997 Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter 

Previous Lava Tube Dishonorees 
2024 Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA)
2023 HI-EMA Administrator James Barros
2022 Hawaii Gov. David Ige
2021 Group of 10 senators, led by Sen. Kalani English
2020 Hawaii Gov. David Ige
2019 Pohakuloa Training Area Public Affairs Officer Michael Donnelly
2018 Hawaii County Civil Defense
2017 Hawaii Office of Information Practices
2016 Former Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi
2015 State Land Board Chairwoman Suzanne Case
2014 State Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago
2013 Democratic Party House District 5 Council 
2012 State Sen. Clayton Hee 
2011 Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie 
2010 Hawaii County Council 
2009 Noelani Whittington, County Department of Public Works 
2008 Mayor Harry Kim and Hawaii County Council 
2007 State Board of Education 
2006 Honolulu, Kauai, and Hawaii County Councils 
2005 District Judge Matthew S.K. Pyun 
2004 State Land Board Chairman Peter Young 
2003 State Sen. Cal Kawamoto 
2002 University of Hawaii Board of Regents 
2001 University of Hawaii Board of Regents 
2000 State Rep. Eric Hamakawa and Hawaii County Councilman James Arakaki 
1999 Hawaii County Council 
1998 Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano 
1997 Hawaii County Councilman Elroy Osorio