PAC attack: Josh Green’s new national political action committee has filed its first official report with the Federal Election Commission and the numbers aren’t too shabby for a start-up.

The Heal America PAC was launched in January by the Hawaiʻi governor who’s also a doctor. It aims to promote discussion on national health care issues while countering misinformation from the federal government and offering innovative solutions to health care problems. The PAC has said it will support pro-science political candidates, including physicians, and fund humanitarian outreach and medical missions during public health emergencies.

Green has been outspoken in his opposition to Trump administration Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., traveling to Washington, D.C., several times to lobby against RFK Jr.’s nomination.

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The FEC report filed Wednesday shows the PAC raised $192,818 since inception through the end of June. Most of that — $150,000 — comes from just five big donors who chipped in $25,000 each.

Two of those are well-known Hawaiʻi names: Jay Shidler, a prominent Honolulu businessman and philanthropist; and Paul Yonamine, chairman emeritus of Central Pacific Bank.

Other $25,000 donors are Phaedra Ledbetter of Pasadena, California; Ali Usman, the Massachusetts founder and CEO of PixelEdge; and Eric Green, the governor’s uncle who’s also in Massachusetts.

You can check out the full list here. Spoiler alert: There’s no one else from Hawaiʻi on it.

The PAC reported spending $96,940, about half what it raised. That left it with about $96,000 in the bank.

Most of the money went to typical startup costs for a political fundraising effort — compliance reporting, consulting and website costs. Lori LaFave, a Virginia-based political consultant and fundraiser listed as treasurer, was paid $25,000 for her work during the reporting period.

According to the FEC, the next report is due in another six months.

Honolulu Hale huhū: The reorganization of the Honolulu City Council that was first reported last month by The Blog continues, in some cases adding insult to injury. On Tuesday, Chair Tommy Waters told Val Okimoto, Matt Weyer and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam to start clearing out their respective offices and to move to other office space now assigned to them.

City Hall insiders describe the latest move as an extension of the politics-driven reorganization that kept Waters in the top perch but elevated Andria Tupola to the position of vice chair, replacing Weyer. The reorg included Okimoto taking over as budget committee chair from Dos Santos-Tam. And Scott Nishimoto is now the budget vice chair.

Okimoto will move into Weyer’s office, which is located next to Waters’ office — closer to the center of power, you might say. Meanwhile, Dos Santos-Tam will move into Okimoto’s office, which is located between the offices of Tupola and Augie Tulba. The council is officially nonpartisan, but Okimoto, Tupola and Tulba align with Hawaiʻi Republicans and Dos Santos-Tam is a former chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.

According to a memo from Waters, the members on the move must take with them all their personal effects. But koa desks, koa credenzas, koa hutches, koa wall units, wood-framed sofas and wood-framed loveseats originally bought or designated for use in the offices “should remain where they are as a matter of practicality.”

The Blog showed up at Honolulu Hale to take a photo of Waters’ office (it’s in a public building, after all), but Waters’ staff said no. Too bad. We were eager to check out the koa and that wood-framed loveseat.

Gun stats: Despite strict laws requiring people to register their guns in Hawaiʻi, no one really knows how many guns are floating around our islands these days. Conservative estimates put the number at more than 2 million but since you don’t have to tell anyone if you take your gun with you when you move, the math is impossible to work out.

Still, the annual firearms registration report released Wednesday by the Hawaiʻi Attorney General’s Office shows a noticeable drop in the number of guns registered last year compared to the year before.

More than 44,000 guns were registered by county police agencies in 2024, down nearly 14% from the 51,000 firearms registered in 2023. The guns are covered by more than 16,000 permits issued by the counties and the AG says more than 95% of permit applications were approved.

About half the new registrations were guns imported from out of state and the other half were transfers of guns already registered in Hawaiʻi. About half were rifles and shotguns and the other half handguns.

No matter which side you’re on in the gun debate, you can find much more information on the attorney general’s research and statistics website.

We can see clearly now: Good news for anyone who dares to park in the dank basement at the Capitol: The Department of Accounting and General Services has finished upgrading the lighting on the ʻEwa side, following improvements made to the Diamond Head side not long ago. Cost to taxpayers: $185,293.