And the race is on: Lost in the tsunami of news last week was the official campaign launch of Jarrett Keohokalole, a state senator seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Ed Case in Hawaiʻi’s 1st Congressional District.

Speaking from the lawn of the State Capitol on Tuesday, he pledged to bring “urgent, community-rooted leadership to Washington,” according to a press release issued two days later.

“Too many local families are being priced out, and too many of our kids are leaving because they don’t see a future here,” he said in the statement. “We need leadership that doesn’t wait around, but runs toward the problem with urgency and energy.”

Keohokalole is hoping to ride a wave of media attention for his work “to hold Hawaiian Electric accountable” after the Lahaina wildfires, reform the state’s homeowners insurance market and modernize legislative hearings by expanding access.

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Among those in attendance supporting Keohokalole were House Majority Leader Sean Quinlan, Honolulu City Council members Tommy Waters and Matt Weyer, former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, retired First Hawaiian Bank executive Walter Dods, lobbyist Blake Oshiro, Filipino activist Amy Agbayani and assorted environmentalists and labor leaders.

Keohokalole is not up for reelection next year so his Windward Oʻahu seat is safe should he not get elected to Congress.

Case has never lost a bid for reelection to Congress, both in the CD1 seat he has comfortably held since 2019 and the 2nd Congressional District, where he served from 2002 to 2007. He did lose, however, to Dan Akaka in the Democratic primary for Senate in 2006 and to Mazie Hirono in 2012, as well as a special election for CD1 in 2010.

Case officially launched his election Tuesday just hours before Keohokalole launched his, saying in a press release, “Our country and world face immense challenges that demand strong, smart leadership to defend our democracy and deliver real solutions. Our Hawai‘i especially needs experienced representation on Capitol Hill that knows how to get things done for us in Washington, D.C.”

The Blog hears rumblings that other Dems may enter the CD1 race. No word yet on any credible GOP contenders. The Hawaiʻi primary is Aug. 8, just over a year from now.

Police action: With all the hubbub over former Honolulu police chief Joe Logan and his beef against Mayor Rick Blangiardi you may have missed another cop-related lawsuit, this one potentially much more disturbing.

It was also filed by Honolulu civil rights attorney Joseph Rosenbaum, who has had quite a busy week all in all. He is repping Logan against the mayor, ICYMI.

In this case, Rosenbaum represents state deputy sheriff Martin Horton in a federal discrimination and harassment lawsuit against the Department of Law Enforcement. You can read much more of the details in the case filing which is embedded below but it revolves around a number of incidents that last year resulted in at least eight deputies being put on leave while the state investigated allegations of mistreatment of a trainee (Horton) among other things. Horton filed complaints with the department, prompting the investigation, as well as the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission and finally last week’s lawsuit.

What caught The Blog’s eye was that the civil lawsuit ropes in DLE investigator Wayne Ibarra as one of the alleged bad guys in the story. Ibarra had been acting as both an investigator and a spokesman for the department about the whole mess.

This is interesting because Ibarra was one of the candidates to apply for the interim Honolulu police chief position after Logan announced his retirement. In an interview with the Honolulu Police Commission, Ibarra made it clear he’d be applying for the permanent post too. It’s not too much of a stretch to think he may be tossing his name in for Kauaʻi and Big Island chiefs as well.

In the case filed last week by Horton, Rosenbaum paints a picture of Ibarra as a manipulative and duplicitous soldier for the DLE who, while pretending to be interested in Horton’s troubles, was really gathering dirt about another deputy, Lanikoa Dobrowolsky, who had already filed a discrimination complaint against the department. Horton’s lawsuit contends Ibarra was using Horton as a pawn to gain ammunition against that guy and did not tell him Dobrowolsky had already filed a lawsuit against DLE and two of its top officials.

Instead, Horton’s lawsuit alleges, Ibarra encouraged him to reach out to Hawaii News Now to get media coverage of his situation, even providing an HNN reporter’s phone number and pressing him to share information with the media about Dobrowolsky.

“Ibarra specifically told Mr. Horton that if he mentioned that Ibarra encouraged him to go to the media, Ibarra would deny it,” the lawsuit says.

“In fact, Mr. Horton came to find out Dobrowolsky had not been and had no intention of harassing Mr. Horton. It was all contrived by Ibarra.”

All The Blog can really think of to say here is: Yikes.

Of course, these are just allegations in a civil suit obviously seeking monetary damages and all that. But what the heck is going on with Hawaiʻi’s cops? Especially those who are supposed to be in charge.

DC 808: Through tsunami warnings back home and new presidential tariff threats in the storm-soaked nation’s capital, members of Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation persevered to push for new legislation this week.

The Blog has it summarized for you.

Sen. Mazie Hirono joined with four other Democrats to stand up for all those part-time faculty members of universities and colleges.

The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2025 would allow part-time instructors, “who often have high student debt loads and are paid low wages with few benefits,” Hirono opined in a press release, to participate in the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Currently only faculty members with 10 years of full-time employment need apply.

Sen. Brian Schatz announced he was launching a guide to help Hawai‘i residents who may be impacted by President Donald Trump’s recently approved tax bill. The website includes information and resources to help people navigate major changes to health care, food assistance, education programs and tax policies.

“The new Republican tax law cuts critical federal funding that will make it harder for people to access health care, food assistance, and other critical services,” Schatz said in a statement from his office. “Everyone should know what’s coming, how to prepare, and where to find help.”

Rep. Ed Case announced Friday he is teaming with Republican Rep. James Moylan of Guam to introduce a measure to tweak the Jones Act.

You know the Jones Act, which requires that goods transported between U.S. ports be carried on ships that are U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed. Depending on who you listen to, it’s either a vital protector of American shipping or a primary driver of higher prices in Hawaiʻi.

Case and Moylan propose exempting U.S. companies from a 50% tax on major vessel modifications if work is performed in the shipyards of allied nations such as Japan and South Korea instead of places like China. Their bill would also allow ships purchased from allied countries to qualify for a Jones Act exemption.

Rep. Jill Tokuda, meanwhile, joined with a bipartisan group of colleagues to stand up for American coffee-drinkers by signing a letter calling for the removal of tariffs on coffee imports.

The letter paid homage to domestic production by noting that “small quantities of predominantly specialty coffee are grown in Hawai‘i and Puerto Rico.”

So yeah, The Blog sees no direct benefit to Hawaiʻi coffee growers from this, but maybe Tokuda is thinking that all coffee growers benefit if prices are kept down, allowing Americans to maintain their caffeine addictions.