Stormy weather? Barely three years after taking the job of administrator for the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency, James Barros is moving on. He tells The Blog he’ll be leaving the post June 30 to go work on projects for the state’s Department of Defense and possibly other agencies as well.

Jeff Hickman, director of public affairs for the DOD, in an announcement Friday said David Lopez will assume responsibility for the agency’s day-to-day operations as administrator. Lopez recently served as the state disaster recovery coordinator and chief of the Hawaiʻi Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

But, alas, no one is saying why HIEMA, which falls under DOD, suddenly needs new management. Rumors last week were flying that Barros was being asked to step down, which is what prompted The Blog to call and check. Barros says he has not been fired, but still no word from management on what prompted the change.

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Barros’ departure comes just as the state is entering what’s predicted to be a potentially doozy of a hurricane season (what with El Niño and all that) and following a series of natural disasters including floods on Oʻahu and earthquakes on Hawaiʻi island. HIEMA is the coordinating agency on emergencies “of all kinds,” according to its website, between federal and local agencies, including the four county emergency management agencies.

Before taking the HIEMA job, Barros retired as a colonel with the Hawai‘i Army National Guard after a 32-year career. He was also the chief of the joint staff for the Hawai‘i National Guard’s Covid-19 Joint Task Force.

Barros reports to Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan, the director of HIEMA and the state adjutant general.

Gov. Josh Green, who is traveling out of state, had no comment on the leadership change.

Kirill who? Earlier this month a candidate for Congress allegedly pulled a gun during an argument with Maui County workers. Kirill Basin, who was arrested on suspicion of terroristic threatening, also happens to be running in the Hawaiʻi Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District.

Hawaiʻi Democrats are now distancing themselves from Basin. The Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi and its Maui County Committee issued a press release last week declaring, “We unequivocally condemn threats, harassment, intimidation, and violence directed toward elected officials, public servants, party leaders, volunteers, and members of our community.”

The Dems also said Basin (who, oddly, is not actually mentioned by name in the press release) is not registered with the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi’s official membership records. 

Makai Freitas, the new state party chair, and Jared Sam Agtunong, the party’s Maui County committee chair, did not say whether Dems filed a legal challenge against Basin.

As we all remember from the political dustup with former state Sen. Laura Thielen more than a decade ago, you don’t need to be approved by the party to put a D next to your name on the ballot. In 2012 the party considered taking action against Thielen when she filed to run as a Democrat for the state Senate because she had not been a party member long enough. Thielen, daughter of a longtime Republican House member and herself a former Cabinet member of a GOP governor, was elected to the seat. She now works for Honolulu Mayor Blangiardi, who holds a nonpartisan seat.

Moho mojo: Hawaiʻi has had an Aloha ʻĀina Party (now defunct), even a Queen Emma Party, a Lunalilo Party and a Kuokoa Party way, way back in the day. Now a new group, Moho ʻĀina, is promoting a group of 13 likeminded candidates in the 2026 elections it says are all rounded in aloha ʻāina.

Moho ʻĀina (literally “candidate of the land”) is not a political party, however, nor an interest group, a PAC nor even an official organization. “It is a name for a type of person, and a place for those people to stand together,” a press release from the hui explains. “The foundation of being a Moho ʻĀina is the way you act and the things you want to do.”

The group says it is speaking directly to the frustration that “too many locals feel apathetic toward politics, that the system is rigged against them, so it’s not worth the time to continue engaging.” Moho ʻĀina is calling for “a sea change” in Hawaiʻi’s government. 

You can read more about the 13 candidates for the state House and other races who have pledged to Moho ʻĀina’s principles on Instagram and on its website. They include Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, a member of the Maui County Council.

Voter turnout: The Blog has been thinking lately that people have been tuning out when it comes to politics and government, but the turnout for Sen. Brian Schatz’s town hall last week would counter that thought.

A whopping 41,000 people (including The Blog) listened in to the town hall, which was held over the phone. That’s up from 16,000 in December, the last time he did one of these, and 26,000 a year ago, according to Schatz’s office.

Schatz was able to answer about a dozen questions during the hour-long session. And people were definitely interested in the hot-button topics of the day, including whether Social Security is going to run out and how to fix it, how to get more housing opportunities, and the continuing spikes in the cost of gasoline.

Although there were some mild digs at the president and his policies, people were curious and concerned but kept things civil. Perhaps they were following the lead of Hawaiʻi’s senior senator, who told them early on his position on things: “Find common ground if possible but stand your ground” otherwise.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Kahi Pacarro.