Civil Beat Staff

Stewart Yerton

Stewart Yerton reports on business and the economy for Honolulu Civil Beat. Those are subjects he spent more than a decade reporting on — at publications in New York, New Orleans and Honolulu.

He’s written about the U.S. treasury bond market, the business of big law firms, controversies surrounding the world’s largest gold mine on the island of New Guinea and corruption in the Louisiana casino industry. His reporting on the human cadaver trade, published in The Times-Picayune newspaper, won the Society of American Business Editors & Writers 2005 Best in Business Award for Enterprise Reporting in the large newspaper category.

Stewart’s first big newspaper story, for The Birmingham (Ala.) News, was about a political battle between a small-town mayor and the volunteer firefighters who were trying to oust him from office because of the mayor’s 30-year-old conviction for making moonshine whiskey. The story briefly thrust the tiny town of Brookside, Ala., into the national spotlight when The Washington Post came to write about the comic-gothic brouhaha.

A member of the Hawaii State Bar Association since January 2012, Stewart graduated cum laude from University of Hawaiʻi’s William S. Richardson School of Law, where he earned the environmental law certificate. His paper “Procedural Standing and the Hawaii Superferry Decision: How a Surfer, a Paddler, and an Orchid Farmer Aligned Hawaiʻi’s Standing Doctrine with Federal Principles” was published in the Asian Pacific Law & Policy Journal in 2011. In law school, Stewart externed for U.S. District Court Judge David Alan Ezra and served as the law school’s first Jarman Environmental Law Fellow. Stewart also has worked as an analyst with the Hawaiʻi State Auditor’s office.

When not working, Stewart can often be found practicing yoga and Argentine tango, attempting to play guitar, and chauffeuring his two daughters around Oʻahu.

‘HNL Swindler’: California Man Accused Of Scams On Oʻahu April Estrellon/Civil Beat/2026

‘HNL Swindler’: California Man Accused Of Scams On Oʻahu

TikTok videos posted by a former friend have galvanized dentists in Honolulu and California who allege Quan “David” Hoang Vu ripped them off. He denies the allegations.

Employers Face Double-Digit Increases In Health Insurance Rates David Croxford/Civil Beat/2023

Employers Face Double-Digit Increases In Health Insurance Rates

Increases could force many employers to reduce worker benefits.

Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Rebukes DOE: Pay $14M To McKinley High Sex Abuse Victim Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2022

Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Rebukes DOE: Pay $14M To McKinley High Sex Abuse Victim

Civil case had found boys for years preyed on a girl with cognitive abilities of a 5-year-old while school officials looked the other way.

State Errors Led To $13M+ In Improper Homeless Spending, Audit Says David Croxford/Civil Beat/2025

State Errors Led To $13M+ In Improper Homeless Spending, Audit Says

The audit followed Civil Beat reporting that found irregularities in the state’s kauhale initiative.

HECO Blackout: Some Molokaʻi Residents May Lose A Summer’s Fish And Game Marina Riker/Civil Beat/2023

HECO Blackout: Some Molokaʻi Residents May Lose A Summer’s Fish And Game

CORRECTION: The outage is expected to impact about 11% of HECO customers on the island.

HECO Knows What’s Behind Outages. It Just Won’t Tell You Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

HECO Knows What’s Behind Outages. It Just Won’t Tell You

The state’s consumer advocate wants the utility to provide more information about storm outages. Residents say they also deserve clearer answers about frequent outages that don’t seem tied to weather.

Should County Pay For Infrastructure Along The Rail? Voters Will Decide Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Should County Pay For Infrastructure Along The Rail? Voters Will Decide

The ballot measure to approve a type of bond financing used in 48 other states comes amid a concerted push by city and state officials to develop housing around Honolulu’s Skyline.

‘Not A Boondoggle’: Lawmakers Get $300K For Travel, Destination Unknown Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

‘Not A Boondoggle’: Lawmakers Get $300K For Travel, Destination Unknown

There will be a trip to study transit-oriented development, but no one can say exactly who’s going, where or when.

More Housing Without Kicking Anyone Out? It’s Possible, Apparently Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

More Housing Without Kicking Anyone Out? It’s Possible, Apparently

New owner of Honolulu building is making unusual plan to upgrade building but stabilize rents for occupied units.