Civil Beat Staff

Jeremy Hay

Jeremy Hay covers economic inequality for Honolulu Civil Beat.

He started in journalism in 1992 at The Tenderloin Times in San Francisco, covering city government, homelessness and nonprofits. He comes to Civil Beat from The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif., where since 2001, he reported on immigration, local politics, business and, most recently, homelessness and social services. At The Press Democrat, he was on a team that won a George Polk award for reporting on globalization; he has also won two Associated Press Fairbanks Public Service awards and Best of the West awards for writing and explanatory reporting. He was a 2015 JSK Journalism Fellow at Stanford University.

He enjoys cooking with a wok, exploring Hawaiʻi and spending time with his family. You can reach Jeremy at 808-978-6605 and jhay@civilbeat.org.

Former Honolulu Employee Pleads Not Guilty To Defrauding Hawaiʻi Foodbank Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Former Honolulu Employee Pleads Not Guilty To Defrauding Hawaiʻi Foodbank

Attorney says that Dexter Kishida did not benefit personally and got caught up in ‘complex government bureaucracy and red tape.’

Charity Program for Housing Homeless People Broke Promises, Landlord Says Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Charity Program for Housing Homeless People Broke Promises, Landlord Says

Small landlord now has doubts about renting to tenants from housing assistance programs; tenant says his story is off base.

Part Of A Frantic Charge To Feed People During Covid, He’s Now Charged With Fraud Ronen Zilberman/Civil Beat/2020

Part Of A Frantic Charge To Feed People During Covid, He’s Now Charged With Fraud

Former city employee, who helped steer federal funds to the hungry, is accused of deceiving the food bank into spending money that wasn’t there.

Ma Ko Honolulu Bālota O Nowemapa Kahi Puʻu Kālā No Ke Kākoʻo I Ka Poʻe Pōloli Ma Ka Nānā Aku David Croxford/Civil Beat/2025

Ma Ko Honolulu Bālota O Nowemapa Kahi Puʻu Kālā No Ke Kākoʻo I Ka Poʻe Pōloli Ma Ka Nānā Aku

E kiʻi ʻia nā ʻauhau ʻāina no kēia puʻu kālā no ke kākoʻo i nā papahana e kākoʻo ana i ka poʻe pōloli paʻakikī o ka loaʻa o ka ʻai i hoʻoulu kūloko ʻia.

There’s One Big Flaw With The AG’s Track Record On Medicaid Fraud Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

There’s One Big Flaw With The AG’s Track Record On Medicaid Fraud

A single settlement with a dialysis company accounted for the lion’s share of funds recovered by Hawaiʻi’s fraud unit, now facing federal scrutiny.

Hawaiʻi Immigrant Charged With Voting Illegally Amid Trump Crackdown David Croxford/Civil Beat/2024

Hawaiʻi Immigrant Charged With Voting Illegally Amid Trump Crackdown

The case is the first in at least 40 years in Hawaiʻi involving a noncitizen.

Longtime Hawaiʻi Immigration Judge Fired As Trump Purge Continues Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Longtime Hawaiʻi Immigration Judge Fired As Trump Purge Continues

As it pushes to move cases through courts faster, the Trump administration fired a local judge without explanation.

Fund To Help Hungry Appears On Its Way To Honolulu’s November Ballot Thomas Heaton/Civil Beat/2025

Fund To Help Hungry Appears On Its Way To Honolulu’s November Ballot

Fund would use existing property tax revenues to support programs to help people who experience food insecurity access locally produced food products.

Voters Could Add Immigrant Protection Measures For HPD In November Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Voters Could Add Immigrant Protection Measures For HPD In November

Police officials say department doesn’t participate in immigration enforcement anyway.