Blast from the past: He’s baaack. Last week a white Hawaiʻi resident sued the state in federal court because he believes the blood-quantum requirement to qualify for a homestead lease is unconstitutional. The Blog was shocked (and to be honest a little delighted) that the plaintiff is Eric Ryan, who provided much copy for news organizations a number of years ago with his various political antics, some much nastier than others.

Although he’s faded from the scene in recent years, Ryan, a blogger and head of a right-wing fringe of the local GOP called the Hawaii Republican Assembly (or HIRA), regularly antagonized the party and its leaders, first as a city government insider and later as an outspoken maverick.

He catapulted into the headlines back in 2011 when he got into very public disputes with local city officials including former Honolulu City Council member and lawmaker Kymberly Pine and Andria Tupola, currently a council member and former GOP candidate for governor.

Ryan also clashed with a former boss, another former councilman with his own colorful story, Tom Berg (these old names are making The Blog very nostalgic).

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His attacks on Pine, many of which came through a website he created to lambaste her publicly, resulted in her seeking and getting a TRO against him.

Tupola also successfully won a restraining order against Ryan for what she alleged was a yearlong campaign of email harassment and cyberbullying.

The Hawaiʻi Republican Party, a regular target of Ryan’s, also was having some bad deja vu over his re-emergence in what promises to be a very messy and highly publicized lawsuit over Hawaiian homelands. The party issued a press release Friday stating that it “is steadfast in its support of the vision of Prince Kūhiō,” the territorial representative to Congress central to the establishment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which set aside land for those who have at least 50% Hawaiian blood.

Not only is Ryan not a member of the HRP, but efforts to portray this lawsuit as a Republican Party initiative “are simply false,” said Fenton Kaulana Lee, the party’s vice chair of communication.

Kyle Griesinger, media relations director for the Pacific Legal Foundation, the law firm representing Ryan, tells The Blog in an email: “His employment history is unrelated to the facts or claims in this case. The issue before the court is whether the government may deny a public benefit based on ancestry and blood quantum. Eric’s background is not relevant to that constitutional question.”

Ryan’s capacity to stir up trouble and lash out at his perceived enemies of course extends to Civil Beat, too. He reminded The Blog in an email Friday that he’s been banned from commenting on Civil Beat articles since 2012.

“I’m sorry that CB is so committed to its shameless anti-Ryan narrative that it can’t even correct errors or update information, thereby continually misleading the public while deliberately silencing my voice,” Ryan said in the email.

Citizens disunited: The ink from Gov. Josh Green’s favorite bill-signing pen has hardly had time to dry on Senate Bill 2471, the much-ballyhooed anti-Citizens United legislation, and already it’s being challenged in court. That part was predictable since even Hawaiʻi’s own attorney general warned the new law aimed at getting big money out of politics was unconsitutional.

But who’s doing the challenging might surprise people. It’s not the well-endowed political powerhouse Pacific Resource Partnership or some other labor organization known to give heavily to political candidates. Instead, the lawsuit filed late Friday in federal court is coming from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a conservative/libertarian-leaning think tank that has been dabbling in the legislative arena and politics more and more in recent years.

The lawsuit, which is actually being handled by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Free Speech, begins this way: “All Americans enjoy a fundamental First Amendment right to speak about political issues and candidates.”

The new law, now known as Act 11, threatens to silence diverse voices, the lawsuit contends, by restricting entities — nonprofits, corporations and other organizations — from participating in elections other than through direct contributions to specific candidates.

The Grassroot Institute explains in the complaint that it had planned to step up its political activity in the coming years through a new 501(c)(4) entity called the Grassroot Action Center. The institute believes the new law will cut into what that political entity can do.

The Blog would note that a 501(c)(4) is often also called a “dark money” group in political circles because its organized under a part of the federal tax code that doesn’t require the group to disclose where it’s getting its money.

“This law doesn’t affect just the Grassroot Institute,” Keliʻi Akina, president and CEO of Grassroot, said in a press release. “It affects every Hawaii resident who wants to join with others to speak out on issues that impact their community. It doesn’t matter what the issue is or which side of it the organization is on. This law prevents citizens from organizing and pooling resources, time, and effort to speak on topics of public concern.”

Akina is also on the board of trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a statewide elected office. For those who keep track of such things.

You can read the lawsuit for yourself here. The Blog thinks this will not be the first or the last of these cases.

On the move: After a few years with no chancellor for the flagship Mānoa campus, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents voted in December to reestablish the position. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems had recommended separating the roles of UH president and UH Mānoa chancellor.

Last week, the BOR unanimously approved the appointment of Vassilis Syrmos to the chancellorship. He was recommended for the position by UH President Wendy Hensel following a nationwide search.

The new gig for Syrmos — he served as interim provost of UH Mānoa since July 2025, 12 years as UH vice president for research and innovation and eight years as associate vice chancellor for research at UH Mānoa — starts July 1.

No news is no news: The Blog has to hand it to the folks in the Attorney General’s Office who write the press releases. They are masters at finding ways to say the same thing every time they talk about that investigation into the mystery lawmaker who might have taken a $35,000 bribe without really saying anything new.

The AG’s office on Friday issued another of its biweekly updates in the case, which has been in the works since at least February. The Blog has taken to faithfully reporting whatever it is the office has to say because, well, it just seems wrong to let such an important case slide into the mist of complacency.

As always, the press release includes familiar talking points:

• We’re still working on it

• Yes, public interest is high and public discussion has intensified, thanks in large part to pesky media reports.

• No, we’re not going to say anything about anything because the case is still active even though we say we’re committed to transparency. So you might as well quit asking.

And the usual quote from AG Anne Lopez herself, who this week says:

“Following all of the facts that are uncovered during an investigation is vital to maintain an objective focus. This includes corroborating evidence to verify the accuracy of the facts. Shortcuts to speed up an investigation can harm the due process rights of the individual or individuals being investigated. This process takes time, but it is essential to maintaining public confidence in the outcome.”